we carry in our bosomes The Divell is a Serpent in Hell the world is a Serpent in our hand the flesh is a Serpent in our bosome We carry it with us where ever we go It is a con-natural concorporate Enemy All our other enemies could do us no hurt if it were not for that if this enemy that cohabiteth with us did not combine against us Know who ever thou art there is no Enemy like thy self thy self is the worst enemy of all All the sparks that slie out of Sathans engines could never sindg a hair of our heads if our flesh were not as tinder All the winds that blow in the four corners of the world could not make shipwrack of us if our flesh were not a treacherous Pilot. Death that gnaweth the thread of our soul and body asunder could not separate them or them from God if the flesh did not what the teeth of it and sharpen it with a sting So then we see we have a great many Enemies more to encounter us besides Death some without some within Therefore how should this teach us circumspect walking to behave our selves wisely in every thing as David when he knew Saul was his Enemy and had an eye upon him to do him mischief How should it teach us to pray with David Lord teach me thy way and lead me in the right path because of mine enemy That is one thing I have to note Again another thing I have to note If Death be the last enemy then in all probability it is like to be the worst Of the Divels regiment it is I told ye before He is the General of the Army And beloved beleeve it the Divel is very politick and subtile in marshalling his forces he will not place his best Souldiers in the forefront of the battel but keeps them in the Reare he puts them behind that when all the rest have wearied and tired us they should set on us afresh He is so cunning a disputant that he reserveth the best arguments for the last A cunning Gamester that plaies his best play at the last A cunning Archer that shoots his best shaft at the last So since Death is the last Enemy it is like to be the sorest Now the sorer we are like to find him the carefuller we should be to arme against him alwayes to put our selves in a readiness that whensoever he cometh he may find us weaponed that if it were possible we might be alwayes doing as if we were dying it being the height of the perfection that any soul can attain to as the heathens themselves well obierved for a man to spend every day as if it were his last day That is one reason why the Apostle here calleth Death the last Enemy because the last is like to be the worst Again another reason As it is the last by which we are assaulted so it is the last that shall be destroyed That the Apostle principally meant here as Interpreters commonly understand it when he saith the last enemy that shall be Destroyed is Death he meant that Death is the Enemy that shall be destroyed last And this leadeth me to the last point I propounded to speak of That Death is an enemy and the last enemy and at last shall be destroyed It shall be destroyed that is one thing Who undertakes the doing of it Our selves In likelihood Death is more likely to destroy us then we it But as it is said of the seven-sealed book in the Revelation when there was none in heaven or in earth or under the earth that was able to open it the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevailed to open the book So the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevaileth to destroy this enemy that none in heaven or in earth or under the earth but only he is able to destroy He saith of him as David of Goliah when he defied the host of Israel and all men ran away Let no mans heart fail him So saith the son of David The Lord of David let no mans heart fail him I will go to fight with yonder Philistim Oh Death I will be thy death It is spoken in the person of Christ whom Saint Peter calleth the Lord of life He subdueth all Enemies and it is he that will destroy Death he will not leave him till he have trod him under foot But when will Christ do this We see Death playes the Tyrant still it killeth and spoyleth as fast as it did his sickle is in every ones harvest as fast as the corn grows up he cuts it down he leaveth not an ear standing How long Lord how long before this that the Apostle tells us of will be At last His meaning is at the general day of the Resurrection when the end of the world shall come then Christ shall destroy him And he bringeth it in the rather to assure the Corinths of that that some of them doubted of namely that there should be a Resurrection For unless the dead should arise how can Death be destroyed But Death shall be destroyed therefore it is out of question that the dead shall rise again But what comfort have we in the mean time if Death be not destroyed till then if till then it play the domineering Enemy No not so neither We have comfort enough in that that Christ hath already done Though it be not already destroyed yet it is already subdued It is not only subdued but disarmed and not only so but captivated and triumphed over He subdued it when he died in suffering death he overcame Death he beat him in his own ground at his own weapons in his own hold he disarmed him When he rose again then he spoyled him of his power and took his weapons away and triumphed over him in the open field When he ascended into heaven then he carried those spoils with him in token of conquest as Sampson took the Gates of Gaza on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill Christ by Death took the sting of Death away by his Resurrection he took the strength of Death away by his Ascension he took away the hope of Death for ever conquering or prevailing more finally at the last Judgement he will take away the name and Being of Death so that it shall never be more remembred but mortality shall be swallowed up of life I Christ hath done this for himself perhaps but what is this to us Nay Christ hath done it not only for his own victory but he hath given us victory he is not only a conqueror but he hath made us conquerors thanks be unto God that hath given us victory In a word Christ hath and will do by Death as he doth by our sins he hath subdued them already at the last he will utterly destroy them sin and Death both of them are already subdued at last they shall be abolished and destroyed that they
this Text upon you When they shall say Peace Peace then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape A CHRISTIANS VICTORY OR CONQUEST OVER DEATHS ENMITY SERMON XIII 1 COR. 15.26 The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death IT could be no Parradox to declare that every man hath more enemies in the World than friends both wicked and godly There is no question of it But it is true also that so long as a mans waies please God he can make his enemies his friends Of all the enemies men have the spiritual are the worst For they are Common Enemies Continual Enemies Common Enemies I call them because they are every mans Enemies Others though they be Enemies to some they are friends to others these to all Continual because their war is never at an end Other Enemies we may have truce with now and then pauses and breathing times leisure given us when we have done one skirmish to make ready for another from these there is no intermission nor rest not for a moment wheresoever or whatsoever we are about it may be said to us as Dalilah said to Sampson Up Sampson thy enemies are upon thee The three principal of these ye know are commonly reckoned up to be The Divel the World and the Flesh But the Apostle telleth us of a fourth which he calleth our Last enemy the enemy which shall last of all assault us the other will leave assaulting us when we are in this world this when we are leaving the world mustereth up his forces against us sometimes holding us long play as the house of David did the house of Saul till our strength be wasted and spent sometimes dispatching us with a sudden stroke as Absolom did Amnon when our hearts are merry within us This enemy Death the very sound of his name is like the name of Honiades to the Turkes dreadful to some the very dream of it dreadful as Nebuchadnezars dream was to him it troubled him and the image of it made him tremble and quake But though the hearing of an enemy may cause disturbance yet withal to hear that this enemy is overcome and destroyed the newes of that may chear us Behold this is the newes that the Text bringeth It telleth us of an enemy indeed but it telleth us withal of the destruction of this enemy Death is the common enemie of man kind It is our last enemy we may think it none of the least because it is the last yet here is the destruction of it Oh thou enemy thy destruction shall come to a perpetual end It is already destroying and as it is the last so at the last it shall be destroyed Those are the two points that I am to treat of of an Enemy and of the destruction of this Enemy The Enemy is Death and the last Enemy as the Text calleth it the last that shall assault us In that ye may note two things Its Quality and Its Rank First its nature and quality An Enemy Secondly its order and rank in what rank it is Fyled not in the Fore-front of the battel but it cometh behind in the Rear it cometh in the end of the Army when all other enemies have given over and setteth upon us at the last Secondly here is the destruction of the enemy that is the Milk and honey of the Text. Death though it be an Enemy though it be a killing enemy it shall not be a conquering enemy He that subdueth all our Enemies for us will in time subdue them to us And who he is the Apostle telleth you in the verse before the Text Christ our Lord He shall reign till he hath put down all his enemies under his feet And as all His so all ours too both those that are Enemies to him and to his death Among the rest he will destroy that also As it is the last with which we shall be assaulted so it is the last that shall be destroyed There are three points of observation we have here lying before us First that Death is an Enemy Secondly that Death is our last Enemy Thirdly that as Death assaulteth us last so at last it shall be destroyed I begin with the first of these That Death is an enemy And an Enemy indeed it is one of the Divels regiment The Divel he is the General of the Army when he brought sin into the world he brought Death into the world Sin draws Death after it as the Needle draws the thread First I will shew ye what kind of Enemy it is Secondly wherein it appeareth to be an Enemy First what kind of Enemy Death is A common Enemy A secret Enemy A spiritual Enemy A continuall Enemy First a Common Enemy Common to all man-kind The charge it hath is not like that upon the Aramites fight neither with small nor great save only with the King of Israel Great and small King and Keifar all are marks that this aimeth at one killing weapon or other it hath for them all like Ishmacl The hand of him is against every man The young and the old the strong and rich and noble and wise and holy none can scape none can keep out of Deaths reach What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Ye will object to me peradventure Those that shall live at the coming of our Lord at the end of the world shall not see Death I had thought I confess to have stood a little upon this points discussion but I must not I have many things to say In a word therefore First these are but a few and a few make not a general Secondly though these die not the ordinary natural death but as Elijah and Enoch shall be translated up to heaven yet in their translation and assumption they shall suffer a mutation and change which shall be instead of Death Their change is a kind of Death to them as our death is a kind of change to us Therefore we may account it a common Enemy to man-kind for as the Scripture saith It is the way of all the earth And the Grave it is the house appointed for all living It is a common Enemy and it is the more dangerous for that Secondly it is A secret Enemy And it is the more dangerous for that Secret Traytors are worse then open enemies these may be prepared against becuase we know them those may surprize us unawares because we see them not nor suspect them Poor Uriah carrieth Death in his bosome so we carry death about us though like a Moth it lie and fret in the garment and we see not when it eateth nor can certainly determine the time when it will grate asunder the thread of our life What man living candivine when and how and where Deaâ—…h will seize upon him it is not for any to determinesuch a thing it lieth so secret he cannot
rendring unto him his due That is the first Vse Secondly let it stir up every one of us to a care of his duty of embracing opportunities And when we perswade you to take opportunities we would draw you a degree higher not only to take them but to seek them for how shall a man obtain the advantage of taking opportunities if he first seek them not and therefore we perswade you to that We see Abraham sitting in the door of his Tent that he might observe opportunities of doing good he stayed not till the men knocked at his door for reliefe but took notice of their passing by that he might call them We see a good old man in Judges 19. As he perceives a stranger passing the streets first takes occasion to question his wants and forbears not till the man complain so willing was he to administer to his necessities and to embrace a fit opportunity of doing him good We see David expressing his thankfulness to God and to Jonathan He enquires if there were any of the house of Saul that he might shew him kindness for Jonathans sake So should we do Is there any of the houshold of Faith as the Text faith and as the Scripture calls them unto whom I may shew kindness for the Lords sake He hath been better to us then Jonathan was to David and yet we are much more backward to Retribution and expressions of thankfulness then David was to Jonathan But the Scriptures are plentiful in this we need not stand on it I say this is a duty that every one should discharge this task not to stay and forbear till the reports of mens wants are brought to them but to be circumspect and seek for all accasions that may deserve the extent of their goodness If you live in a Parish wherein happily there remains not many poor yet you live in a City there are many there if there be not many in the City you live in a Country in a Kingdom doubtless where there are many if there be none there yet thou hast further means to extend thy charity Thou livest in a Church is there any member of the Church in all the World dispersed in Bohemia in the Palatinate in any place of the earth where the poor abide enquire after them that you may know their wants and relieve their necessities I come now to the second from the determination of time to the declaration of duty while we have time Let us do good I told you what this goodness is in the intent of the Apostle in this place Doing good is a releeving those that are in necessity for that is the Apostles meaning as we may see in the context and coherence of these words with the former So then the main Point is no more but this It is the duty of Gods servants as to make advantage of their times so to employ themselves in releeving of others Take it more briesly It is a doing good to releeve others that is the duty of Gods servants and it well becomes them to be employed in this work while we have time on earth and means to do it to employ our selves in doing good and relieving others And there is familiar appearance of this in Scripture and by reasons also By Scripture it is commanded in precept and commended in practise of the Saints If any of thy brethren among thee be poor faith God thou shalt not harden thy heart thou shalt not shut up thy hand against thy poor brother The not opening of the hands to relieve him God accounts that as proceeding from the hardness of the heart Thou shalt not harden thy heart against thy brother c. Cast thy bread upon the Waters for after many dayes thou shalt find it Is not this the fast that I have chosen for a man to give his bread to the hungry and that a man should release those that are in Captivity and to let the oppressed go free The Apostle wisheth that as they abounded in knowledge and in vertue and in faith and goodness so they might abound also in this Grace of God The Grace of God that he there speaks of is the willing readiness to the doing of good To do good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased You see thereby doing good he means distribution the latter word doth prove the former and both explain this Text. You have it likewise commended in the practice of the Saints I need not be large in discoursing to you the carriage of Abraham of Lot of David of Job the practice of Cornelius yea of Christ himselfe The Scripture is plentiful in this I and that which is more to be observed that although Christ himselfe were relieved by others yet out of that he gave a share to the poor It wil appear likewise in reason that this is a necessary duty and these may be taken First from the equity of it for it is equal you should thus employ your time and estate and those advantages of life which God hath made you doner of partly to that purpose and a man commits an injury in neglecting these holy duties and is not only become an unmerciful but an unjust man and so in the plainest phrase a dishonest man he is not just that doth not thus Therefore with-hold not the good from the owner thereof faith God when it is in thy power to give The poor is owner of the estate of the rich so farr as his necessity requires it and it proves but a matter of justice and equity to bestow his riches where it ought to be bestowed and a man is unjust in that respect if he do it not Riches are called unrighteous mammon as hath been expressed before when they are unrighteously with-held from them to whom they should be given as well as when they are unrighteously gotten So that detaining it from those unto whom it is appointed by Gods direction converts that riches perchance honestly procured into the mammon of unrighteousness Secondly as it becomes a matter of justice so it proves likewise a matter of wisedome a man makes wise provision for the present and the future also by this course And therefore it makes way for the felicity of the servants of God to employ their endeavours in the execution of this duty and to lay fast hold on the forehead of opportunity First it proves a consequent of wisedome for themselves in procuring their own good Blessed is the man that judgeth wisely of the poor why so The Lord will consider him in the day of evil and he will not give him over to the will of his enemies What is the thing that a man is most subject to fear in this World but that which David faith concerning Saul I shal fall sometime or other by the hands of some enemy of some mischievous person or malicious person or other You
for a better world Thus much shall serve briefly for the opening of these words and for that that is appliable from them For the present occasion a word Funeral Sermons are not intended for the praise of the dead but for the comfort of the living Therefore I have chosen such an argument to handle at this time as might be of use and profit to you that live Besides that I am in particular and by particular order debarred of speaking any thing concerning our deceased Sister though I might have spoken much and that very useful to you The best use that you can make will be this to consider the life that she led amongst you She was a pattern and example of holinesse of a wise and upright carrirge in her wayes follow her in that Mark the Godly and upright man the end of that man is peace There was none that knew her but upon good assurance are perswaded of her happinesse now Would you then have the same happinesse after take the same course that she did be much in prayer and dependance upon the ordinances and in fellowship with the servants of God be profitable in doing good profitable in receiving good mannage the opportunities and times well that God giveth you as she did gaining much in little she did much work in a short space let that be your care and then this will be your comfort in the end Thus if you make this use of the death of others before you you shall prepare for your own death and that shall be only a passage for you to Eternal life DELIVERANCE FROM THE KING of FEARS OR FREEDOME FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH SERMON III. HEBR. 2.15 For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through the fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage IN these words that I have read to let pass other parts of the Chapter the Apostle sets down the humiliation of Christ with the fruit of it His humiliation in his Incarnation and death The fruit of it in subduing him that had the power of death and delivering those that were kept under the fear of death in bondage all their life At this time we will speak only of the last part the fruit of Christs death in delivering those that were kept under the fear of death The persons that are kept under this fear are said to be the children Gods own children those for whom Christ died yet they were kept under the fear of death and that not at some particular time when tentation had got some special advantage over them but it was a trouble and a burden to them all their life long and that not a small burden or an easie trouble but such as kept them as in bondage The words you see are easie There are two points that arise from them First that Gods children those for whom Christ died are many times hold strongly under the fear of death Secondly that Christ by his death freeth them from those fears I shall onely insist at this time principally on the first That Gods own children the Children that were partakers of flesh and bloud it is taken either for the humane nature or the infirmities of that nature even these children were held under the feare of death I will shew the grounds of it The fear of death in the children of God ariseth either from some causes without or from somewhat within them From without them and so the fear ariseth from God an act of his providence upon his children Or from Sathan a work of his malice These are the causes from without For the first God in his providence and that in his special and fatherly providence whereby he doth order all things for the good of his children for the present increase of their grace and the fitting them for glory hereafter He I say in his providence ordereth it thus that they shall be kept many of them a great while under the feare of death and this he doth for special good ends The first is to humble them Adam as soon as he had sinned against God as his fall was by pride he would have had a higher condition then he was in so when God would bring him back again he beginneth first to humble him and how doth he that Dust thou art saith he and to dust thou shalt return he sheweth him that he was a dead man by sin and so would have the meditation of death to humble Adam and in him all his posterity after him So David when he desired that some means might work upon his enemies for their good he prayeth Put them in fear that they may know that they are but men He doth not onely pray that mortality might be presented to them but so presented that it might leave an impression of fear upon their affections that they might know what they are that they have not their beeing or the power of subsisting in themselves but that they must look for it above themselves to him that hath the issues of life and death in his own hand And this is necessary that all the servants of God should be kept humble by some means or other The Apostle Paul you see he had attained a great measure of grace yet he standeth in need of something to humble him therefore the messenger of Sathan was sent to buffet him that he should not be exalted above measure that he might be kept humble God intendeth to raise up his children to a glorious estate therefore as men lay a low foundation when they intend to erect a high building so God layeth the foundation of all grace and comfort in his servants in humiliation therefore he will not only have them mortal but he will have them apprehend their mortality and dying condition with fear that they may be humbled by this fear That is the first thing Secondly God aymeth at the strengthening of faith in his servants While a man looks to sense and is upheld by sensible comforts there is not that exercise of faith now every grace is strengthened by exercise that God therefore may have faith exercised and so strengthened in his servants he will expose them to the fear of death The Apostle Paul found this we received saith he the sentence of death that we might not turst in our selves but in him that raiseth us up from the dead He doth not onely say thus we acknowledge this to be a truth that we must die but we received the sentence of death received it as a man receiveth a sentence of death from a Judge received it so as it made some impression upon our hearts received it with some inward sense with some inward feare which was a violent work such a work as knocks us
it as Ill. Ill is twofold either that which is contrary to mans will and so it is called Malum tristitivum or else contrary to mans nature and so it is Malum corruptivum Now Death is contrary to man in both these senses both to his nature and to his will It is a thing he would not have because it is contrary to his nature and that is contrary to his nature that seeks the destruction of nature Now when a man apprehendeth Death as a thing that would destroy nature that would overthrow and dissolve and break in pieces that goodly Fabrique as he conceiveth it and make that something to become nothing it is a thing that nature cannot bear it abhorreth So the servants of God as they have nature in them they have this natural affection to preserve their beeing and this in it self is not simply sinful but so far as it exceedeth the rule Therefore you see that because men apprehend Death as an Ill contrary to nature they prefer other things that are Ill in a lesse regard in a lesse degree before that A man would rather part with his wealth then part with his life as we see in Psal 49. A man would give God a ransome for his soul if he could he would give all his goods to ransome his life He would rather be poor then not at all Nay a man will part with his ease with his health rather then with his life he will be in paine rather then he will not be Skin for skin and all that a man hath will be give for his life Nay a man will part with his credit and estimation rather then with his life he will rather be disgraced then not be A living dog is better then a dead lyon this is the speech of a man naturall he preferreth a dog that hath life in him before a Lyon that is dead he would rather be a mean living man then a dead Prince That is ths first thing men naturally conceive Death as a thing contrary to nature So it is a natural Ill. Secondly as a man conceiveth Death an Ill contrary to nature so he apprehendeth it an Ill not easily overcome When Goliah looked on David on the meannesse of his stature and the slendernesse of his prepartation to fight he considered him as an enemie but as a weak one and therefore instead of fearing he disdained him Dost thou come to me as a dog I will give thy flesh to the fowles of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth he scorned him But when the Host of Israel looked on Goliah as a mighty enemy that they could not easily resist much lesse overcome the Text saith they were full of fear because of Goliah the strength of the adversary was that that filled them with fear So when a man looks upon Death and seeth it come as a mighty armed man provided with all weapons of war seeth it come in to the most populous Cities as in the pestilence and slayeth ten thousand before it seeth it come on the most strong and valiant men and breaks their bones and destroyeth them Who can stand before this Goliah he that defieth the Host of God the host of Israel not only the wicked but the servants of God are overcome by this enemy I say thus nature discourseth and thus a natural man apprehendeth Death and therefore he conceiveth Death to be a fearful Ill because it is a thing that he cannot easily overcome That is the second Thirdly he conceiveth it as a thing Future as an Ill to come I am yet living and in health but how soon this health may turn to sicknesse and this life to Death 〈◊〉 know not this is that that holdeth down the spirit under fear As David said I shall sall one day by the hand of Saul one day so saith a man that liveth now in the multitude of his businesse in abundance of strength and ability every way I shall one day fall into the Grave I shall one day fall into the hands of Death Peter we know how he affected Saphira with telling her of the death of her husband and saith he the feet of those that carried out thy husband shall carry thee out this affected her with fear so that she fell down dead upon the apprehension of it Thus I say if we look upon the object Death considered as an Ill that is a thing contrary to nature Death considered again as a strong and mighty Gyant that none can overcome but it overcometh them And then considered again as a thing coming upon men now in the approach and we know not how soon he will grasp a man in his hands and seize upon him this is that I say that causeth that natural fear that is in the children of God Then again consider the Subject the person in whom the apprehension of such an object is and so likewise we shall see somewhat in the dispositions of men or in their state and condition here that may affect them with a natural fear of Death The first is some men by constitution are more melancholy and are naturally of a more fearful temper indeed distemper The brain is distempered the heart is distempered The brain apprehends things and looks upon them through a false glass through a deluded fancie and so makes a false report to the heart presenteth things more terrible then they are so sometimes the heart is ill affected by the misreport that is brought to it by the understanding sometimes both are distempered as that humor prevaileth more strongly in the body So also there are sometimes raised up turbulent and disquieting and voilent passions that make some full of fear as we see in Belshazzar whose knees did smite together and all through the apprehension of death and so Felix when he heard of death and judgement to come he trembled Though the fear of these men did not rise from melancholy but from inward guilt of conscience yet the effect sheweth that when men are affected with the apprehension of Death in the worst sight and opprehension of it it causeth fear and terrour Secondly it cometh in others and generally in all from weakness of nature which in some is more then others according to their different constitutions and educations so the rich many times are more fearful of death then the poor because they have more to lose so likewise voluptuous persons are more fearful of Death then those that are more temperate because by voluptuousness they have dis-joynted and weakned their spirits So young men many times are more fearful of Death then those that are old as we see in the story Judg. 8.20 Jether the sonne of Gideon when he should have killed Zeba and Zalmunna the Text saith He was afraid because he was a young man but Gideon that was elder did it willingly as a man better accustomed and experienced with observations of changes and varieties of accidents amongst
they mistake Gods wayes and that very way that he intendeth them good in they complain of as if it were their utter undoing Again thirdly another way whereby men increase their impatience and distemper is when they will not give way to comfort they will not only be exceeding vehement and intent upon their Passions but besides stop all passages and in-lets against comfort It was Iacobs fault concerning the death of Joseph When he heard that Joseph was dead not onely his heart sunck within him but he rends his garments and covereth himselfe with sack-cloth he takes on so that when his sonnes and children rose up to comfort him he would not be comforted Why Because Joseph was not and I will go to the grave to Joseph nothing would comfort Jacob but he would goe downe to the grave to Joseph by all means What a great matter was this He only heard that Joseph was dead he was alive he knew not so much but he heard a present sound of fear and he was carried away with that So it is with us the very apprehension of our feares are as bad to us as the things themselves could possible be Nay we multiply upon our selves our fears and we will not hear counsel and comfort as Rachel that mourned for her children and would not be comforted because they were not Again a fourth thing whereby men increase impatience in themselves and aggravate their sorrowes is this when men look only upon the present afflictions and not upon the mercies they have as if they had but one eye to behold all objects with as if they could look but upon one thing at once there should be a looking upon the affliction and there should be a looking upon the mercy too This was Hamans case when he was vexed that Mordecay did not do him reverence all his wealth and his honours could do him no good he had much wealth and the glory of his house was increased he had the favour of the King and was inclining to have the honour of the Queen put upon him yet all this availeth me nothing saith he so long as I see Mordecay the Jew sitting in the Kings gate He looks only on this particular that vexed and grieved him and not upon the rest So it is with us if there be but one particular affliction upon us we fix our eyes upon that Like a Flie that flieth about the glass and can stick no where till she come to some crack or as a Gnat that cometh about the body of a beast that will be sure to stick on the galled part or some sore or other So it is with these disquieted thoughts of men that are of no other use but to further Sathans ends to weaken their faith and discourage their own hearts men stick on the gall on the sore of any affliction there they will rest It is true God hath given us such and such favours and mercies hath offered us such and such opportunities but what is this this and that particular affliction is upon me This is that that increaseth impatience when a man will not look on the mercies he receiveth but only looks on that that he wanteth Again a fifth course that men take to aggravate their sorrows and increase impatience in themselves is this They look upon the instrument of their sorrows and afflictions but never look up to God that ruleth and over-ruleth these things Men look upon such a person such a man and no more Ye see how David was disquieted at this If it had been an enemie that reproached him then he could have born it but it was thou my freind my equall my guid my acquaintance that sate at my table we took sweet counsel together and walked unto the house of God in company This troubled him and see how he multiplied his sorrows when he looked upon the instrument till he looked upon God and then I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it There is no quiet in the heart when a man looks upon man till he looks upon God that ordereth all things by his wisdom and counsel Lastly men aggravate their sorrows and increase their impatience by another course they take that is when they look on their sorrows and afflictions only and not upon the benefit of affliction they look only upon that that flesh would avoyd but not that which if they were spiritual and wise they would desire No affliction faith the Apostle is joyous for the time that is to flesh and nature but grievous nevertheless afterward it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby Now men look upon that only which is grievous in affliction upon the smart of it but not upon the profit of affliction the quiet fruit of righteousness that cometh by it As a man when he hath a Corroding plaister put to a sore he cryeth and complaineth of the smart it putteth him to but takes no notice of the healing that cometh by it and the cure that followeth Thus it is with men they complain of God as if he envied them the comfort of their lives as if he intended to rob them of all conveniencies and to make them utterly miserable to begin a Hell with them on earth when they never look how God by this means fitteth them for heaven by this means purging out corruption and strengthening grace in them We are afflicted of the Lord that we may not be condemned of the world Men look upon the affliction not upon their freedom from condemnation So much for that I come now to a second use You see here the way whereby men aggravate affliction and get causes of impatience in themselves and if we seriously consider it we shall find one of these the ordinary causes of all distempers and impatience in losses in sicknesses in distress of mind in crosses upon a mans name or whatsoever befalleth him amiss in the world that which makes him flie out that which makes him that he cannot submit unto God it is some of these particulars here spoken of Let it therefore in the second place stir us up evety one in the presence of God to set our selves upon this task of Christianity to labour for Patience that we may be perfect Christians and to be perfect in Patience Let Patience have her perfect work But all the question is how a man may get it As there are two sorts of afflictions in a mans life so Patience hath two offices One affliction is those present evils that a man undergoeth and suffereth Patience is to support him in those present miseries and calamities Another sort of tryal is when the good that a man expects is delayed and is not presently granted and here patience is necessary in this case also I will shew ye how a man may set patience a work in both these and so conclude First for the
the gap that he may unwind his hands of this burthen of the prayers of his servants he removeth them by death he saith to them as he did to Moses let me alone that I may destroy them And then as it is with the Husbandman when the corn is gotten into his Barn he burneth up the stuble till the Wheat be gathered the Tares are not turned up God will not pour his plagues untill he have removed the impediments those that are merciful men when they are taken away he poureth down his judgements Therefore he takes them away that they may not see it nor suffer it that is the second Thirdly he takes them from the Evil of sinning that is a greater blessing and in two senses from that He takes them from it that they shall not see sin for that is a great Corrosive to a godly man It was one point of Davids grievance that he saw wicked men suffer I humbled my soul with fasting and I behaved my self as one that mourned for his Mother David humbled himself even for his enemies when they were afflictied that was one part of his sorrow But the chief part of his sorrow was to see them commit sin Mine eyes gush out with rivers of tears because men keep not thy law That was a great affliction Therefore that they may be eased of that evil God takes away merciful men that they shall not see sins committed they are offensive to chaste eyes He takes them to heaven that their ears may not be filled with hellish blasphemies and damnable oathes that overburthen the ground that ring their peals in every street as a man passeth by there is no hearing such things in heaven That is one thing he takes them away that their eyes may not be glutted with beholding extortions oppressions murthers contentions revilings and other sins in the world It is a great ease to a godly man to be took out of evil times when God leaveth him in times and places that are evil he shines as a light when God takes him away he hath the reward of his sorrow it cost him grief to see it therefore to reward him God takes him away that he may not see sin committed Fourthly God takes them away that they may mot sin themselves for heaven is a place as of no sorrow so of no sin though we be unsatiable of sin now then there is an end put to it It pleaseth God so to deal in his providence to order it that sin brought in Death and Death carrieth out sin that as a skilful Chimmick distilleth an Antidote out of poyson so doth God Death that was the reward of sin God setcheth the translation out of it to eternal happiness the Mother sin brought forth Death and Death the daughter carrieth out sin That is it that is the great comfort of a man in death as now I shall cease suffering so here is my comfort too I shll cease sinning though my purposes and endeavours be bent upon piety yet I am overtaken I could not tread so strait but I did often tread awry now there shall be a new plain path provided for my feet there is no sin in heaven That is a great point of wisdome that God destroyeth sin with the body and raiseth the body again without sin if the body should live alwayes how should sin end sin will not be rooted out as long as we are in the body while we carry about us this vaile of flesh we shall carry about us also another vaile of sin therefore faith Epiphanius God dealeth with us as a skilful houshoulder with his house Look as it is in building an old house if there grow a Fig-tree or Ivy out of the house that it spred the root through the chincks and partitions of the wall a man that cuts down the Fig-tree shall not profit for it is so fast rooted in the wall and in the chincks that either he must pull down the wall or else it will not die Therefore a wise man will pull down his house and root out the Fig-tree and then set up stones and there erect the house beautiful and so both are preserved he hath his end in both both the house is rebuilt and the Ivy consumed and rooted out So it is in case of sin there is the house we carry about us the building the temple of our body the house is man himself sin is the fig-tree it is such a fig-tree as insinuateth it self between every chink and partition in our nature there is somewhat corrupt in every faculty of the soul and it sheweth the fruit in every part of the body that is an instrument of sin it hath so wound it self in that the fig-tree cannot be destroyed cannot be pulled out except the house be dissolved there must be a pulling down of the Temple therefore God in wisdome by Death he takes the Temple the house in peeces and then the fig-tree may be pulled out and then he erects the wall of that house more glorious then before it was thrown down while the fig tree was in it while sin was in it it is raised up without it that is that the Apostle faith Corruption shall put on incorruption and mortality shall put on immortality the body that is sown a naturall body it shall be raised a spiritual it is sown in dishonour it shall be raised in glory God therefore takes them away from the evil of sin he dissolved the body that he may purifie it and cloath it with immortality that it may be a purer body then when it was first presented in nature at the first Creation We see hereby what those good things are that Death bringeth It bringeth immunity from the evil of suffering God takes away merciful men that they see not that they suffer not And it bringeth immunity from sin that they do not see it that they do not commit it The use is a Pillar of considence not to be afraid of Death who would fear that which makes for his perfection that is the means of his translation of happiness And in respect of others not to mourn for them that are took away out of this world as those that are without hope they are not took away but translated they are removed for their advantage for the better Elijah was removed from earth to heaven in a firie chariot shall Elisha weep because he enjoyeth him not No he is took from earth to heaven Joseph was sold into AEgypt but it was to be a Ruler God intended that it is the same reason God translates us out of the world to give us the end of our hope even the salvation of our souls Shall we mourn as men without hope God takes them out of a valley of tears shall we mourn unsatiably for those that are took out of the valley of tears Let us not bring their memory to the valley of tears they are past it God takes them from
in this out of these cases to have such a taste of God such a relish of the joyes of heaven such a longing after the presence of Christ as not to be ready but to be willing not to be prepared for the stroak of death but to be desirous of it to esteem of death as the funeral of sin the interring of vice the period of miseries the Charter of freedome the Pattent of exemption from evil of sin from evil of punishment the day of our birth the season of harvest the seal of our victory the heaven of our happiness our introduction into heaven our inauguration into a kingdome the Chariot of our triumph the day of our return to our proper house to our Parents to our best friends This is the affection which is required in us at which we ought to aim Let this house of clay be resolved into the principles of the same what wonder if that which is built be thrown down and that which is compounded be resolved and that which was borrowed of the Elements be repayed again and that which was taken from the earth be committed to the custody of the earth Nay let me triumph in the resolution of this peece of clay into the exilest atome and admire the counsel of God that this Carkass is crumbled into the smallest dust and sifted into the coursest bran even to dust and ashes were not this body resolved into dust who would beleeve his original to be from the earth what pride what elevation would follow what carking and caring for this earthly Tabernacle if now when we see it to be but a spawn of worms and the food of Emmits there is such immoderate excess what would there be if the body were exempted from putrifaction what desolations would follow in Cities in Towns how many would dwell in monuments with those whom they have honoured or affected in their lives if many now be so impotent that though the body be putrified they cannot forbear imbracing of it and to solace themselves make Pictures of their dead friends and dote upon these what would they not do if their bodies were immortal What neglect would there be of the soul the better part of a man who would know the vertue of it that it is not only salt to the body to keep it sweet but the life the beauty the comliness of the body Who would beleeve the consummation the period of the world if our bodies were immortal who would mind heavenly things who seek those things that are above what deifying of the body would follow what Idolatries what superstitions what Temples built what Alters erected what variety of Ceremonies instituted to the body All which God hath pluckt up by the roots by this putrifaction and incinneration of our bodies by this teaching us to contemn earthly things to have our cogitations on heaven to think upon this scale to ascend up to this Mount to aspire to this intention which that we may let me add fuel to the fire and oyle unto the flame the expression of this aflection to the intention of it earnest groaning to eager desiring In this we groan earnestly That is for this we sigh out not our breath but our spirits we groan out not fuliginous vapours but our very hearts we weep not tears but bloud for this we immolate the sufferings of our bodies and macerate them with watchings and fastings we roul them in dust and ashes we exercise them in all humiliation and repentance And this is to groan earnestly in my Text. This is the negotiation of the outward man whereby it treads for heaven this is the conversation of a piece of clay into a pile of frankincence this adds wings unto our Prayers this openeth the ears of God this dissipateth the clouds of his countenance this inclineth him to clemency towards us this maketh the Widdow continent and the Virgin unspotted this lifts up the voluntary Eunuch to the kingdome of heaven this perfects the grace that is in the soul this washeth away the stains and contaminations that are in the soul this is the beauty and comeliness of a Christian How lovely were the Ninivites how glorious was the King in sackcloth sitting in his throne of dust and ashes what were his Robes of Majesty and Royalty to these ornaments they might dazle the eyes of the body for a time these dazle the eyes of the mind even at this day after so many hundred years they might procure him honour with men these made him honoured by God himself Let corporal eyes look upon an abject and mean appearance of a King in these weeds yet do not spiritual eyes see through these garments Humility Patience submission fear of God and the like and are there any Jewels like unto these what are those garments which are the labour of a worm to these robes that are the works of Gods Spirit What is a chain of Pearl to a chain of warm and successive tears beaten out of the rocks of a broken and contrite heart they may adorn the body this adorns the soul and which is more binds the hands of God himself Let whose will admire the victories and triumphs of David over the enemies of Israel which are indeed worthy of admiration I admire him in his watchings and fastings and sackcloth by them he overcame flesh and bloud by these he overcame God by them he overcame men by these he made conquest of himself by them he enlarged the territories of Israel by these he enlarged the bounds of heaven by them he made Hadadezer fly by these he made the Angel put up his sword and God to reverse his sentence by them he did remove temporal evils by these he did procure everlasting good unto himself and others This is that humiliation which this sacred time requires not abstinence only from meats which pamper this carkess this is not the body of this fast but a vehement intention of religious duties above other times he that prayed twice a-day before let him now do it seven times he that fasted but once in the week let him now do it three times or ostner as his body will permit him though it be to the sickness of the body it is an happy sickness of the body which is the sanctity of the soul he that gave Almes a little let him now double or treble his liberality he that did delight before in recreations let him devote that time to prayer to humiliation do not our sins require this our own sins the sins of others if not our own miseries for which we bless God yet do not the miseries of other Nations the Churches of God require this Do we not now beat our breasts and hang down our heads and rend our hearts and punish our selves for our sins that God may not punish them Did not our sins call upon us for this duty yet is not the sight of God the presence of our Saviour the joyes of Heaven the
thing or other and therefore it was thus with him Nay Christ himself the censure of all men was thus much concerning Christ himself We did esleem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted The intent of the phrase is as one smitten for his own ill as if God had now manifested that he did not acknowledge him to be so holy and righteous So thus you see the inclination in the heart of man to uncharitable jndging of those that God hath cast down and suffers to be exercised under many afflictions and troubles Let us learn then spiritual wisdome let us learn love and spiritual mercy to judge more favourably of the state of those whom we see troubled in spirit Many times God infeebleth and distresseth the spirits of his best servants to abate the pride of men that none might exalt himself before God Nay in the very thing wherein they have excelled in the same thing he sometimes abaseth them you see Abraham he is called the Father of the faithful his excellency was his faith yet faithful Abraham is detected in Scripture of much unbelief in some particulars Who would think that he should expose Sara as he did to save himself that he should do it that was called the Father of the faithful you have heard saith the Apostle James of the patience of Job the very excellency of Job was his patience who would think that ever patient Job should utter such things as he did sometime even cursing the very day of his birth David a man of a chearful spirit a man full of the praises of God a man wonderous large when he comes to speak of the glory of God at several times A man would have thought him of an invincible fortitude and courage yet nevertheless you shall have David so cast down as that he thinks the Lord had forgotten him and that the Lord would shew no mercy upon him that the Lord had hid himself from him and that he would never regard him more who would think that ever David that abounded so in the comforts of the spirit sometimes should be so dejected at such times as those were when he was in such a conflict Why doth God do this To shew thus much that the very best of his servants in the chief of their excellencies are dependant on him still they have nothing of themselves or from themselves Therefore they shall sometimes seem to want that they have that the very having and using of it may be ascribed to his glory Then let us now reason thus when we see the servants of God in trouble exercised under disquiet Let us conclude now God is glorifying himself This the Apostle infers He will rejoyce in his infirmities because the power of Christ is manifested by it For our selves it should teach us according to the intent of this place above all things to labour that our hearts may be kept in that blessed plight of spiritual joy that we may be strengthened with freeness of heart to serve God in our inward man Let not your hearts be troubled How should this be done The Text tells us here and so I come briefly to the second thing observable in the Text the means you beleeve in God saith he beleeve also in me As the words are read in the translation they seem to be uttered by way of concession as much as if Christ had said since yon already beleeve in God now beleeve in me The Syriack seems to express it otherwise and so render it by way of command and to make here an intimation of two duties as a help of quieting the heart and so it reads it Let not your hearts be troubled beleeve in God beleeve also in me propounding a twofold object where-about faith should be exercised that the heart may be quieted in the time of any trouble The first is God considered in the Trinity of persons in the unity of Essence The second is Christ Mediator God and Man Now saith he beleeve in God that is the first rest upon God Then the second is beleeve in me also as one that is the Mediator between God and you now making your peace with God So the second part seems to be the prevention of an objection For when he saith Let not your hearts be troubled beleeve in God they might say Alas shall we beleeve in God that are sinful men The sinners in Sion cry out Who shall dwell with consuming fire c. Therefore saith Christ beleeve also in me that is know that God will be your God in and for my sake he is reconciled and well pleased with you Therefore in all your approaches to God take me with you look up to God pray to him depend upon God through me still keep me as a Mediatour between God and you and this will preserve your hearts in peace The time would not serve if I should go over things particularly and in a full way Therefore I will touch the heads of things and it shall be thus much that A special means to preserve the heart of man from excessive sorrow and fear from trouble and disquiet of spirit is faith Let not your hearts be troubled But how shall we help it Beleeve in God beleeve also in me And this we shall see through the Scriptures David found it thus Psal 40. he speaks to his disquieted soul Trust in God I will wait on him he is my God Jehoshaphat in that excellent speech to his Souldiers that were now troubled for the multitude of their enemies against them Beleeve in God and you shall prosper beleeve his Prophets and you shall be established that is the way to stablish the heart to beleeve in God revealing himself in his Word It is noted of Moses in Heb. 11.27 He therefore endured all that he did because he looked on him that is invisible And those three companions of Daniel Dan. 3. Our God say they whom we serve is able to help us but if he will not we will not worship thy golden Image There was matter of trouble and disquiet in the heart to be put to such a plung that they must either worship or be cast into the Furnace heated seven times hotter Well this eased them of all trouble and disquiet they knew whom they have trusted and he was able to keep that that was committed to him to the coming of Christ As Saint Paul expresseth it with which he also rested abundantly satisfied On the other side the want of this hath been the cause of that perplexity and disquiet that hath been upon the hearts of Gods servants at all times That was the reason that Abraham was so disturbed and disquieted in that fear of what should be done to him in Egypt certainly he failed in this in resting upon God Moses was wondrously troubled when the Lord bad him go to Pharaoh and deliver Israel out of Egypt saith he Lord send by him whom thou shouldest send I am a
Saint Paul 1 Cor. 15.55 his words have no reference to this Text in the Prophet for the last Translation approved by our Church in the marginal note upon the 1 Cor. 15.55 sends us to this verse in Hosea and we find no other place in all the Scriptures of the old Testament to which the Apostle should allude but this And although Calvin endeavouring to untie this Gordean knot saith peremptorily that it is evident that the Apostle 1 Cor 15. doth not alledg the testimony of the Prophet to confirm any Point of Doctrine delivered by him yet Calvin hi◠evidence for it seems to me obscure and inevident his satis constat minime liquet for the express words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.53 54 55. are for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory What shall we say then hereunto With submission to those who out of better skill in the original and upon more exact examination of all Translations may bring them to a better accord for the present I thus resolve First that Rabbi Iarchi his translation is utterly be to rejected for it is like the white of an egg that hath no taste what sense can any man pick out of these words ero verbo tua ô mors I will be thy words O Death unless we help them with our English phrase I will do thine errand Secondly Aben-Ezra is to go packing with his fellow Rabbin for his interpretation is a manifest contradiction to the former words of the Prophet I will ransome them from the power of the grave I will redeem them from death he that will redeem them from death can in no sense be said to be the cause why they die but why they die not Besides both he and Iarchi stumble at the same stone to wit the word Deborica which they derive from dabar signifying verbum or causa whereas they should have derived it from Dever signifying pestem or a plague Thirdly for Saint Jerome his translation though it differ somewhat from the original yet it is no Antithesis to the Text but an elegant Antanaclasis or at least a Metonymie generis pro specie mors pro peste I will be thy death for I will be thy plague Fourthly for the translation of the Septuagint which Saint Paul most seemeth to follow because writing to the Gentiles who made use of that translation and understood not the original he would not give them any offence nor derrogate from it which was in great esteem among all in regard of the antiquity thereof and it stood the Christians in those dayes in great stead to convince the unbelieving Jewes It well agreeth with the Analogie of faith and the meaning of the holy Spirit and the Hebrew letter also will bear it for Ehi as Buxtorphius the great Master of the holy tongue out of David Kimchi observeth signifieth ubi where as well as ero I will be and a venemous sting and pestis the plague differ but little so that although the words in the original seem to be spoken by an affirmation but in Saint Paul and the Septuagint by an interrogation in the one by a commination in the other by an insultation yet both come to one sense and contain an evident prophesie of Christ his conquest over Death and Hell I have pluked away the thorn and now I am come to blow the flower and open the leaves of the words O death I will be thy plauges that is I will take away from Death the power of destroying utterly and from the Grave the power of keeping the dead in it perpetually If we take the words as spoken by way of insultation ô mors ubi est aculeus tuus O death where is thy sting thus we are to construe them as a hornet or serpent when his sting is plucked out can do no hurt to any other but soon after dyeth it self so Death is disarmed by Christ and left as good as dead for as David cut off Goliahs head with his own sword and Brasidas ran through his enemy with his own spear so Christ conquers over Death by death in as much as by his temporal death he satisfied both for the temporal and the eternal death of them that believe in him And as he conquered Death by his death so he destroyed the Grave by his burial for suffering his body to be imprisoned and afterwards breaking the gates and barrs of the prison he left the passage open to all his members to come out after him their head These sacred and heavenly mysteries are shrined in the letter of this Text for although the Prophet speaketh to the Israelites and maketh a kind of tender unto them of redemption from temporal death and deliverance from corporal captivity yet to confirm their faith therein he bringeth in the promise of eternal redemption from whence they were to infer if God will redeem us from eternal how much more from temporal death if he will deliver us out of the prison of the grave how much more out of common Goals what though our enemies have never so great a hand over us what though they exceed in their cruelty and put us to all exttemity and do their worst against us their cruelty cannot extend beyond death nor their malice beyond the Grave but Gods power and mercy reacheth farther For he can and he promiseth that he will revive us after we are dead and raise us after we are buried he will pluck deaths sting out of us and us out of the bowels of the Grave Death hath not such power over the living nor the grave over the dead as God hath over both to destroy the one and swallow up the other into victory For therefore the Son of God vouchsafeth to taste death that Death might be swallowed up by him into victory Although Death swallow up all things and the Grave shut up all in darkness yet God is above them both therefore when we are brought to the greatest exigent when nothing but death and torments are before us when we are ready to yeeld up the buckler of our faith and breath out the last gasp of hope let us call this Text to mind O death I will be thy plagues neither Death nor the Grave shall be my peoples bane because I will be both their bane and change their nature which destroyeth all nature For to all them that believe in me Death shall not be a postern but a street-door not so much an out-let of temporal as an in-let of eternal life and though the grave swallow the bodies of my Saints yet it shall cast them up again at the last day Thus the words yeeld us
see the Lord hath here promised a large assurance of safety and protection from the malice of his adversaries in the day of evil if he wisely consider the poor Again it makes much for the good of his posterity The good man is merciful c. and his seed inherits the blessing It may be he perceives not such sensible and apparant fruits or outward success in his own life upon this course yet his seed inherits the blessing and the less he enjoyes the more shall they receive of Gods goodness towards them as a recompence for his benevolent kindness towards the people of God And what greater legacy can man bestow upon his posterity then to leave them by his particular means in the loving favour of the Almighty And as it is so for the present so it becomes a course of wisedome for the future also Charge the rich men of the World that they be ready to do good c. laying up a good foundation for the time to come And by this means a man may provide well for eternity Make you friends faith Christ of your unrighteous Mammon that when you fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations The way for a man to provide for eternal good is to use his talent of wealth and estate for the present to the good of many Thus we see the Reasons plainly verified to make use of it briefly and hasten to that which remains Is it so then that it is writ down to be the duty of Gods servants to mannage the opportunities of this life for this end and in this course of doing good that is of distribution and reliefe Then it serves to reprove those that neglect this duty and account it not a business of their life only they conceive of it as a matter of praise and commendations a thing that they do well in performing and not very ill in omitting They conceive it to be of no absolute necessity but voluntary charity as a matter arbitrary but not as a duty necessary and for this cause they appear but slack and indifferent they conceive this as a duty to lay up wealth but never remember the necessity of laying out wealth to be commanded for a greater duty then the former they take it for their duty to get all they can but forget the following precept to do all the good with that they get as they can And here is the reason why there are such lavish expences bestowed upon every vanity that the portion of the poor and such as ought to be relieved with our estates in point of equity and by vertue of Gods Commandment is swallowed up by every vanity It is spent in excessive apparel for the satisfaction of the vain fashion-monger in superfluity of dyet for the Glutton and the Epicure in Haukes and Hounds and Dogs to please the humour of the voluptuous person it is consumed in raising up vain and unnecessary Buildings by earth-worms that make their habitations below and lay a foundation for themselves on earth neglecting that goodly building given of God to the re-edisying of their souls in the kingdome of Grace And thus is the portion of the poor consumed and themselves for want of the same exposed to all the misery that this World can inflict Some cry they cannot do it we have not an estate to undergo it in the mean time they run to excesse of Riot and make such voluptuous and superfluous feasts that the Phenix hardly escapes the bounds of their desires If you can be thus excessive in your dyet in your apparel in your sports if you can cast away in presents and in gifts in bribes and in gratuities superfluously upon rich friends there must of necessity be a defect in your will to the command of God when you neglect the miserable condition of the poor and lend no hand to help them What is the reason of it but because of the natural rebellion and Athisme that is in the heart of every man against God that they will employ their estates any way rather then bestow them to that purpose for which they are appointed by God Oh what account shall such be able to make at the day of Judgment do but suppose when the Books shall come to be opened wherein the particulars Diaries and passages of your life shall be thus examined Item so much for a feast Item on such a day for such another great feast and many a hundred dayes for as many hundred feasts wherein hundreds of the servants of God have endured extream want and inforced into banishment into other places to persecution to misery and distress when thou couldest not find one of them in a corner of thy purse Item so much for such apparel for such entertainment for such building of Walks and Galleries What nothing for the servants of God are they so empty when your houses appear so full live they so poor and you so richly glad what can you spare nothing for Christ and the distressed members of the Church all this while Oh my beloved remember what James faith Go to now you rich men weep and howl for your garments are Moth eaten whereon you have bestowed so much cost and your gold and silver is rusty and canker'd and the rest of them shall eate up your flesh as it were fire at that day Let it teach therefore the servants of God to bestow their Almes most willingly to be free and in continual readiness in extending their contribution towards the necessities of those that want them and not only so but to do good in so doing for that is the principal duty unto which the Text doth invite you While you have opportunity do good But how shall a man in such actions of mercy and bounty and liberality make it appear that he doth good Therefore briefly take some helps in this A man that will contribute out of his estate to releeve others and intends to do good First he must do what he doth justly he must not out of mercy extended to one injure another but must alwayes level his charity by his own ability And this is that which the holy Ghost calls the giving of a mans own Cast thy bread upon the waters thy own bread not another mans To give that which is a mans own by right by lawful procuring his own by right of possession the gifts bestowed out of that makes acceptation before God and provides a double recompence for the giver You see how Zachens gives If I have wronged any man I will restore it and half my goods I give to the poor That is I will first make restitution of what I have unjustly gotten and then of the remainder I will give half to the poor It is no giving for a man to employ all his life-time in the procurement of unjust gain By Usury deceit in trading and other indirect and forbidden courses to heap up abundance of red