the Jewel we shall have the box if we buy the wine we shall have the cask and if we seek first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof all other things shall be added Mat. 6.33 most men begin at the wrong end they make sure the world and think then all is safe and heaven sure but would they make heaven sure riches should not be wanting but most men think that scraping and keeping together is the way to be rich but the holy Ghost teacheth us that it is giving and laying out is the way Solomon tells us he that gives to the poor lends to the Lord and he will repay him Pro. 19.17 and he that gives to the poor shall not lack Pro. 28.27 so that not getting but giving is the way to wealth but he shall have judgement without mercy that will shew no mercy Jam. 2.13 rich men are Gods stewards he trusts them with his store-house to give their fellow-servants their meat in due season and blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall finde so doing Mat. 24.46 but if insteed of feeding them they feed themselves and eat and drink with the drunken and beat their fellow-servants their Lord shall come when they are not aware and shall give them their portion with hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth but all places are too full of such evil servants and so is hell too such dust-heaps are found in every corner but those unmercifull men shall have their portion with the devil and the damned Mat. 25.34 when the charitable Christian shall have a portion in glory we are all Gods servants and have some talents or other to improve in his service to his glory which if we do we shall not be without our reward there is none saith God shuts the door of my house for nought or kindles a fire upon my altar for nought Mal. 1.10 he hath lent us our riches and yet if we improve them and employ them as we ought they will become our own and we shall send them to heaven before us where they will be made up into a crown for us this is the only good they can do the soul but whatsoever is not thus improved is lost yea worse then lost for it will be put upon our account and required of us when we give an account of our stewardship It is a great mistake and so it will be found when men think they have an absolute propriety in what they enjoy and may dispose of it at their pleasure Christ bids the young man sell all that he had and give to the poor and he should have treasure in heaven Mat. 19.21 and rich men are charged to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to give that they may lay up for themselves a good foundation against the evil day 1 Tim. 6.16 c. had rich men but Moses eye to see the wealth of heaven and the worth of it it were not hard for them to make such a choise as he did worldlings if they could have heaven without labour or cost they would accept of it if not they will not buy it at so dear a rate but Christians say as Mephibosheth let Zibah take all so I may enjoy the king oh my soul here is riches worth labouring for thou canst not buy this gold at too dear a rate the world thou maist and many do with the loss of the soul here thou canst not be disappointed whatever rate thou setst upon this treasure it is ten thousand times better lay hold upon this make heaven sure to thy self improve the world to a spiritual advantage then will thy riches encrease as the oyl in the cruse or like the bread in Christs hands or the water in a spring thy good works will follow thee to heaven when the world will leave her dearest minions oh my God let it be so say amen to my prayer let me have thee and I have all things necessary Upon mens misery labour and pains 73. Med. WHen I considered that man that was the chief of Gods workmanship and next to the angels the most glorious creature of the whole creation yea in his creation was made little lower then the angels and cloathed with honour and dignity Psal 8.5 and was made Lord over the works of Gods hands Gen. 1.26 yea God created him in his own image all these inferiour creatures were made for his sake and for his use and service he was their little Lord yea the angels themselves are ministring spirits sent out for the good of those that love God Heb. 1.14 the saints are the Church the spouse the bride the members of Christ and so seem to be in nearer union to him then the angels themselves some think the devils envied this and so fell from their own station thus you see how man in the creation was exalted to honour but on the other side I considered how man above all the rest of the creatures was more subjected to misery labour and slavery yea vexation of spirit then any other and many of them even worn out with carking cares and fretting fears with moiling toyling spending labour which tires their bodies breaks their sleep in the night when other creatures which were made for their use and are their servants rest secure and free from daily cares and nightly troubles many kindes of them are preserved without their pain all without their care or fore-cast the masters care for some and maintain them and God maintains the rest but it is not so with man he must eat his bread in the sweat of his brows how true is that of Joh chap. 5.7 man is born to labour as the sparks fly upwards all things are full of labour saith Solomon Eccl. 1.8 molestation and misery meet us at every turn the world saith one is a sea of glass for it is vanity mingled with fire for it is vexation Rev. 4.6 man is in a restless condition tossed to and fro like a football and here he hath no resting place when I sought out the cause of this why this noble creature should be thus subjected to trouble and sorrow more then any others I quickly found out it was Gods will and mans desert for had man continued in his primitive purity he had never had an aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to molest him but when he had sin'd God pronounced this sentence upon him in the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread which law never yet was reversed The beasts of the field never transgrest their makers law as man hath done and therefore never had such punishment threatned as man had though it is conceived they are sufferers for mans sin Rom. 8.20 had not sin gone before trouble and misery had never followed the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life and as sin brought death so also sorrow into the world
95 l. 9. for then r. that p. 102. l. 3. f. stars r. clouds p. 102. l. 17. for word r. clouds p. 120 l. 9. f. and r. of p. 139 l. 11. for this stake r. the stake p. 153 l. 11. for way r. wall p. 161. l. 13. for savages r. slaves p. 169 l. 13. for occulta r. occultae p. 181. l. 17. f. David r. Daniel p. 184. l. 23. for petivit r. petunt p. 200 l. 27. for ware r. wine p. 200. l. 29. for volunt r. nolunt p. 215. l. 13. bane left out Divine Meditations Consisting of Observations Applications And Supplications Vpon the Earth I. Meditation WAlking in the garden in the cool of the day among other things that offered themselves to my consideration I observed my mother the Earth whence I had my original and out of whose womb I had my being I considered how near of kin I was to those senceless clods that lay under my feet and that I was made of the same matter a little more refined and moulded up in a better form and was made by God a little walking breathing clay and shortly must return to my first matter for dust thou art saith God and unto dust thou shalt return These and the like thoughts had a various operation upon my soul sometimes it put me on to admire the workman that out of such a rude and indigested mass such course stuff could make so glorious a piece as the body of Man is and could indue it with such excellent parts and such noble faculties and make it such a rich cabinet fit to hold that precious Jewel the soul which when I had a little considered I began to glory that I was made a man and did not remain a senseless clod But on the other side when I considered my original and the rock whence I was hewn and the hole of the pit whence I was digged and that I could say to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister Job 17.14 I who was even now proud that I was a man began to vail my peacocks plumes when I beheld my black feet and to wonder at my own folly and when I beheld my mother and my relations I saw there was small cause of pride and little cause to boast of birth or bloud or great parentage or relations 't is a shame and sin for an angel to be proud much more for a dunghill-bird Oh my soul bless God that thou wast made a man and not a clod of clay a rationall creature and not a brute beast thou wast clay in the hands of this potter and mightest have been the most despicable creature that ever dropt from his fingers but he hath made thee little lower then the Angels and crowned thee with honour and dignity what cause then hast thou to admire thy Creator who made thee thus to differ and made thee capable of communion with him here and enjoying him for ever but beware of pride that raigning damning sin that turned Angels out of heaven Adam out of Paradice and many thousands into hell boast not of the greatnesse of thy stock the nobleness of thy bloud the honour of thy progenitors except thou ascend as high as thy great Grandmother the Earth who opened her womb to bear us all and ere long will open her mouth to receive us all where we shall be resolved into our first matter then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God that gave it 't is true thou hadst a more noble Father in whose image thou wast made but this image is lost and thou art become more deformed then thy Mother Oh my God! as thou hast indewed me with more noble faculties then many other of thy creatures that I might be better able to serve thee enable me so to do renew thy image in me which was lost by the fall and give me sincerity without which my condition will be worse then the beast that perisheth whose misery ends with his life but mine will begin at my death where much is given much will be required as thou hast made me a man let me act as a rational creature and answer the ends of my Creation Vpon digging the Earth 2. Med. DIgging and delving into the bowels of my Mother the Earth to bury those seeds from whence I expected a future encrease that portion of Scripture came fresh into my minde Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread till thou return to the ground out of which thou wast taken for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return me thoughts my work as it was a just punishment laid upon me for my sin so it did much resemble the digging of my grave and put me in minde of my mortality I began to think that ere long some one would do that for me which I did for these poor seeds lay me to sleep in the grave till the Resurrection and that my mother earth was as ready to receive me as them the pains and aches I felt the sensible decays in nature my gray hairs c. fastned this cogitation more home upon me I then began to think of the vanity of man that was but even now crept out from being earth and for a time made a great stir and bustle in the world and then made as much haste out again and like as stage-players every one acting a part upon the stage of the world some longer some shorter some better and some worse and then an exit comes and they disappear The godly they act a Comedy which begins bad but ends well the wicked a Tragedy which always ends in confusion yet whatever part men act few are willing to go off the stage the old man that hath out-lived his teeth his hair his sight and hearing and can hardly use his limbs and senses yet is loath to die too evident a signe his work for which he came into the world is not done viz. to make his peace with his God and to get an interest in Christ and title to glory the godly while they are here are every day quenching those coals which sin hath kindled with the tears of true repentance the wicked are carrying every day a faggot to encrease that fire that never shall be quenched thus 't is in the world as in a Fair or market there is a great crowd some going one way some another and every one driving on some designe or other O my soul must thou ere long be separated from the body by death how stands the case with thee art thou prepared for such a change or art thou not how doth thy pulse beat suppose this were to be the day of thy dissolution couldst look death in the face with comfort hast thou made thy peace with thy God hast thou got an acquittance sealed with the blood of Christ a discharge of all thy debts hast
provided for thou art a thousand times in a worse condition then they are thou wast made for an higher end and fitted to do God better service but they never transgrest their makers will nor Creators laws as thou hast done and if thou art not regenerated and born again thou hadst better never have been born or else made a dog or toad or poor crawling worm whose misery ends with life when thine will begin at thy death these serve God better in their kinde then thou hast done Oh my God it was thy will there should be a difference between me and these irrational creatures thou hast indewed me with more noble faculties and didst create me in thy own image and madest me Lord over the work of thy hands but oh how soon was this image lost and I disabled for the work I was created for I became as a lost sheep O seek thy servant that I may be found I am the prodigal incline my heart to come home to my fathers house and open thy arms and heart to receive me give me in those qualifications that are necessary to thy service renew thine image in my soul pardon my transgressions and be favourable to my soul mortifie my corruptions then shall I be able to serve thee with chearfulness and shall have occasion to blese God that I was made a man and not a worm Upon an heap of Ants or Pismires 16. Med. FInding in the garden a heap of ants or pismires at the root of a tree which I look't upon as no friends but enemies to an orchard I disturbed them with my foot and they soon took the allarm whereupon I took notice how these painful creatures behaved themselves when thus disturbed they were all in a confusion some run this way and some that and no one knew where or how to settle and yet I observed every one laying hold of something and getting some burden upon his back though he knew not where to bear it I thought this confusion resembled a beseiged City when taken by the enemy or the Countrey when an enemy makes an incursion the inhabitants every one shifts for himself one runs this way another that to save himself and if it may be to secure his chiefest Jewels or that which he most values this minded me by the way that it was a Christians wisdome in all the incursions of satan and the inroads and assaults he makes upon us to secure the soul our chiefest Jewel and not leave it unguarded at his mercy this is our fort-royall which if taken we are undone but if safe though he take the out-works it matters not much if the castle be secure Let us store this therefore with provision and ammunition against the assaults of this treacherous enemy Again this confused stir that thus happened among these poor insects represented to me the hurlyburly that is abaoad in the world wherein are millions of men every one driving on some particular designe and yet go various ways to work some pursue after riches some honours and some pleasures and yet agree not on the way nor on the means to attain their end Those that aim at riches all tread not in the same steps some go a more plain way then others do and by labourious toiling carking care and pains seek to get it and are no ones foes but their own in spending so much time upon it that they neglect their greater concerns others by more subtill but less honest shifts cast their ground and think to take their prey before their neighbours these by lying cheating swearing forswearing cozening and circumventing make hast to be rich but cannot be innocent these ofttimes with the Eagle stealing meat from the altar bring a coal with it which fires their own nests ill-gotten goods seldome prosper and the third heir seldome enjoys them some in the pursuit of honour take the way of vertue and hunt after it by desert but these are but few yet this is the securest road others endeavour to ascend the steps of promotion by fawning and flattery and such indirect courses but though these are the most by far yet ofttimes they break their necks ere they come to the top of the ladder and are always set in slippery places the former way though least trodden and most painfull is the surest and safest for honour follows virtue as the shadow doth the substance others that pursue pleasure differ also some seek after more innocent delights others esteem none worth enjoying but what is the forbidden fruit and desperatly pursue such pleasures that perish ere they are budded and the end of that mirth is heaviness In a word some are building castles in the air and never live to finish them others are getting goods and know not who shall enjoy them others are raking together by hook or by crook and others are scattering abroad what is thus scraped together and spend all and know not who shall relieve them some are promising themselves content if they had a Lordship others if they had a Dukedome and some if they had a Kingdcm which if attained they are no nearer satisfaction then before and they are scarce warm in their places but death with a dash with his foot breaks the pitcher and spoils the sport and strips him of that in an hour that he hath been projecting for all his life and thus you see there is a confused hurly-burly in the world every man driving on his own designes and God all this while tacitly by this is a carrying on his designes perhaps quite contrary to theirs Or this tumultuous confusion amongst these little creatures may resemble a crowd in a market or fair some rush this way some that that he that stands at a distance and observes their motion thinks it is a confusion yet every man is carrying on some designe or other and moves accordingly Oh my soul lose not thy self thy pains thy precious time as many do in seeking honey in a wasps nest or that in the world which no man was ever yet able to finde there content satisfaction and happiness these are not sown in the furrows of thy field and therefore are not to be found in full bags and barns content grows not in natures garden and those that seek happiness beneath the moon are mistaken the enjoyment of God in glory is our compleat happiness and nothing else will give the soul content let the world say what it will to the contrary carking cares and fretting fears and Jealousies about earthly enjoyments are so far from being the way to it that it choaks the word which is the means to attain it the riches honours and pleasures the world affords which are the worlds Deity whereupon most men doat as much as the Ephesians did upon Diana's Temple bear no more proportion to true riches true pleasures and true honours then painted fire on the wall to true fire or a King upon a Stage to a King upon the throne
for heaven and can no jog of temptation divert thee or make thee settle in a wrong point If so how comes it to pass that thou art so much taken with the worlds glory that not only thy eyes but thy heart goes after it why art thou so bewitched with her smiles and so cast down with her frowns why hast thou so few serious thoughts of God and so few glimps of him even in the ordinances were thy heart in order thou wouldst always have Christ in thine eye both in thy heavenly and earthly imployments and wouldst soon be sensible when the sun of righteousness was either clouded ecclypsed or set upon thee as these flowers are in the like case if thou art why dost thou not mourn and hang the head in his absence as they do in the like case they will another day rise up against thee and condemn thee as being more faithful to their benefactour then thou art to thy husband oh my God I am sensible of my guilt and the faithfulness of these flowers shames me for my unfaithfulness they have but a natural instinct to incline them to their benefactor and own him but I have reason and Scripture yea my vows are upon me and engage me to my husband Christ Lord divert my affections from the world which doth but flatter me to deceive me incline my heart to Christ that would save me and make me happy let neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord nor rend me out of his arms nor draw my affections from him Upon a rose among thorns 37. Med. WHen I beheld and considered how the rose grew and flourished and came to perfection amongst the thorns and prickles that surrounded it and was not hurt but rather defended by them and kept and preserved from their other enemies I thought it represented the Church here in the world for as here there are a thousand prickles for one rose and yet this rose is preserved so in the world it may probably be conjectured there are a thousand wicked men which are compared to thorns for one that is godly the Church in her militant condition while she is in the world is compared to the lilly among the thorns Con. 2.2 as the lilly among the thorns saith Christ so is my love among the daughters these are indeed as the Gibionits pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides yet not altogether useless wicked men are called briars Micah 7.4 the best of them is a briar and the most upright sharper then a thorny hedge and God threatens to fold them together as thorns and burn them as dry stubble Nahum 1.10 Isay 27.4 but these briars are not useless he hedges us about with them that he may keep us in compass he pricks us with these thorns that he may let out ill humours and happy thorns to us if they open a vein for sin to gush out his house of correction is his school of instruction Psal 94.12 whether the rose in the creation was thus guarded and fenced I know not some think these thorns also are a fruit of the curse yet sure I am before the fall the Church was not pestered with such thorns as now it is man before the fall had not the nature and property of thorns but as thorns by Gods providence are made serviceable for the defence of better fruit so the wicked often prove serviceable to the Church and a defence to better men but no thank to them but to the overruling providence of God God preserves his people from their rage and makes them dwell safe by them as lambs among wolves and not only so but makes one wolf to defend them from another or sets one wolf to worry another while the lambs escape the Gibionites though briars and thorns were yet usefull to Israel and the earth helpt the woman and swallowed up the flouds which the dragon cast out of his mouth after her Rev. 12.16 As the Persians and others drink up the floud which the Turk at this day threatens to overwhelm all Christendome with The Philistins though briars and thorns are a defence to David when he was persecuted by Saul and in a great strait being compassed round about by Sauls army in that nick of time they invaded the land and Saul and his army drew back 2 Sam. 23.27 wicked Pharaoh gave entertainment to Jacob and his family and made provision for them in the seaven years famine and David and his fellows were promoted by a wicked man so was Mordicai and the Jewes and the Barbarians shewed Paul no little kindness Acts. 28.2 and sometimes the sheep finde shelter under a thorny hedge yet the nature of wicked men is not to do good but to rent and tear but God alters their nature at least restraineth their rage for his peoples sake The Church of God is as a bush burning but not consumed for when potent Princes have sought their destruction God hath frustrated their designes sometimes by setting the dogs to worry one another the poor hare escapes so Geball and Ammon and the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroy each other when they had decreed to destroy Israel 2 Chron. 20.23 and the counsell could not agree against Paul Act. 23.7 God maintaineth Noah against a world of wicked men and Lot in the midst of Sodom and Israel in Egypt and Mordicai against Haman and all his enemys and oft gives them favour in the eyes of those that were they not restrained would become their mortall enemies and their bloudy persecutors God turning those thorns which would devour them into a defence for them and into a hedge for his peoples security Oh my soul admire the providence and wisdome of God that can bring light out of darkness order out of confusion good out of evill and can turn a curse into a blessing and make his Churches enemies to become their friends thou wast one of those thorns and thy nature was as bad and if God hath taken thee off the stock of nature and planted thee in that choise vine bless his name it was no thanks to thee If now thou art a rose though encompassed by a thousand thorns he will defend thee If thy ways please God thy enemies themselves shall be at peace with thee Pro. 16.7 sin is the only make-bate between God and the soul and if God have a controversy with the sinner all the creatures are presently up in arms to bring in the rebel and wait but for a commission to take away his life but if God be reconciled to thee no enemy can hurt thee no weapon formed against his Church shall ever prosper Esay 54.17 When Jacob had made his peace with God neither Laban nor Esau could quarrel with him though it is thought both came forth with murderous
cheat and much seeming gold prove to be but dross and rubbish but true gold neither fears the furnace nor the touchstone here the sincere Christian and the hypocrite will be differenced which now are hardly known asunder and will no longer serve to make up one heap of money in this world they may grow in the same field as did the wheat and the tares they may lie together in the same mow as the corn and the straw they may make up the same heap as the wheat and the chaff but they shall never lie in the same garner together for this is reserved for the wheat alone here they may benefit one the other as the straw bears up the wheat and the chaff and piles defend it from injury and they are preserved secured and fed for the wheats sake but hereafter the godly will not need their protection and the other shall not have preservation here the earth helps the woman and the innocent save the Island Job 22.30 and so both shall grow together till the harvest but then they shall be seperated one from another now there are several fans the devil hath his fan Luk. 22.31 and the Lord said Simon Simon behold satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed that thy faith fail not he challenged him Goliah-like to a single combat but without leave he cannot do it 1 Pet. 5.8 be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil like a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour his end in sifting is not to purify but to destroy his sieve holds nothing but refuse the best runs through but Gods sieve preserves the best and severs it from the chaff there is a fan of scoffs and scorns which is in the hands of wicked men the devils instruments and much of the lighter chaff is blown away with the winde and cannot stand before it and there is also a fan of persecution and this though used by men the devil guides and directs their hands and this stronger blast carries almost all before it the stony ground could not withstand it we have seen in our days very much of that which we accounted solid grain and principal wheat hath proved chaff and if this winde should blow loud it is like much more would fly but there is another fan and that is of errors and heresies and this takes not away the chaff only but some of the lighter sort of corn yea and if possible the very elect this the Apostle warns professors of that they be not like children tossed to and fro with every winde of doctrine Eph. 4.14 and how many such giddy hearers are there that are cast into what mould the preacher pleaseth and like glasses are by the breath blown into any shape but ere long Christ himself will come with his fan Mat. 3.12 whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his floor and gather the wheat into his garner but the chaff will he burn with unquenchable fire heaven spewed out the angels for their apostacy and no unclean thing shall ever enter there nor dirty dog shall tread upon that pavement nor dross shall be mixt with that gold no water with that ware nor no chaff with this wheat but for the chaff it must to the fire but not be consumed vivere volunt mori nesciunt they shall seek death but shall not finde it Rev. 6.9 they that once might have had life and would not now they would have death but cannot oh my soul are there trying times to come wherein grace will be known from its conterfeit and when the axe will be put to the root of the tree and every one that brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire must the dross be consumed and the chaff driven away of the winde look about thee that thou be true gold solid grain and a tree of righteousness that brings forth good fruit that thou exceedest all hypocrites in the world and hast something they have not and canst do something they cannot do that thou maist be able to abide the refiners fire and the fullers soap that the house of thy profession be built upon the rock that no winde nor weather storms nor tempests flouds nor waves of trouble may molest thee trouble will come there is no prevention sometimes lighter afflictions as smaller rain and sometime greater as the overflowing of Jordan amidst these waves thy ship had need be like the Ark pitched within and without yea thou hadst need to be shut in by God himself A true Christan is like Mount Sion that cannot be moved when he is founded upon this rock nec flatu nec fluctu movetur he need fear neither winde nor weather if he fall Christ himself must fall and it is better fall with him then stand without him Christ lives in him and while Christ that is the life of his soul lives he cannot die but if thy house be built upon the sand when the windes and waves come and come they will it will surely down and great will be the fall thereof because irresistable and irreparable O my God are trying times coming and must I be sifted by satan winnowed by the world and fanned by Christ who can stand in these trials and bear up against these flouds and waves without divine assistance Lord give me strength from above for vain is the help of man make me solid grain that may abide the winde true gold that may abide the fire and build me upon that rock that is high that no storms nor tempests may beat me down nor all the flouds in the world may ever remove me Upon clean seed sown yet brings forth chaff 42. Med. WHen I beheld how the seed that last year I had so carefully winnowed purged fanned and purified from all weeds and seeds chaff and rubbish which adhered to it and sown in my garden that which was clean pure and good yet when it came to maturity it was not only cumbred with weeds and other annoiances which the ground naturally cast up but had as much stalk chaff and other rubbish as it had the year before which grew up with it and adhered to it and was naturally produced by the seed and it had as much need of weeding threshing winnowing and purging as it had the year before to make it fit for use or market this minded me that thus it was with poor souls since the fall for as the earth casteth out weeds of its own accord and a fountain sends forth water so doth the heart bubble forth corruption of its own accord a gracious man that hath taken a great deal of pains with his heart to weed out corruption and to mortifie his sin and hath been thresht and fanned and purged and purified and it hath been the work of many years to do it and hath cost him much labour pains and diligence and many a
blazing star ominous to the beholders and hurtfull to those that enjoy it and proves ofttimes the devils lime-twigs to catch his fowls meat and drink are necessary yet to many their table becomes their snare and by a plentifull table they come to be guilty of gluttony and drunkenness wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and he that is overtaken with it is not wise I fed them to the full saith God and they were as fed horses every one neighed after his neighbours wife learning and great parts are lovely endowments and many times it proves dangerous and deadly the greatest scholars oft prove the greatest enemies to Christ and the greatest adversaries to the power of godliness In a word those that have most of the world have frequently the least of heaven Son saith Abraham remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luk. 16.25 Wealth many times swells men into a tympany not easily cured I know there are some that follow Christs counsell and make to themselves friends of this Mammon of unrighteousness but most do but encrease their account by them and at the reckoning-day will prove bankrupts and owe ten thousand talents more then they are able to pay earthly enjoyments usually rock men in the cradle of security and lull them asleep that they never wake till hell fire flames about their ears thus the rich man Luke 12.16 and that also Luk. 16.19 c. when the moon is at full it is furthest distance from the sun and nearest to an ecclips and the world many times interposeth it self between the full soul and the sun of righteousness relations and carnal friends oft-times prove snares thus they were to Job to Spira and to many more the things that are in themselves lawfull blessings yet abused prove our licitis perimus omnes immoderately used prove a sin and a snare oh my soul thou walkest in the midst of dangers snares are laid for thee in every creature in every corner trust not therefore to any the most innocent will betray thee if not heedfully observed and wisely enjoyed the most harmless nay the most necessary enjoyments are not free from snares a serpent may lie under thy feet poyson may be in thy cup or dish many temptations are in poverty more in plenty pray therefore with Agar not to have poverty nor riches but to be fed with food convenient Pro. 30.8 as a shoe too big or too little suits not the foot so an estate too big is troublesome and to little pinches a staff may help the passenger in his journey but a burden of staves will be his hinderance oh my God are there so many dangers that attend me both in reference to my body and my soul oh what need have I of divine protection Lord be thou my defender keep me under the shadow of thy wings O let not Satan the world or my own deceitful heart ever betray me but let me be kept by the mighty power of God unto salvation Upon a Toad 45. Med. OBserving as I walked in the garden in an evening a loathsom foul and ugly toad crawling in my way hasting from me as from a deadly enemy to hide her head in a hole to save her life and that from one that she had never wronged this sight occasioned me this Meditation how nigh akin am I to this poor creature this dispicable loathed and abhorred wretch there is but the sheers between us nothing but the makers will she is my sister and may claim the right of primogeniture as coming into the world before me we have the same original the same father and the same mother we were made of the same matter by the hand of the same workman but she hath the precedency in nature and came of the elder brother both of us were of the same clay and fashioned by the same potter hewn out of the same rock and digged out of the same hole of the pit and had it pleased the workman I might have been the toad and this the man no thanks to me that it was not so and it had been no wrong to me if it had been so I might have been crawling into that hole to save my life from one that desired my death and fed upon such loathsom meat that she feeds on but my God hath bestowed more upon me and denied it to her even so Lord because it hath seemed good in thy eyes oh my soul what hast thou done more for thy God then this poor creature hath done doubtless where more is given more will be required thou hast received ten talents for one nay an hundred for one how hast thou improved them and God expects from man much more service then from any other creature in the world being only fitted for communion with himself But hath not this despicable wretch which thou thinkest is not worthy to live served God in her place better then thy self and answered the end of her creation better then man and never transgrest her masters will nor her makers law as thou hast done a thousand times she desires nothing more then life and what is necessary to maintain it and fears nothing more then death and what tends to it and doth no hurt but it is imagined good to mankinde unless hurt or provoked and if she have a noxious quality it is questionable whether the sin of man hath not procured it God hath given thee the use of reason and made thee capable of communion with himself and enjoying him for ever and laid upon her far more innocent this punishment of being hated and abhorred of all and her life is put into thy hands and whosoever killeth her thinks he hath not offended thou canst walk free from fear when every one that sees her desires her death and plots her ruine and destruction what cause then have I to bless God that I was made a man and not a toad and that I had the use of reason given to me and not made a bruit but if I be not regenerate and born again if I have not the image of God renewed in me which I lost by the fall if I answer not the end of my creation and redemption if my sin be not mortified and the power of my corruptions abated if grace be not implanted in my heart by the spirit of God if I have not an interest in Christ and a title to glory if the mistical marriage be not made between Christ and my soul and my affections set upon him if any thing in the world lie nearer to my heart then he doth and be beloved above him the time will come and it will not be long first that I shall wish would God I had been made the toad and this toad the man for then my misery would have ended with my life when now it is like to begin at my death and
eternity of torments will be little enough to pay the debt which I owe but her debts being nothing but death will be soon discharged oh my soul if God do not distinguish thee from wicked men by grace as well as from this toad by reason thy misery will be far worse then hers and thy condition more forlorn Oh poor man whither art thou fallen thou wast in the creation made the glory of this Universe and all the creatures to be thy servants yea the angels to be Ministring spirits for thy good and now if God assist not in a new creation the meanest and most despicable of the creatures is in a better condition then thou art Oh sin what woful work hast thou made among us and of what a bewitched nature art thou and how hast thou infatuated us still to doat upon thee and to think thee lovely oh my God how good hast thou been to me and how evilly have I requited thee for thy good and how foolishly have I behaved my self to my own soul thou createdst me after thine own image in knowledge righteousness and true holiness and gavest me dominion over thy creatures thou madest me little lower then the angels and crownedst me with honour and dignity Psal 8.4 5 6. such I was when I past out of thy hand but I have lost this image by the fall and this supremacy and now this poor creature is in a better condition then I am by nature and never transgress thy laws as I have done but Lord thou canst renew thine image in me and bring me to my primitive happiness Lord do it then shall I praise thee with unfained lips that thou hast made me a man Upon the coursing of a hare 46. Med. BEing occasionally present at the coursing of a hare and my affection being tickled with the sport to see what turnings windings shifts and cunning evasions she had to delude her enemy and make an escape but all too little for she after came to be their prey that sought her life and to suck her bloud when I felt my affections thus to heat and close with the sport I began to check my self for it and to expostulate the case thus with mine own heart vain man what art thou doing whither art thou going art thou in heaven or on the earth that thy affections are so pleased is it God or the creature that gives thee this content alass what poor fading perishing joy is this and canst thou finde more delight in it then in the service of God or in communion with Christ Nay but art thou sure that these delights are lawfull if not thou hast cause to bewail it the thing may be disputable was it not the sin of man that brought this enmity and antipathy between the creatures and made them thirst after one anothers bloud Reverend Mr Bolton tels us this is the judgement of the best Divines that it was a fruit of our rebellion against God now if this misery was laid upon them for our faults it should be rather matter of our grief then sport and taking pleasure in their bloud is a vexing of their very vexation and we discover those weeds and seeds of cruelty to be too rank and luxurious in the soul and we degenerate in this below the beast of the field who as it is observed take not content in hurting one another but in case of hunger or anger they satisfy their appetite and rage sometimes with bloud but never their eye or their fancy Is the fruits of our sin become the matter of sport this consideration might work in us a contrary effect and I think much better but grant for no body will deny it that we have liberty given us to make use of this antipathy for the destroying of hurtful creatures and the enjoying of those that are usefull as these now under consideration which no doubt are given to us for food as well as others and grant that they cannot be so well taken any other way and their flesh to be best when it is thus hunted and chased yet it still remains disputable whether their death were ever appointed by God to be a matter of sport or a lawfull recreation to us to kill them is no doubt lawfull but to sport our selves in their death seems cruel and bloudy to delight more in seeing the shifts the poor creature hath to save her life an instinct given her by nature and to see her in the mouths of her bloud-thirsty enemies rending and tearing her in peeces without mercy then they do in the flesh it self which should be I think the cheifest end in this action seems cruel and bloudy recreation suppose thou heardest such a poor creature giving up the ghost to speak after this manner for it is no absurdity to fain such a speech oh man what have I done to thee or what evil is found in me that like a cruel enemy thou sportest thy self at my death I have lived upon my fathers allowance and never transgrest my masters will nor makers laws as thou hast done If thou take away my life what needst thou make a sport at my death If a sparrow fall not to the ground without Gods providence surely he takes notice of my death and the manner of it and I am part of the goods thy master commends to thee as a steward and for which thou must give an account I am thy fellow-creature made of the same matter by the same hand it was not all the men on earth could have created me or given me life my life was given me by God and now it is taken away in sport to please man take heed vain man that thus dost satiate thy self with my bloud lest at last thy condition be worse then mine and thy account heavier my debt is now paid by my death and my own sufferings but thine will never be discharged by thy self to eternity this pleasure thou hast now taken will be dearly bought and this flesh of miâ—e must be satisfied for hereafter if Christ be not thy surety nay O man thou knowest not but there are some enemies if God restrained them not that do as earnestly thirst after thy bloud as thou hast done after mine and would be glad to wash their hands in it however the devil is a more cruel bloud thirsty enemy to thy soul then these dogs are to my body and goes about day and night like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and take heed lest those dogs which have now drunk my bloud and are too often fed with the poors portion and deserve death as well as I being every way as noxious do not rise up against thee another day c. Oh my soul spend no more time in recreation then thou canst afford and that is but a little till thy main work be done and then spend no more in recreation then thy state will afford and that will not be much take heed that the poors
think upon their accompts these are some but not all the drones we have amongst us oh my soul is idleness so detestable a vice take heed of it employ every talent God hath lent thee to thy Masters glory lest thou meet with the doom of the unprofitable servant spend all the time allowed thee in the world either in thy general or particular calling and spend time on nothing thou wilt be unwilling to hear of another day let not Christ when he calls for thee nor the devil when he tempts thee finde thee idle lest thou be not ready to open to the one or resist the other lest Christ reject thee and the devil vanquish thee and death usher thee into outer darkness oh my God I have much work to do and but a little time to do it in and it is work of great concernment and much time already hath been wasted by me Lord incline my heart to diligence and convince me of the necessity of working while it is called to day because the night comes that no man can work Upon the gaudy Wasp 56. Med. OBserving the wasp in her gaudy dress what an enemy she was to the painâ—ul and laborious Bee and was not content her self to be idle but robs also the Bees that do labour and feeds upon that which this painful and industrious creature hath laid up against winter and so oft-times exposes them to want and penury yea to death it self and if the poor bees make resistance kills them and spoils their habitation I observed also that this pernitious insect more hurtful then the drones before-mentioned making no provision for winter before it comes puts her head into a hole and dies the consideration of this occasioned this following Meditation I thought there were many such wasps amongst us that is such as have the nature and disposition of wasps that are hurtful to many helpful to none that live an idle life and live upon others labours and not their own and making no provision for death or eternity are then utterly destitute of what is necessary here with the rich man Luk. 16.19 c. they are cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fare deliciously every day and at last would beg a drop of water to cool their tongues but cannot obtain it but shall have punishment without pitty misery without mercy sorrow without succour crying without compassion mischief without measure torment without end and past imagination Among the rest of these gaudy wasps we may rank many griping Land-lords some Land-lords are of a better complexion but they are too few but too many are guilty of grinding the faces of the poor and the spoil of the poor is in their houses Esay 3.14 15. they make their tenants serve in the very fire and weary themselves for very vanity Hab. 2.13 and are like unto the Egyptian task-masters force the tale of their bricks and not allow them straw they pluck not only the meat from their mouths and the cloaths from their backs but the very flesh from their bones they drink not only their tears but their very sweat and bloud and all too little to satisfy their greedy humours they squeese so many tears from them in their life time that they have none left to shed for them at their death they by racking their rents and their cruel extortion draws many tears from their eyes and sobs from their hearts but God will put those tears into his bottle and those sobs into his book and will vindicate their wrongs how oft may we see greedy Land-lords force their tenants to feed their dogs with what should feed their own children a barbarous custome which will rise up in judgment against them another day They deal with their tenants as they do with their horses when they have tired them or rid them out of breath they call for a fresh one and shew not so much mercy on them as on their dogs whom they cherish if weak or weary but when the poor tenant with all his pains and diligence can no longer satisfy their greedy humours they turn them out of doors seize upon their estates perhaps cast them into prison till they have paid the utmost farthing to the ruinating of their families and exposing them to beggery and all this is to maintain their pride and luxury these men act as if they were the sole proprietors and must never give an accompt to any other Master but let such remember the parable of the man that owed ten thousand talents and would not forgive his brother a hundred pence but cast him into prison Mat. 18.23 he himself was cast in till he had paid the utmost farthing those shall have judgment without mercy that have shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 those that will not forgive others shall not be forgiven themselves let such remember the rich man Luk. 16.19 who 't is conceived refusing to give a bit of bread to Lazarus was himself denied a drop of water by Abraham But these are not all the gaudy wasps that trouble the laborious bees there are many rich men that undo their poor neighbours with unjust and vexatious Law-suits that oppress them with wrongs injuries and unjust vexations and make bold thus to do because they are too great for them to grapple with these great flies break through the net there being also too many of these wasps in places of Judicatory civil and Ecclesiastical I accuse not all and I think no wise man will justify all many Lawyers to maintain their state and garb knowingly undo their clients some by taking bribes to prevent justice some by unnecessary delays some for favour and friendship they either break the neck of a good cause or suck the clients dry before they tell them their cause is bad Ecclesiastical Courts are not much better some think far worse many officers there do as greedily prey upon the poor as ever a hungry fly did upon a galled horse back and many times make sores where they finde none and the greatest offences are not always punished with the hardest stroaks but preaching and praying is esteemed worse then swearing and cursing and that reformation of sin is not intended though pretended is apparent when poor adulterers are let alone who are not able to pay the fees of the Court when the richer are made offenders for a word Isa 29.21 let not any that are not guilty apply this to themselves but there are also too many in the Ministry that may reade their character Esay 56.10 c. but the time is coming these causes will be called over again and then it will evidently appear who are the troublers of Israel oh my soul is there such oppression such injustice in the world take heed of having a heart or hand in any such matter come not into their secrets and unto their assembly the time is coming that those that have been fed with sin will vomit up what they so greedily swallowed and those
despight of his enemies if they take away their meat saith the Martyr God can take away their hunger why not as well as he doth the life of other creatures and he will do it rather then his promise shall fail Elijah goes in the strength of one meal forty days and had God pleased it might have been forty years for he could have preserved the Israelites forty years in the wilderness without food as well as with food from heaven and as well as he preserved their garments from waxing old Deut. 29.5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness your cloaths are not waxen old upon you and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot they needed not to care what they should eat or what they should drink or wherewithall they should be cloathed for God made provision of all this they were maintained at Gods proper cost and charges methoughts also this cessation of action in these creatures in winter did much resemble sleep which if God pleased might be as long in other animals and were it not common would be thought wonderful and little differing from death it self and yet experience shews us that which seems to destroy nature doth restore and refresh it or it is like to a swoon when the symptomes of death are upon a man yea in some distempers the symptomes of life for many hours together are scarcely discerned but above all it resembles our lying in the grave and our rising again at the resurrection for the body sleeps in the dust till the last day as these creatures do in their holes till the winter is past and the spring approacheth and the silkworm never receives life till the Mulbery-trees leaves which is their food and then they shall be revived by the sun of righteousness and life put into them then these dry bones shall live This I know some question and some deny possibly because they cannot fathome the depth of this providence and were they not convinc't by yearly experience of the other they would deny that also and would think it could not be that creatures should have their life preserved the one half of the year at least without food because they know not how it should be But I think few articles of our faith are more clearly proved in Scripture then this of the resurrection but many men I fear are wilfully blinde their lives and conversations being so debaucht they would believe at least wish they could believe there were no resurrection of the body yea that the soul were mortal as well as the body and that the death of the one were the destruction of the other also but the time is coming they shall finde the contrary to their sorrow both scripture and reason speak plainly that the soul is immortal and that the body partaking with it in holiness or sin shall also partake with it in weal or wo and that there will be a day of retribution when those that now suffer for Christ shall then reign with him and those that sin shall suffer for their sin the contrary to this cannot stand with scripture-revelations the threatnings of the law the promises of the Gospel nor with divine justice it self and why should any think it impossible for God to gather our dust together and raise up our dead bodies at the last who do believe that there is a God and that he hath made not only man but the whole creation of nothing and that this God is just and will make good both his promises and threatnings and nothing is too hard for an omnipotent arm oh my soul distrust not Gods word question not his power he that can make all things of nothing can of thy scattered ashes raise up thy dead body to life and re-unite it to thy hould and he that saith he will do it will certainly perform it heaven and earth shall pass but not one tittle of his word shall pass till all be fulfilled call not in question the power and providence of God but labour to have a part in the first resurrection that the second death may have no power get fitted for death and judgement get sin pardoned and subdued which is the sting of death get grace implanted and thy soul married unto Christ then needst thou not fear death nor the resurrection oh my God strengthen my faith confirm my hope and encrease my love to thee and let me long for the time that I may enjoy thee in glory and lie for ever in the arms of my beloved Vpon beggers at the door 60. Med. WHen I saw some lusty able persons fit for service and other employment begging at the door I began to consider how disagreeing this course of life was to the word of God who had commanded men in the sweat of their brows they should eat their bread this is a law laid upon all sorts of men to sweat out a poor living brow or brain must sweat for it or our bread is eaten ere it be earned God would not have a begger in Israel and the Apostles will was those that would not labour should not eat 2 Thes 3.6 10 14. those that have enough to live on must not be idle much less those that have nothing yet many live like rats and mice only to devour what others labour for paradice that was mans store-house was also his work-house God set him to dress the garden and there should be none that like body-lice feed upon other mens sweat such idle persons often times are set on work by the devil for idleness is the hour of temptation and standing-waters are usually full of vermine Nay how disagreeing is this course of life with the laws of the land which making other provision for the poor stigmatize these wanderers by the name of rogues and appoint them to be stockt and whipt and sent back to the place of their birth or last abode and inflicts a penalty upon those that relieve them The great Turk that grand Seignior is not excepted for he hath a trade and is dayly to labour with his hands yea Divines in all ages ancient and modern and of all perswasions have exclaimed against this course of life and esteemed such persons to be the plague-sore of the Nation and not to be tolerated in a well-ordered Common-wealth they are a dishonour to the Church they live in and to the Countrey they inhabit and the heathens as well as the Christians have made laws to punish them These and the like considerations made me think correction to be the fittest alms and their restraint might hinder a great deal of sin acted by them and be a means to reduce them under government civil and Ecclesiastical which now live like lawless persons under none and neither fear God nor obey men but are the unprofitable burthens of the earth But on the other side when I considered how little provision notwithstanding in the law was made for the poor in most places and
instinct into them thus to cherish their young hath given them also so much knowledge as to fit them to do it Having spent some time in this Observation unobserved I thought to try her affections to her young ones a little further I approached the nest as if I intended to rob her of her young where I observed that poor creature naturally fearful and timerous with what boldness confidence and undaunted courage she opposed her self to her small power to have rescued her young ones out of my hand even to the hazard of her own life this plainly discovered to me the divine providence of the great householder that doth not only provide meat but also some one to give it in due season and to help those that cannot help themselves and puts such an instinct into such poor despicable creatures that they deny themselves to help their young ones and venture their lives for their safety and never leave them till they are able to help themselves and then forsake them as if they knew them not and that he gives such a blessing to the labours of these two poor wretches that such a numerous brood should be provided for and no doubt brings the prey to them by his providence this also may silence our Atheists and may make him lay his hand upon his mouth for what accidentall concurring of atomes can occasion this this made me also consider how degenerate a piece poor man is many of them having obliterated what the most savage animals have retained viz. this natural affection to their young so that we may take up that complaint against many in our times more deservedly then the Prophet doth against Israel Lam. 4.3 even the sea monsters draw out their breasts and give suck to their young ones the daughter of my people is become cruel like the Ostriches in the wilderness these forsake their children through the extremity of famine or for want of natural affection Rom. 1.31 there are many refuse to labour to maintain their charge the fouls of the air will rise up in judgment against these yea many waste and spend that riotously that is provided to their hands when these poor creatures pinch their own bellies to feed their little ones how many men and women endued with reason do so obliterate it that they expose their children wilfully to want and penury yea to plain beggery yea when the very bruits seek what they can to preserve their young and many venture their lives in their quarrel and set themselves between them and danger yet too many that bear the name of men and women have so far obliterated those principles nature hath imprinted in them that they often lay violent hands upon their own children and not only contrive their death but also effect it I would daily experience did not speak out this truth too lowd what assizes is there almost but some or other are tried for their lives upon this account But though some have a care of their childrens bodies there are but a few that make any provision for their souls though that be their master piece but suffer them to be eternally ruined Oh the stupendious folly of the most of men they train up their children as they do their horses teach them to drudge and then they think they have given them sufficient education many if they can leave them an estate though with a curse intailed upon it have their desires many are too tender of the body that have little care of the soul let that sink or swim but the time will come that the soul will be found the choisest jewel and the loss of that the greatest loss oh my soul be diligent in thy calling make provision for thy relations to thy power he that provides not for his family hath denyed the faith and is worse then an infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 be not without natural affections but that is not enough be not without spiritual affections see that they have mentem sanam in corpore sano though the body must not be neglected nor the things of the world slieghted yet know this is not the main a little grace is worth a great deal of gold keep a mean in earthly enjoyments between coveteousness prodigality fear not an extream in spirituals oh my God help me to regulate my life both to externals and internals by the rule of thy word and spirit Upon the prating of a Parrat 65. Med. HEaring a Parrat talk and prate and counterfeit mans voice and utter words which yet he understood not when I had considered of it I thought it was a lively embleme of an hypocrite for as this bird doth imitate man and counterfeits his voice so doth an hypocrite imitate a true Christian both in words and gestures speaks as he speaks and acts as he acts for what action or what duty can a Christian perform as to the external part of it which an hypocrite cannot doth not do As there is no hearb in the garden but there is some counterfeit of it in the field which resembles it so there is no grace in the heart of a believer but the devil hath its counterfeit and therefore it is a cunning thing to be a Christian and an easy thing to be deceived for what can a true Christian do for the bulk and materiality of duty but a hypocrite can do also yea sometimes seems to exceed him and as in duty so in conference and discourse it is hard to discern the one from the other hypocrisy may be spun with a fine thred and hardly discerned either in the cloath or colour from sincerity but it is often found out in the wearing to be but a cheat in storms and tempests it is apt to change colour and will not hold out but shrinks in the wetting there is indeed a difference now both in garb and language the one is truly beautiful the other is but paint and varnish which time makes to fade they speak it is true the same things but the one speaks what he knows and the other by hearsay both may discourse the deep mysteries of Religion as the parrat may mysteryes of state if taught but understand not what they say Can a true Christian discourse of redemption regeneration conversion adoption sanctification c. so can the other also but the one speaks what he feels the other not the Christian findes the marks and tokens of it in his own soul the other not can the one discourse of the workings of the spirit in the heart of a believer the actings of grace of communion with God c. so can the other can the one speak out his experiences of the goodness of God the vanity of the creature the bitterness of sin the comforts and directions of the spirit the beauty of holiness c. the other can counterfeit this also but all this while the hypocrites heart and tongue agree not he disclaims against that sin which he loves and pleads
for the holiness and integrity which he secretly hates and abhors and speaks well of God and his laws his ordinances and his people which in his heart he abhors The knowledge of the one and the other differ like that of a traveller that hath been at Rome or Venice or Jerusalem or Constantinople and hath seen those places and known those inhabitants and dwelt among them and his who hath only heard or read of them or spake with those that have seen them the latter perhaps may speak as much nay more of the scituation of the place the manners of the people the government customes and laws they are ruled by then the others can yet is not their knowledge alike the one is assured by ocular demonstration of what he speaks the other not these eyes saw it saith one these ears heard it saith the other so it is here one speaks what he knows the other what he hears Or it is like the difference between the knowledge of a diseased person and that of a physitian the latter can speak more of the causes signs and symptomes of the disease and more learnedly describe it but the other feels what he saith and knows the working of the disease in another manner of way then the physitian who hath only read of it or heard of it from others this is the difference of the knowledge between the sincere Christian and the hypocrite the one speaks knowingly experimentally feelingly truly the other speaks by rote like the parrat only what is taught him dissemblingly hypocritically and falsly pretending to experience that they do not oh my soul take heed of contenting and satisfying thy self with a bare notional knowledge without experimental heart-knowledge it is not that which floats in the brain but that which sinks down and seasons the heart and life that will do thee good the former a man may carry along with him to hell yea the devils have it in a greater measure then the most knowing man though bad words may yea will condemn thee if not repented of yet good words if any such can be without good actions and good hearts cannot save thee yea thou wilt be guilty of self-condemnation in justifying what thou dost not labour after if godliness and a holy life be good why dost thou not live thus if not why dost thou speak thus why doth not thy heart and tongue agree sincerity is the true philosophers stone it turns all into gold and makes weak performances acceptable hypocrisy turns all into dross oh my God grant me heart-knowledge as well as brain knowledge lest I go to hell with a candle in my hand such knowledge may serve to sink me not to save me to talk of the way and not walk in it little profits to speak of heaven and not enjoy will do me no good Lord let me be in substance what I am in shew yea Lord make me such as I ought to be in truth Upon a Kite kild by a Fowler eating his prey 66. Med. WHen I observed a kite that bird of prey how fiercely he struck at a trembling partrich carrying her away in her griping talons rending her in pieces in an instant when the poor innocent creature could make no resistance and none came to her rescue and devouring her yet alive all reaking in her blood and intombed her in his cruel devouring maw Methought it was as bloudy a spectacle as ever I beheld to see an innocent thus used that had never injured him but while I considered of the act behold a fowler undiscerned shot him dead upon the place in the height of his cruelty with the meat in his mouth so that he had sowr sauce to his sweet meat When I had awhile considered the matter I thought I had seen some such dealing in the world yea amongst men where one makes a prey upon another and like the fishes in the sea the great ones swallow up the lesser and feeds upon them as these birds of prey do upon those that cannot resist them The great ones of the world are like this kite good for nothing unprofitable burthens of the earth feeding upon the brains of their innocent neighbours how many cruel griping Landlords wring so many tears from their Tenants eyes in their life time that at their death they have not one more to shed how unreasonably do they rack their rents and extort unreasonable fines how do they oppress them by unreasonable impositions service and other covenants force them to do their work keep their dogs horses and such like when all this time they pay to the utmost farthing for what they have that were it not for their liberty it were as good for them live in Turky as where they do they cark and care and moil and toil and rise early and ly down late and eat the bread of carefulness they fare hard and work hard and deny themselves even necessaries yea can scarce get cloathes for their backs or meat for their bellies but moil like slaves or horses and yet all too little to satisfy their greedy Landlord who at length strips them of all they have seizeth upon their estates turns them out of house and harbour perhaps throws them into prisons where they end their misery while their families depend upon the courtesy of the parish In their poverty the Landlord deals with them as men do by their horses when one is tired they call for another and shew them not so much favour as they do their dogs for when they be wearied in their service they feed them and make provision for them Now all this cruelty is used to satisfy their insatiable avarice or to maintain their hawks and hounds and whores and other like debaucheries and all too little they suck their brains drink their tears and suck their bloud and if their Tenants or poor neighbours are wronged by them they may expect no more justice then the fox and ass in the fable that were to divide the prey with the lion they must give away their right for peace-sake part with all and think they speed well if they meet with no further mischief the laws themselves prove often like cobwebs they hold little flys but the great ones break through But the time is coming that the fowler death will strike these birds of prey to the heart and long it will not be before it be done and an impartial judge will make them vomit up the blood they have so greedily drunk and pluck the prey from between their teeth and make them know that they were the sole proprietors of what they enjoyed but that he lent it for other ends then they employed it in and now their condition will be worse then their poor Tenants and their accounts greater remember the story of Dives and Lazarus both in their life and in their death oh how good is it for men to live so as not to be ashamed to live nor afraid to dye and to keep
no fruit words but no works a shew but no substance their religion lies in the tongue and brain but never reaches the heart nor seasons the life they are most in externals little in internals they regulate their words and actions but the heart is not restrained or purified the heat of their zeal appears chiefly if not only in their words but the heart is cold enough they take up the easie cheap and safest part of duty but the difficult dangerous or costly part they meddle not with they make a shew of what they are not and brag of what they have not and then they laugh in their sleeves to think how they have couzened and put a cheat upon the world they worship that God in the Church that they matter not in the closet they do no religious duty without witness haply for fear God should deny what he hath received from them they are like rotten wood they shine in the night but look upon them in the day and you will finde the cheat they are like the red and blew flowers in the corn-field fine to look upon good for little but to pester the corn they are like candles they usually go out in an offensive snuff they are Saints abroad and devils at home and usually more dangerous when they appear like Saints then when they shew themselves in their colours and act the devils part bare-faced but doubtless these are not the men that God will accept nor this is not the service he requires he is a spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth yea the father seeketh such to worship him John 4.23.24 he calls for the heart my son saith he give me thy heart not thy tongue or hands but the heart for if he have that the rest will follow Pro. 23.26 as the heart is by nature God will have none of it till the heart be renewed and given to the Lord he will accept of nothing that comes from us he calls for the heart and says of it as Joseph did of Benjamin Gen. 43.3 ye shall not see my face without it or as David did of Michal 2 Sam. 3.13 thou shalt not see my face except thou bringest Michal Sauls daughter when thou comest These men would give the Lord any thing but the heart and he will own nothing without it these professors are like men in a boat they look one way and row another or like the kite that soares aloft towrs on high as if they were all for heaven and made light of all terrestriall things when still her eye is upon her prey and her heart glued to the ground and rooted in the earth they are like unto the peacock they have fine feathers but yet is but a dunghill-bird but these shews will not always serve turn God sees through their thin masks and will ere long pluck off their vizour be not deceived God is not mocked there are none can steal to heaven in a disguise God will know him well that shall enter there there is a sure guard and without this ticket of holiness none will be admitted this is Christ sheep-mark and those and those alone that have it shall stand upon his right hand at judgment when he comes to seek fruit and findes none he will take up his axe he hath long and may for a while spare the tree for the vine-dressers sake but his patience will not always last he will say pray not for this people for they are ripe for destruction when the sins of the Amorites were full their destruction drew neer when these borrowed robes are pluckt from the stageplayers backs for so the word hypocrite signifies then those that acted the parts of Kings will be found but peasants and those that acted the parts of honest men will be found but cheats indeed God hath many fans and much of this chaff is blown away in this life we have seen many that appeared to be something proved just nothing but when Christ comes with refiners fire and fullers soap who can stand before this burning the lamps of profession may light a man to death near to heaven oh my soul thou hast made profession of Religion a long time what fruit dost thou bring forth if thou hast nothing but tears thou maist expect that Christ shall say to thee as to the fruitless figtree never fruit grow more on thee for ever or if thy fruit be bad it will not be long but thou wilt be cut down what cause hast thou to fear that art so sensible of so much unsavory and rotten fruit and of so little that is good up then and be doing that thy last days may be thy best days and thy best wine last oh my good God though hypocrisy lodge in me let it not reign in me give me truth in the inward parts keep my heart sound in thy testimonies and I shall be safe Upon a dead tree 83. Med. OBserving a dead tree in the orchard that had neither fruit nor leaves and so was neither for profit nor pleasure for fruit nor ornament but rather an encumbrance to the ground and a deformity to the place I began upon this Observation to consider that this was the case of many a poor dead soul amongst us who though planted in Gods vineyard hedged about by his providence and watered with the dew of heaven and manured by the skilfullest vine-dressers yet remains dead fruitless and useless and hath done so many years and hath done nothing all this while but cumber the ground and keep a room and did but grow worse and worse and every day more fitter for the fire then other this minded me of Gods mercy and mans wickedness Gods mercy in sparing such unprofitable wretches some of them 50 or 60 years together and all that while sending his vine-dressers to dig and dung and manure them from year to year that never yielded any good fruit in their lives and mans wickedness that will not be won upon by all these entreaties and continued favours that are so hard that neither the sun nor the rain can soften neither fair means nor foul can work upon them and to this day do yet remain a reproach to the place they live in for sin saith Solomon is a reproach to any people Pro. 14.34 when righteousness exalteth a Nation True Religion and the power of godliness is the beauty and bulwark of a Nation but sin is a deformity and an evil disease it is the snuff that dims our candle yea threatens the removal of our candlestick Capernaum that once was lifted up to heaven is threatned to be cast down to hell if a dead tree deform a well-regulated orchard and is such an offence that it will not be endured by the owner nor be suffered to stand or if a dead carkass be so loathsom a thing that in a little time the nearest and dearest relations and the most intimate friends are weary of it how loathsome then is a
dead soul to God though the unsavoury smell of it be not perceived by natural men for how can one dead man smell another you may as well expect good fruit from a dead tree as any good action from a dead man perhaps something good for the matter may be done by a natural man as prayer fasting and almes-deeds from the Pharisees but the manner or ends spoil all but he that can say to dry bones live can say to a dead soul live and he that at the first brought light out of darkness can enlighten a darkned understanding The soul can act nothing truly good or acceptable to God till it be taken off the stock of nature and planted into that generous vine Christ then will it bear good fruit when it is nourished with sap from this root it must needs germinate and bring forth but without this there is neither bud nor blossome the soul by nature brings forth briars and brambles thorns and thistles weeds and baggage for to these it is not dead but only to good works these other are the fruits of the curse and these will choak the good seed and render it unprofitable the heart is alive to those but dead to grace and holiness of natural men God saith their vine is the vine of Sodom and of the field of Gomorrha their grapes are grapes of gall and their clusters are bitter their wine is the poyson of dragons and the cruel venime of asps their works yea their best works are pernitious the vine is their corrupt nature and the grapes their evil works which proceed from this vine their spot is not the spot of Gods people Deut. 32.5 the saints have their spots but these are not like theirs they are not so deeply ingraven wicked mens spots are like the Leopards not only in the skin but in the flesh yea in the very heart and therefore can be cured by none but Christ the great Physitian they cannot be cured by the art of man or washt away by any water the sin of the saints is but like the viper on Pauls hand through Gods mercy they hurt him not how many of these dead trees may we observe among us yea how few that be alive and few bear so much as a leaf they make no profession of Religion at all but deform the place where they are and procure a curse upon it I fear it may be said of England in a spiritual sence as once it was said of Egypt there was not a family that there was not some dead person in it and I fear there are very few free amongst us nay are not most familyes all thus spiritually dead and it appears they are dead when after twenty years dressing pruning watering and manuring and that by the most skilfull husbandmen who have spent their time their strength and their lives in the work yet they do not bring forth one leaf much lesse any good fruit and there is none can cure them but he that can put life into them and say to a dead soul live and can transplant them from the stock of nature into that noble vine Christ that they are dead is apparent for their souls have all the symptoms of death upon them they have neither heat nor breath nor sence nor motion if God call they hear not if his hand be stretched out they observe it not if a load of sin ly upon them as heavy as a mountain of lead they feel it not nor the deep gashes sin makes in the soul present before a dead man the bloudiest spectacle that ever was beheld or the pleasantest sight that ever was seen all is one he sees neither the one nor the other the roaring cannon and the sweetest musick is all one the sweetest savour and the fulsomest stink he cannot difference the lightest feather and the heaviest mountain signify the same the sweetest meat and the rankest poyson and why because he is dead no more can a dead soul judge of spiritual things promises and threatnings are all alike he is moved neither with the one or with the other oh my soul this hath been thy case thou hast been spiritually dead dead in trespasses and sins thou hast been spiritually deaf and dumb and blinde and lame and if it be better with thee bless God for it for it was he and not thy self put life into thee bring forth now fruit sutable to a tree that hath life that is transplanted into Christ that hath had such planting dressing and manuring as thou hast had that Gods labour be not lost upon thee oh my God remove those obstructions that hinder me from bearing fruit and purge me that I may bring forth more fruit put life into me and I shall live Upon a tree seemingly dead in winter 84. Med. WHen I observed in the winter-season those trees formerly green and flourishing and richly laden not with leaves only but good fruit but now were stript of all and had neither leaf nor fruit but lookt withered dead and dry and no difference appeared between the fruitfull and the barren yea scarce any between the living and the dead yet in the spring following when the sun shone upon them with a more direct ray and warm beams and the rain from heaven watered them and refresht them they revived sprung again budded bloomed and bare fruit I thought this did lively resemble a poor deserted souls condition in her widowhood when her husband hath forsaken her and seems to give her a bill of divorce when the sun of righteousness is either set upon her clouded or ecclipst or at least very remote from her sight then with the Marigold she droops hangs the head and is contracted into her self it is then winter with her and little difference appears between her and a dead soul at least in her own apprehensions when God hides his face from the soul or any thing interposes between them that she cannot see him then is she in a languishing condition and crys out with the spouse did ye see him whom my soul loveth Cant. 3.3 she cannot hide this fire in her bosome or conceal this love but it will break out then she goes from one Ordinance to another from one Minister to another enquiring after her husband Christ every corner of the house can witness her moan for his absence nothing will satisfie nothing will content but him give me Christ or else I die never did hungry man more earnestly desire meat nor thirsty man desire drink or Rachel desire children then an hungry soul desires Christ But when the sun of righteousness doth arise with healing in his wings Mal. 4.2 the soul that before was cold and chill now becomes lively and active these cherishing rays make her bud and bloom and bring forth what Job speaks of a tree seemingly dead and withered yet saith he through the scent of water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a plant Job 14.7 c. is really true of
better provided the soul here wears the body as a garment which when it is worn out the saints shall have a better suit they shall be choathed with the Lord Jesus Christ death will not spare the best there is no coming to paradice but under the flaming sword of this guardian that stands at the porch no wiping all tears from our eyes but with our winding-sheet assurance of Gods love makes a man even willing to die but the cook on the dunghill knows not the worth of this jewel oh the blindness madness and stupidity of man whose care is to lade himself with thick clay and to take care what he shall eat or what he shall drink or wherewithall he shall be cloathed and makes no provision for the soul but depends upon that for comfort that can do no good when most need is they can provide in the day for the night in the summer for the winter on the market-day for the whole week and at a Fair for the whole year and yet make no provision in life for death or in time for eternity if a coelestial habitation be not provided against those houses of clay our bodies wherein the soul lodgeth as a tenant at will be dissolved our lodging will be worse then with toads and serpents even with the devil and his angels in endless easeless and remediless torments oh my soul how fares it with thee or what preparation hast thou made long it cannot be before night comes where then will be thy lodging the earth then will be to thee as the waters to Noahs dove thou wilt finde no rest here for the sole of thy foot it is in heaven that the weary be at rest Job 3.17 oh my God enable me to clear up my interest in Christ who is the only sanctuary for a troubled soul Upon sickness spoiling all earthly delights 98. Med. WHen I had fitted things to my minde and began to take delight in the works of my hands when I began to sing a requiem to my self and my heart with Solomons rejoyced in all my labour Eccl. 2.10 yea when I had promised my self content in what I had done I was suddenly forced to say with wise Solomon Eccles 14. behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit nothing in themselves yet sufficient to vex and perplex us sin hath produced a confusion in the world and stampt vanity upon the creature every man saith David in his best estate is altogether vanity this is the impartiall verdict brought in by one that could best tell and to this I was forc't to subscribe for God immediatly humbled me for setting my affection upon creature-comforts and let me see the vanity of them by visiting me with a fit of sickness that I was taken off from setting my delight or taking satisfaction in or upon them or taking any pleasure in any thing that I had done nay I was troubled that I had not spent my time better and that I had not planted set or sown in a more fertile soil where I might have expected a more plentiful encrease and had a better crop this providence seemed to speak to me as Christ did to the rich man Luk. 12.16 c. that set his heart on his riches and was not rich to God thou fool this night shall thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these this shewed me more of the vanity of humane felicity then I had before observed I plainly saw there was a double uncertainty in all earthly felicity and in sublunary enjoyments for they themselves are very uncertain and many times short-lived and may leave us or we may by death be arrested and then we shall leave them God sometimes takes them from us they take themselves wings and fly away and shall we set our eyes upon things that are not Pro. 23.5 there is no solid substance in them though the foolish world call it by that name they are as transitory as a hasty headlong torrent but if they remain we shall remove for our life passeth away as a shadow or post or weavers shuttle and continueth not and then those winged fouls that now sit upon our trees shall sit upon other mens sometimes God blows upon them and blasts them that though we do enjoy them they prove but a vexation to us sometimes he disables us to use them and sometimes imbitters them to us mixing them with gall and wormwood that we can finde no pleasure in them and assuredly they will do us little good when we have most need suppose a man to have what the world can afford yea all the delights of the sons of men yea all that his heart can wish as Solomon had Eccl. 2.27 yet one hours sickness spoils all his mirth and robs him of all the comfort he promised to himself one fit of the collick gout strangury or other raging pain yea the extream pain of an aking tooth puts a man besides all these his enjoyments yet how greedily do men grasp after the world as if it included the highest degree of happiness and hug it in their bosome and lodge it nearest to the heart which will prove no better nay much worse then a bush of thorns if graspt too hard so this the harder it is handled the worse it hurts oh folish man cannot these earthly enjoyments give ease to an aking head or heart can they not mitigate the pains of the gout collick stone or strangury and can it be imagined they can ease the conscience or cure a sinsick soul if not what good can they do it could Judas Achitophel Spira and others fetch any comfort here in their extremity no no they are like Jobs friends miserable comforters at such a time what good will gold do at death and judgment this coin is not currant in the other world nay in this world it brings little content if God frown if one spark of hell-fire flash in the conscience all these things cannot extinguish it one drop of it will mar a whole cup of earthly delights that in the midst of laughter the heart will be sorrowful and the end of that mirth will be heaviness Pro. 14.13 nulla est sincera voluptas wicked men may dance to the timbrel and harp but suddenly they turn into hell Job 21.12 13. and their merry dance ends in a miserable downfall the candle of the wicked shall out in a snuff and what will all these outward enjoyments signify then Jobs flower Jonahs gourd and Davids green bay-tree will soon wither and their beauty will fade all these things will leave us at death many times before how much need then have we to make preparation before-hand of something that will stand us instead This sickness of mine also taught me how unfit a time this was for repentance and yet how many post it off till then oh how unfit was I to examine my heart and call my sins to minde to repent of them when racking pains brought