he was noâ— Sâ—mueâ— but Sâ—an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 of Samuel 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 56. Thâ—odâ—â—eâ— Quest 62 in l 1 Reg â—o 1. Hâ—â—ds that God did speak then by a shape â—â—kened unto Samuel his words are these Hinc eâ—gn verspiâ—u in quod ipâ—â— Deus universâ—â—um â—ssâ—rmaâ—a ut voluit spâ—ciâ— Samuelis proâ—â—liâ— sutenâ—am 〈…〉 potâ—sisse◠〈◊〉 loqua sed Deus ei miniâ—â— protulit 〈◊〉 per â—dâ—â—â—sario c Eus Eccles hist l 8 c 28 29. supposed * For he was noâ— Sâ—mueâ— but Sâ—an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 of Samuel 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 56. Thâ—odâ—â—eâ— Quest 62 in l 1 Reg â—o 1. Hâ—â—ds that God did speak then by a shape â—â—kened unto Samuel his words are these Hinc eâ—gn verspiâ—u in quod ipâ—â— Deus universâ—â—um â—ssâ—rmaâ—a ut voluit spâ—ciâ— Samuelis proâ—â—liâ— sutenâ—am 〈…〉 potâ—sisse◠〈◊〉 loqua sed Deus ei miniâ—â— protulit 〈◊〉 per â—dâ—â—â—sario c Eus Eccles hist l 8 c 28 29. Samuel raised up by a Witch told him that the Lord was departed from him and become his enemie vers 16. and that to morrow he should be with him vers 19 upon that the text saith He fell all along on the earth and there was no strength in him vers 20. if that instant he might have had all the applause of Israel as much as David 1 Sam. 18.7 8. and if one should have shewed him all the crowns of all the Kings of the earth to make him merry it had been in vain for what comfort can he take in crowns and worldly honours and preferments who within a day must leave the world and loose all the glory of it it is Christ and onely Christ that can then comfort the heart and cheer it So Maximinus that great and mightie Emperour of the East what comfort could he take in his Imperiall diadem and in all the pompe honour and slattering applause that ever filled his eares and lifted up his ambitious heart when the wormes as the just executioners of the implacably provoked God of heaven and most glorious King of Kings did crawle upon all his body none at all though he did even recant and revoke his bloody edicts against the poore and harmlesse Christians because he was no Christian himself and so consequently uncapable of comfort as being out of Christ who onely can and must comfort the heart 4. Whereas Christ is most wise 4 Difference those things which you do so preferre before Christ are most foolish See 1 Tim. 6.6 how they that will be rich fall into temptation and into many foolish and hurtfull lusts marke foolish lusts the like may be said of all things else as of vain-glory that it is a foolish thing and maketh a man a foole and of the love of * Prov. 7 2â— pleasures that it is a foolish thing and of anger revenge and envy that it is a foolish thing for anger is said to rest in the bosome of fooles and every man before he turneth into wisdome which is Christ in Solomons Proverbs is judged to be but a foole Prov. 8.5 5. Whereas Christ is most harmlesse 5 Difference those things which you value above Christ are most hurtfull for 1. riches like thornes do prick the very hearts of their owners yea pierce them thorow with many sorrows and drown men in destruction and perdition when they be so greedy and covetous after them 1 Tim. 6.9 10. 2. Pleasures like the * Ambâ— de 〈◊〉 Muâ—â—â— cap. 6. anglers bait have a hooke hid under their enticing sweetnesse wherewith those that are inconsiderate are caught and killed Luke 16.19 23 25. 3. The like may be said of honours ambitiously desired and pursued that thereby men are caught as with sâ—ares which the Devill layeth for them to carry them along with him into everlasting fire prepared for him and all such as are like him for pride and other wicked qualities Matth. 25.41 Mal. 4.1 6. Whereupon it comes to passe 6 Difference that whereas Christ is most sweet those other things which you esteeme above Christ are or will be in the end most bitter the best fruit that can grow from them is * Siâ—e Aristoiâ—ler monehat ut v◠〈◊〉 contemplemâ—â—â— non venienâ—â—s sed abeâ—â—â—â—â— veâ—iâ—â—â—â—â— enim 〈◊〉 specie blandiuntur abeuntes doâ—â—rem pâ—â—aitentiam relinqâ—unt repentance and remorse of conscience for sweet meat must have sower sauce 7. And whereas Christ is most sure they are most uncertaine and unstable For instance 1. See 1 Tim. 6.17 how riches are said to be uncertain and riches saith Solomon betakes her selfe to her wings like an Eagle Prov. 23.5 and therefore the forme of money agreeeth well with the condition of it For it is stamped round 7 Difference because it is so apt to run from him that owneth it 2. The same may be spoken of Honours that as in a wheele the spoke that now is upward is by and by downward so he that now liveth in pompe and honour may be shortly so dethroned from his greatnesse as that he may be little the better for all former happinesse Thus a great King once applyed the unstablenesse of a wheele when being dejected from the top of his prosperity and taken prisoner he was inforced to drive a charioâ— which indignity was added to his former disasters as a complement of his calamity as those wheeles turne round said he so doe mens conditions change likewise they that are high on a sudden are brought low 3. And are not Pleasures as variable are they not said to be but for a season Heb. 11.25 and to passe away 1 Iohn 2.17 and doe we not find it so that as a bird in the aire and as a ship in the sea under sayle and a post upon the land hasteneth away so pleasures of all sorts doe post * Fluit voluptas prima quaeque evolat Cic. 2. de sin and fly away from us No longer then the meat and drinke is in our throats and other pleasant things are in use doe we or can we perceive any pleasantnesse at all the consideration whereof caused * In the advancement of learning l. 1. Vitium soluÌ„ nomen habet voluptatis absequere Chrys 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 6. one to affirme that therefore they are no pleasures but rather deceits of pleasures because after they be used their vigor presently * Vra cum satietate moritur memoria vâ—â—â—ptatis sic 2. effiâ— expireth and departeth and is no longer to be perceived Thereupon a * Thriver 〈◊〉 Apophâ— wife man wisely concludes that as Esops dog being deluded with a vaine shadow of flesh lost the true flesh so they are likewise all deceived who in stead of the true delights of the soule consisting in vertue hunt after the vanishing pleasures of the flesh answerably whereunto say I may we affirme the very same of those who leaving
professe our selves to be Christs espoused members and yet are so regardlesse of our selves many times and doe so disfigure defile and staine our selves with such a numberles number of sins and transgressions which are the very excrements of abused and polluted soules as that both at home and abroad we doe even disgrace our holy profession and dishonour that King of glory Jesus Christ our dearest Savior who is most like unto a Rose fresh and faire and therefore requires a singular fairenes of carriage and conversation of all those who call themselves after his name and will be reputed to be his mysticall Spouse If a poore maid should be married to a Lord or knighâ— as faire as Absalom and as wise and rich as Solomon able and willing to provide her the richest clothes and bracelets and jewels as if she were a Queene and yet she should not carry her selfe somwhat accordingly neatly and decently at least nor make some advantage unto her selfe of so great and good a husband according to her degree but should come before him like a beggar in filthy rags and all besmeared and goe likewise abroad thus among the people would not all that know her cry shame on her that having such an excellent husband she should disgrace both him and her self well if we doe indeed belong to Christ and beleeve in Christ then are we espoused unto Christ who is fairer then Absalom being the rose of Sharon and is also both able and ready to clothe us even as Saul the Lords anointed did clothe the daughters of 〈◊〉 in Sharleâ— I meane the skarlet 〈◊〉 of his owne righteousnesse and to put on even ornaments of gold of grace upon our apparell 2 Sam. 1.24 that we may be all glorious within Psal 45.13 and therefore how can I chuse but cry shame upon all you that are loose and carelesse professors who take your selves to be thus richly and happily married and yet are not ashamed to come in the glorious presence of that goodliest and fairest bridegroome of all bridegroomes Christ Jesus with hands and mouthes and hearts all soiled and beslubbered with sin which is that abominable and hatefull thing Esa 1.14 And so in like manner dare even to goe abroad among men of all sorts with such foule mouths and filthy hands and polluted hearts to the great dishonour of so great a king and the almost irreparable and irrecoverable dammage of your owne soules whom hereby you expose to his fierce and flaming wrath for the time present and likewise y Defraud and dispossâ—sse your selves defraud and dispossesse your selves of all those rarest and richest comforts which doe so happily replenish and revive the blessed hearts of other carefull and gracious Christians who doe alwayes industriously labour to be faire even as he is faire and glorious even as he is glorious and pure as he is pure 1 Iohn 3.3 be ashamed therefore of your selves all you that are so regardlesse of your selves that dare presume to bring even into Gods owne house and presence such foule and filthy souls as are altogether stuffed and topfull with most horrible execrable thoughts that embolden your selves to lift up there such contaminated and defiled hands as have touched many unclean things but a little before yea and moreover to open such filthy mouths as have exhaled and uttered so many vaine impure and unseemly speeches when you were even ready to enter the Congregation Assure your selves that if you shall not henceforth labour with all possible care to carry yourselves more fairely then hitherto you have done that this very performance the word you heare the prayer you make will be a meanes even to increase and to aggravate those stinging tortures wherewith the most jealous most just and righteous God will vexe and plague those foule and filthy soules of yours here in this present life though he doe not cast and throw them into hell hereafter in case they belong unto him by the irrevocable degree of his eternall predestination SECT 7. Comfort for Gods carefull people 3. THis point may serve to cheare up all Gods people 3 This serves to comfort and to cheere up Gods people that their deare Saviour is thus pleased to compare himselfe to a Rose For as roses are able to comfort the very heart and to * Tho. Hill in his art of gardening p. 88. rejoice the bloud so Christ must needs be very comfortable too yea transcendently more 1. I say Christ must needs be much more comfortable refreshing and reviving and that in a twofold respect For 1. 1 Respect bâ— Râ—sa râ—fâ—igerat Dioscor l. 1. c 112. de medica materia Id. c. 113. as roses doe * refresh and coole mens bodies in hot diseases * and sweats and allay the heate So Christ is able to allay the burning heate of hell fire though you should feele it sweating as it were in your very soul as he sweat bloud himselfe in the anguish of his soule Luke 22.44 to deliver us from the horror and fire of hell and to make us glad 2. 2 Respect c Petr. Aâ—dr Mattbiol in Dioscer l. 1. c. 112. As roses doe revive men when they are taken with dead palsies So Christ will restore his to life againe Ioh. 6.54 Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day 2. I affirme that Christ is transcendently more comfortable then a rose For as much as every d Dâ—onys Areopag excellency and goodnesse which is in any creature is is still after a more excellent manner in the Creator And here that you may see this transcendency as much as I am able to make you see it I pray you take notice of these following disproportions 1. 1 Disproportion Sometimes I meane in the wiâ—ter there is not a fresh rose to be seen nor to be had in all the fields of c I say our land because about Carthage there are fresh roses all the winter long as Petr. Andr. Matth. in l. 1. Dâ—â—sâ— c. 112. affirmeth it our land if one would give never so much for any to smell to it but Christ is ever to be found and never wanting unto those that seeke him neither winter nor summer that is in adversity as well as in prosperity yea most of all and chiefly then Esa 43.1 2. and therefore how much more comfortable must he needs be then all roses 2. 2 Disproportion And though also other corruptible roses may be had and used yet can they not administer comfort unto us at all times even whilest we have them how ever they may exhilarate the heart at some times but Christ as he is alwaies to be found in a time of need so is he alwaies able to comfort us in a time of need Heb. 4.16 3. 3 Dâ—spâ—â—portion When other roses doe yet comfort the heart alas how cold and weak is that comfort being not
quippe 〈◊〉 est in quo sublimâ—s valâ—è odoriferae arbore â—ascuntur Cedrus etiam excelsa est arbor imputribâ—lis Greg in Loc. Lebanon which is a most loftie mountaine 2. excellent as the Cedars which are both high and incorrupâ—â—â—le as Christ is 9. He is most amiable and ravishing For she concludeth He is altogether lovely or he is all desireable things as the Hebrew phrase doth set him forth more emphatically * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to shew that in him there is all that we can desire But now what are all those things which you prize so much above Christ 1 Difference but 1. most fowle like dung Phil. 3.8 in comparison of Christ 2. And likewise most wâ—ake and unable to help you 2 Difference and to deliver you in the day of wrath take a view 1. Of Riches 2. Of Pleasures 3. Of Honours To begin with Riches let a man engrosse all the wealth of the land and fill his house full of silver and gold and let then Gods wrath seâ—ze upon him and see whether all his treasures will be able to deliver his Soul No No they cannot they cannot do that which properly belongs to Christ who alone is able to free us from that wrath â—sa 63.3 and hence is that excellent peech of Solomon riches profit not in the day of wrath Prov. 11.4 Remember Spira Spira related and confessed so much himselfe that he was exceeding covetous who once was exceeding covetous of money so as that he got abundance of wealth what good could all his great estate which he preserved by his apostasie do unto him in the sense and feeling of Gods flaming wrath None at all 2. So pleasures how weake are they to rescue a man then when the wrath of God is upon him Balshazzar you know wanted nothing that might either please his daintie palate or delight his amorous eyes and yet loe how when he did even wallow in pleasure his countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him So as that the joynts of his Ioynes were loosed and his knees smote one against the other because the Almightie did begin to manifest his wrath against him by a hand writing upon his wall whose meaning as yet he knew not which notwithstanding he was so perplexed in his thoughts as that neither wine nor women could please him afterward for the text saith He cryed aloud to bring in Astrologers c. Dan. 5.7 Dan. 5.1 2 3 4 5 6. whereas before he called for the vessels of the Temple and for drinke c. Now he calls for Caldeans to know the meaning of the hand writing which he conceived to be against him because his own conscience accused him thus neither the delicatest belâ—y cheere nor the most delicious love of women can free a man from perplexitie in the day of wrath 3. The like may be said of honours and high places let a man be carried upon mens shoulders as the Pope and weare a triple crown upon his head let him bâ— attended with all the nobilitie of the land where he lives let him be honoured and idolized as a god like Alexander and Herod and then let Gods wrath fall on him as it dâ—d on the said Herod Act. 12.23 who was eaten up of wormes because he gave not God the glory when the people said of his speech This is the voice of a God and not of a man vers 22. and then see whether all that glittering honour and pleasing applause will be able to deliver him from the revenging hand of that great and mightie God whose wrath burneth like fire alas it cannot but Christ can and none but Christ indeed and should ye not theÌ„ put a higher esteem upon Christ then upon these things 3. Whereas Christ is most rich in mercy and comfort 3 Difference those things which you prize so above Christ are most poore and vain and emptie More particularly 1. Riches are most emptie and as unable to comfort you as they be unable to deliver you in the day of wrath let a man accumulate and heap up wealth like dust and let him tumble himselfe upon heaps of shining * Like Caligula who was so delighted to touch and to handle money as that laying great heaps of gold in a spacious place he would tread on it barefooted and sometimes tumble himself in it Suâ—ton in vita Calig gold and let him see whether he can extract or attract so much as one dram or drop of comfort from all that abundance to sustaine and to refresh him in the middest of Gods burning ire and flaming indignation T is all in vaine he cannot for riches are nothing as saith the wisest King who over-flowing with wealth himselfe found what he writ by experience Prov. 23.5 Wilt thou cast thine eyes upon that which is nothing for riches betaketh her selfe to her wings marke how riches with him are nothing whereas you thinke that they are something and that there is some true comfort to be found in them but do you imagine what you will I le rather beleeve Gods penman and his experience then your deluded and abused imaginations and so consequently I cannot but conclude that seeing riches are nothing they can comfort nothing in the day of wrath for how can a man fetch any thing out of an emptie bag or an emptie chest 2. Nor can pleasures comfort you in the day of wrath and in the houre of death though your table should be covered with the choisest dishes and your beds should be all of Down and your Cellers should be full of sweetest wines and your eyes should feed on the fairest objects and your eares should drink in the most melodious and sweetest musick yet would not all this be able to comfort your hearts when God is angry and death approaches like a cruell and unmercifull executioner to bring you to the place of Gods dreadfullest execution called hell marke but the end and period of other dying men and see what little comfort they can take in any such thing For all is vanitie Eccles 1.2 that is a meere * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est res quae non est quidpiam Pagn emptinesse and therefore these things must needs be so too and so consequently unable to yield the least true and solid comfort in the evill day so as that we may truly say of them as Iob of his friends that they are miserable comforters 3. What comfort can a man take in all the honour and applause of the world when he comes to dye and to yield up his ghost or else is affrighted with the terrours of the Almightie let me instance in Saul what content could he finde in all his royall pomp and in the most glorious title of a crowned King when God being angry with him would not answer him neither by dreames nor by Vrim nor by Prophets 1 Sam. 28 6. and when that * For
in my heart goe to now I will prove thee with mirth therfore enjoy pleasures c. ver 1. again I sought in my heart to give my selfe to wine ver 3. I gate me men-singers and women-singers and the delights of the sonnes of men as musicall instruments and that of all sorts ver 8. and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them I withheld not my heart from any joy for my heart rejoyceth in all my labours ver 10. adde his seven hundred wives princesses and three hundred concubines 1 King 1â— 3 and his daily delicate provision of Harts Ro-bucks and Fallow-Deare and fatted foule besides fatted oxen and sheep 1 King 4.22 23. And yet at last he could draw no other conclusion from all such premises but the very same which I have here set downe affirming that a man shall find in the end even an emptines and wearinesse and trouble in the very fulnesse of all such pleasing and fugitive follies Heare him speake I said of laughter thou art mad and of mirth what doth it ver 2. Again then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought c. and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the sunne and therefore I said that onely in the sunne that is in Christ the sun of righteousnesse and not under the sunne or in things below this sun there are or can be all desirables 3. Let a man have as much honour as the fishes in the great ocean have water let him even swim in the praises of men and let him flye upon the wings of fame and soare as high as an Eagle let him draw in the breath of a world of applauding flatterers yea let him live by such breath as the * Acrem illi aliquando pro cibo certum est Nam annum integrum inediam tolerat excepta hiatu aura clausis qâ—e malis turgidum ventrem ostentat Lonston Thaumatâ—gr Nat. class 7. cap. 13. Chamaeleon doth by the aire and yet I dare say that all that aiery and glittering glory will not content the most eager and greedy desire of his aspiring and unsatisfiable breath or soule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 24. Quod affinitatem habet cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honorabilis which ever craves more till he doe fill it who is called the King of glory and God Almighty or all-sufficient and all-honourable Gen. 17.1 See Est 3. how restlesse and how discontented ambitious Haman was even then when Ahasuerus had promoted him and set his seat above all the Princes that were with him ver 1. because Mordecai a poore despised Jew who sate in the gate and did not bow to him the text saith he was full of wrath ver 5. None of all his mounting greatnes and towring honour could then satisfie his vexed and discontented mind which shewes how small a matter will marre and unglorifie all the stateliest pomp and most refulgent and admired glory of the world every poore caitife and most vilest wretch refusing to adore it and to stoop thereunto is able to eclipse it and to create even a little hell in the aspiring mind of a vaine-glorious person who therefore as a * Nam certe quot homines in populo sunt tot vinculis constringitur ambitiosus tot dominis subijcitur Châ—ys in Mat. 12. hom 42. l 2 mihi p. 334. father saith wel may be said to have as many Lords unto whom he is subject as there be men among all the people among which he liveth though in his mind he doe despise them all so that honour cannot possibly satisfie If Alexander get up into the imperiall throne of Darius and be made a Monarch of the world yet that will not content and suffice his ascending and lofty mind but he must needs be Deified too and called a * Quint. Curt l 6. p. 257. God and Iupiter in stead of King King Philip must be his father Good God what will not the restlesse soules of men doe and desire when they be out of Christ who onely can and must satiate our endlesse appetites being himselfe all desirables and the onely ocean of all desirables whence they doe originally flow and whether they doe finally returne so as that Paulinus might well say of him as he did in the want of all things Tu es mihi omnia thou Lord art to me in stead of all things Have what you will desire what you will and yet you shall want one thing or other still till you come home to Christ and he be unto you all in all The Lord open your eyes that you may now see all these differences clearly and weigh them duely and compare them together wisely that so you may chuse at last the Lord Jesus Christ in whom are all desirables unfainedly and also may be saved everlastingly Amen Good Lord let it be even so if it be thy will to have it so SECT 13. Of Blockishnesse the second Let. THe second let which here must be pulled away is Blockishnesse The second Let is Blockishnesse wherby many men and women are so stupified as that they care as little for this rose of Sharon as a great many of your blockish countrey people care for other roses though they have great store of them in the countrey For they doe not conceive that they may be sicke and stand in some need of them and therefore they will not take the paines to gather them and to preserve them against a time of faintnesse or sicknesse which may happen Nor doe a great many men among us once seriously thinke upon the evill day when Christ the rose of Sharon will doe a man more good then this whole world if it were turned into one entire lump of gold nay they doe even purposely put off all such pensive thoughts as now and then doe mind them of such a day Like that timorous King of France who charged all his followers that they should not once name before him that most dreadfull fearfull name of death they doe not desire to thinke that ere long they must sicken and dye and come to judgement and therefore though we Ministers tell them never so much of Christ and doe even fill their eares with Christ and make them even weary to heare so much of Christ yet can we doe them no good because they be so blockish as that they cannot or will not remember their latter end So that needs thou must remove out of the way this blocke if thou be yet out of Christ and remember that a day is comming even a day of darknesse and of gloominesse a day of clouds and of thicke darknesse Ioel 2.2 when thou shalt lie downe upon thy death-bed in thy last sicknesse unlesse God take thee away suddenly When the * Tremell in Eccles 12. keepers of the house thine armes shall tremble and the * Idem â—b strong men thy knees