Religion liue like the Pagan It is a sweete contentment to bee in the protection of the liuing God but most feare full to fall into his handes Wee haue beene long in the first let vs beware lest we fall into the second these differ as much as doe mercie and iudgement life and death heauen and hell Christ and Mahomet in the first we obey in the second we rebell in the first we trust in the second we despaire in the first wee pâ—ay in the second wee blaspheme Let vs consider therefore how farre wee are falne from the first and how farre we are from falling into the second and nothing more discouereth the same then to behold our conuersations in the glasse of the word wherein euery man in particular may see his owne and by obseruation the blemishes of the general multitude and none that hath religious eyes but may behold a generall deformitie Wee ought to haue no other Gods but one but we make vs as many as we haue worldly dependancies namely reposing our confidences on any besides the liuing God as is said before We shold not take the holy name of GOD into our polluted moutâ—es in vaine yet what is more common then the idle speaking of and the heedles praying vnto God Wee should loue our neighbours as our selues and performe the rest of our dueties required and auoyde things forbidden by the laws of the two tables but if we shal be examined by the letter and iudged by our obedience we would seeke to hide vs from the iudgement to com But none can fulfill the law and therfore not I if any be saued then so shall I. This is the carnall mans sophistry whereby he frameth to himselfe syllogismes against his owne saluation prouing it needlesse to heare the word preached nay dangerous Some will not sticke to say that they may heare too much consequenly know too much for according to their knowledge is their obedience and practise required and therefore if they know good and doe it not their condemnation is the more iust if they know little they may sinne the more yet are they the more excusable And though they seldome or neuer pray they offend not so much as if they pray and forgiue not their brother whoÌ„ they hate and therefore the lesse they pray the lesse shall their hatred of their brother be laid to their charge Here is the doctrine of the Diuell professed by some kinde of people and held as sound religion as they neede to build their faith vpon as by such as refuse to partake of the holy communion beecause they are not in charitie As the diuel said to Heuah Yea hath God said ye shall die if ye eate of the tree of the knowledge of good and euill No no ye shall not only not die but ye shall be like God himselfe so he perswadeth these kind of men Hath God commanded you to search the Scriptures to seeke knowledge to beleeue the word and to pray partake of the sacraments No no beware the more ye know the more ye haue to answere ye need take no such paines Though some more curious theÌ„ they need make much ado and spend their time in hearing the Word preached in reading the same beleeuing in God and praying vnto him they haue much to answere for He to whom much is giuen of him much shall bee required and therefore take heede ye couet not to know much and yet ye shall prosper fare as well and haue all things at wil as wel as they that are most religious This doctrine of the Diuell is pleasing to the carnally minded and more follow the rules of the power of darkenes then there follow Christ the guide vnto grace and giuer of all goodnes which causeth sinne so infinitely to abound and euery man to run a race according to his own hearts lust seldome or neuer reprehended or condignly punished But howsoeuer man neglecteth the punishment God no doubt wil punish vs vnlesse we meet him by repentance as Abigaile met Dauid we must fall beâ—fore him on the knees of relenting harts and appease him with the presents of faith obedience and praier wee may else feare that God will come vpon vs as Dauid intended vpon Nabal and take from vs that vnspeakeable pearle the vse of the Gospell which hee hath so long lent vs and continued amongst vs notwithstanding so many millions of impediments Let not our sinnes increase as they seem to beginne All places are too full of them who little regard the Gospell such as despise gouernement whose hearts are ouergorged with sinne We haue been so long fed with this spirituall Manna that many seeme to bee glutted therewith whose soules yet famish and they feele it not Other Nations haue beene denied to taste of that whereof many of vs are wearie Will we needes put out our Lampes now the Bride-groome is so neere Will we needes cast wilfully off our wedding-garments the Master of the feast being readie to suruey his guests Are we willing to bee taken from the blessed banquet of saluation and to be cast into vtter darkenesse Shall such as passe by shake their heads at vs seeing vs naked that erst were so decked with the knowledge of Christ and beautified with the sacred ornaments of obedience and loue Shall we now beginne to crucifie Christ anew God forbid What remaineth then Onely let vs become more warie watchfull let vs not follow the multitude to doe euill let euery man rather retire himselfe into the secret closet of his heart and let him bewray vnto God his owne sinnes and confesse them to bee part of the cause that God is angrie with his people let euery man pray as well in priuat as in publike beating our breasts wherin do lodg our corrupted hearts with the fists of true repentance and new obedience let vs pray earnestly for pardon remission of our former transgressions let vs cast ofâ— the ragges of the old man and seek by humble and vnfained submission and praier to be clothed with the more glorious garments of pietie and the rich and right robe of innocencie let vs redeem our furniture of true Châ—istianitie that our sinnes haue stolne from vs and arme vs againe wâ—th the shield of faith the brest-plate of righteousnesse and the helmet of saluation let vs be feruent in faith constaint in hope frequent in prayer let vs not be ashamed to lay open and vnlap our sores before the Physitian of our soules let vs take vnto vs the sword of the spirit and constantly encounter Sathan and sinne who haue wounded vs euen to the death let vs repaire vnto that heauenly Samaritan hee will poure the oyle of mercie into our wounds and heale vs. Our disease of sinning is common let there be a common consent in seeking remedie and let vs all with one hart and one mind humble our selues before God in fasting and prayer Thus must we seek
what time soeuer he asketh hee receiueth whensoeuer hee seeketh he findeth and when soeuer he knocketh he is admitted into the presence of God And whatsoeuer misery befalleth him in this life hee feeleth it not so vnsauorie to himselfe as other men conceiue it that beholde and obserue it in him As our Sauiour told his Disciples that hee had meate to eate which they knew not of so hath euerie sanctified regenerate man comfort that carnall men know not of which giueth him such sweete feeling of present happinesse through the assurance of his future promised glorie that he seemeth through the abuÌ„dance of his consolations rapt as it were alreadie out of this earthly Tabernacle into the heauen of heauens where he hath his conuersation in the spirit with-God though hee corporally remaine in this inferiour world CHAP. XV. True contentment not gotten by nature but by grace which produceth prayer the onely meane to obtaine all good SPiritual coÌ„tentmeÌ„t none can attaine vnto by his owne naturall powers and therefore there is a spirituall meane to be vsed for the obtayning thereof which the Apostle reaches saying Let your requests be shewed vnto God in prayer And Who so lacketh wisedome let him ask of God which giueth to al men liberally and reprocheth no man and it shall be giuen him This wisedome is not the wisedome of the world but the knowledge how when and what to ask to conform vs to the likenes of him that hath begotten vs anew who hath left vs an example that wee should follow as deare children If then we be the children of God Co-heirs with him of that heauenly Kingdom shal we not with him walke as becommeth children of such a father Shal our head weepe and lament for our sinnes Shall be suffer for our transgressions and shall wee laugh and reioyce in the vanities of this life and yet think to partake with Christ of his purchased Kingdome Hath he so farre purchased for vs as we need neyther suffering nor patience faith nor prayer Shall we think our selues like that vnspotted Lambe of God and yet defile our bodies soules by committing sinne vpon sin How can we then come vnto our father which is in heauen where no profane thing can haue any being If God heareth not sinners where shall the sinfull mans prayers appeare And how can he haue his conuersation in heauen as S. Paul had or walke with God as Henoch did whose soule and spirituall part which ought to ascend by the wings of faith towards heaueÌ„ is pressed downe by a most vgly and filthy dunghill the bodie clogged with the masse of sinne Cast off therefore all carnall and vncleane affections purifie clense your hearts by liuely repentance that the sauing bloud of the Lambe being sprinkled vpon the dore posts of our beleeuing hearts the holy spirit of God may enter and teach our spirits rightly to crye Abba father So shall wee apprehend that sacred renewing grace that shall breede this most sweet and heauenly change namely to make vs of the children of wrath the children of loue of the children of disgrace the childreÌ„ of glorie which change is not nor can be where faith faileth which faith is not obtained in respect of our prayers or any desert of our selues but only and altogether of the free fauor and good will of God in Christ in whoÌ„ for whom and by whom we haue promise to obtaine the fulnesse of spirituall contentment CHAP. XVI God being wisedome it selfe knowes how to deal with vs for our best aduantage and his own glorie which aboue all things wee must respect in all our prayers GOd being wisedome it selfe knoweth better then we what is fiâ—test for vs to receiue and for him to giue in both which his glorie must goe with our desires as it will of necessitie in his giuing And if wee seeke not his glory in all our demands we breake the order prescribed namely to doe all to the glorie of God much more then should our prayers which are the highest seruice wee can doe vnto God tend to the honour of his Maiestie beyond the desire of supply in our owne necessities and that is in making our prayers vnto him to be confident that he is iust and will according to his promise satisfie our iust desires so farre as may bee most for our benefite For we cannot truly iudge what is most expedient for vs we may aske for and think that best for vs which God in his wisedom knoweth most inconuenient and that to bee hurtfull euill for vs which hee seeth to be most for our good It is therefore agreeable to the right rule of true faith to subiect our wills to the wil of God and to frame all our petitions according to the rule of his word which teacheth vs to aske corporal things with condition that he be pleased therewith and spirituall heauenly things as the graces of the spirit with a full assurance to receiue And the more constant and earnest we be and the more we presse God to giue them so much the more it pleaseth him as to importune him to giue vs power to mortifie our corrupt affections to kill sinne both in our harts and members to begge the increase of faith obedience loue towards God and our neighbours peace in our selues and with all men patience in suffering Gods corrections gentlenesse meekenesse temperance To aske these absolutely and constantly is pleasing vnto God is acceptable vnto him wherein yet we are to beware that wee aske not spirituall gifts to carnal ends as did Simon the Magician but to Gods glorie as Salomon asked wisedome For the holy Scriptures teach vs that God suffereth many profane men to vsurpe spiritual functions as preaching prophecying and casting out Diuels to whom yet God wâ—â—l say Depart from me I know you not The like may be said of praying namely of meere babling with the tongue without the consent of a feeling faith full heart And in all these to shew more outward sinceritie then to haue inward sanctity is meere hypocrisie CHAP. XVII Three principall motiues to stirre vp men to pray wherof the chiefest is necessitie THere bee three principall motiues to stirre vp Christians to prayer first Gods commandement Pray continually 1. Thess. 5. 17. secondly the promise And ye shall receiue Matth. 7. 7. The third and last motiue is our owne necessities and they are infinite Daniel prayed â—o be preserued among the Lyons the three children froÌ„ the fire Hezekiah from death Ionah to bee deliuered from the bowels of the Whale Susanna to be freed from the vniust accusation of the lasciuious and false Iudges Dauid to be deliuered from the malice of Saul Necessitie hath so manie branches as men are subiect to seuerall dangers which are infinit and therefore a motiue of great force and yet without Gods assistance they can obtain no ease For the more a man strugleth to free himselfe from
him but also in punishing the wicked when they offend yet are these meanes onely of and by God working not as man willeth but as God foreseeth fit for the good of the one punishment of the other God vsed clay to cleere the eies of the blinde man if the blinde man had yeelded the thanks to the clay as the cause of his sight though hee had likewise giuen praise vnto God hee had robbed God of his right For to allow vnto God a fellow-helper were to argue him of himselfe insufficient as som most fearfully belch forth a most superstitious praier saying God and our Lady do this or that or preuent this or that whereby they eyther make God no God or a God not absolute in power nor without a cooperator complete which cannot bee but most horrible blasphemie I hereby yet inferre not that it is vnlawfull to giue reuerence vnto the means which God vseth for our good as Dauid did to Ionathan yet no further but as to the instruments without which God might haue effected his worke eyther by other meanes or without any meanes nay against means as not tied to any secondary meanes of necessitie Hezekiah being healed with a cluster of figges did not perswade himself that nothing else could haue done the cure but that whatsoeuer God had made the mediate cause howsoeuer contrarie to the opinion that man might haue of the thing it would haue wrought the same effect For he is able by weakest means to performe the greatest worke as it appeared by the ouerthrow of the wals of Iericho with the sound of Rams hornes And as he worketh by meanes so sometimes without meanes euen by his word as in healing the Cananitish woman and the Centurions seruant nay such is his absolute power as he worketh as familiarly and easily against meanes as in bringing water out of the hard drie Rocke making the waters to diuide as the red Sea and Iordan in making the Sunne to stand still in Gâ—beon and the Moon in the valley of Aialon at the prayer of Iosuah and causing the Sunne to goe backe in his sphere contrarie to and against his naturall motion at the prayer of Hezekiah The holy Scriptures are full of such sweete examples of the absolute power of God who to effect them requires necessarily no other human meanes but faithfull praierâ— not the praier which passeth onely the lips the affections of the heart being extrauagant but that prayer which proceedeth from the sanctified soule well and rightly tuned in all her faculties the vnderstanding thinking on nothing but on God the will onely louing him the memory coueting to retaine nothing but him the desire aspiring to no other happinesse but what he hath promised vs in his word In this maner were our holy fathers qualified and in this sweete consent of the affections poured they forth the concordant harmonious praiers that wrought these former most admirable supernaturall effects in altering the naturall course of those creatures which he himselfe set in the firmament neuer to be moued to the end of the world CHAP. IX It is a dangerous thing to pray vnto God vnprepared but most safe sweet vpon diuine premeditation arising of grace not of nature HOw can this but moue a kind of feare in men who presume to thrust themselues into the presence of God vttering praiers in wordes their vnderstandings being carried from God through the vanities of this life their wills beeing besorted with the loue of carnall things and their desires thirsting after worldly aduancements Are these mens prayers of force to cast downe holdes to alter the natural course of things or can they obtaine any thing at the handes of God but reproofe But men that are wise in Christ enlightned with the diuine spirit feele motiues in themselues of another kinde not staying below their affections set vpon the golden Calfe at the foot of mount Sinai but they aâ—cend vp in their harts to the holy mount of Grace and there conuerse they familiarly with the true God leauing the flesh pots the Onyons and Gourds of Egypt and feede on the heauenly Manna Angels bread the bread of life whereby they becom so rapt vp from earth and earthly things as they haue their conuersations alreadie in the heauens by their heauenly communication with God in their spirits Their prayers sweet conference with God for the time ended they then returne to the performance of their lawfull affaires and therein walke as it were with God liuing so sincerely with and among men in the feare and loue of God as if they were in the reall presence of God To this degree of perfection none can attaine by his naturall vnderstanding or will but by the administration of the spirit of God only who teaches vs how to pray God commaundeth all men to pray and yet giueth not all men the gift of true praier and therefore euerie man is bound to aske of God power to aske although it may seem strange to a carnall man to aske power to performe the selfe-same thing that hee performeth in asking But it is to be considered that there is a verball and lip-kind of asking and there is a cordiall heartie praying and he that doeth it not from the heart may vtter it with the lippes and in words may seeme to pray and yet the heart remaine estranged and full of rancor and euill affections But such is the force of â—iuely faith that it cannot conceale it selfe for if it bee in the heart it will shew it selfe in the efficacie of prayer which praier onely hath the promise to obtaine beeing made in the name of Christ to God hath the promise to be granted for his sake by God For in Christ are the promises made vnto vs both of spirituall and corporall blessings and in him and by him sealed vnto vs and confirmed so as there is no cause of doubting left vnto the faithfully asking alwayes prouided that he ask not the thing the graunting whereof is not warranted in the word of God that hath made vs a generall warrant of granting whatsoeuer wee aske with restriction yet that it bee agreeable to his wil which also includeth all things that he seeth best for vs to receiue For such is the wisedome prouidence and loue of God towards vs that like a father he will not giue vnto his children a Scorpion in stead of Fish he will not giue them hurtfull things instead of helpfull And therfore it behoueth vs to inform our selues by his word what is consonant and what dissonant to his will that we may auoide to aske forbidden things with boldnes aske things lawfull In the prayer which Christ taught vs we pray Thy will be done wee must not therefore wilfully attempt to aske much lesse to do any known thing to the contrarie But such is our corruption as howsoeuer we seem willing that the will of God should be done we yet retaine a