if you read the Scripture from this place till you come to Chap. 42. you shall find that God is Manifesting himself there and Revealing himself in his Glory and Righteousness to Job Now in the 3d. verse Job takes up the very words to himself that God had before spoken Saith Job Who is he that hideth Counsel without Knowledge Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not God he saith Who is this that uttereth words without knowledge And then he shews himself Look upon me is it not I that have done it Then Job saw that it was God that did it I have meddled with things that I understood not I have troubled my self like a Fool in things that I did not understand O foolish wretched heart that I have And then afterwards he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the Ear but now mine Eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes As if he should say I 'll never be Impatient more I 'll never have any risings of heart more against any of thy dealings towards me For Lord now I see that I heard of thee before I could have said All things come by the Providence of God I could have said so I but now mine Eyes see thee I have the sight of that Glorious Infinite Majesty of thine that art so infinitely Great Blessed and Holy and therefore now I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes Let become of me what will I have learned for ever to sanctifie that Holy Name of thine It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good And therefore by way of Exhortation O my Brethren I beseech you apply these things unto your selves In some of your Thoughts it seems I have been as Dead hear then somewhat that I am this day to say to you as you know Dives said If one come from the Dead they will hear him Here what I have to say to you from this Point First O let this sinck into your hearts as if one should come from the Dead to speak it to you namely this That God is so infinitely worthy of Honour from you that you should be at a point whether you Honour him either in the enjoyment of Mercy or suffering of Affliction it 's no great matter The Honour of God should be so dear to you and you should so much love him your hearts should be so much with God as you should leave it wholly to himself which way he would be Honoured by you Surely though we think we have a Love to God and we would Honour him yet our Love to God and desire to Honour him is very little If so be that we do not wholly resign up our selves to him to do in us and by us as he will then indeed is the heart right And this is Honouring God as a God when there is a full yielding up of the heart and when it is in a manner indifferent what way God will take Then your hearts are come to a right frame Secondly The second thing that I would say to you is this That there is so great evil in sin and O that God would make it take as great an Impression upon you as if one from the Dead spake it as the least stopping one in the way of sin the least abating the power of sin hath so much good in it as it 's enough to countervail the greatest evil in the greatest Afflictions in the World O this Principle would be of mighty use in the hearts of People when any Affliction doth befal them or their Family but doth God by this at least stop me in any way of sin Doth not God by this some way or other help me against some sin O then the Affliction is well paid for I have now a greater good abundantly than the evil of the Affliction comes to There was a little bitter but here 's a great deal more sweet Thirdly There is more good in any Exercise of any Grace than there is evil in the bearing of any Affliction If God doth bring an Affliction but for the Exercise of any Grace or for the stirring up thy heart but to look towards him there may be more good in that then there is evil in any Affliction Perhaps thou art going up and down muddling in the World and thy Thoughts were but little upon him before why if by Afflictions thou comest but to look after God his is a greater good than the evil of the Affliction comes to But if God Blesses thee so as thou comest to Exercise Grace in it Humility Patience Self-denial Faith O here thine Affliction is abundantly made up Oh! labour therefore upon the Consideration of this that It is the Lord to submit humbly to him this is acceptable to God Suppose you have two Children that were sick it may be one he riggles and keeps a stir and will take nothing that you give him but now you have another Child lies and he is sick too and he saith Father Mother I 'll do what you will have me I 'll take what you will give me do but tell me what you would have done I 'll presently do it though it be never so grievous and bitter I 'll take it Now would it not make your hearts relent towards such a Child that should be so yieldable will lie this way or that way take this thing or that thing and all because it comes from a Father If the Child should say to you It 's true I am Sick and Ill but I know you love me and know what 's better for me than I do and therefore I 'll take it Would not this be very acceptable O this it is which the Lord accepts when his Children do behave themselves so under his Afcting Hand And my Brethren This further helps against a great many Temptations When Job did but say this The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away let Him do what seemeth Him good The Devil saw his hopes gone then his hopes of doing that hurt and mischief that he intended was gone O the heart is in a safe condition that is thus submissive unto God Others that have Fretting Impatient hearts are subject to abundance of Temptations but the danger of Temptation is over when thy heart comes to this And this will make the Affliction very easie unto thee when thou bringest thy heart to this It may be others may think that 's very sore and hard with thee I but thou findest it very easie abundance of sweetness comes in with this Yea I appeal to the Experience of the Saints that knows but what this means Whether ever had you more Comfort in all your Lives than at that time when you have been most Afflicted and yet brought your hearts to this Temper and Disposition O therefore learn to work these things upon your hearts It 's an easie matter for Men and Women to speak
conscience liberty to reprove you for being Truant in the School of Jesus Christ and let this humble your souls before the Lord. I shall speak more to that afterwards but for the present know that this is your work to go and be humbled before the Lord that you have not understood what it is to sanctifie God in the fulness that you enjoy Lord Through thy mercy I have all my dayes been full of outward comforts Thou hast been full-handed towards me in the wayes of thy mercy but Lord though I have had fulness a long time O how far have I been from knowing how to be full If this be to know it then I have been a stranger to it hitherto Tenthly A man doth know how to abound when he knows how to make use of the Comforts he doth enjoy of the world so as not to be hindered by the afflictions or troubles that doth attend his Comforts In mens abounding and being full of comforts in this world they cannot but have some affliction and some troubles attending these comforts for all Creature comforts are mingled comforts Now then Then a man knows rightly how to be full when he enjoyes his fulness so as though he hath some affliction mixed yet he can tell how to make use of his affliction for his humiliation and his comforts for thanksgiving unto God at the same time whereas now abundance of people when they enjoy comfort if they meet with any trouble and affliction mixed with their comfort they are filled so with vexation and bitterness and their spirits are so troubled that they lose all the good of their comforts As Haman he did abound but he did not know how to abound therefore when he was but crossed in one thing that Mordecay did not bow the Knee to him why all the comfort of his prosperity was taken away and his spirit was filled with rage and bitterness and malice And thus it is with many people that have abundance in their Families they are full of outward comforts they have their Yoke-fellows comfortable Children they have Estates they have their Tables furnished and all things that one would think might content the heart of a man almost But now if any one cross doth fall out that doth displease them they are put into such a vexation and fretting humour as they lose all the benefit of the comforts Do'st thou know how to abound when as thou goest abroad and something crossest thee or thy Servant doth something amiss why presently thou art in a rage and fretting and all thy thanksgiving to God for all thy mercies that 's forgot Nothing but fretting and vexing in the Family for one cross when as there are a hundred mercies that thou shouldest bless God for Thou dost not know how to to abound when thou canst not tell how to sever the good of mercy from the consideration of affliction And though God doth afflict thee in something yet he gives thee abundance of occasions to bless him and praise him But now when thou canst bless God for all mercies and be humbled for all afflictions at the same time If God doth grant me more mercies then affliction he shall have more thanksgiving from me then sorrow or then trouble I le have more joy then I will have trouble if I have more mercy then I have correction This man knows how to abound that can do thus then Eleventhly lastly That man knows how to abound that in his abundance yet knows himself Such a man or woman knows how to be full and to abound I say that if they are full and abound yet they know themselves It s ordinary for people not to know themselves when once they come to abound Saul was little in his own eyes when he was in a mean estate but when Saul came to abound he knew not himself And so it hath been ordinary with people that their abundance hath taken away the very knowledge of themselves they have grown wanton and foolish and proud that they have not known themselves when they have abounded But now when a man in the midst of abundance knows his own meaness and wretchedness and sinfulness and vileness notwithstanding his abundance here 's a man that hath learned this lesson of the Apostle how to abound But this is a very difficult lesson If there be such things as as these in learning how to abound surely the lesson must needs be difficult You that are Mariners think if you have Sea-roome enough you are safe you care not then but it 's otherwise in this that we are speaking of your Sea-roome may be your undoing and the more abundance you have the more difficult it will be for you to know how to order your selves in your way I gave divers reasons why this lesson was more difficult then the other to know how to be full than to be empty which few people in the world will think so but certainly it is so Now though the very naming of these things may shew he difficulty of it yet we shall come in the Second place to shew that there 's a great deale of difficulty in Mens and Womens knowing how to be full And I name this the rather because I would put your hearts upon exercise that you may not lightly pass over what is said when we speak of knowing how to be full for it is ordinary for Men that have estates and outward comforts to slight the Word Well Let me have what will satisfie me and for this lesson to know how to be full I hope we shall do well enough for that Now for this that you may not slight the lesson I shall shew you something about the difficulty of it You that are Marriners If you may have Sea-roome enough you care not you think then you can do well enough but though you can do well enough in your Art when you have Sea-roome yet the truth is you do the worst for your selves when you have the greatest Sea of prosperity there you do worst of all and it is your Sea-room that doth undo you I mean the abundance of outward prosperity it is that ordinarily which doth undo men So it is easier a great deal you know for one to manage a little Boat in the Thames then for one to be able to manage an East-Indian Ship The truth is less skill will serve for the ordering of a mans estate when it is low and mean in the world than when he comes to be full It were a mad thing for a man that can but onely row in the Thames to undertake the command of one of your greatest Ships And so it is for those that are mean if God doth not teach them how to be full they are like to undo themselves by their fulness as well as any way It is easier for a man to manage a little estate that he hath then for him to manage great merchandizing There is more difficulty and skill required
in fulness than in other wayes as extremity of heat is harder to bear than cold though it be very cold yet by exercise we may get our selves a heat but when it is extream hot weather that 's very tedious and it breeds diseases And so it is easier to carry a Cup that is but half full steadily than to carry a Cup that is brim-full And a Traveller you know the expression the storm and the tempest makes him to get his Cloak closer together and to hold it faster but when the warm beams of the Sun comes and shines upon him that makes him cast off his Cloak You know the Fable of the Sun and the Wind to get the Travellers Cloak which should do it when the Wind came blustering that could not do it but the warm Sun beams that made him throw it off So many times those that can hold fastest in the time of adversity yet in the time of prosperity they lose the seeming graces that they had before and so let all go Now there are divers reasons that I should give you why it is thus difficult to learn this lesson as First Because we are most of us flesh we are more flesh than spirit of our selves Now because we have so little spirit in us therefore all those things that shall come for to joyn with the flesh I do not now speak of corruption but to joyn with our natural part and sensual part we having so little spirit in us it must needs be dangerous for us to manage those things that joyn with our natural part that is flesh though it were not corrupt yet because we have so little spirit That is First We have lost the Image of God The best of us have but little of the Image of God others have lost is quite and then our very reason is wounded by our fall therefore having so little strength in our spirits all those things that come to joyn with the flesh do very much endanger us and do indeed very much weaken our better part Now adversity that pulls from the flesh that takes from the flesh and many times the spirit is much the stronger but what doth add to the strength of the flesh doth endanger us as it is more dangerous to set a Child upon a pamper'd Horse than upon a Horse that is wearied out with work And so for us that are weak in our spirits to have our flesh to be pampered and satisfied I now speak but of our natural flesh and sensual part to be pampered and fully satisfied there 's a great deal of danger in that And then farther In prosperity there are more duties required than in adversity A man that is in a mean estate and condition there are not so many duties required of him but a man that enjoys a fulness there 's abundance of duties required of such a man every comfort that he enjoys is an obligation to some special duty A poor man that works hard at his dayes labour he hath nothing to do but to bless God when he comes into his Family and look to his own heart and to see that the service of God is in his Family But now take a man that is full that is of an estate in the world God requires of him to look abroad in the publick and God gives him charge Look that my Worship be set up look that Justice be executed I will require these things at your hand look that my Sabboths be not prophan'd look that Godliness be countenanced look that Sin is discountenanced But perhaps you will say Every man that is rich he is not a Justice of Peace or in place I but by your countenance you may make friends to this and the other every one is tied to be a friend to those that are rich There are a great many duties that lie upon you that do not lie upon those that are poor If indeed a man that had an estate had nothing else to do but to sit by the fire side and have his servants to bring him his provision if this were all to be full it were easie for a man to know how to be full but you must know that there is much more lies upon you then so which you must answer for and give an account of before God now this is the thing that makes the difficulty And then the third thing is The variety of Temptations that do attend upon a full condition O abundance of temptations there are in a full estate more than there are in a mean estate I confess extream poverty hath many temptations with it very sore and grievous temptations that do attend extremity of poverty but yet not so many as do attend upon a full estate As the flies come in abundance to sweet things honey and the like so Belzebub that signifies the God of Flies O the Devils that have that name they come in abundance where they see sweetness where they see is much prosperity Rats and Mice come to full Barns not to empty ones and so the Vermin of temptations as I may call them do attend upon full estates A Tree that hath nothing on it the Traveller that comes by will not fling at it but a Tree that is full of fruit a Traveller flings at that so those that are in a mean and low condition the Devil passes by them but he especially labors at those that he sees hath much of the world and he hath more hopes of gaining of them As it 's a very observable place concerning Joseph do but consider the Scripture that speaks of the condition of Joseph and his Blessing we may compare two Scriptures together for it the one is in the Book of Genesis where you have Jacob blessing of Joseph and the other is in the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses's Blessing was chap. 33. 13. and of Joseph he said Blessed of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven for the dew and for the deep that coucheth beneath And for the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun and for the precious things put forth by the Moon and for the chief things of the ancient Mountains and for the precious things of the lasting hills and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof c. Here 's for all his outward blessings what a many precious things are here that Joseph had and the fulness thereof But mark of all the Tribes what is said concerning Joseph Gen. 49. 22. Joseph is a fruitful bough even a fruitful bough by a Well whose branches run over the wall But now mark in the 23. verse The Archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him and hated him There 's none of the Tribes where it is said that the Archers did so shoot at as at Joseph and there is none of the Tribes that is blessed with so many several pretious things as Joseph is blest withal So that by comparing these two Scriptures you see
Lord hath God made thy condition more comfortable than anothers Another he wants Bread and fares hardly lies hard and is in the cold and lives in a poor condition and thou hast all things full about thee and yet art thou worse Do'st thou thus requite the Lord O foolish heart And so you know it was the aggravation of the sin of David in 2. Sam. 12. after David had committed that great sin the Lord sends the Prophet to him to convince him of his sin and mark how he aggravates it ver 7. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel I annointed thee King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy Masters House and thy Masters Wives into thy bosome and gave thee the House of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord O this was that that struck the heart of David I have sinned saith David And in Nehem. 9. 25 26. you have a remarkable Scripture for that setting out there the mercy of God So they did eat and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in thy great goodness nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against thee and cast thy Law behind their backs and slew thy Prophets c. Here 's the aggravation they were filled with good things nevertheless they were disobedient O may not this Scripture be made good upon many of you The Lord hath filled your houses with abundance of mercy you cannot look into any of your Families but you see mercy yet nevertheless a carnal heart for all this nevertheless a Swearer a Company-keeper a Prophaner of Sabboths a Neglecter of the Worship of God in thy Family Notwithstanding an unclean wretch for all those mercies that the Lord would wooe thee to obedience by That 's the second thing that shews the necessity of learning to be full otherwise we shall be guilty of sinning against much mercy and likewise the mercy of God will serve for no other end but to aggravate our sin And Thirdly If men do not learn to be full they will grow extream wicked How our fulness doth afford fewel for lusts that we spoke to I onely now speak to it as to shew the necessity that we learn to be full lest we come to grow most abominably wicked Sin will come to be out of measure sinful if so be we learn not to be full As a man that hath a weak distempered body and lives at a full Table and hath a strong appetite and yet if he doth not learn how to order his diet he will grow full of Diseases so when thy heart is weak at least and thou comest to a full Diet and knowest not how to order thy self thou art like to grow extreamly diseased and therefore you find in Scripture that those that were in a full condition and yet had not grace to know how to be full they are described to be the most wicked people that are in the world Job 21. 14. Therefore they say unto God depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes And in Psal 73. there you may read at large of the prosperity of the wicked from the beginning and so on and in Isa 2. 7 8. Their land also is full of silver and gold neither is there any end of their treasures their land is also full of horses neither is there any end of their chariots then mark in the 8th verse Their land also is full of Idols These two are joyned together O so it is in many Families this Family is full of all outward good things and it 's a Family full of sin and here 's a man that hath a full Estate and a man that is full of sin as he is full of his Estate If thou do'st not learn to abound thou wilt certainly abound in sin and therefore it is an absolute necessary lesson for us to learn to abound And then Thirdly If thou dost not learn to abound thy portion will be in this life if there doth not go together with thy abundance the grace of God to teach thee how to abound this will prove to be thy condition to be a man or woman that God hath said shall have no other portion from him then in this world If the Lord gives a man an estate and doth not withal give him some proportionable measure of grace to know how to use it and abound in it that 's a man that God saith his portion shall be in this world it is as much as if God should say from heaven concerning this man Here 's one whose portion is in this world In the 17th Psalm at the latter end there the Psalmist speaks of men who have their portion in this world here 's their consolation Thou hast a full estate and doth God give thee nothing with thy full estate it is like to be thy All. You will say Is this so great a matter I a thousand thousand times better thou hadst never been born though thou hadst a thousand times more in the world then thou hast if this should prove to be thy portion thy All for thou art made for eternity and those creatures were not and therefore if thou should'st onely have hopes in this world thou art a wretched creature Shall St. Paul say if we have onely hopes in this life we were most miserable of all men O may I say concerning thee if thou hast onely hope in this life thou art most miserable of all creatures except the Devils themselves O it 's a dreadfull thing for a man or woman to have their portion in this world But now those have it that have a great deal in this world and yet know not how to use it for God O consider of this you that God hath given more portion to than others do you think thus in the night Lord thou hast indeed made my condition more comfortable then others I am full handed and have means coming in but Lord what if it should prove that my portion should be here I remember it 's reported of Gregory that was the Pope he did profess that there was no Scripture that did strike to his heart so much as that Scripture Wo to you here is your consolation fearing least his portion should be here And the truth is that Scripture and that other in the 17th Psalm should go to the hearts of rich men and of those that have a full estate in this world except their consciences tell them that through the grace of God they have learned in some measure to know how to use it for the glory of God as for their own comfort You account it an ill thing for a man to have an estate and knows not how to use it for himself As now If a man should be born to a great inheritance and should be a fool you
abundance of hurt in the place where he lives not onely to himself but to others O the evil he may do in a Town and in a Family and in a Kingdom One rich man if God doth not sanctifie his heart and his estate may do more mischief than an hundred other wicked men God doth not so much look at the hurt that base Drunkards that go up and down from one Alehouse to another can do They may destroy their own souls but now a man that is a man of an estate in the place where God hath set him if he spend nights in Chambering and Wantonness if he contemn the wayes of God and Religion O the hurt that comes by that man and the guiltiness that will come upon his Spirit that way O how is the Gospel hindered by such men as they that have outward prosperous estates and yet for all that have not hearts to make use of it whereas I shall shew presently the contrary will be in those that have learned to be full But onely now to shew the danger of a full condition If we have not learned to be full and all to put you upon this that you may beseech God to learn you to be full when God doth give you a fulness least you should contract the guilt of the sins of thousands of others upon you And then If thou do'st not learn to be full thy full estate will endanger thy salvation exceedingly It is easier for a Cammel saith Christ to go thorow the eye of a Needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now Christ doth not interpret at first what is a rich man but at another time he doth those that trust in them Chrysostom hath this passage upon that to the Hebrews He wonders how any Governor can come to be saved The fulness of a mans condition doth much endanger his salvation if God doth not teach him how to be full And then it will make death to be more terrible O Death how terrible will it be to a man that hath not learned to be full When Death shall come and now he must be deprived of all bid an everlasting farewel to his House and Estate and Lands comming in Never such merry meetings as he was wont to have I but now they are gone there 's an end of those dayes he shall never have them more O then I say Death will gnaw upon a man and then a mans conscience indeed will terrifie him If he be afflicted they will come upon him to terrifie him But when he sees that he must bid an everlasting farewel to all those things then Death will terrifie him to purpose O conscience will tell him Now art thou going to give an account before the great God of all that thou didst enjoy in this world It 's a sad message that this will be to some that are full You think because you have money to pay for what you eat and drink and do enjoy you think you shall be called to no farther account O yes you must be called to an account for all the Creatures that you do enjoy Now if men can scarce count the mercies that they do enjoy O then how will you be able to give an account for them Well all this is but to awaken the hearts of people that have the comforts of this world that they may not satisfie themselves with what they enjoy but seek what they can to learn to be full And the Excellency of this Lesson of Learning to be full is very great For first It shews a great deal of ingenuity in the heart of a man Ingenuity in these two regards First Because hereby it appears that this man is not onely for his own turn It 's a sordid spirit for a man to seek to serve his own turn upon others and when his turn is served never to care for any body But now an ingenious spirit when that hath its own turn serv'd it is as careful again to return answerable respect to those that were useful to him as it was desirous to have its own turn serv'd before So it is in those that have learned to be full they have ingenuity they are as careful to return answerable respects to God as they are to receive any mercy from him And their Ingenuity is in this That they are thankful spirits An ingenious heart is a thankful heart and loves to acknowledge whence he had any mercy And then further That 's great ingenuity for one to be moved by good and be moved by mercy 'T is a slavish spirit that 's onely mov'd by necessity and force and violence That 's nothing for a man to be forced to do a duty The basest Slave by a Whip will be put to do that that is his duty I but for one to be wrought upon by love and by goodness this is ingenuity Now if the Lord hath given thee an estate and thou findest it doth draw thy heart to God more and works upon thy heart that thou art affected by Gods mercy O this is a sign of an ingenious heart And then what grace such a man hath is a great deal more conspicuous than others mens graces and more beautiful As a Diamond that is set in Gold there is a beauty in it A Diamond set in a Crown of Gold doth sparkle more gloriously than when it is wrapt up in a dirty Rag. So the graces of many that are poor and mean in the world are as it were wrapt up in a dirty rag as sometimes they wrap up their money But now a man that is eminent in the world and godly too his graces are like Diamonds upon a Crown as it were that are so conspicuous before the world that the world takes much notice of them and gives glory to God for them Thirdly It 's an excellency because it is so rare It 's a very rare thing for a man to be instructed in this Lesson of being full It 's a speech of Bernard Not to be lifted up when a man is put high that is very unusual now saith he the more unusual it is the more glorious thing it is It is a very rare blessing of God upon a man for him to learn to be full I remember the same learned man Bernard writing to Eugenius that was advanced to great favour he speaks of the grace of God towards him and blessing God for it his promotion did not succeed his former estate but was added to his former estate That 's thus The promotion of many men doth succeed their former estate that is the former ingenuity they had and ingenuity that they seem'd to have that 's gone and the promotion doth come and succeed it But the promotion of this Eugenius was not so he continued in the former estate that he was in before that is the former humility and heavenly-mindedness and holiness as he seem'd to have before so he had the same still so that
his state and promotion did not succeed but was added to it I this is an excellency indeed when a mans fulness is added to his former condition and doth not succeed it that is he is the same man now that he was before that 's a rare blessing of God upon one Fourthly It argues a great deal of strength of grace for a man that is full and knows how to be full and to improve it It argues not onely grace but strength of grace as it argues a great deal of strength in mens bodies that they can drink a great deal of Wine and not be drunk Some think that they may take liberty to themselves to drink Wine so they do not stagger in the streets But you know the Scripture saith Wo to those that are strong to drink Wine It 's a speech of Seneca That moderation is a sign of a strong breast Moderation in the midst of prosperity is a sign of a strong heart It 's a sign God hath given thee strength of grace if thy conscience can witness this to thee Well Through Gods mercy though I have many weaknesses and fail in all that I do yet I can say to the praise of God that my estate hath not estranged my heart from God but my heart doth cleave to God and I have communion with God in the Creatures that God sonds me And when God doth give me the best Voyages I find my heart in the best temper and I have more sweet communion with God then than at other times Can you say so I appeal to your consciences now whether you can say as in the presence of God I never found my heart in a more heavenly spiritual temper than when I have found God blessing me in my labors and I have enjoyed God in them O now if thou canst say so be of good comfort thou hast learned a lesson that is a thousand times worth more than all thy prosperity This is thine excellency not that thou hast a fuller estate than others but that God hath taught thee such a lesson as this is And then farther Such a one may do abundance of good What abundance of glory may God have from one man that way whereas a man that is of an estate and hath not grace withal he is like a great Elder-Tree in the midst of a Garden Such a Tree why it spoils the Flowers and doth hurt there I but one that hath an estate and is rich and godly withal he stands as a prime Flower in the Garden that is an ornament to it As commonly in the midst of your knots you set a prime flower there to be an ornament to all the rest So the Lord will have some to be rich that may be an ornament and a shelter to his servants O many many hundreds of people will bless God that ever God set such a man in such a place and that God did give them their estate We say of some men that they have good estates I and it 's well bestowed on them for they do a great deal of good with them But now when they are not onely so but their hearts are to improve their estates for the furtherance of the Gospel for the beating down of sin and the countenancing of Religion O then all the people of God that live about them will bless God O for such a man Had it not been for some few in a place that God gave estates unto that was stirring what would have become of the Gospel Religion would have been trampled under feet O will not this be a greater comfort in the day of Jesus Christ when Christ shall own this and say I gave you an estate in the world and I acknowledge that you did make use of it for my Glory and Religion I made you an instrument to uphold it in the place where you were used O if Christ should own this would it not be a thousand times worth your estates And then When you come to die O how sweetly will you die when you can say O Lord remember me for good As Nehemiah did in the close of his Book look upon the very last words of Nehemiah he was a man that was full in outward blessings and he improv'd them to purpose for God and that was the very close of all Lord remember me for good and so may'st thou when thou comest to die Thy conscience shall not upbraid thee as others will Thou comest to God for mercy What come to me for mercy I have bestowed mercy upon you already and how did you abuse it With what face can you cry to me for mercy that have abus'd it so O but when your Consciences can tell you that you have not abused Gods mercy but his mercy in outward things hath drawn your hearts unto him and you have imploied it in his service Now thou may'st with joy and encouragement say Lord remember me for good And if God should ever bring thee into afflictions in this world it will be sweet and comfortable to thee if thou hast used thy prosperity well For that man that is willing to give up the comfort of his prosperity to God which he doth enjoy God will have a care to take away the gaul and the bitterness of affliction from that man when he is under affliction O there 's nothing more comfortable to a man in affliction than to consider that he hath made use of his prosperity for the honour glory of God When I was in prosperity God had honour and now I am in affliction I can comfortably fly to God for peace and comfort to my soul And in this God doth attain to his end and the end of his Creatures God hath his end especially from these men the end of his Works of Creation and Providence Why the Lord hath made this world and filled it with abundance of excellent things but now how shall God attain his end that is To have glory from the excellent things that he hath made in the world Why most men takes them and abuses them to Gods dishonour now were there not some men that had hearts to give God the glory of their estates why God should have no glory from all his works all his works would be as it were to no purpose But now it seems God hath called thee out to give him the glory of his works so that thou art the man among so many that doth pay as it were to God the rent that he requires for all the great things that he hath done in the world which cannot but bring in a great deal of comfort to thee and shews the excellency of it I have now but two other things for the opening of it before we come to the application yet all the way as we have gone along we have indeavoured to apply it shewing wherein it consists the difficulty of it and the excellency of it Now for the close at this time let these things
many now in the world that are lower then I and there are abundance in Hell that had more than I. O this will be a meanes to moderate thy heart and help thee to know how to abound when thou considerest of the vanity of the things of the world and of the uncertainty of them I have them now how quickly may they be gone my house bravely furnisht how quickly may God send a Fire O consider the uncertainty of all you have and this will teach you how to make use of what you have in a loose way Charge men that are rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches Or if God should not take away your riches why let God but turn some humour in your bodies and bring some pain or disease and what will all your riches do you good Let God but touch me in my brain I shall not know how to make use of my estate or touch me in my body a little in the kidnies or pain in the bowels what 's all the world then O consider of the vanity and of the uncertainty of all things the learning of that lesson is a great help in knowing how to abound And then The learning that all these things are but Talents God gives me them to trade withal and I am but a Steward put them together I am but Gods Steward and God puts me to trade for him in all that I do This will teach men how to abound When you imploy Factors if they be faithful the very consideration of this This is my Masters goods and I am but a Steward and I am to give account and must keep my books even The consideration of this will call off his thoughts from other things and make him look to his books to keep them even O if you would but learn this lesson that all outward comforts are Talents that are given you to husband for God and you are his Stewards it would make you to keep the books even Every day you would be casting over the books Are things even between God and me What doth God aim at why I should have a prosperous estate and others not By searching to know Gods end a mans conscience will presently tell him Surely God did not aim at this that I should have more satisfaction to my flesh there is some thing else that God did aim at Let me learn to know Gods end And then Learn this lesson and it would be a great help to you for the learning how to abound That is That God doth but very seldom trust his own people with these Outward Comforts that we have spoken to in the opening of it but now I bring it in as a lesson that is to be learned and shew you how that will help you how to abound I spoke of it by way of evidence that it is a difficult thing for us to learn how to abound Now this lesson will put us upon this To learn to be so much the more watchful over our selves And then Let not me bless my self in my abundance And then Let me desire proportionable measure of grace to what I have least what I have turn to my hurt rather than for my good Such and many other lessons might be named for the helping of us to abound but the truth is there 's nothing almost will help us to know how to want but it will likewise help us to abound and therefore I do but name these things We come now as briefly as we can to wind up all in a word of Application You have had these six particulars opened to you When a man knowes how to abound And the difficulty of it And the necessity of it And the excellency of it And the mystery of it And the lessons to be learned Now then my Brethren from all that hath been said it serves to rebuke those men who take care onely how they may get fulness in the world and never are satisfied there but to know how they may use this for God and how to manage their fulness it 's scarce in all their thoughts I appeal to you this morning as in the Name of God Have these things been in your thoughts that have been spoken to you I dare not lay it so that every particular should be in your thoughts but in the general hath it been in your thoughts and care as much to know how you should abound as to get your abundance God knows it is otherwise and your consciences may tell you that that 's your care how you may improve and get abundance but how to abound that hath been but little known But by what hath been said out of the Scripture the Lord hath rebuked you for one that hath a carnal heart a sensual and an earthly heart for one that 's little acquainted with the wayes of God and spiritual things O that thou would'st charge thy own soul in thy retired thoughts and meditations and that God would make what hath been said out of this to stick upon thy heart And then Secondly Hence we are taught what an excellent thing Religion is that it helps every way It helps us how to want it helps us how to abound If we be in a low estate there comes in a help if we be in a high estate there comes in a help O Religion is of admirable use Grace and Godliness is of other manner of use then the world thinks for And as it is of use to all so it is above all to rich men O that rich men would believe this That they have the greatest need of Grace O that rich men by this would learn to be in love with Godliness and with those means that might work Grace upon them because there 's nothing can do them so much good as Religion O if Grace be answerable to their Estates then they are happy men indeed If the Lord please to add his upper Spring to the neather Springs then they are happy Creatures God gives you abundance in the neather Springs but doth he give you the upper Springs too O have thy thoughts working thus The Lord hath given me enough for this world to carry me thorow this Pilgrimage of mine O but had I grace added to all that I have then I should be a happy man indeed O learn to know the excellency of Grace and what need you have of it above other men Thirdly Hence upon what we hear me thinks all our desires should be moderated in respect of this world and you poor people you should not be so much troubled for want of abundance for you see there 's a great deal of difficulty in learning how to abound And when our spirits are set upon the things of this world let us curb them in this I see there 's a great deal of difficulty in knowing how to use things and therefore let me be more moderate in my desires after abundance And Fourthly You
themselves evenly with God and graciously with God in variety of Conditions Let the Condition be up and down this way and then another yet Grace helps a Man to lie square any way like a Dye cast it which way you will it lies square So put a gracious Heart into any Condition Full or Empty yet Grace will help him in any Condition whatsoever as the Apostle saith in the Corinthians Through Honour and Dishonour by Evil report and Good report by the Armour of Righteousness on the Right-hand and on the Left We find Use of our Weapons on the Right hand and on the Left the Armour of Righteousness helps not only on the Left-hand to Fence off the evil of Adversity but on the Right-hand to Fence off the Evil of Prosperity Here 's a Christian Souldier that can make use of the Armor of Righteousness both on the Right-hand and on the Left I had thought to have given some grounds Why it is that Grace will help any way as a Watch in a Mans Pocket if it be a good Watch though a Man sit upon it and it is tumbled up and down yet the Wheels they keep a constant steady motion So it is with the heart of a man if there be Grace within and the wheels work aright yet Grace makes the Heart stedfast within let the condition be never so various to be tost up and down this way or that way yet the heart keeps the same The Motto of Queen Elizabeth may be the Motto of every gracious heart Alwayes the same So in a constant way either in prosperity or adversity still he continues in an evenness with God If God casts him upon his Sick Bed there he rejoyces in God and blesses God and you will find savory and spiritual things come from him then and if God deliver him and you find him in prosperity there his heart is heavenly still and gracious and spiritual and raised above the Creatures which way soever he be put I cannot give you the grounds I 'll onely compare a Scripture or two together and so conclude all to see the evenness of the heart of a godly man in all conditions let them be what they will In Psal 57. To the chief Musician Al-taschith Mictam of David when he fled from Saul in the Cave That 's the Title of the Psalm A Psalm that David made in his very great affliction when he fled from Saul for his life in the Cave See what he saith and comparing that same with Psal 60. where it is To the chief Musician upon Shushan-Eduth Mictam of David to teach when he strove with Aram Nahaâ—aim and with Aram Zobah when Joab returned and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt Twelve thousand David was low when he fled from Saul in the Cave there David had not the Kingdom well but afterwards David was high and had the Kingdom Joab was his Officer and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt Twelve thousand Now you would think that this different condition of David should have made a different work in his Spirit yet you shall find a great part of that Psalm to be the very same In the 57th Psalm ver 7. My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise awake up my Glory awake Psaltery and Harp I my self will awake early I will praise the Lord among the People I will sing unto Thee among the Nations c. Why you shall find likewise that David in the 60 th Psalm he hath much of this of blessing God as well in his Prosperous state in which he was as in his Afflicted estate Let us compare this with the 108 th Psalm ver 5. Be thou Exalted O God There David was in his Prosperous estate And here 's the same Expression O God my heart is fixed saith he I will sing and give praise with my Glory Awake Psaltery and Harp I my self will awake early I will praise Thee O Lord among the People and I will sing Praises unto Thee among the Nations c. Just he goes on in the very same words But now the 60th Psalm is to be compared with the 108th where it is God hath spoken in his Holiness I will rejoyce I will divide Shechem and mete out the Valley of Succoth Gilead is mine Ephraim also is the strength of my Head Judah is my Law-giver c. Now in the 108 Psalm God hath spoken in his Holiness I will rejoyce I will divide Shechem c. This is the Note from hence and so we have done That David in his various Conditions though at some times more Prosperous than others yet still you find him in the same Spirit and almost the very same words Be he â—n the Cave or when Joab had overcome or be he afterwards how he will in a higher Condition for the 108 th Psalm was made in a time after this Yet Davids heart is the same Praising God Blessing God Believing in his Word Trusting in his Word Now that 's the Note You should observe Whether you can make use of the same Scripture in one Condition as in another Those Scriptures that are comfortable to you in one Condition make use of them in another And whether you can Praise God in one Condition in the same way as in another Why Grace doth so satisfie and strengthen the Heart as the things that are without in the World makes very little alteration There is very little alteration that External things can make in a Gracious heart When a Man or Woman is so that a Prosperous condition puffs him up or Adversity makes him dejected it 's a sign of very little Grace or no Grace But thus much for this Text. A Sermon 1 Sam. 3. the latter part of the 18th Verse And he said it is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good THese Words are the Expression of a Gracious Humble Submissive Heart to Gods Dispose The Words of Ely the Priest who when the Hand of God was revealed against his Family he here falls down before Him and saith It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good It is the Lord Whatever the means be that such and such sad things should fall upon my Family yet It is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good The things seem hard to me but they may seem otherwise to God whatever things seem to me however dark they look yet to God things may seem after another manner and therefore let things be done rather as they seem to God than as they seem to me We have in the Words before you these Four Doctrinal Points The first is That a Gracious Heart looks much to God in every Affliction that doth befal it It is the Lord. Secondly The sight of God in an Affliction is That that causes a gracious Heart humbly to fall down and to submit It is the Lord let Him do what seemeth Him good Thirdly That things seem
great Moment and when he doth come to hear he doth bend his whole Soul to attend to what is heard and he dares not give liberty to the wandering of his Thoughts And he doth charge his Memory with such and such truths to think of these whatsoever he doth forget And here 's now a Son of Peace as the Children of the Bride-Chamber they are such as do attend there So he A Son of Peace attends upon the Ministry of the Gospel Now by this Second thou mayst know the First thou mayst know whither thou beest a Son That is whither thou beest one that from all Eternity wert set apart by God the Father to obtain the Peace and Benefits of the Gospel But Thirdly The Son of the Gospel is to be as an Obedient Child To come with a Resolution when he comes to hear the Word Whatsoever the Lord shall this day make known of his Mind unto me the Lord knows that I would fain yield unto it I come with this Resolution every time I come to hear the Ministry of the Gospel This is now a Son of Peace that comes with such a Heart resolved to be Obedient unto it 2. He doth open his Understanding and is easily Convinc'd of those Truths that he doth hear Revealed in the Ministry of the Gospel he doth not stand Opposing of them 3. He doth open his Heart to accept of the Conditions of the Covenant when the Lord Reveals the Doctrine of the Covenant of Life and Peace the Soul doth open it self to admit of the Conditions of the Covenant Lord Speak thy Servant hears Reveal what Thou wilt my Soul is here ready and willing to accept of the Covenant whatever it be Further He doth give up himself to be Moulded by the Gospel according to that Phrase in Rom. 6. 17. The Doctrine into which ye were delivered So it is in the Original that is There is a delivering of the Soul up to the Ministry of the Word as the Mettle is to the Mould to be Fashioned by it So here a Son of Peace doth give up his Soul to be Moulded by the Word whatsoever he was before yet here he is now ready to give up his Soul to be Fashioned to be Framed by the Word Here 's a Son of Peace Further He doth in his Conversation Act what he doth hear in the Ministry of the Word and he doth indeavour to Live according to the glorious Gospel that he doth hear and he doth Labour to become the Gospel So that one may know in such a ones Family and in such a ones Life a mighty deal of Alteration And again Such a one as is Begotten by it is not only Obedient but indeed there is the work of Regeneration wrought and therefore he may be called a Son saith the Apostle I have Begotten you by the Gospel And so by the Word of Truth you are Begotten Abundance of Scriptures might be for this Those that the Gospel works Savingly upon the Gospel doth not only stir their Hearts but put a new Life into them They live by new Principles by new Rules they find a mighty Power in the Gospel to Beget them again And such as these are are Sons because they are Heirs of the Gospel Children of the Kingdom But that we shall have more use of in the other place when we speak of the Blessing of the Gospel that shall be upon them Now to Apply these in a few words The good Hearers of the Gospel are the Sons of Peace O what a blessed thing it is to be the Sons of Peace Better to be the Son of Peace than a Monarch than of the greatest of the World better to be this Son of Peace than to injoy all the World If the Lord should give thee the Inheritance of all the World He doth not do so much for thee as when He makes thee to be a Son of Peace It may be many of you were Born very mean and you are like to Inherit but little of this World but if the Lord work upon your Hearts in the Ministry of the Gospel that which comes by this makes you blessed Creatures for ever For by this means you come to be the Sons of the Living God You come to be the Children of Life and Co-heirs with Jesus Christ O how Industrious should Ministers of the Gospel be to Beget such Sons of Peace to God St. Paul in Gal. 4. he tells the Galatians there that he did Labour and Travel in Birth till Christ was formed in them My little Children of whom I Travel in Birth again until Christ be formed in you A Faithful Minister of the Gospel doth even Travel in Birth that he might beget Sons of Peace to Jesus Christ And O the Blessedness of this Work for God to set Men on Earth to this Work to Beget Sons of Peace If we should Beget you to be Children of the Bond-woman it were somewhat that is to strike fear into your Hears by the Terror of the Law I but to Beget you to be Children of Peace and of the Free-woman this is a great deal more This is such a Work as it is that which doth satisfies the Soul of Jesus Christ when He sees it It satisfie His Soul for all His Sufferings As in Isa 53. 10 11. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him That is It pleased God the Father to bruise Jesus Christ For this is an Evangelical Chapter When thou shalt make His Soul an Offering for sin Mark He shall see His Seed He shall prolong His dayes and the Pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand He shall see some Children Born unto Him some Sons of Peace But Mark He shall see of the Travel of His Soul and shall be satisfied So that when there is a Son of Peace he is the Fruit of the Travel of the Soul of Jesus Christ and he is the Fruit at the Second hand of the Travel of the Souls of Gods Ministers their Souls Travel as you heard before in Paul but that not so much He is the Fruit of the Travel of the Soul of Jesus Christ the Soul of Christ Travels with this Birth and this Work of God upon the Heart of such a one it is the Fruit of this Travel of the Soul of Christ And Mark further And He shall be satisfied As if the Holy Ghost here should say Let but Jesus Christ see a Soul brought in to Himself let Him but see any Begotten to be the Sons of Peace Christ saith I am satisfied for all the Blood that I have shed for all my Sufferings I have been willing to come from the Bosom of my Father to take your Nature upon me and I did endure the Withdrawings of my Father when I cried My God my God why hast thou forsaken me I was made a Man of Sorrows and my Father did Bruise me and my Soul was made an Offering for sin But now What will satisfie the Soul
God doth at sometime or other Convice Men and somewhat stir their Hearts O but this is that that they have cause bitterly to complain of that those things that they deliver to them that are the Precious and Glorious things of Jesus Christ yet though they stir them a little for the while yet they do not rest upon them It was a Complaint of Chrisostom saith he We Ministers are in a worse Condition than any Work-men whatsoever Take a Carpenter he comes and works and leaves his Work over-night and comes the next day and finds it where it was as he left it his Work is no more forward neither backward Oh! But it is not so with us Preachers for we come and work upon the Hearts of People and we bring it into a reasonable good forwardness and we leave it one Night and come the next day but woe to us we find it not where we leave it We work upon their Hearts one Lords Day and it may be they go away with some Resolutions that they will break off their evil way and they will attend to the Ministry of the Word but before the next Lords Day they are quite off again They are got again into some wicked Company or other and they begin to harden their Hearts against those Blessed Truths so that our Condition is worse than any Work-mans whatsoever But though it be a sad Condition for the Ministers of the Gospel yet know it is a sadder Condition for your selves You that heretofore have heard those Blessed things of the Gospel and your Hearts have been taken with them have they rested upon you I put this to you in the Name of God I say Hath the Peace of the Gospel rested upon your Hearts It may be some of you may know Two or Three years ago God began to work upon you you began to have some Enlightning of Jesus Christ and of the Kingdom of God and you began to say Blessed are those that shall be partakers of those things but have these rested upon you Hath not the Ministry of the Gospel been to some of you like a Ship that when it is Sailing in the Water it makes a great Impression for the present but let the Ship be gone and the Water is as smooth as ever it was So many times when the Minister comes and open the Blessed Truths of the Gospel they make a mighty Dent upon the Hearts of their Auditors but within a little while their Hearts are like the Water no man can see that ever there was an Impression of any Truth upon their Hearts Now know that this is a very sad thing to have the Gospel begin to Affect the Heart but not to Rest First Consider How vile is thy heart it is an argument of strong corruption that is in thy heart that the things of the Gospel cannot stick there And Consider How vild it is that wicked thoughts vile base unworthy unclean filthy thoughts can abide upon you If the Devil dart in temptations they will abide and rest why when he darts them in over-night he can find them in the morning perhaps if you have some vain or unclean thoughts you can role them up and down in your mind for half a night together perhaps day after day and night after night base and filthy thoughts are rol'd up and down in your Spirits these things can abide Now what shall vile filthy ungodly thoughts rest in your hearts and shall not the Blessed and Glorious Truths of Jesus Christ and the things of the Kingdom of God rest upon your hearts Yea Consider further That it is a most dangerous thing for an essay of mercy to pass away and to do no good for mercy to come and as it were make a trial upon the heart and then leave it and no good done this is a sad condition It is not so dangerous while Men and Women are in such an estate as the mercy of God hath not made an essay as it were upon them But now When the Grace of the Gospel shall come to make an essay upon the heart to make as it were a tryal upon the heart and to have the repulse this is a dangerous thing for an offer of Gods Grace to be rejected is very sad to loose one opportunity of Gods Mercy is a very sad thing how dost thou know that ever they will come upon thy heart with that power that once they did and therefore thy condition is very sad And know further That when the Lord begins to reveal to thee the things of the Gospel and thou puttest them off those flashes of affection and conviction that thou hast had will prove to be matter of terror of conscience another day Some poor Soul may say Then Lord what shall become of me God knows this is my condition I come many times to hear the word and I meet with those truths that do mightily take my heart for the present but the Lord knows all vanishes again I think I could remember every thing that the Minister speaks while I am hearing of them but they go out again I hear that this is the Blessing of God upon the Sons of Peace that the Truths of the Gospel should abide upon their hearts and rest there O they do not rest with me Now and then they come to me but they do not rest with me Now for the Answer to this Perhaps they may not rest in thy memory but yet if the Fruit and effect of them doth rest in thy heart thou hast the Gospel resting in thy heart As thus Why perhaps the Water may pass through a Vessel go quite through it and not stay I but yet there is so much Fruit of the passage of it thorow as to keep the Vessel sweet Though you cannot take up any Water from it but it is all gone yet I say it keeps the Vessel sweet So I may say to those that have the weakest memories and yet the Lord hath wrought any degree of Grace though thy memory be so weak that thou canst not remember I speak this to those that have weak memories naturally and there is nothing that their Souls do more desire then this O that they might keep those things that they hear they would think themselves the most happy Creatures in the world if those truths that sometimes they hear might rest upon them I speak to those Is it so with thy heart Then though thou canst not remember yet if those truths keep thy heart sweet they keep thy heart from filthy lusts that they do not abide in thy heart thy heart is kept savory by them if there be this effect abiding upon thy heart to keep it savory and sweet this Peace of the Gospel may rest with thee though thou canst not remember particulars A Man or Woman perhaps they cannot remember what Meat they ate a little while since but they find themselves nourished by that Meat So for the word of God that