much more are heauenly Mat. 24. 29 Luk. 21. 25. Great difference betweene the beautie of the soule and body Eternall ioy cannot be had but by death The word Glorie what it imports Ion. 4. 6 7. The glory of the World what it is Future glorie Act. 12. 23. Luk. 14. 11. Gods wonderful fauours towards vs. The glory to come vnspeakeable Not to pāper the bodie The sum of a Christians care God will raise the body totally at the last Day Hard for naturall men to beleeue the Resurrection Rom. 10 9. 1. Pet. 1. 3. Iob 19. 26 27 and 14. 14. Esai 26. 19 20. Iohn 3. 25. The godly and the wicked shall rise but to contrarie ends The Resurrection of the iust vniust Psal. 14. 1. Psal. 119. 165. An obiection Answere Heb. 12. 6 7 8. Iob 5. 17. Rom. 8. Iob. 5. 18. Sinne the cause of affliction Hag. 2. Gods children haue inward comforts in outward crosses Spirituall wealth will not pay carnall debts A carnall opinion Carnall securitie of the rich and assurance and content of the poore Dan. 1. 8. Luk. 16. 19. Debt a heauy burden Al haue a corporall and aspirituall being The godly haue their conuersation in heauen Phil. 3 20. Though locall heauen be far aboue vs heauenly comforts are neere the earnest of our inheritāce Act. 6. 15. The glory of the godly is within Luk. 16. 20 Iob 2. 8. to 13. The miseries of Gods childrē great eased through hope Som grow somestand at a stay or wither Psal. 37. Psal. 37. In our dependance on Gods prouidēce wee must labour in our callings Nothing prospers without Gods blessing Feare of future want causeth mourning most Debt of a man dying is grieuous to him and his The effects of pouertie riches left to posteritie The benefit of pouertie the incōmoditie of riches left to children Vertue a great patrimonie Vertue riches of the mind not by propagation Pouertie in it selfe no fault Widdowhood a sorrowfull portion A taxation for pouertie in a seeming aduantagious calling Pro. 12. 11. Ecclus. 33. 26. Ecclus. 40. 14. Good and bad are blessed but to seuerall ends 2. Cor. 8. 21. Rom. 12. 17 The meaning of prouiding for families The care of brute creatures ouer their young The contrarie of the true meaning of prouiding for families Intayling possessions A kind of infidelitie in prouiding Riches without the feare of God quickly spent Honour maintayned by possessions but better by vertue A kind of preposterous dignifying Vertue not obserued in poore men The word Chance excludes diuine prouidence Worldly wisdome spirituall folly and contrarie 1. Cor. 3. 19. 1. Kin. 17. 8. Act. 8. 27. 1 King 21. 1. King 20. 23. All things are vnder Gods disposing Mat. 10. 30 Luk. 12. 7. He that hath done all that he can may be excused No doubt but many rich men may bee good Iosh. 7. 1. 2. Kin. 5. 22. A foolish proposition 2. Kin. 5. 15. He that gaue the spirit to Elisha knowes all things Offices colour Briberies God not ignorant of Briberies 2. Kin. 5. 27 Vnlawfull execution of a lawful calling dangerous and vnhappie 1. Tim. 6. 6. Phil. 4. 11. Mat. 6 25. 34. Gen. 28. 20. A godly care not forbidden so we shew no distrust in God Mat. 6. 11. Dan. 1. 8. Meane fare by Gods blessing nourisheth sufficiently Eccles. 1. 2. The rich are neuer satisfied yet euer poore As gaine so desire increaseth A true meane hard to finde God the World cannot dwell in one heart Luk. 16. 13. Matt. 6. 33 What are things necessarie Differēce betweene humane policie diuine wisedome Gen. 41. 47 48. Gen. 28. 20. A competent estate to the contented God in all things hath been my Schole master Gen. 4. 21. vers 22. A thankelesse profession A calling subiect to censure To be subiect to a double censure requires care of a mans carriage Not to relinquish our calling for false suggestions A cleere consciēce makes bold Pro. 28. 1. All men are subiect to euil toungs Is none so iust but conscience or wicked men will taxe for iniustice Obiection A slanderer woūds himselfe Best not to regard what the wicked say Esa. 51. 7 8 Pro. 12. 11. The idle are least at leisure to doe good Handie trade lawfully vsed can hardly purchase much Land Officers may Act. 18. 3. Mat. 4. 18. Mar. 2. 14. Col. 4. 14. All haue need to pray The cause of household troubles Some to auoide worldly miserie fall into mischief Luk. 16. 20. Two extremes of pouertie andriches He is happiest that seekes to be filled with heauenly things The loue of God in pouertie is greatest portion Death giues equall portions to poore and rich Mat. 16. 21 God keeps them low whom hee loues 1. Pet. 5. 7 Luk. 12. 22. Mat. 6. 26. Mat. 6. 26. The very brute beasts and fowles must trauaile for their food how much more man Mās beautie farre short of the flowres Matt. 6. 28. Mans estate like a flower here Esa. 40. 6. 1. Pet. 1. 24 Psal. 78. 39. The fragilitie of man Why we should not be too carefull of worldly things As no man cā put off death so can he not prolong life Death cureth all diseases How farre to couet long life Exo. 23. 26. First point to liue godly All duties performed by holy obedience 1. Sam. 15. 22 23. Hos. 6. 6. All good is of God euill of ourselues Outward vertues gaine but a bare name of holinesse We must haue God before our eyes both in doing and suffering We must striue to do better things then the Philosophers did Second point to prepare vs for death No continuing Citie here Needlesse to dissuade the poore from couetousnes To depēd on God The safest course to cast our care vpon God Rom. 6. 13. Vers. 12. Iam. 1. 15. Gal. 5. 16. Iob. 12. 35. We ought to walke from euill to good Psal. 1. 1. Vers. 2. The most godly haue most troubles Dan. 14. 33 Dan. 6. 16. Exod. 24. 18 1. Kin. 19. 8 Gen. 21. 19. God helpeth when most need is Ismael Iudg. 15. 18 19. Nothing so dry out of which God cannot bring water 1. Kin. 17. 9 Ioh. 1. 7 8. God feedeth his faithfull children as long as they haue neede God can feed many with a little Matth. 15. 33 34. Mar. 6. 38. to 45. Ioh. 6. 9. Exo. 17. 5 6 1. King 17. 46. Examples of Gods prouidēce numberlesse Gen. 15. Iudgements against the vniust Psal. 76. 7. Vers. 12. Act. 5. Ephe. 2. 1 2 Rom. 3. 19. We cannot suffer what we haue deserued 1. Cor. 15. 58. An vnwarrantable opinion against Gods working miraculously at this day answered Exod. 17. 6. and 4. 3. 2. King 1. 10 11 12. 2. Kin. 2. 14 Act. 16. 16. Act. 3. 4. Miracles to bee wrought by men are ceased but the same power of God remaynes Luk. 1. 46. If God were not powerfull and proui dent as in time past wee may pray in vaine All know why God afflicteth
sinners I had perished through thy iust iudgement long agone euen in my youth for as soone as I was able to speake though vnderstanding little I indeuoured to excuse my childly errors with vntruths falshood lying growing to mans estate and to the abilitie to act greater sinnes I omitted no one forbidden vanitie offered to any of my sences but greedily imbraced it and as I increased in yeeres and in strength to sinne so did I increase in cōmitting wickednesse neither reuerencing thee nor seeking to know thee or to obey thee according to my dutie but rebelled against thee and thy Lawes as if thy threats against sinne and sinners had been only to terrifie and not to punish them And thy promises of spirituall comforts and future happines had been only to withdraw mee from my carnall delights wherein I reposed all my felicitie perswading my selfe there was no danger in sin nor reward for well-doing Thus foolish was I and ignorant by nature shewing that I had no originall goodnesse in mee but corrupt in my conception sinfull in my birth and wicked in my life and consequently the childe of wrath This masse of miserie befell me by the fall of the first man ADAM in whom I was first good and pure and righteous and holy like vnto thee O God of heauen And had not Adam defaced that Image of sanctitie in himselfe I should haue remained holy as thou art holy for euer But by his disobedience I lost in him all obedience towards thee and became a Rebell like vnto him euen in his loynes for in him I was conceiued in sinne and through the corruption of that my conception I only bring forth iniquitie Beeing thus miserably cast downe from glorie to shame from light to darknesse from sanctitie to sin from Heauen to Hell to whom shall I appeale for reliefe whose aide shall I craue for the obtayning of thy fauour loue againe for being depriued of thee I am dead being aliue if I die without thee I die eternally But Lord now I know thee and whom thou hast sent IESVS CHRIST and I know that in thy seuere iustice through him thou remembrest mercie and in thy fierce wrath thou shewest compassion which in nothing appeareth so much as in the performance of thy promise in sending thy Sonne the Seede of the Woman who according to thy Couenant hath conquered Satan and trodden downe the Serpent by whome our first Parents were inuenomed and stung vnto death and I in them But now in and by that sacred Seede Iesus Christ that poysonous sting is remoued and all beleeuers restored to life Therefore Lord Iesu thou Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercie vpon me take away my sins wash me and make mee cleane through thy bloud from all my filthinesse giue me a liuely faith to take hold of thy merits and to depend vpon thy promises of saluation And that I may apply thy salutarie death vnto my sicke and diseased soule wounded by the dart of sinne and guilt of disobedience set thy righteousnesse against my sins and thine obedience to my disobedience couer me with the Robe of thine owne Innocencie that the foulenesse of my deseruings may be hidden from mine highly-offended God who by promise will impute thy most absolute integritie to be mine as he imputed and laid all the sinnes of Adams posterity vpon thee as thine Lord now at the last lighten mine vnderstanding purifie my heart sanctifie my will order all mine affections and actions and rectifie so my conuersation as I may walke as thy truly adopted sonne in holinesse and true righteousnesse and be kept euer blamelesse vntill the glorious appearing of Christ my Sauiour in whose name I now come vnto thee most louing and mercifull Father beseeching thee for his sake that I feeling and confessing the hainousnesse of my sinnes past and groning vnder the burden of them may feele the release and ease of them in that I through thy holy Spirit am assured and stedfastly doe beleeue that CHRIST my most louing Redeemer hath borne the burden of them euen for me Grant deare Father that I being assured hereof in my conscience may be renewed in the inner man through thy grace that I may hate detest and abhor sinne and indeuour to liue according to thy will all the dayes of my life And for as much gracious Lord God as I must here continue during thine appointed time in this dangerous wildernesse of many vanities subiect to many troubles tryed with many temptations and compassed with many and infinite miseries and dangers hauing of my selfe no succour no defence no safetie but in thine alone fauour power and prouidence I humbly pray and beseech thee O mercifull Lord God to looke downe from heauen vpon me in mercy and louing kindnesse Shew mee thy wayes teach mee thy pathes leade mee euer in thy Truth and instruct me in the things that I ought to learne and learne mee how to practise to leade my life according vnto the same lest I follow vanities and delight in sinne lest I fall into troubles and there bee none to deliuer mee lest Sathan preuaile against me and I fall from thee and lest I fall into dangers and perish in my miseries Turne thy face towards me O Lord and cheere me with the brightnesse of thine amiable countenance for when thou turnest thy face from me I faint and when thou hidest thy countenance I fall fearefully As long as thou art with me I am safe when thou leauest mee then troubles afflict me enemies insult me and triumph ouer me I am then subiect to all miseries Satan with his temptations preuaileth my corrupt affections misleade me the world with vanities distract me and I am not able to looke vp my heart is cast downe my mind is estranged from all goodnesse and my will is carried into all forbidden things So that I am as a dead man or rather no man but the meere image of a man in whom dwelleth neither right reason nor humane vnderstāding a beast in thy sight Hide not therefore thy face from me O Lord nor cast thy seruant away in displeasure Thou hast been euer and in all things my succour leaue me not now O Lord nor forsake me O God of my saluation But continue thy loue and fauour towards mee that I may againe recouer my spirituall strength and be enabled to serue thee with a faithfull constant and obedient heart vnto the end In my necessitie furnish me O Lord with all competent meanes for the maintenāce of my present life and estate here in plen tie make me truly thankefull in want patient in sicknesse be thou my Physician and heale me and preuent Satan that he in the time of my finall visitation ouer charge me not laying before the eyes of my weake conscience my sins past but arme me with the assurance of thy mercies and with a liuely hope of future glorie with thee in the heauens
heart a sanctified spirit that I may walke here before thée and here doe thy will as thy Saints and heauenly Companies doe thy will in Heauen that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may bee numbred among thy Saints Militant that I may not feare to bee translated from this place of banishment vnto that Inheritance purchased by Christ my Redéemer where I shall partake of his glory with thy Saints now Triumphant in that most glorious new Ierusalem While I liue here let thy Word bée deare vnto me let the Crosse of my Lord and Sauiour Christ be euer before the eyes of my mind euer assuring my selfe that his death is my life make mee therefore holy as he is holy And as hee layd downe his most sacred bodie in the Earth for a time and rose againe to glorie and as hee resigned his afflicted yet innocent Soule into thy hands euen for me to follow him so grant that whensoeuer or howsoeuer my soule shall leaue this mortall bodie it may follow my Loue Iesus to the place to which hee is gone before While I liue here leaue me not Father vnto my selfe for I am weake and mine enemies are strong but thou art Truth the strongest kéepe mée vnder thy feathers and bind mée vp in the bundle of thine Elect neuer to be deuided or set apart from them that shall bee saued make my life perfect to euery good worke and worke in mee that which is pleasant in thy sight through Jesus Christ Amen Lord increase and euer confirme my faith MEDIT. III. THough death now be the end of my fleshly part it is sufficient that I am assured of the continuing life of my soule after the temporall death of my body which yet shall not so perish but it shall haue a future being and bee re-vnited to my soule and so bee made one glorified body by the glory of Christ my Redeemer The present consideration of death can therefore but put mee in minde of and giue mee desire to bee dissolued to enioy a better life And thereby so much the more mooue me to frame my life in my health as if I were presently dying Death is certaine common to all the time vncertaine to all yet all liue not as if their death were neer or that they did think that death would come at all But let no man deceiue himselfe by his long life that death is farre off or that it hath forgotten him it will come as a Thiefe suddenly to some sooner to some later to all when they least suspect it In the first Age of the World men liued long many hundred yeeres Methusalah almost one thousand yeeres Adam Noah and many others to an extraordinarie age In their dayes it might haue beene conceiued by the number of their yeeres that they might haue liued many thousand yeeres But being all seene in their times and turnes to dye the opinion of a perpetuall life in earth was found erronious As the World grew in age so decreased the ages of men In Dauids time the age of man was seldome aboue threescore and ten if hee liued to fourescore it was reputed a great age rare yet nothing pleasant to the partie for weaknesse and infirmities of so many kinds commonly possesse the bodies and mindes of that age as these dayes are but a burden vnto them yeelding only sorrow heauinesse griefes and miseries And yet many of that decrepit age are loth to dye which may argue no godly preceding life Moses before Dauids time liued one hundred twenty yeeres and was then in that state of strength and agilitie of bodie and perfection of his sences as in his best age and strongest yeeres yet he dyed Mine own naturall father liued one hundred and three yeeres lusty and strong much admired for his agilitie euen to that age yet I doe not by these precedents collect any probabilitie or hope that I shall liue much more then halfe his yeeres though I presently feele no apparant tokens but desire of my dissolution And therefore I account my life but a meere watch for the time of death If I had seene the man that had liued many thousand yeeres and were yet in health and strength I should bee farre from flattering my selfe that I might liue the longer for his long life yet I see that one man couets to attaine vnto the yeeres of the most aged The man of sixtie or seuentie yeeres desires to liue to eightie he of eightie to one hundred yet doe we scarcely see one man of ten thousand to see one hundred nor one of one hundred seuentie yeeres nor one of fiftie fortie yeeres If I should liue one hundred yeeres when death comes it is but as if I were in my Cradle Twentie yeeres in expectation seemeth farre more then one hundred yeeres past I thinke it therefore wisedome not to allow vnto my selfe the assurance of many yeeres not of many dayes nay not of one houre for I see some suddenly stricken dead yea in a moment a fearefull spectacle yet little moouing some beholders But this vse Wisedome teacheth me to make of other mens lots namely to keepe continuall watch ouer my desires wordes and wayes that I may so liue as if I saw Death with his Dart at my brest Death then being certaine and his comming vncertayne by the rule of right reason I should bee alwayes readily prepared for Death imports feare and Feare presupposeth danger Danger requireth watchfulnesse Watchfulnesse patience Patience Faith and Hope As touching the first namely feare it is both filial and son-like and seruile or slauish which last I exempt as not the feare required of mee in this expectation and watchfulnes for death But the feare which becomes a most dutifull sonne to a most louing father is it wherewith I desire alwaies to be truly qualified hauing an eye euer vnto God as the eye of a Mayden to the hand of her Mistris fearing in loue not louing for feare When Baruch read the booke of the curses against Iudah and Israel vnto the people both the good and the bad feared Some fearing as children desiring to be reformed according to the Law of the Lord some as slaues feared the horror of punishment threatned without eyther the loue of God or their owne reformation This is not the feare that Salomon prescribes where he saies Feare ye the Lord all his Saints and depart from euil He that sayes he feareth God and walketh not in his wayes feareth not at all as he ought to feare and that for want of Wisedome for as wisedome is giuen to them that feare God so doth the feare of God shew it selfe by wisedome namely by gouerning his life according to the Word of God Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and walketh in his waies So that it is not in mee nor of my selfe to feare God I must be first blessed of God before I can truly
beautifull flowers are they quickly fade and fall away Whereby we are taught that how gawdily or gloriously soeuer we couet to beautifie our bodies wee make them neuer the more permanent but as these flowers wither and fall leafe after leafe through the defect of the sap that first caused them to flourish so man liue he neuer so long and neuer so full of glorie when the sap of nature begins to wax drie in him his most glorious leaues begin to fade and faile one after another the strong men his legs begin to weaken and falter the grinders his teeth fall out of the head the lookers the eyes wax dim one part after another decayes till the bodie totally comes to dust in the graue This is the glorie of the most glorious hee buds blossoms ripes rots as doth the flower in the garden the grasse of the field and as a shaddow a dreame and as a fancie flyes to his end and liue he neuer so long his life is but as a tale that is told Doe wee not daily see the youngest strongest among humane creatures liuely full of agilitie and corporall actiuitie in the morning who yet before night are eyther naturally or accidētally oftentimes cut downe and in their graues Why therefore should I or you that shall perchance suruiue me be so sollicitous and ouercarefull of worldly things especially seeintg he longest liuer cannot enioy what he desireth with any true contentment aboue fortie or fiftie yeeres for till he bee twentie hee is vnder gouernment not at his owne will after that he is wearied with labours and cares of the world when he comes to sixtie or seuentie yeeres hee be comes decrepit vnapt vnable to follow his owne occasions To bee in league with death as hoping he will forbeare the execution of his warrant vpon vs or by arte to indeuour to put off old age though many desire it none can doe it the richest by his gifts the strongest by his valour the wisest by his policie nor the most cunning by any artificiall deuice or stratagem he can contriue Who can free himselfe of a feuer who can rid himselfe of the gout of the stone or of any other inherent infirmitie of the bodie Surely none but death death is the Phisician that cures all the diseases present in the bodie yet we like not his phisick wee are contented to vse art money we willingly giue to auoyd it and yet it is commonly seene that hee that seekes and desires most to prolong his life is most suddenly taken by death and he that seekes most to flie from it him it followes euen at the heeles and hee that couets most to saue his life soonest loseth it I thinke it therefore greatest wisdome so farre to couet long life as it may stand a blessing of God during which life we are to meditate necessarily two especial points namely how to leade our liues how to entertaine death when it comes As touching the first we are inioyned therefore bound to liue godly which comprehendeth all the dueties of a Christian life which duties although they be many are all performed by holy obedience to God which consisteth in a perfect obseruing of his diuine Precepts namely in doing that which is good and auoyding that which is euill The good commanded cannot be done by nature which is corrupt but by grace freely giuen the euill which is forbidden comes and is done by nature The effects of good and ill affections consist in action by seuerall operations the good which we doe God worketh both in vs and by vs the euill which wee doe is of by our selues The like in suffering the good suffer euill with patience not the euill of doing but the bearing of euils and wrongs offerd without grudging The wicked suffer euen goodnesse as it were against their wils and commit euils against the good wittingly and with their wils The good endeuour to leade their liues vnspotted in the world not as did many Heathen Philosophers who had both the actiue and passiue parts of doing good and suffering euill that in great measure of patience wanting only diuine knowledge consequently faith which are no more ours by nature then they were theirs Therefore if I or you should onely indeuour a kinde of Philosophical outward and morall goodnes without the internal working of grace through faith wee should by our such doing and suffering gaine but that which they gayned a bare name of holinesse although wee as some of them did would voluntarily giue our bodies to death wee should thereby gain but the more future miseries In all our doings and sufferings wee must set GOD alwayes before the eye of our mindes taking hold of Christ by faith by whome hee hath reueiled himselfe vnto vs to be our louing Father not vnto them without Christ wee are euen as the former Gentiles were vnder the curse but by and through him made heires of the Kingdome of glorie whereof although these Philosophers were endued with humane wisedome farre aboue vs they had yet no vnderstāding of nor were partakers of that true glorie which is by Christ. Therefore must we that liue in the light of Truth striue to bee partakers of better things then they that liued in the darknesse of ignorance for vs to come short of their care of doing the good they suppos'd good in doing that wee know to bee good were most palpable idlenesse and seuerely punishable We must therefore while it is to day studie and practise to be holy in deede not in shew like the Pharises whose seeming sanctitic was all external and internally were prophane hypocrites As touching the second point of Meditatiō namely of the vncertayne comming and to be prepared for death cast your eye vpon the fore-part of the former treatie where you may peraduenture finde matter of Meditation touching this point In briefe Remember your ends namely death and if you haue any grace it will preuent sinne in you so walke in health as if you should presently die ye shall find it a remedy against the vanities of this life Who can thinke of present death and yet delight himselfe in the vncertayne things of this world Hee that is still dying begins his eternall life here and remembers that hee hath here no continuing Citie and therefore thinks of seekes that which is to come not liuing as the secure conetous man in the Gospell flattering his soule to remaine many yeeres in his bodie not hauing one night to liue Yee are poore I confesse I cannot enrich you and therefore to disswade you from couetousnesse may seeme superfluous yet I thinke not but a begger may be as couetous and as greedy to get hoord vp as the richest man flie it therefore in your smallest meanes it is the roote of all other sinnes it depriues men of the
dangerous thing to accompanie such as liue viciously and inordinately for of them yee shall but learne to be vicious and so to perish with them through GODS iust iudgement therefore if yee haue any fellowship with such come from among them returne to GOD that hee may returne to you trust in him that hee may protect you and direct you let your wils be guided and gouerned by his reueiled will and so with patience possesse your soules bee not led by your owne wisedome but apply your mindes and wills to his will who is wisedome it selfe Aske of him and he will giue you wisedome yea such wisdome as like as the Serpent which Aaron made of the rod did eate vp the Serpents of the Sorcerers shall preuent the circumuenting practices and policies of the hypocriticall flatterers and bring their counsels plotted against you to the like end as he brought Achitophels Hee will suppresse them that oppresse you will laugh them to scorne that haue you in derision therefore yet a little while wait and the wicked shall not appeare and your insolent enemies whatsoeuer they be shall be put to silence and if ye be meeke ye shall possesse a competent portion in the earth and shal haue your delight in the multitude of peace as worldlings haue in the multitude of plenty whose riches are seene and felt and gotten and lost but the riches that yee shall possesse are great yet not seene nor felt of any but of such as enioy them they are not gotten but freely giuen and cannot be lost for hee that giues them shal continue them in you to you and for you What are riches of the world honor of the person libertie of the body or pleasure of the minde they seem to be somthing for all the wise men of the world seeke after them but being duely considered they are found but shaddowes which wee see doe often-times suddenly vanish and he that enioyeth them most and longest is nothing the better and he that hath of them least and but a moment is nothing the worse And what is pouertie ignominie captiuitie miserie but seeming not necessarie causes of griefe vnder all which the minde of the sanctified man passeth the course of this life with farre more inward alacritie and true consolation then the worldly man that passeth his life in al carnall contentment and is more willing and readie to die hauing his cōscience cleer through faith in Christ then the carnall man can bee The godly poore haue their dependance on Gods prouidence for the supply of their wants and the godly rich accounts his wealth not his but Gods that gaue them and is readie to restore them and so to dispose them as GOD requireth him but the rich that haue their hope in earthly things haue no willing minde to leaue them but here to possesse them rather then to goe they know not whither after death Miserable riches that tye the mindes of the possessors of them to the loue of this vncertaine life and to an vncertaine knowledge of the life to come The defence of the poore and needie abused slandered oppressed and wronged by the worldlings consisteth in their faith in GOD through Christ. I will vp saith the Lord and will set them at libertie whom the wicked haue snared If worldly men bee wronged they will vp in their owne defence they wil bring forth the vveapons of their might their gold and siluer and be therewith reuenged against such as rise vp against them therefore is their pride as a chaine of gold about their necks at whose glorie the poore must bow and though he be content to become the rich mans foot-stoole yet many times the rich doe with the poore as Aesops Wolfe did with the Lamb who although hee dranke of the current below the Wolfe yet the Wolfe checkt him for troubling the water So oftentimes the rich picke causelesse quarrels against the poore when they cannot haue a cōfining Vineyard house or adiacent field that they desire of them I intimate this vnto you to the end that as much as in you shall bee you giue place to the wrath of wicked men not recōpensing vnto them euill for euill but rather good for euill knowing it is the will of your heauenly Father so to heape coles of fire vpon such wicked men among whom I know may also bee numbred many poore men that haue not in them faith the feare of God for as it is not riches that of themselues doe make a man euill so it is not pouertie of it selfe makes a man good PART IX More euill then good men in the world TO consider duely the estate of the world as common experience at this death findes it It may bee obserued that the world is more fraught with wicked then with men fearing God so that it followeth that there are more men apt and ready to hurt then able or willing to helpe the distressed and as the multitude is great so their actions and conditions are many diuers Some men seeme onely hurtfull vnto themselues according to a foolish prouerbe Hee is no mans foe but his owne as the drunkard speudthrift who yet are not only foes to themselues but to others notwithstanding the prouerbe drawing them into their companies and wicked societies by their examples many take the same most vngodly course with them following likewise forbidden excesse and riot Some are apparantly hurtfull to themselues and others as the enuious and malicious man who howsoeuer hee aymes to hurt another hee may misse of his purpose but neuer of wounding himselfe for his will to doe the euill he intended is imputed to him in diuine Iustice as the deede done God in his prouidēce preuenting the act for his sake to whom it was intended and howsoeuer God permit a wicked man to hurt one that feares GOD in body goods or reputation the hurt that he giues is onely outward and may worke to the good of him that is hurt but hee that hurts receiues a deadly wound within and so much the more grieuous by how much it is little felt for an enuious man hurts with desire and reioyceth in his wicked deede If therefore there come a Shemei to raile causelesse vpon you a Iudas to betray you a Cain causelesse to kill you false witnesses to accuse you as the wieked Iudges did Susanna or an Achab or a lezabel to wrest from you both life and liuing or whatsoeuer crosse or calamitie soeuer befall you through the malice of men grudge not thereat nor seeke despitefull reuenge but examine your consciences whether ye be guiltie of that which is laid to your charge if so confesse it and repent it or whether ye haue secretly offended GOD in some thing whereof yee were neuer accused or for which yee were neuer punished Thinke if ye finde any such thing in your selues though no man else knowes it
wants redeemeth your liues from the Graue and hath prouided for you a Crowne of Glorie And Wife although I your poore Husband shall leaue you a penurious and desolate Widdow hee will bee vnto you a prouiding Husband cleaue vnto him And though I shall leaue you poore fatherlesse children cast your care vpon him he will care for you hee will bee your Father and as a most louing and helping Father obey him as most dutifull and faithfull Children And when the time of my dissolution shall come which cannot be long I must obey and I am readie I shall goe a little before you and yee shall shortly follow if ye goe not before mee which is in God euen to the place of mine assured happines if with faith ye imbrace obey the wil of him that calleth you while ye yet liue as becommeth the Children of so Gracious a Father In the meane time the same God blesse you all with his true Feare continuall Peace and competent Plentie A briefe collection of Diuine comfort for mine owne and the incouragement of euery Christian to dye willingly FOr asmuch as death is the end of this life and this life duly considered an vnpleasant passage to a better and whether it shall bee long or short it behoueth vs to vndergoe with patience in hope whatsoeuer entertainment this World shall afford vs. Iob had as an inheritance the moneths of vanitie and painfull nights were appointed vnto him The dayes of Iacobs pilgrimage were few and euill yet some thinke their pleasantest dayes are here in the earth therefore desire no better not so with me knowing that after this life there is layd vp for me a crowne of righteousnes and not for me only but for all them that loue the appearing of the Lord Iesus There is little reason therefore that I or any other that haue tasted and do daily taste of the bitter cup of this liues vanities and miseries should desire longer to be pressed or oppressed there with but rather to comfort my selfe in a godly and patient expectation of the time when my dissolution may come desiring to bee dissolued and to be with Christ to whom no man commeth but he must remooue out of this house of clay and that cannot bee by any other meanes but by death that is by the destruction or change of this earthly Tabernacle either leauing it in the earth for a season or to be taken vp suddenly at Christs second comming but howsoeuer I know and am assured that both soule and bodie shall bee together and for euer be glorified in the end be clothed with a house not made with hands eternall in the heauens Who then can but sigh in desire to be an inhabitant in that house which is perpetuall and glorious I looke for it in hope confidently assuring my selfe that Christ shall bee then magnified in my bodie whether it bee by life or death for whether I liue I liue vnto him or whether I die I die vnto him whether therefore I liue or die I am the LORDS for I know that he whom I haue beleeued is able to keepe that which I haue committed vnto him against that day wherein my mortall bodie shall bee quickned made like vnto his glorious bodie therefore will I willingly lay downe my life and commit my soule vnto God as vnto my most faithfull Creator A comfortable Meditation and Prayer to bee considered and said by euery Christian being neere the time of his dissolution NOw O Lord now draw néere vnto my soule and redéeme it for the time is at hand wherein I shall taste of the cup of death Now therefore is the acceptable time for thee to receiue my soule in the multitude of thy mercies which are wonderfull therefore doe I trust vnder the shaddow of thy wings my soule cleaueth vnto thée for thy right hand vpholdeth mée My soule thirsteth for thée my flesh longeth greatly after thée whose louing kindnesse is better to mee then life for from thée commeth my saluation Haue mercy vpon mée O God haue mercy vpon me for my soule trusteth in thée and vnder the shaddow of thy wings wil I trust till this my finall affliction be ouer-past My heart is prepared O God my heart is prepared to come vnto thée make it constant in thée because I know that although this body for a time shall wither yet it shall be in the house of my God as a gréene Oliue trée euer to flourish and be blessed Thou Lord thou hast chosen me and hast caused me to come vnto thée my saluation is of thine owne frée mercy and of thy frée and Fatherly election I shall dwell in thy Courts for euer and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thine house euen of thy Kingdome of glorie I shall drinke of the Riuers of thy pleasures for with thée is the Well of life and in thy Light I shall sée light Let thy good Spirit leade mee in the Land of Righteousnesse and bring me by thy strength to thy holy and heauenly habitation plant mee in the Mountayne of thine inheritance euen in the place which thou hast prepared and in thy sacred Sanctuarie which thou hast established that I may sée thy goodnesse in the Land of the liuing Let mee behold thy face in righteousnesse and let me be satisfied with the fulnesse of the glorie of thy Countenance for in thy face is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Into thy hands oh Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redéemed me O Lord God of truth shew a token of thy goodnesse and fauour towards me that they which wish euill vnto my soule may sée it and be ashamed and they that loue thy Name obserue it and be confirmed in thée who hast euermore holpen me and comforted mée Increase my faith and prepare my soule to come vnto thee AMEN To thee O Lord God only wise and only mercifull be ascribed all praise thanks dominion and glorie for to thee it only belongeth Priuate Prayers for Morning and Euening A Morning Prayer for priuate Families ALmightie LORD GOD most mercifull and louing FATHER Maker and Preseruer of all thy creatures but especially the Sauiour and Sanctifier of all them that beléeue in thée by the merit and vertue of the bloud of Iesus Christ Receiue at the hands of vs thine vnworthy seruants in the Name of Iesus Christ this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing for all thy mercies from time to time bestowed vpon vs for electing vs of thine owne free fauour before the world was made for creating vs of nothing in humane and not in the shape of brute creatures for redéeming vs with the most precious death of thine owne Sonne when wee were captiues and slaues vnto Satan for calling vs by the preaching of thy blessed Word and frée Spirit when we were strangers vnto thee for iustifying vs by the
I sought found that which I haue slender as it is at the hands of him that made Iubâ—l a pleasant Musician and Tubal a painfull Smith And to say as I find my professioÌ„ agrees little with the qualitie of the first but much with that of the last for it is mixed with farre more paine then pleasure and with more care then comfort and with more griefe then gaine and with more suspicion then thanks Can there be may some say a profession bringing with it such a troupe of incoÌ„ueniences yes though I be no publik Magistrate my calling is as subiect to censure for what man is hee that deales betweene two or more of contrarie desires that can truly giue them all contented satisfaction be he the most iudicious and iustest Iudge or Magistrate How much more to deale with multitudes of peruerse and preiudicate people yea if it be in a businesse that concernes their soules by the sincerest Minister of God will they not censure according to their seuerall coÌ„ceiued though corrupt and peruerse opinions But if the businesse concern their worldly estates much more will the most of them kicke against the most iust and most indifferent iudgement of the Agent who being tyed by the band of dutie and a good conscience to giue a true account of his imploymeÌ„ts to a second person the maintenance of whose dignitie and liuelyhood in some part consisteth in the iust execution of that wherein he is trusted caÌ„not yet escape their slanders deale he neuer so sincerely Need not I therefore to be carefull of my carriage being subiect to a double censure If I come short of mine expected dutie I may be taxed at home if I performe it truely I am condemned abroad and to arbitrate mine actions there are such sometimes as for their owne vaine popularitie among the multitude and to insinuate with the Honorable wise will rather adde a sentence of rash yea false condemnation then a sillable to excuse the smallest slip if any bee incensing so the waspish Hidra to a clamorous out-cry that I haue abused them who being thus seconded will not forbeare to disgorge their malicious hearts to the vttermost disgrace of him that with a most sincere conscience carryeth his desires neither to leane vnto the right hand partially to please his Master nor to the left hand iniuriously to wrong any whome his seruice concernes What then Shall I looke backe shall I leaue my plough for some rubs it meets withall in a rough and rugged soyle No I may not but rather indeuour so to carry my selfe in my calling as my conscience may still as euermore formerly it hath testifie with mee mine integritie whatsoeuer may be said or done against me I am not of my selfe ignorant but doe know and acknowledge that if I should rest either carelesse of my dutie on the one side or ouer-harsh or heauy on the other respecting onely my priuate salarie and extorted gaine forgetting dutie and charitie I should carry a greater charge of conscience not questioned then all the vniust calumniations and slanders of malicious men could cast vpon me I will therefore with patience goe on and vndergoe the burden of whatâ—oeuer crimination MEDIT. XIX Obiection SOme man may say To what end is all thiâ— Discourse touching the crosses falling vpon him in his priuate profession and calling What is his case to other men It concernes none but himselfe and therefore a relation needlesse and vnprofitable If it concerne none but my selfe as it profits none else it little hurts any else yet this may any man learne hereby that all possessions and imployments are not free from censure nor any man so iust and sincere in his calling in this life but is subiect to back-byting tongues yea such as thinke this my relation to concerne them nothing at all shall finde it a necessarie preuention of their too much securitie for I yet neuer knew the man of whatsoeuer Calling Trade Mysterie Profession or Imployment whom neither his owne conscience in some things could or malicious men would not slander backe-bite or accuse let him bee of what eminent place soeuer in Church or Common-wealth especially where he is to handle matter of difference betweene men hee shall hardly escape either temptation by reward or condemnation for iniustice deale hee neuer so iudiciously and iustly Doth this concerne none but my selfe yes but what then why should I vntimely discouer these common abuses offered to the good by the bad It is the meane to bring men into suspicion of doing euill that are free and to put men in minde to slander that thought not of it It were a happie forgetfulnesse But the World is not so sleepie but the least occasion awakes it to the vniust reproch of iustest men men of all degrees and qualities And therefore I thinke fit to let all such abusing tongues to know that their malice is in vaine towardes them they ayme to hit but they wound themselues and defile the cares that heare them therefore I feare them not but will goe on in my lawfull calling to day and to morrow and while it pleaseth God and leaue them and their tongues either to repent or to perish in their time I find the surest and safest defence against these dogged natur'de tongues that bite them that heare not their barking not to regard what they say or to whom or what they report For if I should feare to goe on in my calling because I am subiect to the mis-conceiuings and misreports of common Detractors I should seeme to feare more their slanders then the breach of Gods Precept who approoueth not but condemneth the life that is idle The World esteemeth them happiest men that in wealth pleasure and idlenesse liue without labour who haue most leisure to heare obserue and publish the defects of other men and yet haue no time to looke into or reforme their owne farre more grosse Errours or to serue him that will teach them better things The Holy Ghost approueth theÌ„ happiest that liue of the meane profit of their labours Thou shalt be blessed saith Dauid when thou â—atest the fruâ—â—s of the labors of thine owne hands though it bee no daintie fare by common experience that a man iustly may get by the meere labour of his owne hands excluding high Offices yet competent blessed by God How then can this poore industrie attaine the meanes to purchase Patrimonies for Posterities Paul by his Tent-making nor Peter by his fishing could grow great in the World but Matthew an Officer and Luke a Phisician were in the way of farre more profit Such are the different estates of men in this World some poore some rich some base some in honour not one without his crosses therefore not one without necessarie occasion to pray for a contented minde euer prepared for the time of death neuer looking for
true peace with or in the World and happie is hee that hath warres with it and peace with God But here is the miserie of miseries hence is griefe hence often vpbraydings especially domesticke the want of daintie fare gay and fashionable garments and the want of meanes to preferre and aduance Posterities is the Houshold Breake-peace and to auoid this miserie some runne into a mischiefe vsing sinister and vnlawful means to satisfie the World and worldly mindes displeasing God to please vaine fantasies yet for a time it is sweet and pleasant yeelding a kind of content and carnall comfort such as CHRIST fore-told that Worldlings should haue in this life as the Rich man in the Gospell had but GODS owne Children should haue contrarie enentertainmēt in the world they should want weepe and lament as Lazarus did and as their estates of wealth and want pleasure and paine faith and infidelitie doe differ so do their ends for fulnes and want mirth and mourning ioy and sorrow idlenesse and labour stand not together in this life neither yeeld they like comfort or calamitie after death There are but two extremes in riches and pouertie but their degrees are infinite so are there of pleasure and paine after this life The true vse of riches and the patient acceptance of a meane estate are equall and receiue eequall proportion of reward So the abuse of riches and the impatient vndergoing of a poore estate shall be equally punished whether therefore I bee poore or rich I am in neither happie but so farre as I walke in either of them in the feare and loue of God that giues both for the good of the good and to the reproofe of them that abuse either O happie is that heart that harbours the hope of heauenly things it is contentedly satisfied with the smallest portion the world doth yeeld and yet resteth not idle in well-doing but carefully indeuoreth so to liue as willingly not to be chargeabe to any desiring rather to bee able to helpe the needie and to owe nothing but good will to any Naked came I into the World poore and in a meane estate I liue and naked I must goe hence as touching my spirituall part I shall be clothed with the Robe of my Redeemers merits in the Heauens vntill my bodie shall be raysed againe and then reunited vnto my soule and both become one bodie clothed with eternall glorie And therefore Come Lord Iesus come quickly and finish these dayes of sinne that I may partake of thy glorie THE HVSBANDS Christian counsell to his Wife and Children left poore after his death PART 1. Death certaine his comming vncertaine BY the former Discourse ye may perceiue that Death will certainly come vpon mee and you as vpon all men but when where or how no man knowes and that after death all shall come to Iudgement and yeeld account for whatsoeuer they haue done in this life and therefore wee all should prepare vs against the time by continuall watchsulnesse in well-doing You may also conceiue and I know you haue too well experimented my poore estate to bee such as I cannot leaue behinde me such testimonies of my worldly happinesse as many other men doe to them they leaue behinde them that may challenge some remembrance by their worldly substance And therefore in stead of such commemorations I desire before I goe hence and bee no more seene to leaue such token of my loue towards you as I can that you may likewise remember mee in Christian imitation after my death wishing you to take that in good part at my hands that I shall giue you in counsell though words I know make none wealthy In stead therefore of Possessions and Pecuniary Portions I wish you euer to esteeme the fauor loue and prouidence of God your chiefest riches who as he hath been euer mine so will hee bee assuredly yours if in faith yee serue him and seeke him Bee yee therefore patient in that which in this life necessitie inforceth to be vndergone howsoeuer hard and vnsauourie it bee to flesh and bloud and make of that necessitie a vertue which if bee taken with grudging turnes into sinne The time will not bee long which will giue end to the greatest miseries then what difference can there bee obserued betweene them that haue abundance and them that haue least they shall carrie equall portions to their graues only nakednesse which both the rich and poore the glorious and the base brought into the World with them yet their future portions may differ as did the Rich mans and Lazarus Let vs therefore as long as we liue together couple and comfort our hearts together in the Lord whose pleasure it is and that in loue to keepe vs low in this World to the end wee should not be transported from the loue of heauenly to earthly things the best whereof is our bodie which yet is compared to a Flowre that fades and comes to nothing If therefore pouertie and afflictions continually possesse vs and presse vs downe euen vnto our liues ends Let vs rest euer faithfull cleauing constantly vnto God for hee careth for vs so shall wee bee the lesse carefull for worldly things Care not for your liues saith Christ namely what yee shall eate or what yee shall drinke nor for your bodies what yee shall put on for the bodie is more worth then meate and of more value then rayment bee it neuer so precious yet shall it naturally rot as the Garment doth but so much the more precious is the bodie though it perish by how much it shall bee futurely glorified But the bodies of the disobedient and wicked are so much the more base and vile then is a garment by how much it shall not so totally perish as the garment doth but bee reserued and raysed to endlesse torments The fowles of the ayre are brought in by Christ to teach man to cast his care vpon God Who careth for the verie fowles though they sow not nor reape nor carrie into barnes yet they are fedde and nourished by God but they are not idle for as God hath ordained food for them so are they to flye to and fro to seeke it teaching as not to rest careles of lawfull labours though Christ say Care not for to morrow but rather that we should bee so much the more industrious euery where by all meanes at all times in our lawfull callings omitting no opportunitie lawfully to encrease our store Christ likewise by way of comparison brings in the Lillyes of the field setting their glorie to the glorie of our corrupt bodies shewing that although wee labour and toyle and carke and care and busie our bodies and braynes about superfluous and vanishing things wee can neuer bee comparable to the glory of the Lilly other glorious beautifull flowers no not Salomon in his most glorious robes yet as glorious as these