p. 199 CHAP. XXXI Cases and Directions about Confessing sins and injuries to others Tit. 1. The Cases p. 201 Q. 1. When must we confess wrongs to those that we have wronged Q. 2. What will excuse us from such Confessions Q. 3. Must I confess a purpose of injury which was never executed Q. 4. When must sins against God be confessed to men Tit. 2. The Directions for just confessing sin to others p. 202 CHAP. XXXII Cases and Directions about satisfaction and Restitution p. 203 Tit. 1. The Cases Q. 1. What is Satisfaction what Restitution and when a duty Q. Why did they restore fourfold by the Law of Moses Q. 2. How far is Satisfaction and Restitution necessary Q. 3. Who are bound to make it Q. 4. To whom must it be made Q. 5. What Restitution is to be made for dishonouring Rulers or Parents Q. 6 How must Satisfaction be made for Slanders and Lyes Q. 7. And for tempting others to sin and hurting their souls Q. 8. And for Murder or Man-slaughter Q. 9. Iâ— a Murderer bound to offer himself to justice Q. 10. Or to do execution on himself Q. 11. What Satisfaction is to be made by a Fornicator or Adulterer Q. 12. In what cases is a man excused from Satisfaction and Restitution Q. 13. What if Restitution will cost the Restorer more than the thing is worth Q. 14. What if confessing a fault will turn the rage of the injured person against me to my ruine p. 203 Tit. 2. The Directions for Practice p. 206 CHAP. XXXIII Cases and Directions about our obtaining pardon from God p. 206 Tit. 1. The Cases Q 1. Is there Pardon to be had for all sin without exception Q. 2. What if one oft commit the same heinous sin Q. 3. Is the day of Grace and Pardon ever past in this life Q. 4. May we be sure that we are pardoned Q. 5. Can any man pardon sins against God and how far Q. 6. Is sin forgiven before it be committed Q. 7. Are the Elect Pardoned and Iustified before Repentance Q. 8. Is Pardon or Iustification perfect before Death Q. 9. Is our pardon perfect as to all sins past Q. 10. May Pardon or Iustification be lost or reversed Q. 11. Is the pardon of my own sin to be Believed â—ide Divina and is it the meaning of that Article of the Creed Q. 12. May one in any kind Trust to his own Faith and Repentance for his Pardon Q. 13. What are the Causes and Conditions of Pardon p. 208 Tit. 2. Directions for obtaining Pardon from God p. 209 CHAP. XXXIV Cases and Directions about self-judging p. 210 Tit. 1. The Cases Q. 1. What are the Reasons Vses and Motives of Self-judging Q. 2. What should ignorant persons do whose capacity will not reach to so high a work as true self-examination and self-judging Q. 3. How far may a weak Christian take the judgement of his Pastor or others about his sincerity and justification Tit. 2. Directions for judging of our Actions p. 211 Tit. 3. Directions for judging of our estates to know whether we are Iustified and in a state of life p. 212 c READER Thou art desired to mend the following Errata with thy Pen especially those markt with a Star Some more false Spellings false Pointings c. there are but too slight to give thee any trouble PAg. 26. l. antepen r. have lived p. 48. l. 7. r. if they p. 44. l. 20. r. once * listed p. 4â— l. 31. r. 〈◊〉 to p. 55. l. 30. r. in the practice p. 59. l. 13. del not l. 43. r. from them that p. 63. l. 46. del not p. 99. l. 50. r. â—ew reâ—â— not fit p. 105. Sect. 11. l. 2. r. â—â—â—â— serves v. 120 â—â— 12â— l. 36. r. * â—â—arl sâ—â—ss p. 150. l 29. r. * world 〈◊〉 p. 154. Sect. 37. l. anteâ— r. 2 * Chron. p. 165. l. 1. r. before them p. 180. l. 3. r. * that clearly p. 219. Sect. 11. l. 1. r. câ—â—jâ—â—es p. 233. Sect. 16. l. ult r. 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â— p. 238. Sect. 50. l. 3. r sound p. 244. l. 21. r. their shame p. 261. l 13. r. * a dâ—â—p p. 323. Sect. â—9 l. 6. r. i◠〈◊〉 p. 325. l. 5â— â— * Dury p. 33. Title r. sinful Desires p. 354. l. 33. r. love him p. 380. Sect. 63 l. 6. r. loath p. 384. l. 4â— r * senseless 〈◊〉 p 386. l. 6. r. * most defile p. 397 Sect. 14. l. 11. r. yet of p. 398. Sect. 19. l. 2. r. sights p. 404. Sect 3 l. 7. r. * present 〈◊〉 p. 410. l 9. r. * mod p. 433. l. 51. r. sermonum l. 53. r. * aftercations p. 437. l. 18. r. General to get p. 4â—â— l. antep r. their â—â—ot p. 442. l. 41. r. give thee p. 445. l. 7. r. contented l. 42. r. got p. 452. l. 26. r. * best employment l. 6. del best p. 460. Title r. â—â—â—â— Zeal Lust. r. in the world p. 461. Sect. 16. l. 2. r. unprofitable * prating p. 462. l. 37. r. 〈…〉 l. 4â— r. othâ—â—s l. 52. r. using them p. 495. l. 8. r. Gods p. 496. l. 45. r. Riâ—ht of propriety p. 500. l. 37. r. Psalms of praise p. 503. l. 33. r. 1 Câ—r l. â—4 r. 〈◊〉 â—oâ— tâ—â—ir house l. 35. r. thy house l. pen. r. Therefore p. 506. l. 56. r. the faith p. 507. l. 37. r. â—it to oâ—â— p. 523 l. â—2 del it ibid. r. this heat p. 536. l. 26. r. will do p. 550. l. ult r. heart-breaking p. 551. l. 39. r evâ—◠〈◊〉 p. 557. l. 46. r. hath * not given p. 599. l 30. r. shorter p. 625. l. â— r. * not wholly p. 635. l. 39. r. * not able p 641. l. 39. r. your 〈◊〉 p. 676. Sect. 19. l. 4. â— Your work p. 692. l. 17. r. himself p. 695. l. 1. r. arctius nobis p. 701. l. 24. r. wicked hands p. 705. Prop. 8. l. 5â—6 del half each line p. 711. l. 42. r. in force l. 58. r. needeth it * not p 713. l. 38. r. by a faâ—se p. 720. l. 3. r. Here note p. 722. l. 19. r. Sâ—â— p. 724. Sect. 3. l. 5. del you p. 727. Sect. 19. l. 10. r. ask p. 745. Sect. â—4 l. r. del of intrusions p. 756. l. antep r. would â—idâ— p. 757. l. 55. r. imitate them p. 759. l. 10. r. murder p. 771. l. ult r. to all p 798. l. 34. r. Oâ—â—â—â—ined as p. 812. Q. 36. l. 5. r. as such unknown p 844. l. 9. r. to * remove p 885. l. 12. r. * not to institute p 898 l. 10 11. r. Gomarus * Somnius p. 900. l. antep r. bare witness p 915. l. 17. r 2 Some things p. 919. l. antep r. see that * aptâ—ntâ—r p. 921. l. 22 r. 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 maâ—â— l. 39. r. after * the Scriptures which Paul is commonly supposed to mean and some of it after he â—ud so p. 922. l. 25. r. Hotâ—â—kis l. 46. r. * Sâ—ccaâ—i l.
John 3. 18. 3. 5. Thou sleepest in Irons in the captivity of the Devil among the walking judgements of God in a life that is still expecting an end in a Boat that is swiftly carried to eternity just at the entrance of another world and that world will be Hell if Grace awake thee not Thou art going to see the face of God to see the world of Angels or Devils and to be a companion with one of them for ever And is this a place or case to sleep in Is thy Bed so soft thy dwelling so safe God standeth over thee man and dost thou sleep Christ is coming and death is coming and judgement coming and dost thou sleep Didst thou never read of the foolish Virgins that slept out their time and knockt and cryed in vain when it was too late Matth. 25. 5. Thou mightest wiselyer sleep on the Pinnacle of a Steeple in a Storm than have a soul asleep in so dangerous a case as thou art in The Devil is awake and is rocking thy Cradle How busie is he to keep off Ministers or Conscience or any that would awake thee None of thy enemies are asleep and yet wilt thou sleep in the thickest of thy foes Is the battle a sleeping time or thy race a sleeping time when Heaven or Hell must be the End While he can keep thee asleep the Devil can do almost what he liâ—t with thee He knows that thou hast now no use of thy eyes or understanding or power to resist him The Learnedst Doctor in his sleep is as unlearned actually as an Ideot and will dispute no better than an unlearned man This makes many learned men to be ungodly they are asleep in sin The Devil could never have made such a drudge of thee to do his work against Christ and thy soul if thou hadst been awake Thou wouldst never have followed his whistle to the Ale-house the Play-house the Gaming-house and to other sins if thou hadst been in thy wits and well awake Read Prov. 7. 23. 24. I cannot believe that thou longest to be damned or so hatest thy self as to have done as thou hast done to have a lived Godless a Graceless a Prayerless and yet a merry careless life if thy eyes had been opened and thou hadst known and feelingly known that this was the way to Hell Nature it self will hardly go to Hell awake But it 's easie to abuse a man that is asleep Thou hast Reason but didst thou ever awake it to one hours serious Consideration of thy endless state and present case O dreadful judgement to be given over to the Spirit of slumber Rom. 11. 8. Is it not high time now to awake out of sleep Rom. 13. 11. When the light is arisen and shines about thee When others that care for their souls are busily at work When thou hast slept out so much precious time already Many a mercy and perhaps some Ministers have been as Candles burnt out to light thee while thou hast slept How oâ—t hast thou been called already How long wilt thou sleep O sluggard Prov. 6. 9. 10. Yet thou hast thundering calls and allarums to awake thee God calls and Ministers call Mercies call and judgements call and yet wilt thou not awake The voice of the Lord is powerful full of Majesty breaketh the Cedars shaketh the Wilderness and yet cannot it awake thee Thou wilt not sleep about far smaller matters at meat or drink or in common talk or Market But O how much greater business hast thou to keep thee awake Thou hast yet an unholy soul to be renewed an ungodly life to be reformed an offended God to be reconciled to and many thousand sins to be forgiven Thou hast death and judgement to prepare for thou hast Heaven to win and Hell to scape Thou hast many a needful Truth to learn and many a holy duty to perform and yet dost thou think it time to sleep Paul that had less need than thou did watch and pray and labour day and night Acts 20. 31. 1 Thess. 3. 10. O that thou knewest how much better it is to be awake While thou sleepest thou losest the benefit of the Light and all the mercies that attend thee The Sun is but as a clod to a man asleep The world is as no world to him The beauty of Heaven and Earth are nothing to him Princes friends and all things are forgotten by him So doth thy sleep in sin make nothing of health and patience time and help Ministers Books and daily warnings O what a day hast thou for everlasting if thou hadst but a heart to use it What a price hast thou in thine hand Prov. 10. 5. Sleep not out thy day thy harvest time thy tide time They that sleep sleep in the night 1 Thess. 5. 7. Awake and Christ will give thee light Rom. 13. 12. Ephes. 5. 14. Awake to righteousness and sin not 1 Cor. 15. 34. O when thou seest the Light of Christ what a wonder will it possess thee with at the things which thou now forgettest What joy will it fill thee with and with what pity to the sleepy world But if thou wilt needs sleep on be it known to thee sinner it shall not be long If thou wilt wake no sooner death and vengeance will awake thee Thou wilt wake when thou seest the other world and seest the things which thou wouldst not believe and comest before thy dreadful Judge Thy damnation slumbereth not 2 Pet. 2. 3. There are no sleepy souls in Heaven or Hell all are awake there and the day that hath awakened so many shall waken thee Watch then if thou love thy soul lest thy Lord come suddenly and find thee sleeping Mark 13. 34 35 36 37. What I say to one I say to all Watch. § 4. Tempt 2. If Satan cannot keep the soul in a sleepy careless inconsiderate forgetfulness he would Tempt 2. make the unregenerate soul believe that there is no such thing as Regenerating Grace but that it is a fancied thing which no man hath experience of and he saith as Nicodemus How can these things be John 3. 4. He thinks that natural conscience is enough § 5. Direct 2. But this may be easily refuted by observing that Holiness is but the very Health and Direct 2. rectitude of the soul and is no otherwise supernatural than as Health to him that is born a Leper See 2 Cor. 5. 17. Gal. 6. 15. Gal. 4. 19. Joh. 3. 3. 5. 6. Matth. 18. 3. 1 Pet. 1. 23. It is the rectitude of Nature or its disposition to the use and end that it was made for Though Grace be called supernatural 1. Because it is not born with us and 2. Corrupted Nature is against it 3. And the End of it is the God of Nature who is above Nature 4. And the Revelation and other means are supernatural as Christs incarnation resurrection c. Yet both Nature and Scripture and experience tell you
to do evil Eccles. 8. 11. § 31. Direct 15. But alas how short is the prosperity of the wicked Read Psal. 73. 37. Delay Direct 15. is no forgiveness They stay but till the Assize And will that tempt you to do as they How unthankfully do sinners deal with with God! If he should kill you and plague you that would not please you And yet if he forbear you you are emboldened by it in your sin Thus his patience is turned against him But the stroke will be the heavier when it falls Dost thou think those men will alwayes flourish Will they alway domineer and revell Will they alwayes dwell in the houses where they now dwell and possess those Lands and be honoured and served as now they are O how quickly and how dreadfully will the case be changed with them O could you but foresee now what faces they will have and what heavy hearts and with what bitter exclamations they will at last cry out against themselves for all their folly and wish that they had never been deceived by prosperity but rather had the portion of a Lozarus If you saw how they are but fatted for the slaughter and in what a dolorous misery their wealth and sport and honours will leave them you would lament their case and think so great a destruction were soon enough and not desire to be partners in their lot § 32. Tempt 16. Another temptation is their own prosperity They think God when he prospereth Tempt 16. them is not so angry with them as Preachers tell them And it is a very hard thing in health and prosperity to lay to heart either sin or threatnings and to have such serious lively thoughts of the life to come as men that are wakened by adversity have and specially men that are familiar with death Prosperity is the greatest temptation to security and delaying repentance and putting off preparation for eternity Overcome prosperity and you overcome your greatest snare § 33. Direct 16. Go into the Sanctuary yea go into the Church-yard and see the End And Direct 1◠〈…〉 judge by those Skulls and Bones and dust if you cannot judge by the fore-â—â—â—â—ings of God what prosperity is Judge by the experience of all the world Doth it not leave them â—â—â—â— in sorrow at last Wo to the man that hath his portion in this life O miserable health and wealth and honour which procureth the death and shame and utter destruction of the soul Was not he in as prosperous a case as you Luke 16. that quickly cryed out in vain for a drop of water to cool his Tongue There is none of you so sensless as not to know that you must dye And must you dye Must you certainly dye and shall that day be no better prepared for Shall present prosperity make you forget it and live as if you must live here for ever Do you make so great difference between that which is and that which will be as to make as great a matter of it as others when it comes and to make no more of it when it is but coming O man what is an inch of hasty time How quickly is it gone Thou art going hence apace and almost gone Doth God give thee the mercy of a few dayes or years of health to make all thy preparations in for eternity and doth this mercy turn to thy deceit and dost thou turn it so much contrary to the ends for which it was given thee Wilt thou surfeit on Mercy and destroy thy soul with it Sense feeleth and perceiveth what now is but thou hast Reason to foresee what will be Wilt thou play in Harvest and forget the Winter § 34. Tempt 17. Another great Temptation to hinder Conversion is the example and countenance of Tempt 17. Great Ones that are ungodly when Landlords and men in power are sensual and enemies to a holy life and speak reproachfully of it their inferiours by the reverence which they bear to worldly wealth and greatness are easily drawn to say as they Also when men reputed Learned and Wise are of another mind and especially when subtile enemies speak that reproach against it which they cannot answer § 35. Direct 17. To this I spake in the end of the first Part of this Chapter No man is so great Direct 17. and wise as God See whether he say as they do in his word The greatest that provoke him can no more save themselves from his vengeance than the poorest beggars What work made he with a Pharaâ—h and got himself a name by his hard heartedness and impenitency He can send Worms to eat an arrogant Herod when the people cry him up as a God! Where are now the Caesars and Alexanders of the world The Rulers and Pharisees believed not in Christ Iohn 7. 48. Wilt not thou therefore believe in him The Governour of the Countrey condemned him to dye and wilt thou condemn him The Kings of the earth set themselves and the Rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed saying let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us Psal. 2. 2 3. Wilt thou therefore joyn in the Conspiracy When he that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision He will break them with an iron rod and dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel unless they be wise and kiss the Son and serve the Lord with fear before his wrath be kindled and they perish Psal. 2. 4 9 10 11 12. If thy Landlord or Great ones shall be thy God and be honoured and obeyed before God and against him trust to them and call on them in the hour of thy distress and take such a salvation as they can give thee Teach not God what choice to make and whom to reveal his mysteries to He chooseth not alwayes the Learned Scribe nor the mighty man Christ himself saith Matth. 11. 25. I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to babes Read Mr. 〈…〉 sermon â—n 1 â—â—â—â— 1. 2â— Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight If this reason satisfie you not follow them and speed as they If they are Greater and Wiser than God let them be your Gods 1 Cor. 1. 26. You see your calling how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty and base things of the world and things that are despised hath God chosen and things that are not to bring to nought things that are It is another kind of Greatness Honour and Wisdom which God bestoweth on the poorest Saints than the world can give Worldlings will shortly be aweary of their portion
do They cause them to Blaspheme and reproach the godly for their sakes and say These are your Religious men You see now what their strictness is And they hinder the conversion and salvation of others They grieve the godly and wrong the Church and Cause of God much more than the sins of others do 20. Lastly They please the Devil more than the sins of other men How busie is he to have drawn a Iob to sin and how would he have boasted against God and his grace and his servants if he had prevailed when he boasted so much before in the false presumption of his success As if he could make the godly forsake God and be as bad as others if he have leave to tempt them § 19. II. I shall next give you some particular Directions besides those fore-going to help you to think of sin as it is that you may hate it For your cleansing and cure consisteth in this so far as you hate sin it is mortified and you are cured of it And therefore as I have anatomized it that you may see the hatefulness of it I shall direct you to improve this for your cure § 20. Direct 1. Labour to know God and to be affected with his Attributes and alwayes to live as Direct 1. How to hate sin in his sight No man can know sin perfectly because no man can know God perfectly You can no further know what sin is than you know what God is whom you sin against For the formal malignity of sin is Relative as it is against the Will and Attributes of God The godly have some knowledge of the malignity of sin because they have some knowledge of God that is wronged by it The wicked have no practical prevalent knowledge of the malignity of sin because they have no such knowledge of God They that fear God will fear sinning They that in their hearts are bold unreverently with God will in heart and life be bold with sin The Atheist that thinketh there is no God thinks there is no sin against him Nothing in the world will tell us so plainly and powerfully of the evil of sin as the knowledge of the Greatness Wisdom Goodness Holiness Authority Justice Truth c. of God The sense of his presence therefore will revive our sense of sins malignity § 21. Direct 2. Consider well of the office the bloodshed and the holy life of Christ His office is Direct 2. to expiate sin and to destroy it His blood was shed for it His Life condemned it Love Christ and thou wilt hate that which caused his death Love him and thou wilt love to be made like him and hate that which is so contrary to Christ. These two great Lights will shew the odiousness of darkness § 22. Direct 3. Think well both how Holy the office and work of the Holy Ghost is and how great Direct 3. a mercy it is to us Shall God himself the Heavenly light come down into a sinful heart to illuminate and 〈◊〉 it and yet shall I keep my darkness and defilement in opposition to such wonderful mercy Though all sin against the Holy Ghost be not the unpardonable blasphemy yet all is aggravated hereby § 23. Direct 4. Know and consider the wonderful Love and Mercy of God and think what he hath Direct 4. dâ—ne for you and you will hate sin and be ashamed of it It is an aggravation which makes sin odious even to common reason and ingenuity that we should offend a God of infinite Goodness who hath filled up our lives with Mercy It will grieve you if you have wronged an extraordinary friend His Love and kindness will come into your thoughts and make you angry with your own unkindness Here look over the Catalogue of Gods mercies to you for soul and body And here observe that Satan in hiding the Love of God from you and tempting you under pretence of humility to deny his greatest special mercy doth seek to destroy your repentance and humiliation also by hiding the greatest aggravation of your sin § 24. Direct 5. Think what the soul of man is made for and should be used to even to Love obey Direct 5. and glorifie our Maker and then you will see what sin is which disableth and perverteth it How excellent and high and holy a work are we created for and called to and should we defile the Temple â—â— God and serve the Devil in filthiness and folly where we should entertain and serve and magnifie our Creator § 25. Direct 6. Think well what pure and sweet delights a holy soul may enjoy from God in his Direct 6. holy service and then you will see what sin is which robbeth him of these delights and preferreth fleshly lusts before them O how happily might we perform every duty and how fruitfully might we serve our Lord and what delights should we find in his Love and acceptation and the foresight of everlasting blessedness if it were not for sin which bringeth down the soul from the doors of Heaven to wallow with Swine in a beloved Dunghill § 26. Direct 7. Bethink you what a life it is which you must live for ever if you live in Heaven Direct 7. and what a life the Holy ones there now live and then think whether sin which is so contrary to it be not a vile and hateful thing Either you would live in Heaven or not If not you are not those I speak to If you would you know that there 's no sinning No worldly mind no pride no passion no fleshly lust or pleasures there O did you but see and hear one hour how those blessed Spirits are taken up in loving and magnifying the glorious God in purity and holiness and how far they are from sin it would make you lothe sin ever after and look on sinners as on men in Bedlam wallowing naked in their dung Especially to think that you hope your selves to live for ever like those holy Spirits and therefore sin doth ill beseem you § 27. Direct 8. Look but to the state and torment of the damned and think well of the difference Direct 8. betwixt Angels and Devils and you may know what sin is Angels are pure Devils are polluted Holiness and sin do make the difference Sin dwells in Hell and holiness in Heaven Remember that every temptation is from the Devil to make you like himself as every holy motion is from Christ to make you like himself Remember when you sin that you are learning and imitating of the Devil and are so far like him John 8. 44. And the end of all is that you may feel his pains If Hell fire be not good then sin is not good § 28. Direct 9. Look alwayes on sin as one that is ready to dye and consider how all men judge of Direct 9. it at the last What do men in Heaven say of it And what do men in Hell say of
thy most comprehensive odious sin and observe this as the life of all thy particular sins and hate it above all the rest This is the very death and greatest deformity of the soul the absence of Gods Image and Spirit and objectively of himself I never lothe my heart so much as when I observe how little it loveth the Lord. Methinks all the sins that ever I committed are not so lothsome to me as this want of Love to God And it is this that is the venom and malignity of every particular sin I never so much hate my self as when I observe how little of God is within me and how far my heart is estranged from him I never do so fully approve of the Justice of God if he should condemn me and thrust me for ever from his presence as when I observe how far I have thrust him from my heart If there were any sin which proceeded not from a want of Love to God I could easilier pardon it to my self as knowing that God would easilier pardon it But not to Love the God of Love the Fountain of Love the felicity of souls is a sin unfit to be pardoned to any till it be repented of and partly cured Christ will forgive it to none that keep it And when it is uncurable it is the special sin of Hell the badge of Devils and damned souls If God will not give me a heart to Love him I would I had never had a heart If he will give me this he giveth me all Happy are the poor the despised and the persecuted that can but live in the Love of God O miserable Emperours Kings and Lords that are strangers to this Heavenly Love and love their lusts above their Maker Might I but live in the fervent Love of God what matter is it in what Countrey or what Cottage or what Prison I live If I live not in the Love of God my Countrey would be worse than banishment a Palace would be a Prison a Crown would be a miserable comfort to one that hath cast away his comfort and is going to everlasting shame and woe Were we but duly sensible of the worth of Love and the odiousness and malignity that is in the want of it it would keep us from being quiet in the daily neglect of it and would quicken us to seek it and to stir it up § 23. Direct 6. Improve the principle of self-love to the promoting of the Love of God by considering Direct 6. what he hath done for thee and what he is and would be to thee I mean not carnal inordinate self-love which is the chiefest enemy of the Love of God But I mean that rational Love of Happiness and self-preservation which God did put into innocent Adam and hath planted in mans nature as necessary to his Government This natural innocent self-love is that remaining principle in the Heart of man which God himself doth still presuppose in all his Laws and Exhortations and which he taketh advantage of in his works and word for the conversion of the wicked and the perswading of his servants themselves to their obedience This is the common principle in which we are agreed with all the wicked of the world that all men should desire and seek to be happy and choose and do that which is best for themselves or else it were in vain for Ministers to preach to them if we were agreed in nothing and we had not this ground in them to cast our seed into and to work upon And if self-love be but informed and guided by understanding it will compell you to Love God and tell you that nothing should be so much Loved Every one that is a man must Love himself We will not intreat him nor be beholden to him for this And every one that Loveth himself will Love that which he judgeth Best for himself And every wise man must know that he never had nor can have any good at all but what he had from God Why do men Love lust or wealth or honour but because they think that these are good for them And would they not Love God if they practically knew that he is the Best of all for them and instead of all Unnatural unthankful heart Canst thou Love thy self and not Love him that gave thee thy self and gives thee all things Nature teacheth all men to love their most entire and necessary friends Do we deserve a reward by loving those that love us when Publicans will do the like Matth. 5. 46. Art thou not bound to love them that hate thee and curse and persecute thee ver 44 45. What reward then is due to thy unnatural ingratitude that canst not love thy chiefest friend All the friends that ever were kind to thee and did thee good were but his messengers to deliver what he sent thee And canst thou love the bearer and not the giver He made thee a man and not a beast He cast thy lot in his visible Church and not among deluded Infidels or miserable Heathens that never heard unless in scorn of the Redeemers name He brought thee forth in a Land of light In a Reformed Church where Knowledge and Holiness have as great advantage as any where in all the world and not among deluded ignorant Papists where ambition must have been thy Governour and Pride and Tyranny have given thee Laws and a formal Ceremonious Image of Piety must have been thy Religion He gave thee Parents that educated thee in his fear and not such as were prophane and ignorant and would have restrained and persecuted thee from a holy life He spoke to thy Conscience early in thy childhood and prevented the gross abominations which else thou hadst committed He bore with the folly and frailties of thy youth He seasonably gave thee those Books and Teachers and company and helps which were fittest for thee and blest them to the further awakening and instructing of thee when he past by others and left them in their sins He taught thee to pray and heard thy prayer He turned all thy fears and groans to thy spiritual good He pardoned all thy grievous sins and since that how much hath he endured and forgiven He gave thee seasonable and necessary stripes and brought thee up in the School of affliction so moderating them that they might not disable or discourage thee but only correct thee and keep thee from security wantonness stupidity and contempt of holy things and might spoil all temptations to ambition worldliness voluptuousness and fleshly lust By the threatnings of great calamities and death he hath frequently awakened thee to cry to Heaven and by as frequent and wonderful deliverances he hath answered thy prayers and encouraged thee still to wait upon him He hath given thee the hearty prayers of many hundreds of his faithful servants and heard them for thee in many a distress He hath strangely preserved thee in manifold dangers He hath not made thee of the
such a sight The Swine or Beast hath as clean an inside And what if this filth be covered with a whiter skin or clearer colour than your neighbours have is there any cause of pride in that When sickness hath altered and consumed you then where is that which you called beauty If but the â—â—prosiâ— or the Small Pox deform it or a Feaver Consumption or Dropsie waste it or the Stone or Gowt or any such torment seize upon thee thou wilt feel or see that which may shame thy pride Should such a worm be proud that cannot though he be a Herod keep the worms from eating him alive that in a flux cannot retain his excrâ—ments that cannot bear easily the aking of a tooth If thou be fit â—or Pride forbid diseases to touch thy flesh or stain thy beauty Do not be sick nor weak nor pained Let not the Worm and corruption be thy guests Or if thou be so poor a thing as cannot hinder any of these then know thy self and be ashamed of Pride And when thou art in sickness thou wilt be burdensome to others Its likely thou must have their helps even to feâ—d thee to dress thee to turn thee and keep thee clean And when all is done thou must dye and be laid in darkness in a grave There must thou lye rotting night and day till thy flesh be turned into earth The grass doth wither when it is cut down but yet it is sweet The Tree that is cut down will rot in time but not with such a lothesome stink as we He that had seen what the late doleful Wars did often shew us when the fields were strowed with the carkasses of men and when they lay by heaps among the rubbish of the Ditches of Towns and Castles that had been assaulted would think such lothesome lumps of flesh should never have been proud When once death hath deprived thy body of its soul thy best friends will quickly be weary of the remainder and glad to rid thee out of sight and smell Go to the Church-yard and look on the dust and bones that are there cast up and scattered and bethink thee whether those that must come to this have reason to be proud See whether there be any differing mark of honour upon the dust of the rich or strong or beautiful and whether the bones there strive for principality and dominion Therefore the desire of adorned Monuments upon mens Graves is one of the most odious sorts of pride when the neighbourhood of rottenness and dust doth shame it As our serious Poet Hâ—â—bert saith When th' hair grows sweet with Pride and lust The powder doth forget the dust And though thy soul be far nobler than thy body yet here how ignorant and weak and distempered is it How full of false Idea's are mens minds How little know they of that which they might know or are confident they do know How daâ—k are we about all the works of God and about his word much more about himself The greatest Doctors are strongly tempted to be Scepticks and the ignorant that this year are confident to a contempt and censoriousness of all that differ from them perhaps the next year do change their judgements and recant themselves And are our Hearts and lives any happier than our understandings While we are imprisoned in flesh and its interest is ours and its appetites and passions have so much advantage to corrupt seduce or disturb the soul Know thy self and Pride will dye § 97. Direct 16. If thou have any thing to be proud of remember what it is and that it is Direct 16. not thine own but given or lent thee by that God who chiefly hateth Pride 1. Art thou tempted to be proud of Riches Remember that they are in themselves but dross which will leave thee at the grave as poor as any And as to their Usefulness they are but thy Masters talents and the more thou hast the greater will be thine account And very few rich men scape the snare and come to Heaven Thy charge and danger therefore should rather humble thee and make thee exceedingly to fear Read Iam. 5. 1 2 3 4. and Luke 12. 19 20. 2. Is it Greatness and dominion or humane applause or honour that you are proud of Remember that this also is in it self a dream that maketh thee really neither better nor safer than other men Thou standest upon higher ground where thou hast more than others of the storms and dangers and shalt be levelled with the lowest in thy fall And as to the Use of thy Power and Greatness it is for God and not thy self And so great will be thy reckoning according to the trust reposed in thee as would affright a considerate believer to foresee 3. Is it youthful strength that you are proud of How little can it do for thee of that which thou most needest And how soon will it be turned to weakness How many are cut off in youth and their life is among the unclean as Elihu speaks Job 36. 14. Their bones are full of the sins of their youth which shall lye down with them in the dust Job 20. 11. 4. Is it Beauty that you are proud of I have told you what sickness and death will do to that before When God rebuketh man for sin he makes his beauty to consume as a moth surely every man is vanity Psal. 39. 11. Read Psal. 49. 12 13 14. And if your beauty would continue how little good will it do you and who but fools do look at the skin of a rational creature when they would discern their worth A fool and a slave of lust and Satan may be beautiful A Sepulchre may be guilded that hath rottenness within Will you choose the finest purse or the fullest Who but a child or fool will value his Book by the fineness of the cover or guilding of the leaves and not by the worth of the matter within Absalom was beautiful and what the better was he 2 Sam. 14. 25. Prov. 31 30. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised 5. If it be fine Clothes and gaudy Ornaments that you are proud of it is a sin so foolish and worse than childiâ—h that I shall give it no other confutation than to tell you that it contradicteth it self by making the person a scorn and laughing stock to others when their design was to be more admired and that an Ass or a Post may have as fine and costly attire as you and that shortly â—sa 3. you shall change it for a Winding-sheet 6. Is it your birth and progenitors and great friends that you are proud of Personal merits are incomparably more excellent than this relation to the most meritorious parents much more than a relation to their empty titles Cain was the Son of Adam the Father of mankind and Cham of Noah and Esau of Iacob and Absalom of David when a
have not lost it Reason and the will have a command over the thoughts as well as over the tongue or hands or feet And as you would be ashamed to run up and down or fight with your hands and say I cannot help it or to let your tongue run all day and say I cannot stop it so should you be ashamed to let your Thoughts run at random or on hurtful things and say I cannot help it Do you do the best you can to help it Cannot you bid them be gone Cannot you turn your thoughts to something else Or cannot you rowze up your self and shake them off Some by casting a little cold water in their own faces or bidding another do it can rowze themselves from melancholy musings as from sleep Or cannot you get out of the room and set your self about some business which will divert you You might do more than you do if you were but willing and knew how much it is your duty § 13. Direct 9. When you do think of any holy things let it be of the best things of God and Grace Direct 9. and Christ and Heaven Or of your brethren or the Church and carry all your meditations outward but be sure you pâ—re not on your selves and spend not your thoughts upon your thoughts As we have need to call the Thoughts of careless sinners inwards and turn them from the Creature and sin upon themselves so we have need to call the Thoughts of self-perplexing melancholy persons outwards For it is their disease to be still grinding upon themselves Remember that it is a far higher nobler and sweeter work to think of God and Christ and Heaven than of such worms as we our selves are When we go up to God we go to Love and Light and Liberty But when we look down into our selves we look into a dungeon a prison a wilderness a place of darkness horror filthiness misery and confusion Therefore though such thoughts be needful so far as without them our Repentance and due watchfulness cannot be maintained yet they are grievous ignoble yea and barren in comparison of our thoughts of God When you are poring on your hearts to search whether the Love of God be there or no it were wiser to be thinking of the infinite Amiableness of God and that will cause it whether it were there before or not So instead of poring on your hearts to know whether they are set on Heaven lift up your thoughts to Heaven and think of its Glory and that will raise them thither and give you and shew you that which you were searching for Bestow that time in planting holy desires in the garden of your hearts which you bestow in routing and puzling your selves in searching whether it be there already We are such dark confused things that the sight of our selves is enough to raise a loathing and a horror in our minds and make them melancholy But in God and Glory there is nothing to discourage our thoughts but all to delight them if Satan do not mis-represent him to us § 14. Direct 10. Overlook not the Miracle of Love which God hath shewed us in the wonderful incarnation Direct 10. office life dâ—ath resurrection ascention and reign of our Redeemer But steep your thoughts most in these wonders of mercy proposed by God to be the chief matter of your thoughts You should in reason lay out many thoughts of Christ and Grace for one that you lay out on your sin and misery God requireth you to see your sin and misery but so much as tendeth to magnifie the remedy and cause you to accept it Never think of sin and Hell alone but as the way to the thoughts of Christ and Grace This is the duty even of the worst Are your sins ever before you Why is not pardoning grace in Christ before you Is Hell open before you Why is not the Redeemer also before you Do you say Because that sin and Hell are yours but Christ and Holiness and Heaven are none of yours I answer you It is then because you will have it so If you would not have it so it is not so God hath set Life first before you and not only Death He hath put Christ and Holiness and Heaven in his end of the ballance and the Devil puts the pleasure of sin for a season in the other Jâ—h 3 16. 1 Joâ—n 5 10 11 12. Rev. â—â— 17. John 5. 40. end That which you choose unfeignedly is yours For God hath given you your choice Nothing is truer than that God hath so far made over Christ and Life to all that hear the Gospel that nothing but their final obstinate refusal can condemn them Christ and Life are brought to the will and choice of all though all have not wills to accept and choose him And if you would not have Christ and Life and Holiness what would you rather have And why complain you § 15. Direct 11. Think and speak as much of the Mercy which you have received as of the sin you Direct 11. have committed and of the mercy which is offered you as of what you want You dare not say that the mercy you have received is no more worthy to be remembred and mentioned than all your sins Shall God do so much for you and shall it be overlooked extenuated and made nothing of As if his mercies had been a bare bone or a barren wilderness which would yield no sustenance to your thoughts Be not guilty of so great unthankfulness Thoughts of Love and mercy would breed Love and sweetness in the soul while thoughts of sin and wrath only breed averseness terror bitterness perplexity and drive away the heart from God § 16. Direct 12. Tie your selves daily to spend as great a part of your Time in your prayers in the Direct 12. confessing of mercy received as in confessing sin committed and in the Praises of God as in the lamenting of your own miseries You dare not deny but this is your duty if you understand your duty Thanksgiving and praise are a greater duty than confessing sin and misery Resolve then that they shall have the largest share of Time If you will but do this much which you can do if you will it will in time take off the bitterness of your spirits and the very frequent mention of sweeter things will sweeten your minds and change their temperature and habit as change of dyet changeth the temperature of the body I beseech you resolve and try this course If you cannot mention mercy so Thankfully as you would nor mention Gods excellencies so holily and praisefully as you would yet do what you can and mention them as you are able You may command your Time what shall have the greatest share in prayer though not your affections You will find the benefit very great if you will do but this § 17. Direct 13. Overvalue not the passionate part of duty but know that
them no harm while they can but keep themselves ignorant of it Which makes the opposed Truth have so few entertainers or Students among the Papists or any that persecute or reproach it And others discerning this extream do run into the contrary and under pretence of the loveliness of Truth and the need of liberty of judging do think the edifying way is first to pull down all that others have built before them and little regard the judgement of their predecessors but think they must take nothing on trust from others but begin all from the very ground themselves And usually their pride makes them so little regard the most approved Authors that they have not patience to read them till they throughly understand them but reject that which is received before they understand it meerly because it was the received way And while they say that nothing must be taken upon trust they presently take upon trust themselves that very opinion and with it the other opinions of those Novelists that teach them this And believing what such say in disgrace of others withal they believe what they hold in opposition to those that they have disgraced But it is easie to see how sad a case mankind were in if every man must be a fabricator of all his knowledge himself and posterity should be never the better for the discoveries of their ancestors and the greatest labours of the wisest men and their highest attainments must be no profit to any but themselves Why do they use a Teacher if they must do all themselves If they believe not their Tutors and take nothing on trust it seems they must know every Truth before they will learn it And what difference is there between believing a Tutor and an Author And is not that more credible which upon long experience is approved by many Nations and Ages than that which is recommended to you but by one or few These Students should have made themselves an Alphabet or Grammer and not have taken the common ones on trust It is easier to add to other mens inventions than to begin and carry on all our selves By their course of study the world would never grow wiser but every age and person be still beginning and none proceed beyond their rudiments § 33. Direct 16. Be sure you make choice of meet Teachers and companions for your studies and your Direct 16. lives That they be such as will assist you in the holy practice of what you know as well as in your knowledge And shun as a plague the familiarity 1. Of sensual idle brutish persons 2. And of carnal ambitious ones who know no higher end than preferment and applause 3. And of proud hereticall contentious wits whose wisdom and Religion is nothing but censuring reproaching and vilifying them that are wiser and better than themselves § 34. Bad company is the common ruine of youth Their own sensuality is easily stirred up by the temptations of the sensual and their consciences over-born by the examples of other mens voluptuous lives It emboldneth them to sin to see others sin before them as Cowards themselves are drawn on in an Army to run upon the face of death by seeing others do it and to avoid the reproach of cowardize And the noise of mirth and ranting language are the Drums and Trumpets of the Devils by which their ears are kept from hearing the cryes of wounded dying men the lamentations of those that have found the error of that way And there is in corrupted nature so strong an inclination to the prosperity and vain-glory of the world that makes them quickly take the bait especially when the Devil doth offer it them by a fit instrument which shall not deter them as it would do if he had offered it them himself It is a pleasant thing to flesh and blood to be rich and great and generally applauded and a grievous thing to be poor and despised and afflicted The rawness also and unsetledness of youth who want well furnished understandings and experience is a great advantage to Hereticks and deceivers who still sweep many such away whereever they come Sana consultatio est ex eruditia multarumque rerum peritia experientia Plato in Laâ—rt and have but opportunity Children are easily tost up and down and carried to and froâ— with every wind of doctrine by the cunning slight and subtility of them that lye in wait to deceive Ephes. 4. 14. Deceivers have their Methods and Methods are the common instruments of deceit which are not easily detected by the unexperienced On the contrary the benefit of wise and staid and sober and peaceable meek humble holy heavenly companions is exceeding great especially to youth Such will lead them in safe paths and be still preserving them and promoting the most necessary parts of knowledge and quickning them to holy practice which is the End of all § 35. Direct 17. In all your studies be jealous of both extreams and distinctly discern which are the Direct 17. extreams that you run not into one while you avoid the other And be specially careful that you imagine not co-ordinates or subordinates to be opposites and throw not away every truth which you Cum opiniones tam variae sint inter se dissidentes alterum â—ieri potest ut earum nulla alterum certe non potest ut plus una vera sit Cicero de Nat. Dâ—oâ— pag. 5. cannot presently place rightly in the frame and see it fall in agreeably with the rest For a further insight into true Method attained but by very few may reconcile you to that which now offendeth you What God hath joyned together be sure that you never put asunder though yet you cannot find their proper places § 36. There is scarce any error more common among Students than supposing those Truths to be inconsistent which indeed have a necessary dependance on each other and a casting truth away as error because they cannot reconcile it to some other truth And there is nothing so much causeth this as want of a true Method He that hath no Method considerable or after much curious labour hath fallen upon a false Method or a Method that in any one considerable point is out of joynt will deal thus by many certain truths As an ignorant person that is to set all the scattered parts of a Clock or Watch together if he misplace one will be unable rightly to place all the rest and then when he finds that they fit not the place which he thinks they must be in he casteth them away and thinks they are not the right and is searching for or making something else to fit that place False Method rejecteth many a truth § 37. And unless it be in Loving God or other acts of the superiour faculties about their ultimate end and highest object there is scarce any thing in morality but hath its extreams And where they are not discerned they are seldom well
pardonable and may consist with true grace so a Venial sin may be in an unsanctified person materially where it is not pardoned that is e. g. his wandering thought or passion is a sin of that sort that in the Godly is consistent with true grace But as Venial signifieth a sin that is pardoned or pardonable without a regeneration or conversion into astate of life from astate of death so Venial sin is in no unregenerate unjustified person but is only the Infirmities of the Saints and thus I here speak of it In a word that sin which actually consisteth with habitual repentance and with the hatred of it so far that you had rather he free from it than commit or keep it and which consisteth with an unfeigned consent to the Covenant that God be your Father Saviour and Sanctifier and with the Love of God above all is but an infirmity or venial sin But to know from the nature of the sin which those are requireth a Volume by it self to direct you only § 19. Direct 8. Understand how necessary a faithful Minister of Christ is in such cases of danger and Direct 8. difficulty to be a guide to your Consciences and open your case truly to them and place so much confidence in their judgement of your state as their office and abilities and faithfulness do require and set not up your timerous darkened perplexed judgements above theirs in cases where they are fitter to judge Such a Guide is necessary both as appointed by Christ who is the Author of his office and in regard of the greatness and danger and difficulty of your case Do you not feel that you are insufficient for your selves and that you have need of help sure a soul that 's tempted to Despair may easily feel it You are very proud or blindly self conceited if you do not And you may easily know that Christ that appointed them their office requireth that they be both used and trusted in their office as far as Reason will allow And where there is no office yet Ability and faithfulness deserve and require credit of themselves Why else do you trust Physicions and Lawyers and all artificers in their several professions and arts as far as they are reputed able and faithful I know no man is to be believed as infallible as God is but man is to be believed as man And if you will use and trust your spiritual guide but so far as you use and trust your Physicion or Lawyer you will find the great benefit if you choose aright § 20. Direct 9. Remember when you have sinned how sure and sufficient and ready a remedy you have Direct 9. before you in Iesus Christ and the Covenant of grace and that it is Gods design in the way of Redemption not to save any man as innocent that none may glory but to save men that were first in sin and misery and fetch them as from the gates of hell that Love and mercy may be magnified on every one that is saved and grace may abound more by the occasion of sins abounding Rom. 5. 15 20. Not that any should continue in sin because Grace hath abounded God forbid Rom. 6. 1. But that we may magnifie that grace and mercy which hath abounded above our sins and turn the remembrance of our greatest sins to the admiration of that great and wonderful mercy To magnifie mercy when we see the greatness of our sin and to Love much because much is forgiven this is to please God and answer the very design and end of our Redemption But to magnific sin and extenuate mercy and to say My sin is greater than can Luk. 7. 47. be forgiven this is to please the Dâ—vil and to cross Gods design in the work of our Redemption Is your disease so great that no other can cure it It is the fitter for Christ to honour his office upon and God to honour his Love and mercy on Do but come to him that you may have life and you shall find that no greatness of sin past will cause him to refuse you nor no infirmities which you are Joh. 5. 40. Luk. 15. 20 22 23. willing to be rid of shall cause him to disown you or cast you out The Prodigal is not so much as upbraided with his sins but finds himself before he is aware in his Fathers arms cloathed with the best Robes the Ring and Shooes and joyfully entertained with a Feast Remember that there is enough in Christ and the promise to pardon and heal all sins which thou art willing to forsake § 21. Direct 10. Take heed of being so blind or proud in thy humility as to think that thou Direct 10. canst be more willing to be a servant of Christ than he is to be thy Saviour or more willing to have grace than God is to give it thee or more willing to come home to Christ than he is to receive and wellcome thee Either thou art willing or unwilling to have Christ and grace to be sanctified and freed from sin If thou be willing Christ and his grace shall certainly be thine Indeed if thou wouldst have pardon without Holiness this cannot be nor is there any promise of it But if thou wouldst have Christ to be thy Saviour and King and his spirit to be thy sanctifier and hadst rather be perfect in Love and Holiness than to have all the Riches of the World then art thou in sincerity that which thou wouldst be in perfection Understand that God accounteth thee to be what thou truly desirest to be The great work of Grace lyeth in the renewing of the will If the will be sound the Man is sound I mean not the conquered uneffectual Velleity of the wicked that wish they could be free from Pride sensuality gluttony drunkenness lust and covetousness without losing any of their beloved honour wealth or pleasure that is when they think on it as the way to Hell they like not their sin but wish they were rid of it but when they think of it as pleasing their fleshly minds they love it more and will not leave it because this is the prevailing thought and will So Iudas was unwilling to sell his Lord as it was the betraying of the innocent and the way to Hell but he was more willing as it was the way to get his hire So Herod was unwilling to kill Iohn Baptist as it was the murder of a Prophet but his willingness was the greater as it was the pleasing of his Damosel and the freeing himself from a troublesome reprover But if thy willingness to have Christ and perfect Holiness be more than thy unwillingness and more than thy willingness to keep thy sin and enjoy the honour wealth and pleasures of the world than thou hast an undoubted sign of uprightness and that Love to Grace and desire after it which nothing but Grace it self doth give And if thou art thus willing it is
great wrong to Christ to doubt of his willingness For 1. He is a greater lover of Holiness than thou art and therefore cannot come behind thee in being willing of thy Holiness 2. He is more merciful to thee than thou art to thy self His Love and mercy is beyond thy measure 3. He hath begun to thee and fully shewed his willingness first He dyed to prepare thee a full remedy He hath drawn up the Covenant He hath therein expressed his own consent and intreateth thine He is the first in consenting and is a suiter to thee Never sinner did yet begin to him in the world Never any was willing of the match before him His general offer of mercy and Covenant tendered to all doth shew his willingness before they can shew theirs by their acceptance Never man over-went him in willingness and was more willing than he Take this sinner as Gods infallible truth If the match break between Christ and thee and thou be lost it shall not be through his refusal but through thine And it cannot break any other way no not by the craft or force of all the Devils in Hell but either because Christ is unwilling or because thou art unwilling And on Christs part it shall never break And therefore if thou be willing the match is made and there is no danger but lest thy heart draw back If thou art not willing why complainest thou for want of that which thou wouldst not have If thou art willing the Covenant is then made for Christ is more willing and was willing first § 22. Direct 11. Write out these sentences that contain the sense and substance of the Gospel and Direct 11. often read them Write them on thy very chamber walls and set them still before thine eyes and try whether Deut. 6. 6 7 8. 11. 18 19 20. they agree with the words of him that tempteth thee to despair such as these which I here transcribe for thee Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life v. 19. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself he that believeth not God hath made him a lyar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life Joh. 1. 11 12. He came unto his own and his own received him not but to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God to them that believe on his name Rev. 22. 17. Let him that is athirst come And whoever will let him take the water of life freely Joh. 5. 40. And ye will not come unto me that ye may have life Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Joh. 7. 37. If any man thirst let him come to me and drink Luk. 14. 17. Come for all things are now ready And read oft Luk. 15. § 23. Direct 12. Distinguish between sin seen and felt and sin reigning unto death that you may Direct 12. not be so blinded as to think your sin greatest or your condition worst when your sight and feeling of it Eph. 4. 19. is greatest To see and feel your sin and misery is at least the ordinary preparation for recovery To be dead is to be past feeling They that are most forsaken of God are most willing of their present condition and most love their sin and hate holiness and all that would reform them and if they have power will persecute them as enemies § 24. Direct 13. Think not that the troublesome strivings and temptations which weary you are the Direct 13. worst condition or a sign of the victory of sin It is rather a sign that you are not yet forsaken of God while he beareth witness in you against sin and is yet following you with his disswasives Paul saith Gal. 5. 15. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Read Rom. 7. from 14. to the end § 25. Direct 14. Understand the difference between weak grace and no grace that you may not Direct 14. think every want of grace is a sign of total gracelesness When you have opened in your complaints a long Catalogue of weaknesses consider whether yet there be not a true desire to be better and some degree of life with all these § 26. Direct 15. Think well of the excellency of the least degree of special grace that it is a seed of glory Direct 15. the beginning of life eternal the Divine nature and the image of God and of greater worth than all the learning wealth and honour in the world And be not unthankful for so great a mercy because you have not more § 27. Direct 16. Make Conscience of observing the grace and mercy received as well as the wants Direct 16. remaining and the sins committed and of the thankful remembrance and mention of mercy as much as the humble mention of sin Think as oft of mercy as of sin Talk of it as much to others and mention it to God as much in prayer This is your plain duty If you will not do it your wilfull unthankfulness for what you have received may well leave you in distress without the comfort of it § 28. Direct 17. Let your thoughts of Gods Goodness hear some proportion with your thoughts of his Direct 17. Knowledge and his Power And then you will not be so apt to entertain false suspicions of it and think of him as a man-hater like the Devil nor to run away from him that is the infinite most attractive Good § 29. Direct 18. Record the particular kindnesses to thy self by which God hath testified his particular Direct 18. love to thee that they may stand as neer and constant witnesses of his mercy and readiness to do thee good against thy excessive fearfulness and despair § 30. Direct 19. Think how few there are in the world so likely for mercy as thy self Look not Direct 19. only on a few that are better than thy self but think how five parts of the world are open Infidels and Heathens and of the sixth part that are Christians how few are Reformed from Popish and Barbarous ignorance and superstition and among Protestants how small is the number of them that are less in Love with sin than thy self I know that many wicked men abuse
Princes are restrained so much as from unseasonable eating Eccles. 10. 16. If it was one of the great sins that Sodom was burnt with fire for judge whether England be in no danger by it Read O England and know thy self and tremble Ezek. 16. 49. Behold this was the iniquity of thy Sister Sodom PRIDE FULNESS of bread and abundance of IDLENESS was in her and in her daughters neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy IV. The Directions or Helps against it § 37. Direct 1. Mortifie the flesh according to the Directions Chap. 4. Part 7. Subdue its inclinations Direct 1. and desires and learn to esteem and use it but as a servant Think what a pitiful price a Saith Plato God is the temperate mans Law and pleasure the intemperate mans Gal. 5. 24. little gluttonous pleasure of the Throat is for a man to sell his God and his salvation for Learn to be indifferent whether your meat be pleasing to your appetite or not and make no great matter of it Remember still what an odious swinish damning sin it is for a mans heart to be set upon his belly All that are Christs have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts § 38. Direct 2. Live faithfully to God and upon spiritual durable delights And then you will Direct 2. fetch the measure of your eating and drinking from their tendency to that higher end There is no Heb. 13. 9. using any inferiour thing aright till you have first well resolved of your end and use it as a means thereto and mark how far it is a means § 39. Direct 3. See all your food as provided and given you by God and beg it and the blessing of Direct 3. it at his hand and then it will much restrain you from using it against him He is a wretch indeed that will take his food as from his Fathers hand and throw it in his face though perhaps a petulant child would do so by a fellow-servant He that thinketh he is most beholden to himself for his plenty will say as the fool Luke 12. 19 20. Soul take thy ease eat drink and be merry thou hast enough laid up for many years But he that perceives it is the hand of God that reacheth it to him will use it more reverently It is a horrid aggravation of the Gluttony of this age that they play the Hypocrites in it and first for custom crave Gods blessing on their meat and then sit down and sin against him with it Such are the prayers of Hypocritical sensualists But a serious discerning 1 Cor. 10. 31. of God as the Giver would teach you whether you eat or drink to do all to his glory from whom it comes § 40. Direct 4. See by faith the blood of Christ as the purchasing cause of all you have and then Direct 4. sure you will bear more reverence to his blood than to cast the fruit of it into the sink of sensuality and to do worse than throw it on the dunghill What! Must Christ be a sacrifice to God and dye to recover you the mercies which you had forfeited and now will you cast them to the Dogs and please a sinful appetite with them Did he dye to purchase you provision for your lusts and to serve the flesh with § 41. Direct 5. Forget not how the first sin came into the world even by eating the forbidden Direct 5. fruit And let the slain creatures whose lives are lost for you remember you of that sin which brought the burden on them for your sakes And then every piece of flesh that you see will appear to you as with this caution written upon it O sin not as your first Parents sinned by pleasing of your appetite for this our death and your devouring the flesh of your fellow-creatures is the fruit of that ☞ sin and warneth you to be temperate Revell not to excess in your fellow-creatures lives § 42. Direct 6. Keep an obedient tender Conscience not scrupulously perplexing your selves about Direct 6. every bit you eat as melancholy persons do but checking your appetite and telling you of Gods Commands and teaching you to fear all sensual excess It is a graceless disobedient senseless heart that maketh men so boldly obey their appetite When the fear of God is not in their hearts no wonder if they feed and feast themselves without fear Jude 12. Either they make a small matter of sin in the general or at least of this sin in particular It is usually the same persons that fear not to spend their time in idleness sports or vanity and to live in worldliness or fleshly lusts who live in Gluttony to feed all this The belly is a Bruit that sticks not much upon Reason Where Conscience is asleep and scared Reason and Scripture do little move a sensual belly-god And any thing will serve instead of Reason to prove it lawful and to answer all that 's said against it There is no disputing the case with a man that is asleep especially if his Guts and Appetite be awake You may almost as well bring Reason and Scripture to keep a Swine from over-eating or to perswade a hungry Dog from a Bone as to take off a Glutton from the pleasing of his throat if he be once grown blockish and have mastered his conscience by unbelief or stilled it with a stupifying opiate His taste then serveth instead of Reason and against Reason Then he saith I feel it do me good that is he feeleth that it pleaseth his Appetite as a Swine feeleth that his meat doth him good when he is ready to burst and this answereth all that can be said against it Then he can sacrifice his time and treasure to his Belly and make a jeast of the Abstinence and Temperance of sober men as if it were but a needless self-afflicting or fit only for some weak and sickly persons If the constant fear and obedience of God do not rule the soul the Appetite will be unruled And if a tender conscience be not Porter the Throat will be common for any thing that the Appetite requireth One sight of Heaven or Hell to awaken their Reason and sleepy Consciences would be the best remedy to convince them of the odiousness and danger of this sin § 43. Direct 7. Understand well what is most conducible to your health and let that be the ordinary Direct 7. measure of your diet for quantity and quality and time Sure your Nature it self if you are yet Socrates â—deo parce temperate vixit ut cum Athenas pettis saepenumero vastaret solus ipse nunquam aegrotaverit Laertius iâ— Socrate men should have nothing to say against this measure and consequently against all the rest of the Directions which suppose it Nature hath given you Reason as well as Appetite and Reason telleth you that your health is more to be regarded than your
those places where I have opened the difference between Mortal reigning sins and Infirmities At present take this brief solution 1. It is a thing of too great difficulty to determine just how many acts of a great sin may consist with a present state of grace that is of right by Covenant to Heaven 2. All sin which consisteth with an habitual predominant Love of God and Holiness consisteth with a state of Life and no other 3. He that seldom or never committeth such external crimes and yet Loveth not God and Heaven and Holiness above all the pleasures and interests of the flesh is in a state of death 4. It is certain that his Love to God and Holiness is not predominant whose carnal Interest and Iust hath ordinarily in the drift and tenor Rom 6. 16. of his life more power to draw him to the wilfull committing of known sin than the said Love of God and Heaven and Holiness have to keep him from it For his servants men are whom they obey whether it be sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness 5. Therefore the way to know whether sin be mortified or mortal is 1. By feeling the true bent of the will whether we Love or hate it 2. By observing the true bent and tenor of our lives whether Gods Interest in us or the contrary be predominant when we are our selves and are tempted to such sins 6 He that will sin thus as oft as will stand with saving grâ—ce shall never have the assurance of his sincerity or the peace or comfort of a sound believer till he repent and lead a better life 7. He that in his sin retaineth the spirit of Adoption or the Image of God or habitual divine Love hath also Habitual and Virtual Repentance for that very sin before he actually Repenteth Because he hath that Habitual Hatred of it which will cause actual Repentance when he is composed to act according to his predominant habits 8. In the mean time the state of such a sinner is neither to be unregenerate Carnal unholy as he was before Conversion and so to lose all his Right to Life nor yet to have so full a Right as if he had not sinned But a bar is put in against his claim which must be removed before his Right be full and such as is ripe for present possession 9. There are some sins which all men continue in while they live As defect in the degrees of faith hope love c. vain thoughts words disorder passions c. And these sins are not totally involuntary Otherwise they were no sins Yea the Evil is prevalent in the will against the Good so far as to commit those sins though not so far as to vitiate the bent of heart or life 10. There are some sins which none on earth do actually Repent of viz. Those that they know not to be sins and those that they utterly forget and those faults which they are guilty of just at the time of dying 11. In these cases Virtual or Implicite or Habitual Rom 7. 20 21 22 23. Repentance doth suffice to the preventing of damnation As also a Will to have lived perfectly sufficeth in the case of continued imperfections 12. Things work not on the Will as they are in themselves but as they are apprehended by the understanding And that which is apprehended to be either of doubtful evil or but a little sin and of little danger will be much less resisted and ofter committed than sins that are clearly apprehended to be great Therefore where any sort of Lye is apprehended thus as of small or doubtful evil it will be the oftner committed 13. If this apprehension be wrong and come from the predominancy of a carnal or ungodly heart which will not suffer the understanding to do its office nor to take that to be evil which he would not leave then both the Iudgement and the Lye are mortal and not mortified pardoned sins 14. But if this misapprehension of the understanding do come from natural impotency or unavoidable want of better information or only from the fault of a vicious inclination which yet is not predominant but is the remnant of a vice which is mortified in the main then neither the errour nor the often lying is a mortal but a mortified sin As for instance If false Teachers as the Jesuits should perswade a justified person that a lye that hurteth no man but is officious is but a venial or no sin it is possible for such a person often to commit it though he err not altogether innocently 15. Though it is true that all good Christians should not indulge the smallest sin and that true Grace will make a man willing to forsake the least yet certain experience telleth us that some constant sinning aforenamed doth consist with grace in all that have it upon earth And therefore that Lesser sins as thoughts passions are not resisted so much as greater be and therefore that they are more indulged and favoured or else they would not be committed No good men rise up with so great and constant watchfulness against an idle thought or word or a disorder in prayer c. as they do against a heynous sin He that would have this and and all such Cases resolved in a word and not be put on trying the Case by all these distinctions must take another Casuist or rather a Deceiver instead of a Resolver For I cannot otherwise resolve him Quest. 2. Is it not contrary to the light of Nature to suffer e. g. a Parent a King my Self my Quest. 2. Country rather to be destroyed than to save them by a harmless lie Answ. No Because 1. Particular good must give place to common And if once a Lie may pass Answ. for Lawful in cases where it seemeth to be good it will overthrow humane converse and debauch mans nature and the world 2. And if one evil may be made a means for good it will infer that other may be so too and so will confound good and evil and leave vitious man to take all for good which he thinks will do good That is not to be called a harmless Lie which is simply evil being against the Law of God against the order of nature the use of humane faculties and the interest and converse of the sociable world 3. The error of the objectors chiefly consisteth in thinking that nothing is further hurtful and morally evil than as it doth hurt to some men in corporal respects Whereas that is evil which is against the universal Rule of Rectitude against the will of God and against the nature and perfection of the agent much more if it also tend to the hurt of other mens souls by giving them an example of sinning 4. And though there may sometimes be some humane probability of such a thing yet there is no certainty that ever it will so fall out that a Lie shall save the Life of â—ing Parent or
your selves For God can open the eyes of that enemy whom you think to blind by a lie and cause him to know all the truth and so take away that Life which you thought thus to have saved 5. And there are lawful means enough to save your lives when it is best for you to save them That is Obey God and trust him with your lives and he can save them without a lie if it be best And if it be not it should not be desired 6. And if men did not erroniously over-value Life they would not think that a Lie were necessary for it When it is not necessary to Live it is not necessary to Lie for Life But thus one sin brings on another when carnal men over-value Life it self and set more by it than by the fruition of God in the Glory of Heaven they must needs then over-value any means which seemeth necessary to preserve it See Iob 13. 7 8 9. 10. Prov. 13. 17. Rom. 6. 15. 3. 7 8 9. Psal. 5. 7. Hos. 4. 2. Ioh. 8. 44. Rev. 21. 27. 22. 15. Col. 3. 9. 1 Ioh. 2. 21. 7. Yet as to the degree of evil in the sin I easily grant with Augustine Enchirid. that Multum interest quo animo de quibus quisque mentiâ—tur Non enim ita peccat qui consulendi quomodo ille qui nocendi voluntate mentitur nec tantum nocet qui viatorem mentiendo in adversum iter mittit quantum is qui viam vitae mendacio fallente depravat Object Are not the Midwives rewarded by God for saving the Israelitish children by a lie Object Answ. I need not say with Austin The fact was rewarded and the Lie pardoned For there is no such Answ. thing as a lie found in them Who can doubt but that God could strengthen the Israelitish women to be delivered without the Midwives And who can doubt but when the Midwives had made known the Kings murderous command that the women would delay to send for the Midwives till by the help of each other the children were secured Which yet is imputed to the Midwives because they confederated with them and delaid to that end So that here is a dissembling and concealing part of the truth but here is no lie that can be proved Object But Heb. 11. 31. Jam 2. Rahab is said to be justified by faith and works when she saved Object the Spies by a lie Answ. 1. It is uncertain whether it was a lie or only an equivocation and whether her words Answ. were not true of some other men that had been her guests But suppose them a lie as is most like the Scripture no more justifieth her lie than her having been an harlot It is her believing in the God of Israel whose works she mentioned that she is commended for together with the saving of the Spies with the hazard of her own life And it is no wonder if such a woman in Iericho had not yet learned the sinfulness of such a lie as that Object But at least it could be no mortal sin because Heb. 11. 31. Jam. 2. say she was Object justified Answ. It was no mortal sin in her that is a sin which proveth one in a state of death because it Answ. had not those evils that make sin mortal But a lie in one that doth it knowingly for want of such a predominancie of the authority and Love of God in the soul as should prevail against the contrary motives habitually is a mortal sin of an ungodly person It is pernicious falshood and soul delusion in those Teachers that make poor sinners think that it is the smallness of the outward act or hurt of sin alone that will prove it to be as they call it Venial or mortified and not mortal Quest. 3. Is deceit by Action Lawful which seemeth a Practical lie And how shall we interpret Quest. 3. Christs making as if he would have gone farther Luk. 24. 28. and Davids feigning himself mad and common stratagems in war and doing things purposely to deceive another Answ. 1. I have before proved that all Deceiving another is not a sin but some may be a duty As Answ. a Physicion may deceive a Patient to get down a medicine to save his life so he do it not by a lie 2. Christs seeming to go farther was no other than a lawful concealment or dissimulation of his purpose to occasion their importunity For all dissimulation is not evil though lying be And the same may be said of lawful stratagems as such 3. Davids case was not sinful as it was meer dissimulation to deceive others for his escape But whether it was not a sinful distrust of God and a dissimulation by too unmanly a way I am not able to say unless I had known more of the circumstances Quest. 4. Is it lawful to tempt a child or servant to lie meerly to try them Quest. 4. Answ. It is not lawful to do it without sufficient cause nor at any time to do that which inviteth Answ. them to lie or giveth any countenance to the sin as Satan and bad men use to tempt men to sin by commending it or extenuating it But to lay an occasion before them barely to try them as to lay money or wine or other things in their way to know whether they are thieves or addicted to drink that we may the better know how to cure them and so to try their veracity is not unlawful For 1. The sin is virtually committed when there is a Will to commit it though there should be no temptation or opportunity 2. We do nothing which is either a commendation of the sin or a perswading to it nor any true cause either Physical or Moral but only an occasion 3. God himself who is more contrary to sin than any creature doth thus by tryal administer such occasions of sin to men that are vitiously disposed as he knoweth they will take And his common mercys are such occasions 4. God hath no where forbidden this to us We may not do evil that good may come by it but we may do good when we know evil will come of it by mens vice 5. It may be a needful means to the cure of that sin which we cannot know till it be thus detected Quest. 5. Is all equivocation unlawful Quest. 5. Answ. There is an equivocating which is really Lying As when we forsake the usual or just sense of Answ. a word and use it in an alien unusual sense which we know will not be understood and this to deceive such as we are bound not to deceive But there is a use of equivocal words which is lawful and necessary For humane language hath few words which are not of divers significations As 1. When our equivocal sense is well understood by the hearers and is not used to deceive them but because use hath made those words to be fit
to corruption as it doth the bruits but to live in joy with Christ and his Church-triumphant § 14. Direct 14. Remember both how vile your body is and how great an enemy it hath proved to Direct 14. your soul And then you will the more patiently bear its dissolution It is not your dwelling house but your tent or Prison that God is pulling down And yet even this vile body when it is corrupted shall at last be changed into the likeness of Christs glorious body by the working of his unresistible power Phil. 3. 20 21. And it is a flesh that hath so rebelled against the spirit and made your way to Heaven so difficult and put the soul to so many conflicts that we should the easilier submit it to the will of justice and let it perish for a time when we are assured that mercy will at last recover it § 15. Direct 15. Remember what a world it is that you are to leave and compare it with that Direct 15. which you are going to and compare the life which is near an end with that which you are next to enter upon Was it not Henochs reward when he had walkt with God to be taken to him from a polluted world 1. While you are here you are your selves defiled sin is in your natures and your graces are all imperfect sin is in your lives and your duties are all imperfect You cannot be free from it one day or hour And is it not a mercy to be delivered from it Is it not desirable to you to sin no more and to be perfect in holiness to know God and Love him as much and more than you can now desire You are here every day lamenting your darkness and unbelief and estrangedness from God and want of Love to him How oft have you prayed for a cure of all this And now would you not have it when God would give it you why hath God put that spark of Heavenly life into you but to fight against sin and make you weary of it And yet had you rather continue sinning than have the victory and be with Christ 2. It is a life of Grief as well as sin And a life of cares and doubts and fears When you are at the worst you are fearing worse If it were nothing but the fears of death it self it should make you the willinger to submit to it that you might be past those fears 3. You are daily afflicted with the infirmities of that flesh which you are so loth should be dissolved To satisfie its hunger and thirst to cover its nakedness to provide it a habitation and supply all its wants what care and labour doth it cost you Its infirmities sicknesses and pains do make you oft aweary of your selves so that you groan being burdened as Paul speaketh 2 Cor. 5. 3 4 6. And yet is it not desirable to be with Christ 4. You are compassed with temptations and are in continual danger through your weakness And yet would you not be past the danger Would you have more of those horrid and odious temptations 5. You are purposely turned here into a Wilderness among wild beasts you are as Lambs among Wolves and through many tribulations you must enter into Heaven You must deny your selves and take up your Cross and forsake all that you have and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution in the world you must have trouble the seed of the Serpent must bruise your heel before God bruise Satan under your feet And is such a life as this more desirable than to be with Christ Are we afraid to land after such storms and tempests Is a wicked world a malitious world a cruel world an implacable world more pleasing to us than the joy of Angels and the sight of Christ and God himself in the Majesty of his Glory Hath God on purpose made the world so bitter to us and permitted it to use us unjustly and cruelly and all to make us love it less and to drive home our hearts unto himself and yet are we so unwilling to be gone § 16. Direct 16. Settle your estates betime that worldly matters may not distract or discompose you Direct 16. And if God have endowed you with Riches dispose of a due proportion to such pious or charitable uses in which they may be most serviceable to him that gave them you Though we should give what we can in the time of life and health yet many that have but so much as will serve to their necessary maintenance may well part with that to good uses at their death which they could not spare in the time of their health especially they that have no Children or such wicked Children as are like to do hurt with all that is given them above their daily bread § 17. Direct 17. If it may be get some able faithful guide and comforter to be with you in your Direct 17. sickness to counsel you and resolve your doubts and pray with you and discourse of heavenly things when you are disabled by weakness for such exercises your selves Let not carnal persons disturb you with their vain bablings Though the difference between good company and bad be very great in the time of health yet now in sicknes it will be more discernable And though a faithful friend and spiritual Pastor be alwayes a great mercy yet now especially in your last necessity Therefore make use of them as far as your pain and weakness will permit § 18. Direct 18. Be fortified against all the Temptations of Satan by which he useth to assault men Direct 18. in their extremity Stand it out in the last conflict and the Crown is yours I shall instance in particulars Directions for resisting the Temptations of Satan in the time of sickness § 19. Tempt 1. The most ordinary Temptation against the Comfort of Believers for I have already Tempt 1. spoken of those that are against their safety is to doubt of their own sincerity and consequently of their part in Christ Saith the Tempter All that thou hast done hath been but in hypocrisie Thou wast never a true Believer nor never didst truly Repent of sin nor truly love God and therefore thou art unjustified and shalt speedily be condemned § 20. Against this Temptation a Believer hath two Remedies The first is to confute the Tempter by those Evidences which will prove that he hath been sincere such as I have often mentioned before And by refelling those reasonings by which the Tempter would prove him to have been an Hypocrite As when it is objected Thou hast repented and been humbled but slightly and by the halves Answ. Yet was it sincerely and weak grace is not no grace Obj. Thou hast been a lover of the world and a neglecter of thy soul and cold in all that thou didst for thy salvation Answ. Yet did I set more by Heaven than earth and I first sought the
and accordingly your speech must be mixt and tempered and your counsels or comforts given with the Conditions and Suppositions exprest § 13. Quest. But what order would you have us observe in speaking to the ignorant and ungodly Quest. 5. when the time is so short Answ. 1. Labour to awaken them to a lively sense of the change which is at hand that they may Answ. understand the necessity of looking after the state of their souls 2. Then shew them what are the terms of salvation and who they are that the Gospel doth judge to salvation or damnation 3. Next advise them to try which of these is their condition and to deal faithfully seeing self-flattery may undo them but can do them no good 4. Then help them in the tryal q. d. If it have been so or so with you then you may know that this is your case 5. Then tell them the Reasons of your fears if you fear they are unconverted or of your hopes if you hope indeed that it is better with them 6. Then exhort them conditionally if they are yet in a carnal unsanctified state to lament it and be humbled and penitent for their sinful and ungodly life 7. And then tell them the Remedy in Christ and the Holy Ghost and the Promise or Covenant of Grace 8. And lastly tell them their present duty that this Remedy may prove effectual to their salvation And if you have so much interest or authority as maketh it fit for you excite them by convenient questions so far to open their case as may direct you and as by their answers may shew whether they truly resolve for a holy life if God restore them and whether their hearts indeed be changed or not § 14. Direct 7. If you are not able to instruct them as you should read some good Book to Direct 7. them which is most suitable to their case Such as Mr. Perkins Right art of Dying well The Practice of Piety in the Directions for the Sick Mr. Ed. Lawrences Treatise of Sickness or what else is most suitable to them And because most are themselves unable for counselling the sick aright and you may not have a fit Book at hand I shall here subjoyn a brief Form or two for such to Read to the Sick that can endure no long discourse And other books will help you to forms of Prayer with them if you cannot pray without such help § 15. Direct 8. Iudge not of the state of mens souls by those carriages in their sickness which Direct 8. proceed from their diseases or bodily distemper Many ignorant people judge of a man by the manner of his dying If one die in calmness and clearness of understanding and a few good words they think that this is to die like a Saint Whereas in Consumptions and oft in Dropsies and other such Chronical diseases this is ordinary with good and bad And in a Feaver that 's violent or a Phrensie or Distraction the best man that is may die without the use of Reason Some diseases will make one blockish and heavy and unapt to speak and some consist with as much freedom of speech as in time of health The state of mens souls must not be judged of by such accidental unavoidable things as these § 16. Direct 9. Be neither unnaturally sensless at the death of friends nor excessively dejected or afflicted Direct 9. To make light of the Death of Relations and friends be they good or bad is a sign of a very vitious nature that is so much selfish as not much to regard the Lives of others And he that regardeth not the Life of his friends is little to be trusted in his lower concernments I speak not this of those persons whose temper alloweth them not to weep For there may be as deep a regard and sorrow in some that have no tears as in others that abound with them But I speak of a naughty selfish nature that is little affected with any ones concernments but its own § 17. Yet your grief for the death of friends must be very different both in degree and kind 1. For ungodly friends you must grieve for their own sakes because if they dyed such they are lost for ever 2. For your Godly friends you must mourn for the sake of your selves and others because God hath removed such as were blessings to those about them 3. For choice Magistrates and Ministers and other instruments of publick good your sorrow must be greater because of the common loss and the judgement thereby inflicted on the World 4. For old tryed Christians that have overcome the world and lived so long till age and weakness make them almost unserviceable to the Church and who groan to be unburdened and to be with Christ your sorrow should be least and your joy and thanks for their happiness should be greatest But especially abhor that nature that secretly is glad of the death of Parents or little sorrowful because that their estates are faln to you or you are enriched or set at liberty by their death God seldom leaveth this sin unrevenged by some heavy judgements even in this life § 18. Direct 10. To overcome your inordinate grief for the death of your relations consider these Direct 10. things following 1. That excess of sorrow is your sin And sinning is an ill use to be made of your Help against excessive grief for the Death of friends affliction 2. That it tendeth to a great deal more It unfitteth you for many duties which you are bound to as to Rejoice in God and to be Thankful for mercies and cheerful in his Love and Praise and Service And is it a small sin to unfit your selves for the greatest duties 3. If you are so troubled at Gods disposal of his own what doth your Will but rise up against the will of God as if you grudged at the exercise of his Dominion and Government that is that he is God! Who is wisest and Best and fittest to dispose of all mens lives Is it God or you Would you not have God to be the Lord of all and to dispose of Heaven and earth and of the lives and Crowns of the greatest Princes If you would not you would not have him to be God If you would is it not unreasonable that you or your friends only should be excepted from his disposal 4. If your friends are in Heaven how unsuitable is it for you to be overmuch mourning for them when they are rapt into the highest Joyes with Christ and Love should teach you to rejoice with them that rejoice and not to mourn as those that have no hope 5. You know not what mercy God Isa. 57. 1. shewed to your friends in taking them away from the evil to come you know not what suffering Phil. 1. 2◠23. the Land or Church is falling into or at least might have faln upon themselves nor what sins they might have
upon a Cross at the will of proud malitious persecutoâ—s You shall there see that Person whom God hath Chosen to advance above the whole Creation and in John 17. â—4 Phil. 2 7 8 9 10. whom he will be more glorified than all the Saints The wonderful condescension of his Incarnation and the wonderful Mysterie of the Hypostatical Union will there be better understood And which is all in all you shall see the most Blessed God himself whether in his Essence or not yet undoubtedly in his Glory in that state or place which he hath prepared to reveal his Glory in Matth. 5. 8. Heb. 12. 14. for the Glorifying of holy Spirits You shall see him whose sight will perfect your understandings and Love him and feel the fulness of his Love which is the highest felicity that any created Being can attain Though this will be in different measures as souls are more or less amiable and capacious or else the humane nature of Christ would be no happier than we yet none shall have any sinful or trouble some imperfection and all their capacities shall be filled with God O dear friend I am even confounded and ashamed to think that I mention to you such high and glorious things with no more sense and admiration and that my soul is not drawn up in the flames of a more â—ervent Love nor lifted up in higher joyes nor yet drawn out into more longing desires when I speak of such transcendent happiness and joy O had you and I but a glimpse with Acts 7. 56. 2 Cor. 12. 3 4 5. Gal. 1. 4. blessed Stephen or Paul of these unutterable pleasures how deeply would it affect us and how should we abhorr this life of sin and be aweary of this dark and distant state and be glad to be gone from this Prison of flesh and to be delivered from this present evil world This is the life that you are going to live Though a painful Death must open the Womb of Time and let you into eternity how quickly will the pain be over And though Nature make Death dismal to you and sin have made it penal and you look at it now with backwardness and fear yet this will all be quickly past and your souls will be born into a world of joy which will make you forget all your fears and sorrows It is meet that as the Birth of Nature had its pains and the Birth of Grace hads its penitent John 16. 21. John 3. 3 5 7 8. sorrows so the Birth of Glory should have the greatest difficulties as it entreth us into the happiest state O what a change will it be to a humbled fearful soul to find it self in a moment dislodged from a sinful painful flesh and entred into a world of Light and Life and holy Love unspeakably above all the expressions and conceptions of this present life Alas that our present ignorance and fear should make us draw back from such a change That whilst all our brethren that dyed in faith are triumphing in these Joyes with Christ our trembling souls should be so loth to leave this flesh and be afraid to be called to the same felicity O what an enemy is the remnant of Unbelief to our imprisoned and imperfect souls That it can hide such a desirable Glory from our eyes that it should no more affect us and we should no more desire it but are willing to stay so long from God How wonderful is that Love and Mercy that brings such backward souls to Happiness and will drive us away from this beloved world by its afflicting miseries and from this beloved flesh by pain and weariness and will draw us to our joyful blessedness as it were whether we will or not and will not leave us out of Heaven so long till we are willing our selves to come away You seem now to be almost at your journeys end But how many a foul step have those yet to go whom you leave behind you in this dirty world You have fought a good fight and kept the faith and shall never be troubled with an enemy or temptation when this one concluding brunt is over You shall never be so much as tempted to unbelief or pride or worldly mindedness or fleshly lusts or to any defects in the service of your Lord But how many temptations do you leave us encompassed with and how many dangers and enemies to overcome And alas how many falls and wounds may we receive You seem to be near the end of your race when those behind you have far to run You are entring into the harbour and leave us tossed by Tempests on the Waves Flesh will no more entice or clog your soul You will no more have unruly senses to command nor an unreasonable appetite to govern nor a stragling fantasie or wandering thoughts or headstrong lusts or boistrous passions to restrain You will no longer carry about a root of corruption nor a principle of enmity to God! It will no more be difficult or wearisome to you to do good Your service of God will no more be mixed and blemished with imperfections You shall never more have a cold or hard or backward heart or a careless customary duty to lament That primitive Holiness which consisteth in the Love of God and the exercise and delights thereof will be perfected And those subservient duties of Holiness which consist in the use of Recovering means will cease as needless Preaching and Studying and Books will be necessary no more Sacraments and Church Discipline and all such means have done their work Repentance and Faith have attained their end As your bodies after the Resurrection 2 Cor. 3. 18. 2 Cor. 4. 6. 1 Cor. 13. 12. will have no need of food or rayment or care or labour so your souls will be above the use of such Creatures and Ordinances as now we cannot be without For the Glass will be unnecessary when you must see the Creator face to face Will it not be a joyful day to you when you shall know God as much as you desire to know him and love him as much as you desire to love him and be loved by him as much as much as you can reasonably desire to be loved and rejoyce in him as much as you desire to rejoyce Yea more than you can now desire I open you but a Casement into the everlasting mansions and shew you but a dark and distant prospect of the promised Land the Heavenly Ierusalem The satisfying sight is reserved for the time when thereby we shall have that satisfying fruition And is there any such thing to be hoped for on earth Will health or wealth will the highest places or the greatest pleasures make man happy You know it will not Or if it would the happiness would be so short as maketh it little worthy of our regard Have you not seen an end of all perfection Have you not observed and tryed what a deluding dream
not Necessary to a mans Baptism and first Church-membership that he give any testimony of an antecedent godly life Because it is Repentance and future obedience professed that is his title and we must not keep men from Covenanting till we first see whether they will keep the Covenant which they are to make For Covenanting goeth before Covenant-keeping And it is any the most impious sinner who Repenteth that is to be Washed and Justified as soon as he becometh a Believer 5. Yet if any that Professeth Faith and Repentance should commit Whoredome Drunkenness 1 Cor 6 9 16. Tit. 3. 3 4 5. Eph. 2 1 2 3. Acts 2. 37 38. Murder Blasphemy or any mortal sin before he is baptized we have reason to make a stop of that mans baptism because he contradicteth his own profession and giveth us cause to take it for hypocritical till he give us better evidence that he is penitent indeed 6. Heart-Covenanting maketh an invisible Church-member and Verbal Covenanting and Baptism make a Visible Church-member And he that maketh a Profession of Christianity so far as to declare that he believeth all the Articles of the Creed particularly and understandingly with some tolerable understanding though not distinct enough and full and that he openly devoteth himself to God the Father Son and Spirit in the Vow and Covenant of Baptism doth produce a sufficient title to the Relation of a Christian and Church-member and no Minister may reject him for want of telling when and by what arguments means order or degrees he was converted 7. They that forsake these terms of Church entrance left us by Christ and his Apostles and used by all the Churches in the world and reject those that shew the Title of such a Profession for want of something more and set up other stricter terms of their own as necessary to discover mens conversion and sincerity are guilty of Church tyranny against men and usurpation against Christ And of making Engines to divide the Churches seeing there will never be agreement on any humane devised terms but some will be of one size and some of another when they forsake the terms of Christ. 8. Yet if the Pastor shall see cause upon suspicion of hypocrisie ad melius esse to put divers questions to one man more than to another and to desire further satisfaction the Catechumens ought in conscience to answer him and endeavour his satisfaction For a Minister is not tyed up to speak only such or such words to the penitent And he that should say I will answer you no further than to repeat the Creed doth give a man reason to suppose him either Ignorant or Proud and to suspend the reception of him though not to deny it But still ad esse no terms must be imposed as necessary on the Church but what the Holy Ghost by the Apostles hath established Quest. 16. What is necessary to a mans reception into Membership in a particular Church over and above this foresaid title Whether any other Tryals or Covenant or what 1. A Particular Church is a regular Part of the Universal as a City of a Kingdom or a Troop of an Army 2. Every man that is a member of the particular Church is a member of the Universal but every one that is a member of the Universal Church is not a member of a particular 3. Every particular Church hath its own particular Pastor one or more and its own particular place or bounds of habitation or residence Therefore he that will be a member of a particular Church 1. Must cohabite or live in a proximity capable of Communion 2. And must Consent to be a member of that particular Church and to be under the Guidance of its particular Pastors in their Office work For he cannot be made a member without his own Consent and Will nor can he be a member that subjecteth not himself to the Governour or Guide 4. He therefore that will intrude into their Communion and priviledges without expressing his consent before hand to be a member and to submit to the Pastoral oversight is to be taken for an invader 5. But no other personal qualification is to be exacted of him as necessary but that he be a member of the Church Universal As he is not to be baptized again so neither to give again all that account of his Faith and Repentance particularly which he gave at Baptism Much less any higher proofs of his sincerity But if he continue in the Covenant and Church-state which he was Baptized into he is capable thereby of reception into any particular Church upon particular Consent Nor is there any Scripture proof of any new examinations about their Conversion or sincerity at their removals or enterance into a particular Church 6. But yet because he is not now lookt on only as a Covenant-maker as he was at Baptism but also as a Covenant-keeper or performer therefore if any can prove that he is false to his Baptismal Covenant by Apostasie Heresie or a wicked life he is to be refused till he be Absolved upon his renewed repentance 7. He that oft professeth to Repent and by oft revolting into mortal sin that is sin which sheweth a state of death doth shew that he was not sincere must afterward shew his Repentance by actual amendment before he can say it is his due to be believed 8. Whether you will call this Consent to particular Church Relation and â—ury by the name of a Conant or not is but lis de nomine It is no more than mutual Consent that is necessary to be expressed And mutual Consent expressed may be called a Covenant 9. Ad melius esse the more express the Consent or Covenant is the better For in so great matters men should know what they do and deal above board Especially when experience telleth us that ignorance and Imagery is ready to eat out the heart of Religion in almost all the Churches in the world But yet ad esse Churches must see that they feign or make no more Covenants necessary than God hath made because humane unnecessary inventions have so long distracted and laid waste the Churches of Christ. 10. The Pastors Consent must concurr with the persons to be received For it must be mutual Consent Matth. 28. 19 â—0 And as none can be a member so none may be a Pastor against his will And though he be under Christs Laws what persons to receive and is not arbitrary to do what he list yet he is the Heb. 13. 7. 17. 1 Theâ—â— 5. 12 1â— Guide of the Church and the discerner of his own duty And a Pastor may have reasons to refuse to take a man into his particular Charge without rejecting him as unworthy Perhaps he may 1 Tim. 5. 17. already have more in number than he can well take care of And other such Reasons may fall out 11. In those Countreys where the Magistrates Laws and common consent do take
who converse with no wiser men are ordinarily taken with the silly cavils of a drunken sot who hath but a little more volubility or looseness of tongue than his companions It would make ones head and heart to ake to hear with what reverend non-sence one of them will talk against the doctrines or practices of Godliness and how submissively the tractable herd receiveth and consenteth to his documents § 13. 13. Also it tendeth much to the helping of Satan and mudering of souls to keep up the reputation of the most ungodly and to keep down the reputation of the good The Devil knoweth that sin it self is such a thing as few men can love bare-faced or commend And that Goodness or Holiness is such a thing as few men can hate or at least condemn in its proper name and colours Therefore he seeketh to make the reputation of the Persons serve to promote or hinder the Cause which he is for or against He that is ashamed to say of Drunkenness or Whoredom that they are good and honest practices dare yet say of Drunkards and Whoremongers They are very honest men And by their reputation take off some of the odiousness of the sin and reconcile the hearers to it And he that cannot for shame say of the forbearing of sin and living a holy life in Heavenly contemplation prayer and obedience that These are hypocrisie schism or sedition covetousness deceit and pride Yet dare say of the person who practiseth them that He is as Covetous deceitful proud hypocritical schismatical or seditious as any others who make no profession of religion And the Devil knoweth that though good doctrine hath no mixture of Evil nor Christ himself any blemish or spot yet the best persons are so faulty or defectible that an ill report of them is less incredible there being too much matter to raise a suspicion on And through their sides it is easiest to wound the doctrine or holiness which they profess § 14. 14. Also perswading sinners to do evil and disswading them from a Godly life is another way of murdering souls The Devils Temptations are most by instruments He hath his Preachers as well as Christ And it were well if they did not overgoe us in earnestness frequency and constancy Where is there a poor soul that is moved by God to Turn and Live but the devil hath some at hand to drive them from it by perswading them that it is needless and that all is well with them and telling them some dismal stories of a holy life § 15. 15. Another way of soul murder is by laying baits of deceit and sin before the sinner As men destroy Rats and Mice by baits and sweetned poyson or catch Fishes or Birds by covering their death with something which they most love So doth the Devil and his instruments destroy souls the baits of a pleasant cup or pleasant company or pleasant meats or pleasant sports or Playes or Games A Feast a Tavern an Ale-house a Whore a Stage-play a Romance a pair of Cards or Dice can do the deed If he can possibly he will prove it a thing lawful If he cannot he will prove it a venial sin If that cannot be he will drown consideration and stop the mouth of Reason and Conscience and cry Drive on Some have yet higher baits than these Lordships and Lands Dominion and Honour to choak their souls § 16. 16. Also an honest name for sin and a dishonest name for duty to God doth serve the turn for many mens perdition To call drunkenness good fellowship or to take a Cup and Gluttony good house keeping and voluptuousness recreation or pastime and pride the maintaining of their honour and worldliness good husbandry and prodigality liberality and lust and whoredome Love and having a Mistris and oppression the seeking of their due and perfidious dissimulation Courtship and jeering Wittiness These and more such are traps for souls And of the same use is the calling of duties by names of vice which tend to make them odious or contemptible § 17. 17. Also the flattering of sinners and praising them in their sin is a soul murdering encouragement to them in ill doing And great sinners seldome want such enemies § 18. 18 An obedient readiness to all that wicked Superiours command is an encouragement to them to proceed in mischief If Parents or Masters command their inferiours to spend the Lords Day in dancing or other unlawful exercises or bid them steal or lye or forbid them to worship God those that obey them do harden them in their sin As Daniel and the three Witnesses had done Dan. 3. 6. the King if they had obeyed him § 19. 19. Also when those that have power to hinder sin and further godliness do not do it When they either give men leave to sin or forbear their duty when they should restrain it He that stands by and seeth his neighbour robbed or murdered and doth not what he can to save him is guilty of the sin and the sufferers hurt § 20. 20. Silence when we are obliged to reprove a sinner or to instruct the ignorant or exhort the obstinate or any way speak for mens salvation is injurious to their souls and maketh us partakers of their sin Soul murder may be done by bare omissions § 21. 21. Opposing Magistrates Ministers or any others in the discharge of their duty for godliness or against sin is an act of hostility against God and mens salvation § 22. 22. An unnecessary occasioning of sin or doing that needlesly which we may foresee that by accident another will destroy himself by is to be guilty of his sin and destruction As he is that would sell poyson to him that he might forsee would kill himself with it or lend fire to his neighbour who he knoweth will burn his house with it But of this before in the Chapter of Scandal § 23. 23. They that are guilty of Schisms or Church-divisions or murderers of souls By depriving John 17. 21 25. them of that means the concord and harmony of believers which God hath appointed for mens conviction and salvation and by setting up before them the greatest scandal to bring Religion into contempt and debilitate the godly § 24. 24. Those also that mourn not for the sins of the times and confess them not to God and Ezek. 9. 4. Zeph. 3. 17 18. pray not against them and pray not for the sinners when they ought are thus guilty § 25. 25. And so are they that secretly rejoyce in sin or consent to it or approve it when it is done which if they manifest it is pernicious to others also § 26. 26. Lastly A coldness or indifferency in the doing of our duty against sin without just zeal and pity to the sinner and reverence to the truth is a way of guilt and hurteth others To reprove sin as Eli did his sons or to speak against it lightly as between jeast and earnest
consenting to it which is Repentance and saith being the very condition of the present reception of these benefits And therefore it is that the antient Writers still affirmed that all the Baptized were regenerated justified and adopted Whether an adult person be truly fit for Baptism Lege quamplutima veterum testimonia in D. Gatakero contra Davenantium de Baptismo or not the Pastor that baptizeth is to judge And he must see the credible signs of true faith and repentance before he baptize him which are no other than his understanding voluntary sober profession of consent to the Baptismal Covenant But when he is baptized and professeth to stand to that Covenant once made he is to be judged a godly person by all the Church-members who have not sufficient proof of the contrary Because if he be sincere in what he did and still professeth he is certainly godly And whether he be sincere or not he himself is the best and regular Judge or discerner so far as to put in his claim to Baptism which the Pastor is obliged not to deny him without disproving him And the Pastor is Judge as to his actual admittance And therefore the people have nothing necessarily to do but know whether he be baptized and stand to his baptism For which they are to take him as sincere Unless by his notorious discovery of the contrary they can disprove him These are not only the true terms of Church-communion but of Love to the godly And though this goeth hardly down with some good men who observe how few of the baptized seem to be seriously religious and therefore they think that a Visible Church member as such is not at all to be accounted sincere that is to be believed in his profession and that we owe him not the special love which is due to the godly but only a common love due only to professors without respect to their sincerity Yet this opinion will not hold true Nor is a profession required without respect to the truth or falshood of it the credibility of it being the very reason that it is requisite Nor is it any other faith or consent to the Covenant below that which is sincere and saving which must be professed by all that will be taken for Church-members And though those that are of the contrary opinion are afraid leâ—t this will occasion too much strictness in the Pastors in judging whose Profession is credible and consequently will countenance separation in the people yet God hath provided a sufficient remedy against that fear by making every man the opener of his own heart and tying us by the Law of Nature and of Scripture to take every mans Profession for credible which is sober understanding and voluntary unless they can disprove it or prove him a lyar and perfidious and incredible And whereas it is a latitude of Charity which bringeth them to the contrary opinion for fear lest the incredible professors of Christianity should be all excluded from the Visible Church yet indeed it is but the Image of Charity to bring Catechumens into the Church as to set the Boys of the lowest Form among them that are in their Greek and to deny all special Christian Love to all Visible members of the Church as such and to think that we are not bound to take any of them as Disputations of Right to Sacraments such to be sincere or in the favour of God or justified for fear of excluding those that are not But of this I have written largely in a Treatise on this subject Quest. 5. Must we take all Visible-Church-members alike to be godly and love them equally Quest. 5. Answ. No There are as many various degrees of credit due to their profession as there are various degrees of credibility in it Some manifest their sincerity by such full and excellent evidences in a holy life that we are next to certain that they are sincere And some make a profession so ignorantly so coldly and blot it by so many false Opinions and Vices that our fear of them may be greater than our hope Of whom we can only say that we are not altogether hopeless of their sincerity and therefore must use them as godly men because we cannot prove the contrary but yet admonish them of their danger as having much cause to fear the worst And there may be many notorious wicked men in some Churches through the Pastors fault for want of Discipline And these for order sake we must assemble with but not dissemble with them and our own consciences so as to take them for godly men when the contrary is notorious nor yet to admit them to our familiarity The Pastor hath the keys of the Church but we have the keyes of our own houses and hearts Quest. 6. Must we love all equally that seem truly godly the strong and the weak Quest. 6. Answ. No he that loveth men for their holiness will love them according to the degrees of their holiness as far as he can discern it Quest. 7. Must we love him more who hath much grace or holiness and is little useful for want of Quest. 7. gifts or him that hath less grace and eminent useful gifts Answ. They must both be loved according to the diversity of their goodness He that hath most grace is best and therefore most to be loved in himself But as a Means to the conversion of souls and the honour of God in the good of others the man that hath the most eminent gifts must be most loved The first is more loved in and for his own goodness The second is more lovely propter aliud as a means to that which is more loved than either of them Quest. 8. Must we love him as a godly man who liveth in any great or mortal sin Quest. 8. Answ. Every man must be loved as he is If by a mortal sin be meant a sin inconsistent with the Love of God and a state of grace then the question is no question it being a contradiction which is in question But if by a great and mortal sin be meant only this or that act of sinning and the question be Whether that act be mortal that is inconsistent with true grace or not Then the particular act with the circumstances must be considered before that question can be answered Murder is one of the most heinous sins And one man may be guilty of it out of deliberate habituate malice and another through a sudden passion and another through meer inadvertency carelesness and negligence Stealing may be done by one man presumptuously and by another meerly to save the life of himself or his children These will not equally prove a man in a state of death and without true grace And which is a mortal sin inconsistent with the life of Grace and which not is before spoken to and belongeth not to this place Only I shall say that the sin be it great or
works of charity both because the Tythes are now more appropriate to the maintenance of the Clergy and because as is aforesaid the people give them not out of their own I confess if we consider how Decimation was used before the Law by Abraham and Iacob and established by the Law unto the Iews and how commonly it was used among the Gentiles and last of all by the Church of Christ it will make a considerate man imagine that as there is still a Divine Direction for one day in seven as a necessary proportion of Time to be ordinarily consecrated to God besides what we can spare from our other dayes so that there is something of a Divine Canon or direction for the Tenth of our revenews or increase to be ordinarily consecrated to God besides what may be spared from the rest And whether those Tythes that are none of your own and cost you nothing be now to be reckoned to â—rivate men as any of their Tenths which they themselves should give I leave to your consideratiâ—â— Amongst Augustines works we find an opinion that the Devils were the Tenth part of the Angels and that man is now to be the Tenth order among the Angels the Saints filling up the place that the Devils fell from and there being nine orders of Angels to be above us and that in this there is some ground of our paying Tenths and therefore he saith that Haec est Domini justissima consuetudo ut si tu illi decimam non dederis tu ad decimam revocaberis id est daemonibus qui sunt decima pars angelorum associaberis Though I know not whence he had this opinion it seemeth that the devoting of a tenth part ordinarily to God is a matter that we have more than a humane Direction for 15. In times of extraordinary necessities of the Church or State or Poor there must be extraordinary bounty in our Contributions As if an enemy be ready to invade the Land or if some extraordinary work of God as the Conversion of some Heathen Nations do require it or some extraordinary persecution and distress befall the Pastours or in a year of famine plague or war when the necessities of the poor are extraordinary The tenths in such cases will not suffice from those that have more to give Therefore in such a time the Primitive Christians sold their possessions and laid down the price at the feet of the Apostles In one word an honest charitable heart being presupposed as the root or fountain and prudence being the discerner of our duty the Apostles general Rule may much satisfie a Christian for the proportion 1 Cor. 16. 2. Let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him And 2 Cor. 8. 12. According to that a man hath though there be many intimations that ordinarily a Tenth part at least is requisite III. Having thus resolved the question of the quota pars or proportion to be given I shall say a little to the question Whether a man should give most in his life time or at his Death Answ. 1. It is certain that the best work is that which is like to do most good 2. But to make it best to us it is necessary that we do it with the most self-denying holy charitable mind 3. That caeteris paribus all things else being equal the present doing of a good work is better than to defer it 4. That to do good only when you dye because then you can keep your wealth no longer and because then it costeth you nothing to part with it and because then you hope that this shall serve instead of true Repentance and Godliness this is but to deceive your selves and will do nothing to save your souls though it do never so much good to others 5. That he that sinfully neglecteth in his life time to do good if he do it at his death from true repentance and Conversion it is then accepted of God though the sin of his delay must be lamented 6. That he that delayeth it till Death not out of any selfishness backwardness or unwillingness but that the work may be the better and do more good doth better than if he hastened a lesser good As if a man have a desire to set up a Free School for perpetuity and the money which he hath is not sufficient if he stay till his Death that so the improvement of the money may increase it and make it enough for his intended work this is to do a greater good with greater self-denial For 1. He receiveth none of the increase of the money for himself 2. And he receiveth in his life time none of the praise or thanks of the work So also if a man that hath no Children have so much Land only as will maintain him and desireth to give it all to charitable uses when he dyeth this delay is not at all to be blamed because he could not sooner give it and if it be not in vain-glory but in love to God and to good works that he leaveth it it is truly acceptable at last So that all good works that are done at death are not therefore to be undervalued nor are they rejected of God but sometimes it falleth out that they are so much the greater and better works though he that can do the same in his life time ought to do it IV. But though I have spent all these words in answering these Questions I am fully satisfied that it is very few that are kept from doing good by any such doubt or difficulty in the case which stalls their judgements but by the power of sin and want of grace which leaveth an unwillingness and backwardness on their hearts Could we tell how to remove the impediments in mens wills it would do more than the clearest resolving all the cases of Conscience which their judgements seem to be unsatisfied in I le tell you what are the impediments in your way that are harder to be removed than all these difficulties and yet must be overcome before you can bring men to be like true Christians rich in good works 1. Most men are so sensual and so selfish that their own flesh is an insatiable gulf that devoureth all and they have little or nothing to spare from it to good uses It is better cheap maintaining a family of temperate sober persons than one fleshly person that hath a whole litter of vices and lusts to be maintained So much a year seemeth necessary to maintain their pride in needless curiosity and bravery and so much a year to maintain their sensual sports and pleasures and so much to please their throats or appetites and to lay in provision for Feavers and Dropsies and Coughs and Consumptions and an hundred such diseases which are the natural progeny of gluttony drunkenness and excess and so much a year to maintain their Idleness and so of many other vices But if one of these persons have the Pride
bring an exceeding great dammage upon his Master as by dropping asleep to burn his house or by an hours delay which seemed not very dangerous to frustrate some great business he is obliged to Reparation as well as to Confession but not to make good all that is lost but according to the proportion of his fault But he that by oppression or robbery taketh that which is anothers or bringeth any dammage to him or by slander false witness or any such unrighteous means is bound to make a fuller satisfaction And those that concur in the injury being accessories are bound to satisfie As 1. Those that teach or command another to do it 2. Those who send a Commission or authorize another to do it 3. Those who counsel exhort or perswade another to do it 4. Who by consenting are the causes of it 5. Those who co-operate and assist in the injury knowingly and voluntarily 6. Those who hinder it not when they could and were obliged to do it 7. Those who make the act their own by owning it or consenting afterward 8. Those who will not reveal it afterwards that the injured party may recover his own when they are obliged to reveal it But a secret consent which no way furthered the injury obligeth none to restitution but only to repentance because it did no wrong to another but it was a sin against God Quest. 4. To whom must restitution or satisfaction be made Quest. 4. Answ. 1. To the true Owner if he be living and to be found and it can be done 2. If that cannot Heb. 5. 23. 1 Sam. 12. 3. Neh. 5. 11. Numb 5. 8. Luke 19. 8. be then to his heirs who are the possessors of that which was his 3. If that cannot be then to God himself that is to the poor or unto pious uses For the possessor is no true Owner of it And therefore where no other Owner is found he must discharge himself so of it to the use of the highest and principal Owner as may be most agreeable to his will and interest Quest. 5. What Restitution should he make who hath dishonoured his Governours or Parents Quest. 5. Answ. He is bound to do all that he can to repair their honour by suitable means and to confess his fault and crave their pardon Quest. 6. How must satisfaction be made for slanders lyes and infaming of others Quest. 6. Answ. By confessing the sin and unsaying what was said not only as openly as it was spoken but as far as it is since carryed on by others and as far as the reparation of your neighbours good name requireth if you are able Quest. 7. What reparation must they make who have tempted others to sin and hurt their souls Quest. 7. Answ. 1. They must do all that is in their power to recover them from sin and to do good to their souls They must go to them and confess and lament the sin and tell them the evil and danger of it and incessantly strive to bring them to repentance 2. They must make reparation to the Lord of souls by doing all the good they can to others that they may help more than they have hurt Quest. 8. What reparation can or must be made for Murder or Man-slaughter Quest. 8. Answ. By Murder there is a manifold dammage inferred 1. God is deprived of the life of his servant 2. The person is deprived of his life 3. The King is deprived of a Subject 4. The Common-wealth is deprived of a member 5. The friends and kindred of the dead are deprived of a friend 6. And perhaps also damnified in their estates All these dammages cannot be fully repaired by the offender but all must be done that can be done 1. Of God he can only beg pardon upon the account of the satisfactory sacrifice of Christ expressing true repentance as followeth 2. To the person murdered no reparation can be made 3. To the King and Common-wealth he must patiently yield up his life if they sentence him to death and without repining and think it not too dear to become a warning to others that they sin not as he did 4. To disconsolate friends no reparation can be made but pardon must be asked 5. The dammage of heirs kindred and creditorr must be repaired by the offenders estate as far as he is able Quest. 9. Is a Murderer bound to offer himself to death before he is apprehended Quest. 9. Answ. Yes in some cases As 1. When it is necessary to save another that is falsly accused of the crime 2. Or when the interest of the Common-wealth requireth it But otherwise not Because an offender may lawfully accept of mercy and nature teacheth him to desire his own preservation But if the question be When doth the interest of the Common-wealth require it I think much ofter than it is done As the common-interest requireth that murderers be put to death when apprehended So it requireth that they may not frequently and easily be hid or escape by secresie or flight For then it would embolden others to murder whereas when few escape it will more effectually deter men If therefore any murderers conscience shall constrain him in true repentance voluntarily to come forth and confess his sin and yield up himself to justice and exhort others to take heed of sinning as he did I cannot say that he did any more than his duty in so doing And indeed I think that it is ordinarily a duty and that ordinarily the interest of the Common wealth requireth it though in some cases it may be otherwise The execution of the Laws against Murder is so necessary to preserve mens lives that I do not think that self-preservation alone will allow men to defeat the Common-wealth of so necessary a means of preserving the lives of many to save the life of one who hath no right to his own life as having forfeited it If to shift away other murderers from the hand of Justice be a sin I cannot see but that it is so ordinarily to do it for ones self Only I think that if a true penitent person have just cause to think that he may do the Common-wealth more service by his life than by his death that then he may conceal his crime or fly But otherwise not Quest. 10. Is a Murderer bound to do execution on himself if the Magistrate upon his confession do Quest. 10. not Answ. No because it is the Magistrate who is the appointed Judge of the publick interest and what is necessary to its reparation and hath power in certain cases to pardon And though a murderer may not ordinarily strive to defeat Gods Laws and the Commonwealth yet he may accept of mercy when it is offered him Quest. 11. What satisfaction is to be made by a Fornicator or Adulterer Quest. 11. Answ. Chastity cannot be restored nor corrupted honour repaired But 1. If it was a sin by mutual consent the party
us Q. 9. May be pray for Grace who desireth it not Q. 10. May he pray that doubteth of his interest in God and dare not call him Father as his Child Q. 11. May a wicked man pray or is he ever accepted Q. 12. May a wicked man use the Lords Prayer Q. 13. Is it Idolatry or sin alwayes to pray to Saints or Angels Q. 14. Must the same man pray secretly that hath before prayed in his family Q. 15. Is it best to keep set hours for prayer Q 16. May we joyn in family prayers with ungodly persons Q. 17 What if the Master or speaker be ungodly or a Heretick Q. 18. May we pray absolutely for outward mercies or only conditionally Q. 19. May we pray for all that we may lawfully desire Q. 20. How may we pray for the salvation of all the world Q. 21. Or for the Conversion of all Nations Q. 22. Or that a whole Kingdom may be converted and saved Q. 23. Or for the destruction of the enemies of Christ or the Kingdom Q. 24. What is to be judged of a particular faith Q. 25. Is every lawful prayer accepted Q. 26. With what faith must I pray for the souls or bodies of others Q. 27. With what faith may we pray for the Continuance of the Church or Gospel Q. 28. How to know when our prayers are heard Q. 29. How to have fulness and constant supply of matter in our prayers Q 30. How to keep up fervency in prayer Q 31. May we look to speed ever the better for any thing in our selves or our prayers Or may we put any trust in them Q. 32. How must that person and prayer be qualified which God will accept to p. 598 Tit. 3. Special Directions for family prayer ibid. Tit. 4. Special Directions for secret prayer p. 599 CHAP XXIV Directions fâ—r families about the Sacrament of the Lords Supper p. 600 What are the Ends of the Sacrament What are the Parts of it Q. 1. Should not the Sacrament have â—â—â—â— preparation than the other parts of worship Q 2. How oft should it be administred Q. 3. Must all members of the visible Church communicate Q. 4. May any man receive it that knoweth himself unsanctified Q. 5. May an ungodly man receive it that knoweth not himself to be ungodly Q. 6. Must a Christian receive who doubteth of his sincerity Q. 7. What if Superiours compell a doubting Christian to receive it by excommunication or imprisonment What should be choose Q. 8. Is not the case of an hypocrite that knoweth not himself to be an hypocrite and of the sincere who knoweth not himself to be sincere all one as to communicating Q. 9. Wherein lyeth the sin of an ungâ—dly person if he receive Q. 10. Doth all unworthy receiving make one lyable to damnation or what Q 11. What is the particular preparation needful to a fit Communicant p. 653. Marks of sincerity ibid. Preparing duties Q 1. May we receive from an ungodly Minister Q 2. May we communicate with unworthy persons in an undisciplined Church Q. 3. What if I cannot communicate unless I conform to an imposed gesture as sitting standing or kneeling Q. 4. What if I cannot receive it but as administered by the Common Prayer Q. 5. If my conscience be not satisfied may I come doubting Obj. Is it not a duty to follow conscience as Gods Officer What to do in the time of administration 1. What Graces must be exercised 2. On what objects 3. The Season and Order of Sacramental duties ad p. 610 CHAP. XXV Directions for fearful troubled Christians who are perplexed with doubts of their sincerity and justification Causes and Cure p. 612 CHAP. XXVI Directions for declining back-sliding Christians about perseverance p. 616 The way of falling into Sects and Heresies and Errors And of declining in Heart and Life Signs of declining Signs of a graceless state Dangerous signs of impenitency False signs of declining Motives against declining Directions against it p. 616 Tit. 2. Directions for perseverance or to prevent back-sliding p. 618 Antidotes against those doctrines of presumption which would binder our perseverance p. 623 CHAP. XXVII Directions for the poor The Temptations of the poor The special Duties of the poor p. 627 CHAP. XXVIII Directions for the Rich. p. 632 CHAP. XXIX Directions for the weak and aged p. 634 CHAP. XXX Directions for the sick p. 637 Tit. 1. Directions for a safe death to secure salvation I. For the unconverted in their sickness A sad case 1. For Examination 2. For Repentance 3. For faith in Christ 4. For a new heart love to God and resolution for obedience Q. Will â—ate Repentance serve the turn in such a case II. Directions to the Gâ—dly for a safe departure Their Temptations to be resisted p. 637 Tit. 2. How to profit by our sickness p 642 Tit. 3. Directions for a comfortable or peaceable Death p. 644. Directions for resisting the Temptations of Satan in time of sickness p. 648 Tit. 4. Directions for doing good to others in our sickness p. 651 CHAP. XXXI Directions to the friends of the sick that are about them p. 653 Q. Can Physick lengthen mens lives Q. Is it meet to make known to the sick their danger of death Q Must we tell bad men of their sin and misery when it may exasperate the disease by troubling them Q. What can be done in so short a time Q. What to do in doubtful cases Q. What order should be observed in counselling the ignorant and ungodly when time is so short Helps against excessive sorrow for the death of friends Yea of the worst A Form of Exhortation to be read in Sickness to the Ungodly or those that we justly fear are such p. 657 A Form of Exhortation to the Godly in Sickness For their comfort Their dying groans and joyes p. 662 TOME III. Christian Ecclesiasticks PART I. CHAP. I. OF the Worship of God in General The Nature and Reasons of it and Directions for it How to know right Ends in worship c. p. 673 CHAP. II. Directions about the Manner of worship to avoid all corruptions and false unacceptable worshipping of God p. 680. The disadvantages of ungodly men in judging of holy worship Q. How far the Scriptures are the Rule or Law of Worship and Discipline and how far not Instances of things undetermined in Scripture What Commands of Scripture are not universal or perpetual May danger excuse from duty and when Rules for the right manner CHAP. III. Directions about the Christian Covenant with God and Baptism p. 688. The Covenant what The Parties Matter Terms Forms necessary Modes Fruits c. External Baptism what Compleat Baptism what Of Renewing the Covenant CHAP. IV. Directions about the Profession of our Religion to others The greatness of the duty of open Profession VVhen and how it must be made p. 692 CHAP. V. Directions about Vows and particular Covenants with God p. 694 VVhat a Vow is The sorts of
secret to another Q. 4. Must I keep a secret when I am trusted with it but promise it not Q. 5. What if a secret be revealed to me without desire to conceal it Q. 6. What if it be against the King or State Q. 7. What if it be against the good of a third person Q. 8. What if a man in Debt do trust his Estate with me to defraud his Creditors Q. 9. What if a delinquent intrust his Person or Estate with me to secure it from penalty Q. 10. What if a friend entrust his Estate with me to secure it from some great Taxes to the King Q. 11. What if a man that suffereth for Religion commit his person or Estate to my trust Q. 12. If a Papist or erroneous person entrust me to Educate his Children in his errour when he is dead I being of his mind must I perform it when I am better informed Q. 13. What if one turn Papist c. after another hath committed his Children to him Q. 14. Must I wrong my Estate to satisfie a dying friend in taking a trust Q. 15. What if after the trust prove more to my hurt than I could foresee Q. 16. What if he cast the trust on me without my promise to accept it Q 17. May I not ease my self of a trust of Orphanes by casting it on the surviving kindred if they calumniate me as unfaithful Tit. 2. Directions about Trusts and Secrets p. 166 CHAP. XXVI Directions against SELFISHNESS as it is contrary to the love of our Neighbour The nature and evil of the sin and the Cure ibid. CHAP. XXVII Cases and Directions for Loving our Neighbours as our selves p. 168 Tit. 1. The Cases Q 1. How must I Love another as my self in degree or kind or only reality Q. 2. What is the true nature of Love to my self and others Q. 3. If none must be Loved above their worth how doth God love sinners Q. 4. Must I love all in degree as much as my self Q. 5. Must I love any more than my self Q. 6. Must I love other mens Wife Children c. better than my own when they are better Q. 7. Who is that Neighbour whom I must love as my self Q. 8. Must we Love and pray for Antichrist and those that sin against the Holy Ghost Q. 9. Must we not hate Gods enemies Q. 10. May I not wish hurt to another more than to my self p. 168 Tit. 2. Directions to Love our Neighbours as our selves p. 171 Tit. 3. The Reasons and Motives of Love to our Neighbour ibid. CHAP. XXVIII Cases of and Directions for the Love of Godly persons as such p. 173 Tit. The Cases Q. 1. How can we love the Godly when none can know another to be sincere Q. 2. Must we Love them as Godly that give no account of the time manner or means of their Conversion Q. 3. What if they are so ignorant that they know not what faith repentance conversion c. are Q. 4. Must I take the Visible members of the Church for truly Godly Q. 5. Must we take all visible members equally to be Godly and Lovely Q. 6. Must we love all equally strong and weak that seem sincere Q. 7. Must we love those better that have much grace and little useful gifts or those that have less grace and more profitable gifts for the Church Q. 8. Must we love him as Godly who liveth in any heinous sin Q. 9. Must an Excommunicate person be Loved as Godly or not Q. 10. Can an unsanctified man truly Love a Godly man Q. 11. Can he love him because he is Godly Q. 12. May he love a Godly man because he would make him Godly Q. 13. Doth any such love the Godly more than others Q. 14. Do all true Christians love all the Godly that wrong them or differ from them Q. 15. What is that love of the Godly which proveth our sincerity and which no Hypocrite can reach to Tit. 2. Directions for true Loving the Children of God p. 176 Tit. 3. Motives or Meditative helps to Love the Godly p. 177 Tit. 4. The hindâ—rances and enemies of Christian Loâ—â— p. 178 Tit. 5. The Counterfeits of Christian Love p. 179 Tit. 6 â—ases and Directions for Intimate special friends p. 180 Q. 1. Is it lawful to have an earnest desire to be loved by others Especially by some one above all others Q. 2. Is it lawful meet or desirable to entertain that extraordinary affection to any which is called spâ—cial Friendship or to have one endeared intimate friend whom we prefer before all others Q. 3. Is it meet to have more bosome friends than â—e Q. 4. Is it meet for him to choose any other bosome friend that hath a pious Wife and is any so fit for this friendship as a Wife Q. 5. Is it meet to Love a friend for our own commodity Must I or my friend be the chief end of my Love or friendship Q. 6. May we keep any secret from such a friend or have any suspicion of him or suppose that he may prove unfaithful Q. 7. May we change an old bosome friend for a nâ—w one Q. 8. What Love is due to a Minister that hath been the means of my Conversion Q. 9. What is the sin and danger of Loving another too much Q. 10. What must be the Qualifications of a bosome friend Twenty things necessary to such friendship so rare as prove it rare Directions for the right use of special friendship p. 184 CHAP. XXIX Cases and Directions for Loving Enemies and doing them good beside what is said before Chap. 9. of forgiving them p. 189 Tit. 1. Q. 1. Whom must I account and Love as an Enemy Q. 2. Why and how must an Enemy be loved Q. 3. Must I dâ—sire God to forgive him while he repenteth not Q. 4. What if he be my Enemy for Religion and so an Enemy to God Q. 5. What if my benefits enable and embolden him to do hurt Q. 6. May I not hurt an Enemy in my own Defence and wish him as much hurt as I may do him Q. 7. Must Kings and States Love their Enemies How then shall they make Waâ— Tit. 2. Motives to Love and do good to Enemies p. 187 Tit. 3. Directions for the practice p. 188 CHAP. XXX Cases and Directions about works of Charity p. 189 Tit. 1. The Cases Q. 1. What are the Grounds and Motives of good works Q. 2. What is a good work which God hath promised to reward Q. 3. What particular good works should one choose at this time that would best improve his masters stock Q. 4. In what order must we do good works and who must be preferred Q. 5. Is it better to give in life time or at death Q. 6. and 7. Must we devote a certain proportion of our incomes and what proportion A Letter to Mr. Gouge on that question p. â—92 Tit. 2. Directions for works of Charity besides those Tom. 1. Ch. 3.
carrieth thee to the place No one forceth thee to sin If thou do it it is because thou wilt do it and lovest it If thou be in good earnest with God and wilt be saved indeed and art not content to part with Heaven for thy cups and company away with them presently without delay § 4. Hast thou lived in wantonness fornication uncleanness gluttony gaming pastimes sensuality to the pleasing of thy flesh while thou hast displeased God O bless the Patience and Mercy of the Lord that thou wast not cut off all this while and damned for thy sin before thou didst repent And as thou lovest thy soul delay no longer but make a stand and go no further not one step further in the way which thou knowest leads to Hell If thou knowest that this is the way to thy damnation and yet wilt go on what pity dost thou deserve from God or man § 5. If thou have been a Covetous Wordling or an Ambitious seeker of honour or preferment in the world so that thy gain or rising or reputation hath been the game which thou hast followed and hath taken thee up instead of God and life eternal away now with these known deceits and hunt not after Vanity and Vexation Thou knowest before hand what it will prove when thou hast overtaken it and hast enjoyed all that it can yield thee and how useless it will be as to thy comfort or happiness at last § 6. Surely if men were willing they are able to forbear such sins and to make a stand and look before them to prevent their misery Therefore God thus pleadeth with them Isa. 1. 16 17 18. Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well c. Isa. 55 2 3. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fatness Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you V. 6 7. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found Call ye upon him while he is near Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Christ supposeth that the foresight of judgement may restrain men from sin when he saith Sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee John 5. 14. 8. 11. Can the presence of men restrain a Fornicator and the presence of the Judge restrain a Thief yea or the foresight of the Assizes And shall not the presence of God with the foresight of judgement and damnation restrain thee Remember that impenitent sin and damnation are conjoyned If you will cause one God will cause the other Choose one and you shall not choose whether you will have the other If you will have the Serpent you shall have the sting Direction 15. IF thou have sincerely given up thy self to God and consented to his Covenant shew it Direct 15. by turning the face of thy endeavours and conversation quite another way and by seeking Heaven more fervently and diligently than ever thou soughtest the world or fleshly pleasures § 1. Holiness consisteth not in a meer forbearance of a sensual life but principally in living unto God The principle or heart of Holiness is within and consisteth in the Love of God and of his Word and Wayes and Servants and Honour and Interest in the world and in the souls delight in God and the Word and Wayes of God and in its inclination towards him and desire after him and care to please him and lothness to offend him The expression of it in our lives consisteth in the constant diligent exercise of this internal life according to the directions of the Word of God If thou be a believer and hast subjected thy self to God as thy absolute Soveraign King and Judge it will then be thy work to obey and please him as a Child his Father or a Servant his Master Mal. 1. 6. Do you think that God will have Servants and have nothing for them to do Will one of you commend or reward your servant for doing nothing and take it at the years end for a satisfactory answer or account if he say I have done no harm God calleth you not only to do no harm but to love and serve him with all your heart and soul and might If you have a better Master than you had before Aâ—osta faith that the Iâ—aiaâ—s are so addicted to their Idolatry and unwearied in it that he knoweth not what words can sufficiently declare how totally their minds are transformed into it no Whâ—re monger having so mad a love to his Whore as they to their Ido's so that neither in their idleness or their business neither in publick or in private will they do any thing till they have first used their Superstition to their Idols They will neither rejoyce at Weddings or mourn at Funerals neither make a Feast or partake of it not so much as move a foot out of doors or a hand to any work without this Heathemsh Sacriledge And all this they do with the greatest secrefie lest the Christians should know it Lib. 5. c. 8. p. 467. See here how nature teacheth all men that there is a Deity to be worshipped with all possible love and industry And shall the Worshippers of the true God then think it unnecessary preciseness to be as diligent and hearty in his service you should do more work than you did before Will you not serve God more zealoussy than you served the Devil Will you not labour harder to save your souls than you did to damn them Will you not be more zealous in good than you were in evil What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed For the end of those things is death Rom. 6. 21 22. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life If you are true Behâ—vers you have now laid up your hopes in Heaven and therefore will set yourselves to seek it as worldlings set themselves to seek the world And a sluggish wish with heartless lazy dull endeavours is no fit seeking of eternal joyes A creeping pace beseemeth not a man that is in the way to Heaven especially who went faster in the way to Hell This is not running as for our lives You may well be diligent and make haste where you have so great encouragement and help and where you may expect so good an end and where you are sure you shall never in life or death have cause to repent of any of your just endeavours and where every step of your way is pure and
clean and delectable and paved with mercies and fortified and secured by Divine protection and where Christ is your Conductor and so many have sped so well before you and the wisest and best in the world are your companions Live then as men that have changed their Master their end their hopes their way and work Religion layeth not men to sleep though it be the only way to Rest. It awakeneth the sleepy soul to higher thoughts and hopes and labours than ever it was well acquainted with before He that is in Christ is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. You never sought that which would pay for all your cost and diligence till now You never were in a way that you might make haste in without repenting of your haste till now How glad should you be that Mercy hath brought you into the right way after the wanderings of such a sinful life And your gladness and thankfulness should now be shewed by your cheerful diligence and zeal As Christ did not raise up Lazarus from the dead to do nothing or live to little purpose though the Scripture giveth us not the history of his life So did he not raise you from the death of sin to live idely or to be unprofitable in the world He that giveth you his Spirit to be a principle of heavenly life within you expecteth that you stir up the gift that he hath given you and live according to that heavenly principle Direction 16. ENgage thy self in the chearful constant use of the means and helps appointed by God Direct 16. for thy confirmation and salvation § 1. He can never expect to attain the end that will not be perswaded to use the means Of your selves you can do nothing God giveth his help by the means which he hath appointed and fitted to your help Of the use of these I shall treat more fully afterwards I am now only to name them to thee that thou maist know what it is that thou hast to do 1. That you must hear or read the Word of God and other good Books which expound it and How Paenitents of old did rise even from a particular sin judge by these words of Pacianus Paâ—â—â—â—â—â— ad Poeâ—â—t Bibl. Pat. To. 3. p. 74. You must not only do that which may be seen of the Priest and praised by the Bishop to weep before the Church to lament a lost or sinful life in a â—ordid garment to fast pray to role on the earth if any invite you to the Bath or such pleasures to refuse to go If any bid you to a Feast to say These things are for the happy I have sinned against God and am in danger to perish for ever What should I do at Banquets who have wronged the Lord Besides these you must take the poor by the hand you must beseech the Widdow lye at the feet of the Presbyters beg of the Church to forgive you and pray for you you must try all means rather than perish apply it I shewed you before The new born Christian doth encline to this as the new born child doth to the breast 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. Laying aside all malice and guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as new born babes that desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby Psal. 1. 2 3. The blessed mans delight is in the Law of the Lord and therein doth he meditate day and night § 2. 2. Another means is the publick worshipping of God in communion with his Church and people Besides the benefit of the word there preached the prayers of the Church are effectual for the members and it raiseth the soul to holy joyes to joyn with well ordered Assemblies of the Saints in the Praises of the Almighty The Assemblies of holy worshippers of God are the places of his delight and must be the places of our delight They are most like to the Celestial Society that sound forth the praises of the glorious Iebovah with purest minds and cheerful voice In his Temple doth every one speak of his glory Psal. 29. 9. In such a Chore what soul will not be rapt up with delight and desire to joyn in the consort and harmony In such a flame of united desires and praises what soul so cold and dull that will not be enflamed and with more than ordinary facility and alacrity fly up to God § 3. 3. Another means is private prayer unto God When God would tell Ananias that Paul was converted he saith of him Behold he prayeth Acts 9. 11. Prayer is the breath of the new creature The Spirit of Adoption given to every child of God is a Spirit of prayer and teacheth them to cry Abba Father and helpeth their infirmities when they know not what to pray as they ought and when words are wanting it as it were intercedeth for them with groans which they cannot express in words Gal. 4. 6. Rom. 8. 15 26 27. And God knoweth the meaning of the Spirit in those groans The first workings of grace are in Desires after grace provoking the soul to servent prayer by which more grace is speedily obtained Ask then and ye shall have seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you Luke 11. 9. § 4. 4. Another means to be used is Confession of sin not only to God for so every wicked man may do because he knoweth that God is already acquainted with it all and this is no addition to his shame He so little regardeth the eye of God that he is more ashamed when it is known to men But in three Cases Confession must be made also to Man 1. In case you have wronged man and are thus bound to make him satisfaction As if you have robbed him defrauded him slandered him or born false witness against him 2. In case you are Children or Servants that are under the government of Parents or Masters and are called by them to give an acount of your actions You are bound then to give a true account 3. In case you have need of the Counsel or Prayers of others for the setling of your consciences in peace In this case you must so far open your case to them as is necessary to their effectual help for your recovery For if they know not the disease they will be unfit to apply the remedy In these cases it is true that He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Prov. 28. 13. § 5. 5. Another Means to be used is the familiar company and holy converse with humble sincere experienced Christians The Spirit that is in them and breatheth and acteth by them will kindle the like holy flames in you Away with the company of idle prating sensual men that can talk of nothing but their worldly wealth or business or their reputations or their appetites and lusts
had not first taken away the sins of the world and reconciled them so far to God as to procure and tender them the pardon and salvation contained in his Covenant there had been no place for your Repentance nor faith nor prayers nor endeavours as to any hope of your salvation Your Believing would not have saved you nor indeed had any justifying object if he had not purchased you the promise and gift of pardon and salvation to all Believers § 2. Objection But perhaps you 'l say That if we had Loved God without a Saviour we should have been saved for God cannot hate and damn those that Love him To which I answer You could not have Loved God as God without a Saviour To have Loved him as the giver of your worldly prosperity with a Love subordinate to the Love of sin and your carnal selves and to Love him as one that you imagine so unholy and unjust as to give you leave to sin against him and prefer every Vanity before him this is not to Love God but to Love an Image of your own fantasie nor will it at all procure your salvation But to Love him as your God and Happiness with a superlative Love you could never have done without a Saviour For 1. Objectively God being not your Reconciled Father but your enemy engaged in Justice to damn you for ever you could not Love him as thus related to you because he could not seem amiable to you and therefore the damned hate him as their destroyer as the Thief or Murderer hates the Judge 2. And as to the Efficiency your blinded minds and depraved wills could never have been restored so far to their rectitude as to have Loved God as God without the teaching of Christ and the renewing sanctifying work of his Spirit And without a Saviour you could never have expected this gift of the Holy Ghost So that your supposition it self is groundless § 3. Indeed Conversion is your implanting into Christ and your uniting to him and marriage with him that he may be your life and help and hope He is the way the truth and the life and no man cometh to the Father but by him John 14. 6. God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life 1 John 5. 11 12. He is the Vine and we are the branches As the branch cannot bear fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine so neither can we except we abide in him He that abideth not in Christ is cast forth as a branch and withered to be burned John 15. 4 5 6. All your life and help is in him and from him Without Christ you cannot Believe in the Father as in one that will shew you any saving Mercy but only as the Devils that believe him Just and tremble at his Justice without Christ you cannot Love God nor have any lively apprehensions of his Love Without Christ you can have no Hope of Heaven and therefore no endeavours for it Without him you cannot come near to God in prayer as having no confidence because no admittance acceptance or hope Without him how terrible are the thoughts of death which in him we may see as a conquered thing and when we remember that he was dead and is now alive and the Lord of life and hath the Keyes of Death and Hell with what boldness may we lay down this flesh and suffer death to undress our souls It is only in Christ that we can comfortably think of the world to come when we remember that he must be our Judge and that in our Nature glorified he is now in the Highest Lord of all and that he is preparing a place for us and will come again to take us to himself that where he is there we may be also John 14. 3. Alas without Christ we know not how to live an hour nor can have hope or peace in any thing we have or do nor look with comfort either upward or downward to God or the Creature nor think without terrors of our sins of God or of the life to come Resolve therefore that as true Converts you are wholly to Live upon Jesus Christ and to do all that you do by his Spirit and strength and to expect all your acceptance with God upon his account when other men are reputed Philosophers or Wise for some unsatisfactory knowledge of these transitory things do you desire to know nothing but a crucified and glorified Christ study him and take him objectively for your Wisdom When other men have confidence in the flesh and in their shew of Wisdom in Will-worship and Humility after the Commandments and Doctrines of men Col. 2. 20 21 22 23. and would establish their own righteousness do you rejoice in Christ your Righteousness And set continually before your eyes his Doctrine and Example as your Rule Look still to Iesus the Author and finisher of you faith who contemned all the Glory of the world and trampled upon its Vanity and subjected himself to a life of suffering and made himself of no reputation but for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and underwent the contradiction of sinners against himself Live so that you may truly say as Paul Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me § 4. HAving given you these Directions I most earnestly beseech you to peruse and practise them that my labour may not rise up as a witness against you which I intend for your Conversion and Salvation Think on it Whether this be an Unreasonable course or an unpleasant life or a thing unnecessary and what is Reasonable necessary and pleasant if this be not And if you meet with any of those distracted sinners that would deride you from Christ and your Every one is not a Thief that a Dog barks at nor an hypocrite◠that hypocrites call so salvation and say this is the way to make men mad or this is more ado than needs I will not stand here to manifest their bruitishness and wickedness having largely done it already in my Book called A Saint or a Bruite and Now or Never and in the third Part of the Saints Rest But only I desire thee as a full defensative against all the pratings of the Enemies of a holy Heavenly life to take good notice but of these three things § 5. 1. Mark well the language of the holy Scriptures and see whether it speak not contrary to these men And bethink thee whether God or they be wiser and whether God or they must be thy Iudge § 6. 2. Mark whether these men do not change their minds and turn their tongues when they come to
would make us serious § 6. And Ministers are not set up only for publick Preaching but for private counsel also according Acosta noteth it as a great hinderance of the Indians conversion that their Teachers shifâ— for beâ—ter livings and stay not till they are well acquainted with the people and that the Bishops are of the same temper Haec tanta claâ—es est anâ—m â—â—um ut satis deploâ—aâ—i â—â—â—â— possit Nihil Sacerdos Christi praecâ—aâ—â— proficiet in salute Iâ—dorum sine familiari hominum rerum nâ—â—â—â—tia l 4. c. 10. â— â—9â— Sunt autem multi qui injuncto muneri câ—piose se satisfacere existimanâ— Orationem dominâ—â—â—â—m symbolum salutationem augâ—â—cam tum praecepta decalogi Hispan idiomate identidem Indis recitantes eorum infantes baptizantes mortuos sâ—pelientes matrâ—mâ—nio juvenes collocante rem sacram festis diebus facientes Neque conscientia quam uâ—iâ—â—m â—auterizatam non habeaut mordenâ—uâ— quod dispersae sint oves domini c. c. 7. p. 373. to our particular needs As Physicions are not only to read you instructions for the dyeting and curing of your selves but to be present in your sickness to direct you in the particular application of remedies And as Lawyers are to assist you in your particular cases to free your estates from encumbrances and preserve or rescue them from contentious men Choose therefore some able Minister to be your ordinary Counsellor in the matters of God And let him be one that is humble faithful experienced and skilful that hath leisure ability and willingness to assist you § 7. As Infants in a family are unable to help themselves and need the continual help of others and therefore God hath put into the hearts of Parents a special Love to them to make them diligent and patient in helping them so is it in the family of Christ Most Christians by far are young or weak in understanding and in grace It is long before you will be past the need of others help if ever in this life If you feel not this your infirmity and need it is so much the greater God will have no men to be self-sufficient we shall all have need of one another that we may be useful to one another and God may use us as his messengers and instruments of conveying his mercies to each other and that even self-love may help us to be sociable and to love one another And our souls must receive their part of mercy by this way of communication as well as our bodies And therefore as the poor above all men should not be against charity and communicating that need it most so young Christians that are weak and unexperienced above all others should be most desirous of help especially from an able faithful guide § 8. But be sure you deal sincerely and cheat not your selves by deceiving your counsellor and hiding your case To do so by your Lawyer is the way to lose your suit And to do so by your Physicion is the way to lose your life And to do so with your Pastor and soul-counsellor is the way to lose your souls And let the judgement of your Pastor or judicious friend about the state of your souls be much regarded by you though it be not infallible How far such must be trusted I am afterward to open to you with other of your duties belonging to you in this Relation I now only proceed to General advice Direct 8. KEep right apprehensions of the excellency of Charity and Unity among believers and Direct 8. Against Unchaâ—â—â—â—ableness and Schism See more in Tâ—n 2. Câ— 23. receive nothing hastily that is against them especially take heed lest under pretence of their Authority their Number their Soundness or their Holiness you too much addict your selves to any Sect or Party to the withdrawing of your special Love and just Communion from other Christians and turning your Zeal to the interest of your Party with a neglect of the common interest of the Church But Love a Christian as a Christian and promote the Unity and welfare of them all § 1. Use often to read and well consider the meaning and reason of those many urgent passages Utrumqueâ—mperium Mâ—hoâ—eâ—â—â—â—m Pontificium ortum est ex dissidus de doctrina Cum in Oriente diâ—aceâ—â—â—â—ae essâ—â—t â—â—clesiae 〈…〉 n multorum 〈…〉 in Scripture which exhort all Christians to Unity and Love Such as Iohn 11. 52. 17. 11 21 22 23. 1 Cor. 3. 10. 17. 12. throughout 2 Cor. 13. 11. 1 Thess. 5. 12 13. Phil. 2. 1 2 3. 1 Pet. 3. 8. Rom. 16. 17. 1 Cor. 1. 10. 3. 3. 11. 18. And Iohn 13. 35. Rom. 12. 9 10. 13. 10. 2 Cor. 13. 11. Gal. 5. 6 13 22. Col. 1. 4. 1 Thess. 4. 9. 1 Iohn 3. 11 14 23. 4. 7 11 16 19 20 21. Surely if the very life of Godliness lay not much in Unity and Love we should never have had such words spoken of it as here you find Love is to the soul as our Natural heat is to the Body whatever destroyeth it destroyeth Life and therefore cannot be for our good Be certain that opinion course or motion tends to death that tends to abate your Love to your Brethren much more which under pretence of zeal provoketh you to hate and hurt them To Divide the Body is to kill it oâ— to maim it Dividing the essential necessary parts is killing it Cutting off any integral part is maiming it The first can never be an act of friendship which is the worst that an enemy can do The second is never an act of friendship but when the cutting off a member which may be spared is of absolute necessity to the saving of the whole man from the worse division between soul and body By this judge what friends Dividers are to the Church and how well they are accepted of God § 2. He that loveth any Christian aright must needs love all that appear to him as Christians And when malice will not suffer men to see Christianity in its profession and credible appearance in another this is as well contrary to Christian Love as hating him when you know him to be a true Christian Censoriousness not constrained by just evidence is contrary to Love as well as hatred is § 3. There is a Union and Communion with Christians as such This consisteth in having one God one Head one Spirit one Faith one Baptismal Covenant one Rule of holy living and in loving and praying for all and doing good to as many as we can This is a Union and Communion of Mind which we must hold with the Catholick Church through the world And there is a Bodily local Union and â—â—â—â—muniâ—â— which consisteth in our joyning in body as well as mind with particular Congregations And this as we cannot hold it with all nor with any Congregation but one at once so we are not 〈◊〉 to
decent and editying determination of the outward circumstances of Religion and the right ordering of Worship is a needless thing or sinful or that a form of prayer in it self or when imposed is unlawful But let the Soul and Body of Religion go together and the alterable adjuncts be used as things alterable while the life of Holiness is still kept up Direct 19. PRomise not your selves long life or prosperity and great matters in the world lest it entangle Direct 19. your hearts with transitory things and engage you in ambitious or covetous designs and steal away your hearts from God and destroy all your serious apprehensions of Eternity § 1. Our own experience and the alterations which the approach of death makes upon the most doth sensibly prove that the expectation of a speedy change and reckoning upon a short life doth greatly help us in all our preparation and in all the work of Holiness through our lives Come to a man that lyeth on his death-bed or a prisoner that is to dye to morrow and try him with Nemini exploratum potest esse quomodo seâ—e habiturum sit corpus non dico ad annum sed ad vesperum Câ—ceâ—o 2. de fit Dii boni quid est in hominis vita diu Mihi ne diuturnum quidem quicquam videtur in quo est aliquid extremum Cum enim id advenit tum illud praeterâ—it eâ—fluxit tan tum remanet quod virtute recte factis fit consecutus hoâ—ae quidem â—edunt diâ—â— meâ—ses anni nec praeteritum tempus unquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest Cic. in Cat. Maj. Quem saepe transit casus aliquando invenâ— discourse of riches or honours or temptations to lust or drunkenness or excess and he will think you are mad or very impertinent to tell him of such things If he be but a man of Common Reason you shall see that he will more easily vilifie such temptations than many religious persons will do in their prosperity and health O how serious are we in repenting and perusing our former lives and casting up our accounts and asking What we shall do to be saved when we see that death is indeed at hand and time is at an end and we must away Every sentence of Scripture hath then some life and power in it Every word of Exhortation is savoury to us Every reproof of our negligence and sin is then well taken Every thought of sin or Christ or Grace or Eternity goes then to the quick Then time seems precious and if you ask a man whether it be better spent in Cards and Dice and Playes and Feastings and needless recreations and idleness or in prayer and holy conference and reading and meditating on the Word of God and the life to come and the holy use of our lawful labours How easily will he be satisfied of the truth and confute the Cavils of voluptuous time-wasters Then his judgement will easilier be in the right than Learning or Arguments before could make it In a word the expectation of the speedy approach of the soul into the presence of the Eternal God and of our entring into an unchangeable endless life of joy or torment hath so much in it to awaken all the powers of the soul that if ever we will be serious it will make us serious in every thought and speech and duty And therefore as it is a great mercy of God that this life which is so short should be as uncertain and that frequent dangers and sicknesses call to us to look about us and be ready for our change so usually the sickly that look for death are most considerate and it is a great part of the duty of those that are in youth and health to consider their frailty and the shortness and uncertainty of their lives and alwayes live as those that wait for the coming of their Lord. And we have great reason for it when we are certain it will be ere long and when we have so many perils and weaknesses to warn us and when we are never sure to see another hour and when time is so swift so quickly gone so unrecoverable and Nothing when it is past Common reason requireth such to live in a constant readiness to dye § 2. But if youth or health do once make you reckon of living long and make you put away the Nihil tam sirmum câ—â— periculum 〈◊〉 sâ—â— etiam â—â—â—â—vilido day of your departure as if it were far off this will do much to deceive and dull the best and take away the power of every truth and the life of every good thought and duty and all will be apt to dwindle into customariness and form You will hardly keep the faculties of the soul awake if you do not still think of death and judgement as near at hand The greatest Certainty of the greatest Change and the greatest Joy or Misery for ever will not keep our stupid hearts awake unless we look at all as near as well as certain This is plain in the common difference that we find among all men between their thoughts of death in health and when they see indeed that they must presently dye They that in health could think and talk of death with laughter or lightly without any awakening of soul when they come to dye are oftentimes as much altered as if they had never heard before that they are mortal By which it is plain that to live in the house of mirth is more dangerous than to live in the house of mourning and that the expectation of long life is a grievous enemy to the operations of grace and the safety of the soul. § 3. And it is one of the greatest strengtheners of your temptations to luxury ambition worldliness and almost every sin When men think that they shall have many years leisure to repent they are apt the more boldly to transgress when they think that they have yet many years to live it tempteth them to pass away Time in idleness and to loiter in their race and trifle in all their work and to over-value all the pleasures and honours and shadows of felicity that are here below He that hath his life in his House or Land or hath it for inheritance will set more by it and bestow more upon it than if he thought he must go out of it the next year To a man that thinks of liveing many years the favour of great ones the raising of his estate and name and family and the accommodations and pleasing of his flesh will seem great matters to him and will do much with him and will make self-denyal a very hard work § 4. Therefore though Health be a wonderful great mercy as Enabling him to duty that hath a heart to use it to that end yet it is by accident a very great danger and snare to the heart it self to turn it from the way of duty The best life
is here a great encouragement to the soul to think that Jesus our great High Priest doth make all his Children Priests to God They are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people that they should shew forth the prayses of him that hath called them out of darkness into his marvellâ—us light An holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ 1 Pet. 2. 5 â— Even their broken hearts and contrite Spirits are a sacrifice which God will not despâ—se Psal. 51. 17. He knoweth the meaning of the Spirits groans Rom. 8. 26 27. § 19. 16. The strength of corruptions which molest the soul and are too often strugling with it and too much prevail doth greatly discourage us in our approach to that God that hateth all the workers of iniquity And here faith may find relief in Christ not only as he pardoneth us but as he hath conquered the Devil and the world himself and bid us be of good cheer because he hath conquered and hath all power given him in Heaven and Earth and can give us victorious grace in the season and measure which he seeth meetest for us We can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us Go to him then by faith and prayer and you shall find that his grace is sufficient for you § 20. 17. The thoughts of God are the less delightful to the soul because that Death and the Grave do interpose and we must pass through them before we can enjoy him And it is unpleasing to nature to think of a separation of soul and body and to think that our flesh must rot in darkness But against this faith hath wonderful relieâ— in Iesus Christ. For asmuch as we were partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part with us that he might destroy through death him that had the power of death even the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Hâ—b 2. 14 15. O what an encouragement it is to faith to observe that Christ once dyed himself and that he rose from the dead and reigneth with the Father it being impossible that death should hâ—ld him And having conquered that which seemed to conquer him it no more hath dominion over him but he hath the Keyes of Death and Hell we may now entertain death as a disarmed enemy and say O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Yea it is sanctified by him to be our friend even an entrance into our Masters joy it being best for us to depart and be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. and therefore death is become our gain v. 21. O what abundance of strength and sweetness may faith perceive from that promise of Christ John 12. 26. If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be As he was dead but now liveth for evermore so hath he promised that because he liveth therefore shall we live also John 14. 19. But of this I have written two Treatises of Death already § 21. 18. The terror of the day of Iudgement and of our particular doom at death doth make the thoughts of God less pleasing and delectable to us And here what a relief is it for faith to apprehend that Iesus Christ must be our Judge And will he condemn the members of his body Shall we be afraid to be judged by our dearest friend by him that hath justified us himself already even at the price of his own blood § 22. 19. The very strangeness of the soul to the world unseen and to the inhabitants and employments there doth greatly stop the soul in its desires and in its delightful approaches unto God Had we seen the world where God must be enjoyed the thoughts of it would be more familiar and sweet But faith can look to Christ and say My head is there he seeth it for me he knoweth what he possesseth prepareth and promiseth to me and I will quietly rest in his acquaintance with it § 23. 20. Nay the Godhead it self is so infinitely above us that in it self it is inaccessible and it is ready to amaze and overwhelm us to think of coming to the incomprehensible Majesty But it emboldneth the soul to think of our Glorified Nature in Christ and that even in Heaven God will everlastingly condescend to us in the Mediator For the Mediation of Redemption and acquisition shall be ended and thus he shall deliver up the Kingdom to the Father yet it seems that a Mediation of fruition shall continue For Christ said to his Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory John 17. 24. We shall rejoyce when the marriage of the Lamb is come Rev. 19. 7. They are blessed that are called to his Marriage Supper v. 9. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple and the Light of the New Ierusalem Rev. 21. 22 23. Heaven would not be so familiar or so sweet to my thoughts if it were not that our glorified Lord is there in whose Love and Glory we must live for ever O Christian as ever thou wouldst walk with God in comfortable communion with him study and exercise this Life of faith in the daily use and improvement of Christ who is our Life and Hope and All. DIRECT III. Gr. Dir. 3. Understand well what it is to believe in the Holy Ghost and see that he dwell To believe in the Holy Ghost and live upon his Grace and operate in thee as the Life of thy soul and that thou do not resist or quench the Spirit but thankfully obey him § 1. EAch person in the Trinity is so believed in by Christians as that in Baptism they enter Scrutari temeritas est credere pietas nesse vita Bernard de consid ad Eâ—geâ— l. 5. distinctly into Covenant with them which is to Accept the Mercies of and perform the 〈…〉 each person distinctly As to take God for Our God is more than to believe that there is a God â—nd to take Christ for Our Saviour is more than barely to believe that he is the Messiah so to Believe in the Holy Ghost is to take him for Christs Agent or Advocate with our souls and for our Guide and Sanctifier and Comforter and not only to believe that he is the third person in the Trinity This therefore is a most practical Article of our Belief § 2. If the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost be the unpardonable sin then all sin against the Holy Ghost must needs have a special aggravation by being such And if the sin against the Holy Ghost be the greatest sin then our duty towards the Holy Ghost is certainly none of our smallest duties Therefore the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and our duty towards him and sin against him deserve not the least or
love of Christ and one another and 1 John 3. 16. that we forgive and pray for them that persecute us 24. In all this suffering from men he feels also so much of the fruit of our sin upon his soul that he cryeth out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me To teach us if we fall into such calamity of soul as to think that God himself forsaketh us to remember for our support that the Son of God himself before us cryed out My God why hast thou forsaken me And that in this also we may expect a tryal to seem to our selves Forsaken of God when our Saviour underwent the like before us I will instance in no more of his example because I would not be tedious Hither now let believers cast their eyes If you love your Lord you should love to imitate him and be glad to find your selves in the way that he hath gone before you If He lived a worldly or a sensual life do you do so If He was an enemy to preaching and praying and holy living be you so But if he lived in the greatest contempt of all the wealth and honours and pleasures of the world in a life of holy obedience to his Father wholly preferring the Kingdom of Heaven and seeking the salvation of the souls of others and patiently bearing persecution derision calumnies and death then take up your Cross and follow him in joyfully to the expected Crown § 7. Direct 6. If you will Learn of Christ you must Learn of his Ministers whom he hath appointed Direct 6. under him to be the Teachers of his Church He purposely enableth them enclineth them and sendeth them to instruct you Not to have dominion over your faith but to be your spiritual Fathers and the Ministers by whom you believe as God shall give ability and success to every one as he pleases to plant and water while God giveth the encrease to open mens eyes and turn them from darkness to light and to be labourers together with God whose husbandry and building you are and to be helpers of your joy See 2 Cor. 24. Acts 26. 17 18. 1 Cor. 3. 5 6 7 8 9. 4. 15. Seeing therefore Christ hath appointed them under him to be the ordinary Teachers of his Church he that heareth them speaking his message heareth him and he that despiseth them despiseth him Luke 10. 16. And he that saith I will hear Christ but not you doth say in effect to Christ himself I will not hear thee nor learn of thee unless thou wilt dismiss thy Ushers and teach me immediately thy self § 8. Direct 7. Hearken also to the secret Teachings of his Spirit and your consciences not as makeing Direct 7. you any new Law or Duty or being to you instead of Scriptures or Ministers but as bringing that truth into your Hearts and practices which Scriptures and Ministers have first brought to your eyes and ears If you understand not this how the office of Scripture and Ministers differ from the office of the Spirit and your Consciences you will be confounded as the Sectaries of these times have been that separate what God hath joyned together and plead against Scripture or Ministers under pretence of extolling the Spirit or the Light within them As your meat must be taken into the stomach and pass the first concoction before the second can be performed and chilification must be before sanguification so the Scripture and Ministers must bring truth to your eyes and ears before the Spirit or Conscience bring them to your Hearts and Practice But they lye dead and uneffectual in your brain or imagination if you hearken not to the secret teachings of the Spirit and Conscience which would bring them further As Christ is the principal Teacher without and Ministers are but under him so the Spirit is the principal Teacher within us and Conscience is but under the Spirit being excited and informed by it Those that learn only of Scriptures and Ministers by hearing or reading may become men of Learning and great ability though they hearken not to the sanctifying teachings of the Spirit or to their Consciences But it is only those that hearken first to the Scriptures and Ministers and next to the Spirit of God and to their Consciences that have an inward sanctifying saving knowledge and are they that are said to be Taught of God Therefore hearken first with your ears what Christ hath to say to you from without and then hearken daily and diligently with your hearts what the Spirit and Conscience say within For it is their office to preach over all that again to your Hearts which you have received § 9. Direct 8. It being the office of the present ordinary Ministry only to expound and apply the doctrine Direct 8 of Christ already recorded in the Scriptures believe not any man that contradicteth this recorded doctrine what Reason Authority â—r Revelation soever he pretend Isa. 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimâ—ny if they speak not according to these it is because there is no Light in them No Reason can be Reason indeed that is pretended against the Reason of the Creator and God of Reason Authority pretended against the Highest Authority of God is no Authority God never gave Authority to any against himself nor to deceive mens souls nor to dispense with the Law of Christ nor to warrant men to sin against him nor to make any supplements to his Law or Doctrine The Apostles had their â— Câ—â— 10 8. â—â—â—â—â— 1â— â—â— Power only to â—diâ—ication but not to destruction There is no Revelation from God that is contrary to his own Revelation already delivered as his perfect Law and Rule unto the Church and therefore none supplemental to it If an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven per possibile vel impossibile shall Evangelize to us besides what is Evangelized and we have received he must be held accursed Gal. 1. 6 7 8. § 10. Direct 9. Come not to Learn of Christ with self conceitedness pride or confidence in your prejudice 〈◊〉 9. and errors but as little Children with humble teachable tractable minds Christ is no Teacher for those that in their own eyes are wise enough already unless it be first to teach them to become fools in their own esteem because they are so indeed that they may be wise 1 Cor. 3. 18. They that are prepossessed with false opinions and resolve that they will never be perswaded of the contrary are unmeet to be Scholars in the School of Christ. He resisteth the proud but giveth more grace unto the 1 Pâ—â— 5. â— humble Men that have a high conceit of their own understandings and think they can easily know truth from falshood as soon as they hear it and come not to learn but to censure what they hear or read as being able presently to judge of all these are fitter for the School of the Prince of Pride and
Idolatry 8. A perverse Spirit causing staggering and giddiness as a drunken man Isa. 19. 14. § 5. In the New Testament 1. He is sometimes called simply a Spirit Mar. 9. 20 26. Luke 9. 39. 10. 20. 2. Sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unclean Spirits Luke 6. 18. as contrary to the Holy Spirit and that from their Nature and effects 3. And after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Doemons a word taken in a good sense in Heathen Writers but not in Scripture because they worshipped Devils under that name unless perhaps Acts 17. 18. 1 Tim. 4. 1. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with respect to their knowledge and as some think to the knowledge promised to Adam in the temptation 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tempter Mat. 4. 5. Satan Mat. 4. 1 Pet. 5. 8. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an enemy Mat. 13. 28 39. 7. The strong man armed Mat. 12. 8. Angels 1 Cor. 6. 3. 2 Pet. 2. 4. Angels which kept not their first state Jude 6. 9. A Spirit of divination Acts 16. 16. 10. A roaring Lyon 1 Pet. 5. 8. 11. A Murderer John 8. 44. 12. Belial 2 Cor. 6. 15. 13. Beelzebub Mat. 12. the God of flies 14. The Prince of this world John 12. 21. from his power over wicked men 15. The God of this world 2 Cor. 4. 5. because the world obey him 16. The Prince of the power of the air Eph. 2. 2. 17. The Ruler of the darkness of this world Eph. 6. 12. Principalities and powers 18. The Father of the wicked John 8. 44. 19. The Dragon and the old Serpent Rev. 12. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the calumniatâ—r or false accuser often 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the evil one Mat. 23. 19. 22. An evil Spirit Acts 19. 15. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the destroyer and Abaddon the King of the Locusts and Angel of the bottomless pit Rev. 9. 11. unless that speak of Antichrist § 6. 3. He is too strong an enemy for lapsed sinful man to deal with of himself If he conquered us in innocency what may he do now He is dangerous 1. By the greatness of his subtilty 2. By the greatness of his Power 3. By the greatness of his Malice And hence 4. By his constant diligence watching when we sleep Mat. 13. 25. and seeking night and day to devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. Rev. 12. 4 § 7. 4. Therefore Christ hath engaged himself in our Cause and is become the Captain of our See my Treatise against Infidelity as before cited salvation Heb. 2. 10. And the world is formed into two Armies that live in continual War The Devil is the Prince and General of one and his Angels and wicked men are his Armies Christ is the King and General of the other and his Angels Heb. 2. 14. and Saints are his Army Between these two Armies are the greatest conflict in the world § 7. 5. It is supposed also that this War is carried on on both sides within us and without us by inward solicitations and outward means which are fitted thereunto § 8. 6. Both Christ and Satan work by Officers instruments and means Christ hath his Ministers 1 Cor. 3. 5. 4 1. 2 Cor. 11. 15. Acts 13. 8 9 10. to preach his Gospel and pull down the Kingdom of Satan And Satan hath his Ministers to preach licentiousness and lies and to resist the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ. Christ hath his Church and the Devil hath his Synagogue Christs Souldiers do every one in their places fight for him against the Devil And the Devils Souldiers do every one in their places fight against Christ. The Generals are both unseen to mortals and the unseen Power is theirs but their Agents are visible The Souldiers fight not only against the Generals but against one another but it is all or chiefly for the Generals sakes It is Christ that the wicked persecute in his Servants Acts 9. 4. And it is the Devil whom the godly hate and resist in the wicked But yet here are divers notable differences 1. The Devils Servants do not what they do in love to him but to their own flesh but Christs Servants do what they do in Love to him as well as to themselves 2. The Devils Army are cheated into Arms and War not knowing what they do But Christ doth all in the open light and will have no servants but those that deliberately adhere to him when they know the worst 3. The Devils servants do not know that he is their General but Christs followers do all know their Lord. 4. The Devils followers disown their Master and their work they will not own that they fight against Christ and his Kingdom while they do it But Christs followers own their Captain and his cause and work for he is not a master to be ashamed of § 9. 7. Both Christ and Satan work perswasively by moral means and neither of them by constraint and force Christ forceth not men against their wills to good and Satan cannot force them to be bad but all the endeavour is to make men willing and he is the Conquerour that getteth and keepeth our own consent § 10. 8. Their Ends are contrary and therefore their wayes are also contrary The Devils end is to draw man to sin and to damnation and to dishonour God And Christs end is to draw men from sin to Holiness and salvation and to honour God But Christ maketh known his end and Satan concealeth his End from his followers § 11. 9. There is somewhat within the good and bad for the contrary part to work upon and we are as it were divided in your selves and have somewhat in us that is on both sides The wicked have an honourable acknowledgement of God and of their greatest obligation to him a hatred to the Devil a love of themselves a willingness to be happy and an unwillingness to be miserable and a conscience which approveth of more good than they do and condemneth much of their transgression This is some advantage to the perswasions of the Ministers of Christ to work upon And they have Reason capable of knowing more The Souldiers of Christ have a fleshly appetite and the remnants of ignorance and error in their minds and of earthliness and carnality and averseness to God in their wills with a nearness to this world and much strangeness to the world to come And here is too much advantage for Satan to work on by his temptations § 12. 10. But it is the predominant part within us and the scope of our lives which sheweth which of the Armies we belong to And thus we must give up our names and hearts to Christ and engage under his Conduct against the Devil and conquer to the death if we will be saved Not to fight against the bare Name of the Devil for so will his own Souldiers and spit at his name and hang a Witch that makes a contract with him But it is
modest some one shall drink a health or importune him and put the cup into his hand The thief with Achan shall see the bait and the sight will work a Coveteous desire The glutton shall have the Tempting dishes before him and be at a Table which by variety of delicious food is fitted to become his snare whereas if he had nothing set before him but the poor mans simple food which hath nothing in it fit to tempt him he might easily have escaped The fornicator shall have his beautiful dirt brought near him and presented to him in a tempting dress for at a sufficient distance there had been little danger The ambitious person shall have preferment offered him or brought so fair to his hand that with a little seeking it may be attained The fearful coward shall be threatned with the loss of estate or life and hear the report of the Cannons Guns and Drums of Satan Peter is half conquered when he is got among questioning company in the High-Priests Hall Thus David thus Lot thus ordinarily sinners are drawn into the snare § 34. Direct 5. As ever you would preserve your innocency and your souls fly as far from Direct 5. tempting objects as you can I say as you can without distrusting God in the neglect of a certain duty A Wife or a servant that are bound cannot fly nor must we leave undone our certain duty upon an uncertain danger which may otherwise be avoided But keep off from the Temptation at as great a distance as you can The safest course is the best when your souls lie at the stake If it be not Necessary plead not the Lawfulness of what you do when it is a Temptation to that which is unlawful You say It is lawful to wear such curious ornaments and set out your selves in the neatest dress But is it lawful to be Prowd or Lustful or to consume your time unprofitably If not tempt not your selves or others to it Keep away from the place where the snare is laid Look first to the end before thou meddle with the beginning Why should I eat that which I know I cannot digest but must cast it up again And why should I taste that which I must not eat And why should I desire to have that set before me and to look upon it which I must not taste Come not near if thou wouldst not be taken What dost thou at the ALE-house with a cup before thee if thou wouldst not be drawn to excess of drink If thou be subject to excess in eating make not thy own table thy Temptation Fly from the Temptation as thou wouldst do from Hell or from the Devil himself See not the bait of lust or come not near if thou be inclinable to lust saith Solomon Remâ—â—e thy way far from her and come not near the dore of her house Prov. 5. 8. For her end is biâ—er as wormwoâ—d sharp as a two edged sword Her feet go down to death her steps take hold on Hell verse 4 5. Her house inclineth to death and her paths unto the dead None that go to her return again neither take they â—old of the paths of Life Prov. 2. 18 19. Her house is the way to Hell going down to the chambers of Death Prov. 7. 27. Whoso is simple let him turn in hither and as for him that wanteth understanding she saith to him stolne waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant But he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of Hell Prov. 9. 16 17 18. Lust not after her beauty in thy heart neither let her take thee with her eye-lids Can a man take fire in his bosom and his cloaths not be burnt Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be hurt Prov. 6. 25 27 28. Remember that you pray daily Lead us not into Temptation And if you will run into it your selves are not your prayers hypocritical and an abuse of God If you would be saved from sin you must be saved in Gods way and that is by flying from Temptations and not drawing near and gazing on forbidden objects and tempting your selves Even as Gods holy means must be used by all that would come to holiness and Heaven so the Devils must be avoided by him that would would scape sin and Hell 2. But if you cannot remove far enough from the snare then double your fâ—â—r and watchfulness and resolution Fly with Ioseph from the sin if you cannot Gen. 39. 12. go out of the house How carefully should every foot be placed when we know that every step we tread is among snarâ—s Rule your senses if you cannot remove the bait Make Iobs covenant with your eyes that you look not on that which would allure Iob 31. 1. Let every sense have a constant watch § 35. Tempt 6. The next great work of the Tempter is to give us the fairest opportunities to sin Tempt 6. and to remove all impediments and shew men encouraging hopes and invitations He will shew the thief which way he may steal and shew the coveteous man which way he may thrive and deceive and over-reach and the ambitious man which way he may rise and the fornicator how he may obtain his desire and sin unknown and then he tells them how easie it is now no one seeth you you may do it without fear or shame It is the Devils great care to take all things out of the way that would affright or hinder sinners That they may have full opportunity to invite them Therefore he is very desirous that publick impediments should be all removed especially a godly Magistrate and Minister and that the common disgrace of sinning may be taken off and if it may be turned against Religion or fall on them that are the greatest adversaries to sin § 36. Direct 6. It is therefore a principal part of your wisdom and watchfulness to avoid the Direct 6. opportunities of sinning and keep out as many impediments as may be in your own way It is a most foolish and sinful thing in some men who think it a brave thing to have power to do hurt though they pretend that they abhor the doing of it He that saith he hateth oppression yet would have a Power to oppress To have all men at his will and mercy he thinks is brave so they that would not be gluttonous would have a tempting table still before them presuming that their own will is a sufficient preservative against the sin so they that would not be insnared with lust have yet a desire to appear as comly and lovely and desirable as may be and to be as much beloved that they may have others affections at command and also to have opportunity offered them that they may sin if they will And is thy will so well established mortified and unchangable as to be so far trusted O foolish sinner that no better knowest thy self nor
observest thy danger Nor perceivest that this very desire to have the Power to do evil sheweth a degree of the evil in thy heart and that thou art not yet sâ—t so far from it as thou must be if thou wouldst be safe Contrive thy self if thou be wise and love thy self into the greatest difficulties of sinning that thou canst Make it Impossible if it may be done The Power is for the act Desire not to be able to sin if thou wouldst not sin Not that Natural power to do goâ—d should be destroyed because it is also a power to do evil but cast as many blâ—cks in the way of thy sinning as thou canst till it amount to a moral impossibility Desire the strictest Laws and Gâ—vernâ—rs and to be still in the eye of others and contrive it that thou maist Psal 101. 3. have no hope of secrecie Contrive it so that it may be utter shame and lâ—ss to thee if thou sin If thou be tempted to fornication never be private with hâ—r or him that is thy snare If thou be tempted to deceive and rob those that trust thee avoid the trust or if ever thou have done it restore and confess that shame may preserve thee § 37. Tempt 7. Next the Tempter importunately soliciteth ouâ— Thoughts or fantasies to feed upon Tempt 7. the tempting thing That the lustful person may be thinking on the objects of his lusts and the ambitious man thinking on his desired honour and the coveteous man of his desired wealth his house or lands or gainful bargains and the malitious man be thinking of all the real or imaginary wrongs which kindle malice § 38. Direct 7. Keep a continual watch upon your thoughts Remember that this is the common Direct 7. entrance of the greatest sins And if they go no further the searcher of hearts will judge thee for the adultery murder and other sins of thy heart But especially see that your thoughts be so employed on better things that sin may never find them vacant § 39. Tempt 8. The Tempter also is diligent to keep the end from the sinners eye and to perswade Tempt 8. him that there is no danger in it and that it will be as good at last as at first He cannot endure a thought a word of death or judgement unless he can first fortifie the sinner by some presumptuous hope that his sons are pardoned and his case is good either he will make them believe him that there is no such danger to the soul as should deterr them or else he keepeth them from thinking of that danger He is loth a sinner should so much as look into a grave or go to the house of mâ—urning and see the end of all the living lest he should lay it to heart and thence perceive what worldly pleasure wealth and greatness is by seeing where it leaveth sinners If one do but talk of death or judgement and the life to come the Devil will stir up some scorn or weariness or opposition against such dâ—scourse If a sinner do but bethink himself in secret what will become of him after death the Devil will either allure him or trouble him and never let him rest till he have cast away all such thoughts as tend to his salvation He cannot endure when you see the pomp and pleasure of the world that you should think or ask How long will this endure And what will it prove in the latter end § 40. Direct 8. Go to the holy Scriptures and see what they foretel concerning the end of Direct 8. Psal. 1. 15. Mat. 25. Godliness and sin God knoweth better than the Devil and is more to be believed You may see in the word of God what will come of Saints and sinners Godly and ungodly at the last and what they will think and say when they review their present life and what Christ will say to them and how he will judge them and what will be their reward for ever This is the infallible Prognostication where you may foresee your endless state In this glass continually foresee the end Never judge of any thing by the present gust alone Ask not only how it tasteth but how it worketh and what will be the effects Remember that Gods Law hath inseparably conjoyned Holiness and Heaven and sin unrepented of and Hell and seeing these cannot be separated indeed let them never be separated from each other in your thoughts Otherwise you will never understand Christ or Satan When Christ saith wilt thou deny thy self and take up the Cross and follow me his meaning is shall I â—eal thy carnal worldly heart and life and bring thee by grace to the sight of God in endless Glory You will never understand what prayer and obedience and holy living mean if you see not the End even Heaven conjoyned to them When the Devil saith to the Glutton eat also of this pleasant dish and to the Drunkard take the other cup and to the Fornicator take thy pleasure in the dark and to the Voluptuous go to the Play-house or the Gaming-house come play at Cards or Dice his meaning is Come venture upon sin and fear not Gods threatnings and refuse his word and spirit and grace that I may have thy company among the Damned in the fire which never shall be quenched This is the true English of every temptation Open thy ears then and when ever the Devil or any sinner tempteth thee to sin hear him as if he said I pray thee leap into the flames of Hell § 41. Tempt 9. If the Tempter cannot quickly draw men to the sin he will move them at least to Tempt 9. abate their resolution against it and to deliberate about it and hear what can be said and enter into a dispute with Satan or some of his instruments telling them that it is a sign of falshood which will not indure the trial and that we must prove all things And while the sinner is deliberating and disputing the vâ—â—â—â—me is working it self into his veins and sense is secretly undermining and betraying him and deceiving his mind brâ—bing his reason and seducing his will Iust as an enemy will treat with those that keep a Garrison that during the treaty he may send in spies and find out their weakness and corrupt the souldiers So doth the Devil with the sinner § 42. Direct 9. Remember that it is Christ and not Satan that you are to hear Truth is strong and Direct 9. can bear the tryal before any competent judge but you are weak and not so able to judge as you may imagine Ignorant unskilful and unsetled persons are easily deceived be the cause never so clear If it be a cause untryed by you it is not untryed by all the godly nor unknown to him that gave you the holy Scriptures If it be fit to be called in questim and disputed take the help of able godly Teachers or friends and hear what they
can say Matters of endless life or death are not rashly to be ventured on But if it be a thing past dispute in which you have been already convinced and resolved reject the Tempter and tell him that you owe him not so much service as to dispute with him whether you should care for your salvation Else there will be no end till you are betrayed and undone Innocent Eve is deceived when once it comes to a dispute Be not like Balaam that tempted God and would not be satisfied with his answer § 4â— Tempt 10. Also the Tempter overcometh very many by making them presumptuously confident of Tempt 10. their own strength saying Thou art not so weak as not to be able to bear a greater temptation than this Canst thou not gaze on beauty or go among vain and tempting company and yet choose whether thou wilt sin It 's a child indeed that hath no more government of themselves Cannot thy Table thy Cup thy House thy Lands be pleasing and delectable but thou must needs over-love them and turn them to sin § 44 Direct 10. O know thy own weakness the treacherous enemy which thou still carriest about Direct 1â— thee who is ready to open the back-door to the Devil Remember that flesh is on the Tempters â—â—â—â—e and how much it can do with thee before thou art aware Remember what an unsetled wretch thou art and how many a good purpose formerly hath come to nothing and how oft thou hast â—â—â—â—ned by as small a temptation Remember that without the Spirit of Christ thou canst do nothing nor stand against any assault of Satan And that Christ giveth his Spirit and help in his own way and not to those that tempt him to forsake them by thrusting themselves into temptations Shall ever mortall man presume upon his own strength after the falls of an Adam a Noah a Lot a David a Solomon a Hezekiah a Iosiah a Peter and after such ruines of multitudes of professors as our eyes have seen All these things hapned unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition on whom the ends of the world are come Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lâ—â—t he fall 1 Cor. 10. 11 12. § 45. Tempt 11. It is a great project of the Devil and successful with many to draw them to venture Tempt 11. on the sâ—n by shewing them first the effectual Remedy the abundant Mercy of God the sufficient satisfaction made by Christ the full and free and universal promise that these are sufficient to cleanse the soul of any sâ—n therefore you need not fear § 46. Direct 11. But God is just as well as merciful and there are vessels of wrath as well as Direct 11. â—â—m â— vessels of mercy Judge how God will use his mercy and who shall have it by his own word For he knoweth better than you to whom and how far to shew mercy Is the Tempter himself saved for all God is merciful And the Gospel hath far sorer punishment than the Law to the abusers of H 〈…〉 1. 10. grace Christ is the most dreadful Judge to the wicked as well as the tenderest Saviour to his own There is enough in his grace to save the penitent but if you will sin upon presumption that grace will save you you have small reason to think that you are penitent or ever will be without a very merciful change How many can you name that ever were converted and forgiven that lived wilfully in sin because the Remedy was sufficient I doubt not but many such have been recalled but this is not the way to hope It 's a terrible thing to sin deliberately and wilfully because of the greatness of mercy or the sufficiency of the death of Christ No man but the Penitent Convert is saved by Christ and this is clean contrary to penitence and conversion Christ doth not as Mountebanks that wound a man to shew people how quickly their balsoms can cure him or make a man drink a Toad to shew the power of their Antidotes But he cureth the Diseases which he findeth in believers but causeth none § 47. Tempt 12. Also the Tempter telieth the sinner how certain and easie and speedy a remedy he Tempt 12. hath in his own power It is but Râ—penting and all sin is pardoned § 48. Direct 12. 1. Is it in thy power If so the greater is thy sin that sinnest more when thou Direct 12. shouldst repent If it be casâ—e what an unexcusable wretch art thou that wilt not do it but go on 2. But Repentance is the gift of God 2 Tim. 2. 25 26. And is he like to give it to them that wilfully abuse him in expectation of it 3. As easie as it is it is but a few that truly repent and are forgiven in comparison of those that go on and perish 4. The easiest Repentance is so bitter that its far easier to forbear the sin It s better not wound your selves than have the best salve if you were sure of it 5. The Repentance which is caused by meer fears of death and Hell without the power of Heavenly Love to God and holiness is but the Repentance of the damned and never procureth pardon of sin The Devil hath such a Repentance as well as such a faith which will not James 2 19. save him § 49. Tempt 13. Satan also emboldneth the sinner by telling him how many have Repented and sped Tempt 13. well that sinned as bad or worse than this He tells him of Noah and Lot and David and Peter and the Thief on the Cross and Paul a Persecutor yea and Manasseh c. § 50. Direct 13. But consider whether any of those did thus sin because that others had scapt Direct 13. that sinned before them And think of the millions that never repented and are condemned as well as of the few that have repented Is Repentance better than sin Why then will you sin Is sin better than Repentance Why then do you purpose to repent Is it not base ingratitude to offend God wilfully because he hath pardoned many offenders and is ready to forgive the penitent And should a man of reason wilfully make work for his own Repentance and do that which he knoweth he shall wish with grief that he had never done If some have been saved that fell into the Sea or that fell from the top of Steeples or that drunk poyson or were dangerously wounded will you therefore cast your self into the same case in hope of being saved § 51. Tempt 14. The Tempter perswadeth the sinner that it cannot be that God should make so great Direct â— a matter of sin because the thoughts of a mans heart or his words or deeds are matters of no great moment when man himself is so poor a worm and whatever he doth it is no hurt to God Therefore you need not make such a matter of
keeping a good house and a good table tipling is called drinking a cup with a friend Lust and filthiness is called Love worldliness is called thriftiness and good husbandry Idleness and loss of Time is called the leasure of a Gentleman slothfulness is called a nâ—t being too worldly Time wasting sports are called Recreations Pride is called Decency and Handsomness Proud revenge is called Honour and Gallantry Romish cruelty and persecution and 〈…〉 ing the Church is called keeping up order obedience and unity Disobedience to superiors is câ—llâ—d not â—â—aâ—ing mâ—n Church-divisions are called strictness and zeal 2. Specially if a sâ—n be not iâ— dis 〈…〉 among the stricter sort it greatly prepareth men to commit it As breaking the Lords day beyond sâ—â— in many râ—fâ—rmâ—d Churches And at home spiritual pride cens riousâ—â—ss baâ—kâ—iting disobedience â—â—d Church-divisions are not in half that disgrace among many professors of strictness as they deserve and as swearing c. is § 100. Direct 38. Remember that what ever be the Name or Cloak God judgeth righteously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the truth Names may deceive us but not our Iudge And sin is still in disgrace with God however it be with men Remember the comlier the paint and cover is the greater is the danger and the more watchful and cauâ—â—lous we should be It is not imperfect man but the perfect Law of God which must be our Rule The great succâ—ss of this Temptation should deterr uâ— from entertaining it What abundance of mischief hath it done in the world § 101. Tempt 39. Sometime the Devil tempteth men to some â—â—ynous sin that if he prevail not at Tempt â—9 lâ—â—st he may draw them into a less As cheating chafferers will ask twice the price of their commodity that by abating much they may make you willing to give too much He that would get a little must ask a great deal He will tempt you to drunkenness and if he draw you but to tipling or time-wasting he hath got something If he tempt you to fornication and he get you but to some filthy thoughts or immodest lascivious talk or actions he hath done much of that which he intended If he tempt you to sâ—me horrid cruelâ—y and you yield but to sâ—me less degree or to some unjust or uncharitable censures you think you have conquered when it 's he that conquereth § 102. Direct 39. Remember that the least degree of sin is sin and death the wages of it Direct 39. Romans 6. 23. Think not that you have scapt well if your heart have taken any of the infection â—r if you have been wounded any where though it might have been worse If the Tempter had tempted you no further but to a lustful malicious or proud thought or word you would perceive that if he prevail he conquereth so may you whâ—n he getteth this much by a shameless asking more § 103. Tempt 40. He tempteth us sometime to be so fearful and carefull against one sin or Tempt 40. about sâ—me â—ne danger as to be mindless of some other and lie open to his temptation Like a Fâ—â—â—â—r that will seem to aime all at one place that he may strike you in another while you are guarding that Or like an enemy that giveth all the allarm at one end of the City that he may draw the people thither while he stormeth in another place So Satan makes some so afraid of worldliness that they watch not against Idleness or so fearful of hard-heartedness and deadness and hypocrisie that they watch not against Passion neglect of their callings or dejectedness or so fearful of sinning or being deceived about their salvation that they fear not the want of Love and Joy and Thankfulness for all the mercy they have received nor the neglect of holy Praise to God § 104. Direct 40. Remember that as obedience must be entire and universal so is Satans Direct 41. temptation against all parts of our obedience and our care must extend to all if we will escape It would cure your inordinate fear in some one point if you extended it to all the â—â—â—â—t § 105. Tempt 41. Sometime by the suddenness of a temptation he surprizeth men before they are Tempt 41. aware § 106. Direct 41. Be never unarmed nor from your watch especially as to Thoughts Direct 41. or sudden Passions or rash words which are used to be committed for want of deliberation § 107. Tempt 42. Sometime he useth a violent earnestness especially when he getteth Passion on Tempt 42. his side So that Reason is born down and the sinner saith I could not forbear § 108. Direct 42. But remember that the very eager unruliness of your passion is a sin it self Direct 42. and that none can compel you to sin and that Reason must deliberate and rule or else any murder or wickedness may have the excuse of urgent passions § 109. Tempt 43. Sometime he useth the violence of men They threaten men to frighten them Tempt 43. into sin § 110. Direct 43. But is not God and his threatnings more to be feared Do men Direct 43. threaten imprisonment or death or ruine And doth not God threaten everlasting misery And can he not defend you from all that man shall threaten if it be best for you See the portion of the fearful Rev. 21. 8. § 111. Tempt 44. Sometime variety of temptations distracteth men that they do not look to all at Tempt 44. once § 112. Direct 44. Remember that one part of the City unguarded may lose the whole in a general Direct 44. assault § 113. Tempt 45. Sometime he ceaseth to make us secure and lay by our armes and then Tempt 45. surpriseth us § 114. Direct 45. Take heed of security and Satans ambushments Distinguish between cessation Direct 45. and conquest You conquer not every time that you have rest and quietness from temptation Till the sin be hated and the contrary grace or duty in practice you have not at all overcome And when that 's done yet trust not the Devil or the flesh nor think the warr will be shorter than your lives For one assault will begin where the former ended Make use of every cessation but to prepare for the next encounter § 115. Tempt 46. He will tempt you to take striving for overcoming and to think because Tempt 46. you pray and make some resistance that sin is conquered And because your Desires are good all is well § 116. Direct 46. But all that fight do not overcome If a man strive for Masteries yet is he Direct 46. not crowned except he strive lawfully 1 Tim. 2. 5. Many will seek to enter and shall not be able Luke 13 24. § 117. Tempt 47. He followeth the sinner with frequency and importunity till he weary him and Tempt 47. make him yield § 118. Direct 47. Remember that Christ is as importunate with thee to
ever the world had who taught it not only by his words but by his blood by his life and by his death If thou canst not learn it of him thou canst never learn it Love is the greatest commander of Love and the most effectual argument that can insuperably constrain us to it And none ever loved at the measure and rates that Christ hath loved To stand by such a fire is the way for a congealed heart to melt and the coldest affections to grow warm A lively faith still holding Christ the Glass of infinite Love and Goodness before our faces is the greatest Lesson in the Art of Love § 28. 2. Behold God also in his Covenant of Grace which he hath made in Christ. In that you may see sucâ— sâ—râ— such great and wonderful mercies freely given out to a world of sinners and to your selves among the rest as may afford abundant matter for Love and Thankfulness to feed on while you live There you may see how loth God is that sinners should perish How he delighteth in mercy And how great and unspeakable that mercy is There you may sâ—e an Act of Pardon and Oblivion granted upon the reasonable condition of Believing Penitent Acceptance to all mankind The sins that men have been committing many years together their willâ—ul hâ—ynous aggravated sins you may there see pardoned by more aggravated Mercy and the enemies of God reconciled to him and condemned rebels sav'd from Hell and brought into his family and made his sons O what an Image of the Goodness of God is apparent in the tenor of his word and Covenant Hâ—liness and Mercy make up the whole They are exprest in every leaf and line The precepts which seem too strict to sinners are but the perfect Rules of Holiness and Love for the health and happiness of man What Loveliness did David find in the Law it self And so should we if we read it with his eyes and heart It was sweeter to him than hony he loved it above gold Psalm 119. 127 and 97. he crieth out O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day And must not the Law-giver then be much more lovely whose Goodness here appeareth to us Good and upright is the Lord therefore will he teach sinners in the way Psalm 25. 8. I will delight my self in thy Commandments which I have loved My hands also will I lift up to thy Commandments which I have loved and I will meditate in thy statutes Psalm 119. 47 48. How delightfully then should I love and meditate on the Blessed Author of this holy Law But how can I read the history of Love the strange design of Grace in Christ the mystery which the Angels desirously pry into the pâ—omises of life to lost and miserable sinners and not feel the power of Love transform me Behold with what Love the Father hath Loved us that we shâ—uld be called the sons of God 1 John 3. 1. How doth God shed abroad his Love upon our hearts but by opening to us the superabundance of it in his word and opening our hearts by his spirit to perceive it O when a poor sinner that first had felt the load of sin and the wrath of God shall feelingly read or hear what mercy is rendered to him in the Covenant of Grace and hear Christs messengers tell him from God that All things are now ready and therefore invite him to the heavenly feast and even compel him to come in what melting Love must this affect a sinners heart with When we see the Grant of Life eternal sealed to us by the blood of Christ and a pardoning justifying saving Covenant so freely made and surely confirmed to us by that God whom we had so much offended O what an incentive is here for Love § 29. When I mention the Covenant I imply the Sacraments which are but its appendants or confirming seals and the investing the believer solemnly with its benefits But in these God is pleased to condescend to the most familiar communion with his Church that Love and Thankfulness might want no helps There it is that the Love of God in Christ applyeth it self most closely to particular sinners And the meat or drink will be sweet in the mouth which was not sweet to us on the table at all O how many a Heart hath this affected How many have felt the stirrings of that Love which before they felt not when they have seen Christ crucified before their eyes and have heard the Minister in his name and at his command bid them Take and Eat and Drink commanding them not to refuse their Saviour but Take him and the benefits of his blood as their own assuring them of his good will and readiness to forgive and save them § 30. 3. Behold also the Loveliness of God in his Holy ones who bear his Image and are advanced by his Love and Mercy If you are Christians indeed you are taught of God to Love his servants and to see an excellency in the Saints on earth and make them the people of your delight Psalm 16. 1 2. 1 Thes. 4. 9. And this must needs acquaint you with the greater Amiableness in the most Holy God that made them Holy O how oft have the feeling and heavenly prayers of lively believers excited those affections in me which before I felt not How oft have I been warmed with their Heavenly discourse How amiable is that Holy Heavenly disposition and conversation which appeareth in them Their faith their Love their trust in God their cheerful obedience their hatred of sin their desire of the good of all their meekness and patience how much do these advance them above the ignorant sensual proud malignant and ungodly world How Good then is that God that makes men Good And how little is the Goodness of the best of men compared to his unmeasurable Goodness Whenever your converse with holy men stirs up your Love to them rise by it presently to the God of Saints and let all be turned to him that giveth all to them and you § 31. And as the excellency of the saints so their priviledge and great advancement should shew you the Goodness of God that doth advance them As oft as thou seest a saint how poor and mean in the world soever thou seest a living monument of the abundant kindness of the Lord Thou seest a child of God a member of Christ an heir of Heaven Thou seest one that hath all his sins forgiven him and is snatcht as a brand out of the fire and delivered from the power of Satan and translated into the Kigdom of Christ Thou seest one for whom Christ hath conquered the powers of Hell and one that is freed from the bondage of the flesh and one that of the Devils slave is made a Priest to offer up the sacrifices of Praise to God Thou seest one that hath the spirit of God within him and one that hath daily intercourse with
me Denyal of our grace may seem to be humility but it tendeth to extinguish Love and Gratitude § 57. But you 'l say I must avoid soul-delusion and Pharisaical ostentation on the other side and few reach assurance how then should we keep up the Love of God Answ. 1. Though I am not come to the point of Trying and Discerning Grace I shall give you this much help in the way because it is so useful to the exercises of Love 1. If you have not Enjoying delighting Love yet try whether you have not Desiring seeking Love Love appeareth as truly in deâ—iâ—â—ng and seeking Good as in delighting in it Poor men shew their Love of the world by Desiring and seeking it as much as rich men do in delighting in it What is it that you most desire and seek 2. Or if this be so weak that you scarce discern it do you not find a mourning and lamenting Love You shew that you loved your money by mourning when you lose it and that you loved your friend by grieving for his death as well as by delighting in him while he lived If you heartily lament it as your greatest unhappiness and loss when you think that God doth cast you off and that you are void of Gracâ— and cannot serve and honour him as you would this shews you are not void of Love 3. If you feel not that you Love him do you feel that you would fain Love him and that you Love to Love him If you do so it is a sign that you do Love him When you do not only desire to find such an Evidence of salvation in you but when you desire Love it self and Love to Love God Had you not rather have a heart to Love him perfectly than to have all the riches in the world Had you not rather live in the Love of God if you could reach it than to live in any earthly pleasure If so be sure he hath your hearts The Will is the Love and the Heart If God have your Will he hath your Heart and Love 4. What hath your Hearts if he have them not Is there any thing that you prefer and seek before him and that you had rather have than him Can you be content without him and let him go in exchange for any earthly pleasure If not it is a sign he hath your Hearts You love him saâ—ingly if you set more by nothing else than by him 5. Do you love his holy Image in his word Do you delight and meditate in his Law Psalm 1. 2. Is it in your hearts Psalm 40. 8. Or do you pray Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies Psalm 119. 36. If you love Gods Image in his word the wisdom and holiness of it you love God 6. Do you love his Image on his Children If you Love them for their heavenly wisdom and holiness you so far Love God He that loveth the Candle for its light doth love the light it self and the sun He that loveth the wise and holy for their wisdom and holiness doth love wisdom and holiness it self The word and the saints being more in the reach of our sensible apprehensions than God himself is we ordinarily feel our Love to them more sensibly than our Love to God when indeed it is God in his word and servants that we love 1 Iohn 3. 14. Psalm 15. 4. 7. Though for want of Assurance you feel not the delights of Love have you not a heart that would delight in it more than in all the riches of the world if you could but get assurance of your interest Would it not comfort you more than any thing if you could be sure he Loveth you and could perfectly Love him and obey him If so it is not for want of Love that you delight not in him but for want of Assurance So that if God have thy heart either in a delighting Love or a seeking and desiring or a lamenting mourning Love he will not despise it or reject it He is â—igh to them that be of a broken heart Psalm 34. 18. A broken and contrite heart is his sacrifice which he will not despise Psalm 51. 17. The good Lord will have mercy on every one that prepareth their hearts to seek him though they do it not according to the preparation of the sanctuary 2 Cor. 30. 18 19. By these Evidences you may discern the sincerity of Love in small degrees and so you may make Love the occasion of more Love by discerning that Goodness of God which is manifested to you in the least § 38. 2. But suppose you cannot yet attain assurance Neglect not to improve that Goodness and Mercy of God which he revealeth to you in the state that you are in Love him but as Infinite Goodness should be loved who so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3. 16. Love him as the most blessed merciful God who made you and all things and hath given to the world an universal pardon on condition of their penitent acceptance and offereth them everlasting life and all this purchased by the blood of Christ Love him as one that offereth you reconciliation and intreateth you to be saved and as one that delighteth not in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn and live and as one that would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth though he will save none but the penitent that do acknowledge the truth And when you love him sincerely on these accounts you will have the evidence of his special Love to you § 39. Direct 16. Improve thy sense of natural and friendly love to raise thee to the Love of God Direct 16. When thou seest or feelest what Love a parent hath to children and a Husband to a wife or a Wife to a Husband or faithful friends to one another think then What Love do I owe to God O how inconsiderable is the Loveliness of a child a wife a friend the best of Creatures in comparison of the Loveliness of God Unworthy soul Canst thou love a drop of Goodness in thy friend And canst thou not Love the Ocean of Goodness in thy God Is a spark in the creature more amiable than the fire that kindled it Thou canst Love thy friend for all his blemishes his ignorance his passions and manifold imperfections And canst thou not love thy God who hath none of these nor any thing to discourage or damp thy love Thou lovest and deservedly lovest thy friend because he loveth thee and deals friendly with thee But O how much greater is the Love of God Did ever friend Love thee as he hath loved thee Did ever friend do for thee as he hath done He gave thee thy being thy daily safety and all the mercies of thy life He gave thee his Son his Spirit and his Grace He pardoned thy sins and
thou but say This man is more powerful than God Or God cannot deliver me out of his hands If it be want or sickness or death which thou fearest what dost thou but say in thy heart that God either knoweth not what is best for thee so well as thou knowest thy self or else is not Powerful or Gracious enough to give it nor true enough to keep his promise He that believeth not makes God a lyar 1 Iohn 5. 10 11. § 13. Direct 6. Remember that Trusting God doth as it were oblige him and distrusting him doth Direct 6. greatly disoblige him especially when any thing else is trusted before him If any man trust you upon any encouragement given him by you you will take your selves obliged to be trusty to him and not to fail any honest trust But if he trust you not or trust another you will turn him off to those that he hath trusted God may say to thee Let them help thee whom thou hast trusted Thou trustedst not in me and therefore I fail not thy trust when I forsake thee § 14. Direct 7. Remember that thou must trust in God or in nothing For nothing is more sure Direct 7. nor more frequently experienced than that all things else are utterly insufficient to be our help Shall we choose a broken reed that we know before hand will both deceive and pierce us Wo to the man that hath no surer a foundation for his Trust than Creatures The greatest of them are unable and the Best of them are untrusty and deceitful How sad is thy case if God turn thee off to these for help in the hour of thy extremity Then wilt thou perceive that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in Princes Psal. 118. 8 9. The righteous shall see and fear and laugh at him Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness Psal. 52. 6 7. But they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion that cannot be removed but abideth for ever Psal. 125. 1. Creatures will certainly deceive thy trust but so will not God § 15. Direct 8. Believe and remember the particular providence of God which regardeth the falling Direct 8. of a Sparrow on the ground and numbereth the very hairs of your heads Matth. 10. 30. And can you distrust him that is so punctually regardful of your least concernments that is alway present and watcheth over you You need not fear his absence disregard forgetfulness or insufficiency Doth he number your hairs and doth he not number your groans and prayers and tears How then doth he wipe away your tears and put them all as in his bottle Psal. 56. 8. Rev. 7. 17. § 16. Direct 9. Compare God with thy dearest and most faithful friend and then think how boldly Direct 9. thou caust trust that friend if thy life or wellfare were wholly in his hand and how much more boldly thou shouldst trust in God who is more wise and kind and merciful and trusty than any mortal man can be When thou art in want in prison in sickness and in pain expecting death think now if my life or health or liberty were absolutely in the power of my surest friend how quietly could I wait and how confidently could I cast away my fears though I had no promise what he would do with me For I know he would do nothing but what is for my good And is not God to be trusted in much more Indeed a friend would ease my pain or supply my wants or save my life when God will not But that is not because God is less kind but because he is more wise and better knoweth what tendeth to my hurt or good My friend would pull off the Plaister as soon as I complain of smart but God will stay till it have done the cure But sure God is more to be trusted for my real final good though my friend be forwarder to give me ease All friends may fail but Gâ—d 〈◊〉 faileth § 17. Direct 10. Make use of the natural Love of quietness and thy natural weariness of tormenting 〈◊〉 10. câ—res and feaâ—â— and sâ—rrows to move thee to cast thy self on God and quiet thy soul in trusting on him For God hath purposely made thy self and all things else insufficient unsatisfactory and vâ—xatious to theâ— that thou mightst be driven to rest on him alone when nothing else affords theâ—â—â—st Cares and fears and unquietness of mind are such Thorns and Bryars as nature cannot love â—â— be content with And you may be sure that you can no way be delivered from them but by trusting upon God And will you choose care and torment when so sure and cheap a way of case is sâ—t before you Who can endure to have fears torment him and cares feed daily upon his heart that may safely be delivered from it An ulcerated fâ—stered pained mind is a greater calaâ—ity than any bodily distress alone And if you be cast upon your own care or committed to the trust of any creature you can never rationally have peace For your own ease and comfort then betake your selves to God and cast all your care and burden on him who careth for you and knoweth perfectly what you want 1 Pet. 5. 7. Matth 6. 32. Read often Matth. 6. from â— 2â— How sweet an â—ase and quietness is it to the mind that can confidently trust in God How quiet is he from the storms of trouble and the sickness of mind which others are distressed with Isâ— 26. 3 4. Thou wilâ— keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thâ—e Trust â—â— in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jâ—hovah is everlasting strength Psal. 112. 7 8. He shall not be afraid of evil tydings his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord His heart is established â—e shall not be afraid Psal. 31. 19 20. O how great is thy goodness which thou hast lâ—id up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of men Thâ—u shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man thou shalt keep them secretly in thy pâ—viliâ—n from the strife of tongues 24. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart â—â— ye that hope in the Lord Psal. 56. 3 4. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee In God I will prâ—ise his word In God have I put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me How easie and sweet a life is this § 18. Direct 11. Remember that Distrust is a pregnant multiplying sin and will carry thee to all iniquity Direct 11. and miseâ—y if thou suffer it to prevail Distrusting God is but our entrance upon a life of error sin and wo It presently sets us on idolatrous confidence on
have a higher birth than they and higher hopes and higher hearts by setting light by that which their hearts are set upon as their felicity When seeming Christians are as worldly and ambitious as others and make as great a matter of their gain and wealth and honour it sheweth that they do but cover the base and sordid Spirit of worldlings with the visor of the Christian name to deceive themselves and bring the faith of Christians into scorn and dishonour the holy name which they usâ—r◠§ 35. Dirâ—ct 4. It much hâ—noureth God when his servants can quietly and fearlesly trust in him Diâ—â—ct 4. iâ— the â—â—ce of all the dangers and threatnings which Devils or men can cast before them and can joyfully sufâ—er pain or dâ—ath in obedience to his commands and in confidence on his promise of everlasting happinesâ— This sheweth that we believe indeed that there is a God and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. and that he is true and just and that his promises are to be trusted on and that he is able to make them good in despight of all the malice of his enemies and that the threats or frowns of sinful Worms are câ—ntemptible to him that feareth God Psal. 58. 11. Sâ— that men shall say Verily there is a reward for the righteous Verily there is a God that judâ—eth in the earth and that at last will judge the world in righteousness Paul glâ—ried in the Thâ—ssal â—iaâ—s for their faith and paâ—ience in all their persecutions and tâ—ibulations which they endured as a mâ—nifest tâ—ken â—f the righteous judgement of God that they might be accounted worthy of the Kingdâ—m 〈…〉 God fâ—r which they suffered Seeing it is a righteous thing with Gâ—d to recompence tribulation to them that trouble us and rest with his Saints to those that are troubled 2 Thess. 1. 4 5 6 7. If ye be rep 〈…〉 d for the name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you â—â— their part he is evil spâ—ken of but on your part he is glorified 1 Pet. 4. 14. If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God on this behalf Vers. 16. When confidence in God and assurance of the great reward in Heaven Matth. 5. 11 12. doth cause a believer undâ—untedly to say as the three Witnesses Dan. 3. We are not careful O King to answer thee in this mâ—tter The God whâ—m we serve is able to deliver us when by faith we can go through the tryal of carnal mâ—ckings and scourgings of bonds and imprisonment to be destitute and afflicted yea and toâ—tured not accepting deliverance upon sinful terms thus God is glorified by believers List up your voices O ye afflicted Saints and sing fâ—r the Mâ—jesty of the Lord Glorifie ye the Lord in the fires even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the Islâ—s of the Sea Iâ—a 24. 14 15. Sing to his Praise with Paul and Silas though your feet be in the stocks Iâ— God call for your lives remember that you are nâ—t your own you are bought with a price therefâ—re glorifie God in your bodies and Spiâ—its which are his 1 Cor. 6. 20. Rejoyce in it if you bear in your bodies the marks of the Lord Iesus Gal 6. 17. And if you alwayes bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Iesus that the life also of Iesus may be manifested in your bodies 2 Cor. 4. 10. And with all boldness see that Christ be magnified in your bodies whether it be by life or death Phil. 1. 20. Hâ— dishonoureth and reproacheth Christ and faith that thinks he is not to be trusted even unto the death § 36. Direct 5. It much honoureth God when the hopes of everlasting joyes do cause believers to Direct 5. liâ—e much more jâ—yfully than the most prosperous worldlings not with their kind of doting mirth in vain sports and pleasures and foolish talking and uncomely jests But in that constant cheerâ—ulness and gladness which beseemeth the heirs of glory Let it appear to the world that indeed you hope to live with Christ and to be equal with the Angels Doth a dejected countenance and a mournâ—ul troubled and complaining life express such hopes or rather tell men that your hopes are small and that God is a hard Master and his service grievous Do not thus dishonour him by your inordinate dejectedness Do not affright and discourage sinners from the pleasant service of the Lord. § 37. Direct 6. When Christians live in a readiness to dye and can rejoyce in the approach of death Direct 6. and lâ—ve and long for the ay of Iudgement when Christ shall justifie them from the slanders of the woâ—ld and shall judge them to eternaâ— joyes this is to the glory of God and our profession When death which is the King of fears to others appeareth as disarmed and conquered to believers when Iudgement which is the terror of others is their desire this sheweth a triumphant faith and that godliness is not in vain It must be something above nature that can make a man desire to depart and be with Christ as best of all and to be absent from the body and present with the Lord and to comfort one another with the mention of the glorious coming of their Lord and the day when he shall judge the world in righteousness Phil 1. 21. 2 Cor. 5. 8. 1 Thess. 4 18. 2. 1 10. § 38 Direct 7. The Humility and Meekness and Patience of Christians much honour God and their Direct 7. holy faith as Pride and Passion and Impatience dishonour him Let men see that the Spirit of God doth cast down the devillish sin of Pride and maketh you like your Master that humbled himself to assume our flesh and to the death of the Cross and to the contradiction and reproach of foolish sinners and made himself of no reputation but endured the shame of being derided spit upon and crucified Phil. 2. 7 8 9. Heb. 12. 2. and stooped to wash the feet of his Disciples It is not stoutness and lifting up the head and standing upon your terms and upon your honour in the world that is the honouring of God When you are as little children and as nothing in your own eyes and seek not the honour that is of men but say Not to us O Lord not to us but to thy Name be the glory Psal. 115. 1. and are content that your honour decrease and be trodden into the dirt that his may increase and his name be magnified this is the glorifying of God So when you shew the world that you are above the impotent passions of men not to be insensible but to be angry and sin not and to give place to wrath and not to resist and avenge your selves Rom. 12. 19. and to be meâ—k and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. It will appear that
therefore good in himself it can hardly be conceived but that in all this there is some kind of secret love to God as better than my self 87. In all this note that it is one thing to Love God under the notion of the Infinite Good better than my self and all things and another thing for the will to Love him more as that notion obligeth 88. And the reason why these are often separated is because besides a slight intellectual apprehension there is necessary to the Wills just determination a clear and deep apprehension with a right disposition of the Will and a suscitation of the Active Power 89. Yea and every slight Volition or Velleity will not conquer opposing Concupiscence and Volitions nor is every Will effectual to command the life and prevail against its contrary 90. Therefore I conceive that in our first believing in Christ even to Justification though our Reason tell us that he is more Amiable than our selves and we are desirous so to Love him for the future and have an obscure weak beginning of Love to God as God or as so conceived yet 1. The strength of sensitive self-love maketh our Love to our selves more passionately strong 2. And that Reason at least in its Degree of Apprehension is too Intense in apprehending our self-interest and too remiss in apprehending the Amiableness of God as God And so far even our Rational Love is yet greater to our selves though as to the Notion God hath the preheminence 3. And that in this whole affair of our Baptismal Covenanting Consent or Christianity our Love to our own felicity as such is more Powerful and effectual in moving the soul and prevailing for our resolution for a new life than is our Love to God as for himself and as God 91. And therefore it is that Fear hath so great a hand in our first Change For all that such Fear doth it doth as moved by self-love I mean the fear of suffering and damnation And yet experience telleth us that Conversion commonly beginneth in Fear And though where self-love and fear are alone without the Love of God as Good in and for himself there is no true grace yet I conceive that there is true grace initial in those weak Christians that have more Fear and self-love in the passionate and powerful part than Love to God so be it they have not more love to sin and to any thing that stands in competition with God 92. Therefore he that hath a Carnal self-love or inordinate inclining him to the creature which is stronger in him than the Love of God is Graceless Because it will turn his heart and life from God But he that hath only a necessary self-love even a love to his own spiritual eternal felicity operating by strong desire and fear conjunct with a weaker degree of Love to God as Good in himself I think hath grace and may so be saved Because here is but an unequal motion to the same End and not a competition 93. If any dislike any of this decision I only desire him to remember that on both hands there are apparent Rocks to be avoided First It is a dangerous thing to say that a man is in a state of grace and salvation who loveth not God as God that is better than himself And on the other hand the experience of most Christians in the world saith that at their first believing if not long after they Loved God more for themselves than for Himself and Loved themselves more than God though they knew that God was better and more amiable and that the fear of misery and the desire of their own salvation was more effectual and prevalent with them than that Love of God for himself And I doubt that not very many have this at all in so high a degree as to be clear and certain of it And if we shall make that necessary to salvation which few of the best Christians find in themselves we either condemn allmost all professed Christians or at least leave them under uncertainty and terrors Therefore Gods Interest speaking so lowd on one hand and mans experience on the other I think we have need to cut by a thred and walk by line with greatest accurateness 94. By this time we may see that as Christ is the way to the Father and the Saviour and recoverer of lapsed man from Himself to God so â—aith in Christ as such is a Mediate and Medicinal Grace and work And that faith is but the bellows of Love And that our first Believing in Christ though it be the regenerating work which generateth Love yet is but a middle state between an unregenerate and a regenerate Not as a third state specifically distinct from both but the initium of the latter or as the embrio or state of Conception in the womb is as to a man and no man Faith containeth Love in fieri 95. As the Love of our selves doth most powerfully though not only move us to close with Christ as our Saviour so while hereby we are united unto Him we have a double assistance or influx from him for the production of the purer Love of God The one is Objective in all the Divine demonstrations of Gods Love in his Incarnation Life Death Resurrection in his Doctrine Example Intercession and in all his benefits given us in our pardon adoption and the promises of future Glory The other is in the secret operations of the Holy Spirit which he giveth us to concur with these means and make them all effectual 96. The true state of sanctification as different from meer vocation and faith consisteth in this pure Love of God and Holiness and that more for himself and his Infinite Goodness than for our selves and as our felicity 97. Therefore when we are Promised the spirit to be given to us if we Believe in Christ and sanctification is promised us with Justification on this condition of faith this is part of the meaning of that promise that if we truly take Christ for our Saviour to bring us to the Love of God though at present we are most moved with the Love of our selves to accept him he will by his word works and spirit bring us to it initially here and perfectly in Heaven even to be perfectly Pleased in God for his own perfect Goodness and so to be fully Pleasant to him And thus besides the extraordinary gifts to a few the spirit of holiness or Love which is the spirit of Adoption is promised by Covenant to all Believers 98. Accordingly this promise is so fulfilled that in the first instant of time we have a Relative Right to Christ as our Head and the sender of the spirit and to the Holy Spirit himself as our sanctifier by undertaking according to the terms of the Covenant But this doth not produce allwaies a sensible or effectual Love of God above our selves in us at the very first but by degrees as we follow the work of faith
in our practice 99. For it is specially to be noted that the Doctrinal or Objective means of Love which Christ doth use and his internal spiritual influx do concur And his way is not to work on us by his spirit alone without those objects nor yet by the objects without the spirit nor by both distinctly and dividedly as producing several effects But by both conjunctly for the same effect The spirits influx causing us effectually to improve the objects and reasons of our Love As the hand that useth the seal and the seal it self make one impression 100. As Christ began to win our Love to God by the excitation of our self love multiplying and revealing Gods mercies to our selves so doth he much carry it on to increase the same way For while every day addeth fresh experience of the greatness of Gods Love to us by this we have a certain Tast that God is Love and Good in Himself and so by degrees we learn to Love him more for himself and to improve our notional esteem of his Essential Goodness into Practical 101. Though Faith it self is not wrought in us without the Holy Ghost nor is it if sincere a common gift yet this operation of the spirit drawing us to Christ by such arguments and means as are fitted to the work of believing is different from the Consequent Covenant-right to Christ and the spirit which is given to Believers and from the spirit of Adoption as recovering us as aforesaid to the Love of God 102. In this last sense it is that the Holy Ghost is said to dwell in Believers and to be the new name the pledge the earness the first fruits of life eternal the witness of our right to Christ and life and Christs agent and witness in us to maintain his cause and interest 103. Even as a man that by sickness hath lost his Appetite to meat is told that such a physicion will cure him if he will take a certain medicinal food that he will give him And at first he taketh it without appetite to the food or medicine in it self but meerly for the Love of health but after he is doubly brought to Love it for it self First because he hath tasted the sweetness of that which he did but see before and next because his health and appetite is recovered so is it with the soul as to the Love of God procured by believing When we have tasted through the perswasion of self-love our tast and recovery cause us to Love God for himself 104. When the soul is risen to this Habitual predominant Love of GOD and Holiness as such for their own Goodness above its own felicity as such though ever in conjunction with it and as his felicity it self then is the Law written in the Heart and this Love is the virtual fullfilling of all the Law And for such it is that it is said that the Law is not made that is In that measure that they Love the Good for it self they need not be moved to it with threats or Promises of extrinsick things which work but by self-love and fear Not but that Divine Authority must concur with Love to produce obedience especially while Love is but imperfect but that Love is the highest principle making the commanded Good connatural to us 105. And I think it is this spirit of Adoption and Love which is called The Divine Nature in us as it inclineth us to Love God and Holiness for it self as Nature is inclined to self-love and to food and other necessaries Not that the specifick essential Nature that is substance or form of the soul is changed and man Deified and he become a God that was before a man But his humane Soul or Nature is elevated or more perfected as a sick man by health or a blind man by his sight by the spirit of God inclining him habitually to God himself as in and for himself And this is all which the publisher of Sir H. Vanes notions of the two Covenants and two Natures can soundly meâ—n and seemeth to grope after 106. By all this you see that as the Love of God hath a double self-love in us to deal with so it dealeth variously with each 1. Sensual inordinate self-love it destroyeth both as it consisteth in the inordinate Love of sensual pleasure and in the inordinate love of self or life 2. Lawful and just self-love it increaseth and improveth to our further good but subjecteth it to the highest purest Love of God 107. By this you may gather what a confirmed Christian is even one in whom the pure Love of God as God and all things for God is predominant and more potent than not only the vicious but also the good and lawful and necessary love of himself 108. Though Christians therefore must study themselves and keep up a care of their own salvation yet must they much more study God his Greatness Wisdom and Goodness as shining in his works and word and in his Son and as foreseen in the Heavenly Glory And in this knowledge of God and Christ is life eternal And nothing more tendeth to the holy advancement and perfection of the soul than to keep continually due apprehensions of the Divine Nature Properties and Glorious appearances in his works upon the Soul so as it may become a constant course of contemplation and the habit and constitution of the mind and the constant guide of Heart and Life 109. The attainment of this would be a tast of Heaven on Earth Our wills would follow the will of God and Rest therein and abhor reluctancy All our duty would be both quickned and sweetned with Love Self-interest would be disabled from either seducing us to sin or vexing us with griefs cares fears or discontents We should so far trust soul and body in the Will and Love of God as to be more comforted that both are at his will than if they were absolutely at our own And GOD being our All the constant fixing satisfying object of our Love our souls would be constantly fixed and satisfied and live in such experience of the sanctifying grace of Christ as would most powerfully conquer our unbelief and in such foretasts of Heaven as would make Life sweet Death wellcome and Heaven unspeakably desirable to us But it is not the meer Love of personal Goodness as our own perfection that would do all this upon us 110. The soul that is troubled with doubts whether he Love God as God or only as a means of his own felicity in subordination to self-love must thus resolve his doubts If you truly believe that God is God that is the Efficient Dirigent and Final cause the just end of every rational agent the Infinite Good and chiefly to be loved in comparison of whom you are vile contemptible and as nothing If you feelingly take your self as lothsome by sin If you would not take up with an everlasting sensual pleasure alone without Holiness if you could
of this but live as quietly and talk as pleasantly as if all were well with them and their souls were safe and their calling and election were made sure Alas if these souls were not hardned in sin we should see it in their tears or hear it in their complaints they would after Sermon sometime come to the Minister as they Acts 2. 37. Acts 16. 30. Sirs what must we do to be saved or we should see it in their lives or hear of it by report of others who would observe the change that grace hath made and Sermons would stick longer by them and not at best be turned off with a fruitless commendation and saying it was a good Sermon and there is an end of it Judge now by this true description which I have given you what a hardned sinner is And then the godly may so see cause to bewail the remnants of this mischief as yet to be daily thankful to God that they are not in the power of it § 10. Direct 7. Live if you can possibly under a lively quickning Ministry and in the company of Direct 7. seriâ—us lively Christianâ— It is true that we should be deeply affected with the truths of God how coldly soever they be delivered But the question is not what is our duty but what is our disease and 〈…〉 and the proper remedy All men should be so holy as not to need any exhortations to 〈◊〉 at all But shall Ministers therefore neglect such exhortations or they that need them â—â—â—â— away their â—ars Hear if possible that Minister that first feels what he speaks and so speaks what â—â— feels as tendeth most to make you feel Isa. 58. 1 2. Cry aloud spare not lift up thy â—â—â—â—â— like a Trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and the house of Israel their sins Though â—â—câ—â—â— seek me daily and delight to know my wayes as a Nation that did righteousness and forsook nâ—t â—â—â—â— Orâ—inanceâ— of their God God is the chief agent but he useth to work according to the â—â—â—â—â—â— of the instrument O woful case to hear a dead Minister speaking to a dead people the living truths of the living God! As Christ said If the blind lead the blind both will fall into the ditch And if the dead must raise the dead and the ungodly enemies of a holy life must bring men to godliness and to a holy life it must be by such a power as once made use of clay and spittle to open the eyes of the blind It seems it was a Proverb in Christs dayes Let the dead bury their dead 2 â—â—â—â— 13 â—1 But not Let the dead raise the dead God may honour the bones of the dead Prophet with the raising a Corps that is cast into its grave and toucheth them A meeting of a dead Minister and a dead people is like a place of graves and though it be a lamentable thing to hear a man speak without any life of life eternal yet God can concurr to the quickning of a soul. But sure we have no great reason to expect that ordinarily he should convert men so miraculously without the moral aptitude of means It is most incongruous for any man in his familiar discourse to speak without great seriousness and reverence of things concerning life eternal But for a Preacher to talk of God of Christ of Heaven and Hell as coldly and sleepily as if he were perswading men not to believe him or regard him that no more regards himself is less tolerable It is a sad thing to hear a man draw out a dreaming dull discourse about such astonishing weighty things and to speak as if it were the business of his art to teach men to sleep while the names of Heaven and Hell are in their ears and not to be moved while they hear the message of the living God about their life or death everlasting If a man tell in the Streets of a fire in the Town or a Souldier bring an Allarm of the enemy at the Gates in a reading or jeasting tone the hearers will neglect him and think that he believeth not himself I know it is not meer noise that will convert a soul A bawling fervency which the hearers may discern to be but histrionical and affected and not to come from a serious heart doth harden the auditors worst of all A rude unreverent noise is unbeseeming an Embassador of Christ But an ignorant saying of a few confused words or a sleepy recital of the most pertinent things do as little beseem them Christ raised not Lazarus by the lowdness of his voice But where the natural ears are the passage to the mind the voice and manner should be suitable to the matter Noise without seriousness and pertinent matter is like Gunpowder without Bullet that causeth sound and no execution And the weightiest matter without clear explication and lively application is like Bullet without Powder If you will throw Canon Bullets at the enemy with your hands they will sooner fall on your feet than on them And it is deadness aggravated by hypocrisie when a lifeless Preacher will pretend moderation as if he were afraid of speaking too lowd and earnestly leâ—t he should awake the dead whom lightning and thunder will not awake and when he will excuse himself by accusing those that are not as drowzie or dead as he and would make men believe that seriousness is intemperate rage or madness If you are cast upon a cold and sleepy Minister consider the matter more than the manner But choose not such a one for the cure of hardness and insensibility of heart § 11. Direct 8. Take notice how sensible tender hearted Christians are of sins far less than those Direct 8. that you make a jeast of And how close those matters come to their hearts that touch not yours And have not you as much cause to be moved as they and as much need to lay such things to heart Did you but know what a trouble it is to them to be haunted with temptations to the unbelief and Atheism which prevaileth with you though they are far from choosing them or delighting in them Did you see how involuntary thoughts and frailâ—ies make some of them aweary of themselves and how they even hate their hearts for believing no more and loving God no more and for being so strange to God and Heaven when yet there is nothing in the world so dear to them nor hath so much of their Estimation or Endeavour You would think sure that if such hearts had your sin and misery to feel they would feel it to their grief indeed unless the sin it self did hinder the feeling as it doth with you Let tender hearted Christians instruct you and not be witnesses against you § 12. Direct 9. Take heed of hardning Company Examples and Discoursâ— To hear men rail and Direct 9. sâ—â—ffe at Holiness and curse and swear and blaspheme the Name and Truth of God
will find that Hell is no jeasting matter If you mock your selves out of your salvation where are you then If you play with time and means and mercy till they are gone you are undone for ever O dally not till you are past remedy Alas poor dreaming trifling Hypocrites Is time so swift and life so short and death so sure and near and God so holy just and terrible and Heaven so glorious and Hell so hot and both everlasting and yet will you not be in earnest about your work Up and be doing as you are men and as ever you care what becomes of you for ever Depart from iniquity if you will name the name of Christ 2 Tim. 2. 19. Let not a cheating world delude you for a moment and have the kernel the heart while God hath but the empty shell A mock-Religion will but keep up a mock-hope a mock-peace and a mock-joy and comfort till Satan have done his work and be ready to unhood you and open your eyes Job 8. 13. So aâ—e the paths of all that forget God and the Hypocrites hope shall perish Job 27. 8 9. For what is the hope of the hypocrite though he bath gained when God taketh away his soul Will God hear his â—ry when trouble cometh upon him Job 20. 4 5 6 7. Knowest thou not this of old that the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment Though his excellency mount up to the Heavens and his head reach unto the Clouds yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung they which have seen him shall say where is he Away then with hypocritical formality and dalliance and be serious and sincere for thy soul and with thy God PART IV. Directions against inordinate Man-pleasing or that Over-valuing the Favour and Censure of Man which is the fruit of Pride and a great Cause of Hypocrisie Or Directions against IDOLIZING MAN § 1. AS in other cases so in this iniquity consisteth not simply in the hearts Neglect of God but in the preferring of some competitor and prevalence of some object which standeth up for an opposite interest And so the obeying man before God and against him and the valuing the favour and approbation of man before or against the approbation of God and the fearing of mans censure or displeasure more than Gods is an IDOLIZING MAN or setting him up in the place of God It turneth our chiefest observance and care and labour and pleasure and grief into this humane fleshly channel and maketh all that to be but Humane in our hearts and lives which objectively should be Divine Which is so great and dangerous a sin partaking of so much Impiety Hypocrisie and Pride as that it deserveth a special place in my Directions and in all watchfulness and consideration to escape it § 2. As all other Creatures so specially Man must be regarded and valued only in a due subordination and subserviency to God If they be valued otherwise they are made his enemies and so are to be hated and are made the principal engine of the ruine of such as overvalue them See what Luke 14. 26 27. the Scripture saith of this sin Isa. 2. 22. Cease ye from Man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Matth. 23 9. And call no Man your Father upon the earth for Magna animi sublimiâ—ate carpentes se atque objuâ—gantes Soâ—â—ates conâ—emnebat 〈…〉 Socrat. one is your Father which is in Heaven 8. And be not ye called Rabbi for one is your Master even Christ but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant Jer. 20. 15. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm Psal. 118. 6 8 9. The Lord is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man yea in Princes Job 32. 21 22. Let me not accept any mans person neither let me give flattering titles unto man For I know not to give flattering titles in so doing my Maker would soon take me away Job 21. 4. As for me is my complaint to man Gal. 1. 10. Do I seek to please men For if I yet When 〈◊〉 was asked why â—he exercised not himself with the most he answered If I should do as the mâ—st dâ— I should be no Philosopher La 〈…〉 p. Adulatâ—onâ—â—â—â—â—dum crimen servitutis malâ—gnitati falsa species libertatis inest Taâ—itus â—b 17. Secure Conscience first Qua semel amisâ—a postea nullus â—â—â—â—s pleased men I should not be a servant of Christ. 1 Cor. 4. 3. But with me it is a very small thing to be judged of you or of mans judgement Luke 14. 26. If a man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my disciple Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven Matth. 5. 11 12. Not with eye-service as men-pleasers Ephes. 6 6. Col. 3. 22. 1 Thess. 2. 4. So we speak not as pleasing men but God who tryeth our hearts Jude 16. Having mens persons in admiration because of advantage This is enough to shew you what Scripture saith of this inordinate man-pleasing or respect to man And now I shall proceed to Direct you to escape it § 3. Direct 1. Understand well wherein the nature of this sin consisteth that you may not run into the Direct 1. contrary extream but may know which way to bend your opposition I shall therefore first shew you how far we may and must please men and how far not § 4. 1. Our Parents Rulers and Superiours must be honoured obeyed and pleased in all things which they require of us in the several places of authority which God hath given them over us And this must be not meerly as to man but as to the Officers of God from whom and for whom and not against him they have all their power Rom. 13. Exod. 20. 12. Titus 3. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 13. 2. 2 10. § 5. 2. We must in charity and condescension and meekness of behaviour seek to please all men in order to their salvation We must so thirst for the conversion of sinners that we must become all things lawful to all men that we may win them We must not stand upon our terms and Rom. 14. 15. 1 2 3. keep at a distance from them but condescend to the lowest and bear the infirmities of the weak and in things indifferent not take the course that pleaseth our selves but that which by pleasing him may edifie our weak brother We must forbear and forgive and part with our right and deny our selves the use of our Christian
it We must not only contemn it as compared to the approbation and favour of God but we must value it but as other transitory things in it self considered estimating it â—s a means to some higher end the service of God and our own or other mens greater â—â—â—â—d And further than it conduceth to some of these it must be allmost indifferent to us what men â—â—â—â—â— or say of us And the displeasure of all men if unjust must be reckâ—ned with our light afâ—flâ—â—â—â—iâ—ns § 17. 6. One truth of God and the smallest duty must be preferred before the pleasing and favor of all the men in the world Though yet as a means to the promoting of a greater truth or duty the favor and plâ—â—sing of men must be preferred before the uttering of a lesser truth or doing a lessâ—r â—â—od at that â—â—â—â— because it is no duty then to do it § 18. 7. Our hearts are so â—â—lâ—â—sh and deceitful naturally that when we are very sollicitous about â—â—â—◠〈…〉 we must carefully watch them lest self be intended while God is pretended And w◠〈◊〉 take special care that we be sure it be the honour of God and Religion and the good of soulâ—â—◠〈◊〉 greater benefit than honour it self that we value our honour and reputation for § 19. 8. Mans nature is so prone to go too far in valuing our â—steem with men that we should more fâ—â—r â—â—â—â— we â—rr on that hand than on the other in undervaluing it And it is far safer to do too little than too much in the vindicating of our own reputation whether by the magistrates justice or by dâ—sâ—uting or any contentious means § 20. 9. Wâ— must not wholy rest on the judgement of any about the state of our souls nor take their judgement of us for inâ—â—llible but use their help that we may know our selves § 21. 10. If Ministers or Councils called General do err and contradict the word of God we must do our best to discern it and discerning it must desert their error rather than the truth of God As Calvin and after him Paraeus on 1 Cor. 4. 3. say We must give an account of our doctrine to all men that require it especially to Ministers and Councils But when a faithful Pastor perceiveth himself oppressed with unrighteous and perverse designs and factions and that there is no place for equity and truth he â—ught to be careless of mans esteem and to appeal to God and fly to his tribunal And if we see our selves condemned our cause being unpleaded and judgement passed our cause being unheard let us lift up our minds to this magnanimity as despising mens judgement to expect with boldness the judgement of God and say with Paul With me it is a smal matter to be judged of you or of mans judgement I have one that judgeth me even the Lord. § 22. 11. God must be enough for a gracious soul and we must know that in his favour is life Psalm 30 5. Psalm 63. 3. 2 Câ—â— â— 9. Rom. 8. 33 34. and his loving kindness is better than life it self and this must be our care and labour that whether living or dying we may be accepted of him and if we have his Approbation it must satisfie us though all the world condemn us Therefore having faithfully done our duty we must leave the matter of our reputation to God who if our waies please him can make our enemies to be at peace with us or be harmless to us as if they were no enemies As we must quietly leave it to him what measure of wealth we shall have so also what measure of honour we shall have It is our duty to Love and Honor but not to be beloved and honoured § 23. 12. The prophesie of our Saviour must be still believed that the world will hate us and his Mâ—â— 10. â—â—â—â—n 15. Maâ— 27. Hâ—b 12. 1 2 3. â— Pet. 2. 21 22. example must be still before our eyes who submitted to be spit upon and scorned and buffeted and slandered as a traytor or usurper of the Crown and made himself of no reputation and indured the Cross and despised the shame leaving us an example that we should fâ—llow his steps who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but câ—mmitted all to him that judgeth righteously This is the usage that must be the Christians expectation and not to be well spoken of by all nor to have the applause and honor of the world § 24. 13. It is not only the approbation of the ignorant and ungodly that we must thus set light We must go further than Sâ—â—â—â—ca who said Maâ—e dâ— mâ— loqâ—â—â—â—â— â—ed mâ—lâ—â— mâ—â—eâ—er si de me Mâ—â— Caâ—e si â—â—â—â—s sapiens si duo Scipioâ—es ista loquerentur nunc malis disâ—â—â—â—ceâ—e â—audari est by but even of the most Learned and Godly themselves so as to bear their censures as an easie burden when God is pleased this way to try us and to be satisfied in God alone and the expectation of his final judgement § 25. Direct 2. Remember that the favour and pleasing of man is one of your snares that would Direct 2. prevail against your pleasing God Therefore watch against the danger of it as you must do against other earthly things § 26. Direct 3. Remember how silly a creature man is and that his favour can be no better than Direct 3. himself The thoughts or words of a mortal worm are matters of no considerable value to us § 27. Direct 4. Remember that it is the judgement of God alone that your life or death for ever Direct 4. doth depend upon and how little you are concerned in the judgement of man 1. An humbled soul that hath felt what it is to have displeased God and what it is to be under his curse and what it is to be reconciled to him by the death and intercession of Jesus Christ is so taken up in seeking the favour of God and is so troubled with every fear of his displeasure and is so delighted with the sense of his Love as that he can scarce have while to mind so small a matter as the favour or displeasure of a man Gods favour is enough for him and so precious to him that if he find that he hath this so small a matter as the favour of a man will scarce be mist by him § 28. 2. God only is our supream judge and our Governors as Officers limited by him But for others if they will be usurpers and set themselves in the throne of God and there let fly their censures upon things and persons which concern them not why should we seem much concerned in it If a beggar step up into a seat of judicature and there condemn one and fine another will you fear him or laugh at him Who art thou that judgest another mans servant To
and appear before the Holy God When the Bell is ready to toll for thee and thy Winding-â—heet to be fâ—tcht out and thy Coffin prepared and the Bier to be fetcht to carry thee to tâ—â— Grave and leave thee in the dark with worms and rottenness Wilt thou then be proud Where then â—re your high looks and lofty minds and splendid ornaments and honours Then will you be climbing into higher rooms and seeking to be revenged on those that did eclipse your honour Saith David even of Princes and all the sons of men Psal. 146. 3 4. His breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish § 100. Direct 19. Look on the lamentable effects of Pride about you in the world and that will help Direct 19. you to see the odiousness and perniâ—â—ous nature of it Do you not see how it setâ—eth the whole world on 〈…〉 â—ow it raisâ—r Wars and ruineth Kingdoms and draweth out mens blood and filleth the world with malice and haâ—â—ed and cruelty 〈…〉 nd injustice and treasons and rebellions and destroyeth mercy truth and honesty and all that is 〈◊〉 of God upon the mind of man Whence is all the confusion and calamity all the câ—nsoriousneâ—â— reviliâ—gs and cruelties which we have seen or felt or heard of but from Pride What is it that hath trampled upon the Intâ—â—â—â—st of Christ and his Gospel through the world but pride What else is it that hath burnt his Martyrs and made havock of his sâ—â—vants and distracted and divided his Church with Schisms and set up so many Sect-masters and Sects and câ—usâ—d them almost all to set against others but this cursed unmorâ—â—fied Pride He that hath seen but what Pride hath been doing in England in this age and yet discerneth not its hatefulness and perniciousness is strangely blind Every proud man is a plague or burden to the place he liveth in If he get high he is a Nabal a man can scarce speak to him He thinks all under him are made but to serve his will and honour as inferiour creatures are made for man If he be an iâ—â—â—â—riour he scorneth at the honour and government of his Superiours and thinks they take too much upon them and that it is below him to obey If he be rich he thinks the poor mu 〈…〉 bow to him as to 〈…〉 Golden Calf or Nebuchadnezzars Golden Image If he poor he envieth the rich and is impatâ—â—nt of the state that God hath set him in If he be learned he thinks himself an Oracle â—â— uâ—learned he dâ—spiseth the knowledge which he wanteth and scorneth to be ta 〈…〉 What staâ—â— soâ—ver he is in he is a very Salamander that liveth in the fire he troubleth House a 〈…〉 own and Counâ—â—â—â— if his power be answerable to his heart he is an unpolished stone that will never lye even in any building he is a natural enemy to quietness and peace § 101. Direct 20 Consider well how God hath designed the humbling of all that he will save in his Direct 20. â—â—â—â—le con 〈…〉 nce of the work of our Redemption He could have saved man by keeping him in his prâ—â—itive innocency if he had pleased Though he causeth not sin he knoweth why he permitteth it He thought it 〈◊〉 enough that man should have the thought of creation to humble him as being taken from the dust and made of nothing but he will also have the sense of his moral nothingness and sinfulness to humble him He will have him beholden to his Redeemer and Sanctifier for his new life and his salvation as much as to his Creator for his natural life He is permitted first to undo himself and bring himself under condemnation to be a child of death and near to Hell before he is ransâ—med and delivered that he may take to himself the shame of his misery and ascribe all his hopes and recovery to God No flesh shall be justified by the works of the Law or by a righteousness of his own performance but by the satisfaction and merits of his Redeâ—mer that so all boasting may be excluded and that no flesh might glory in his sight and that man Rom. 3. 19 20 â—â— 27 4. â— 1 Cor. 1. 29. â—phes 2. 9. might be humbled and our Redeemer have the praise to all eternity And therefore God prepareth men for faith and pardon by humbling works and forceth sinners to condemn themselves before he will justifie them § 102. Direct 21. Read over the character which Christ himself giveth of his true Disciples and you will Direct 21. see what great self-denyal and humility he requireth in all In your first conversion you must become as little children Matth. 18. 3. Instead of contending for superiority and greatness you must be ambitious of being servants unto all Matth. 23. 11. 20. 27. You must learn of him to be meek and lowly of heart Matth. 11. 28 29. and to â—â—oop to wash your brethrens feet Iohn 13. 5. 14. Instead of revenge or unpeaceable contending for your right you must rather obey those that injuriously Luke 22. 26. Mark 10. 44. Maâ— 9 35 36 2 Tim. 2. 24. command you and turn the other cheâ—k to him that smiteth you and let go the rest to him that hath injuriously taken from you and bless them that curse you and pray for them that huâ—t and persecuâ—e you and dâ—spightfully use you Matth. 5. 39 40 41 44. These are the followers of Christ. § 103. Direct 22. Remember how Pride contradicteth it self by exposing you to the hatred or contempt Direct 22. of all All men abhor that Pride in others which they cherish in themselves A humble man is well thought of by all that know him and a proud man is the mark of common obloquy The rich disdain him the poor envy him and all hate him and many deride him This is his success § 104. Direct 23. Look still unto that dismal end which Pride doth tend unto It threatneth Apostasie Direct 23. If God forsake any one among you and any of you forsake God his Truth and your Consciences and be made as Lots Wife a monument of his vengeance for a warning unto others it will be the proud and self-conceited person It maketh all the mercies of God your duties and parts and objectively your very graces to be its food and fewel It is a sign you are near some dreadful fall or heavy judgement For God hath given you this prognostick Luke 14. 11. 1. 51. Prov. 15. 25. 16. 5. Isa. 2. 11 12. An Ahab is safer when he humbleth himself and an Hezekiah is falling when he is lifted up They are the most hardned sinners scorning reproof and therefore ordinarily forsaken both by God and man and left to their self-delusion till they perish § 105. Direct 24. Converse with humbled and afflicted persons and not with proud secure worldlings Direct 24. Be much in the house of
through a Needles eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God And they that heard it said Who then can be saved And he said The things which are impossible with men are possible with God So Luke 6. 24 25. But wo unto you that are rich for you have received your consolation Wo unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Make but sense of these and many such like Texts and you can gather no less than this from them that Riches make the way to Heaven much harder and the salvation of the ☜ rich to be more difficult and rare proportionably than of other men And Paul saith 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called And the Lovers of riches though they are poor must remember that it is said 1 Tim. 6. 10. That the Love of money is the root of all evil And 1 John 2. 15. Love not the world nor the things that are in the world For if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Do you believe that here lyeth the danger of your souls and yet can you so love and choose and seek it Would you have your salvation more difficult and doubtful and impossible with men You had rather choose to live where few dye young than where most dye young and where sicknesses are rare than where they are common If you were sick you had rather have the Physicion and Medicines and Dyet which cure most than those which few are cured by If the Countrey were beset with Thieves you had rather go the way that most scape in than that few scape in And yet so it may but please your flesh you will choose that way to Heaven that fewest scape in and you will choose that state of life which will make your salvation to be most hard and doubtful Doth your Conscience say that this is wisely done I know that if God put Riches into your hand by your Birth or his blessing on your honest labours you must not cast away your Masters talents because he is austere but by a holy improvement of them you may further his service and your salvation But this is no reason why you should ovâ—r-love them or desire and seek so great a danger Believe Christ heartily and it will quench your Love of Riches § 28. Direct 7. Remember that the more you have the more you have to give account for And Direct 7. â—f the day of Judgement be dreadful to you you should not make it more dreadful by greatning your own accounts If you desired Riches but for the service of your Lord and have used them for him and can tâ—uly give in this account that you laid them not out for the needless pleasure or pride of the flâ—sh but â—o furnish your selves and families and others for his service and as near as you â—â—uld employ them according to his will and for his use then you may expect the reward of good and faithful servants But if you desired and used them for the pride and pleasure of your selves while you lived and your posterity or kindred when you are dead dropping some inconsiderable â—râ—ms for God you will then find that Mammon was an unprofitable Master and Godliness with content Pâ—â—v 3. 14 1 â—â—m 6 â— 6. would have been greater gain § 29. Direct 8. Remember how dear it costeth men thus to hinder their salvation and greaten their Direct 8. danger and accounts What a deal of precious Time is lost upon the world by the Lovers of it which might have been improved to the getting of Wisdom and Grace and making their calling and election 〈…〉 2 sure If you had believed that the gain of holy wisdom had been so much better than the gaining of Gold as Solomon saith Prâ—v 3. 14. you would have laid out much of that time in labouring to understand the Scriptures and preparing for your endless life How many unnecessary Thoughtâ— have you cast away upon the world which might better have been laid out on your greater concernments How many â—ares and vexations and passions doth it cost men to overload themselves with worldly provisions Like a foolish travellâ—r who having a dayes journey to go doth spend all the day in gathering together a load of mâ—at and clothes and money more than he can carry for fear of wanting by the way or like a foolish runner that hath a race to run for his life and spends Saith Plutarâ—h 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—n Alexanâ—er wept because he was not Lord of the world when Câ—atâ—s having but a Wall â—â— and a thred-bare Cloke spent his whole life in mâ—râ—h and joy as if it had been a continual festival holy-day Psal. 37. 16. Prov 16. 8. the time in which he should be running in gathering a burden of pretended necessaries You have all the while Gods work to do and your souls to mind and judgement to prepare for and you are tiring and vexing your selves for unnecessary things as if it were the top of your ambition to be able to say in Hell that you dyed rich 1 Tim. 6. 5 6 7 8 9 10. Godliness with contentment is great gain For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out And having food and raiment let us be therewith content But they that will be Rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred or been seduced from the â—aith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows Piercing sorrows here and damnation hereafter are a very dear price to give for money For saith Christ himself What shall it profit a man to gain all the world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul that is What money or price will recover it if for the love of gain he lose it Mark 8. 36 37. Prov. 15. 27. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house but he that hateth gifts shall live Do you not know that a godly man contented with his daily bread hath a far sweeter and quietter life and death than a self-troubling worldling You may easily perceive it Prov. 15. 16. Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith § 30. Direct 9. Look much on the life of Christ on earth and see how strangely he condemned worldliness Direct 9. by his example Did he choose to be a Prince or Lord or to have great possessions lands or money or sumptuous buildings or gallant attendance and plentiful provisions His housing you â—uke 9 58. may read of Matth. 8. 20. Fâ—xes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay
this to encrease and multiply your pleasure Is not health and friends and food and convenient habitation much sweeter as the â—ruit of the Love of God and the fore-tastes of everlasting mercies and as our helps to Heaven and as the means to spiritual comfort than of themselves alone All your mercies are from God He would take nâ—ne from you but sanctifie theâ— and give you more § 26. Direct 5. See that Reason keep up its authority as the Governour of sense and appetite And Direct 5. so take an accounâ— whatâ—ver the Appetite would have of the Ends and Reasons of the thing and to what it doth câ—â—duce Take nothing and do nothing meerly because the sense or appetite would have it but because you have Reason so â—â— do and to gratifie the appetite Else you will deal as Brutes if Reason be laid by in humane acts § 27. Direct 6. Go to the Gâ—ave and see there the end of fleshly pleasure and what is all that it Direct 6. will do for you at the last One would think iâ— should cure the mad desire of plenty and pleasure to see where all our wealth and mirth and sport and pleasure must be buryed at last § 28. Direct 7. Lastly be still sensible that flesh is the grand Enemy of your souls and flesh-pleasing Direct 7. the greatest hinderance of your salvation The Devils enmity and the worlds are both but subordinate to this of the Flesh For its Pleasure is the End and the world and Satans temptations are both but the means to attain it Besides the malignity opened before consider 1. How contrary a voluptuous life is to the blessed example of our Lord and of his servant Paul The enmity of the Flesh. and all the Apostles Paul tamed his body and brought it into subjection left having preached to others himself should be a castaway 1 Cor. 9. 27. And all that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof Gal. 5. 24. This was signified in the antient manner of baptizing and so is still by Baptism it self when they went over head in the water and then rose out of it to signifie that they were dead and buried with Christ Rom. 6. 3 4. and rose with him to newness of life This is called our being Baptized into his death And seems the plain sense of 1 Cor. 15. 29. of being Baptized for the dead that is for dead or to shew that we are dead to the world and must dye in the world but shall rise again to the Kingdom of Christ both of Grace and Glory 2. Sensuality sheweth that there is no true belief of the life to come and proveth so far as it prevaileth the absence of all grace 3. It is a home-bred continual traytor to the soul A continual tempter and nurse of all sin The great withdrawer of the heart from God and the common cause of Apostacy it self It still fighteth against the Spirit Gal. 5. 17. And is seeking advantage from all our Liberties Gal. 5. 13. 2 Pet. 2. 10. 4. It turneth all our outward mercies into sin and strengthneth itself against God by his own benefits 5. It is the great cause of our afflictions For God will not spare that Idol which is set up against him Flesh rebelleth and flesh shall suffer 6. And when it hath brought affliction it is most impatient under it and maketh it seem intollerable A flesh-pleaser thinks he is undone when affliction depriveth him of his pleasure 7. Lastly It exceedingly unfitteth men for Death For then Flesh must be cast into the dust and all its pleasure be at an end O doleful day to those that had their good things here and their portion in this life When all is gone that ever they valued and sought and all the true felicity lost which they brutishly contemned If you would joyfully then bear the dissolution and ruine of your flesh O master it and mortifie it now Seek not the ease and pleasure of a little walking breathing clay when you should be seeking and fore-tasting the everlasting pleasure Here lyeth your danger and your work Strive more against your own flesh than against all your Enemies in Earth and Hell If you be saved from this you are saved from them all Christ suffered in the flesh to tell you that it is not pampering but suffering that your flesh must expect if you will reign with him CHAP. V. Further Subordinate Directions for the next great duties of Religion necessary See the Directions how to spend every day Tom. 2. Chap. 17. to the right performance of the former Directions for REDEEMING or well improving TIME § 1. TIME being Mans opportunity for all those works for which he liveth and which his Creator doth expect from him and on which his endless life dependeth the REDEEMING or well improving of it must needs be of most high importance to him And therefore it is well made by holy Paul the great mark to distinguish the Wise from fools Ephes. 5. 15 16. See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Redeeming the time So Col. 4. 5. I shall therefore give you special Directions for it when I have first opened the nature of the duty to you and told you what is meant by Time and what by Redeeming it § 2. Time in its most common acception is taken generally for all that space of this present life What 's meant by Time which is our opportunity for all the works of life and the measure of them Time is often taken more strictly for some special Opportunity which is fitted to a special work which we call the season or the fittest time In both these senses Time must be Redeemed § 3. As every work hath its season which must be taken Eccles. 3. 1. So have the greatest works What are the special seasons of duty assigned us for God and our souls some special seasons besides our common time 1. Some Times God hath fitted by Nature for his service So the Time of Youth and health and strength is specially fit for holy work 2. Some Time is made specially fit by Gods Institution As the Lords Day above all other dayes 3. Some Time is made fit by Governours appointment as the hour of publick Meeting for Gods Worship and Lecture-dayes and the hour for family-worship which every Master of a family may appoint to his own houshold 4. Some Time is made fit by the temper of mens Bodies The Morning hours are best to most and to some rather the Evening and to all the Time when the Body is freest from pain and disabling weaknesses 5. Some Time is made fit by the course of our necessary natural or civil business as the day is fitter than the sleeping time of the night and as that hour is the fittest wherein our other imployments will least disturb us 6. Some Time is made fit by a special showr of Mercy publick
didst omit Thou hast an offended God to be reconciled to and for thy estranged soul to know as thy Father in Jesus Christ what abundance of Scripture truths hast thou to learn which thou art ignorant of How many holy duties as Prayer Meditation holy conference c. to learn which thou art unskilful in and to perform when thou hast learned them How many works of Justice and Charity to mens souls and bodies hast thou to do How many needy ones to relieve as thou art able and the sick to visit and the naked to cloath and the sad to comfort and the ignorant to instruct and the ungodly to exhort Heb. 3. 13. Heb. 10. 25. Ephes. 4. 29. what abundance of duty hast thou to perform in thy Relations to Parents or Children to Husband or Wife as a Master or a Servant and the rest Thou little knowest what sufferings thou hast to prepare for Thou hast Faith and Love and Repentance and patience and all Gods graces to get and to exercise daily and to increase Thou hast thy accounts to prepare and assurance of salvation to obtain and Death and Judgement to prepare for what thinks thy heart of all this work Put it off as lightly as thou wilt it is God himself that hath laid it on thee and it must be done in time or thou must be undone for ever And yet it must not be thy toyl but thy delight This is appointed thee for thy chiefest recreation Look into the Scripture and into thy Heart and thou wilt find that all this is to be done And dost thou think in thy Conscience that this is not greater business than thy gawdy dressings thy idle visits or thy needless sports which is more worthy of thy Time § 10. Direct 3. Remember how gainful the Redeeming of Time is and how exceeding comfortable Direct 3. in the review In Merchandize or any trading in husbandry or any gaining course we use to say of a man that hath grown rich by it that he hath made use of his Time But when Heaven and communion with God in the way and a life of holy strength and comfort and a death full of joy and hope is to be the gain how cheerfully should Time be Redeemed for these If it be pleasant for a man to find himself thrive and prosper in any rising or pleasing employment How pleasant must it be continually to us to find that in redeeming Time the work of God and our souls do prosper Look back now on the Time that is past and tell me which part is sweetest to thy thoughts However it be now I can tell thee at death it will be an unspeakable comfort to look back on a well spent life and to be able to say in humble sincerity My time was not cast away on worldliness ambition idleness or fleshly vanities or pleasures but spent in the sincere and laborious service of my God and making my calling and election sure and doing all the good to mens souls and bodies that I could do in the world It was entirely devoted to God and his Church and the good of others and my soul What a joy is it when going out of the world we can in our place and measure say with our blessed Lord and pattern John 17. 4 5. I have Glorified thee on earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and now O Father glorifie me with thy self Or as Paul 1 Tim. 4. 6 7 8. I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Iudge shall give And 2 Cor. 1. 12. For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly wisdâ—m we have had our conversation in the world It s a great comfort in sickness to be able to say with Hezekiah Isa 38. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight O Time well spent is a precious cordial to a soul that is going to its final sentence and is making up its last and general accounts Yea the reviews of it will be joyful in Heaven which is given though most freely by the Covenant antecedently yet as a Reward by our most righteous judge when he comes to sentence men according to that Covenant § 11. Direct 4. Consider on the contrary how sad the review of ill spent time is and how you will Direct 4. wish you had spent it when it is gone Hast thou now any comfort in looking back on thy despised hours I will not so far wrong thy understanding as to question whether thou know that thou must die But thy sin alloweth me to ask thee Whether at thy dying hour it will be any comfort to thee to remember thy pastimes And whether it will then better please thee to find upon thy account so many hours spent in doing good to others and so many in prayer and studying the Scriptures and thy Heart and in preparing for death and the life to come so many in thy calling obediently managed in order to eternity or to hear so many hours spent in idleness and so many in needless sports and plays hawking and hunting courting and wantonness and so many in gathering and providing for the flesh and so many in satisfying its greedy lusts Which reckoning doth thy Conscience think would be most comfortable to thee at the last I put it to thy own Conscience if thou were to die to morrow how thou wouldst spend this present day Wouldst thou spend it in idleness and vain pastimes Or if thou were to die this day where wouldst thou be found and about what exercises Hadst thou rather death found thee in a Play-house a Gaming-house an A L E house in thy fleshly jollity and pleasure Or in a holy walking with thy God and serious preparing for the life to come Perhaps you 'l say that If you had but a day to live you would lay by the labours of your calling and yet that doth not prove them sinful But I answer There is a great difference between an evil and a small unseasonable Good If death found thee in thy honest calling holily managed Conscience would not trouble thee for it as a sin And if thou rather choose to die in prayer it is but to choose a greater duty in its season But sure thou wouldst be loth on another account to be found in thy Time-wasâ—â—ing pleasures And Conscience if thou have a Conscience would make thee drâ—ad it as a sâ—n Thou wilt not wish at death that thou hadst never laboured in thy lawful calling though thou wouldst be found in a more seasonable work But thou wilt wish then if thou
the men on earth with all their power and all their wit are not able to recall one minute that is gone All the riches in this world cannot redeem it by reversing one of those hours or moments which you so prodigally cast away for nothing If you would cry and call after it till you tear your hearts it will not return Many a thousand have tryed this by sad experience and have cryed out too late O that we had now that Time again which we made so light of But none of them did ever attain their wish No more will you Take it therefore while you have it It is now as liberal to the poorest beggar as to the greatest Prince Time is as much yours as his Though in your youth and folly you spend as out of the full heap as if Time would never have an end you shall find it is not like the widdows oyl or the loaves and fishes multiplyed by a Miracle But the hour is at hand when you will wish you had gathered the fragments and the smallest crums that nothing of so precious a commodity had been lost even the little minutes which you thought you might neglect and be no losers Try whether you can stop the present moment or recall that which is gone by already before you vilifie or loiter away any more lest you repent too late § 17. Direct 10. Think also how exceeding little Time thou hast and how near thou allway standest Direct 10. to eternity Job 7. 1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth Are not his days also like the Ex ipsà vitâ discedimus tanquam ex hospitio non tanquam ex domo Commorandi enim nobis natura diversorium non habitandi domum dedit Cic. i◠Cat. Maj. days of an hireling Job 14. 1 2. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not Job 9. 25 26. Now my days are swifter than a post they flee away they see no good they are passed away as the swift ships as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey O what is this inch of hasty Time How quickly will it all be gone Look back on all the Time that 's past If thou have lived threescore or fourscore years what is it now Doth it not seem as yesterday since thou wast a child Do not days and nights wheel on apase O man how short is thy abode on earth How small a Time will leave thee in eternity What a small and hasty moment will bring thee to the state in which thou must remain for ever Every night is as the death or end of one of the few that are here allotted thee How little a while is it till thy mortal sickness Till thou must lie under languishing decays and pain Till thy vital powers shall give up their office and thy pulse shall cease and thy soul shall take its silent undiscerned flight and leave thy body to be hid in darkness and carried by thy friends to the common earth How short a Time is it betwixt this and the digging of thy grave Betwixt thy pleasures in the flesh and thy sad farewel when thou must say of all thy pleasures They are gone Betwixt thy cares and businesses for this world and thy entrance into another world where all these vanities are of no esteem How short is the Time between thy sin and thy account in judgement Between the pleasure and the pain And between the patient holiness of the Godly and their full reward of endless joys And can you spare any part of so short a life Hath God allotted you so little Time and can you spare the Devil any of that little Is it not all little enough for so great a work as is necessary to your safe and comfortable death O remember when sloth or pleasure would have any how little you have in all And out of how small a stock you spend How little you have for the one thing necessary The providing for eternal life And how unseasonable it is to be playing away time so neer the entrance into the endless world § 18. Direct 11. Remember also how uncertain that little Time is which you must have As you Direct 11. know it will be short so you know not how short You never yet saw the day or hour in which you were sure to see another And is it a thing becoming the Reason of a man to slug or cast away that day or hour which for ought he knows may be his last You think that though you are not certain yet you are likely to have more But nothing that is hazardous should be admitted in a business of such moment Yea when the longest life is short and when so frail a body liable to so many hundred maladies and casualties and so sinful a soul do make it probable as well as possible that the thred thy of life should be cut off ere long even much before thy natural period When so many score at younger years do come to the grave for one that arriveth at the ripeness of old age is not then the uncertainty of thy Time a great aggravation of the sinfullness of thy not-redeeming it If you were sure you had but one year to live it would perhaps make you so wise as to see that you had no Time to spare And yet do you wast it when you know not that you shall live another day Many a one is this week trifling away their Time who will be dead the next week who yet would have spent it better if they had thought but to have dyed the next year O man what if death come before thou hast made thy necessary preparation Where art thou then When Time is uncertain as well as short hast thou not work enough of weight to spend it on If Christ had set thee to attend and follow him in greatest holiness a thousand years shouldst thou not have gladly done it And yet canst thou not hold out for so short a life Canst thou not watch with him one hour He himself was provoked by the nearness of his death to a speedy dispatch of the works of his life And should not we Matth. 26. 18. He sendeth to prepare his last communion feast with his Disciples thus My time is at hand I will keep the passover at thy house with my Disciples And Luke 22. 15. With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer So should you rather say My time is short my death is at hand and therefore it concerneth me to live in the knowledge and communion of God before I go hence into his presence especially when as Eccles. 9. 12. Man knoweth not his time Many thousands would have don◠better in their preparations if they had known the period of their time Matth. 24. 43. But know this
evil Who will thank you for giving Physick or food or clothing to the dead Or pitying the poor when it is too late In Time all this may be accepted § 32. Direct 5. Remember that if thou omit the season thou art left to uncertainties both for time Direct 5. and means and grace Lose this Time and for ought thou knowest thou losest all Or if thou have Time it may be curst with barrenness and never fruit may more grow on it Preachers may be taken from thee and gracious company may be taken from thee Helps and means may be turned into hinderances and opposition and strong temptations And then you will find what it was to neglect the season Or if you have the continuance of all helps and means how know you that God will set in by his grace and bless them to you and move your hearts He may resolve that if you resist him now his Spirit shall strive with you no more If while it is called to day you will harden your hearts he may resolve to leave you to the hardness of Pharaoh and to get himself a name upon you and use you as vessels of wrath prepared by your neglect and obstinacy for destruction § 33. Direct 6. Bethink you how all the Creatures keep their proper seasons in the service which Direct 6. God hath appointed them for you The Sun riseth and setteth in its season and keepeth its diary and Deut. 28. 12. Jer. 5. 24. Jer. 33. 20. annual course and misseth not a minute So do the other Coelestial motions You have day and night and seed time and harvest Summer and Winter Spring and Fall and all exactly in their seasons Jer. 8. 7. Yea the Stork in the Heavens knoweth her appointed time and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but my people know not the judgement of the Lord. Shall only man neglect his season § 34. Direct 7. Consider how you know and observe the season for your worldly labours and should Direct 7. you not much more do so in greater things You will not Plow when you should Reap nor do the work of the Summer in the Winter You will not lye in bed all day and go about your business in the night You will be inquisitive that you may be skilful in the seasons for your benefit or safety in the world and should you not much more be so for a better world Matth. 16. 3. O ye hypocrites ye can discern the face of the skie but can ye not discern the signs of the times As at Harvest you look Luk. 10. 10 for the fruit of your Land so doth God in season expect fruit from you Mark 12. 2. The godly are like a tree a Tree that 's planted by the Rivers side which bringeth forth its fruit in season Psal. 1. 3. shall worldlings know their season and shall not we § 35. Direct 8. Consider how vigilant the wicked are to know and take their season to do evil And Direct 8. how much more should we be so in doing good Seducers will take the opportunity to deceive The Thief and the Adulterer will take the season of secresie and darkness The Ambitious and Covetous will take the season for profit and preferment The Malicious watch their seasons of revenge And have we not more need and more encouragement than they Is it Time for them to be building their Hag. 1 2 3. own houses and growing great by covetousness and oppression and is it not Time for you to be honouring God and providing for your endless life They cannot sleep unless they do Evil Prov. 4. 16. and can you sleep securely while your Time passeth away and your work is undone § 36. Direct 9. Remember that the Devil watcheth the season of Temptation to destroy you He Direct 9. prevaileth much by taking the time when he seeth you disarmed forgetting God in secure prosperity fittest to hearken to his temptations The same temptations out of season might not prevail And will you let your enemy out do you § 37. Direct 10. Consider how earnest you are with God in your necessities and distress not only to relieve Direct 10. and help you but to do it speedily and in season You would rather have him prevent the season 1 Sâ—m 13 8 9. than to let it pass You are impatient till deliverance come and can hardly stay the time till it be ripe When you are in pain and sickness you would be delivered speedily you are ready to cry How long Lord how long And as David Psal. 102. 13. The time yea the set time is come Psal. 40. 17. Psal. 70. 5. Lev. 26. 4. Jer. 5. 24. Make no long tarrying O my God! It would not satisfie you if God should say I will ease you of your pain the next year Why then should you neglect the Time of duty and use so many delays with God He giveth you all your mercies in their season why then do you not in season give up your selves to his love and service when you have his promise that you shall reap in due season if you do not saint Gal. 6. 9. Tit. 3. Directions Practical for Redeeming Time § 38. Direct 1. THE first point in the art of Redeeming Time is to dispatch first with greatest Direct 1. care and diligence the greatest works of absolute necessity which must be done or else we are undone for ever First see that the great work of a sound conversion or sanctification be certainly wrought within you Make sure of your saving interest in Christ get proof of your adoption and peace with God and right to everlasting life Be able to prove to your Consciences from the word of God and from your Regenerate Heavenly hearts and lives that your souls are justified and safe and may comfortably receive the news of death when ever it shall be sent to call you hence And then when you have done but this much of your work you will incur no such loss of Time as will prove the loss of your souls or happiness Though still there is much more work to do for your selves and others yet when this much is soundly done you have secured the main If you lose the Time in which you should be renewed by the spirit of Christ and in which you should lay up your treasure in Heaven you are lost for ever Be sure therefore that you look first to this And then if you lose but the Time in which you might have grown rich or got preferment your loss is tolerable you know the worst of it You may see to the end of it Yea if you lose the Time in which you should increase in Holiness and edifie others the loss is grievous but yet it will not lose you Heaven Therefore as Solomon directeth the Husbandman Prov. 24. 27. Prepare thy work without and make it fit for thy self in the
alloweth and requireth him to make the exercises of his mind on things sublime and holy and the affecting of his heart with them to be his principal business which taketh up the most of his time And we call that an Active obediential life when a mans state and calling requireth him to spend the chief part of his time in some external labour or vocation tending to the good of our selves and others As Artificers Tradesmen Husbandmen Labourers Physicions Lawyers Pastors and Preachers of the Gospel Soldiers and Magistrates all live an Active life which should be a life of Obedience to God Though among these some have much more time for contemplation than others And some few there are that are exempt from both these and are called to live a Passive obediential life that is such a life in which their obedient bearing of the Cross and patient suffering and submission to the chastising or trying will of God is the most eminent and principal service they can do him above Contemplation or Action § 2. Quest. 2. Must every man do his best to â—ast off all worldly and external labours and to retire Quest. 2. himself to a contemplative life as the most excellent Answ. No No man should do so without a special necessity or call For there are general precepts Gal. 6. 10. 2 Thess. 3. on all that are able that we live to the benefit of others and prefer the common good and as we have opportunity do good to all men and love our neighbours as our selves and do as we would be done by which will put us upon much action and that we labour before we eat And for a man unnecessarily to cast off all the service of his life in which he may be profitable to others is a burying or hiding his Masters talents and a neglect of charity and a sinning greatly against the Law of Love As we have Bodies so they must have their work as well as our souls § 3. Quest. 3. Is a life of Contemplation then lawful to any man and to whom Quest. 3. Answ. It is lawful and a duâ—y and a great mercy to some to live almost wholly yea all together Who are called to a contemplative life in contemplation and prayer and such holy exercises And that in these cases following 1. In case that Age hath disabled a man to be serviceable to others by an active life and when a man hath already spent his dayes and strength in doing all the good he can and being now disabled hath special reason to improve the rest of his decrepite age in more than ordinary preparations for his death and in holy communion with God 2. So also when we are disabled by sickness 3. And when imprisonment restraineth us from an active life or profitting others 4. And when persecution forceth Christians to retire into solitudes and Desarts to reserve themselves for better times and places or when prudence telleth them that their prayers in solitude may do more good than at that time their Martyrdom were like to do 5. When a Student is preparing himself for the Ministry or other active life â—o which a contemplative life is the way 6. When poverty or Wars or the rage of enemies disableth a man from all publick converse and driveth him into solitude by unavoidable necessity 7. When the number of those that are fit for action is so sufficient and the parts of the person are so insufficient and so the need and use of them in an active life so small that all things considered holy impartial prudence telleth him that the good which he could do to others by an active life is not like to countervail the losses which he should himself receive and the good which his very example of a holy and heavenly life might do and his occasional counsels and precepts and resolutions to those who come to him for advice being drawn by the estimation of his holy life in this case it is lawful to give up ones self to a contâ—mplâ—tiâ—â— life For that which maketh most to his own good and to others is past doubt lawful and a duâ—y Anna departed not from the Temple but served God with â—â—sting and prayer night and day Luke 2. 36 37. Whether the meaning be that she strictly kept the hours of prayer in the Temple and the fasting twice a Week or frequently or whether she took up her habitation in the houses of some of the Officers of the Temple devoting her self to the service of the Temple it is plain that either way she did something besides praying and fasting Even as the Widows under the Gospel who were also to continue in prayer and supplication night and day 1 Tim. 5. 5. and yet were employed in the service of the Church in over-seeing the younger and â—eaching them to be sober c. Tit. 2. 4. which is an active life But however Anna's practice be expounded if this much that I have granted would please the Monasticks we would not dâ—â—â—â—r with them § 4. Quest. 4. How far are those in an active life to use Contemplation Quâ—â—â—â— 4. Answ. With very great difference 1. According to the difference of their Callings in the world and the Offices in which they are ordinarily to serve God 2. And according to the difference of their Abilities and fitness for Contemplation or for Action 3. According to the difference of their particular opportunities 4. According to the difference of the necessities of others which may require their help 5. And of their own necessities of Action or Contemplation Which I shall more particularly determine in certain Rules § 5. 1. Every Christian must use so much contemplation as is necessary to the Loving of God Rule 1. above all and to the worshipping of him in Spirit and in truth and to a heavenly mind and conversation and to his due preparation for death and judgement and to the refâ—rring all his common works to the glory and pleasing of God that Holiness to the Lord may be written upon all and all that he hath may be sanctified or devoted with himself to God § 6. 2. The calling of a Minister of the Gospel is so perfectly mixt of contemplation and Rule 2. action that though Action denominate it as being the End and Chief yet he must be excellent in both If they be not excellent in contemplation they will not be meet to stand so much nearer to God than the people do and to sanctifie him when they draw near him and glorifie him before all the people nor will they be fit for the opening of the heavenly mysteries and working that on the peoples hearts which never was on their own And if they be not Excellent in an Active life they will betray the peoples souls and never go through that painful diligence and preaching in season and out of season publickly and from house to house day and night with tears which Paul
the final obstinate refusers of Christ and life 4. That he that so far believeth the truth of the Gospel as to Consent to the Covenant of Grace even that God the Father be his Lord and Reconciled Father and Christ his savior and the Holy Ghost his sanctifier hath true saving faith and right to the blessing of the Covenant 5. That the day of Grace is so far commensurate or equal to our Life time that whosoever truly Repenteth and Consenteth to the Covenant of Grace before his death is certainly pardoned and in a state of life and that it is every mans duty so to do that pardon may be theirs 6. That Satans temptations are none of our sins but only our yielding to them 7. That the effects of natural sickness or diseasedness is not in it self a sin 8. That those are the smallest sins formally and least like to condemn us which we are most unwilling of and are least in Love or liking of 9. That no sin shall condemn us which we hate more than love and which we had rather leave and be delivered from than keep For this is true Repentance 10. That he is truly sanctified who had rather be perfect in Holiness of heart and life in Loving God and Living by Faith than to have the greatest pleasures riches or honours of the world taking in the Means also by which both are attained 11. That he who hath this Grace and desire may know that he is elect and the making of our Calling sure by our Consenting to the holy Covenant is the making of our Election sure 12. That the same thing which is a great duty to others may be no duty to one who by bodily distemper as Feavors Phrensies Melancholy is unable to perform it § 6. Direct 2. Take heed of worldly cares and sorrows and discontents Set not so much by earthly things as to enable them to disquiet you But learn to cast your cares on God You can have less peace in an affliction which cometh by such a carnal sinful means It s much more safe to be distracted with cares for Heaven than for Earth § 7. Direct 3. Meditation is no duty at all for a melancholy person except some few that are able to Direct 3. bear a diverting meditation which must be of something farthest from the matter which troubled them Or except it be short meditations like ejaculatory prayers A set and serious meditation will but confound you and disturb you and disable you to other duties If a man have a broken leg he must not go on it till it s knit lest all the body fare the worse It is your Thinking faculty or your Imagination which is the broken pained part and therefore you must not use it about the things that trouble you Perhaps you 'll say That this is to be prophane and forget God and your soul and let the tempter have his will But I answer No It is but to forbear that which you cannot do at present that by doing other things which you can do you may come again to do this which you now cannot do It is but to forbear attempting that which will but make you less able to do all other duties And at the present you may conduct the affairs of your soul by holy Reason I perswade you not from Repenting or Believing but from set and long and deep Meditations which will but hurt you § 8. Direct 4. Be not too long in any secret duty which you find you are not able to bear Prayer Direct 4. it self when you are unable must be performed but as you can Short confessions and requests to God must serve instead of longer secret prayers when you are unable to do more If sickness may excuse a man for being short where nature will not hold out the case is the same here in the sickness of the brain and spirits God hath appointed no means to do you hurt § 9. Direct 5. Where you find your selves unable for a secret duty struggle not too hard with your Direct 5. selves but go that pace that you are able to go quietly For as every striving doth not enable you but vex you and make duty wearisom to you and disable you more by increasing your disease Like an Ox that draweth unquietly and a Horse that chaseth himself that quickly tireth Preserve your willingness to duty and avoid that which makes it grievous to you As to a sick stomach it is not eating much but digesting well that tends to health and little must be eaten when much cannot be digested So it is here in case of your meditations and secret prayers § 10. Direct 6. Be most in those dutys which you are best able to bear which with most is Prayer Direct 6. with others hearing and good discourse As a sick man whose stomach is against other meats must eat of that which he can eat of And God hath provided variety of means that one may do the work when the other are wanting Do not misunderstand me In cases of absolute necessity I say again you must strive to do it whatever come of it If you are backward to believe to Repent to Love God and your neighbour to live soberly righteously and godly to pray at all here you must strive and not excuse it by any backwardness for it is that which must needs be done or you are lost But a man that cannot read may be saved without his reading and a man in prison or sickness may be saved without hearing the word and without the Church-communion of Saints And so a man disabled by melancholy may be saved by shorter thoughts and ejaculations without set and long meditations and secret prayers And other duties which he is able for will supply the want of these Even as nature hath provided two eyes and two ears and two nostrils and two reins and lungs that when one is stopt or faulty the other may supply its wants for a time So is it here § 11. Direct 7. Avoid all unnecessary solitariness and be as much as possible in honest chearful company Direct 7. You have need of others and are not sufficient for your selves And God will use and honour others as his hands to deliver us his blessings Solitariness is to those that are fit for it an excellent season for meditation and converse with God and with our hearts But to you it is the season of temptation and danger if Satan tempted Christ himself when he had him fasting and solitary in a wilderness much more will he take this as his opportunity against you Solitude is the season of musings and thoughtfulness which are the things which you must fly from if you will not be deprived of all § 12. Direct 8. When blasphemâ—us or disturbing thoughts look in or fruitless musings presently meet Direct 8. them and use that authority of Reason which is left you to cast them and command them out If you
moderation in the heart and cureth those bloodshotten eyes which are unable till cured to discern the truth It helpeth us to knowledge and to that which is more edifying and keepeth knowledge from puffing us up And experience will tell you at long running that among Antients and Moderns Greeks and Latines Papists and Protestants Lutherans and Calvinists Remonstrants and Contraremonstrants Prelatists Presbyterians Independents c. commonly the Moderaters are not only the best and most charitable but the wisest most judicious men § 61. Direct 19. With all your Readings still joyn the reading of the Scriptures and of the most Direct 19. holy and practical Divines not fantastical Enthusiastick counterfeits Paracelsian Divines but those that lead you up by the solid doctrine of faith and Love to true Devotion and Heavenly mindedness and conversation § 62. This must be your bread and drink your daily and substantial food without this you may soon be filled with air that cannot nourish you and prove in the end as sounding brass and tinkling Cymbals These will breed strength and peace and joy and help you in your Communion with God and hopes of Heaven and so promote the End of all your Studies There is more life and sweetness in these than in the things that are more remote from God and Heaven § 63. Direct 20. Lastly Do all as dying men promise not your selves long life lest it tempt you Direct 20. to waste your time on things least necessary and to loiter it away or lest you lose the quickning benefit which the sight of death and eternity would yield you in all your studies § 64. The nearer you apprehend your selves to death and Heaven the greater help you have to be mortisied and Heavenly This will make you serious and keep up right intentions and keep out wrong ones and powerfully help you against temptations that when you have studied to save others you may not be cast-awayes nor be cheated by the Devil with the shell and leaves and flowers while you go without the saving fruit § 65. I have spoken the more on this subject of Governing the Thoughts because it is so great and excellent a part of the work of man and God doth so much regard the heart and the Spirit of Christ and Satan so much strive for it and grace is so much employed about it and our Happiness or misery Joy or sorrow is greatly promoted by our Thoughts And more I would have said but that in the third Chapter and in my Treatise of the Divine Life there is much said already And for a Method and Directions for particular Meditations I have given it at large in the fourth Part of the Saints Rest from whence it may easily be taken and applyed to other subjects as it is there to Heaven It is easie to write and read Directions but I fear lest slothfulness through the difficulty of Practice will frustrate my Directions to the most But if any profit by them my labour is not lost CHAP. VII Directions for the Government of the Passions § 1. THE Passions are to be considered 1. As in themselves and the sin of them as respecting God and ourselves only And so I am to speak of them here 2. As they are a wrong to others and a breach of the commandments which require Love and duty towards our Neighbour And so I shall speak of them after § 2. Passions are not sinful in themselves for God hath given them to us for his service And there is none of them but may be sanctified and used for him But they are sinful 1. When they are misguided and placed on wrong objects 2. When they darken reason and delude the mind and keep out truth and seduce to error 3. When they rebel against the Government of the will and trouble it and hinder it in its choice or prosecution of good or urge it violently to follow their bruitish inclination 4. When they are unseasonable 5. Or immoderate and excessive in degree 6. Or of too long continuance 7. And when they tend to evil effects as to unseemly speeches or actions or to wrong another § 3. Passions are Holy when they are devoted to God and exercised upon him or for him They are Good when 1. They have right objects 2. And are guided by Reason 3. And are obedient to the well-guided will 4. And quicken and awake the Reason and the will to do their duty 5. And tend to good effects exciting all the other powers to their office 6. And exceed not in degree so as to disturb the brain or body Tit. 1. Directions against all sinful Passions in general § 4. Direct 1. TRust not to any present actual resistance without any due Habitual mortification of Direct 1. Passions and fortification of the soul against them Look most to the holy constitution of your mind and life and then sinful Passions will fall off like scabs from a healthful body when the blood is purified § 5. No wonder if an unholy soul be a slave to Passion when the Body is inclined to it For such a one is under the power of selfishness carnality and worldliness and from under the Government of Christ and his spirit and wanteth that life of Grace by which he should cure and subdue the corruptions of nature The way for such a one to master passion is not to strive by natural selfish principles and reasons which are partial poor and weak but to look first to the main and to seek with speed and earnestness for a New and sanctified heart and get Gods Image and his spirit and renewing quickning Grace This is the only effectual conqueror of Nature A dull and gentle disposition may seem without this to conquer that which never much assaulted it the tryal of such persons being some other way But none conquereth Satan indeed but the spirit of Christ. And if you should be free from passion and not be free from an unholy carnal worldly heart you must perish at last if you seemed the â—almest persons upon earth Begin therefore at the foundation and see that the Body of sin be mortified and that the whole tree be rooted up which beareth these evil bitter fruits and that the Holy victorious new-nature be within you and then you will resist sin with Light and Life which others resist but as in their sleep § 6. Direct 2. More particularly let your souls be still possessed with the fear of God and live as in Direct 12. his family under his eye and Government that his authority may be more powerful than temptations and your holy converse with him may make him still more regarded by you than men or any creatures And then this Sun will put out the lesser lights and the thunder of his voice will drown the whisperers that would provoke you and the humming of those wasps which make you so impatient God would make the creature nothing and then it would do
not tarry Now the Iust shall live by faith but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him § 10. Direct 10. When you are delivered from the power of the Devil himself what cause have you Direct 10. to fear his instruments Can they do more than he If Goliah the Champion and the General be overcome the common Souldiers are not like to overcome us § 11. Direct 11. Are you better than your Lord Look to him and be confirmed Matth. 10. 24. Direct 11. The disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of his houshold Heb. 12. 1 2 3. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking to Iesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds § 12. Direct 12. Be of good cheer our Lord hath overcome the world John 16. 33. And shall we Direct 12. fear mordinately a conquered world Yea he overcame it by suffering to shew us that by suffering we shall overcome it He triumphed over principalities and powers greater than mortals on the Cross Col. 2. 15. And therefore all power in Heaven and Earth is given to him Matth. 28. 19. and he is Lord both of the dead and living Rom. 14. 9. and is made head over all things to the Church Ephes. 1. 21 22. And so though for his sake we be killed all the day long and counted as sheep to the slaughter yet in all these things we are more than conquerours through him that loved us that is we have a nobler victory than if we conquered them by the sword § 13. Direct 13. Think how little your suffering is in comparison of what your sin deserved and Direct 13. your Lord hath freely saved you from Should a man grudge at the opening of a Vein for his health who deserved to have lost his life Can you remember Hell which was your due and yet make a great matter of any thing that man can do against you § 14. Direct 14. Remember that to sin through fear of suffering is to leap into Hell to scape a Direct 14. little pain on earth Are you afraid of man Be more afraid of God Is not God more terrible It is a fearful thing to fall into his hands for he is a consuming fire Heb. 10. 31. 26 27 29. Heb. 12. 29. O hear your Lord Luke 13. 4 5. And I say to you my friends Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear Fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him It their fire be hot remember that Hell is hotter and that God is the best friend and the dreadfullest enemy § 15. Direct 15. Remember that you shall suffer and it s like as much even here from God if you Direct 15. scape by sin your sufferings from men If you sin to scape death you shall dye when you have done And O how quickly And how much more joyful is it to dye for Christ than a little after unwillingly to part with that life which you denyed to part with for your Lord And what galls will you feel in your guilty conscience both in life and at your death So that even in this life your fear would drive you into greater misery § 16. Direct 16. Think of the dangerous effects of your immoderate fear It is the way with Peter Direct 16. to deny your Lord Yea the way to Apostasie or any wickedness which men shall drive you to by terrors If you were where the Turk is now tyrannizing among Christians if you overcome not your fear he might overcome your fidelity and make you turn from Jesus Christ And that is the sin Qui propter â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—iâ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prodâ—â—â—â— est 〈…〉 Dâ—alâ—g de Statu Eccl. which the Apostle so dreadfully describeth Heb. 10. 26 27 29. If we sin wilfully that is wilfully renounce our Lord after the acknowledgement of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin but a fearful looking for of judgement and fire which shall devour the adversary O how many have been drawn by the fear of men to wound their consciences neglect their duties comply with sin forsake the truth dishonour God and undo their souls And often in this life they do as poor Spira did who by sinning through the fear of man did cast himself into melancholy and self-murdering despair Your fear is a more dangerous enemy to you than those that you fear are Prov. 29. 25 26. The fear of man bringeth a snare but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe Many seek the Rulers favour but every mans judgement cometh of the Lord. Fear is given to preserve you Use it not to destroy you § 17. Direct 17. Believe and remember Gods special providence extending to every hair of your Direct 17. head and also the guard of Angels which he hath set over you Matth. 10. 29 30. Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father But the very hairs of your head are numbered Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many Sparrows O that this were well believed and considered Psal. 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them § 18. Direct 18. Think what a vile dishonour it is to God to have his creature even breathing dirt Direct 18. to be feared more than him As if he were less powerful to do good or hurt to you than man and Sâ—e Isa. 7. 4. 35 4 41. 1â— 13. 42. 2 â— 54 4. â—er 5. 22. were not able or willing to secure you so far as to see that no man shall ever be a loser by him or any thing which he suffereth for his cause Isa. 57. 11. And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared that thou hast lyed and hast not remembred me nor laid it to thy heart Have I not held my peace even of old and thou fearest me not How did Daniel and the three Confessors honour God but by fearing him more than the King and the flaming Fornace Saying We are not careful to answer thee in this â—â—â—â—s dicam tanto est melius juâ—â—e etiam damnari quam injuste ab 〈…〉 i quanto est pâ—jus impuniâ—um crimen quam pumtum in
reason when we mourn not for sin as sin but as one sin hindereth another or as it marred some ill design 2. And by the effect when it doth but sink men in despair or torment th 〈…〉 and not at all separate them from the sin 3. When it cometh not at all from any love to God or care to please him but only an unwillingness to be damned and so it is lâ—mented only as a means of damnation which though it be a sorrow positively neither good nor â—â—il yet it is evil privatively § 5. But it is the Passion of Grief as in its excess that I am now to speak against And it is in 〈…〉 maâ—h 〈…〉 and heaviness â—â— an enemy to Christianâ—ty and to the Spirit of God excess 1. When we grieve for that which we ought not at all to grieve for that is either for some gâ—od or for a thing indifferent that is neither good or bad Both which come from the error of the mind a. When we grieve too much for that which we may grieve for lawfully in some measure that is for our own afflictions or penal suffering 3. When we grieve too much for that which we are bound to grieve for in some measure As 1. For our sin 2. For our loss of the favour of God or of his Grace and Spirit 3. For other mens sin and suffering 4. For the sufferings of the Church and calamities of the world 5. For Gods dishonour § 6. Though it is not easie to have too much sorrow for sin considering it Estimatively that is we can hardly take sin for a worse evil than it is and accordingly grieve for it yet it is oft too easie to have too much sorrow for sin or any other evil intensively as to the greatness of the Passion And thus sorrow for sin is too great 1. When it distracteth the mind and overturneth reason and maketh us unfit for the ends of sorrow 2. When it so cloudeth and clotheth the soul in grief that it is made unfit to see and consider of the promise to rellish mercy or believe it to acknowledge benefits or own Grace received or be thankful for it to feel the Love of God or love him for it to praise him or to mind him or to call upon him when it driveth the soul from God and weakneth it to duty and teacheth it to deny mercy and sinketh it towards despair all this is too much and sinful sorrow and so is all that doth the soul more hurt than good For sorrow is not good of it self but as it doth good or sheweth good § 7. Direct 1. Keep your hearts as true and close to God as possible and make sure of his love Direct 1. that you may know you have not an unregenerate miserable soul to mourn for and then all other grief is the more curable and more tollerable Be once able to say that God is on your side that Christ and the Spirit and Heaven is yours and then you have the greatest Cordial against excessive grief that this world affords If you say How should this be done I answer that is opened in its proper place No marvail if sorrow overwhelm that soul that is in the chains of sin under the Curse of God as soon as awakened conscience comes to feel it And it is most miserable when it hath the smallest sorrow there being some hope that sorrow may drive it home to Christ. Therefore it thou have been a secure unhumbled carnal wretch and God be now beginning to humble thee by shewing thee thy sin and misery take heed as thou lovest thy soul that thou drive not away necessary healing sorrow and repentance under precence of driving away melancholy or over much sorrow Thy smart tendeth to thy hopes of Cure § 8. Direct 2. Renew not the wounds of Conscience by renewed willful gross sin For sin will bring Direct 2. sorrow especially if thou have any life of grace to feel it Even as falls and breaking the bones brings pain Obey carefully if thou wouldst have peace § 9. Direct 3. Be well acquainted with the General grounds of hope in the Mercy of God the Office Direct 3. and Death of Christ and the free universal offer of pardon grace and life in the New Covenant Abundance of grief doth dwell in many humbled souls through the ignorance of these General grounds of comfort which would vanish away if these were known § 10. Direct 4. Know well the true nature and use of godly sorrow how it is but a means to higher Direct 4. grace and a thing which may exceed and not a thing that we should stop in or think we can never have too much of it Desire is but in its place and to its proper ends § 11. Direct 5. Know well the nature and excellency of those higher graces which sorrow tendeth Direct 5. to Even Love and Thankfulness and Delight in God and fruitful Obedience And then you will be carried after these and will learn to hate the sorrow that hindereth them and to cherish that sorrow which leadeth you up to them and to value it but as a means to them § 12. Direct 6. Manage all your affairs especially those of your souls with prudent foresight and Direct 6. look not only on things as they appear at hand Judge not by Sense but by Reason for Sense cannot 〈◊〉 sâ—ntentiâ—â—â—â—â— Pruâ—â—n â—â—m viroâ—um esse prius quam adversa câ—ntingant praeviâ—â—re â—â— venâ—â—nt â—â—â—â—iuâ— vero cum iâ—â—a contigeâ—â—r aequo animo sâ—râ—e I aâ—â—t in Pâ—ttaâ— fâ—resee but pleaseth it self at present with that which must be bitterness in the end Thus carnal delight is the common way to overwhelming sorrow He that would not have the pain and sickness of a Surfeit to morrow must not please his appetite against reason to day Poyson will gripe and kill nevertheless for tasting sweet You must fore-know how that which you take will work and what will be the effects of it and not only how it tasteth if you would escape the pain The Drunkard thinketh not of his vomiting and poverty or shame or sickness and therefore causeth them There is no sorrow so intollerable as that of a guilty soul that 's passing in terror to the Bar of God and thence to everlasting pain Foresee this sorrow in your most pleasant sin and remember that when you are tempted to sin you are tempted to sorrow and then you may prevent it And in all your particular actions use a foreseeing judgement and ask what is like to be the end before you enter on the beginning Most of our sorrows come for want of this and express themselves by Had I known or Had I thought of this I had prevented it Do nothing which you may foresee must be repented of for Repentance is sorrowful and the weightier the case the deeper the sorrow How easie and comfortable a life and death might men attain if
that toucheth not the heart neither Is it loss of children or friends or is it pain and sickness I confess these are sore but yet they do not touch the heart If they come thither it is your doing and though thither they should come moderately if they are immoderate it is your own sinful doing It is you that grieve and make the heart ake God and man did but make the flesh ake If others hurt your bodys will you therefore vex your minds Will you pierce through your hearts because they touch your name or goods If so remember which part of your sorrow is of their making and which is of your own And can you for shame go beg of Gâ—d or man to ease the grief which you your selves are causing and willfully continue it while you pray against it And why lament you that which you cause and choose It is a shame to be willfully your own tormentâ—r◠§ 20. Direct 14. Abhor all that tendeth to take down the power and government of Reason that is Direct 14. all fâ—â—bleness and câ—wardize of mind and a melancholy a piâ—vish passionate disposition and labour to keep up the authâ—rity of Reason and to keep all your passions subject to your wills which must be done by Christian faith and fortitude If you come once to that childish or distracted pass as to grieve and say I cannot help it I know it is sinful and immoderate but I cannot choose if you say true you are out of the reach of counsel advice or comfort You are not to be preacht to nor talkt to nor to be written for we do not write Directions to teach men how to touch the Stars or explain the Asperites or inequalities of the Moon or the Opacous parts of Saturn or to govern the Orbs or rule the Chariot of the Sun If it be become a natural impossibility to you Doctrine can give you no remedy But if the impossibility be but Moral in the weakness of your Reason and want of consideration it may by Doctrine Consideration and Resolution be overcome You can do more if you will than you think you can How come you to lose the command of your Passions Did not God make you a rational creature that hath an understanding and will to rule all Passions How come you to have lost the Ruling power of Reason and will You would take it for a disparagement to be told that you have lâ—st the use of your Reason And is it not a principal use of it to Rule the passions and all other inferior subject powers You say you cannot choose but grieve But if one could give you that creature which you want or desire then you could choose You could rejoyce if one could restore you that Child that Friend that Estate which you have lost But God and Christ and Heaven it seems are not enough to cure you if you must have but theâ— you cannot choose but grieve And what hearts have you then that are thus affected Should not those hearts be rather grieved for God will sometime make you see that you had more power than you used § 21. Direct 15. Observe the mischiefs of excessive sorrow that you may feel what reason you have Direct 15. to avoid it While you know not what hurt is in it you will be the more remiss in your resisting it I shall briefly name you some of its unhappy fruits § 22. 1. It is a continual pain and sickness of the mind This you know by feeling 2. It is a The ill effects of sinful grieâ— destroyer of bodily health and life For worldly sorrow worketh death 2 Cor. 7. 10. Prov. 17. 22. A merry heart doth good like a medicine but a broken spirit dryeth the the bones 3. It putteth the soul out of relish with its mercies and so causeth us to undervalue them and consequently to be unthankful for them and not to improve them 4. It destroyeth the sense of the Love of God and lamentably undisposeth the soul to Love them And therefore should be abhorred by us were it but for that Even Anaâ—agoâ—as a Philosopher could say â—o one that asked him Nullâ—m tibi paâ—riae â—ura est Mihi quidem pâ—â—â—â—iae cura est quidem summa digitum 〈…〉 lum intendâ—ns Laâ—rt p 85. one effect 5. It destroyeth the joy in the Holy Ghost and unfitteth us to obey that command of God Rejoyce continually 6. It contradicteth a Heavenly mind and conversation and hindereth us from all foreâ—asts of the everlasting joys 7. It undisposeth us to the excellent work of Praise Who can ascend in the Praises of God while Grief doth oppress and captivate the soul 8. It destroyeth the sweetness of all Gods Ordinances Hearing Reading Prayer Sacraments we may force our selves to use them but shall have no delight in them 9. It hindreth the exercise of Faith and raiseth distrust and sinful doubts and fears within us 10. It causeth sinful discontents and murmurings at God and man 11. It maketh us impatient pievish froward angry and hard to be pleased 12. It weakneth the soul to all that 's good and destroyeth its fortitude and strength For it is the Ioy of the Lord that is our strength Neh. 8. 10. 13. It hindreth us in the duties of our callings who can do them as they should be done under the clog of a disquiet mind 14. It maketh us a grief and burden to our friends and robs them of the comfort which they should have in and by us 15. It maketh us unprofitable to others and hindreth us from doing the good we might when we should be instructing exhorting and praying for poor sinners or minding the Church of God we are all taken up at home about our own afflictions 16. It maketh us a stumbling block and scandal to the ungodly and hindreth their conversiion while the Devil setteth us before the Church doors to keep away the ungodly from a holy life as men set scar-crows in their fields and gardens to frighten away the birds 17. It dishonoureth Religion by making men believe that it is a melancholy vexatious self-tormenting life 18. It obscureth the Glory of the Gospel and crosseth the work of Christ his Spirit and Ministers who all come upon a message of Great joy to all Nations and proclaim Glad tidings to the worst of sinners much more to the sons of God and heirs of life 19. It misrepresenteth God himself as if we would perswade men that he is a hard and cruel master that none can please though they do all through a Mediator upon a covenant of grace and that it is worse with us since we served him than before and that he delighteth in our grief and misery and is against our peace and joy and as if there were no joy nor pleasure in his service Such hideous doctrine do our lives preach of God when those that profess to fear and seek him do live in such immoderate
something else as necessary which is separable from this no wonder if you are perplexed and inclined to despair § 9. Direct 3. Understand the extent of this pardoning Covenant as to the sins which it pardâ—neth that Direct 3. it containeth the forgiveness of all sin without exception to them that perform the condition of it that is to Consenters So that directly no sin is excepted but the non-performance of the condition but conseâ—uently all sin is excepted and none at all forgiven by it to them that do not perform the condition Every conditional grant doth expresly except the non-performance of the condition by the making of it to be the condition He that saith All sin is forgiven to them that believe and repent and no other doth plainly import that not-believing and not-repenting is not forgiven while it continueth nor any other sin to such But to penitent believers or consenters all sin is pardoned Which made the Ancients say that all sin is washt away in Baptism supposing the person Baptized to be a meet Subject and to have the Condition of the Covenant which is by Baptism sealed and delivered to him § 10. Direct 4. Misunderstand not the excepted sin against the Holy Ghost which is no other than Direct 4. Though the trouble of 〈…〉 for a larger Discourse of this sin yet having 〈…〉 oâ—â— I must not here be 〈…〉 reâ—â—â—â—ng what is thâ—â—e â—aid alreadâ— an aggravated Non-performance and refusal of the condition of the Covenant viz. when Infidels are so obstinate in their Inâ—idelity that they will rather impute the Miracles of the Holy Ghost to the Devil than they will be convinced by them that Christ is the true Messias or Saviour This is the true nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost of which I have written the third Part of my Treatise against Infidelity So that no one hath the sin against the Holy Ghost that confesseth that Jesus is the Christ and Saviour or that confesseth the miracles done by Christ and his Apostles were done by the Holy Ghost or that confesseth the Gospel is true or that doth not justifie his sin and infidelity He must be a professed Infidel againâ—â— confessed Miracles that commits this sin And yet many despair because they fear they have committed this sin that never understood what it is nor have any reason but bare fear and some blaspâ—emous temptations which they abhor to make them imagine that this sin is theirs But the truth is in their fearing condition if any other sin had been as terribly spoken of they would have thought it is theirs § 11. Direct 5. Understand the Time to which the condition of the Gospel doth extend namely to the Direct 5. end of our life on earth The day of this grace hath no shorter end For the Gospel saith not He that believeth this year or the next shall be saved But absolutely without limitation to any time short of death He that believeth shall be saved so that to doubt whether true Repentance and faith will be accepted at any time before death is but to be ignorant of the Gospel or to doubt whether it be true And therefore for a despairing soul to say If I did repent it is too late because the day of Grace is past is but to contradict the Gospel-covenant it self or to say he knows not what God never refused a soul that truly Repented and believed before death § 12. Obj. 1. But they 'll say do not some Divines say that some mens day of Grace is sooner past Obj. 1. and God hath forsaken them and it is too late because they came not in in time Answ. They that understand what they say must say but this that this word the day of Grace Answ. hath divers senses 1. Properly by the day of Grace is meant The Time in which according to the When the day of Grace is past tenour of the Gospel God will pardon and accept those that repent And in this sense the time of life is the time of Graces whenever a sinner repenteth and is converted he is pardoned 2. Sometimes by the day of Grace is meant the time in which the means of grace is continued to a Nation or a Person And thus it is true that the day of grace is quicklyer past with some Countreys than others that is God sometimes taketh away the Preachers of his Gospel from a people that reject them and so by Preaching offereth them his grace no more But in this sense a man may easily know whether his day of grace be past or no that is whether Bibles and Books and Christians and Preachers be all gone or not And yet if they were he that receiveth Christ before they are gone is safe No man in his wits can think this day of grace is past with him while Christ is offered him or while there is a Bible or Preacher or Christian about him 3. Sometime by the day of grace is meant The certain time which we are sure of as our own And so it is only the present minute that is the time of grace that is we cannot before hand be sure of another minute But yet the next minute when it is come is as much the time of grace as the former was 4. Sometime by the day of grace is meant the Time in which God actually worketh and giveth grace and that is no more than the day of our Conversion And in this sense to have the day of grace past is a happiness and comfort that is that the day is past in which we were converted 5. And sometime by the day of grace is meant that day in which God moveth the hearts of the impenitent more strongly towards conversion than formerly he did And this is it that Divines mean when they talk of the day of Grace being past with men before their death ☞ that is Though such have never a day of effectuial grace yet their motions were stronger towards it than hereafter they shall be and they were fairer for Conversion than after when they are gone further from it This is true and this is all And what 's this to a soul that is willing to come in and ignorantly questioneth whether he shall be accepted because the day of grace is past § 13. Obj. 2. But Christ saith Luk. 19. 42. If thou hadst known in this thy day Obj. 2. Answ. That was the day of the Offers of Grace by Preaching we grant that Nations have but their Answ. day of enjoying the Gospel which they may shorten by sinning it away § 14. Obj. 3. But it s said of Esau that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was Obj. 3. rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears Heb. 12. 17. It seems then that Repentance in this life may be too late Answ. It 's true that Esau's time for the Blessing was past as
soon as Isaac had given it to Iacob Answ. When he had sold his birth-right it was too late to recall it for the right was made over to his Brother It seemeth to be Isaac's Repentance which â—â—aw found no place â—â—â—â— But â—â— it be spoken oâ— the unacceptableness of his own Repentance when it was too late it signifieth not that any mans is too late in this life as to 〈…〉 and it was not Repentance and cryes and tears that could recal the right he had sold nor recal the words that Isaac had spoken But this doth not prove that our day of grace doth not continue till death or that any man Repenting before his death shall be rejected as Esau's repentance was The Apostle neither saith nor meaneth any such thing The sense of his words are only this much Take heed lest there be any so prophane among you as to set so light by the blessings of the Gospel even Christ and life eternall as to part with them for a base lust or transitory thing as Esau that set more by a morsel of meat than by his birth-right For let them be sure that the time will come even the time mentioned by Christ Matth. 25. 10 11. when the door is shut and the Lord is come when they will dearly repent it and then as it was with Esau when the blessing was gone so it will be with them when their blessing is gone Repentance and cries and tears will be too late For the Gospel hath its justice and terrors as well as the Law This is all in the Text but there is no intimation that our day of Grace is as short as Esau's hope of the blessing was § 15. Obj. 4. Saul had but his time which when he lost he was forsaken of God Obj. 4. Answ. Saul's sin provoked God to reject him from being King of Israel and to appoint another in Answ. his stead But if Saul had Repented he had been saved after that though not restored to the Crown And its true that as God withdrew from him the spirit of Government so many before death by the greatness of their sins cause God to forsake them so far as to withhold those motions and convictions and fears and disquietments in sin which sometime they had and to give them over to a reprobate mind Rom. 1. 28. to commit all uncleanness with greediness and glory in it as being past feeling Eph. 4. 18 19. If it be thus with you you would be no better you would not be recovered you think sin is best for you and hate all that would reform you § 16. Obj. 5. It is said 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvavation Obj. 5. And Heb. 3. 7 12 13. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Answ. This saith no more than that the present time is the hest yea the only certain time and we Answ. are not sure that the day of salvation will continue any longer because death may cut us off But if it do not yet sin is a hardening thing and the longer we sin the more it hardeneth yea God may withhold the motions of his spirit and leave us to our selves to the hardness of our hearts and thus he doth by thousands of wicked persons who are left in impenitency and hatred of the truth But most certainly if those men Repented they might be saved and the very reason why they have not Christ and life is still because they will not consent § 17. Direct 6. Understand by what help and strength it is that the Obedience to the Gospel must be Direct 6. performed not meerly by your own strength but by the help of grace and strength of Christ If he have but made you willing he will help you to perform the rest You are not by this Covenant to be a Saviour and sanctifier to your selves but to Consent that Christ be your Saviour and the Holy Spirit your Sanctifier You might else despair indeed if you were left to that which you are utterly unable to do Though you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling it is he that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. § 18. Direct 7. Understand well the difference between mortal sins and Infirmities that you may not Direct 7. think that every sin is a sign of death or gracelesness but may know the difference between those sins which should make you think your selves unjustified and those sins which only call for particular humiliation being such as the justified themselves commit Though in the Popish sense we take no sin to be venial that is which in it self is properly no sin nor deserveth death according to the Law of works yet the distinction between Mortal and Venial sin is of very great necessity that is between sins which prove a man De quâ vide Tract Râ—b Baâ—oâ—â—â—â— Of Mortal and Venial sin in a state of death or unjustified and sins which consist with a state of Grace and justification between sins which the Gospel pardoneth not and those which it pardoneth that is all that stand with true Repentance There are some sins which every one that Repenteth of them doth so forsake as to cease committing them And there are some lesser sins which they that Repent of them do hate indeed but yet frequently renew as our defective degrees in the exercise of Repentance it self faith love trust fear obedience our vain thoughts and words some sinful passions omissions of many duties of thought affection word or deed towards God or man some minutes of time over-slip us prayer and other duties have a sinful coldness or remissness in them and such like Many such sins are fitly called Infirmities and Venial because they consist with Life and are forgiven It is of great use to the peace of our Consciences to discern the difference between these two for one sort require a Conversion to another state and the other require but a particular repentance and where they are unknown are forgiven without particular repentance because our general repentance is virtually though not actually particular as to them One sort are cause of judging our selves ungodly and the other sort are only cause of filial humiliation Any one may see the great need of discerning the difference but yet it is a matter of very great judgement doctrinally to distinguish them much more actually to discern them in every instance in your selves The way is to know first what is the condition of the New-Covenant and of absolute necessity to salvation or justification and then every sin that is inconsistent with that condition is mortal and the rest that are consistent and do consist with it are venial or but infirmities As Venial signifieth only that sort of sin which is
answer 1. Regard your duty more than what men think of you Prefer virtue before the thoughts or breath of men 2. But yet if you do it wisely the wise and good will think much the better of you You may easily let them see that you do it not in fordid sparing but in love of Temperance and of them if you speak but when there is need either for eating more or less and if your discourse be first in general for Temperance and apply it not till you see that they need help in the application 3. It is undenyable that healthful persons are much more prone to excess than to the defect in eating and that nature is very much bent to Luxury and Gluttony I think as much as to any one sin and it s as sure that it is a beastly breeding odious sin And if this be so is it not clear that we should do a great deal more to help one another against such Luxury than to provoke them to it Had we not a greater regard to mens favour and fansies and reports than to God and the good of their souls the case were soon decided § 11. 7. Another cause of Gluttony is that Rich men are not acquainted with the true Use of 〈…〉 aâ—te alios Aâ—tes quae liberalis â—uerâ—nt mechaâ—iâ—ae â—vaseâ—e ipsâ—â— qui â—â—lloâ—â—m dâ—â—â—â— philo sophi â—â—â—â—tores â—â—â—â—iâ—â— aâ— pâ—tâ—es patâ—â—â—â— esse solent 〈…〉 atque a 〈…〉 â—actiâ—â—â—â— â—â—que intelligaâ— nullam esse râ—â—â—â—quam spem salâ—tâ—â— Nobâ—â—itatâ— tribuâ—tur quod est Gulae aâ—t procâ—lâ—â—bio â—â—â—â—itatis Petrarch Riches nor think of the account which they must make to God of all they have They think that their Riches are their own and that they may use them as they please or that they are given them as plentiful provisions for their flesh and they may use them for themselves to satisfie their own desires as long as they drop some crums or scraps or small matters to the poor They think they may be saved just in the same way that the Rich man in Luk. 16. was damned and he that would have warned his five Brethren that they come not to that place of torment is yet himself no warning to his followers They are cloathed in purple and fine linen or silk and fare sumptuously or deliciously every day and have their good things in this life and perhaps think they merit by giving the scraps to Lazarus which its like that Rich man also did But God will one day make them know that the Richest were but his Stewards and should have made a better distribution of his provisions and a better improvement of his Talents and that they had nothing of all their Riches given them for any hurtful or unprofitable pleasing of their Appetites nor had no more allowance for Luxury than the poor If they knew the Right use of Riches it would reform them § 12. 8. Another cause of Gluttony is their unacquaintedness with those Rational and Spiritual Exercises in which the delightful fruits of Abstinence do most appear A man that is but a painful serious Student in any noble study whatsoever doth find a great deal of â—erenity and aptitude come by Temperance and a great deal of cloudy mistiness on his mind and dulness on his invention come by fulness and excess And a man that is used to holy contemplations meditation reading prayer self-examination or any spiritual converse above or with his heart doth easily find a very great difference how abstinence helpeth and Luxury and fullness hinder him Now these Epicures have no acquaintance with any such Holy or Manly works nor any mind of them and are therefore unacquainted with the sweetness and benefit of abstinence and having no taste or tryal of its benefits they cannot value it They have nothing to do when they rise from eating but a little talk about their worldly business or complement and talk with company which expect them or go to their sports to empty their paunches for another meele and quicken their appetites lest Luxury should decay as the Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf and as the Heathens their God Bacchus Exod. 32. 5. They sate down 1 Cor. â—0 7. to eat and drink and rose up to play Their dyet is fitted to their work Their idle or worldly lives agree with gluttony But were they accustomed to better work they would find a necessity of a better dyâ—◠§ 13. 9. Another great cause of Gluttony is mens beastly ignorance of what is hurtful or helpful Of this see more in my Book of self-denyal to their very health They make their Appetites their Rule for the quantity and quality of their food And they think that nature teacheth them so to do because it giveth them such an Appetite and because it is the measure to a beast And to prove themselves Beasts they therefore take it for their measure As if their natures were not Rational but only sensitive or nature had not given them Reason to be the superiour and Governour of sense As if they knew not that God giveth the Bruits an appetite more bounded because they have not Reason to bound it and giveth them not the temptation Sâ—e Plutarâ—ks Precepts of health of your delicate varieties or giveth them a concoction answerable to their appetites and yet giveth man to be the Rational Governour of those of them that are for his special service and apt to exceed And if his Swine his Horses and his Cattle were all left to their Appetites they would live but a little while If promiscuous generating be not lawful in mankind which is lawful in bruits why should they not confess the same of the Appetite Men have so much love of life and fear of death that if they did but know how much their Gluttony doth hasten their death it would do more to restrain it with the most than the fear of death eternal doth But they judge of their digestion by their present feeling If they feel not their stomachs sick or disposed to vomit or if no present pain correct them they think their Gluttony doth not hurt them and think they have eaten no more than doth them good But of this more anon in the Directions § 14. 10. Another great cause of Gluttony is that it is grown the common custome and being not known is in no disgrace unless men eat till they spew or to some extraordinary measure And so the measure which every man seeth another use he thinketh is moderation and is fit for him whereas the ignorance of Physick and matters of their own health hath made Gluttony almost as common as eating with those that are not restrained by want or sickness And so every man is an example of evil to another and encourage one another in the sin If Gluttony were but in as much disgrace as whoredome yea or as drunkenness is and as easily known and as commonly taken notice of it would contribute
Gluttonous either in quantity or in quality eating raw Fruits and things unwholsom and so when Gluttony hath bred the disease or laid in the matter than all the temperance that can be used is little enough to keep it under all their life after And abundance that have been brought to the doors of death by excess have been preserved after many years to a competent age by abstinence and many totally freed from their diseases Read Cornario's Treatise of himself and Lessius and Sr. William Vaughan c. Though yet I perswade none without necessity to their exceeding strictness Judge now what a murderer Gluttony is and what an enemy to mankind § 18. 3. Gluttony is also a deadly enemy to the mind and to all the noble employments of Reason As smoak â—â—â—â—eth away the â—ees from their Hive â—aith Basil â—â— Iâ—jâ—â— Sâ— glâ—ttoâ—y expâ—â—â—â—th aâ—â—â—â—iritual gifts and excellent endowments of mind both Religious Civil and artificial It unfits men for any close and serious studies and therefore tends to nourish ignorance and keep men fools It greatly unfits men for hearing Gods Word or reading or praying or meditating or any holy work and makes them have more mind to sleep or so undisposeth and dulleth them that they have no life or fitness for their duty but a clear head not troubled with their drowsie vapours will do more and get more in an hour than a full bellied Beast will do in many So that Gluttony is as much an enemy to all Religious and manly studies as drunkenness is an enemy to a Garrison where the drunken Souldiers are disabled to resist the Enemy § 19. 4. Gluttony is also an enemy to diligence in every honest Trade and Calling for it dulleth Saith Basil A Ship heavy laden is unfit to sail so a full belly to any duty the Body as well as the Mind It maketh men heavy and drowsie and slothful and go about their business as if they carried a Coat of Lead and were in Fetters They have no vivacity and alacrity and are fitter to sleep or play than work § 20. 5. Gluttony is the immediate symptome of a carnal mind and of the damnable sin of flesh-pleasing before described And a carnal mind is the very summ of iniquity and the proper name of an unregenerate state It is enmity against God and neither is nor can be subject to his Law so that they that are thus in the flesh cannot please God and they that walk after the flesh shall dye Rom. 8. 6 7 8 13. The filthiest sins of Leachers and Misers and Thieves are but to please the flesh And who serveth it more than the Glutton doth § 21. 6. Gluttony is the breeder and feeder of all other lusts Sine Cerere Bacchâ— friget venus Semper saâ—uriâ—atâ— juncta est â—aâ—â—ivia Hiâ—â—on It pampereth the flesh to feed it and make it a sacrifice for lust As dunging the ground doth make it fruitful especially of Weeds so doth Gluttony fill the mind with the Weeds and Vermine of filthy thoughts and filthy desires and words and deeds § 22. 7. Gluttony is a base and beastly kind of sin For a man to place his happiness in the pleasure Ventri obedientes animalium numero computantur not â—ominum Sâ—nec of a Swine and to make his Reason serve his throat or sink into his Guts as if he were but a Hogshead to be filled and emptyed or a Sink for Liquor to run through into the chanel or as if he were made only to carry meat from the Table to the Dunghill how base a kind of life is this yea many beasts will not eat and drink excessively as the Gluttonous Epicure will do § 23. 8. Gluttony is a Prodigal consumer and devourer of the creatures of God What is he worthy of that would take meat and drink and cast it away into the chanell nay that would be It is Chrysostoms saying iâ— Hebr. Hom. 29. at a great deal of cost and curiosity to get the pleasantest meat he could procure to cast away The Glutton doth worse It were better of the two to throw all his excesses into the Sink or Ditch for then they would not first hurt his body And are the Creatures of God of no more worth Are they given you to do worse than cast them away Would you have your Children use their provisions thus § 24. 9. Gluttony is a most unthankful sin that takes Gods mercies and spews them as it were in his face and carryeth his provisions over to his enemy even to the strengthening of fleshly lusts Jer. 5. 7. and turneth them all against himself You could not have a bit but from his liberality and blessing and will you use it to provoke him and dishonour him § 25. 10. Gluttony is a sin which turneth your own mercies and wealth and food into your Magna pars libertatis est bene moratus venter Sâ—â—ec snare and to your deadly ruine Thou pleasest thy throat and poysonest thy soul. It were better for thee a thousand times that thou hadst lived on scraps and in the poorest manner than thus to have turned thy plenty to thy damnable sin Deut. 6. 11 12. When thou shalt have eaten and be full then beware lest thou forget the Lord. Prov. 30. 9. Feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deâ—y thee and say Who is the Lord Psal. 75. 29 30. So they did eat and were well filled for he gave them their own desire they were not estranged from their lust § 26. 11. Gluttony is a great Time-wasting sin What a deal of time is spent in getting the money that is laid out to please the throat and then by servants in preparing for it and then in long sitting at meat and feastings and not a little in taking Physick to carry it away again or to ease or cure the diseases which it causeth besides all the time which is lost in languishing sickness or cut off by untimely death Thus they live to eat and eat to frustrate and to shorten life § 27. 12. It is a Thief that robbeth you of your estates and devoureth that which is given When a friâ—â—d of Socrates complained to him What a dear place is this Wine will cost so much and Honey so much and Purple so much Socrates took him to the Meal-Hall Lo saith he you may buy here half a Seâ—tare of good Meal for a half peny which boyled in water was hiâ— meat God be thanked the Market is very cheap Then he took him to an Oyl-shop where a measure Chaenix was sold for two brass dodkins Then he led him to a Brokers shop where a man might buy a Suit of Clothes for â—en drams You see quoth he that the penny worths are reasonable and things good cheap throughout the City Plâ—â—arch de Traâ—quil Anim. pag. 153. you for better uses and for which you must give account to God It is
appetite I hope you will not say that God is too strict with you or would dyet you too hardly as long as he alloweth you ordinarily to choose that when you can have it lawfully which is most for your own health and forbiddeth you nothing but that which hurteth you What Heathen or Infidel that is not either mad or swinish will not allow this measure and choice as well as Christians Yea if you believe not a life to come methinks you should be loth to shorten this life which now you have God would but keep you from hurting your selves by your excess as you would keep your Children or your Swine Though he hath a farther end in it and so must you namely that a healthful body may be serviceable to a holy soul in your Masters work yet it is the health of your bodies which is to be your nearest and immediate end and measure It is a very great oversight in the Education of youth that they be not taught betimes some The Measure of Eating common and necessary Precepts about dyet acquainting them what tendeth to health and life and what to sickness pain and death And it were no unprofitable or unnecessary thing if Princes took a course that all their subjects might have some such common needful Precepts familiarly known As if it were in the Books that Children first learn to read in together with the Precepts of their moral duty For it is certain that men love not death or sickness and that all men love their health and Multum confert coâ—â—tatio exitus qâ—od cum omnibus â—iâ—jis sit commune tamen huic proprâ—um Petrarch life And therefore those that fear not God would be much restrained from Excess by the fear of sickness and of death And what an advantage this would be to the Common-wealth you may easily perceive when you consider what a mass of treasure it would save besides the lives and health and strength of so many subjects And it is certain that most people have no considerable knowledge what measure is best for them but the common rule that they judge by is their Appetite They think they have eaten enough when they have eaten as long as they have list and not before If they could eat more with an appetite and be not sick after it they never think they have been guilty of Gluttony or Excess § 44. First Therefore you must know that Appetite is not to be your Rule or measure either for Temperaâ—tia voluptatâ—bus imperat alias odit atque abigit alias dispensat ad sanum modum dirigit nec unquam ad illas propter ipsas venit Senâ—â— Scit optimum esse modum cupidorum non quantum velis sed quantum debeas sumere Senâ—â— quantity quality or time For 1. It is irrational and Reason is your Ruling faculty if you are men 2. It dependeth on the temperature of the Body and the humours and diseases of it and not meerly on the natural need of meat A man in a Dropsie is most Thirsty that hath least cause to drink Though frequently in a putrid or malignant Feavor a draught of cold drink would probably be death yet the Appetite desireth it never the less Stomachs that have acide humours have commonly a strong appetite be the digestion never so weak and most of them could eat with an appetite above twice as much as they ought to eat And on the contrary some others desire not so much as is necessary to their sustenance and must be urged to eat against their Appetite 3. Most healthful people in the world have an Appetite to much more than nature can well digest and would kill themselves if they pleased their appetites For God never gave man his Appetite to be the measure of his eating or drinking but to make that grateful to him which Reason biddeth him take 4. Mans Appetite is not now so sound and regular as it was before the fall but is grown more rebellious and unruly and diseased as the body is And therefore it is now much more unfit to be our measure than it was before the fall 5. You see it even in Swine and many greedy Children that would presently kill themselves if they had not the Reason of others to rule them 6. Poyson it self may be as delightful to the Appetite as food and dangerous meats as those that are most wholsome So that it is most certain that Appetite is not fit to be the measure of a man Yet this is true withal that when Reason hath nothing against it then an Appetite sheweth what nature taketh to be most agreeable to it self and Reason therefore hath something for it if it have nothing against it because it sheweth what the Stomach is like best to close with and digest and it is some help to Reason to discern when it is prepared for food § 45. Secondly It is certain also that the present feeling of ease or sickness is no certain rule to judge of your digestion or your measure by For though some tender relaxed windy stomachs are sick or troubled when they are overcharged or exceed their measure yet with the most it is not so unless they exceed to very swinishness they are not sick upon it nor feel any hurt at present by less excesses but only the imperfection of concoction doth vitiate the humours and prepare for sicknesses by degrees as is aforesaid and one feeleth it a moneth after in some diseased evacuations and another a twelve-moneth after and another not of many years till it have turned to some uncurable disease For the diseases that are bred by so long preparations are ordinarily much more uncurable than those that come but from sudden accidents and alterations in a cleaner body Therefore to say I feel it do me no harm and therefore it is no excess is the saying of an ideot that hath no foreseeing Reason and resisteth not an enemy while he is Garrisoning fortifying and arming himself but only when it comes to blows Or like him that would go into a Pest-house and say I feel it do me no harm But within a few dayes or weeks he will feel it As if the beginning of a Consumption were no hurt to them because they feel it not Thus living like a Beast will at last make men judge like Beasts and brutifie their brains as well as their bellies § 46. Thirdly It is certain also that the common custom and opinion is no certain rule nay certainly it is an erring rule For judging by appetite hath brought men ordinarily to take excess to be but temperance All these then are false measures § 47. It I should here presume to give you any Rules for judging of a right measure Physicions would think I went beyond my Calling and some of them might be offended at a design that tendeth 〈…〉 for the Measure of Eating so much to their impoverishing and those that serve the greedy Worm
sober temperate Godly men do live a more Quest. 15. quiet and comfortable life than thou as well as an honester and safer life If thou do think so why wilt thou not imitate them It is as free for thee to choose as them If thou think they do He is happyest that needeth least of any Creature and not he that hath most Socrates said It was proper to God only to need nothing but those that came neerest to God in this were the happyest men not Consider that as they have none of thy forbidden Cups so they have none of thy thirst or desire after them Abstinence is sweeter much to them They have none of thy sowr belchings or Vomitings nor shame nor danger nor thy reckoning to pay They have none of thy gripes of Conscience and terrours under the guilt of such a sin They live in the Love of God and the fore-thoughts of Heaven while thou art in the Alehouse And dost thou not think in thy Conscience that to a heart that is suited and sanctified thereto it is not a sweeter thing to live in the Love of God than in the love of thy sensuality Darest thou say whatever thou thinkest that God and Heaven and Holiness are not so lovely and fit to be delighted in as a Cup of Wine or Ale sure thou darest not say so If it were for no more than the different Aspects of Death and Eternity to them and to thee I account thy life in the midst of thy pleasures incomparably more sad than theirs They look at Death as at the time of hope and the day of their deliverance as the Assizes are to the innocent or pardoned man But thou lookest on Death with terrour as the end of all thy mirth as the Guilty Malefactor thinketh on the Assizes or else with senslesness or presumption which is worse They look unto Eternity as their endless unspeakable felicity And thou darest scarce seriously think of it without the delusory ease of unbelief or of false hopes Thou darest not seriously look beyond death unless through the Devils cheating spectacles I tell thee a sober Godly man would not have thy merry life as thou accountest it one day for all thy wealth or for any worldly gain He had rather lye in Jaile or sit in the Stocks that while than Drink and Swagger with thee Keep thy merriment to thy self for no wise man or good man will be thy partner If thou were their enemy they would not wish thee so much misery as thou choosest As the story goeth of a Confessour that hearing many confess the sin of Drunkenness would needs try himself what pleasure was in it And having Vomited and slept it out the next Drunkard that came to him in Confession he appointed him for Pennance to be drunk again and told him he need no sharper penance § 57. Quest. 16. How cometh it to pass that thy very Pride doth not cure thy drunkenness Pride Quest. 16. is so natural and deep rooted a sin that I dare say thou hast not overcome it if thou have not overcome thy sensuality And is thy Credit no more worth with thee wilt thou for a Cup of Drink â— Thes. 5. 7. They that are drunken are drunken in the night be made the talk of the Countrey the scorn of the Town the sport and laughing game of Boyes and the pitty of sober persons If thou be a great man among them and they dare not speak it to thy face and thou hearest not what they say of thee yet in private they make bold with thy name to talk of thee as of a filthy Beast Canst thou think that sober men do honour thee what honour may accidentally be due to thee from thy place is another matter but thou takest a course to keep them from honouring thee for thy worth and dost thy worst to bring thy rank and place into contempt It s said that in Spain a Drunkard is not allowed for a witness against any man And sure he is not a credible person Regard thy reputation if thou carest not for thy soul. § 58. Quest. 17. Dost thou not love the flesh it self which thou so much pamperest If thou do why Quest. 17. wilt thou drown it and choak it up with flegm and filth Ask Physicions whether drunkenness be wholsome Mark how many drunkards live to be old Ennius pâ—dagriâ—us is a Proverb The sickness is longer than the sweetness of thy cup. If thou fearest not Hell fear the Consumption Gout or Dropsie § 59. Quest. 18. Why shouldst thou not take more pleasure in the company of thy family and in Quest. 18. the company of people fearing God that worship him in truth of heart and will do their best to help to save thee Canst thou give any reason for it why such company should not be more pleasant to thee than thy pot-companions and why it should not be pleasanter to talk of the way to Heaven and the pardon of sin and the love of Christ and of eternal happiness than to prate a deal of idle non-sense in an Ale-house There is no Reason for it but thy filthy mind that is suitable to vanity and sin and unsuitable to all that 's wise and holy § 60. Quest. 19. What if thou shouldst dye in a drunken fit Wouldst thou not thy self take thy Quest. 19. case to be desperate or dangerous Why it may be so for ought thou knowest It hath been the case of many a one But if it be not so yet to dye a drunkard is as certain damnation as to dye in drunkenness If the guilt of the sin be on thee it is all one when it was committed whether lately or long ago For unpardoned sin is most sure damnation And it is certainly unpardoned till it be truly Repented of And it is not Repented of if it be not forsaken And then bethink thee how thou wilt review these dayes and what thoughts thou wilt have then of thy Cups and Company § 61. Quest. 20. Art thou willing to part with thy sin or art thou not Speak man Art thou Quest. 20. willing If thou be not willing bear witness against thy self that thou dost not Repent of it and that thou art not forgiven it and therefore that thou art at present a slave of the Devil and if thou dye so as sure to be damned as thou art alive Bear witness that thou wast not kept from grace and consequently from Heaven against thy will but by thy wilful Refusal of it and that it was not because thou couldst not be saved that thou goest to Hell but because thou wouldst not Sure even now thou canst not have the face to deny any of this if thou confess that thou art not willing to amend Take thy will in sin if Gods will must be violated which tendered thee mercy and commanded thee to accept it but be sure that God will have his will in punishing thee §
for fear of punishment These wishes and purposes will never save thee It must be a renewed Nature Loving God and hating the sin that must make thee capable of salvation But yet in the mean time it is necessary that thou forbear thy sin though it be but through fear for thou canst not expect else that the Holy Ghost should renew thy Nature Therefore I will give thee Directions how to forbear thy sin most surely and easily if thou be but willing and withall to promote thy willingness it self with the performance Practical Directions against Tipling and Drunkenness § 76. Direct 1. Write over thy bed and thy chamber door where thou maist read it every morning Direct 1. before thou goest forth some Text of holy Scripture that 's fit to be thy Memorandum As 1 Cor. 6. 10. Drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if by the Spirit you mortifie the deeds of the body you shall live And read it before thou goest out of thy doors § 77. Direct 2. Also fall down on thy knees to God and earnestly beg of him to keep thee that day Direct 2. from temptations and ill company and from all thy fleshly desires and excess and especially that he would renew thy nature and give thee a hatred of the sin § 78. Direct 3. Keep thy self in the constant employments of thy Calling and spend not one quarter of Direct 3. an hour in idleness and allow not leisure to thy thoughts so much as to think of thy drink and pleasure much less to thy body to follow it God hath commanded thee whoever thou art to labour six days and in the sweat of thy brows to eat thy bread and hath forbidden idleness and negligence in thy calling Avoid this and it will help thee much § 79. Direct 4. Reckon not upon long life but think how quickly death will come and that for Direct 4. ought thou knowest thou maist dye that day and how dreadful a case it would prove to thee to be found among Tiplers or to dye before thou art truly converted Think of this before thou goest out of thy doors and think of it as thou art going to the ALE-house Look on the Cup and the Grave together The dust of those bones will be wholsom Spice to thee Remember when thou seest the Wine or Ale how unlike it is to that black and lothsom liquor which thy blood and humours will be turned into when thou art dead Remember that the hand that taketh the Cup must shortly be scattered bones and dust and the mouth that drinketh it down must shortly be an ugly hole and the Pallate and Stomach and Brain that are delighted by it must shortly be stinking puddle and that the Graves of Drunkards are the Field or Garden of the Devil where Corpse are sowed to â—ise at the resurrection to be fewel for Hell § 80. Direct 5. When thou art tempted to the Ale-house call up thy Reason and remember that there Direct 5. is a God that seeth thee and will judge thee and that thou hast an endless life of joy or torment shortly to possess and that thou hast sinned thus too long already and that without sound Repentance thy case is desperate and that thou art far from true Repentance while thou goest on in sin Ask thy self Have I not sinned long enough already Have I not long enough abused mercy Shall I make my case remediless and cast away all hope Doth not God stand by and see and hear all Am I not stepping by death into an endless world Think of these things and use thy Reason if thou be a man and hast Reason to use § 81. Direct 6. Exercise thy self daily in Repenting for what is past and that will preserve thee Direct 6. for the time to come Confess thy former sin to God with sorrow and beg forgiveness of it with tears and groans If thou make light of all that 's past thou art prepared to commit more Think as thou goest about thy work how grievously thou hast sinned against thy knowledge and conscience in the sight of God against all his mercies and how obstinately thou hast gone on and how unthankfully thou hast rejected mercy and neglected Christ and refused grace Think what had become of thee if thou hadst dyed in this case and how exceedingly thou art beholden to the patience of God that he cut thee not off and cast thee not into Hell and that he hath provided and offered thee a Saviour and is yet willing to pardon and accept thee through his Son if thou wilt but resolvedly return and live in faith and holiness These penitent thoughts and exercises will kill thy sin and cure thee Fast and humble thy self for what thou hast done already As the holy Apostle saith 1 Pet. 4. 1 2 3 4 5. For asmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness lusts excess of wine revellings banquetting abominable idolatries wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of ryot speaking evil of you who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead § 82. Direct 7. Keep from the place and company Ephes. 5. 7 11. Be not partakers with them Direct 7. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them Thou canst not deny but thou art able to do this if thou wilt Canst thou not stay at home and come not near them If thou be willing to escape run not into the snare § 83. Direct 8. Stop at the first cup be not drawn on by little and little As the sluggard saith Direct 8. Yet a little more sleep so the drunkard saith yet a little more drink I will take but one cup more Understand thy due measure that thou maist know what is excess To an ordinary healthful body that doth not very much labour and sweat a quart in a day is enough To cold and flegmatick persons it is too much The old Rule was Prima ad sitim secunda ad hilaritatem tertia ad voluptatem quarta ad insaniam The first Cup is for thirst the second for mirth the third for sensual pleasure the fourth for madness Especially you that have drunk too much so long should rather drink less than other men Your soul requireth it for penitence and for prevention Your bodies require it to cure the crudities already heaped up § 84. Direct 9. Avoid the tempting ceremonies of drunkards such as
well as their bodies Prov. 10. 7. The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot So much of the Greatness of the sin Boniface Arch-Bishop of Mentz writing to Ethilbald an English King that was a fornicator Epist. 19 saith Fornication is a reproach not only anong Christians but Pagans For in old Saxonie if a virgin had thus stained her Fathers house or a marryed woman breaking the marriage covenant had committed adultery sometime they force her to hang her self with her own hand and over her ashes when she is burnt they hang the fornicator Sometimes they gather a band of women they lead her about scourging her with rods and cutting off her cloaths at the girdle and with small knives cutting and pricking all her body they send her from Village to Village thus bloody and mangled with little wounds And so more and more incited by a zeal for chastity do meet her and scourge her again till they leave her either dead or scarce alive that others may fear adultery and luxury And the Wineds which is the filthiest and worst sort of men do keep the love of Matrimony with so great a zeal that the woman will refuse to live when her husband is dead And after some reproofs of the fornicating King he addeth these further stories Ceolred your Highness predecessor as they witness who were present he being splendidly banquetting with his Earles was by the evil spirit that drew him to violate Gods Law suddenly distracted in his sin so that without repentance and confession being raging mad and talking with the Devil and abhominating Gods Priests he departed out of this life no doubt to the torments of Hell And Osred King of the Deiri and Bernicii the spirit of luxury carried in fornication and defiling the sacred virgins in the Monasteries till such time as by a vile and base kind of death he lost his glorious Kingdom together with his youthful and luxurious life Wherefore most dear son take heed of the ditch into which thou hast seen others fall before thee Vid. Auct Bib. Pat. To. 2. pag. 55. 56. And how great sufferings was laid on Priests Monks and Nuns that had committed fornication by several years imprisonment and scourging see ib. pag. 84. in an edict of Carloman by the advice of a Council of Bishops And Epist. 85. p. 87. Bonific writeth to Lullo that he was fain to suffer a Priest to officiate Baptize Pray c. that had long ago committed fornication because there was none but he alone to be had in all the country and he thought it better to venture that one mans soul than let all the people perish and desireth Lullo's counsel in it By all which we may see how heynous a sin fornication was then judged Object But say the filthy ones did not David commit the sin of Adultery Did not God permit Object them many Wives among the Iews How many had Solomon Therefore this is no such great sin as you pretend Thus every filthiness a little while will plead for it self Answ. David did sin And is the sin ever the less for that It 's easier forbear it than undergo the Answ. tears and sorrows which David did endure for his sin Besides the bitterness of his soul for it his son Absalom rebelleth and driveth him out of his Kingdom and his own wives are openly defiled And yet God leaveth it as a perpetual blot upon his name Solomons sin was so great that it almost ruined him and his Kingdom Though experience caused him to say more against it than is said in the Old-Testament by any other yet it is a controversie among Divines whether he was ever recovered and saved And ten tribes of the twelve were therefore taken from his line and given to Ieroboam And is this any encouragement to you to imitate him Christ telleth you in the case of divorcement that God permitted not allowed but forbore some such sins in the Jews because of the Hardness of their hearts Mar. 10. 5. but from the beginning it was not so but one man and one woman were conjoyned in the primitive institution And the special reason why plurality was connived at among the Jews was for the fuller peopling of the Nation they being the only covenanted people of God and being few among encompassing enemies and being separated from the people of the earth their strength and safety and glory lay much on their increased number and therefore some inordinacie was connived at for their multiplication but never absolutely allowed and approved of And yet fornication is punished severely and Adultery with Death II. The Directions against fornication § 18. Direct 1. If you would avoid uncleanness avoid the things that dispose you to it as Gluttony or Direct 1. fullness of dyet and pampering the flesh Idleness and other things mentioned under the next Title of subduing lust The abating of the filthy Desires is the surest way to prevent the filthy act which may be done if you are but willing § 19. Direct 2. Avoid the present Temptations Go not where the snare lieth without necessity Direct 2. Abhor the Devils bellows that blow up the fire of lust such as entising apparel filthy talk and fights of which more also under the next Title § 20. Direct 3. Carefully avoid all opportunity of sinning Come not near the door of her house saith Direct 3. Solomon Prov. 5. 8. Avoid the company of the person thou art in danger of Come not where she is This thou canst do if thou art willing None will force thee If thou wilt go seek for a thief no wonder if thou be rob'd If thou wilt go seek fire to put in the thatch no wonder if thy house be burnt The Devil will sufficiently play the Tempter Thou needest not help him that 's his part leave it to himself It 's thy part to watch against him And he will find thee work If thou watch as narrowly and constantly as thou canst it 's well if thou escape As thou lovest thy soul avoid all opportunities of sinning Make it impossible to thy self Much of thy safety lieth in this point Never be in secret company with her thou art in danger of but either not at all or only in the sight of others Especially contrive not such opportunities as to be together in the night in the dark or on the Lords-day when others are at Church one of the Devils seasons for such works or any such opportunity leisure and secresie For opportunity it self is a strong temptation As it is the way to make a Thief to set money in his way or so to trust him as that he can easily deceive or rob you and never be discovered so it is the way to make your self unclean to get such an opportunity of sinning that you may easily do it without any probability of impediment or discovery from men The chief point in all the art or watch is
full exposition what we ascribe to it But as some scrupulous Brethren in Scotland gratifie the Papists by rejecting the Oath of Supremacy which is the most thorny hedge against them and this while they cry out against Popery so others would gratifie the Papists by suggesting that we give too much to the Bible and adore it when the very sum of Englands Protestantism is their just ascribing to the Holy Scriptures its sufficiency as to all things necessary to salvation Thus Satan undoeth still by overdoing IV. Object Laying on the hand and kissing the Book seem of the same nature with the Cross in Object Baptism and other significant Ceremonies And an Oath is part of the Worship of God Therefore not to be taken with these Ceremonies or else will seem to justifie the other Answ. 1. Significant words gestures or actions are not therefore evil because they are significant Answ. unless bruitishness be a Vertue Nor because any call them by the name of Ceremonies else that name might be put on any thing by an enemy to deprive us of our liberty Therefore I can judge of no Ceremony by that General name alone till it be named it self in specie 2. Of the Cross in Baptism see my Disputations of Church-Government of Ceremonies written long ago There are these notorious differences in the Case 1. The Cross is an Image used in Gods Worship Though not a Permanent yet a Transient Image and used as an Image of the Cross of Christ though but in Water or Oyle And God hath more specially forbidden Images used in his Worship than he hath done a Professing significant Word Gesture or Action which is no Image nor used as such 2. The Cross seemeth to be a third Sacrament of the Covenant of Grace while it is used as a Symbol of Christianity and a dedicating Sign as the Canon calleth it by which before the Church there is made a solemn self-obligation as Sacramentally to Renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh and manfully to fight under Christs banner as his faithful servants and souldiers to our lives end Implying our trust and hope in Christ crucified for the benefits of his death So that if it be not a compleat third Sacrament it hath so much of that which is proper to a Sacrament like the Sacramentum Militare whence the name came into the Church that for my part I dare not use it though I presume not to censure those that do nor to condemn all other uses of the Cross which the Antients abounded in as sudden particular professing Signs much below this solemn covenanting use And as I think the King would not take it well when he hath made the Star the Badge of the Knights of the Garter if any Subject will presume to make another Symbolum Ordinis though yet many a significant Gesture or Act may be used without offence So I fear Christ would not take it well of me if I presume to make or use another Symbole or Tessera of Christianity Especially with so much of a Covenanting Sacramental Nature But what 's this to things or Gestures significant of no such kind You see then the difference of these Cases But if you were able to prove the Cross as harmless as the Swearing Ceremony I would be for the Cross and not against the laying the hand on the Book and kissing it For 1. I am not of their mind that form their judgment of other particulars to suit with their preconceived opinions of things of the same rank or quality nor make the Interest of my former conceptions to be the measure of my after judging 2. Nor do I think it so great an honour to be strict in my opinions as dishonour to be superstitious and to add to Gods Law by saying that he forbiddeth what he doth not or to be affectedly singular in denying lawful things with a Touch not taste not handle not c. Nor do I esteem him to be the wisest best or holiest person who is narrowest or strictest in his opinions but who is Rightest nor him that maketh most things to be sins but him that committeth least sin which is such indeed nor him that maketh most Laws to himself and others but him that best obeyeth Gods Laws Quest. 1. MAy one that scrupleth thus swearing himself yet Commissioned give an Oath thus to another Quest. that scrupleth it not Answ. 1. If the thing be as is proved lawful his scruple will not make him innocent in neglecting Answ. the duty of his place 2. If the substance of the Oath were lawful and only the Mode or Ceremony were sinful as suspected then 1. If the Commissioner must himself particularly command that Mode it were unlawful for him to do it 2. But if he only command and give the Oath as an Oath leaving the Mode without his Approbation or Command to the Taker and the Law he may so give the Oath And thus Christians in all Ages have taken it for Lawful to make Covenants even with Infidels and Idolaters and to take a Turks Oath by Mahomet when it is only the Oath that we demand and the Mode is his own which we had rather be without and give no approbation of And if a King may thus demand an Infidels or Idolaters Oath as God himself doth mens duty when he knoweth that they will sin in doing it much more may one do so in case of a doubtful Ceremony which he is neither the author nor approver of But I think this in question is lawful fit and laudable § 7. III. As to the case of Taking Gods Name in vain which for brevity I joyn with swearing How Gods Name is taken in vain it is done 1. Either in the grossest and most hainous sort 2. Or in a lower sort 1. The grossest sort of taking Gods Name in vain is by Perjury or calling him in for witness to a lye For among the Jews Vanity and a Lye were words frequently taken in the same signification 2. But the lower sort of taking Gods Name in vain is when it is used lightly unreverently contemptuously jeastingly or See Dr. Haâ—â—oâ—ds Pract. Catâ—ch on the thâ—rd Commandment Jer. 5. 2. Lev. 19. 12. without just cause And in these also there is prophaneness and a very great sin which is aggravated according to the Degree of the contempt or prophanation It is a great sin unreverently in common talk to make a by-word of saying O Lord or O God or O Iesus or God help us or Lord have mercy on us or God send this or that or any way to take Gods Name in vain But to use it in jears and scorns at Religion or make Play-books or Stage-playes with such prophane contemptuous jears is one of the greatest villanies that mans tongue can be guilty of against his Maker Of which anon § 8. IV. Direct 1. For the avoiding of all this prophaneness in swearing and taking the Name of
Whoever took a talkative babler for a wise man He that is Logophilus is seldome Philologus much less Philosophus As Demosthenes Eccles 5. 3 7. Eccles. â—0 12 13. Eccles. 10. 14. Psal. 37. 30 Prov. 17. 27 28. 10. 20. 12. 18. 10 19. 18. 4 5 6. â—1 23. said to a Prater If thou knewest more thou wouldst say less They seldom go for men of action and vertue that talk much They that say much usually do little Women and Children and old folks are commonly the greatest talkers I may add mad folks Livy noteth that Souldiers that prate and brag much seldom fight well And Erasmus noteth that Children that quickly learn to speak are long in learning to go It is not the barking Curr that biteth Let it be the honour of a Parrot to speak much but of a man to speak wisely The mobility of their tongues an honour common to an Aspen leaf is all their honour that can multis verbis pauca dicere say a little in a great many of words but multa paucis much in few words is the character of the wise unless when the quality of the auditors prohibiteth it And qui sunt in dicendo brevissimi if the auditors can bear it shall be accounted the best speakers I am not of his mind that said He oft repented speaking but never repented silence But except they be Ministers few men have so much cause to repent of silence as of speech Non quam multa sed quam bene must be the Christians care As one said of Philosophy I may much more say of Religion that though an Orators excellency appeareth only in speaking yet the Philosophers and the Christians appeareth as much in silence § 26. 6. Where there is much idle talk there will be much sinful talk Prov. 10. 19. In the multitude of words there wants not sin but he that refraineth his lips is wise There are lyes or backbitings or medling with other folks matters or scurrilous jeasts if not many such sins that go along with a course of idle talk It is the vehicle in which the Devil giveth his most poysonous draughts Saith Lipsius It is given to Praters Non multa tantum sed male to speak ill as well as to speak much § 27. 7. Vain words hinder your own edification Who knoweth if you would hold your tongues but some one would speak wiselyer that might do you good Prov. 23. 8 9. § 28. 8. And you weary the Hearers unless they are strangely patient when you intend to please them or else you might as well talk all that by your self It is scarce manners for them unless you be much their inferiors to tell you they are aweary to hear you and to intreat you to hold your tongues But you little know how oft they think so I judge of others by my self I flye from a talkative person as from a Bed that hath Fleas or Lice I would shut my doors against them as I stop my Windows against the Wind and Cold in Winter How glad am I when they have done and gladder when they are gone Make not your selves a burden to your company or friends by the troublesome noise of an unwearied tongue § 29. 9. Many words are the common causers of contention Some word or other will fall that offendeth those that hear it or else will be carried to those that are absent and made the occasion of heart-burnings rehearsals brawls or Law-suits There is no keeping quietness peace and love with talkative pratlers at least not long § 30. 10. Are you not sensible what Pride and impudency is in it when you think your selves worthiest to speak As if you should say you are all children to me hold your tongues and hear me speak If you had Christian Humility and Modesty you would in honour prefer others before your selves Rom. 12. 10. You would think your selves unworthiest to speak unless the contrary be very evident and desire rather to hear and learn As Heraclitus being asked Why he alone was silent in the company answered That you may talk So when you talk above your parts it is as if you told the company I talk that all you may be silent § 31. 11. It is a voluntary sin and not repented of For you may easily forbear it if you will and you wilfully continue in it and therefore impenitency is your danger § 32. 12. Lastly Consider how unprofitable a sin it is and how little you have to hire you to commit it What get you by it Will you daily sin against God for nothing § 33. Direct 4. If you would not be idle talkers see that your hearts be taken up with something that Direct 4. is good And that your tongues be acquainted with and accustomed to their proper work and duty An Isa. 32. 4 5 6. Matth. 12 34 36. 2 Cor. 4. 13. John 3. 11. 1 John 4. 5. Prov. 16. 23. Psal. 40 5. Cant. 7. 9. empty head and heart are the causes of empty frothy vain discourse Conscience may tell you when your tongues run upon vanity that at that time there is no sense of sin or duty or the presence of God upon your hearts no holy Love no Zeal for God but you are asleep to God and all that 's good and in this sleep you moither and talk idly of any thing that cometh into your mind Also you make not conscience of speaking of that which is good or else it would keep out vanity and evil Remember what abundance of greater matters you have to talk of You have the evil of sin the multitude and subtilty of temptations and the way of resisting them to talk of You have your faults to lament your evidences to enquire after your mercies thankfully to open the greatness and goodness and all the attributes of God to praise You have all the works of God to admire even all the creatures in the world to contemplate and all Gods admirable Providences and Government to observe You have the mysterie of Redemption the person and office and life and miracles and sufferings and glory and intercession and reign of Christ to talk of And all the secret sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost and all the Ordinances of God and all the means of Grace and all our duties to God and man and all the holy Scripture besides death and judgement and Heaven and Hell and the concernments of the Church of God and the case of the persons you speak to who may need your instruction exhortation admonition reproof or comfort And is not here work enough to employ your tongues and keep them from idle talk Make conscience of those Prov. 23. 16. duties commanded Ephes. 4. 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying and may minister grace to the hearers and grieve not the holy Spirit Psal. 145. 6 11 12 13 21. of God
ability opportunity and a Call may be excused by Religion from worldly labours as Ministers but not from such spiritual labours for others which they can perform He that under pretence of Religion withdraweth from converse and forbeareth to do good to others and only liveth to himself and his own soul doth make Religion a pretense against Charity and the works of Charity which are a great part of Religion For pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted of the world Jam. 1. 27. Even when sickness imprisonment or persecution disableth to do any more for others we must pray for them But while we can do more we must § 4. Quest. 4. Will not Riches excuse one from labouring in a Calling Answ. No but rather bind Quest. 4. them to it the more For he that hath most wages from God should do him most work Though Wâ—â—l not Riches excuse they have no outward want to urge them they have as great a necessity of obeying God and doing good to others as any other men have that are poor § 5. Quest. 5. Why is labour thus necessary to all that are able Answ. 1. God hath strictly commanded Quest. 5. â—â—y Labour is necessary it to all And his Command is Reason enough to us 2 Thess. 3. 10 11 12. For even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should he eat For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busie-bodies Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Iesus Christ that with quietness Ezek. 46. 1. Deut. 16. 15. Deut. 2. 7. Exod. 34. 21. they work and eat their own bread See vers 6. 14. 1 Thess. 4. 11. We beseech you brethren that ye study to be quiet and to do your own business and work with your hands as we commanded you that ye may walk honestly or decently towards them that are without and that ye may have lack of nothing Gen. 3. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground And in the fourth Commandment Six dayes shalt thou labour So Ephes. 4. 28. Prov. 31. 31 33. § 6. 2. Naturally action is the end of all our Powers and the Power were vain but in respect to the act To be able to understand to read to write to go c. were little worth if it were not that we may Do the things that we are enabled to § 7. 3. It is for Action that God maintaineth us and our abilities work is the moral as well as the natural End of power It is the act by the power that is commanded us § 8. 4. It is action that God is most served and honoured by not so much by our being able to do good but by our doing it who will keep a servant that is able to work and will not Will his meer ability answer your expectation § 9. 5. The publick welfare or the good of many is to be valued above our own Every man therefore is bound to do all the good he can to others especially for the Church and Commonwealth And this is not done by Idleness but by Labour As the Bees labour to replenish their hive so man being a sociable creature must labour for the good of the society which he belongs to in which his own is contained as a part § 10. 6. Labour is necessary for the preservation of the faculties of the mind 1. The labour of the mind is necessary hereto because unexercised Abilities will decay as Iron not used will consume with rust Idleness makes men fools and dullards and spoileth that little ability which they have 2. And the exercise of the Body is ordinarily necessary because of the minds dependance on the body and acting according to its temperature and disposition It is exceedingly helped or hindered by the body § 11. 7. Labour is needful to our health and life The Body it self will quickly fall into mortal Socrates was mightâ—ly addicted to the exercise of his body as necessary to the health of body and mind Laert. Plâ—tarch out of Plato saith that soul and body should be equally exercised togâ—ther and driven on as two Houses in a Coach and not either of them overgo the osher Prâ—â— of Health diseases without it except in some very few persons of extraordinary soundness Next to abstinence labour is the chief preserver of health It stirreth up the natural heat and spirits which perform the chief offices for the life of man It is the proper bellows for this vital fire It helpeth all the concoctions of nature It attenuateth that which is too gross it purifieth that which beginneth to corrupt it openeth obstructions it keepeth the mass of blood and other nutritious humours in their proper temperament fit for motion circulation and nutrition it helpeth them all in the discharge of their natural offices It helpeth the parts to attract each one its proper nutriment and promoteth every sermentation and assimilation by which nature maintaineth the transitory still consuming Oyle and mass It excelleth art in the preparation alteration and expulsion of all the excrementitious matter which being retained would be the matter of manifold diseases and powerfully fighteth against all the enemies of health In a word it doth incomparably excell the help of the most skilful Physicions and excellent Medicines in the world for the preventing of most diseases incident to man and consequently to the benefit of the soul it self which cheerfully useth a cheerful and well tempered body and useth a languishing sickly body as the Rider useth a tired Horse or as we use a sick or lazie servant or a blunted Knife or a Clock or Watch that is out of order I speak all this of Bodily labour which is necessary to the Body and consequently to the mind For want of which abundance grow melancholly and abundance grow sluggish and good for nothing and abundance cherish filthy lusts and millions yearly turn to earth before their time For want of bodily labour a multitude of the idle Gentry and rich people and young people that are slothful do heap up in the secret receptacles of the body a dunghill of unconcocted excrementitious filth and vitiate all the mass of humours which should be the fewel and oyle of life and dye by thousands of untimely deaths of Feavors Palsies Convulsions Apoplexies Dropsies Consumptions Gout c. more miserably than if Thieves had murdered them by the High-way because it is their own doing and by their sloth they kill themselves For want of bodily exercise and labour interposed abundance of Students and sedentary persons fill themselves with diseases and hasten their death and causelesly blame their hard studies for that which was caused by their bodily sloth The hardest studies will do
he shall serve me He that worketh Deceit shall not dwell within my House He that telleth lyes shall not tarry in my sight Prov. 3. 33. The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the wicked but he blesseth the Habitation of the Iust. LONDON Printed by Robert White for Nevill Simmons at the Sign of the Princes-Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard 1673. To all that fear God in the Burrough and Parish of Kederminster in Worcestershire Dear Friends YOU are the Only People that ever I took a special Pastoral Charge of And Gods blessing and your Obedience to his Word do make the remembrance of my Labours and Converse with you to be sweet It was neither by Your Will or Mine that we have been this twelve years separated nor that we yet continue so I thank our most Gracious God who maugre all the Serpents Malice hath Inwardly and Outwardly so well provided for you above most others as that I hope you will be no losers by any thing which hath yet befallen you That I have hitherto survived so many of my departed Friends both with you and elsewhere after all that you have known is my own wonder as well as yours And what I have been doing in this time of our separation I have formerly told you in part by some other Writings and now tell you more by this which was written about five or six years ago though it found not passage into the world till now I live not yet Idle But whether this be the way of my chiefest service to the Church of God in my present case some distant Censurers have questioned If it be not my Ignorance of my duty and of what will be most useful to others is the cause and not my Love of Ease or my obeying Man rather than God I judge that my chief duty which I think is likest to do most good I am glad that once more before I dye I have opportunity to speak to you at this distance and to perswade you to and Direct you in that Family Holiness and Righteousness which hath been so much of your Comfort and Honour and will be so while you faithfully continue it O how happy a state is it to have God dwell in your Families by his Love and Blessing and Rule them by his Word and Spirit and Protect them by his Power and Delight in them and they in Him as his Churches preparing for the Coelestial Delights O how much of the Interest of true Religion must be kept up in the world by the Holiness and Diligence of Christian Families How happy a supply doth it afford where there are sad defects in the Teaching Holiness and Discipline of the Churches O that the Rulers of Families who are silenced by no others did not silence themselves from that Instructing and Prayer which is their work I should be sorry that this Directory is so Voluminous that few of you can buy it but that more Ends than One in such works must be intended If any of you which God forbid shall shew by an ungodly life that you have forgotten the Doctrine which was taught you or if more yet shall traduce the Doctrine of your once unworthy Teacher Posterity shall here see what it was in this Record which may remain and preach when I am yet more silenced in the dust The Lord whom we have served though with lamentable defects and in whom though alas too weakly we have trusted preserve us in the Life of Faith Hope and Love in Sincerity Zeal and patient Constancy to the Glorious Life where we hope to behold in Perfect Love without the fear of death or separation our most Blessed Head and God for ever Amen Totteridge near Barnet Feb. 10. 1671 2. Your Servant in Willingness Richard Baxter A Christian Directory TOM II. Christian Oeconomicks CHAP. I. Directions about Marriage for Choice and Contract AS the Persons of Christians in their privatest capacities are Holy as being Dedicated and separated unto God so also must their Families be HOLINESS TO THE LORD must be as it were written on their Doors and on their Relations their Possessions and Affairs To which it is requisite 1. That there be a Holy Constitution of their Families 2. And a holy Government of them and discharge of the several duties of the Members of the Family To the right constituting of a Family belongeth 1. The right contracting of Marriage and 2. The right choice and contract betwixt Masters and their Servants For the first § 2. Direct 1. Take heed that neither lust nor rashness do thrust you into a marryed condition before Direct 1. you see such Reasons to invite you to it as may assure you of the Call and approbation of God For 1. It is God that you must serve in your Marryed state and therefore it is meet that you take his counsel before you rush upon it For he knoweth best himself what belongeth to his service 2. And it is God that you must still depend upon for the blessing and comforts of your relation And therefore there is very great reason that you take his advice and consent as the chief things requisite to the match If the Consent of Parents be necessary much more is the Consent of God § 3. Quest. But how shall a man know whether God call him to Marriage or consent unto it Hath Quest. he not here left all men to their liberties as in a thing indifferent Answ. God hath not made any Universal Law commanding or forbidding Marriage but in this Answ. Whether Marriage be indifferent regard hath left it indifferent to mankind yet not allowing all to marry for undoubtedly to some it is unlawful But he hath by other General Laws or Rules directed men to know in what cases it is lawful and in what cases it is a sin As every man is bound to choose that condition in which he may serve God with the best advantages and which tendeth most to his spiritual welfare and increase in Holiness Now there is nothing in Marriage it self which maketh it commonly inconsistent with these benefits and the fulfilling of these Laws And therefore it is said that He that Marrieth doth well that is he doth that which of it self is not unlawful and which to some is the 1 Cor 7. 7 3◠most eligible state of life But there is something in a single life which maketh it especially to Preachers and persecuted Christians to be more usually the most advantagious state of life to these Ends of Christianity And therefore it is said that He that marrieth not doth better And yet to individual persons it is hard to imagine how it can choose but be either a duty or a sin at least except in some unusual cases For it is a thing of so great moment as to the ordering of our hearts and lives that it is hard to imagine that it should ever be indifferent as a means to our main end but
children speaking of them when thou â—ittest in thy house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up and thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house and upon your Gates that your dayes may be multiplyed and the dayes of your children The like words are in Deut. 6. 6 7 8. where it is said And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children So Deut. 4. 9. Teach them thy sons and thy sons sons Here there is one part of Family Duty viz. Teaching children the Laws of God as plainly commanded as words can express it Arg. 2. From these texts which commend this Gen. 18. 18 19. All the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him for I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord and it was not only a command at his death what they should do when he was dead For 1. It cannot be imagined that so holy a man should neglect a Duty all his life time and perform it but at death and be commended for that 2. He might then have great cause to question the efficacy 3. As God commandeth a diligent inculcating precepts on Children so no doubt it 's a practice answerable to such precepts that is here commended And it is not bare teaching but commanding that is here mentioned to shew that it must be an improvement of Authority as well as of knowledge and elocution So 2 Tim. 3. 15. Of a child Timothy knew the Scripture by the teaching of his Parents as appeareth 2 Tim. 1. 5. Arg. 3. Eph. 6. 4. Bring them up in the nurture and admontion of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated nurture signifieth both Instruction and Correction shewing that Parents must use both Doctrine and Authority or force with their Children for the Matters of the Lord and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated admonition signifieth such Instruction as putteth Doctrine into the mind and chargeth it on them and fully storeth their minds therewith And it also signifieth chiding and sometimes correction And it 's to be noted that Children must be brought up in this The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying carefully to nourish importeth that as you feed them with milk and bodily food so you must as carefully and constantly feed and nourish them with the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is called the nurture and admonition of the Lord because the Lord commandeth it and because it is the Doctrine concerning the Lord and the Doctrine of his teaching and the Doctrine that leadeth to him Arg. 4. Prov. 22. 6. Train up a child in the way where he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Arg. 5. From all those places that charge Children to hearken to the instructions of their Parents Prov. 1. 8. My Son hear the Instruction of thy Father and forsake not the law of thy Mother Prov. 6. 20. is the like and 3. 22. with many the like Yea the Son that is stubborn and rebellious against the Instruction and Correction of a Father or Mother in Gluttony Drunkenness c. was to be brought forth to the Magistrate and stoned to death Deut. 21. 18 19 20. Now all the Scriptures that require Children to â—ear their Parents do imply that the Parents must teach their Children for there is no hearing and learning without teaching But lest you say that Parents and Children are not the whole family though they may be and in Abrahams case before mentioned the whole houshold is mentioned the next shall speak to other relations Arg. 6. 1 Pet. 3. 7. Likewise ye Husbands dwell with them your wives according to knowledge and Eph. 5. 25 26. Love your Wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it And this plainly implies that this knowledge must be used for the Instruction and sanctification of the Wife 1 Cor. 14. 34 35. Women must keep silence in the Church for it is not permitted unto them to speak but they are to be under obedience as also saith the Law If they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home Which shews that at home their Husbands must teach them Arg. 7. Col. 3. 22 23 24 25. Eph. 6. 5 6 7 8. Servants must be obedient unto their Masters as unto Christ and serve them as serving the Lord Christ and therefore Ministers must command in Christ. Arg. 8. A fortiori fellow Christians must exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin much more must the Rulers of families do so to Wives Children and Servants 1 Pet. 4. 11. If any speak it must be as the Oracles of God much more to our own Families Col. 3. 16. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another and much more must a man do this to Wife Children and Servants than to those more remote Arg. 9. Those that are to be chosen Deacons or Bishops must be such as Rule their own Children and their own houshold well 1 Tim. 3. 4 12. Now mark 1. That this is one of those Christian virtues which they were to have before they were made Officers therefore other Christians must have and perform it as well as they 2. It is a Religious Holy Governing such as a Minister is to exercise over his flock that is here mentioned which is in the things of God and salvation or else the comparison or argument would not suit ver 5. For if a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he rule the Church of God But of this more before I would say more on this point but that I think it is so clear in Scripture as to make it needless I pass therefore to the next Prop. 3. Family Discipline is part of Gods solemn Worship or Service appointed in his Word This is Prop. 3. not called Worship in so near a sense as some of the rest but more remotely yet so it may well be called in that 1. It is an Authoritative Act done by commission from God 2 Upon such as disobey him and as such 3. And to his Glory yea and it should be done with as great solemnity and reverence as other parts of worship The Acts of this discipline are first denying the ungodly entrance into the family 2. Correcting 3. Or casting out those that are in I shall be but brief on these 1. The first you have 2 Ioh. 10. If there come any to you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not into your house neither bid him God speed for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds 2. The Duty of correcting either by corporal sensible punishment or by withdrawing some benefit is so commonly required in Scripture especially towards Children that
souls to do their undertaken work § 1. Motive 1. Consider that the Holy Government of Families is a considerable part of Gods own Government Motive 1. of the world and the contrary is a great part of the Devils Government It hath pleased God to settle as a natural so a Political order in the world and to honour his creatures to be the instruments of his own operations And though he could have produced all effects without any interior causes and could have Governed the world by himself alone without any instruments he being not as Kings constrained to make use of Deputies and Officers because of their own natural confinement and insufficiency yet is he pleased to make inferiour causes partakers in such excellent effects and taketh delight in the frame and order of causes by which his will among his creatures is accomplished So that as the several Justices in the Countries do govern as Officers of the King so every Magistrate and Master of a family doth govern as an Officer of God And if his government by his Officers be put down or neglected it is a contempt of God himself or a rebellion against him What is all the practical Atheism and Rebellion and ungodliness of the world but a rejecting of the Government of God It is not against the Being of God in it self considered that his enemies rise up with malignant rebellious opposition But it is against God as the Holy and Righteous Governour of the world and especially of themselves And as in an Army if the Corporals Sergeants and Lieutenants do all neglect their offices the Government of the General or Colonels is defeated and of little force so if the Rulers of Families and other Officers of God will corrupt or neglect their part of Government they do their worst to corrupt or cast out Gods Government from the earth And if God shall not Govern in your families who shall The Devil is always the Governour where Gods Government is refused The world and the flesh are the instruments of his Government Worldliness and Fleshly living are his service Undoubtedly he is the Ruler of the family where these prevail and where Faith and Godliness do not take place And what can you expect from such a Master § 2. Motive 2. Consider also that an ungoverned ungodly family is a powerful means to the damnation Motive 2. of all the members of it It is the common Boat or Ship that hurrieth souls to Hell that is bound for the devouring gulf He that is in the Devils Coach or Boat is like to go with the rest as the Driver or the Boatman pleaseth But a well-governed family is an excellent help to the saving of all the souls that are in it As in an ungodly family there are continual temptations to ungodliness to swearing and lying and railing and wantonness and contempt of God so in a Godly family there are continual provocations to a holy life to faith and love and obedience and heavenly mindedness Temptations to sin are fewer there than in the Devils Shops and Workhouses of sin The Authority of the Governours the conversation of the rest the examples of all are great inducements to a holy life As in a well ordered Army of valiant men every coward is so linked in by order that he cannot choose but fight and stand to it with the rest and in a confused rowt the valiantest man is born down by the disorder and must perish with the rest even so in a well ordered holy family a wicked man can scarce tell how to live wickedly but seemeth to be almost a Saint while he is continually among Saints and heareth no words that are profane or filthy and is kept in to the constant exercises of Religion by the authority and company of those he liveth with O how easie and clean is the way to Heaven in such a gratious well ordered family in comparison of what it is to them that dwell in the distracted families of prophane and sensual worldlings As there is greater probability of the salvation of souls in England where the Gospel is preached and professed than in Heathen or Mahometane countrys so is there a greater probability of their salvation that live in the houses and company of the Godly than of the Ungodly In one the advantages of instruction command example and credit are all on Gods side and in the other they are on the Devils side § 3. Motive 3. A holy well-governed Family tendeth not only to the safety of the members but also Motive 3. to the ease and pleasure of their lives To live where Gods Law is the principal Rule and where you may be daily taught the mysteries of his Kingdom and have the Scriptures opened to you and be led as by the hand in the paths of life where the praises of God are daily celebrated and his name is called upon and where all do speak the heavenly language and where God and Christ and Heaven are both their daily work and recreation where it is the greatest honour to be most holy and heavenly and the greatest contention is who shall be most humble and godly and obedient to God and their superiors and where there is no reviling scornes at Godliness nor no prophane and scurrilous talk what a sweet and happy life is this Is it not likest to Heaven of any thing upon earth But to live where worldliness and prophaneness and wantonness and sensuality bear all the sway and where God is unknown and holiness and all religious exercises are matter of contempt and scorn and where he that will not swear and live prophanely doth make himself the hatred and derision of the rest and where men are known but by their shape and speaking-faculty to be men nay where men take not themselves for men but for bruits and live as if they had no rational souls nor any expectations of another life nor any higher employments or delights than the transitory concernments of the flesh what a sordid lothsom filthy miserable life is this made up by a mixture of BEASTLY and DEVILISH To live where there is no communion with God where the marks of Death and Damnation are written as it were upon the doors in the face of their impious worldly lives and where no man understandeth the holy language and where there is not the least foretast of the Heavenly everlasting joys what 's this but to live as the Serpents seed to feed on dust and to be excommunicated from the face and favour of God and to be chained up in the prison of concupiscence and malignity among his enemies till the judgement come that is making haste and will render to all men according to their works § 4. Motive 4. A holy and well-governed family doth tend to make a Holy Posterity and so to propagate Motive 4. the fear of God from Generation to Generation It is more comfortable to have no children than to beget
them not tyrannically but in tenderness and love and command them nothing that is against the Laws of God or the good of their souls Use not wrath and unmanlike fury with them nor any over-severe or unnecessary rebukes or chastisements Find fault in season with prudence and sobriety when your passions are down and when it is most likely to do good If it be too little it will embolden them in doing ill If it be too much or frequent or passionate it will make them sleight it and despise it and utterly hinder their repentance They will be taken up in blaming you for your rashness and violence instead of blaming themselves for the fault § 2. Direct 2. Provide them work convenient for them and such as they are fit for Not such or Direct 2. so much as to wrong them in their health or hinder them from the necessary means of their salvation Nor yet so little as may cherish their idleness or occasion them to lose their pretious time It is cruelty to lay more on your horse than he can carry or to work your Oxen to skin and bones Prov. 12. 10. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast much more of his servant Especially put not your servants on any labour which hazardeth their health or life without true necessity to some greater end Pity and spare them more in their health than in their bare labour Labour maketh the body sound but to take deep colds or go wet of their feet do tend to their sickness and death And should another mans Life be cast away for your commodity Do as you would be done by if you were servants your selves and in their case And let not their labours be so great as shall allow them no time to pray before they go about it or as shall so tire them as to unfit them for Prayer or instruction or the Worship of the Lords day and shall lay them like blocks as fitter to lie to sleep or rest themselves than to pray or hear or mind any thing that is good And yet take heed that you suffer them not to be idle as many great men use their Serving men to the undoing of their souls and bodies Idleness is no small sin it self and it breedeth and cherisheth many others Their time is lost by it and they are made unfit for any honest employment or course of life to help themselves or any others § 3. Direct 3. Provide them such wholsome food and lodging and such wages as their service doth Direct 3. deserve or as you have promised them Whether it be pleasant or unpleasant let their food and Col. 4. 1. lodging be healthful It is so odious an oppression and injustice to defraud a servant or labourer of his wages yea or to give him less than he deserveth that methinks I should not need to speak much against it among Christians Read Iam. 5. 1 2 3 4 5. and I hope it will be enough § 4. Direct 4. Use not your servants to be so bold and familiar with you as may tempt them to Direct 4. despise you nor yet so strange and distant as may deprive you of opportunity of speaking to them for their spiritual good or justly lay you open to be censured as too magisterial and proud Both these extreams have ill effects but the first is commonest and is the disquiet of many families § 5. Direct 5. Remember that you have a charge of the souls in your family and are as a Priest Direct 5. and Teacher in your own house and therefore see that you keep them to the constant worshipping of God especially on the Lords day in publick and private and that you teach them the things that concern their salvation as is afterward Directed And pray for them daily as well as for your selves § 6. Direct 6. Watch over them that they offend not God Bear not with ungodliness or gross sin in Direct 6. your family Read Psal. 101. Be not like those ungodly masters that look only that their own work be done and bid God look after his work himself and care not for their servants souls because they care not for their own and mind not whether God be served by others because they serve him not unless with hypocritical lip-service themselves § 7. Direct 7. Keep your servants from evil company and from being temptations to each other as Direct 7. far as you can If you suffer them to frequent Alehouses or riotous assemblies or wanton or malignant company when they are infected themselves they will bring home the infection and all the house may fare the worse for it And when Iudas groweth familiar with the Pharisees he will be seduced by them to betray his Master You cannot be accountable for your servants if you suffer them to be much abroad § 8. Direct 8. Go before them as examples of holiness and wisdom and all those virtues and duties Direct 8. which you would teach them An ignorant or a swearing cursing railing ungodly Master doth actually teach his servants to be such and if his words teach them the contrary he can expect but little reverence or success § 9. Direct 9. Patiently bear with those tolerable fâ—ailties which their unskilfulness or bodily temperature Direct 9. or other infirmity make them lyâ—ble to against their wills A willing mind is an excuse for many frailties much must be put up when it is not from wilfulness or gross neglect make not a greater matter of every infirmity or fault than there is cause Look not that any should be perfect upon earth Reckon upon it that you must have servants of the progeny of Adam that have corrupted natures and bodily weaknesses and many things that must be born with Consider how faultily you serve your Heavenly Master and how much he daily beareth with that which is amiss in you and how many faults and oversights you are guilty of in your own employment and how many you should be overtaken with if your were in their stead Eph. 6. 9. And ye Masters do the same things to them forbearing threatning knowing that your master also is in Heaven neither is there respect of persons with him Col. 4. 1. Masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal c. § 10. Direct 10. See that they behave themselves well to their fellow servants of which I shall speak Direct 10. anon Tit. 2. Directions to those Masters in foraign Plantations who have Negro's and other Slaves being a solution of several Cases about them Direct 1. UNderstand well how far your Power over your slaves extendeth and what limits Direct 1. God hath set thereto As 1. Sufficiently difference between Men and Bruits Remember that they are of as good a kind as you that is They are reasonable Creatures as well as you and born to as much natural liberty If their sin have enslaved them to you yet Nature
and run greedily after the the errours of Balaam And 2 Pet. 2. 3 14 15. Through Covetousness they make mer handize of you An heart they have exercised with covetous practices Cursed Children or Children of a Curse which have for saken the right way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam the Son of Bosor who loved the wages of unrighteousness but was rebuked for his iniquity the duâ—b Asse speaking with mans voice forbad the madness of the Prophet When you shall every one hear Thou foâ—l this night shall thy soul be required of thee and then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Luke 12. 19 20 21. will it not then cut deep in your perpetual torments to remember that you got that little pelf by betraying so many souls to hell What men in the World doth Iames speaks to if not to you Jam. 5. 1 2 3 4. Go to now ye Rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last dayes Behold the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud cryeth and the cryes of them which have reaped have entred into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath How much more the cry of betrayed souls And here we may seasonably answer these cases Quest. 1. Is it lawful for a Christian to buy and use a man as a slave Quest. 2. Is it lawful to use a Christian as a slave Quest. 3. What difference must we make between a free servant and a slave To Quest. 1. I answer There is a slavery to which some men may be Lawfully put and there is a slavery to which none may be put And there is a slavery to which only the criminal may be put by way of penalty 1. No man may be put to such a slavery as under the first Direction is denyed that is such as shall injure Gods interest and service or the mans salvation 2. No man but as a just punishment for his crimes may be so enslaved as to be deprived of those liberties benefits and comforts which brotherly love obligeth every man to grant to another for his good as far as is within our power all things considered That is the same man is a servant and a brother and therefore must at once be used as both 3. Though poverty or necessity do make a man consent to sell himself to a life of lesser misery to escape a greater or death it self yet is it not lawful for any other so to take advantage by his necessity as to bring him into a condition that shall make him miserable or in which we shâ—â— not exercise so much love as may tend to his sanctification comfort and salvation Because no Iustice is beseeming a Christian or a Man which is not conjoyned with a due measure of Charity But 1. He that deserveth it by way of penalty may be penally used 2. He that stole and cannot restore may be forced to work it out as a servant And in both these cases more may be done against anothers ease or liberty than by meer contract or consent He that may hang a flagitious offender doth him no wrong if he put him to a slavery which is less penal than death 3. More also may be done against Enemies taken in a lawful War than could be done against the innocent by necessitated consent 4. A certain degree of servitude or slavery is lawful by the necessitated consent of the innocent That is so much 1. As wrongeth no interest of God 2. Nor of mankind by breaking the Law of Nations 3. Nor the person himself by hindering his salvation or the needful means thereof nor those comforts of life which nature giveth to man as man 4. Nor the Common-wealth or society where we live Quest. 2. To the 2 Quest. I answer 1. As men must be variously Loved according to the various Quest. 2. degrees of amiableness in them so various degrees of Love must be exercised towards them Therefore good and real Christians must be used with more Love and brotherly tenderness than others 2. It is meet also that infidels have so much mercy shewed them in order to the saving of their souls as that they should be invited to Christianity by fit encouragements And so that they should know that if they will turn Christians they shall have more priviledges and emoluments than the enemies of truth and piety shall have It is therefore well done of Princes who make Laws that Infidel slaves shall be free men when they are duly Christened 3. But yet a nominal Christian who by wickedness forfeiteth his Life or freedom may penally be made a slave as well as Infidels 4. And a poor and needy Christian may sell himself into a harder state of servitude than he would choose or we could otherwise put him into But 5. To go as Pirats and catch up poor Negro's or people of another Land that never forfeited Life or Liberty and to make them slaves and sell them is one of the worst kinds of Thievery in the world and such persons are to be taken for the common enemies of mankind And they that buy them and use them as beasts for their meer commodity and betray or destroy or neglect their souls are fitter to be called incarnate Devils than Christians though they be no Christians whom they so abuse Quest. 3. To the 3 Quest. I answer That the solution of this case is to be gathered from what Quest. 3. is said already A Servant and a Voluntary slave were both free men till they sold or hired themselves And a criminal person was a freeman till he forfeited his life or liberty But afterward the difference is this that 1. A free servant is my servant no further than his own Covenant made him so Which is supposed to be 1. To a certain kind and measure of labour according to the meaning of his contract 2. For a limited time expressed in the contract whether a year or two or three or seven 2. A Slave by meer Contract is one that 1. Usually selleth himself absolutely to the will of another as to his labour both for kind and measure where yet the limitations of God and nature after and before named are supposed among Christians to take place 2. He is one that selleth himself to such labour during life 3. A Slave by just penalty is lyable to so much servitude as the Magistrate doth judge him to which may be 1. Not only such labour as aforesaid as pleaseth his master to impose 2. And that for life 3. But it may be also to stripes and severities which might not lawfully be inflicted on another 1. The Limitations of a
will be but a temptation to waste your time and neglect greater duty and to make you grow customary and sensless of such sins and mercies when the same come to be recited over and over from day to day But let the common mercies be more generally recorded and the common sins generally confessed yet neither of them therefore slighted and let the extraordinary mercies and greater sins have a more particular observation And yet remember that sins and mercies which it is not fit that others be acquainted with are safelyer committed to memory than to writing And methinks a well humbled and a thankful heart should not easily let the memory of them slip § 20. Direct 20. When you compose your selves to sleep again commit your selves to God through Direct 20. Christ and crave his protection and close up the day with some holy exercise of Faith and Love And if you are persons that must needs lye waking in the night let your meditations be holy and exercised upon that subject that is profitablest to your souls But I cannot give this as an ordinary direction because that the body must have sleep or else it will be unfit for labour and all thoughts of holy things must be serious and all serious thoughts will hinder sleep and those that wake in the night do wake unwillingly and would not put themselves out of hopes of sleep which such serious meditations would do Nor can I advise you ordinarily to rise in the night to prayer as the Papists Votaries do For this is but to serve God with irrational and hurtful ceremony And it is a wonder how far such men will go in Ceremony that will not be drawn to a life of Love and spiritual Worship Unless men did irrationally place the service of God in praying this hour rather than another they might see how improvidently and sinfully they lose their time in twice dressing and undressing and in the intervals of their sleep when they might spare all that time by sitting up the longer or rising the earlier for the same employment Besides what tendency it hath to the destruction of health by cold and interruption of necessary rest when God approveth not of the disabling of the body or destroying our health or shortning life no more than of murder or cruelty to others but only calleth us to deny our unnecessary sensual delights and use the body so as it may be most serviceable to the soul and him I have briefly laid together these twenty Directions for the right spending of every day that those that need them and cannot remember the larger more particular Directions may at least get these few engraven on their minds and make them the daily practice of their lives which if you will sincerely do you cannot conceive how much it will conduce to the holiness fruitfulness and quietness of your lives and to your peaceful and comfortable death CHAP. XVIII Tit. 1. Directions for the holy spending of the Lords Day in Families § 1. Direct 1 BE well resolved against the Cavils of those carnal men that would make you believe Direct 1. that the holy spending of the Lords Day is a needless thing For the Name Since the writing of this I have published a Treatise of the Lords Day whether it shall be called The Christian Sabbath is not much worth contending about Undoubtedly the Name of The Lords Day is that which was given it by the Spirit of God Rev. 1. 10. and the antient Christians who sometime called it The Sabbath by allusion as they used the names Sacrifice and Altar The question is not so much of the Name as the Thing whether we ought to spend the day in holy exercises without unnecessary divertisements And to settle your consciences in this you have all these evidences at hand § 2. 1. By the confession of all you have the Law of Nature to tell you that God must be openly worshipped and that some set time should be appointed for his Worship And whether the fourth Commandment be formally in force or abrogated yet it is commonly agreed on that the parity of reason and general equity of it serveth to acquaint us that it is the will of God that one day in seven be the least that we destinate to this use this being then judged a meet proportion by God himself even from the Creation and on the account of commemorating the Creation and Christians being no less obliged to take as large a space of time who have both the Creation and Redemption to commemorate and a more excellent manner of Worship to perform § 3. 2. It is confessed by all Christians that Christ rose on the first day of the Week and appeared to his congregated Disciples on that day and powred out the Holy Ghost upon them on that day and that the Apostles appointed and the Christian Churches observed their assemblies and communion ordinarily on that day And that these Apostles were filled with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost that they might infallibly acquaint the Church with the Doctrine and Will of Jesus Mar. 16. 2 9. Luke 24. 1. Christ and leave it on record for succeeding ages and so were entrusted by Office and enabled by gifts to settle the Orders of the Gospel-Church as Moses did the matters of the Tabernacle and Worship then and so that their Laws or Orders thus setled were the Laws or Orders of the Holy Ghost Iohn 20. 1 19 26. Acts 2. 1. Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Rev. 1. 10. Matth. 28. 19 20 Iohn 16. 13 14 15. Rom. 16. 16. 2 Thess. 2. 15. § 4. 3. It is also confessed that the Universal Church from the dayes of the Apostles down till now hath constantly kept holy the Lords Day in the memorial of Christs Resurrection and that as by the will of Christ delivered to them by or from the Apostles In so much that I remember not either any Orthodox Christian or Heretick that ever opposed questioned or scrupled it till of late ages And as a historical discovery of the matter of fact this is a good evidence that indeed it was settled by the Apostles and consequently by Christ who gave them their Commission and inspired them by the Holy Ghost § 5. 4. It is confessed that it is still the practice of the Universal Church And those that take it to be but of Ecclesiastical appointment â—â—me of them mean it of such extraordinary Ecclesiasticks as inspired Apostles and all of them take the appointment as obligatory to all the members of the Church § 6. 5. The Laws of the Land where we live command it and the King by Proclamation urgeth the execution and the Canons and Homilies and Liturgy shew that the holy observation of the Lords Day is the judgement and will of the Governours of the Church Read the Homilies for the Time and place of Worship Yea they require the people to say when the fourth Commandment is
satisfaction for our sins and Risen from the dead and conquered death and Satan and is ascended and Glorified in Heaven and that he is the King and Teacher and High Priest of the Church That he hath made a new Covenant of Grace and pardon and offered it in his Scriptures and by his Ministers to the World and that those that are sincere and faithful in this Covenant shall be saved and those that are not shall remedilâ—sly be damned because they reject this Christ and Grace which is the last and only remedy And here open to them the nature of this Covenant that God doth offer to be our Reconciled God and Father and Felicity and Christ to be our Saviour to forgive our sins and reconcile us unto God and renew us by his spirit and the Holy Spirit to be our sanctifier to illuminate and regenerate and confirm us and that all that is required on our part is such an unfeigned consent as will appear in the performance in our serious endeavours Even that we wholly give up our selves to be renewed by the holy spirit to be justified taught and Governed by Christ and by him to be brought again to the Father to Love him as our God and End and to live to him and with him for ever But whereas the temptations of the Devil and the allurements of this deceitful world and the desires of the flesh are the great enemies and hinderances in our way we must also consent to renounce all these and let them go and deny our selves and take up with God alone and what he seeth meet to give us and to take him in Heaven for all our portion And he that consenteth unfeignedly to this Covenant is a member of Christ a justified reconciled Child of God and an heir of Heaven and so continuing shall be saved and he that doth not shall be damned This is the Covenant that in Baptism we solemnly entred into with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as our Father and Felicity our Saviour and our Sanctifier This in some such brief explication you must familiarly open to them again and again § 10. Direct 10. When you have opened the Baptismal Covenant to them and the Essentials of Direct 10. Christianity cause them to learn the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments And tell them the Uses of them that man having three Powers of soul his Understanding his Will and his Obediential or executive power all these must be sanctified and therefore there must be a Rule for each And that accordingly the Creed is the summary Rule to tell us what our Understandings must Believe and the Lords Prayer is the summary Rule to direct us what our wills must desire and our tongues must ask and the Ten Commandments is the summary Râ—le of our Practice And that the Holy Scripture in general is the more large and perfect Rule of all And that all that will be taken for true Christians must have a General implicite Belief of all the Holy Scriptures and a particular explicite Belief Desire and sincere practice according to the Creeds Lords Prayer and ten Commandments § 11. Direct 11. Next teach them a short Catechism by memory which openeth these a little Direct 11. more fully and then a larger Catechism The shorter and larger Catechism of the Assembly are very well fitted to this use I have published a very brief one my self which in eight Articles or Answers containeth all the essential points of Belief and in One Answer the Covenant-consent and in four Articles or Answers more containeth all the substantial parts of Christian duty The answers are some of them long for Children But if I knew of any other that had It is in my 〈…〉 and by it self so much in so few words I would not offer this to you because I am conscious of its imperfections But there are very few Catechisms that differ in the substance Which ever they learn let them as they go have your help to understand it and let them keep it in memory to the last § 12. Direct 12. Next open to them more distinctly the particular part of the Covenant and Catechism Direct 12. And here I think this Method most profitable for a family 1. Read over to them the best expositions that you can get on the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments which are not too large to confound them nor too brief so as to be hardly understood For a summary Mr. Brinsleyes True watch is good but thus to read to them such as Mr. Perkins on the Creed and Dr. King on the Lords Prayer and Dod on the Commandments are fit so that you may read one Article one Petition and one Commandment at a time And read these over to them divers times 2. Besides this in your familiar discourse with them open to them plainly one Head or Article of Religion at a time and another the next time and so on till you come to the end And here 1. Open in one discourse the nature of man and the Creation 2. In another or before it the nature and attributes of God 3. In another the fall of man and especially the Corruption of our nature as it consisteth in an inordinate inclination to earthly and fleshly things and a backwardness or averseness or enmity to God and Holiness and the Life to come and the nature of sin and the impossibility of being saved till this sin be pardoned and these natures renewed and restored to the Love of God and Holiness from this Love of the world and fleshly pleasures 4. In the next discourse open to them the doctrine of Redemption in general and the Incarnation and natures and person of Christ particularly 5. In the next open the Life of Christ his fulfilling the Law and his overcoming the Tempter his humble life and contempt of the world and the end of all and how he is exemplary and imitable unto us 6. In the next open the whole Humiliation and suffering of Christ and the pretenses of his persecutors and the Ends and Uses of his suffering death and burial 7. In the next open his Resurrection the proofs and the Uses of it 8. In the next open his Ascension Glory and Interâ—ession for us and the Uses of all 9. In the next open his Kingly and Prophetical offices in General and his making the Covenant of Grace with man and the nature of that Covenant and its effects 10. In the next open the Works or Office of the Holy Ghost in General as given by Christ to be his Agent in men on earth and his great witness to the world and particularly open the extraordinary gift of the spirit to the Prophets and Apostles to plant the Churches and indite and seal the holy Scripture and shew them the authority and use of the holy Scriptures 11. In the next open to them the ordinary works of the Holy Ghost as the Illuminater Renewer
and Sanctifier of souls and in what order he doth all this by the Ministry of the Word 12. In the next open to them the office and use and duty of the ordinary Ministry and their duty toward them especially as Hearers and the nature and use of publick Worship and the nature and Communion of Saints and Churches 13. In the next open to them the Nature and use of Bâ—pâ—ism and the Lords Supper 14. In the next open to them the shortness of life and the state of souls at death and after death and the day of Judgement and the Justification of the Righteous and the Condemnation of the wicked at that day 15. In the next open to them the Joyes of Hâ—aven and the miseries of the damned 16. In the next open to them the vanity of all the pleasure and profits and honour of this World and the method of Temptations and how to overcome them 17. In the next open to them the reason and use of suffering for Christ and of self denyal and how to prepare for sickness and death And after this go over also the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments § 13. Direct 13. After all your instructions make them briefly give you an account in their own Direct 13. words of what they understand and remember of all or else the next time to give account of the fâ—rmer And encourage them for all that is well done in their endeavours § 14. Direct 14. Labour in all to keep up a â—akened serious attention and still to print upon their Direct 14. hearts the greatest things And to that end For the Matter of your teaching and discourse let nothing be so much in your mouths as 1. The Nature and Relations of God 2. A Crucified and a Glorified Christ with all his grace and priviledges 3. The operations of the spirit on the soul. 4. The madness of sinners and the vanity of the world 5. And endless Glory and Joy of Saints and misery of the ungodly after death Let these five points be frequently urged and be the life of all the rest of your discourse And then for the Manner of your speaking to them let it be alwayes with such a mixture of familiarity and seriousness that may carry along their serious attentions whether they will or no Speak to them as if they or you were dying and as if you saw God and Heaven and Hell § 15. Direct 15. Take each of them sometime by themselves and there describe to them the work Direct 15. of Renovation and ask them whether ever such a work was wrought upon them Shew them the true Marks of Grace and help them to try themselves Urge them to tell you truly whether their Love to God or the Creature to Heaven or Earth to Holiness or Flesh-pleasing be more and what it is that hath their hearts and care and chief endeavour And if you find them regenerate help to strengthen them If you find them too much dejected help to Comfort them And if you find them unregenerate help to convince them and then to humble them and then to shew them the remedy in Christ and then shew them their duty that they may have part in Christ and drive all home to the end that you desire to see But do all this with Love and gentleness and privacy § 16. Direct 16. Some pertinent Questions which by the answer will engage them to teach themselves Direct 16. or to judge themselves will be sometimes of very great use As such as these Do you not know that you must shortly dye Do you not believe that immediately your souls must enter upon an endless life of joy or misery Will worldly wealth and honours or fleshly pleasures be pleasant to you then Had you then rather be a Saint or an ungodly sinner Had you not then rather be one of the holiest that the World despised and abused than one of the greatest and richest of the wicked When Time is past and you must give account of it had you not then rather it had been spent in holiness and obedience and diligent preparation for the life to come than in pride and pleasure and pampering the flesh How could you make shift to forget your endless life so long Or to sleep quietly in an unregenerate state What if you had died before conversion what think you had become of you and where had you now been Do you think that any of those in Hell are glad that they were ungodly or have now any pleasure in their former merriments and sin What think you would they do if it were all to do again Do you think if an Angel or Saint from Heaven should come to decide the Controversie between the Godly and the Wicked that he would speak against a Holy and Heavenly life or plead for a loose and fleshly life or which side think you he would take Did not God know what he did when he made the Scriptures Is he or an ungodly scorner to be more regarded Do you think every man in the World will not wish at last that he had been a Saint what ever it had cost him Such kind of Questions urge the Conscience and much convince § 17. Direct 17. Cause them to learn some one most plain and pertinent text for every great Direct 17. and necessary duty and against every great and dangerous sin and often to repeat them to you As Luk. 13. 3 5. Except ye Repent ye shall all perish Joh. 3. 5. Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven So Mat. 18. 3. Rom. 8. 9. Heb. 18. 14. Ioh. 3. 16 Luk. 18. 1 c. So against lying swearing taking Gods name in vain flesh-pleasing Gluttony pride and the rest § 18. Direct 18. Drive all your Convictions to a Resolution of Endeavour and amendment and Direct 18. make them sometime promise you to do that which you have convinced them of And sometimes before witnesses But let it be done with these necessary Cautions 1. That you urge not a promise in any doubtful point or such as you have not first convinced them of 2. That you urge not a promise in things beyond their present strength As you must not bid them promise you to Believe or to Love God or to be tender-hearted or heavenly-minded but to do those duties which tend to these as to hear the Word or read or pray or meditate or keep good company or avoid temptations c. 3. That you be not too often upon this or upon one and the same strain in the other methods lest they take them but for words of course and custome teach them to contemn them But seasonably and prudently done their promises will lay a great engagement on them § 19. Direct 19. Teach them how to pray by formes or without as is most suitable to their â—ase and Direct 19. parts And either your self or
experiences thou wilt be very hardly kept from desperation Thou wilt read such passages as Heb. 6 4 5 6. and Heb. 10. 26 27 28 29. with so much horrour that thou wilt hardly be perswaded that there is any hope Thou wilt be ready to think that thou hast sinned against the Holy Ghost and that thou hast trampled underfoot the blood of the Covenant and done despite to the spirit of grace And thou wilt think that there is no being twice born again Or if thou be restored to Life thou wilt hardly ever be restored to thy comforts here if thy backsliding should be very great But indeed the danger is exceeding great lest thou never be recovered at all if once thou be twice dead and pluckt up by the roots Jud. 6. and lest God do finally forsake thee And then how desperate will be thy case § 35. 16. Is it not the example of Backsliders very terrible which God hath set up for the warning of his servants as monuments of his wrath Luk. 17. 32. Remember Lot's Wife saith Christ to them that are about to lose their estates or goods or lives by saving them How frightful is the remembrance of a Cain a Iudas a Saul a Ioas 2 Chron. 24. 2. a Iulian How sad is it to hear but such a one as Spira especially at his death crying out of his backsliding in the horrour of his soul and to see such ready to make away themselves § 36. 17. Consider that there is none that so much dishonoureth God as a Backslider Others are supposed to sin in ignorance But you do by your lives as bad as speak such blaspheamy as this against the Lord As if you should say I thought once that God had been the best Master and his servants the wisest and happiest men and Godliness the best and safest life but now I have tryed both and I find by experience that the Devil is a better master and his servants are the happiest men and the world and the flesh do give the truest contentment to the mind This is the plain blaspheamy of your lives And bethink thee how God should bear with this § 37. 18. There is none that so much hardeneth the wicked in his sin and furthereth the damnation of souls as the Backslider If you would but drive your Sheep or Cattle into a house those that go in first do draw the rest after them but those that run out again make all the rest afraid and run away One apostate that hath been noted for Religion and afterwards turneth off again doth discourage many that would come in For he doth as it were say to them by his practice Keep off and meddle not with a Religious life for I have tryed it and found that a life of worldliness and fleshliness is better And people will think with themselves Such a man hath tryed a Religious life and he hath forsaken it again and therefore he had some reason for it and knew what he did Woe to the world because of offences and woe to him by whom the offence shall come â—â—k 17. 1. Mat. 18. 7. How dreadful a thing is it think that mens souls should lie in Hell and you be the cause of it It were good for that man that a milstone were hanged about his neck and be were drowned in the depth of the Sea Matth. 18. 6 7. Luk. 17. 2. § 38. 19. There is none that are so great a terrour to weak Christians as these Backsliders For they are thinking how far such went before they fell away And those that think that true grace may be lâ—st are saying Alas how shall I stand when such that were better and stronger than I have faln away And those that think true grace cannot be lost are as much perplexed and say How far may an Hypocrite go that after falleth away How piously did this man live how sorrowfully did he repâ—nt how blamelesly did he walk how fervently and constantly did he pray how savourily did he speak how charitably and usefully did he live And I that come far short of him as far as I can discern can have no assurance that I am sincere till I am sure that I go further than ever he did Woe to thee that thus perplexest the consciences of the weak and hinderest the comforts of believers § 39. 20. Thou art the greatest grief to the faithful Ministers of Christ Thou canst not conceive what a wound it giveth to the heart and comforts of a Minister when he hath taken a great deal of pains for thy Conversion and after that rejoyced when he saw thee come to the flock of Christ and after that laboured many a year to build thee up and suffered many a frown from the ungodly for thy sake to see all his labour at last come to nought and all his glorying of thee turned to his shame and all his hopes of thee disappointed I tell thee this is more doleful to his heart than any outward loss or cross that could have befaln him It is not persecution that is his greatest grief as long as it hindereth not the good of souls It is such as thou that are his â—orest persecutors that frustrate his labours and rob him of his joyes And his sorrows shall one day cost thee dear The life and comforts of your faithful Pastors is much in your hands 2 Cor. 7. 3. 1 Thes. 3. 8. Now we Live if ye stand fast in the Lord. § 40. 21. Thou art more treacherous to Christ than thou wouldst be to a common friend Wouldst thou forsake thy friend without a cause especially an old and tryed friend And especially when in forsaking him thou dost forsake thy self Prov. 27. 10. Thy own friend and thy fathers friend forsake not Prâ—v 17. 17. A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity If thy friend were in distress wouldst thou forsake him And wilt thou forsake thy God that needs thee not but supplyeth thy needs Ruth was more faithful to Naomi Ruth 1. 16 17. that resolved Whither thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge where thou dyest I will dye And hath God deserved worse of thee § 41. 22. Nay thou dealest worse with God than the Devils servants do with him Alas they are too constant to him Reason will not change them nor the Commands of God nor the offers of everlasting life nor the fears of Hell nothing will change them till the spirit of God do it And wilt thou be less constant to thy God § 42. 23. Consider also that thy end is so near that thou hadst but a little while longer to have held out And thou mightest have known that thou couldst keep thy worldly pleasures but a little while And it is a pitiful thing to see a man that hath born the forest brunt of the battle and run till he is almost at the end of the race to lose all for want of a
little more And to see a man fell his God and Soul and Heaven for fleshly pleasure when perhaps he hath not a year or a month or for ought he knoweth a day more to enjoy it For a man to be weary and give over prayer just when the mercy is at hand and to be weary and give over a holy life when his labour and sufferings are almost at an end How sad will this day be to thee if Death this night be sent to fetch away thy soul Then whose will all those pleasures be that thou â—oldst thy soul for Luk. 12. 19 20 21. If thou knewest that thou hadst but a month or year to live wouldst thou not have held out that one year Thou knowest not that it shall be one week This is like the sad story of a Student in one of our Universities who wanting money and his Father delaying to send it him he stayed so long till at last he resolved to stay no longer but steal for it rather than be without And so went out and robbed and murdered the first man he met who proved to be his Fathers messenger that was bringing him the money that he rob'd and killed him for which when he perceived by a letter which he found in his pocket he confest it through remorse of Conscience and was hang'd when a few hours patience more might have saved his innocency and his life And so is it with many a backsliding wretch that is cut off if not like Zimri and Cosbi in the act of their sin yet quickly after and enjoy the pleasure which they forsook their God for but a little while § 43. Direct 4. When you are awakened to see the terribleness of a relapsed state presently return Direct 4. and fly to Christ to reconcile your guilty souls to God and make a stop and go not one step further in your sin nor make no delayes in returning to your fidelity It is too sad a case to be continued in If thou darest delay yet longer and wilfully sin again thou art yet impenitent and thy heart is hardened and if the Lord have not mercy on thee to recall thee speedily thou arâ— lost for ever § 44. Direct 5. Make haste away from the occasions of thy sin and the company which ensnareth Direct 5. thee in it If thou knewest that they were Robbers that intended to murder thee thou wouldst be gone If thou knewest that they had plague sores running on them thou wouldst be gone And wilt thou not be gone when thou knowest that they are the servants of the Devil that would infect thee with sin and cheat thee of thy salvation Say not Is not this company lawful and that pleasure lawful c. If it be like to entise thy heart to sin it is unlawful to thee whatever it is to others It is not lawful to undoe thy soul. § 45. Direct 6. Come off by sound and deep repentance and shame thy self by free confession Direct 6. and mince not the matter and deal not gently with thy sin and be not tender of thy fleshly interest and Jam. 5. 16. Neh. 9. 2 3. Matth. 3. 6. Act. 19. 18. skin not over the sore but go to the bottom and deceive not thy self with a seeming cure Many a one is undone by repenting by the halves and refusing to take shame to themselves by a free confession and to engage themselves to a through reformation by an openly professed resolution Favouring themselves and sparing the flesh when the sore should be lanced and searched to the bottom doth cause many to perish while they supposed that they had been cured § 46. Direct 7. Command thy senses and at least forbear the outward acts of sin while thy Conscience Direct 7. considereth further of the matter The drunkard cannot say that he hath not power to shut his mouth Let the forbidden cup alone No one compelleth you You can forbear it if you will The same I may say of other such sins of sensuality Command thy hand thy mouth thy eye and guard these entrances and instruments of sin § 47. Direct 8. Engage some faithful friend to assist thee in thy watch Open all thy case to some Direct 8. one that is fit to be thy guide or helper And resolve that whenever thou art tempted to the sin thou wilt go presently and tell them before thou do commit it And intreat them to deal plainly with you and give them power to use any advantages that may be for your good § 48. Direct 9. Do your first works and set your selves seriously to all the duties of a holy life Direct 9. And incorporate your selves into the society of the Saints For holy employment and holy company are very great preservatives against every sin § 49. Direct 10. Go presently to your companions in sin and lament that you have joyned with them Direct 10. and earnestly warn and intreat them to repent and if they will not renounce their course and company and Mat. 26. 75. Luk. 22. 62. tell them what God hath shewed you of the sin and danger If really you will return as with Peter you have faln so with Peter go out and weep bitterly and when you are converted strengthen your brethren and help to recover those that you have sinned with Luk. 22. 32. § 50. I have suited most of these Directions to those that relapse into sins of sensuality rather than to them that fall into Atheism Infidelity or Heresie because I have spoken against these sins already and the Directions there given shew the way for the recovery of such Tit. 2. Directions for preventing Backsliding or for Perseverance APostacy and Backsliding is a state that is more easily prevented than cured And therefore I shall desire those that stand to use these following Directions lest they fall § 1. Direct 1. Be well grounded in the Nature and Reasons of your Religion For it is not the highest Direct 1. zeal and resolution that will cause you to persevere if your judgements be not furnished with sufficient Reasons to confute gainfayers and evidence the truth and tell you why you should persevere I speak that with grief and shame which cannot be concealed The number of Christians is so small that are well seen in the Reasons and Methods of Christianity and are able to prove what they hold to be true and to confute Opposers that it greatly afflicteth me to think what work the Atheists and Infidels would make if they once openly play their game and be turned loose to do their worst If they deride and oppose the immortality of the soul and the life to come and the truth of the Scriptures and the work of Redemption and office of Christ alas how few are able to withstand them by giving any sufficient Reason of their hope We have learnt of the Papists that he hath the strongest faith that believeth with least Reason and we have
still reason enough to review and Repent of all that is past and still pray for the pardon of all the sins that ever you committed which were forgiven you before So many years sinning should have a very serious Repentance and lay you low before the Lord. § 3. Direct 3. Cleave closer now to Christ than ever Remembering that you have a life of sin for Direct 3. him to answer for and save you from And that the time is near when you shall have more sensible need of him than ever you have had You must shortly be cast upon him as your Saviour Advocate and Judge to determine the question what shall become of you unto all eternity and to perfect all that ever he hath done for you and accomplish all that you have sought and hoped for And now your natural life decayeth it is time to retire to him that is your Root and to look to the life that is hid with Christ in God Col. 3. 4. and to him that is preparing you a mansion with himself and whose office it is to receive the departing souls of true believers Live therefore in the daily thoughts of Christ and comfort your souls in the belief of that full supply and safety which you have in him § 4. Direct 4. Let the ancient mercies and experiences of Gods Love through all your lives be still Direct 4. before you and fresh upon your minds that they may kindle your Love and Thankfulness to God and may feed your own delight and comfort and help you the easier to submit to future weaknesses and death Eaten bread must not be forgotten A thankful remembrance preserveth all your former mercies still fresh and green The sweetness and benefit may remain though the thing it self be past and gone This is the great priviledge of an aged Christian that he hath many years mercy more to think on than others have Every one of those mercies was sweet to you by it self at the time of your receiving it except afflictions and misunderstood and unobserved mercies And then how sweet should all together be If unthankfulness have buried any of them let thankfulness give them now a Resurrection What delightful work is it for your thoughts to look back to your Childhood and remember how mercy brought you up and conducted you to every place that you have lived in and provided for you and preserved you and heard your prayers and disposed of all things for your good How it brought you under the means of grace and blest them to you and how the spirit of God began and carryed on the work of grace upon your hearts I hope you have recorded the wonders of mercy ever upon your hearts with which God hath filled up all your lives And is it not a pleasant work in old age to ruminate upon them If a Traveller delight to talk of his travels and a Souldier or Seaman upon his adventures how sweet should it be to a Christian to peruse all the conduct of mercy through his life and all the operations of the spirit upon his heart Thankfulness taught men heretofore to make their mercies as it were attributes of their God As the God that brought them out of the Land of Egypt was the name of the God of Israel And Gen. 48. 15. Iacob delighteth himself in his old age in such reviews of mercy The God which fed me all my life long unto this day The Angel which Redeemed me from all evil bless the lads Yea such thankful reviews of ancient mercies will force an ingenuous soul to a quieter submission to infirmities sufferings and death and make us say as Iob Shall we receive good at the hands of God and not evil and as old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace It is a powerful rebuke of all discontents and maketh death it self more welcome to think how large a share of mercy we have had already in the world § 5. Direct 5. Draw forth the treasure of wisdom and experience which you have been so long in laying Direct 5. up to instruct the ignorant and warn the unexperienced and ungodly that are about you Job 32. 7. Dayes should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom The aged women must teach the young women to be sober to love their husbands and children to be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the word of God be not blaspheamed Tit. 2. 3 4 5. It is supposed that Time and experience hath taught you more than is known to raw and ignorant youth Tell them what you have suffered by the deceits of sin Tell them the method and danger of temptations Tell them what you lost by delaying your Repentance and how God recovered you and how the spirit wrought upon your souls Tell them what comforts you have found in God what safety and sweetness in a holy life how sweet the holy Scriptures have been to you how prayers have prevailed how the promises of God have been fulfilled and what mercies and great deliverances you have had Tell them how Good you have found God and how bad you have found si◠and how vain you have found the world Warn them to resist their fleshly lusts and to take heed of the ensnaring Joel 1. 3. Deut. 11. 19 20. Deut. 29. 22. flatteries of sin Acquaint them truly with the History of publick sins and judgements and mercies in the times which you have lived in God hath made this the duty of the aged that the Fathers should tell the wonders of his works and mercies to their children that the ages to come may praise the Lord Deut. 4. 10. Psal. 78. 4 5 6. § 6. Direct 6. The Aged must be examples of wisdom gravity and holiness unto the younger Where Direct 6. should they find any virtues in eminence if not in you that have so much time and helps and experiences It may well be expected that nothing but savoury wise and holy come from your mouths and nothing unbeseeming wisdom and godliness be seen in your lives Such as you would have your Children after you to be such shew your selves to them in all your Conversation § 7. Direct 7. Especially it belongeth to you to repress the heats and dividing contentious and Direct 7. censorious disposition of the younger sort of professours of Godliness They are in the heat of their blood and want the knowledge and experience of the aged to guide their zeal They have not their senses yet exercised in discerning good and evil Heb. 5. 12. They are able to try the spirits They are yet but as children apt to be tossed to and fro and carryed up and down with every wind of doctrine after the craft and subtilty of deceivers Eph. 4. 14. The Novices are apt to be puffed up with pride and fall into the condemnation of the Devil 1 Tim. 3. 6. They never saw the issue of errours and
sects and parties and what divisions and contentions tend to as you have done And therefore it belongeth to your gravity and experience to call them unto Unity Charity and Peace and to keep them from proving fire-brands in the Church and rashly over-running their understandings and the truth § 8. Direct 8. Of all men you must live in the greatest contempt of earthly things and least entangle Direct 8. your selves in the Love or needless troubles of the world You are like to need it and use it but a little while A little may serve one that is so neer his journeys end You have had the greatest experience of its vanity You are so near the great things of another World that methinks you should have no leisure to remember this or room for any unnecessary thoughts or speeches of it As your bodies are less able for worldly employment than others so accordingly you are allowed to retire from it more than others for your more serious thoughts of the life to come It is a sign of the bewitching power of the world and of the folly and unreasonableness of sin to see the Aged usually as Covetous as the young and men that are going out of the world to love it as fondly and scrape for it as eagerly as if they never lookt to leave it You should rather give warning to the younger sort to take heed of Covetousness and of being ensnared by the world and while they labour in it faithfully with their hands to keep their hearts entirely for God § 9. Direct 9. You should highly esteem every minute of your time and lose none in idleness or unnecessary Direct 9. things but be alwayes doing or getting some good and do what you do with all your might For you are sure now that your time will not be long How little have you left to make all the rest of your preparation in for eternity The young may die quickly but the old know that their time will be but short Though Nature decay yet grace can grow in life and strength and when your outward man perisheth the inner man may be renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. 16. Time is a most pretious commodity to all but especially to them that have but a little more to determine the question in Whether they must live in Heaven or Hell for ever Though you cannot do your worldly businesses as heretofore yet you have variety of holy exercises to be imployed in Bodily ease may beseem you but Idleness is worse in you than in any § 10. Direct 10. When the decay of your strength or memory or parts doth make you unable to read Direct 10. or pray or meditate by your selves so much or so well as heretofore make the more use of the more lively gifts and help of others Be the more in hearing others and in joyning with them in prayer that their memory and zeal and utterance may help to lift you up and carry you on § 11. Direct 11. Take not a decay of nature and of those gifts and works which depend thereon Direct 11. for a decay of grace Though your memory and utterance and fervour of affection abate as your Natural heat abateth yet be not discouraged but remember that you may for all this grow in grace if you do but grow in holy wisdom and judgement and a higher esteem of God and holiness and a greater disesteem of all the vanities of the world and a firmer resolution to cleave to God and trust on Christ and never to turn to the world and sin This is your growth in grace § 12. Direct 12. Be patient under all the infirmities and inconveniences of old age Be not discontented Direct 12. at them nor repine not nor grow pievish and froward to those about you This is a common temptation which the Aged should carefully resist You knew at first that you had a body that must decay If you would not have had it till a decaying age why were you so unwilling to dye If you would why do you repine Bless God for the dayes of youth and strength and health and ease which you have had already and grudge not that corruptible flesh decayeth § 13. Direct 13. Understand well that passive obedience is that which God calleth you to in your Direct 13. age and weakness and in which you must serve and honour him in the conclusion of your labour When you are unfit for any great or publick works and active obedience hath not opportunity to exercise it self as heretofore it is then as acceptable to God that you honour him by patient suffering And therefore it is a great errour of them that wish for the death of all that are impotent decrepit and bed-rid as if they were utterly unserviceable to God I tell you it is no small service that they may do not only by their prayers and their secret Love to God but by being examples of faith and patience and heavenly-mindedness and confidence and joy in God to all about them Grudge not then if God will thus imploy you § 14. Direct 14. Let your thoughts of death and preparations for it be as serious as if death were Direct 14. just at hand Though all your life be little enough to prepare for death and it be a work that should be done as soon as you have the use of Reason yet age and weakness call lowder to you presently to prepare without delay Do therefore all that you would fain find done when your last sickness cometh that unreadiness to die may not make death terrible nor your age uncomfortable § 15. Direct 15. Live in the joyful expectations of your change as becometh one that is so near to Direct 15. Heaven and looketh to live with Christ for ever Let all the high and glorious things which faith apprehendeth now shew their power in the Love and joy and longings of your soul. There is nothing in which the weak and aged can more honour Christ and do good to others than in joyful expectation of their change and an earnest desire to be with Christ. This will do much to convince unbelievers that the promises are true and that Heaven is real and that a holy life is indeed the best which hath so happy an end When they see you highest in your joyes at the time when others are deepest in distress and when you rejoyce as one that is entring upon his happiness when all the happiness of the ungodly is at an end this will do more than many Sermons to perswade a sinner to a holy life I know that this is not easily attained But a thing so sweet and profitable to your selves and so useful to the good of others and so much tending to the honour of God should be laboured after with all your diligence and then you may expect Gods blessing on your labours Read to this use the fourth part of my Saints Rest. CHAP.
XXX Directions for the Sick THough the chief part of our preparation for Death be in the time of Health and it is a work for which the longest life is not too long yet because the folly of unconverted sinners is so great as to forget what they were born for till they see Death at hand and because there is a special preparation necessary for the best I shall here lay down some Directions for the sick And I shall reduce them to these four heads 1. What must be done to make Death safe to us that it may be our passage to Heaven and not to Hell 2. What must be done to make sickness profitable to us 3. What must be done to make Death comfortable to us that we may Dye in Peace and Ioy 4. What must be done to make our Sickness Profitable to others about us Tit. 1. Directions for a safe Death to secure our Salvation THe Directions of this sort are especially necessary to the unconverted impenitent sinner yet needful also to the Godly themselves and therefore I shall distinctly speak to both 1. Directions for an uncoverted sinner in his sickness It is a very dreadful case to be found by sickness in an unconverted state There is so Great a work to be done and so little time to do it in and soul and body so unfit and undisposed for it and the misery so great even everlasting torment that will follow so certainly and so quickly if it be undone that one would think it should overwhelm the understanding and heart of any man with astonishment and horrour to foresee such a condition in the time of his health much more to find himself in it in his sickness And though one would think that the near approach of Death and the nearness of another world should be unresistibly powerful to convert a sinner so that few or none shold Die unconverted however they lived yet Scripture and sad experience declare the contrary that most men Die as well as live in an unsanctified and miserable state For 1. A life of sin doth usually settle a man in Ignorance or Unbelief or both so that sickness findeth him in such a dungeon of Darkness that he is but lost and confounded in his fears and knoweth not whither he is going nor what he hath to do 2. And also sin wofully Hardeneth the Heart and the long resisted spirit of God forsaketh them and giveth them over to themselves in sickness who would not be ruled and sanctified by him in their health And such remain like blocks or beasts even to the last 3. And the Nature of sickness and approaching death doth tend more to affright than to renew the soul and rather to breed fear and trouble than Love And though Grief and fear be good preparatives and helps yet it is the Love of God and Holiness in which the souls Regeneration and Renovation doth consist and there is no more Holiness than there is Love and Willingness And many a one that is affrighted into strong Repentings and cryes and prayers and promises and seem to themselves and others to be Converted do yet either Die in their sins and misery or return to their unholy lives when they recover being utter strangers to that true Repentance which reneweth the heart as sad experience doth too often testifie 4. And many poor sinners finding that they have so short a time do end it in meer amazement and terrour not knowing how to compose their thoughts to examine their hearts and lives nor to exercise faith in Christ nor to follow any Directions that are given them but lye in trembling and astonishment wholly taken up with the fears of Death much worse than a beast that is going to be butchered 5. And the very pains of the body do so divert or hinder the thoughts of many that they can scarce mind any spiritual things with such a composedness as is necessary to so great a work 6. And the greatest number being partly confounded in ignorance and partly withheld by backwardness and undisposedness and partly disheartned by thinking it impossible to become new-creatures and get a regenerate heavenly heart on such a sudden do force themselves to hope that they shall be saved without it and that though they are sinners yet that kind of Repentance which they have will serve the turn and be accepted and God will be more merciful than to damn them And this false Hope they think they are necessitated to take up For there is but two other wayes to be taken The one is utterly to Despair and both Scripture and Reason and Nature it self are against that The other way is to be truly converted and won to the Love of God and Heaven by a lively faith in Iesus Christ And they have no such faith and to this they are strange and undisposed and think it impossible to be done And if they must have no Hopes but upon such terms as these they think they shall have none at all Or else if they hear that there is no other Hope and that none but the holy can be saved they will force themselves to hope that they have all this and that they are truly converted and become new creatures and do Love God and holiness above all not because indeed it is so but because they would have it so for fear of being damned And instead of finding that they they are void of faith and Love and Holiness and labouring to get a renewed soul they think it a nearer way to make themselves believe that it is so already And thus in their presumption self-deceiving and false hopes they linger out that little time that is left them to be converted in till death open their eyes and hell do undeceive them 7. And the same Devil and wicked men his instruments that kept them in health from true Repentance will be as diligent to keep them from it in their sickness and will be loth to lose all at the last cast which they had been winning all the time before And if the Devil can but keep them in his power till sickness come and take them up with pain and fear he will hope to keep them a few dayes longer till he have finished that which he had begun and carryed on so far And if there be here and there one that will be held no longer by false hopes and presumption he will at last think to take them off by desperation and make them believe that there is no remedy § 4. And indeed it is a thing so difficult and unlikely to convert a sinner in all his pain and weakness at the last that even the Godly friends of such do many times even let them alone as thinking that there is little or no hope But this is a very sinful course As long as there is life there is some hope And as long as there is hope we must use the means A Physicion will try the best Remedies
he hath in the most dangerous disease which is not desperate For when it is certain that there is no hope without them if they do no good they do no harm So must we try the saving of a poor soul while there is life and any hope For if once death end their time and hopes it will be then too late and they will be out of our reach and help for ever To those that sickness findeth in so sad a case I shall give here but a few brief Directions because I have done it more at large in the first Tome and first Chapter whither I refer them § 5. Direct 1. Set speedily and seriously to the Iudging of your selves as those that are going to Direct 1. be judged of God And do it in the manner following 1. Do it willingly and resolvedly as knowing For Examination that it is now no time to remain uncertain of your everlasting state if you can possibly get acquainted with it Is it not time for a man to know himself whether he be a sanctifiâ—d believer or not when he is just going to appear before his maker and there be judged as he is found 2. Do it impartially as one that is not willing to find himself deceived as soon as death hath acquainted him with the truth O take heed as you love your souls of being foolishly tender of your selves and resolving for fear of being troubled at your misery to believe that you are safe whether it be true or false This is the way that thousands are undone by Thinking that you are sanctified will neither prove you so nor make you so no more than thinking that you are well will prove or make you well And what good will it do you to think you are pardoned and shall be saved for a few days longer and then to find too late in Hell that you were mistaken Is the ease of so short a deceit worth all the pain and loss that it will cost you Alas poor soul God knoweth it is not needlesly to affright thee that we desire to convince thee of thy misery We do not cruelly insult over thee or desire to torment thee But we pity thee in so sad a case To see an unsanctified person ready to pass into another world and to be doomed unto endless misery and will not know it till he is there Our principal reason of opening your danger is because it is necessary to your escaping it If soul diseases were like bodily diseases which may sometimes be cured without the patients knowing them and the danger of them we would never trouble you at such a time as this But it will not be so done You must understand your danger if you will be saved from it Therefore be impartial with your self if you are wise and be truly willing to know the worst 3. In Iudging your selves proceed by the same Rule or Law that God will judge you by that is by the word of God revealed in the Gospel For your work now is not to steal a little short-lived quiet to your Consciences but to know how God will judge your souls and whether he will doom you to endless joy or misery And how can you know this but by that Law or Rule that God will judge you by And certainly God will judge you by the same Law or Rule by which he Governed you or which he gave you to Live by in the world It will go never the better or worse there with any man for his good or bad conceits of himself if they were his mistakes But just what God hath said in his word that he will do with any man that will he do with him in the day of judgement All shall be justified whom the Gospel justifieth and all shall be condemned that it condemneth and therefore judge your self by it By what signes you may know an unsanctified man I have told you before Tom. 1. Chap. 1. Dir. 8. And by what signes true grace may be known I told you before in Preparation for the Sacrament 4. If you cannot satifie your self about your own condition advise with some Godly able Minister or other Christian that is best acquainted with you that knoweth how you have lived towards God and man or at least open all your heart and life to him that he may know it And if he tell you that he feareth you are yet unsanctified you have the more reason to fear the worst But then be sure that he be not a carnal ungodly worldly man himself For they that flatter and deceive themselves are not unlike to do so by others Such blind deceivers will dawb over all and bid you never trouble your self but even comfort you as they comfort themselves and bid you believe that all is well and it will be well or will make you believe that some forced confession and unsound Repentance will serve instead of true Conversion But a man that is going to the bar of God should be loth to be deceived by himself or others § 6. Direct 2. If by a due examination you find your self unsanctified bethink you seriously of your Direct 2. case both what you have done and what a condition you are in till you are truly humbled and willing of For Humiliation and Repentance any conditions that God shall offer you for your deliverance Consider how foolishly you have done how rebelliously how unthankfully to forsake your God and forget your souls and lose all your time and abuse all Gods mercies and leave undone the work that you were made and preserved and redeemed for Alas did you never know till now that you must dye and that you had all your time to make preparation for an endless life which followeth death Were you never warned by Minister or friend Were you never told of the necessity of a holy heavenly life and of a regenerate sanctified state till now O what could you have done more unwisely or wickedly than to cast away a life that eternal life so much depended on and to refuse your Saviour and his grace and mercies till your last extremity Is this the time to look after a new birth and to begin your life when you are at the end of it O what have you done to delay so great a work till now And now if you die before you are regenerate you are lost for ever O humble your souls before the Lord Lament your folly and presently condemn your selves before him and make out to Him for mercy while there is hope Direct 3. § 7. Direct 3. When you are humbled for your sin and misery and willing of mercy upon any terms For Faith in Christ. believe that yet your case is not Remediless but that Iesus Christ hath given himself to God a sacrifice for your sins and is so sure and allsufficient a Saviour that yet nothing can hinder you from pardon and salvation but your own impenitence and unbelief
Come to him therefore as the Saviour of souls that be may Teach you the will of God and Reconcile you to his Father and pardon your sins and renew you by his spirit and acquaint you with his Fathers Love and save you from damnation and make you heirs of life eternal For all this may yet possibly be done as short as your time is like to be And it will yet be long of you if it be not done The Covenant of Grace doth promise pardon and salvation to every Penitent Believer when ever they truly turn to God without excepting any hour or any person in all the world Nothing but an unbelieving hardened heart resisting his grace and unwilling to be Holy can deprive you of pardon and salvation even at the last It was a most foolish wickedness of you to put it off till now but yet for all that if you are not yet saved it shall not be long of Christ but you Yet he doth freely offer you his mercy and he will be your Lord and Saviour if you will not refuse him yet the match shall not break on his part see that it break not on your part and you shall be saved Know therefore what he is as God and Man and what a blessed work he hath undertaken to Redeem a sinful miserable world and what he hath already done for us in his life and doctrine in his death and sufferings by his Resurrection and his Covenant of Grace and what he is now doing at his Fathers right hand in making intercession for penitent believers and Heb. Rom. 5. what an endless Glory he is preparing for them and how he will save to the uttermost all that come to God by him O yet let your heart even leap for Joy that you have an allsufficient willing gracious Saviour whose Grace aboundeth more than sin aboundeth If the Devils and poor damned souls in Hell were yet but in your case and had your offers and your hopes how glad do you imagine they would be Cast your selves therefore in Faith and Confidence upon this Saviour Trust your souls upon his Sacrifice and Merit for the pardon of your sins and peace with God Beg of him yet the renewing grace of his spirit Be willing to be made holy and a new Creature and to live a holy life if you should survive Resolve to be wholly ruled by him and give up your self absolutely to him as your Saviour to be justified and sanctified and saved by him and then trust in him for everlasting happiness O happy soul if yet you can do thus without deceit § 8. Direct 4. Believe now and consider what God is and will be to your soul and what Love he Direct 4. hath shewed to you by Christ and what endless Ioy and Glory you may have with him in Heaven for For a new heart and the Love of God and a Resolution for a holy obedient life ever notwithstanding all the sins that you have done And think what the world and the flesh hath done for you in comparison of God Think of this till you fall in Love with God and till your hearts and hopes are set on Heaven and turned from this world and flesh and till you feel your self in Love with Holiness and till you are firmly Resolved in the strength of Christ to live a holy life if God recover you and then you are truly sanctified and shall be saved if you die in this condition Take heed that you take not a Repentance and good purposes which come from nothing but Fear to be sufficient If you recover all this may die again when your fear is over You are not sanctified nor God hath not your hearts till your Love be to him that which you do through fear alone you had rather not do if you might be excused And therefore your Hearts are still against it When the feeling of Gods unspeakable Love in Christ doth melt and overcome your hearts when the infinite Goodness of God himself and his mercies to your souls and bodies do make you take him as more Lovely and desirable than all the world when you so believe the Heavenly Joyes above as to desire them more than earthly pleasures when you Love God better than worldly prosperity and when a life of such ☜ Love and Holiness seemeth better to you than all the merriments of sinners and you had rather be a Saint than the most prosperous of the ungodly and are firmly resolved for a holy life if God recover you then are you indeed in a state of grace and not till then This must be your case or you are undone for ever And therefore meditate on the Love of Christ and the Goodness of God and the Joyes of Heaven and the happiness of Saints and the misery of worldlings and ungodly men meditate on these till your eyes be opened and your hearts be touched with a holy love and Heaven and Holiness be the very things that you desire above all and then you may boldly go to God and believe that all your sins are pardoned And it is not bare terrour but these believing thoughts of God and Heaven and Christ and Love that must change your hearts and do the work § 9. These four Directions truly practised will yet set you on safe ground as sad and dangerous as your condition is But it is not the hearing of them or the bare approbation of them that will serve the turn To find out your sinful miserable state and to be truly humbled for it and to discern the Remedy which you have in Christ and penitently and believing to enter into his Covenant and to see that your Happiness is wholly in the Love and fruition of God and to believe the Glory prepared for the Saints and to prefer it before all the prosperity of the world and Love it and set your hearts upon it and to resolve on a holy life if you should recover forsaking this deceitful world and flesh all this is a work that is not so easily done as mentioned and requireth your most serious fixed thoughts and indeed had been fitter for your youthful vigor than for a painful weak distempered state But necessity is upon you It must needs be yet done and throughly and sincerely done or you are lost for ever And therefore do it as well as you can and see that your hearts do not trifle and deceive you In some respect you have greater helps than ever you had before You cannot now keep up your hard-heartedness and security by looking at death as a great way off You have now fuller experience than ever you had before what the flâ—sh and all its pleasures will come to and what good your sinful sports and recreations and merriments will do you and what all the riches and greatness and gallantry and honours of the world are worth and what they will do for you in the day of your necessity You stand so
the greatness of those sins which you before accounted small the benefit may be very great For it will help to a more deep and sound repentance and to a stronger Resolution against all sins if you recover And affliction is a very great help to us in this Many a man hath been ashamed and deeply humbled for that same sin when sickness did awake him which he could make his play-fellow before as if there had been neither hurt nor danger in it § 3. Direct 3. There is many a deep corruption in the heart which affliction openeth and discovereth Direct 3. which deceitfulness bid in the time of prosperity And the detecting of these is no small benefit to the soul. When you come to part with wealth and honour you shall better know how much you loved them than you could before Mark therefore what corruptions appear in your affliction and how the heart discloseth its deceits that you may know what to repent of and reform § 4. Direct 4. When affliction calleth you to the use and exercise of your graces you have a great Direct 4. help to be better acquainted with the strength or weakness of them When you are called so lowdly to the use of Faith and love and patience and heavenly-mindedness you may better know what measure of every one of these you have than you could when you had no such help Mark therefore what your hearts prove in the tryal and what each Grace doth shew it self to be in the exercise § 5. Direct 5. You have a very great help now to be throughly acquainted with the vanity of the Direct 5. world and so to mortifie all affections unto the things below Now judge of the value of wealth and honor of plenty and high-places Are they a comfort to a dying man that is parting with them Or is it any grief to a poor man when he is dying that he did not enjoy them Is it not easie now to rectifie your errors if ever you thought highly of these transitory things O settle it now in your firm Resolution that if God should restore you you would value this world at a lower rate and set by it and seek it but as it deserveth § 6. Direct 6. Also you have now a special help to raise your estimation of the happiness of Direct 6. the Saints in Heaven and of the necessity and excellency of a holy life and of the wisdom Luke 10. 42. Phil. 1. 19. 23. of the Saints on earth and to know who maketh the wisest choice Now you may see that it is nothing but Heaven that is worth our seeking and that is finally to be trusted to and will not fail us in the hour of our distress Now you may discern between the Righteous and the Wicked between those that serve God and those that serve him not Mal. 3. 17 18. Now judge whether a loose and worldly life or a holy heavenly life be better and resolve accordingly § 7. Direct 7. You have also now a very great help to discern the folly of a voluptuous life and Direct 7. to mortifie the deeds and desires of the flesh when God is mortifying its natural desires it may help you in mortifying its sinful desires Now judge what Lust and Playes and Gaming and Feasting and Drunkenness and Swaggering are worth You see now the end of all such pleasures Do you think them better than the Joyes of Heaven and worthy the loss of a mans salvation to attain them Or better than the pleasures of a holy life § 8. Direct 8. Also now you have a great advantage for the quickning of your hearts that have lost Direct 8. their Zeal and are cold in Prayer and dull in Meditation and regardless of holy conference If ever you will pray earnestly sure it will be now If ever you will talk seriously of the matters of salvation sure it will be now Now you do better understand the reason of servent prayer and serious Religion and circumspect walking than you did before And you can easily now confute the scorns or railings of the loose ungodly enemies of holiness even as you consute the dotage of a fool or the ravings of a man beside himself § 9. Direct 9. You have a great advantage more sensibly to perceive your Dependance upon God Direct 9. alone and what reason you have to please him before all the world and to regard his favour or displeasure more than all the things or persons upon earth Now you see how vain a thing is man and how little the favour of all the world can stand you instead in your greatest necessity Now you see that it is God and God alone that is to be trusted to at last And therefore it is God that is to be obeyed and pleased what ever become of all things in the world § 10. Direct 10. You have now a great advantage to discern the Pretiousness of Time and to see how Direct 10. carefully it should be redeemed and to perceive the distractedness of those men that can waste it in pastimes and curiosity of dressings and needless complements and visits and a multitude of such vanities as rob the world of that which is more pretious than Gold or treasure Now what think you of idling and playing away your Time Now do you not think that it is wiser to spend it in a holy preparation for the life to come than to cast it away upon childish fooleries or any unnecessary worldly things § 11. Direct 11. Also you have now a special help to be more serious than ever in your preparations for Direct 11. death and in your thoughts of Heaven and so to be readier than you were before And if sickness help you to be readier to dye and more to set your hearts above whether you live or dye it will be a profitable sickness to you § 12. Direct 12. Let your friends about you be the witnesses of your open Confessions and Resolutions Direct 12. and engage them if God should restore you to your health to remember you of all the promises which you have made and to watch over you and tell you of them when ever there is need By these means sickness may be improved and be a mercy to you § 13. I might next have given some special Directions to them that are Recovered from sickness Directions to them that recover But because I would not be needlesly tedious I refer such to what is here said already 1. Let them but look over these twelve Directions and see whether these benefits remain upon their hearts 2. Let them call to their lively remembrance the sense which they had and the frame they were in when they made these Resolutions 3. Let them remember that sickness will come again even a sickness which will have no cure And 4. Let them bethink themselves how terribly Conscience will be wounded and their souls dismayed
when the next sickness cometh to remember that they were unthankful for their last recovery and how falsly they dealt with God in the breaking of their promises Foresee this that you may prevent it Tit. 3. Directions for a Comfortable or Peaceable Death COmfort is not desirable only as it Pleaseth us but also as it strengtheneth us and helpeth us in our greatest duties And when is it more needful than in sickness and the approach of death I shall therefore add such Directions as are necessary to make our departure comfortable or peaceful at the least as well as safe Direct 1. Because I would make this Treatise no longer than I needs must in order to overcome Direct 1. the fears of Death and get a chearful willingness to dye I desire the sick to read over those twenty Considerations and the following Directions which I have laid down in my Book of Self-denyal And when the fears of death are overcome the great impediment of their comfort is removed § 2. Direct 2. Misunderstand not sickness as if it were a greater evil than it is but observe how Direct 2. great a mercy it is that Death hath so suitable a harbinger or fore-runner That God should do so much before he taketh us hence to wean us from the world and make us willing to be gone that the unwilling flesh hath the help of pain and that the senses and appetite languish and decay which did draw the mind to earthly things and that we have so lowd a call and so great a help to true Mr. Vinâ—s Mr. Capell Mr. Holli gâ—orth Mr Aâ—hhâ—ost Mr A bâ—osâ— M 〈…〉 Bâ—raell c. repentance and serious preparation I know to those that have walked very close with God and are alwayes ready a sudden death may be a mercy as we have lately known divers holy Ministers and others that have dyed either after a Sacrament or in the Evening of the Lords Day or in the midst of some holy exercise with so little pain that none about them perecived when they dyed But ordinarily it is a mercy to have the flesh brought down and weakned by painful sickness to help to conquer our natural unwillingness to dye § 3. Direct 3. Remember whose Messenger sickness is and who it is that calleth you to dye It is Direct 3. he that is the Lord of all the world and gave us the Lives which he taketh from us And it is he that must dispose of Angels and Men of Princes and Kingdoms of Heaven and Earth and therefore there is no reason that such Worms as we should desire to be excepted You cannot deny him to be the Disposer of all things without denying him to be God It is he that Loveth us and never meant us harm in any thing that he hath done to us that gave the life of his Son to Redeem us and therefore thinketh not Life too good for us Our sickness and death are sent by the same Love that sent us a Saviour and sent us the powerful Preachers of his Word and sent us his Spirit and secretly and sweetly changed our hearts and knit them to himself in Love which gave us a life of pretious mercies for our souls and bodies and hath promised to give us life eternal And shall we think that he now intendeth us any harm Cannot he turn this also to our good as he hath done many an affliction which we have repined at § 4. Direct 4. Look by faith to your dying buryed risen ascended glorified Lord. Nothing will Direct 4. more powerfully overcome both the poyson and the fears of Death than the believing thoughts of him that hath triumphed over it Is it terrible as it separateth the soul from the body So it did by our Lord who yet overcame it Is it terrible as it layeth the body in the grave So it did by our Saviour though he saw not corruption but quickly rose by the power of his Godhead He dyed to teach us believingly and boldly to submit to death He was buried to teach us not overmuch to fear a grave He rose again to conquer death for us and to assure those that rise to newness of life that they shall be raised at last by his power unto glory and being made partakers of the first resurrection the second death shall have no power over them He liveth as our Head that we might live by him and that he might assure all those that are here risen with him and seek first the things that are above that though in themselves they are dead yet their life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory Col. 3. 1 2 4 5. What a comfortable word is that John 14. 19. Because I live ye shall live also Death could not hold the Lord of life Nor can it hold us against his will who hath the keyes of death and Hell Rev. 1. 18. He loveth every one of his sanctified ones much better than you love an eye or a hand or any other member of your body which you will not lose if you are able to save it When he ascended he left us that message full of comfort for his followers John 20. 17. Go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father to my God and your God which with these two following I would have written before me on my sick-bed John 12. 26. If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there also shall my servant be And Luke 23. 43. Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise O what a joyful thought should it be to a Believer to think when he is dying that he is going to his Saviour and that our Lord is risen and gone before us to prepare a place for us and take us in season to himself Iohn 14. 2 3 4. As you believe in God believe thus in Christ and then your hearts will be less troubled Ver. 1. It is not a stranger that we talk of to you but your Head and Saviour that loveth you better than you love your selves whose office it is there to appear continually for you before God and at last to receive your departing souls and into his hand it is that you must then commend them as Stephen did Acts 7. 59. § 5. Direct 5. Choose out some Promises most suitable to your condition and roll them over and over Direct 5. in your mind and feed and live on them by faith A sick man is not usually fit to think of very many things and therefore two or three comfortable promises to be still before his eyes may be the most profitable matter of his thoughts such as those three which I named before If he be most troubled with the greatness of his sin let it be such as these Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the world
Sacrifice for their sins and to make a promise of pardon and salvation to all that will accept him and his gift and he intreateth all that hear the Gospel to accept it And accordingly he will save all that consent unto his Covenant I am a sinful child of Adam and therefore am one that Christ became a Sacrifice for and I consent unto his Covenant and therefore I am one that Christ by that Covenant doth justifie and will save § 29. Tempt 6. Sometime the Tempter troubleth the soul with Temptations to Blasphemy and Tempt 6. Infidelity and asketh him How knowest thou that there is a God or a life to come or that souls are immortal or that the Scripture is true Of this I spake before To this we must then answer I abhor thy suggestions These things I have seen proved long ago and I will not so far gratifie thee in my weakness and extremity as to question and dispute these sealed fundamental truths no more than I will dispute whether there be a Sun or earth § 30. Tempt 7. Sometimes the Tempter will say At best thou hast no Assurance of salvation Tempt 7. and how canst thou choose but tremble to think of dying when thou knowest not whether thou shalt go to Heaven or Hell To this the soul that hath not Assurance must answer It is my own mistake or weakness that keepeth me unassured And I will neither take part with my infirmities nor increase them by their effects My hopes are such as should draw up my desires though I want full assurance The Child delighteth in the company of the Mother and every man of his friend though he is not certain that the Mother or friend will not hurt him or take away his life Why should I trouble my self with improbabilities Or fear that which I have no found reason to fear Rather I should be glad to dye that death may perfect my Assurance and put an end to all my doubts and fears § 31. Tempt 8. But saith the Tempter How strange art thou to God and the life to come Thou Tempt 8. never sawest it Is it not dreadful to enter upon an unchangeable life in a world which thou art so great a stranger to Answ. But Christ is not a stranger to it He seeth it for me and I will implicitely trust him where should my eyes be but in my head I shall never see it till I come thither When I have been there a while this darkness and fear and strangeness will be gone I was as strange to this world before I came into it and more And all those holy souls in Heaven were strange to it once as well as I I should therefore long to be with Christ that I may be strange to him no more § 32. Tempt 9. But saith the Tempter thy fears and unwillingness is a sign that thou hast no Tempt 9. Love to God nor heavenly mind and how then canst thou hope to come to Heaven Answ. My fears come from strangeness and weakness of faith and a natural enmity to death If I could come to Christ in joy and glory and be perfected in holiness without dying I should not be unwilling of it God looketh not that my Nature should be willing to dye but that Grace make me willing to be with Christ and patiently submit to so dark a passage Even Christ himself prayed that if it were possible that Cup might pass from him § 33. Tempt 10. But what will thy Wife and Children do when thou art gone Answ. God hath Tempt 10. more interest in them than I have He will look to his own without my care Doth all the world depend upon him and is he not to be trusted with my Wife and Children § 34. Tempt 11. But thou wilt never more be serviceable to the Church All thy work will for Tempt 11. euer â—e at an end And there are many things which thou mighâ—st have done before thou dyest which will all be lost Answ. 1. I shall have higher and holier and sweeter work whether it will any thing conduce to the good of those on earth I know not but I know it will more conduce to the highest most desirable ends 2. As my work will be done so my trouble and weariness and fears and sufferings from a malignant unthankful world will all be done 3. And when my work is done my Reward and Everlasting Rest begin 4. And God needeth not such a Worm as I The work is his and it is reason that he should choose his workmen § 35. Tempt 12. But when thou hast said all Death will be death the King of terrors Answ. And Tempt 19. when thou hast said all God will be God and Heaven will be Heaven and Christ will be Christ that Mat. 28. 19 20. John 17. 2. Rev. 1. 18. Rom. 10. 9 10 11 12. hath conquered death and hath the keyes or power of Death and Hell and the promise will be sure and those that trust on him shall never be ashamed or confounded And therefore the Spirit is willing though the flesh be weak Tit. 4. Directions for doing Good to others in our Sickness § â— THe whole life of a Christian should be a serving of his God And though his body in sickness seem to be unserviceable yet it is not the least or lowest of his services which he is then at last to do Partly by his holy example and partly by his speeches which are both more obsorved in dying men than in any others For now all suppose that if there were before any mask of hypocrisie it is laid aside and the soul that is going to the Barr of God will deal sincerely And now it is supposed that we are delivered much from all the befooling delusions of prosperity and therefore fitter to be Counsellors to others And every Christian should be very desirous to do good to the last and be found so doing § 2. Direct 1. Shew not a distempered impatient mind Though pain will be pain and flesh will Direct 1. he flesh yet shew men that you have also Reason and Spirit And that it calmeth your soul though Heb. 12. 7 8 9. Rom. 8. 28. it ease not your body Speak good of God as beseemeth one that indeed believeth that it is good for us when we are afflicted by him and that all shall work together for good to us Speak not a repining word against him Job 1. 22. In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly And speak not too pievishly and impatiently to those about you Though weakness incline you to it yet let the power of grace appear § 3. Direct 2. Let those that are about yoâ— see that you take the life to come for a reality and that Direct 2. you verily expect to live with Christ in joyes for ever Let them see this in your holy joy and confidence and your thankfulness to God for the
grace and hopes which he hath given you through Christ I know that a pained languishing body is undisposed to express the comforts of the soul But yet as long as the soul is the Commander they may be expressed in some good measure though not with such vivacity and alacrity as in health Behave your selves before all as those that are going to dwell with Christ If you shew them that you take Heaven for a real felicity it will do much to draw them to do so too Shew them the difference between the death of the righteous and of the wicked and that may so draw them to desire to dye the death of the Righteous that it may draw them also to resolve to live their lives How many souls might it win to God if they saw in his dying servants such confidence and joy as beseemeth men that are entering into a world of joy and peace and blessedness If we went out of the body as from a Prison into liberty and from a tedious journey to our desired home it would invite sinners to seek after the same felicity and be a powerful Sermon to convert the inconsiderate § 4. Direct 3. Now tell poor sinners of the vanity of the world and of all its glory wealth and pleasure Direct 3. and of the mischief and deceitfulness of sin Say to them O Sirs you may see in me what the world is worth If you had all the wealth and pleasure that you desire thus it would turn you off and forsake you in the end It will ease no pain It will bring no peace to a troubled soul It will not lengthen your lives an hour It will not save you from the wrath of God It maketh your death the sadder because you must be taken from it Your account will be the more dreadfull O Love not such a vain deceitful world Sell not your souls for so poor a price Forsake it before you are forsaken by it O make not light of any sin Though the wanton flesh would have you take it for a harmless thing you cannot imagine when the pleasure is gone how sharp a sting is left behind Sin will be then no jeasting matter when your souls are going hence into the dreadful presence of the Most Holy God § 5. Direct 4. Now tell those about you of the Excellency and Necessity of the Love of God of Heaven Direct 4. of Christ and of a holy life Though these may be made light of at a distance yet a soul that is drawing near them will be more awakened to understand their worth say to them O friends I find now more than ever I did before that it is only God that is the end and happiness of souls Nothing but his favour through Iesus Christ can comfort and content a dying man And none but Christ can reconcile us to God and answer for our sins and make us acceptable And no way but that of faith and holiness will end in happiness Opinions and customary forms in Religion will not serve the turn To be of this or that Party or Church or Communion will not save you It is only the soul that is justified by Christ and sanctified by his Spirit and brought up to the Love of God and holiness that shall be saved What ever Opinion or Church you are of without Holiness you shall never see God to your comfort as without faith it is impossible to please him Heb. 12. 14. 11. 6. Rom. 8. 6 7 8 9. O now what a miserable case were I in if I had all the wealth and honour in the world and had not the favour of God and a Christ to purchase it and his Spirit to witness it and prepare me for a better life Now I see the difference between spending time in Holiness and in sin between a godly and a worldly fleshly careless life Now I would not for a thousand worlds that I had spent my life in sensuality and ungodliness and continued a stranger to the life of faith Now if I had a world I would give it to be more holy O Sirs believe it when you come to dye sin will be then sin indeed and Christ and Grace will be better than riches and to dye in an unregenerate unsanctified state will be a greater misery than any heart can now conceive § 6. Direct 5. Endeavour also to make men know the difference between the godly and the wicked Direct 5. Tell them I nâ—w see who maketh the wisest choice O happy men that choose the joyes which have no end and lay up their treasure in Heaven where rust and moths do not corrupt and thieves do not break through and steal and labour for the food that never perisheth Matth. 6. 19 20. John 6. 27. O foolish sinners that for an inch of fleshly filthy pleasure do lose everlasting Rest and joy What shall it profit them that win all the world and lose their souls § 7. Direct 6. Labour also to convince men of the pretiousness of Time and the folly of putting off Direct 6. Repentance and a holy life till the last Say to them O friends it is hard for you in the time of health and prosperity to judge of Time according to its worth But when Time is gone or near an end how pretious doth it then appear Now if I had all the Time again which ever I spent in unnecessary sleep or sports or curiosities or idleness or any needless thing how highly should I value it and spend it in another manner than I have done Of all my life that is past and gone I have no comfort now in the remembrance of one hour but what was spent in obedience to God O take Time to make sure of your salvation before it s gone and you are left under the tormenting feeling of your loss § 8. Direct 7. Labour also to make them understand the sinfulness of sloth and of loytering in the Direct 7. matters of God and their salvation and stir them up to do it with all their might Say to them I have often heard ungodly people deride or blame the diligence and zeal and strictness of the godly But if they saw and felt what I see and feel they could not do it Can a man that is going into another world imagine that any thing is so worthy of his greatest zeal and labour as his God and his salvation Or blame men for being loth to burn in Hell Or for taking more pains for their souls than for their bodies O friends let fools talk what they will in their sleep and frenzy as you love your souls do not think any care or cost or pains too great for your salvation If they think not their labour too good for this world do not you think yours too good for a better world Let them now say what they will when they come to dye there is none of them all that is not quite forsaken of
sense and reason but will wish that they had Loved God and sought and served him not formally in hypocritical complement but with all their heart and soul and might § 9. Direct 8. Labour also to fortifie the minds of your friends against all fears of suffering for Direct 8. Christ and all impatience in any of their afflictions Say to them The sufferings as well as the pleasures of this life are s◠short that they are not worthy once to be compared with the durable things of the life to come If I have past through a life of want and toil if my body hath endured painful sickness if I have suffered never so much from men and been used cruelly for the sake of Christ what the worse am I now when all is past Would an easie honourable plentiful life have made my death either the safer or the sweeter O no! It is the things eternal that are indeed significant and regardable Neither pleasure nor pain that is short is of any great regard Make sure of the Everlasting pleasures and you have done your work O live by faith and not by sense Look not at the temporal things which are seen It is not your concernment whether you are rich or poor in honour or dishonour in health or sickness but whether you be justified and sanctified and shall live with God in Heaven for ever Such serious counsels of dying men may make their sickness more fruitful than their health CHAP. XXXI Directions to the Friends of the Sick that are about them § 1. Direct 1. WHen you see the sickness or death of your friends take it as Gods warning Direct 1. to you to prepare for the same your selves Remember that thus it must be with you Thus are you like to lye in pain and thus will all the world forsake you and nothing of all your honour or wealth will afford you any comfort This will be the end of all your pleasures of your greatness and your houses and lands and attendance and of all your delicious meats and drinks and of all your mirth and play and recreations Thus must your carkasses be forsaken of your souls and laid in a grave and there lie rotting in the dark and your souls appear before your Judge to be sentenced to their endless state This certainly will be your case and O how quickly will it come Then what will Christ and Grace be worth Then nothing but the favour of God can comfort you Then whether will it be better to you to look back on a holy well-spent life or upon a life of fleshly ease and pleasure Then had you rather be a Saint or a Sensualist Lay this to heart and let the house of mourning make you better and live as one that looks to dye § 2. Direct 2. Use the best means for the recovery of the sick which the ablest Physicions shall advise Direct 2. you to as far as you are able Take heed of being guilty of the Pride and folly of many self-conceited ignorant persons who are ready to thrust every Medicine of their own upon their friends in sickness when they neither know the nature of the sickness or the cure Many thousands are brought to their death untimely by the folly of their nearest friends who will needs be medicining them and ruling them and despising the Physicion as if they were themselves much wiser than he when they are meerly ignorant of what they do As ignorant Sectaries despise Divines and set up themselves as better Preachers so many silly Women despise Physicions and when they have got a few Medicines which they know not the nature of nor how to use they take themselves for the better Physicions and the lives of their poor friends must pay for their pride and folly No means must be trusted to instead of God but the best must be used in subservience unto God And one would think that a small measure of wit and humility might serve to make silly women understand that they that never bestowed one year in the study of Physick are not so likely to understand it as those that have studied and practised it a great part of their lives It is sad to see people kill their dearest friends in kindness even by that ignorance and proud selfconceitedness which also maketh them the destroyers of their own souls § 3. Quest. But seeing God hath appointed all mens time what good can Physick do If God hath Quest. appointed them to live they shall live and if he have appointed them to dye it is not Physick that can save them Answ. This is the foolish reasoning of wicked people about their salvation If God have appointed Answ. me to salvation I shall be saved if he have not all my diligence will do no good But such people know not what they talk of God hath made your duty more open and known to you than his own decrees And you separate those things which he hath joyned together As God hath appointed no man to salvation simply without respect to the means of salvation so God hath appointed no man to live but by the means of life His Decree is not Such a man shall be saved or Such a man shall live so long only But this is his Decree Such a man shall be saved in the way of faith and holiness and in the diligent use of means and Such a man shall live so long by the use of those means which I have fitted for the preservation of his life So that as he that liveth a holy life may be sure he is chosen to salvation if he persevere and he that is ungodly may be sure that he is in the way to Hell so he that neglecteth the means of his health and life doth shew that it is unlike that God hath appointed him to live and he that useth the best means is liker to recover though the best will not cure uncurable Diseases nor make a man immortal The reasoning is the same as if you should say If God have appointed me to live so long I shall live though I neither eat nor drink But if he have not eating and drinking will not prolong my life But you must know that God doth not only appoint you to live that is but half his Decree but he decreeth that you shall live by eating and drinking § 4. Direct 3. Mind your friends betimes to make their Wills and prudently by good advice to settle Direct 3. their estates that they may leave no occasion of contending about it when they are dead This should be done in health because of the uncertainty of life But if it be undone till sickness it should then be done betimes The neglect of it oft causeth much sinful contending about worldly things even among those near relations who should live in the greatest amity and peace § 5. Direct 4. Keep away vain company from them as far as you can conveniently
united your Heart unto himself and turned it from sin to Holiness from the world to God and from Earth to Heaven and made you a new creature to live for Heaven as you did for earth Surely this is not so small and indiscernable a work or change but he that hath felt it on himself may know it It is a great work to bring a sinner to feel his unrighteousness and misery and to apply himself to Christ for Righteousness and life It is a great work to take off the heart from all the felicity of this world and to set it unfeignedly upon God and to cause him to place and seek his happiness in another world what ever become of all the prosperity or pleasure of the flesh It is thus with every true Believer for all the remnant of his sins and weaknesses And may you not know whether it be thus or not with you One of these is your case And it 's now time to know which of them it is when God is ready to tell you by his judgement If indeed you are in Christ and his Spirit be in you and hath renewed you and sanctified you and turned your heart and life to God I have then nothing more than Peace and Comfort to speak to you as in the following Exhortation But if it be otherwise and you are yet in a carnal state and were never renewed by the spirit of Christ Will you give me leave to deal faithfully with you as is necessary with one in your condition and to set before you at once your sin and your Remedy and to tell you what yet you must do if you will be saved IV. And first will you here lay to heart your folly and unfeignedly lament your sinful life before the Lord Not only this or that particular sin but principally your fleshly heart and life that in the main you have lived to this corruptible flesh and loved and sought and served the world before your God and the happiness of your soul. Alas friend did you not know that you had an immortal soul that must live in joy or misery for ever Did you not know that you were made to Love and serve and honour your maker and that you had the little time of this life given you to try and prepare you for your endless life and that as you lived here it must go with you in heaven or hell for ever If you did not believe these things why did you not come and give your Reasons against them to some judicious Divine that was able to have shewed you the Evidence of their truth If you did believe them alas how was it possible that you could forget them Could you believe a Heaven and a Hell and not regard them or suffer any transitory worldly vanity to be more regarded by you Did you know what you had to do in the world and yet is it all undone till now Were you never warned of this day Did never Preacher nor Scripture nor book nor friend nor conscience tell you of your end and tell you what would be the fruit of sin and of your contempt and slighting of Christ and of his grace Did you know that you must Love God above the world if ever you would be saved and that you must to that end be partaker of Christ and renewed by his spirit and yet would you let out your heart upon the world and follow the bruitish pleasures of the flesh and never earnestly seek after that Christ and spirit that should thus renew and sanctifie you Do you not think now that it had been wiser to have sought Christ and grace and set your affections first on the things above and to have made sure work for your soul against such a day as this than to have hardened your heart against Gods grace and despised Christ and Heaven and your salvation for a thing of nought You see now what it was that you preferred before Heaven what have you now got by all your sinful Love of the world where now is all your fleshly pleasure Will it all now serve turn to save you from death or the wrath of God and everlasting misery will it now go with you to another world Or do you think it will comfort a soul in Hell to remember the wealth which he gathered and left behind him upon earth would it not now have been much more comfortable to you if you could say My dayes were spent in Holiness in the Love of my dear Redeemer and in the hearty service of my God in praising him and praying to him in learning and obeying his holy word and will My business in the world was to please God and seek a better world and while I followed my lawful trade or calling my eye was chiefly on eternal life Instead of pleasing the flesh I delighted my soul in the Love and praise and service of my Redeemer and in the hopes of my eternal blessedness and now I am going to enjoy that God and happiness which I believ'd and sought Would not this be more comfortable to you now than to look back on your time as spent in a worldly fleshly life which you preferred before your God and your salvation Christ would not have forsaken you in the time of your extremity as the world doth if you had cleaved faithfully to him You little know what peace and comfort you might have found even on earth in a holy life How sweet would the word of God have been to you How sweet would prayer and meditation and holy conference have been Do you think it is not more pleasant to a true Believer to read the promises of eternal life and to think and talk of that blessed state when they shall dwell with God in Ioy for ever than it was to you to think and talk of worldly trash and vanity If you had used the world as a traveller doth the necessaries of his journey the thought of heaven would have offorded you solid rational comfort all the way O little do you know the sweetness of the Love of God in Christ and how good a Christian findeth it when he can but exercise and increase his knowledge and faith and Love to God and thankfulness for mercy and hopes of Heaven and walk with God in a heavenly conversation Do you not wish now that this had been your course But that which is done cannot be undone and time that is past can never be called back But yet there is a sure Remedy for your soul if you have but a heart to entertain and use it God so loved the world Joh. 3. 16 18. that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever Believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Iesus Christ being God and Man is the Mediator between God and man His death is a sufficient Sacrifice for our sins It is his Office to save all those that come to God by him Do but unfeignedly
Repent of your sinful life and yet set your Heart upon the life to come and Love God and Holiness better than the world and fleshly pleasure and trust your soul on Christ as your Redeemer and he will certainly forgive you and reconcile you unto God and present you justified and spotless in his sight Think of your sin till you abhor your self and think of your sin and misery till you feel that you are undone if you have not a Saviour and then think what Love God hath shewed you in Christ in giving him to be incarnate and die for sinners and offering you freely to pardon all that ever you have done and to justifie and save you and bring you to endless Glory with himself if yet as last you will but give up your self to Christ and accept his mercy and return to God What joyful tidings is here now for a sinful miserable soul Yet this is the certain truth of God This is his very Covenant of grace which is founded in the blood of Christ and which he is now ready to make with you and seal to you by his spirit within and his Sacrament without if you do but Heartily and unfeignedly Consent Believe in Christ and Turn to God from the world and the flesh and resolve upon a Holy life if you should recover and then I can assure you from the word of God that he will freely pardon you and take you for his Child and save your soul in endless Glory As late as it is he will certainly receive you if you return to him by Christ with all your heart And doth not your heart now rejoice in this unspeakable mercy which is willing to save you after all the sin that you have committed and after all the time that you have lost Do you not Love that God that is so abundant in Goodness and in Love and that Saviour who hath purchased you this pardon and salvation Is it not better think you to Love and praise and serve him than to live in fleshly lusts and pleasures And is it not better to dwell in Heaven with him in endless Ioys than to live awhile in the vain delights of sinners and thence to pasâ— to endless misery O beg of God now to give you a New Heart to Believe in Christ and Repent of sin and Love him that is most Holy Good and gracious And take heed that you sleight his grace no longer and that you do not now take on you in a fear to be that which you are not or to do that which you would not hold to if you should recover And to make all sure will you now sincerely enter into a Covenant with Christ I mean but the same Covenant which you made in Baptism and the Sacrament of the Lords supper and which would have saved you if you had sincerely made and kept it Let me therefore help you both to understand it and to do it by these questions which I intreat you to answer sincerely as one that is going to the presence of God Quest. 1. Do you truly Believe that you are a Rational creature differing from bruits being made to Love and serve your Maker and have an immortal soul which must live in Heaven or Hell for ever And that there is indeed a Heaven of Ioyes and a Hell of punishments when this life is ended Quest. 2. Do you believe that in Heaven the souls of the Iustified at death and the Body also at the Resurrection shall be joined with the Angels and shall dwell with Christ and see the Glory of God and be perfected in Holiness and filled with the sense of the Love of God and with the greatest Ioyes that our nature can receive and shall live in the most delightful Love and Praise of God for ever Quest. 3. Seeing you are certain that all the pleasures of this life are short and will end in death and leave the flesh which desired them in corruption do you not firmly believe that the Ioyes of Heaven are infinitely better and more to be desired and sought than all the pleasures and profits of this life And that it is most reasonable that we should Love God above all Creatures even with all our heart and soul and might Quest. 4. Seeing then that the Love of God is both our Duty and our Happiness is it not reason that we should be kept from the Love of any thing in the world which would steal away our hearts from God and hinder us from Loving him and desiring and seeking him and that we should mortifie the love of worldly riches honours and delights so far as they are against the Love of God Quest. 5. Seeing God is the absolute Lord and Ruler of the world is it not reason that we obey him whatsoever he commandeth us though we did not see the Reason why he doth command it And yet is it not plainly Reasonable that he command us to Love and honour and worship him and to Love one another and to deal Iustly with all and do as we would be done by and toâ—â—e careful of our souls and temperate for our bodies and not to neglect or dishonour our maker nor to neglect our own salvation nor abuse our bodies by beastly filthiness or excess nor to wrong our neighbours nor deny to do them any good that is in our power This is the sum of all Gods laws and this is the nature of Holiness and obedience And do you not from your heart believe that all this is very reasonable and good Quest. 6. When the sinful world was faln from Happiness into misery by turning away from God and Holiness to sensuality and God sent his Son to be their Redeemer and Saviour to be a Sacrifice for sin and a Teacher and Pattern of a Holy and Obedient life and to make a new Covenant with them in which he giveth them the pardon of all sin and everlasting happiness if they will but give up themselves to him as their Saviour and Sanctifier and by true Repentance turn to God do you not verily Believe that miserable sinners should gladly and thankfully accept of such an offer and abundantly Love that God and Saviour that hath so tenderly loved them and so freely Redeemed them from the flames of Hell and so freely offered them everlasting life And do you not Believe that he who after all this shall slight all this mercy and refuse to be renewed by sanctifying grace and shall neglect his God and soul and this salvation and rather choose to keep his sins doth not deserve to be utterly forsaken and to be punished more than if a Saviour and Salvation had never been offered to him Quest. 7. Hath not this been your own case Have you not lived a fleshly worldly life neglecting God and your salvation and minding more these lower things and have you not refused the word and spirit of Christ which would have brought you to Repentance and a holy
Jer. 31. 34. Eph. 1. 7. Act. 5. 31. Eph. 5. 26. Rev. 1. 5. 2 Cor. 6. 16. Mal. 3. 17. Joh. 1. 12. 3. 16. Eph. 2. 14. Rom. 8. 1 17. Luk. 4. 18. Rom. 5. 1 5. Luk. 1. 74. Joh. 10. 28. Luk. 23. 43. 1 Cor. 15. 8. Tit. 3. 3 4. Act. 4. 4 5 6. 1 Tim. 1. 13 14 15 16. A Form of Exhortation to the Godly in their Sickness DEar Friend Though Nature teacheth us to have compassion on your flesh which lyeth in pain yet Faith teacheth us to see the nearness of your Happiness and to Rejoyce with you in hope of your endless Joyes which seem to be at hand We must Rejoyce with you as your friends that Love you and therefore are partakers of your welfare And we must Rejoyce with you as your fellow-travellers and fellow-souldiers that are going along with you to the same felicity and if we are left behind for a little while yet hope ere long to overtake you and never to be separated from you more This is the day for which Christ hath been so long preparing you And which you have so long foreseen and have been so long preparing for your self This is the day which you thought on in all your prayers and patience in all your labours and sufferings your self-denyal and mortification since God did bring you to your self and him Now you are going to see the things which you have believed and to possess the things which you have sought and hoped for To see the final difference between the Righteous and the wicked between a Holy and a worldly life between the vessels of mercy and of wrath Your Time is hasting to an end and Endless Blessedness must succeed it O now what a mercy is it to have a Christ That you are not to encounter an unconquered Death nor to go to God without a Mediator But that Death is by Christ disarmed of its sting and that you may boldly resign your soul into the hands of your Redeemer and commend it to him as a member of himself Now what a case had your soul been in if you had no Intercessor If you had been to answer for your sins your self only and had not a Saviour to be your Advocate and answer for you Now you may better perceive than ever you have done what God did for you when he opened your eyes and humbled and changed and renewed your heart and how great a mercy it is to be a penitent Believer You may now see more fully than ever heretofore what God intended for you when he converted you When he forgave all your sins and justified you by his Grace and adopted you for his child and an heir of life and sealed you with his Spirit and sanctified and separated you to himself Now what a case were you in if you were yet in your sins and in the bondage of Satan and had not this evidence of your title to eternal life If you had your heart now to soften and to humble and to convert and your faith and justification all to seek and all your preparations for Heaven to make If you had all this to do with a pained body and a distracted mind in so short a time with God and Eternity and Death before you ready with terror to overwhelm your souls If now you were to seek for an interest in Christ and for the pardon of all your sins and your peace with God were yet to make If you had all your life past to look back upon as consumed in sin and when Time is at an end must cry out of all that is past as lost This is the case that God in justice might have left you to But what an unspeakable mercy is it that you have already been Reconciled to that God that you are going to and that the sins which now would have been your terror are all forgiven through the blood of Christ That you can look back upon your Time since the day of your Conversion as spent in faithful Devotedness to God and in a believing preparation for your endless life and in godly sincerity notwithstanding your manifold sinful imperfections which Christ hath undertaken to answer for himself Though you have nothing of your own to boast of and no works that will justifie you according to the Law at the Barr of God but you need a Saviour and a Pardon for the failings even of the best that ever you did Yet must you with thankfulness remember that Grace which hath begun eternal life within you and prepared and sealed you to the full possession of it For all the mercy that is in God and for all the Glory that is in Heaven and for all the Merits and satisfaction of Christ and for all the fulness and freeness of the Gal. 4. 4 6. Rom. 8. 16 17. Rom. 8. 9. 1 Pet. 3. 7. Promise if God had not given you a believing penitent heart and sanctified and sealed you by the Spirit of his Son all this could have afforded you little comfort but would have aggravated your misery as it did your sin Seeing then that many of the wicked would be glad to dye the death of the Righteous and when it is too late they would all be glad if their latter end might be like his how glad should you be that God by such a life hath prepared you for such an end And though a humble soul hath still an eye upon its own unworthiness and Satan is ready to aggravate our Rom. 5. 2. 17. Rom. 5. 20 21. sins in order to our discouragement and fear yet must you remember what an honourable victory grace hath had over them And look on them as Christ did as the advantage of his grace that where sin abounded there grace hath superabounded You have had something to humble you and to Rom. 8. 35 36. Ephes. 1. 6 7. 2. 5 7 8 Tit. 3. 3 5 6 7. Rom. 3. 24. 2 Cor. 12. 9. Luke 15. 4 6 24. Matth. 18. 11. 2 Pet. 3. 9. shew you that you were a child of Adam And you have had something for grace to contend with and to conquer and for Christ to pardon Bless him through whom you have had the victory Had you not deserved Hell Christ could not have saved you from a deserved Hell and the Song of the Lamb would not have been so sweet to you in the everlasting remembrance and experience of his grace You have sinned as a Man and he hath pardoned as God You have been weak and nothing but his grace hath been sufficient for you and by his strength you can do all things He hath as dear a Love to you now in his exaltation as he had upon the Cross when he was bleeding for your sins And will he suffer a chosen soul to perish for whom he hath paid so dear a price A Christ in Heaven John 3. 15 16. Matth. 18. 14. Luke 21. 18. John 18. 9.
is through the faith of Christ that being made conformable unto his death I may attain to the Resurrection of the dead and may by him be presented without spot or blemish My God thou hast encouraged my fearful soul by the multitude of thy mercies as well as by thy promises to trust thee and yield it self to thee Thou hast filled up all my dayes with mercy Every place that I have lived in and every relation and all that I have had to do with in the world are the witnesses of thy Love and mercy to me Thy eyes beheld my substance being yet imperfect and all my members were written in thy Book My parents were instructed by thee to educate me and all things commanded by thee to serve for my preservation comfort and salvation Thou hast brought me forth in a land and age of mercies and caused me to hear and see the things which others have not seen or heard The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places My life hath not been spent in a howling wilderness nor in banishment from thy Sanctuary or the communion of thy Saints nor hath it been wholly consumed in darkness and sorrow and unserviceable barrenness But often have I heard the joyful sound and I have gone with the multitude to the house of God and there have seen the light of thy countenance and drank of the Rivers of thy pleasure even of the waters of life and have been solaced with the voice of joy and praise How oft have I cryed unto thee in my trouble and thou hast delivered me out of my distresses When for my folly and transgression I was afflicted thou broughtst me out of darkness and the shadow of death Thou renewedst my age as Hezekiahs and causedst the shadow of my Dyal to go back and hast set me at liberty to praise thee for thy Goodness and declare thy Psal. 107. 8. 15 Psal. 50. 15. 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. Psal. 23. Psal. 139. 17 18. Heb. 13. 5. John 13. 1. Psal 57. 10. 108. 4. 36. 5. 103. 17. 136. Psal. 63. 3. Phil. 1. 23. Luke 2. 29 30. 2 Cor. 1. 2 3 4 5 7 8. works to the children of men In the day of trouble I called upon thee and thou didst deliver me that I might glorifie thee Thou causedst me to receive the sentence of death that I might trust in God that raiseth the dead My Shepheard hath led me in his pleasant pastures by the silent streams He restored my soul and conducted me in the paths of righteousness How pretious are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the summ of them If I should count them they are more in number than the sand And will that mercy now forsake me which hath abounded to me and supported me so long Thou hast said I will never fail thee nor forsake thee Having loved thy own that are in the world thou wilt love them to the end For thy mercy is great and reacheth to the Heavens and it endureth for ever O therefore when I awake let me be with thee And as thy loving kindness is better than Life and to depart and be with Christ is far better than the best condition upon earth so let thy servant depart in peace his eye of faith beholding thy salvation And when my earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved let me have that building of God the house not made with hands eternal in the heavens Let my present burden of sin and suffering make me more earnestly to groan not to be unclothed but to be clothed upon that mortality may be swallowed up of life that being absent from the body I may be present with the Lord. And seeing this Cup may not pass from me and I must not look for the Chariot of Elias to carry me unto Heaven let thy Will be done and let me rest therein and let death be the gain and advantage of my soul And Phil. 1 21. 2 Cor. 4. 16 â—8 1 Kings 19. 4. while this outward man is perishing let the inner man be renewed from day to day For what am I better than my Fathers and all thy Saints and the generations of mankind that I should think of any other passage than this of Death to the world of immortality O let this fainting heart be glad and let my glory rejoyce and in Love and Ioy in Thankfulness and Praise let me pass into the world of Love and Ioy where Thanksgiving and Praise shall be my work for ever And though my flesh and heart will fail Psal. 73. 26. be thou the strength of my heart O God and my portion for ever Though I must walk through the valley of the shadow of death let me fear no evil But be thou still with me and let me be comforted by thy rod Psal. 23. 4 5 6. and staff Let the goodness and mercy which hath followed me thus far all my dayes receive me at the last that I may dwell with thee for ever For it is the will of my Redeemer that those which thou hast given him be with him where he is to behold the glory which thou hast given him And that his servants John 17. 24. John 12. 26. Acts 7. 59. Luke 23. 43. John 20. 17. Joh. 14. 1 2 3. Psal. 16. 11 12. should follow him that where he is there also may his servants be Amen Lord Iesus Good is thy Will and the Word which thou hast spoken Into thy hands I commend my Spirit which thou hast Redeemed Receive it and let me be with thee in Paradise O thou that hast called us thy Brethren when thou didst ascend to thy Father and our Father and to thy God and our God take up this poor unworthy soul to the mansions which thou hast prepared for us that I may be with thee where thou art And though this flesh must perish let it rest in hope and be but sowed as a grain of wheat till thy powerful Call shall raise it from the dust and this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality and this 1 Cor. 15. 53 54 55. natural body shall be raised a spiritual body and death shall be swallowed up in Victory For though I be dead my life is hid with Christ in God And when thou appearest who art my Life then let me appear with Col. 3. 3 4 5. 2 Thess. 1. 10 11. thee in glory O hasten that appearance and come with thy holy glorious Angels to be glorified in thy Saints and admired in and by Believers When thou wilt change our vile bodies and make them like to thy Glorious Body by the mighty working by which thou canst subdue even all things to thy self Hast Phil. 3. 21. Rev. 2â— 20 17 Eph. 5. 26 27. 1 Cor. 15. 45. Acts 3. 5. John 14. 19. Rev. 14. 13. Matth. 10. 30. Luke 21. 18. Heb. 12. 22 23 Rev. 1. 6. Rom. 11. 36. Rev.
Offer of pardon to all that it is revealed to But it is an Actual Pardon to those that come in and conferreth on them the benefits of the Act as if they were named in it and is their very Title to their pardon of which their Consent is the Condition and the Condition being performed the Pardon or Collation of the benefit becometh particular and actual without any new act it being the sense of the Law it self or Conditional Grant that so it should do So as to the reality of the Internal Covenant-interest and benefits Iustification and Adoption it is ours by vertue of this Universal Conditional Covenant when we perform the condition But as to our Title in foro Ecclesiae and the due solemnization and Investiture it is made ours when Gods Minister applyeth it to us in Baptism by his Commission As the Rebel that was fundamentally pardoned by the Act of Oblivion must yet have his personal pardon delivered him by the Lord Chancellor under the Great Seal In this sense Ministers are the instruments of God not only in declaring us to de pardoned but in Delivering to us the pardon of our sins and solemnly investing us therein As an Attorney delivereth possession to one that before had his fundamental Title Thus God entreth into Covenant with man § 10. VI. The Qualifications of absolute Necessity to the Validity of our Covenant with God in Quis vero non doleat Baptismo plerosque adultos initio passim nostro tempore non raro ante persundi quam Christianam Catechesin vel mediocriter tenâ—ant neque an flagitiosae superstitiosae vitae poenitenâ—ia tangantur neque vero id ipsum quod accipiunt an velint accipere satis constet Acosta l. 6. c. 2. p. 520. Nisi peâ—ant instent Christianae vitae professione donandi non sunt Idem p. 521. And again While ignorant or wicked men do hasten any how by right or wrong by guile or force to make the barbarous people Christians they do nothing else but make the Gospel a scorn and certainly destroy the deserters of a rashly undertaken faith Id. ibid. p. 522. foro interiore are these 1. That we understand what we do as to all the Essentials of the Covenant For ignorantis non est consensâ—s 2. That it be our own act performed by our Natural or Legal selves that is some one that hath power so far to dispose of us as Parents have of their children 3. That it be Deliberate sober and rationall done by one that is compos mentis in his wits and not in Drunkenness madness or incogitancy 4. That it be seriously done with a real intention of doing the thing and not histrionically ludicrously or in jeast 5. That it be done entirely as to all essential parts for if we leave out any essential part of the Covenant it is no sufficient consent As to consent that Christ shall be our Iustifier but not the Holy Ghost our Sanctifier 6. That it be a Present consent to be presently in Covenant with God For to Consent that you will be his servants to morrow or hereafter but not yet is but to purpose to be in Covenant with him hereafter and is no present covenanting with him 7. Lastly It must be a Resolved and Absolute Consent without any open or secret Exceptions or Reserves § 11. VII The Fruits of the Covenant which God reapeth though he need nothing is the Pleasing of his Good and Gracious Will in the exercise of his Love and Mercy and the Praise and Glory of his Grace in his peoples Love and Happiness for ever The fruits or Benefits which accrew to man are unspeakable and would require a Volume competently to open them Especially that God is our God and Christ our Saviour Head Intercessor and Teacher and the Holy Ghost is our Sanctifier and that God will regard us as his own and will protect us preserve us and provide for us and will govern us and be our God and Joy for ever that he will Pardon us Justifie and Adopt us and Glorifie us with his Son in Heaven § 12. Direct 2. When you thus understand well the Nature of the Covenant labour to understand the special Reasons of it The Reasons of the Matter of the Covenant you may see in the fruits and benefits now mentioned But I now speak of the Reason of it as a Covenant in genere and such a Covenant in specie 1. In General God will have man to receive Life or Death as an Accepter and Keeper or a Refuser or Breaker of his Covenant because he will do it not only as a Benefactor or Absolute Lord but also as a Governour and will make his Covenant to be also his Law and his Promise and Benefits to promote obedience And because he will deal with man as with a free agent and not as with a bruit that hath no choosing and refusing power conducted by Reason Mans life and death shall be in his own hands and still depend upon his own will though God will secure his own Dominion interest and ends and put nothing out of his own power by putting it into mans nor have ever the less his own will by leaving man to his own will God will at last as a Righteous Judge determine all the world to their final Joy or Punishment according to their own choice while they were in the flesh and according to what they have done in the Body whether it be good or evil Matth. 25. Therefore he will deal with us on Covenant-terms § 13. 2. And he hath chosen to Rule and Judge men according to a Covenant of Grace by a Redeemer and not according to a rigorus Law of works that his Goodness and Mercy may be the fullâ—er manifested to the sons of men and that it may be easier for man to Love him when they have so wonderful demonstrations of his Love And so that their service here and their work and happiness hereafter may consist of Love to the Glory of his Goodness and the Pleasure of his Love for ever § 14. Direct 3. Next understand rightly the nature use and ends of Baptism Baptism is to the Direct 3. mutual Covenant between God and man what the solemnization of Marriage is to them that do before Consent or what the Listing a Souldier by giving him Colours and writing his name is to one that Consented before to be a Souldier In my Universal Concord p. 29 30. I have thus described it See the Râ—formed â—â—yturgiâ— pag. 68. External Baptism what Baptism is a holy Sacrament instituted by Christ in which a person professing the Christian faith or the Infant of such is Baptized in water into the Name of the Father the Son and Holy Ghost in signification and solemnization of the holy Covenant in which as a Penitent Believer or the seed of such he giveth up himself or is by the Parent given up to God the Father Son and Holy
Ghost forsaking the Devil the World and the Flesh and is solemnly entered a visible member of Christ and his Church a pardoned regenerate Child of God and an heir of Heaven § 15. As the word Baptism is taken for the meer Administration or external Ordinance so the Internal Covenanting or faith and Repentance of the adult person to be baptized is no essential part of it nor requisite to the Being oâ— it but only the Profession of such a faith and Repentance and the external entering of the Covenant But as Baptism is taken for the Ordinance as performed in all its essential parts according to the true intent of Christ in his Institution that is in the first and proper meaning of the word so the Internal Covenanting of a Penitent sincere Believer is necessary to the Being of it And indeed the word Baptism is taken but equivâ—â—ally or Analogically at most when it is taken for the meer external administration and action For God doth not institute worship ordinances for bodily motion only when he speaketh to man and requireth Worship of man he speaketh to him as to a man and requireth humane actions from him even the work of the soul and not the words of a Parrot or the motion of a Poppeâ— Therefore the word Baptism in the first and proper signification doth take in the inward actions of the Heart as well as the outward Profession and actions And in this proper sense Baptism is the mutual Covenant between God the Father Compleat Baptism what it is Son and Holy Ghost and a penitent Believing sinner solemnized by the washing of water in which as a Sacrament of his own appointment God doth engage himself to be the God and reconciled Father the Saâ—iâ—ur and the Sanctifier of the Believer and taketh him for his reconciled Child in Christ and delivereth to him by solemn investiture the pardon of all his sins and title to the mercies of this life and of that which is to come What I say in this Description of a Penitent Believer is also to be understood of the Children of such that are dedicated by them in Baptism to God who thereupon have their portion in the same Covenant of Grace § 16. The word Baptism is taken in the first sense when Simon Magus is said to be Baptized Act. 8. and when we speak of it only in the ecclesiastick sense as it is true Baptism in foro ecclesiae But it is taken in the later sense when it is spoken of as the compleat ordinance of God in the sense of the Institution and as respecting the proper ends of Baptism as pardon of sin and life eternal and in foro coeli § 17. In this full and proper sense it is taken by Christ when he saith Mark 16. 16. He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved that is He that Believeth and is by Baptism entered into the Covenant of God And in this sense the Ancients took it when they affirmed that all that were Baptized were Regenerated pardoned and made the Children of God And in this sense it is most true that he that is Baptized that is is a sincere Covenanter shall be saved if he die in that Condition Read the Propositions of the Synod in Nâ—w England and the Defense of them against Mr. Davenpoâ—t about the subject of Baptism that he is then in All that the Minister warrantably Baptizeth are sacramentally Regenerate and are in foro ecclesiae members of Christ and Children of God and Heirs of Heaven But it is only those that are sincerely delivered up in Covenant to God in Christ that are spiritually and really Regenerate and are such as shall be owned for members of Christ and Children of God in foro â—oeli Therefore it is not unfit that the Minister call the Baptized Regenerate and pardoned members of Christ and Children of God and Heirs of Heaven supposing that in soro ecclesiae they were the due subjects of Baptism But if the persons be such as ought not to be Baptized the sin then is not in calling Baptized persons Regenerate but in Baptizing those that ought not to have been Baptized and to whom the â—eal of the Covenant was not due § 18. None ought to be Baptized but those that either personally Deliver up themselves in Covenant to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost professing a true Repentance and faith and consent to the Covenant or else are thus delivered up and dedicated and entred into-Covenant in their Infancy by those that being Christians themselves have so much interest in them and power of them that their act may be esteemed as the Infants act and legally imputed to them as if themselves had done it If any others are unduly Baptized they have thereby no title to the pardon of sin or life eternal nor are they taken by God to be in Covenant as having no way consented to it § 19. Direct 4. When you enter a child into the Christian Covenant with God address your selves to Direct 4. it as to one of the greatest works in the world as thâ—se that know the Greatness of the Benefit of the Duty and of the Danger The Benefit to them that are sincere in the Covenant is no less than to have the pardon of all our sins and to have God himself to be our God and Father and Christ our Saviour and the Holy Ghost our Sanctifier and to have title to the blessings of this life and of that to come And for the Duty how Great a work is it for a sinner to enter into so solemn a Covenant with the God of Heaven for Reconciliation and Newness of life â—nd â—or salvation And therefore if any should abuse God by Hypocrisie and take on them to conseâ—â— to the terms of the Covenant for themselves or their Children when indeed they do not the Danger of such prophaneness and abuse of God must needs be great Do it therefore with that due preparation reverence and seriousness as beseemeth those that are transacting a business of such unspeakable importance with God Almighty § 20. Direct 5. Having been entered in your Infancy into the Covenant of God by your Parents you Direct 5. must at years of discretion review the Covenant which by them you made and renew it personally your selves and this with as great seriousness and resolution as if you were nâ—w first to enter and subscribe it and as if your everlasting Life or death were to depend on the sincerity of your consent and performance For your Infant Baptismal Covenanting will save none of you that live to years of discretion and do not as heartily own it in their own persons as if they had been now to be baptized But this I pass by having said so much of it in my Book of Confirmation § 21. Direct 6. Your Covenant thus 1. Made 2. Solemnized by Baptism 3. And Owned at age Direct 6. must 4. Be frequently renewed through the
whole course of your lives As 1. Your first consent must Of Renewing the Covenant oft be habitually continued all your dayes for if that ceaseth your Grace and title to the benefits of Gods Covenant ceaseth 2. This Covenant is virtually renewed in every act of Worship to God For you speak to him as your God in Covenant and offer your selves to him as his Covenanted people 3. This Covenant should be actually renewed frequently in Prayer and Meditation and other such acts of communion with God 4. Especially when after a fall we beg the pardon of our sins and the mercies of the Covenant and on dayes of Humiliation and Thanksgiving and in great distresses or exhilerating mercies 5. And the Lords Supper is an ordinance instituted to this very end It is no small part of our Christian diligence and watchfulness to keep up and renew our Covenant-consent § 22. Direct 7. And as careful must you be to keep or perform your Covenant as to enter it and Direct 7. renew it which is done 1. By continuing our consent 2. By sincere obedience 3. And by perseverance We do not nor dare not promise to obey perfectly nor promise to be as obedient as the higher and better sort of Christians though we Desire both But to obey sincerely we must needs promise because we must needs perform it § 23. Obedience is sincere 1. When the radical consent or subjection of the Heart to God in Christ is Habitually and heartily continued 2. When Gods interest in us is most predominant and his authority and law can do more with us than any fleshly lust or worldly interest or than the authority word or perswasions of any man whosoever 3. When we unfeignedly Desire to be perfect and habitually and ordinarily have a predominant Love to all that is good and a hatred to that which is evil and had rather do our duty than be excused from it and rather be saved from our sin than keep it § 24. Direct 8. While you sincerely consent unto the Covenant live by faith upon the promised Benefits of it believing that God will make Good on his part all that he hath promised Take it for your Title to pardon sonship and eternal life O think what a mercy it is to have God in Covenant with you to be your God your Father Saviour Sanctifier and felicity And in this continually rejoice CHAP. IV. Directions about the Profession of our Religion to others § 1. Direct 1. UNderstand first how great a duty the Profession of true Religion is that you may Direct 1. not think as some foolish people that every man should conceal his Religion N 〈…〉 o jam 〈…〉 Qâ—in nec fa 〈…〉 e suâ religione mentiri Ex eo enim quod aliud à se coli dicit quam colit culturam honorem in alterum transferenâ—o j 〈…〉 iâ— quâ—d â—egavit Dicimus palam dicimus vobis torquentibus lacerati cruenti vociferamur Deum colimus per Christum Tâ—rtul Apolog. c. 11. or keep it to himself Observe therefore these Reasons following which require it § 2. 1. Our Tongues and bodies are made to exercise and shew forth that acknowledgement and adoration of God which is in our hearts And as he denyeth God with the Heart who doth not Believe in him and worship him in his heart so he denyeth God imputatively with his Tongue and life who doth not profess and honour him with his tongue and life and so he is a practical Atheist Isa. 45. 23 24 25. I have sworn by my self the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that to me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness and strength In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory So Phil. 2. 9 10 11. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the Glory of God the father Isa. 44 5. One shall say I am the Lords and another shall call him by the name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel § 3. 2. The publick Assemblies and Worship of God are purposely appointed by him that in them we might make open profession of our Religion He that denyeth Profession denyeth the publick faith and worship of the Church and denyeth Baptism and the Lords Supper which are Sacraments appointed for the solemn profession of our faith § 4. 3. Our Profession is needful to our Glorifying God Men see not our Hearts nor know whether we believe in God or not nor what we believe of him till they hear or see it in our profession and actions Pauls life and death was a Profession of Christ that in his boldness Christ might be magnified in his body Phil. 1. 20. Matth. 5. 14 15 16. Ye are the Light of the world A City that is set on an hill cannot be hid Neither do men light a candle to put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light to all that are in the house Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven § 5. 4. Our Profession is the means of saving others that which is secret is no means to profit them They must see our good works that they may Glorifie God Phil. 1. 12 13 14. § 6. 5. God hath required our open and bold Profession of him with the strictest commands and upon the greatest penalties 1 Pet. 5. 3. Sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts and be ready alway to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear Rom. 10. 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dâ—ad thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation Mark 8. 38. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed 2 Tim. 2. 12. Mat. 10. 32 33. Luk. 9. 26. Direct 2. 1 Cor. 8. 1. 2 Cor. 10. 8. Rom. 15. 2. 1 Tim. 1. 4 Tit. 3. 9. when he câ—meth in the glory of his father with the holy Angels § 7. Direct 2. Next Understand what it is in Religion that you must principally profess It is not every lesser truth much less every opinion of your own in which you are confident that you are wiser than your brethren This is the meaning of Rom. 14 22. Hast thou faith have it to thy self before God By faith
the safety of a Kingdom Or doth that tend to the honour of the children of God which is the shame of common men Or is that the safety of his Kingdom which is the ruine of all others We are all fellow-citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Ephes. 2. 19. We are Gods building 1 Cor. 3. 9. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you If any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are 1 Cor. 3. 16 17. Will he destroy the defilers and will he Love the Dividers and destroyers If it be so great a sin to go to Law unnecessarily with Brethren or to wrong them 1 Cor. 6. 8. What is it to disown them and cast them off And if they that salute and love only their Brethren and not also their enemies are not the Children of God Matth. 5. 47. What are they that separate from and condemn even their brethren § 71. 5. Church-dividers either would Divide Christ himself between them or else would rob him of a great part of his inheritance And neither of these is a little sin If you make several bodies you would have several Heads And is Christ divided saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 13. Will you make him a Sect Master He will be your common head as Christians but he will be no Head of your Sects and Parties I will not name them Or would you tear out of the hands of Christ any part of his possessions Will he cut them off because you cut them off Will he separate them from himself because you separate from them or separate them from you Will he give them a bill of divorce when ever you are pleased to lay any odious accusation against them Who shall condemn them when it is he that justifieth them Who shall separate them from the Love of God Can your Censure or separation do it when neither life nor death nor any creature can do it Rom. 8. 33 c. Hath he not told you that he will give them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of his hand John 10. 28. Will he lose his Iewels because you cast them away as dirt He suffered more for souls than you and better knoweth the worth of souls And do you think he will forget so dear a purchase or take it well that you rob him of that which he hath bought so dearly Will you give the members and inheritance of Christ to the Devil and say They are Satans and none of Christs Who art thou that judgest another mans servant § 72. 6. Church-dividers are guilty of self-ignorance and pride and great unthankfulness against that God that beareth with so much in them who so censoriously cast off their brethren Wast thou ever humbled for thy sin Dost thou know who thou art and what thou carryest about thee and how much thou offendest God thy self If thou do surely thou wilt judge tenderly of thy brethren as knowing what a tender hand thou needest and what mercy thou hast found from God Can he cruelly judge his brethren to Hell upon his petty differences who is sensible how the gracious hand of his Redeemer did so lately snatch him from the brink of Hell Can he be forward to condemn his brethren that hath been so lately and mercifully saved himself § 73. 7. Church-dividers are the most successful servants of the Devil being enemies to Christ in his family and livery They gratifie Satan and all the Enemies of the Church and do the very work that he would have them do more effectually than open enemies could do it As Mutineers in an Army may do more to destroy it than the power of the Enemy § 74. 8. It is a sin that contradicteth all Gods Ordinances and Means of Grace which are purposely to procure and maintain the Unity of his Church The Word and Baptism is to gather them into one body and the Lords Supper to signifie and maintain their Concord as being one bread and one body 1 Cor. 10. 17. And all the communion of the Church is to express and to maintain this concord The use of the Ministry is much to this end to be the bonds and joynts of the unity of believers Ephes. 4. 13 14 16. All these are contemned and frustrated by Dividers § 75. 9. Church-division is a sin especially to us against as great and lamentable experiences as almost any sin can be About sixteen hundred years the Church hath smarted by it In many Countreys where the Gospel prospered and Churches flourished division hath turned all into desolation and delivered them up to the curse of Mahometanism and Infidelity The contentions between Constantinople and Rome the Eastern and the Western Churches have shaken the Christian interest upon Earth and delivered up much of the Christian world to tyranny and blindness and given advantage to the Papacy to captivate and corrupt much of the rest by pretending it self to be the Center of Unity O what glorious Churches where the Learned Writers of those ages once lived are now extinct and the places turned to the Worship of the Devil and a Deceiver through the ambition and contentions of the Bishops that should have been the bonds of their Unity and peace But doth England need to look back into History or look abroad in forreign Lands for instances of the sad effects of discord Is there any one good or bad in this age that hath spent his dayes in such a sleep as not to know what Divisions have done when they have made such ruines in Church and State and kindled such consuming flames and raised so many Sects and Parties and filled so many hearts with uncharitable rancour and so many mouths with slanders and revilings and turned so many prayers into sin by poysoning them with pride and factious oppositions and hath let out streams of blood and fury over all the Land He that maketh light of the Divisions of Christians in these Kingdoms or loveth not those that speak against them doth shew himself to be so impenitent in them as to be one of those terrible effects of them that should be a pillar of Salt to warn after agis to take heed § 76. 10. Yea this is a heinous aggravation of this sin that commonly it is justified and not repented of by those that do commit it When a drunkard or a whoremonger will confess his sin a Church-divider will stand to it and defend it And wo to them that call evil good and good evil Impenitency is a terrible aggravation of sin § 77. 11. And it is yet the more heinous in that it is commonly fathered upon God If a drunkard or whoremonger should say God commandeth me to do it and I serve God by it would you not think this a horrid aggravation When did you ever know a Sect or party
see how millions are there safely landed that once were in as dangerous a station as you are Through many tribulations and temptations they arrived at the Heavenly Rest Satan once did his worst against them They were tost on the Seas of this tempestuous world But they were kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation and so may you 1 Pet. 5. 1. § 19. Direct 19. When you would duly value all your present means and mercies and see whither Direct 19. they tend look up then to the souls with Christ and see whither the like mercy hath conducted them The poorest Cottage and the hardest fare are great mercies as they tend to endless blessedness This now and Heaven after is great though the thing in it self be never so small Heaven puts the value and signification upon all your mercies The wicked make Cyphers of their greatest blessings by separating them in their esteem and use from God and Heaven which is the measure of their estimate § 20. Direct 20. When you see Divisions among believers and hear one for this party and another Direct 20. for that and hear them bitterly censuring each other look up then to the Saints with Christ and think what perfect Love and Peace and Concord i◠among them Consider how unlike our factions and Schisms are to their fervent Love and Unity And how how unlike our jarring strifes and quarrels are to their harmonious Praise of God Remember in what work it is that they are so happily united even Love and Praise uncessant to Jehovah And then think whether it would not unite the Saints on earth to lay by their contendings for the preheminence in knowledge covered with the guilded name of Zeal for the Truth of God and to employ themselves in Love and Praise and to shew their emulation here in striving who shall Love God and each other with the more pure heart and fervent Love 1 Pet. 1. 22. and who shall Praise him with the most heavenly alacrity and delight Consider whether this work of blessed souls be not like to be more desirable and excellent than the work of self-conceited wrangling Sophisters And whether there be any danger of falling into Sects and Factions or falling out by emulations or contentions while we make this work of Love and Praise the matter of our religious converse And consider whether almost all the Schisms that ever vext the Church of God did not arise either by the Pastors striving who should be the greatest Luk. 22. 24 26. or by the rising up of some Sciolist or Gnostick proudly pretending to know more than others and to vindicate or bring to light some excellent Truth which others know not or oppose And when you see the hot contendings of each party about their pretended Orthodoxness or wisdom which Iam. 3. is purposely written against remember how the concord of those blessed souls doth shame this work and should make it odious to the heirs of Heaven § 21. Direct 21. When you are afraid of Death or would find more willingness to dye look up to Direct 21. the blessed souls with Christ and think that you are but to pass that way which all those souls have gone before you and to go from a world of enmity and vanity to the company of all those blessed spirits And is not their blessed state more desirable than such a vain vexatious life as this There is no malice nor slandering nor cruel persecuting no uncharitable censures contentions or divisions no ignorance nor unbelief nor strangeness unto God nothing but Holy Amiable and Delightful Joyn your selves daily to that Coelestial Society suppose your selves spectators of their Order Purity and Glory and Auditors of their harmonious Praises of Jehovah Live by faith in a daily familiarity with them say not that you want company or are alone when you may walk in the Streets of the Heavenly Ierusalem and there converse with the Prophets and Apostles and all the glorious Hosts of Heaven Converse thus with them in your Life and it will overcome the fear of death and make you long to be there with them Like one that stands by the River side and seeth his friends on the further side in a place of pleasure while his enemies are pursuing him at his back how gladly would he be over with them And it will embolden him to venture on the passage which all they have safely past before him Thus Death will be to us as the Red Sea to pass us safe to the Land of Promise while our pursuers are there overthrown and perish We should not be so strange to the World above if we thus by faith conversed with the blessed ones § 22. Direct 22. When you are overmuch troubled for the death of your Godly friends look up to Direct 22. that world of blessed souls to which they are translated and think whether it be not better for them to be there than here and whether you are not bound by the Law of Love to rejoyce with them that are thus exalted Had we but a sight of the world that they are in and the company that they are gone to we should be less displeased with the will of God in disposing of his own into so Glorious a state § 23. All these improvements may be made by a Believer of his daily converse with the souls above This is the Communion with them which we must hold on earth Not by Praying to them which God hath never encouraged us to do nor by praying for them For though it be lawful to pray for the Resurrection of their Bodies and the perfecting of their blessedness thereby yet it being a thing of absolute certainty as the day of Judgement is we must be very cautelous in the manner of our doing this lawful act it being a thing that their happiness doth not at all depend on and a thing which will-worshippers have shewed themselves so forward to abuse by stepping further into that which is unlawful as the horrid abuses of the Names and dayes and shrines and relicts of real or supposed Saints in the Papal Kingdom sadly testifieth But the necessary part of our Communion with the Saints in Heaven being of so great importance to the Church on Earth I commend it to the due consideration of the faithful whether our forgetfulness of it is not to be much repented of and whether it be not a work to be more seriously minded for the time to come § 24. And I must confess I know not why it should be thought unlawful to celebrate the memorial of the life or martyrdome of any extraordinary servant of God by an Anniversary solemnity on a set appropriate day It is but to keep the thankful remembrance of Gods mercy to the Church and sure the life and death of such is not the smallest of the Churches mercies here on earth If it be lawful on the 5 of November to celebrate the memorial of
our deliverance from the Powder-plot I know not why it should be thought unlawful to do the like in this case also Provided 1. That it be not terminated in the honour of a Saint but of the God of Saints for giving so great a mercy to his Church 2. That it be not to honour a Saint meerly as a Saint but to some extraordinary eminent Saints Otherwise all that go to Heaven must have Festivals kept in remembrance of them and so we might have a million for a day 3. That it be not made equal with the Lords Day but kept in such a subordination to that Day as the Life or death of Saints is of inferiour and subordinate respect to the work of Christ in mans Redemption 4. And if it be kept in a spiritual manner to invite men to imitate the Holiness of the Saints and the constancy of the Martyrs and not to encourage sensuality and sloth CHAP. XI Directions about our Communion with the Holy Angels § 1. Direct 1. BE satisfied in knowing so much of Angels as God in Nature and Scripture Direct 1. hath revealed but presume not to enquire further much less to determine of unrevealed things That there are Angels and that they are holy Spirits is past dispute But what number they are and of how many worlds and of what orders and different dignities and degrees and when they were created and what locality belongeth to them and how far they excell or differ from the souls of men these and many other such unnecessary questions neither Nature nor Scripture will teach us how infallibly to resolve Almost all the Hereticks in the first ages of the Church did make their doctrines of Angels the first and chief part of their Heresies arrogantly intruding into unrevealed things and boasting of their acquaintance with the orders and inhabitants of the higher worlds These being risen in the Apostles dayes occasioned Paul to say Col. 2. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puft up by his fleshly mind Direct 2. § 2. Direct 2. Understand so much of the Ministry of Angels as God hath revealed and so far take notice of your communion with them but affect not any other sort of communion Angelorum vocabulum nomen est officii non naturae nam sancti illi coelestis patriae spiritus semper sunt spiritus sed semper vocari Angeli non possunt Greâ—or I shall here shew how much of the Ministry of Angels is revealed to us in Scripture § 3. 1. It is part of the appointed work of Angels to be Ministring Spirits for the heirs of salvation Dan. 4. 13. Gen. 32. 1 2. Exod. 32. 2. Dan. 6. 22. Acts 12. 7 11. 1 King 19. 5 â— Heb. 1. 14. Not Ministers or Servants of the godly but Ministers of God for the godly As the Shepherd is not a servant of the sheep but for the sheep It is not an accidental or occasional work which they do extraordinarily but it is their undertaken Office to which they are sent forth And this their Ministry is about the ordinary concernments of our lives and not only about some great or unusual cases or exigents Psal. 34. 6 7. Psal. 91. 11 12. § 4. 2. It is not some but All the Angels that are appointed by God to this Ministration Heb. 1. 1 4. Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth c. Mark here that if you enquire whether God have any higher Spirits that are not imployed in so low an Office but govern these Angels or if you enquire whether only this world be the Angels charge or whether they have many other worlds also of Viators to take care of neither Nature nor Scripture doth give you the determination of any of these questions and therefore you must leave them as unrevealed things with abundance more with which the old Hereticks and the Popish Schoolmen have diverted mens minds from plain and necessary things But that all the Angels minister for us is the express words of Scripture § 5. 3. The work of this Office is not left promiscuously among them but several Angels have their Luke 1. 13. 18. 19 26 28. 2. 10 13 21. Actâ— 10. 7. 22. 12. 8 9. Dan. 3 28. 6. 22. Gen. 24. 40. several works and charge Therefore Scripture telleth us of some sent of one message and some on an other And tells us that the meanest of Christs members on earth have their Angels before God in Heaven Matth. 18. 10. I say unto you that in Heaven their Angels do alwayes behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven Whether each true Believer hath one or more Angels and whether one Angel look to more than one Believer are questions which God hath not resolved us of either in Nature or Scripture But that each true Christian hath his Angel is here asserted by our Lord. § 6. 4. In this office of Ministration they are servants of Christ as the Head of the Church and the 1 Peâ— 3. 22. Matth. 26. 53. Mediator between God and man to promote the ends of his superiour office in mans Redemption Mat. 28. 18. All power is given to me in Heaven and Earth John 13. 3. Eph. 1. 20 21 22. And set him at his right hand in the celestials far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Rev. 23. 16. I Iesus have sent Rev. 1. 1. mine Angel to testifie unto you these things in the Churches Whether the Angels were appointed about the service of Adam in innocency or only began their Office with Christ the Mediator as his Ministers is a thing that God hath not revealed But that they serve under Christ for his Church is plain § 7. 5. This care of the Angels for us is exercised throughout our lives for the saving of us from 2 Kings 6. 17. all our dangers and delivering us out of all our troubles Psal. 34. 6 7. This poor man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles the Angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him and delivereth them Psal. 91. 11 12. For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes They shall bear thee up in their hand lest thou dash thy foot against a stone In all our wayes that are good and in every step we tread we have the care and Ministry of tutelar Angels They are our ordinary defence and guard § 8. 6. In all this Ministry they perfectly obey the Will of God and do nothing but by his command Dan. 4. 35. Psal. 103. 10. Zech. 1. 8 10.
Eccl. Pol. l. 1. § 10. p. 21. That which Object 1. So p. 23. The same error of the Original of Power hath Acosta l. 2. c. 5. p. â—08 with many other â—esuites and Papists we spake of the power of Government must here be applyed to the power of making Laws whereby to govern which power God hath over all and by the Natural Law whereto he hath made all subject the lawful power of making Laws to command whole politick societies of men belongeth so properly to the same entire societies that for any Prince or Potentate of what kind soever upon earth to exercise the same of himself and not either by express Commission immediately and personally received from God or else by Authority derived at first from their Consent upon whose persons they impose Laws it is no better than meer Tyranny Laws they are not therefore which publick approbation hath not made so Answ. Because the Authority of this famous Divine is with his Party so great I shall adventure to Answ. say something lest his words do the more harm but not by confident opposition but humble proposal and submission of my judgement to superiours and wiser men as being conscious of my own inferiority and infirmity I take all this to be an assertion no where by him proved and by me elsewhere disproved fully Laws are the Effects and signs of the Rulers Will and instruments of Government Legislation is the first part of Government And if the whole Body are naturally Governours the Pares imperans and pars subdita are confounded If the most Absolute Monarch can make Bishop Audâ—â—ws iâ— Tortar Tortâ— p. 385 Acuius homo non distinguit inter Formam atque Authoritatem regiminis Forma de hominibus esse potest de coeâ—o semper est authoritas An Rex sit supra Leges Vid. Seb. Fox lib 2. de Iâ—stit Reg. no Laws then disobeying them were no fault It is enough that their Power be derived from God immediately though the persons be chosen by men Their Authority is not derived from the peoples consent but from God by their consent as a bare condition sine qua non What if a Community say all to their elected King We take not our selves to have any Governing power to give or use but we only choose you or your family to that Office which God hath instituted who in that Institution giveth you the power upon our choice Can any man prove that such a King hath no power but is a Tyrant because the people disclaim the Giving of the Power When indeed they do their duty Remember that in all this we speak not of the Government of this or that particular Kingdom but of Kingdoms and other Commonwealths indefinitely Object 2. But saith he Lib. 8. p. 192. Unto me it seemeth almost out of doubt and controversie Object 2. that every independent multitude before any certain form of regiment established hath under God Supream Authority full Dominion over it self Answ. If by Dominion were meant Propriety every Individual hath it But for Governing Power Answ. it seemeth as clear to me that your independent multitude hath no Civil Power of Government at all but only a Power to choose them Governours While they have no Governours they have no Governing Power for that maketh a Governour § 14. Object 3. Ibid. A man who is Lord of himself may be made anothers servant c. Object 3. Answ. 1. He may hire out himself to Labour for another because he hath so far the power of Answ. himself and his Labour is his own which he may sell for wages But in a family that the Master be the Governour to see Gods Laws obeyed by his servants is of Divine appointment and this Governing power the servant giveth not to his Master but only maketh himself the object of it 2. The power that nature giveth a man over himself is tota specie distinct from Civil Government as Dr. Hammond hath well shewed against I. G. An Individual person hath not that power of his own Dion Cass. saith that when Eâ—phates the Philosopher would kill himself Veniam dederat ei Adrianus citra ignominiam infamiam ut cicutam tum propter senectutem tum etiam propter gravem morbum bibere posset In vita Adriani life as the King hath He may not put himself to death for that which the King may put him to death for 3. If this were true that every individual by self-resignation might give a King his power over him yet a posse ad esse non valet consequentia And that it is not so is proved in that God the Universal Soveraign hath prevented them by determining himself of his own Officers and giving them their power in the same Charter by which he enableth the people to choose them Therefore it is no better reasoning than to say If all the persons in London subjected themselves to the Lord Mayor he would thereby receive his power from them when the King hath prevented that already by giving him the power himself in his Charter and leaving only the choice of the person to them and that under the direction of the Rules which he hath given them § 15. Object 4. But saith he pag. 193. l. 8. In Kingdoms of this quality as this we live Object 4. in the Highest Governour hath indeed universal dominion but with dependency upon that whole entire body over the several parts whereof he hath dominion so that it standeth for an axiome in this â—ase The King is major singulis universis minor Answ. If you had included Himself its certain that he cannot be Greater than the whole because he Answ. cannot be greater than himself But seeing you speak of the whole in contradistinction from him I answer That indeed in genere causae finalis the Soveraign is Universis Minor that is The whole Kingdom is naturally more worth than One and their felicity a greater good or else the bonum publicum or salus populi could not be the End of Government But this is nothing to our case For we are speaking of Governing power as a means to this end And so in genere causae efficientis the Soveraign yea and his lowest Officer hath more Authority or Ius Regendi than all the people as such for they all as such have none at all Even as the Church is of more worth than the Pastor and yet the Pastor alone hath more Authority to administer the Sacraments and to Govern the people than all the flock hath For they have none either to use or give what ever some say to the contrary but Against the peoples being the Givers of Power by conjoyning all their own in one in Church or State see Mr. D. Cawdry's Review of Mr. Hookers Survey p. 154 c. only choose him to whom God will give it § 16. Object 5. Saith the Reverend Author lib. 8. p. 194. Neither
your labour is in vain How easie is it for you to overlook some one thing among a multitude that must be seen about the Causes and Cure of diseases unless God shall open it to you and give you a clear discerning and an universal observation And when twenty considerable things are noted a mans life may be lost for want of your discerning one point more What need have you of the help of God to bring the fittest remedies to your memory And much more to bless them when they are administred as the experience of your daily practice may inform you where Atheism hath not made men fools § 5 Direct 5. Let your continual observation of the fragility of the flesh and of mans mortality Direct 5. make you more spiritual than other men and more industrious in preparing for the life to come and greater contemners of the vanities of this world He that is so frequently among the sick and a spectator of the dead and dying is utterly unexcusable if he be himself unprepared for his sickness or for death If the heart be not made better when you almost dwell in the house of mourning it is a bad and deplorate heart indeed It is strange that Physicions should be so much suspected of Atheism as commonly they are and Religio medici should be a word that signifieth irreligiousness Sure this conceit was taken up in some more irreligious Age or Countrey For I have oft been very thankful to God in observing the contrary even how many excellent pious Physicions there have been in most Countreys where the purity of Religion hath appeared and how much they promoted the work of Reformation such as Crato Platerus Erastus and abundance more that I might name And in this Land and Age I must needs bear witness that I have known as many Physicions Religious proportionably as of any one profession except the Preachers of the Gospel But as no men are more desperately wicked than those that are wicked after pious education and under the most powerful means of their reformation so it is very like that those Physicions that are not truly good are very bad because they are bad against so much light and so many warnings And from some of these it 's like this censorious Proverb came And indeed mans nature is so apt to be affected with things that are unusual and to lose all sense of things that are grown common that no men have more need to watch their hearts and be afraid of being hardened than those that are continually under the most quickening helps and warnings For it is very easie to grow customary and sensless under them and then the danger is that there are no better means remaining to quicken such a stupid hardened heart Whereas those that enjoy such helps but seldom are not so apt to lose the sense and benefit of them The sight of a sick or dying man doth usually much awaken those that have such sights but seldom But who are more hardened than Souldiers and Sea men that live continually as among the dead when they have twice or thrice seen the fields covered with mens Carkasses they usually grow more obdurate than any others And this is it that Physicions are in danger of and should most carefully avoid But certainly an Atheistical or ungodly Physicion is unexcusably blind To say as some do that they study nature so much that they are carryed away from God is as if you should say They study the work so much that they forget the workman or They look so much on the Book that they overlook the sense or that They study medicine so much that they forget both the patient and his health To look into Nature and not see God is as to see the creatures and not the light by which we see them or to see Trees and Houses and not to see the Earth that beareth them For God is the Creating Conserving Dirigent Final Cause of all Of him and Through him and To him are all things He is All in all And if they know not that they are the subjects of this God and have immortal souls they are ill proficients in the study of Nature that know no better the nature of man To boast of their acquisitions in other Sciences while they know not what a Man is nor what they are themselves is little to the honour of their understandings You that live still as in the fight of death should live as in the sight of another world and excell others in spiritual wisdom and holiness and sobriety as your advantages by these quickening helps excell § 6. Direct 6. Exercise your Compassion and Charity to mens souls as well as to their Bodies and Direct 6. speak to your patients such words as tend to prepare them for their change You have excellent opportunities if you have hearts to take them If ever men will hear it is when they are sick and if ever they will be humbled and serious it is when the approach of death constraineth them They will hear that counsel now with patience which they would have despised in their health A few serious words about the danger of an unregenerate state and the necessity of holiness and the use of a Saviour and the everlasting state of Souls for ought you know may be blest to their conversion and salvation And it is much more comfortable for you to save a soul than to cure the body Think not to excuse your selves by saying It is the Pastors duty For though it be theirs ex officio it is yours also ex charitate Charity bindeth every man as he hath opportunity to do good to all and especially the greatest good And God giveth you opportunity by casting them in your way The Priest and Levite that past by the wounded man were more to be blamed for not relieving him than those that never went that way and therefore saw him not Luk. 10. 32. And many a man will send for the Physicion that will not send for the Pastor And many a one will hear a Physicion that will despise the Pastor As they reverence their Landlords because they hold their estates from them so do they the Physicion because they think they can do much to save their lives And alas in too many places the Pastors either mind not such work or are insufficient for it or else stand at ods and distance from the people so that there is but too much need of your charitable help Remember therefore that he that converteth a sinner from the errour of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins Jam. 5. 20. Remember that you are to speak to one that is going into another world and that must be saved now or never And that all that ever must be done for his salvation must be presently done or it will be too late Pity humane nature and harden not your hearts against a man
blesseth those that furthered him 1 Sam. 23. 21. Blessed be ye of the Lord for ye have compassion on me He justifieth himself in murdering the Priests because he thought that they helped David against him and Doeg seemeth but a dutiful subject in executing his bloody command 1 Sam. 22. And Shimei thought he might boldly curse him 2 Sam. 16. 7 8. And he could scarce have charged him with more odious sin than to be a bloody man and a man of Belial If the Prophet speak against Ieroboams political Religion he will say Lay hold on him 1 King 13. 4. Even Asa will be rageing wrathful and imprison the Prophet that reprehendeth his sin 2 Chron. 16. 10. Ahab will feed Michaiah in a Prison with the Bread and Water of affliction if he contradict him 1 King 22. 27. And even Ierusalem killed the Prophets and stoned them which were sent to gather them under the gracious wing of Christ Matth. 23. 37. Which of the Prophets did they not persecute Act. 7. 52. And if you consider but what streams of blood since the death of Christ and his Apostles have been shed for the sake of Christ and righteousness it will make you wonder that so much cruelty can consist with humanity and men and Devils should be so like The same man as Paul as soon as he ceaseth to shed the blood of others must look in the same way to lose his own How many thousands were murdered by Heathen Rome in the ten persecutions And how many by the Arian Emperours and Kings And how many by more Orthodox Princes in their particular distasts And yet how far hath the pretended Vicar of Christ out-done them all How many hundred thousands of the Albigenses Waldenses and Bohemians hath the Papal rage consumed Two hundred thousand the Irish murdered in a little space 〈…〉 o outgo the thirty or forty thousand which the French Massacre made an end of The sacrifices offered by their fury in the flames in the Marian persecution here in England were nothing to what one day hath done in other parts What Volumes can contain the particular Histories of them what a Shambles was their Inquisition in the Low-Countries and what is the employment of it still so that a doubting man would be inclined to think that Papal Rome is the murderous Babylon that doth but consider how drunken she is with the blood of the Saints and the Martyrs of Iesus and that the blood of Saints will be found in her in her day of tryal Rev. 17. 6. 18. 24. If we should look over all the rest of the World and reckon up the the torments and murders of the innocent in Iapan and most parts of the World where ever Christianity came it may increase your wonder that Devils and men are still so like Yea though there be as lowd a testimony in humane nature against this bloodiness as almost any sin whatsoever and though the names of persecutors alwayes stink to following Generations how proudly soever they carryed it for a time and though one would think a persecutor should need no cure but his own pride that his name may not be left as Pilates in the Creed to be odious in the mouths of the Ages that come after him Yet for all this so deep is the Enmity so potent is the Devil so blinding a thing is sin and interest and passion that still one Generation of persecuters doth succeed the others and they kill the present Saints while they honour the dead ones and build them Monuments and say If we had lived in the dayes of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the Prophets blood Read well Matth. 23. 29. to the end What a Sea of righteous blood hath malignity and persecuting zeal drawn out § 5. 4. Another cause of Murder is Rash and unrighteous judgement When Judges are ignorant or partial or perverted by passion or prejudice or respect of persons But though many an innocent hath suffered this way I hope among Christians this is one of the rarest Causes § 6. 5. Another way of murder is by oppression and uncharitableness when the poor are kept destitute of necessaries to preserve their lives Though few of them die directly of famine yet thousands of them dye of those sicknesses which they contract by unwholsome food And all those are guilty of their death either that cause it by oppression or that relieve them not when they are able and obliged to it Iam. 5. 1 2 3 4 5. § 7. 6. Another way and cause of murder is by Thieves and Robbers that do it to possess themselves of that which is another mans when riotousness or idleness hath consumed what they had themselves and sloath and pride will not suffer them to labour nor sensuality suffer them to endure want then they will have it by right or wrong what ever it cost them Gods Laws or mans the Gallows or Hell shall not deter them but have it they will though they rob and murder and are hang'd and damn'd for it Alas how dear a purchase do they make How much easier are their greatest wants than the wrath of God and the pains of Hell § 8. 7. Another cause of murder is Guilt and Shame When wicked people have done some great disgraceful sin which will utterly shame them or undo them if it be known they are tempted to murder them that know it to conceal the crime and save themselves Thus many a Whoremonger hath murdered her that he hath committed fornication with And many a Whore hath murdered her Child before the birth or after to prevent the shame But how madly do they forget the day when both the one and the other will be brought to light and the righteous judge will make them know that all their wicked shifts will be their confusion because there is no hiding them from him § 9. 8 Another cause is Furious anger which mastereth Reason and for the present makes them mad And Drunkenness which doth the same Many a one hath killed another in his fury or his drink So dangerous is it to suffer Reason to lose its power and to use our selves to a Bedlam course And so necessary is it to get a sober meek and quiet spirit and mortifie and master these turbulent and beastly vices § 10 9. Another cause of Murder is Malice and Revenge When mens own wrongs or sufferings are so great a matter to them and they have so little learnt to bear them that they hate that man that is the cause of them and boile with a revengeful desire of his ruine And this sin hath in it so so much of the Devil that those that are once addicted to it are almost wholly at his command He maketh witches of some and Murderers of others and wretches of all who set themselves in the place of God and will do Justice as they call it for themselves as if God were not just enough to
do it And so sweet is Revenge to their furious nature as the damning of men is to the Devil that Revenged they will be though they lose their souls by it And the impotency and baseness of their spirits is such that they say Flesh and blood is unable to bear it § 11. 10. Another cause of murder is a wicked impatience with neer relations and a hatred of those that should be most dearly loved Thus many men and women have murdered their Wives and Husbands when either Adulterous Lust hath given up their hearts to another or a cross impatient discontented mind hath made them seem intollerable burdens to each other And then the Devil that destroyed their love and brought them thus far will be their teacher in the rest and shew them how to ease themselves till he hath led them to the Gallows and to Hell How necessary is it to keep in the way of duty and abhor and suppress the beginnings of sin § 12. 11. And sometimes Covetousness hath caused Murder when one man desireth another mans estate Thus Ahab came by Naboth's Vineyards to his cost And many a one desireth the death of another whose estate must fall to him at the others death Thus many a Child in heart is guilty of the murder of his Parents though he actually commit it not Yea a secret gladness when they are dead doth shew the guilt of some such desire◠while they were living And the very abatement of such moderate mourning as natural affection should procure because the estate is thereby come to them as the heirs doth shew that such are far from innocent Many a Iudas for Covetousness hath betrayed another Many a false witness for Covetousness hath sold anothers life Many a Thief for Covetousness hath taken away anothers life to get his money And many a Covetous Landlord hath longed for his Tenants death and been glad to hear of it And many a Covetous Souldier hath made a trade of killing men for Money So true is it that the Love of money is the root of all evil and therefore is one cause of this § 13. 12. And Ambition is too common a Cause of Murder among the great ones of the World How many have dispatched others out of the World because they stood in the way of their advancement For a long time together it was the ordinary way of Rising and dying to the Roman and Greek Emperours for one to procure the murder of the Emperour that he might usurp his Seat and then to be so murdered by another himself And every Souldier that looked for preferment by the change was ready to be an instrument in the fact And thus hath even the Roman seat of his Mock Holiness for a long time and oft received its Successours by the poison or other murdering of the possessours of the desired place And alas how many thousand hath that See devoured to defend its Universal Empire under the name of the spiritual Headship of the Church How many unlawful Wars have they raised or cherished even against Christian Emperours and Kings How many thousands have been Massacred How many Assassinate as Hen. 3. and Hen. 4. of France Besides those that fires and Inquisitions have consumed And all these have been the flames of Pride Yea when their fellow-Sectaries in Munster and in England the Anabaptists and Seekers have catcht some of their proud disease it hath workt in the same way of blood and cruelty § 14. 2. But besides these twelves great sins which are the nearest cause of Murder there are many more which are yet greater and deeper in nature which are the Roots of all especially these 1. The first cause is the want of true Belief of the Word of God and the judgement and punishment to come and the want of the Knowledge of God himself Atheism and Infidelity 2. Hence cometh the want of the true Fear of God and subjection to his holy Laws 3. The predominance of selfishness in all the unsanctified is the radical inclination to murder and all the injustice that is committed 4. And the want of Charity or Loving our Neighbour as our selves doth bring men neer to the execution and leaveth little inward restraint § 15. By all this you may see how this sin must be prevented and let not any man think it a needless work Thousands have been guilty of murder that once thought themselves as far from it as you 1. The soul must be possessed with the Knowledge of God and the true Belief of his Word and judgement 2. Hereby it must be possessed of the Fear of God and subjection to him 3. And the Love of God must mortifie the power of selfishness 4. And also much possess us with a true Love to our neighbours yea and enemies for his sake 5. And the twelve fore-mentioned causes of murder will thus be destroyed at the Root § 16. II. And some further help it will be to understand the Greatness of this sin Consider therefore 1. It is an unlawful destroying not only a Creature of God but one of his noblest Creatures upon earth Even one that beareth at least the natural Image of God Gen. 9. 5 6. And surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man at the hand of every mans brother will I require the life of man whoso sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man Yea God will not only have the beast slain that killeth a man but also forbiddeth there the eating of blood v. 4. that man might not be accustomed to cruelty 2. It is the opening a door to confusion and all calamity in the World For if one man may kill another without the sentence of the Magistrate another may kill him and the world will be like Mastiffs or mad Dogs turned all loose on one another kill that kill can 3. If it be a wicked man that is killed it is the sending of a soul to Hell and cutting off his time of Repentance and his hopes If it be a Godly man it is a depriving of the World of the blessing of a profitable member and all that are about him of the benefits of his goodness and God of the service which he was here to have performed These are enough to infer the dreadful consequents to the Murderer which are such as these III. 1. It is a sin which bringeth so great a guilt that if it be repented of and pardoned yet Conscience very hardly doth ever attain to peace and quietness in this World And if it be unpardoned it is enough to make a man his own Executioner and tormenter 2. It is a sin that seldome scapeth vengeance in this life If the Law of the Land take not away their lives as God appointeth Gen. 9. 6. God useth to follow them with his extraordinary Plagues and causeth their sin
when it is not like to do more hurt than good either directly of it self or by mens abuse when Religion or the soul of any man or any ones body or estate or name is not like to lose more than my gain or any other benefits will compensate When all these concurr its lawful to go to Law § 29. Quest. 5. Is it lawful to defend my person life or estate against a Thief or Murderer or unjust Quest. 5. Invader by force of arms Answ. You must distinguish 1. Between such Defence as the Law of the Land alloweth and such as it forbiddeth 2. Between Necessary and Unnecessary actions of defence Prop. 1. There is no doubt but it is both lawful and a duty to defend our selves by such convenient means as are likely to attain their end and are not contrary to any Law of God or Man We must defend our Neighbour if he be assaulted or oppressed and we must love our neighbours as our selves Prop. 2. This Self-defence by force is then lawful when it is Necessary and other more gentle means have been uneffectual or have no place supposing still that the means be such as the Law of God or man forbiddeth not Prop. 3. And it is necessary to the Lawfulness of it that the means be such as in its nature is like to be successful or like to do more good than harm § 30. But on the other side Prop. 1. We may not defend our selves by any such force as either the Laws of God or our Rulers thereto authorized by him shall forbid For 1. The Laws are made by such as have more power over our lives than we have over them our selves 2. And they are made for the good of the Common-wealth which is to be preferred before the good or life of any single person And what ever selfish Infidels say both nature and grace do teach us to lay down our lives for the welfare of the Church or State and to prefer a multitude before our selves Therefore it is better to be robbed opprest or killed than to break the peace of the Common-wealth Prop. 2. Therefore a private man may not raise an Army to defend his life against his Prince or lawful Governour Perhaps he might hold his hands if personally he went about to murder him without the violation of the publick peace But he cannot raise a War without it Prop. 3. We may not do that by blood or violence which might be done by perswasion or by any lawful gentle means Violence must be used even in defence but in case of true necessity Prop. 4. When Self-defence is like to have Consequents so ill as the saving of our selves cannot countervail it is then unlawful finis gratia and not to be attempted Prop. 5. Therefore if Self-defence be unlikely to prevail our strength being inconsiderable and when the enemy is but like to be the more exasperated by it and our sufferings like to be the greater Nature and reason teach us to submit and use the more effectual lawful means § 31. Quest. 6. Is it lawful to take away anothers life in the defending of my purse or estate Quest. 6. Answ. 1. You must again distinguish between such defence as the Law of the Land alloweth and such as it forbiddeth 2. Between what is Necessary and what is Unnecessary 3. Between a life less worth than the prize which he contendeth for and a life more worth than it or than mine own 4. Between the simple defence of my purse and the defence of it and my life together 5. Between what I do with purpose and desire and what I do unwillingly through the assailants â—emerity or violence 6. And between what I do in meer defence and what I do to bring a Thief or Robber unto legal punishment And so I answer Prop. 1. You may not defend your purse or your estate by such actions as the Law of the Land forbiddeth Unless it go against the Law of God Because it is to be supposed that it is better a mans estate or purse be lost than Law and publick order violated Prop. 2. You may not against an ordinary Thief or Robber defend your purse with the probable hazard of his life if a few good words or other safe and gentle means which you have opportunity to use be like to serve turn without such violence Prop. 3. If it might be supposed that a Prince or other person of great use and service to the Common-wealth should in a frolick or otherwise assault your person for your estate or purse it is not lawful to take away his life by a defensive violence if you know it to be he Because though in some Countreys the Law might allow it you yet finis gratia it is unlawful because his life is more necessary to the common good than yours Prop. 4. If a pilfering Thief would steal your purse without any violence which hazardeth your life ordinarily you may not take away his life in the defending of it Because it is the work of the Magistrate to punish him by publick Justice and your defence requireth it not Prop. 5. All this is chiefly meant of the voluntary designed taking away of his life and not of any lawful action which doth it accidentally against your will § 33. On the other side Prop. 1. If the Law of the Land allow you to take away a mans life in the defending of your purse it removeth the scruple if the weight of the matter also do allow it Because it supposeth that the Law taketh the offendor to be worthy of death and maketh you in that case the executioner of it And if indeed the crime be such as deserveth death you may be the executioner when the Law alloweth it Prop. 2. And this is more clear when the Robber for your money doth assault your life or is like for ought you see to do it Prop. 3. And when gentler means will not serve the turn but violence is the only remedy which is left you which is like to avail for your defence Prop. 4. And when the person is a vile offender who is rather a plague and burden to the Common-wealth than any necessary member of it Prop. 5. If you desire not and design not his death but he rush upon it himself in his fury while you lawfully defend your own the case is yet less questionable Prop. 6. If a Thief have taken your purse though you may not take away his life after to recover it because it is of less value nor yet in revenge because that belongeth not to private men yet if the Law require or allow you to pursue him to bring him to a judicial tryal if you kill him while he resisteth it is not your sin because you are but suppressing sin in your place according to the allowance of the Law § 34. Quest. 7. May I kill or wound another in the defence or vindication of my honour or good name
not ad semper no act especially external is a duty at all times Therefore not this of revealing an offenders fault And if it be not alwayes a duty then it must be none when it is inconsistent with some greater benefit or duty For when two goods come together the greater is to be preferred Therefore in case that you see in just probability that the concealment of the sinner will do more hurt to the Common-wealth or the souls of men than the saving of your life is like to do good You may not promise to conceal him or if you sinfully promise it you may not perform it But in case that your life is like to be a greater good than the Not promising to conceal him then such a promise is no fault because the disclosing him is no duty But to judge rightly of this is a matter of great difficulty If it be less than life which you save by such a promise it oft falls out that it is a lesser good than the detecting of the offence § 18. But it will here be said If I promise not to conceal a Robber I must conceal him nevertheless for when he hath killed me I cannot reveal him and I must conceal the bribe-taker for till I have promised secrecy I cannot prove him guilty And he that promiseth to forbear a particular good action whilest he liveth doth yet reserve his life for all other good works whereas if he dye he will neither do that nor any other But this case is not so easily determined If Daniel dye he can neither pray nor do any other good on earth And if he live he may do much other good though he never pray And yet he might not promise to give over praying to save his life I conceive that we must distinguish of duties essential to the outward part of Christianity or of constant indispensible necessity and duties which are alterable and belong only to some persons times and places Also between the various consequents of omissions And I conceive that ordinarily a man may promise for the saving of his life that he will forbear a particular alterable duty or relation As to read such a Commentary to speak with such a Minister to be a Magistrate or a Minister c. in case we have not before bound our selves never to give over our Calling till death And in case that the good which will follow our forbearance is likely to a judicious person to be greater than the evil But no man may promise to omit such a duty as God hath made necessary during life as not to love God or fear or trust him not to Worship him and call upon him and praise him nor to do good to mens souls or bodies in the general or not to Preach or Pray while I am a Minister of Christ or not at all to Govern while you are a Governour For all these contradict some former and greater promises or duties Nor may you omit the smallest duty to save your life at such a time when your death is like to do more good than your life would do without that one duty Apply this to the present case § 19. Quest. 12. If another man deceive me into a promise or Covenant against my good am I bound Quest. 12. to perform it when I have discovered the deceit Answ. Yes 1. In case that the Law of the Land or other reasons for the publick good require it 2. Or in case that you were faulty by negligence heedlesness or otherwise guilty of your own deceit in any considerable and avoidable degree Otherwise in that measure that he deceived you and in those respects you are not obliged § 20. Quest. 13. If the contracting parties do neither of them understand the other is it a Covenant Quest. 13. Or if it be whose sense must carry it Answ. If they understand not each other in the Essentials of the Contract it is no contract in point of Conscience except where the Laws for the publick safety do annex the obligation to the bare external act But if they understand not one another in some circumstances and be equally culpable or innocent they must come to a new agreement in those particulars But if one party only be guilty of the misunderstanding he must bear the loss if the other insist on it § 21. Quest. 14. Am I bound to stand to the bargains which my friend or trustee or servant maketh Quest. 14. for me when it proveth much to my injury or loss Answ. Yes 1. If they exceed not the bounds of that commission or trust which they received from you 2. Or if they do yet if by your former trusting and using them or by any other sign you have given the other party sufficient cause to suppose them entrusted by you to do what they do so that he is deceived by your fault you are bound at least to see that he be no loser by you though you are not bound to make him a gainer unless you truly signified that you authorized them to make the contract For if it be meerly your friends or servants errour without your fault it doth not bind you to a third person But how far you may be bound to pardon that errour to your friend or servant is another question and how far you are bound to save them harmless And that must be determined by laying together all other obligations between them and you § 22. Quest. 15. If I say I will give such or such a one this or that am I bound thereby to do it Quest. 15. Answ. It is one thing to express your present mind and resolution without giving away the liberty of changing it And it s another thing to intend the obliging of your self to do the thing mentioned and that obligation is either intended to man or to God only and that is either in point of rendition and use or in point of veracity or the performance of that moral duty of speaking truth If you meant no more in saying I will do it or I will give it but that this is your present Will and purpose and resolution yea though it add the confident perswasion that your will shall not change yet this no further obligeth you than you are obliged to continue in that will And a mans confident resolutions may lawfully be changed upon sufficient cause But if you intended to alienate the title to another or to give him present right or to oblige your self for the future to him by that promise or to oblige your self to God to do it by way of peremptory assertion as one that will be guilty of a lye if you perform it not or if you dedicate the thing to God by those words as a Vow then you are obliged to do accordingly supposing nothing else to prohibit it § 23. Quest. 16. Doth an inward promise of the mind not expressed oblige Quest. 16. Answ. In a Vow to God it
tempted to Popery or Infidelity In some Countreys they learn to drink Wine instead of Beer and arising from the smaller sort to the stronger if they turn not drunkards they contract that appetite to Wine and strong drink which shall prove as Clemens Alexandrinus calleth gluttony and tipling a Throat-madness and a Belly-devil and keep them in the sin of gulosity all their dayes And in some Countreys they shall learn the art of Gluttony to pamper their guts in curious costly uncouth fashions and to dress themselves in novel fantastical garbs and to make a business of adorning themselves and setting themselves forth with proud and procacious fancies and affections to be lookt upon as comely persons to the eyes of others In some Countreys they shall learn to waste their precious hours in Stage-playes and vain spectacles and ceremonious attendances and visits and to equalize their life with death and to live to less use and benefit to the world than the Horse that carryeth them In most Countreys they shall learn either to prate against Godliness as the humour of a few melancholy fools and be wiser than to believe God or obey him or be saved or at least to grow indifferent and cold in holy affections and practices For when they shall see Papists and Protestants Lutherans and Calvinists of contrary minds and hear them reproaching and condemning one another this cooleth their zeal to all Religion as seeming but a matter of uncertainty and contention And when also they see how the wise and holy are made a scorn in one Countrey as Bigots and Hugonots and how the Protestants are drunkards and worldlings in another Countrey and how few in the world have any true sense and savour of sound and practical Religion and of a truly holy and heavenly life as those few they are seldome so happy as to converse with this first accustometh themselves to a neglect of holiness and then draweth their minds to a more low indifferent opinion of it and to think it unnecessary to salvation For they will not believe that so few shall be saved as they find to be holy in the world And then they grow to think it but a fancy and a troubler of the world And it addeth to their temptation that they are obliged by the carnal ends which drew them out Read Bishop Halls Quo Vadis on this subject to be in the worst and most dangerous company and places that is at Princes Courts and among the splendid gallantry of the world For it is the fashions of the Great ones which they must see and of which when they come home they must be able to discourse So that they must travel to the Pesthouses of pomp and lust of idleness gluâ—â—ony drunkenness and pride of Atheism irreligiousness and impiety that they may be able to glory what acquaintance they have got of the grandeur and gallantry of the Suburbs of Hell that they may represent the way to damnation delectable and honourable to others as well as to themselves But the greatest danger is of corrupting their Intellectuals by converse with deceivers where they come either Infidels or jugling Iesuits and Fryars For when these are purposely trained up to deceive how easie is it for them to silence raw unfurnished Novices yea even where all their five senses must be captivated in the doctrine of Transubstantiation And when they are silenced they must yield or at least they have deluding stories enough of the Antiquity Universality Infallibility Unity of their Church with a multitude of lyes of Luther Calvin Zuinglius and other Reformers to turn their hearts and make them yield But yet that they may be capable of doing them the more service they are instructed for a time to dissemble their perversion and to serve the Roman Pride and Faction in a Protestant garb and name Especially when they come to Rome and see its glory and the monuments of antiquity and are alluned with their splendour and civilities and made believe that all the reports of their Inquisitions and cruelties are false this furthereth the fascination of unexperienced youths 2. And usually all this while the most of them lay by all serious studies and all constant employment and make Idleness and Converse with the Idle or with Tempters to be their daily work And what a mind is like to come to which is but one half year or twelvemonth accustomed to idleness and vain spectacles and to a pleasing converse with idle and luxurious persons it is easie for a man of any acquaintance with the world or with humane nature to conjecture 3. And they go forth in notable peril of their health or lives Some fall into Feavors and dye by change of air and drinks Some fall into quarrels in Taverns or about their Whores and are murdered Some few prove so steadfast against all the temptations of the Papists that it is thought conducible to the holy cause that they should be killed in pretence of some quarrel or be poysoned Some by drinking Wine do contract such sickness as makes their lives uncomfortable to the last And the brains of many are so heated by it that they fall mad 4. And all this danger is principally founded in the quality of the persons sent to travel which Peregrinaâ—io â—evia taedâ—a quaedam animorum veâ—uâ—i nause as toâ—â—â—â—t Non tollâ—t mâ—rbos quâ— altiuâ— penetrarunt quam â—t externa ulla m dicina huc pâ—râ— ngâ—t Id. eb are ordinarily empty Lads between eighteen and twenty four years of age which is the time of the Devils chief advantage when naturally they are proâ—e to those Vices which prove the ruine of the most though you take the greatest care of them that you can 1. Their lust is then in the highest and most untamed rage 2. Their appetites to pleasing meats and drinks are then strongest 3. Their frolick inclinations to sports and recreations are then greatest 4. And ignorant and procacious Pride beginneth then to stir 5. All things that are most Vile and Vain are then apt to seem excellent to them by reason of the novelty of the matter as to them who never saw such things before and by reason of the false esteem of those carnal persons to whose pomp and consequently to whose judgement they would be conformed 6. And they are at that age exceedingly inclined to think all their own apprehensions to be right and to be very confident of their own conceptions and wise in their own eyes Because their juvenile intellect being then in the most affecting activity it seemeth still clear and sure to them because it so much affects themselves 7. But above all they are yet unfurnished of almost all that solid wisdome and setled holiness and large experience which is most necessary to their improvement of their travels and to their resistance of all these temptations Alas how few of them are able to deal with a Jesuite or hold fast their Religion against
small as to the outward act or matter which certainly excludeth the habitual devotedness of the soul to God by Resignation Obedience and Love is mortal or a mark of spiritual death And so is all sin which consisteth not with habitual repentance and a predominant hatred of sin as sin and of a disobedient unholy heart and life And therefore all sin which is not repented of as soon as it is known and the sinner hath time and opportunity of deliberation Because in such a case the habit of Repentance will produce the act Quest. 9. Must an excommunicate person be loved as Godly or not Quest. 9. Answ. You must distinguish 1. Of Excommunication 2. Of the person that is to judge 1. There is an Excommunication which censureth not the state of the sinner but only suspendeth him from Church-communion as at the present actually unfit for it And there is an Excommunication which habituately or statedly excludeth the sinner from his Church-relation as an habituate impenitent obstinate person 2. Some persons have no opportunity to try the cause themselves being strangers or not called to it but must take it upon the Pastors judgement And some have opportunity to know the person and the cause whether he be justly excommunicated or not Now 1. Those that know by notoriety or proof that the person is justly excommunicated with the second sort of Excommunication must not nor cannot Love him as a Godly man 2. Those that know by notoriety or proof that the person is unjustly Excommunicated are not therefore to deny him the estimation and love which is due to a Godly man though for order sake they may sometimes be obliged to avoid external Church-communion with him 3. Those that know nothing of the cause themselves must judge as the Pastor judgeth who is the legal judge yet so as to take it to be but a humane fallible and no final judgement Quest. 10. Can an unsanctified hypocrite unfeignedly love a Godly man Quest. 10. Answ. There is no doubt but he may materially love him on some other consideration As because he is a kinsman friend benefactor or is witty learned fair c. Quest. 11. But can he love a Godly man because he is Godly Quest. 11. Answ. He may love a Godly man at least as he may love God An unholy person cannot Love God in all his perfections respectively to himself as a God who is most holy and just in his Government forbidding all sin and condemning the ungodly For the Love of his sins is inconsistent with this Love But he may love him as he is most great and wise and good in the general and as he is the maker and benefactor of the world and of the sinner yea and in general as his Governour And so he may verily think that he loveth God as God because he loveth him for his Essentialities But indeed he doth not speaking strictly because he leaveth out some one or more of these essentialities even as he that loveth man as rational but not as a Voluntary free agent loveth not man as man And as a Heretick is no Christian because he denyeth some one Essential part of Christianity Even so as to the Love of Godly men an ungodly man may believe that they are better than others and therefore love them But not as Godliness is the consent to that Holiness and Justice of God which would restrain him from his beloved sins and condemn him for them So far as they are simply Godly to themselves without respect to him and his sins he may love them Quest. 12. May he love a Godly man as he would make him godly and convert him Quest. 12. Answ. He may love him as a better man than others and in general he may wish himself as good and may love him because he wisheth him well But as he cannot be or rather is not willing himself to leave his sins and live in holiness so another is not grateful to him who urgently perswadeth him to this Quest. 13. Doth any ungodly person love the Godly comparatively more than others Quest. 13. Answ. So far as he doth love them as Godly so far he may love them more than those that are not such Many a bad Father loveth a religious Child better than the rest Because they think that wisdom and Godliness are good and they are glad to see their Children do well as long as they do not grate upon them with troublesome censures For another mans Godliness costeth a bad man little or nothing He may behold it without the parting with his sins Quest. 14. Doth every sincere Christian love all the Godly with a special love even those that oppose Quest. 14. their opinions or that they think do greatly wrong them Answ. 1. Every true Christian loveth a Godly man as such and therefore loveth all such if he take them to be such 2. No Godly man doth habitually and impenitently live in such malice or enmity as will not suffer him to see the Godliness of a dissenter or adversary when it hath sufficient evidence 3. But ill education and company and want of opportunity may keep a true Christian from discerning the Godliness of another and so from loving him as a Godly man 4. And errour and faction and passion may in a temptation so far prevail as at the present to pervert his judgement and make him misjudge a Godly man to be ungodly though when he hath opportunity to deliberate and come to himself he will repent of it Quest. 15. What is that Love to the Godly which proveth a mans sincerity and which no hypocrite or unregenerate Quest. 15. person doth attain to Answ. It hath in it these essential parts 1. He loveth God best and his servants for his sake 2. He loveth Godliness and the person as Godly and therefore would fain be such himself or loveth it for himself as well as in others 3. He loveth not one only but all the Essential parts of Godliness our absolute resignation to God our Owner our absolute obedience to God our Ruler and our highest Gratitude and Love to God our Benefactor and our End 4. He loveth Godliness and Godly men above his carnal worldly interest his honour wealth or pleasure and therefore will part with these in works of Charity when he can understand that God requireth it These four set together make up that Love which will prove your sincerity and which no hypocrite doth perform Hypocrites either love the Godly only as their benefactors with a self-love or they love them as Godly to themselves but would not be like them and love not Godliness it self to make them Godly or they love them for some parts of Godliness and not for all or they love them but in subjection to their worldly love with such a dry and barren Love as Iames rejecteth Iam. 2. as will not be at any great cost upon them to feed or cloath or
Arabick and sending it to Indostan and Persia. And what excellent labour hath good Mr. Iohn Eliots with some few assistants bestowed these twenty years and more in New England where now he hath translated and Printed the whole Scriptures in their Americane tongue with a Catechism and Call to the Unconverted by the help of a press maintained from hence 2. The attempt of Restoring the Christian Churches to their primitive purity and Unity according to mens several opportunities is a most excellent and desirable work which though the ignorance and wickedness of many and the implacableness and bloodiness of the carnal proud domineering part and the too great alienation of some others from them do make it so difficult as to be next to desperate at the present yet is not to be cast off as desperate indeed For great things have been done by wise and valiant attempts Princes might do very much to this if they were both wise and willing And who knoweth but an age may come that may be so happy The means and method I would willingly describe but that this is no fit place or time 3. The planting of a learned able holy concordant Ministry in a particular Kingdom and setling the primitive Discipline thereby is a work also which those Princes may very much promote whose hearts are set upon it and who set up no contrary interest against it But because these lines are never like to be known to Princes unless by way of accusation it is private mens works which we must speak to 4. It is a very good work to procure and maintain a worthy Minister in any of the most ignorant Parishes in these Kingdoms of which alas how many are there where the skilful preaching of the Gospel is now wanting or to maintain an assistant in populous Parishes where one is not able to do the work or by other just means to promote this service 5. It is a very good work to set up Free-Schools in populous and in ignorant places especially in Wales that all may be taught to read and some may be prepared for the Universities 6. It is an excellent work to â—ull out some of the choicest wits among the poorer sort in the Countrey Schools who otherwise would wither for want of culture and to maintain them for Learning in order to the Ministry with some able godly Tutor in the University or some Countrey Minister who is fit and vacant enough thereunto 7. It is an excellent work to give among poor ignorant people Bibles and Catechisms and some plain and godly Books which are most fitted to their use But it were more excellent to leave a setled revenew for this use naming the Books and choosing meet Trustees that so the Rent might every year furnish a several Parish which would in short time be a very extensive benefit and go through many Countries 8. It is a very good work to set poor mens children Apprentices to honest religious Masters where they may at once get the blessing to their souls of a godly education and to their bodies of an honest way of maintenance 9. It will not be unacceptable to God to relieve some of the persons or poor children of those very many hundred faithful Ministers of Christ who are now silenced and destitute of maintenance many having nothing at all but what charity sendeth them to maintain themselves and desolate families who were wont to exercise charity to the bodies and souls of others Read Matth. 25. Gal. 6. 5 6 7 8. 10. It is a good work of them who give stocks of money or yearly rents to be lent for five or six or seven years to young Tradesmen at their setting up upon good security choosing good Trustees who may choose the fittest persons And if it be a rent it will still increase the stock and if any should break the loss of it may be born 11. It would be a very good work for Landlords to improve their interest with their Tenants to further at once their bodily comfort and salvation To hire them by some abatement at their Rent dayes to learn Catechisms and read the Scripture and good Books in their families and give the Pastor an account of their proficience Whether the Law will enable them to bind them to any such thing in their Leases I cannot tell 12. And the present work of Charity for every one is to relieve the most needy which are next at hand To know what poor families are in greatest want and to help them as we are able and to provoke the rich to do that which we cannot do our selves and to beg for others And still to make use of bodily relief to further the good of their souls by seconding all with spiritual advice and help Quest. 4. In what order are works of Charity to be done And whom must we prefer when we are Quest. 4. unable to accommodate all Answ. 1. The most publick works must be preferred before private 2. Works for the soul caeteris paribus before works for the body And yet bodily benefits in order of time must oft go first as preparations to the other 3. Greatest necessities caeteris paribus must be supplyed before lesser The saving of anothers life must be preferred before your own less necessary comforts 4. Your own and families wants must caeteris paribus be supplyed before strangers even before some that you must love better Because God hath in point of provision and maintenance given you a nearer charge of your selves and families than of others 5. Nature also obligeth you to prefer your kindred before strangers if there be a parity as to other reasons 6. And caeteris paribus a good man must be preferred before a bad 7. And yet that charity which is like to tend to the good of the soul as well as of the body is to be preferred And in that case oft-times a bad man is to be preferred when a greater good is like to be the effect 8. A friend caeteris paribus is to be preferred before an enemy But not when the Good is like to be greater which will follow the relieving of an enemy Many other rules might be given but they are laid down already Tom. 1. Cap. where I treat of Good Works whither I refer you Quest. 5. Should I give in my life time or at my death Quest. 5. Answ. According as it is like to do most good But none should needlesly delay Both is best Quest. 6. Should one devote or set by a certain part of daily incomes Quest. 6. Quest. 7. What proportion is a man bound to give to the poor Quest. 7. Answ. These two Questions having answered in a Letter to Mr. Thomas Gouge now printed and the Book being not in many hands I will here recite that Letter as it is published Most Dear and very much Honoured Brother EVen the Philosopher hath taught me so to esteem you who said that He is likest
Virgin doth well So then he that marrieth doth well but he that marrieth not doth better And mark Christs own words Matth. 19. 11. His Disciples say unto him If the case of a man be so with his wife it is not good to marry But he said unto them All men cannot receive this saying save they to whom it is given He that is able to receive it let him receive it § 30. 10. The business of a married state doth commonly devour almost all your time so that little is left for holy contemplations or serious thoughts of the life to come All Gods service is contracted and thrust into a corner and done as it were on the by The world will scarce allow you time to meditate or pray or read the Scripture You think your selves as Martha under a greater necessity of dispatching your business than of sitting at Christs feet to hear his Word O that single persons knew for the most part the pretiousness of their leisure and how free they are to attend the service of God and learn his Word in comparison of the married § 31. 11. There is so great a diversity of temperaments and degrees of understanding that there are scarce any two persons in the world but there is some unsuitableness between them Like stones that have some unevenness that maketh them lye crooked in the building some crossness there will be of opinion or disposition or interest or will by nature or by custome and education which will stir up frequent discontents § 32. 12. There is a great deal of duty which Husband and Wife do owe to one another As to instruct admonish pray watch over one another and to be continual helpers to each other in order to their everlasting happiness and patiently to bear with the infirmities of each other And to the weak and backward heart of man the addition of so much duty doth add to their weariness how good soever the work be in it self And men should feel their strength before they undertake more work § 33. 13. And the more they Love each other the more they participate in each others griefs And one or other will be frequently under some sort of suffering If one be sick or lame or pained or defamed or wronged or disquieted in mind or by temptation fall into any wounding sin the other beareth part of the distress Therefore before you undertake to bear all the burdens of another and suffer in all anothers hurts it concerneth you to observe your strength how much more you have than your own burdens do require § 34. 14. And if you should marry one that proveth ungodly how exceeding great would the affliction be If you loved them your souls would be in continual danger by them They would be the powerfullest instruments in the world to pervert your judgements to deaden your hearts to take you off from a holy life to kill your prayers to corrupt your lives and to damn your souls And if you should have the grace to scape the snare and save your selves it would be by so much the greater difficulty and suffering as the temptation is the greater And what a heart-breaking would it be to converse so nearly with a child of the Devil that is like to lye for ever in Hell The daily thoughts of it would be a daily death to you § 35. 15. Women especially must expect so much suffering in a Married life that if God had not put into them a natural inclination to it and so strong a love to their children as maketh them patient under the most annoying troubles the world would ere this have been at an end through their refusal of so calamitous a life Their sickness in breeding their pain in bringing forth with the danger of their lives the tedious trouble night and day which they have with their children in their nursing and their childhood besides their subjection to their husbands and continual care of family affairs being forced to consume their lives in a multitude of low and troublesome businesses All this and much more would have utterly deterred that Sex from marriage if Nature it self had not enclined them to it § 36. 16. And O what abundance of duty is incumbent upon both the Parents towards every child for Art thou discontented with thy childless state Remember that of all the Roman Kings noâ— one of them left the Crown to his Son Plutarch de â—ranq anim the saving of their souls What uncessant labour is necessary in Teaching them the Doctrine of Salvation Which made God twice over charge them to teach his word diligently or sharpen them unto their children and to talk of them when they sit in their houses and when they walk by the way and when they lye down and when they rise up Deut. 6. 6 7. 11. 19. What abundance of obstinate rooted corruptions are in the hearts of Children which Parents must by all possible diligence root up O how great and hard a work is it to speak to them of their sins and Saviour of their God their souls and the life to come with that reverence gravity seriousness and unwearied constancy as the weight of the matter doth require and to suit all their actions and carriage to the same ends Little do most that have Children know what abundance of care and labour God will require of them for the sanctifying and saving of their Childrens souls Consider your fitness for so great a work before you undertake it § 37. 17. It is abundance of affliction that is ordinarily to be expected in the miscarriages of Children when you have done your best much more if you neglect your duty as even godly Parents too often do After all your pains and care and labour you must look that the foolishness of some and the obstinacy of others and the unthankfulness of those that you have loved best should even pierce your hearts You must look that many vices should spring up and trouble you and be the more grievous by how much your children are the more dear And O what a grief it is to breed up a Child to be a servant of the Devil and an enemy of God and godliness and a persecutor of the Church of God! And to think of his lying in Hell for ever And alas how great is the number of such 18. And it is not a little care and trouble that servants will put you to so difficult is it to get those that are good much more to make them good so great is your duty in teaching them and minding them of the matters of their salvation so frequent will be the displeasures about your work and worldly business and every one of those displeasures will hinder them for receiving your instructions that most families are houses of correction or affliction § 39. 19. And these marriage Crosses are not for a year but during life They deprive you of all hope of relief while you live
together There is no room for repentance nor casting about for a way to escape them Death only must be your relief And therefore such a change of your condition should be seriously fore-thought on and all the troubles be foreseen and pondered § 40. 20. And if Love make you dear to one another your parting at death will be the more grievous And when you first come together you know that such a parting you must have Through all the course of your lives you may foresee it One of you must see the Body of your beloved turned into a cold and ghastly clod You must follow it weeping to the grave and leave it there in dust and darkness There it must lye rotting as a loathsome lump whose sight or smell you cannot endure till you shortly follow it and lye down your self in the same condition All these are the ordinary concomitants and consequents of Marriage easily and quickly spoken but long and hard to be endured No fictions but realities and less than most have reason to expect And should such a life be rashly ventured on in a pang of lust or such a burden be undertaken without fore-thought § 41. But especially the Ministers of the Gospel should think what they do and think again before Of Ministers Marriage they enter upon a married life Not that it is simply unlawful for them or that they are to be tyed from it by a Law as they are in the Kingdom of Rome for carnal ends and with odious effects But so great a hinderance ordinarily is this troublesome state of life to the Sacred Ministration which they undertake that a very clear call should be expected for their satisfaction That I be not tedious consider well but of these four things 1. How well will a life of so much care and business agree to you that have time little enough for the greater work which you have undertaken Do you know what you have to do in publick and private in reading meditating praying preaching instructing personally and from house to house And do you know of how great importance it is even for the saving of mens souls And have you time to spare for so much worldly cares and business Are you not charged 1 Tim. 4. 15. Meditate on these things give thy self wholly to them 2 Tim. 2. 4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him that hath chosen him to be a Souldier Is not this plain Souldiers use not to look to Farms and Servants If you are faithful Ministers I dare confidently say you will find all your time so little for your proper work that many a time you will groan and say O how short and swift is time and O how great and slow is my work and duty 2. Consider how well a life of so great diversions avocations and distractions doth suit with a Mind devoted to God that should be alwayes free and ready for his service Your studies are on such great and mysterious subjects that they require the whole mind and all too little To resolve the many difficulties that are before you to prepare those suitable convincing words which may pierce and perswade the hearers hearts to get within the bosome of an hypocrite to follow on the Word till it attain its effect and to deal with poor souls according to their great necessity and handle Gods Word according to its Holiness and Majesty these are things that require Non bene fit quod occupato animo fit Hieron Epist. 553. ad Paulin. a whole man and are not employments for a divided or distracted mind The talking of Women and the crying of children and the cares and business of the world are ill preparations or attendants on these studies 3. Consider well whether a life of so great disturbance be agreeable to one whose Affections should be taken up for God and whose work must be all done not formally and affectedly with the lips alone but seriously with all the heart If your Heart and warm Affections be at any time left behind the life and power the beauty and glory of your work is lost How dead will your studies and praying and preaching and conference be And can you keep those Affections warm and vigorous for God and taken up with Heaven and Heavenly things which are disturbed with the cares and crosses of the world and taken up with carnal matters 4. And consider also how well that indigent life will agree to one that by charity and good works should second his Doctrine and win mens souls to the love of holiness If you feed not the bodies of the poor they will less relish the food of A single life doth well with Church-men for Charity will hardly water the ground where it must fill a pool Lord Bacon Essay 8. The greatest works and foundations have been from childless men who have sought to express the image of their minds that have none of their body So the care of posterity hath been most in them that had no posterity Lord Bacon Essay 9. He that hath a Wife and Children hath given hostages to Fortune For they are impediments to great Enterprises The best works and of greatest merit for the publick have proceeded from unmarried and childless men I◠Ibid. Essay 8. the soul Nay if you abound not above others in good works the blind malicious world will see nothing that is good in you but will say You have good words but where are your good works What abundance have I known hardned against the Gospel and Religion by a common fame that these Preachers are as covetous and worldly and uncharitable as any others And it must be something extraordinary that must confute such fame And what abundance of success have I seen of the labours of those Ministers who give all they have in works of Charity And though a rich and resolved man may do some good in a married state yet commonly it is next to nothing as to the ends now mentioned Wife and Children and Family-necessities devour all if you have never so much And some provision must be made for them when you are dead And the maintenance of the Ministry is not so great as to suffice well for all this much less for any eminent works of Charity besides Never reckon upon the doing of much good to the poor if you have Wives and Children of your own Such instances are rarities and wonders All will be too little for your selves Whereas if all that were given to the poor which goeth to the maintenance of your families you little know how much it would reconcile the minds of the ungodly and further the success of your Ministerial work § 42. Direct 3. If God call you to a married life expect all these troubles or most of them and make a particular preparation for each Temptation Cross and Duty which you must expect Think not that you are entring into