Psal 139. 2. Ezek. 11. 5. what they will be before you think them or what they were when you have forgotten them They are reserv'd Cases known to him onely nor can he forget them for he requires that which Eccles 3. 15. is past Thoughts shall be brought into Judgment Thoughts as well as words and actions are written in Gods Book and shall be made known Eccles 12. ult Rom. 2. 16. 1 Cor. 4. 5. when the secrets of Men shall be judged the counsel of the Heart made manifest and the hidden things of Darkness brought into light And many whose understandings spoke them Men and their words Christians when on Earth shall be found at that day by their thoughts to have been worse than Beasts Evil thoughts are sins and transgressions of Gods Law The Laws of Men reach but to words and Actions but Gods Heb. 4. 12. Prov. 6. 18. 15. 26. Prov. 24. 9. Law reaches to thoughts and forbids not onely evil words and deeds but all evil thoughts tending to them The thoughts of Foolishness is sin and therefore unless you be cleansed from them Jer. 4. 14. you cannot be saved A dumb Man may be damn'd for the sins of his thoughts There may be sin in the thoughts inward motions to it though no outward acts of it yea sin may be reiterated there when the acts of it cease and as much sin may be in the thoughts in a day as would take up the actions of a whole Life to compleat and finish There are many ways by which Men can restrain or punish the acts of sin but none either to restrain or punish the thoughts of it sinful actions are publick and open Offences sinful thoughts are more inward and secret they as the uncleanness of Absalom with 2 Sam. 16. 22. his Father's Concubines in the face of the Sun and the sight of all Israel these as the Idolatry of the Ancients of Israel in the dark in the Chambers of their Imagery Ezek. 8. 12. they the Lusts of the flesh these Spiritual wickednesses they defile the Body these more immediately defile the Soul the seat of the Spirit they may cast you out of the favour of good Men but these will hinder your Communion with God for Communion with God in a way of Duty is had by thoughts more than by words Evil thoughts make way for evil actions The two first sins committed by the Angels and Adam began in the thoughts an aversion of their will from God and they are still the Seed of Sin first evil Thoughts and then Murders Adulteries c. and therefore if you would prevent the acts of sin you must put a restraint upon your thoughts The heaviest Chains are put upon the vilest Malefactors Here sins Leprosie at first appeared and as the Leprosie when it took but a thread of a woollen or linnen Garment soon overspread the whole so these if not timely prevented will influence the whole actions of your Life and make them evil Now that they may not 1. You must set a strict watch over your Heart Thoughts are the inward motions Proles anima and innumerable Operations of the Heart proceeding as Naturally from it as beams from the Sun and streams from a Fountain Jer. 17. 9. the Heart is desperately wicked the sink of all Corruption Psal 41. 6. it gathers Iniquity to it self as an old Sore in the Body draws Prov. 4. 23. all the ill humours to it and sends it abroad upon all occasions and therefore you must keep it with all diligence that it may not you must keep the outward Senses shut those Windows Claude quinque fenestras tota lucebit domus Arab Prov. that no unclean Birds may enter in but above all your Heart for out of it proceed evil thoughts The Fountain must be kept pure and clean or else the streams will not be so 2. Let your thoughts be Phil. 4. ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 well employ'd Think on the things that are true and cast out all thoughts of a Lie and Hypocrisie think on the things that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Honest and Venerable and abhor all Vanity and Frothiness of Spirit think on the things that are just and let not a thought of fraud or deceit lodge within you think on the things that are pure and away with whatever is immodest think on the things that are lovely and hate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all peevishness and frowardness of Spirit think on things of good Report and entertain not a thought of any thing that may tend to your dishonour Idleness is Fewel to vitious thoughts and therefore as it is an axiom in State to set active Spirits on work that they may do no mischief so here you must employ your thoughts about Noble Arguments and Blessed Objects if you would have them like the Heavenly Bodies to move orderly and become not foundations of disturbance but helps to Piety 3. Beg Gods assistance in all God has the greatest Government of your thoughts they are too many and too strong for you to rule and therefore commit your works to him that your Prov. 16. 3. thoughts may be established or when they become disorderly and irregular cry out unto him as Austin did against sinful thoughts in the words of the Psalmist Save me O God for the Psal 69. 1. waters are come in unto my Soul And there is good reason for it for such as your thoughts are such are you in Gods esteem We judge of Mens thoughts by their words and actions but God judges of the words and actions of all by their thoughts Of Evil Company Man is a sociable Creature and will not be without Company 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good or bad but they that are wise will avoid as much as they can the society of them that are evil and how much it concerns you so to do will appear if you consider that 1. Evil Company will shew what you are 2. Evil Company will make you what you should not be 1. Evil Company will shew what you are The Lacedaemonians judg'd of the disposition of their Children by their Company and Augustus Caesar of his two Daughters Livia and Julia when he saw grave Senators conversing with one and wanton Persons with Noscitur ex socio qui non cognoscitur ex se the other and so will the World of yours for none can be so well known by themselves as by their Company The Fowls of Heaven flock together and the Beasts on Earth herd together according to their kind and so do wicked men the greater Beasts of the two like Flora who ever convers'd with ill-favour'd Women like her self and if you are frequently found among them that Inter dispares mores quae potest esse amicitia are evil or are too intimate with them you will be look'd upon as one of them They are none of
enough to make you in love with it 3. Be hearty and sincere in the work of Religion When you enter upon the work of Religion let that enter into you and give up not onely your Name but Heart to it and what Acts 11. 23. Eph. 6. 6. ever you do in it do it heartily to the Lord. 1. Nothing will be accepted without the Heart 2. Any thing will be accepted with it 3. Your Heart is Gods by right 4. God calls for it 1. Nothing will be accepted without the Heart The Heart is the Fountain and Principle of Spiritual as well as Natural Life and that which gives Life to all The Tree in the midst Gen. 3. 3. of the Garden all of pith the choice Sacrifice the Male in the Mal. 1. 14. Flock the fat of the Sacrifice that he reserves to himself the Disciple belov'd above any and the John 20. 2. Gen. 43. 3. Benjamin without which nothing will be accepted and therefore this must be the Treasure you Mat. 2. 11. open when you bring your Gift unto him You know no more than you do in Religion and do no more than what you do with the Heart for when things are not true they are not at all Ens verum connectuntur 2. Any thing will be accepted with it Affections shall be interpreted 1 Kings 8. 18. Psal 32. 5. Actions and Purposes Endeavours the will shall pass for the work imperfect Duties for perfect a little or any thing accepted so it be all you have and 2 Cor. 8. 12. the Heart be in them for the heart is Gods Sacrifice yea his Sacrifices all and every one the Vertue Psal 51. 17. Power and Value of all in one and that which ingratiates all God sometimes accepts the will for the deed but at all times the will more than the deed 3. Your Heart is Gods by right It is Gods more than yours and Mark 12. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Article is doubled 1 Cor. 6. ult 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Prov. 23. 26. therefore be just and give him that which is his own for he bought it and dearly paid for it Christ parted with his Heart blood to have the love and service of yours 4. God calls for your Heart He desires it wooes and entreats wishes and waits for it Isa 1 2. yea commands it and not to give it is to Rebel against him God has ever been a giver to you and now desires to be receiver from you he has often given you the desire of your Heart let him then have from you the desire of his and as he desires it viz. 1. Willingly Absalom stole away the Hearts 2 Sam 15. 5 6. of some of the Men of Israel but God accepts of none but such as with the Men of Israel of a Exod. 25. 2. 35. 5. willing Heart give themselves unto him 2. Fully One and the same Temple could not receive the Ark and Dagon nor can God and the Devil have 1 Sam. 5. 3 4. your Heart at one and the same time one of them will have it both at once cannot nor God at any time truly unless wholly he is but one and he will be own'd Mat. 22. 37. Aut Caesar aut nullus Exod. 29. 18. Psal 51. 19. as one none must share with him in it for he admits no Rival nor must any part of it be kept from him for he will have all a whole Burnt-offering or nothing Unless all be given nothing is truly given 3. Constantly You must not give your Heart one day to Religion and another day to Sin one day to Gods Service and on another to the Devils but to God onely and to him for ever By thus giving your Heart to God you will gain his for he John 14. 21. that loveth him shall be loved of him 4. Be true and faithful to Religion to the end of your Life You must not onely begin but proceed in the work of Religion and not onely proceed but end in it and there is good reason for it in that 1. The Honour of God and Religion is concern'd in it 2. Your Salvation depends upon it 1. The Honour of God and Religion is concerned in it Stedfastness in Religion is a credit to Religion and to God the Master of it he owns it so but a departure from it tacitly accuses Religion of unpleasantness or the Master of it of injustice as if there was Iniquity in him it says in effect that either the work is not good and not fit to be done or the Master not good and not fit to be serv'd which is a greater Reproach to him than if he had never been serv'd A dishonour that the Heathen offer not to their Idols Jer. 2. 11. for they change not their gods a sin that grieves him to the breaking of his Heart yea a sin so great that he looks upon it as impardonable how shall I Pardon Jer. 5. 6 7. thee for this for he hates an Apostate as bad if not worse than a Sodomite No comlier sight in Gods Eyes than young Disciples and old ones viz. such as are early and late at his work 2. Your Salvation depends upon it If you are not so Religious as 2 John 8. others you shall not have so full a Reward as they but if you be not stedfast in it you shall have Gal. 6. 9. Prov. 1â— 18. Heb. 10. â—5 none at all It is true the Reward is both sure and great but it is promised to none but them that work nor to any of them unless they are unmoveable and always abounding in it the peny Luk. 9. 62. is for them not that enter into the Vineyard but for them that abide there until Night and the Crown for them not that start well but that run so viz. not to the middle onely but to the end of the Race And therefore you must be stedfast and always abounding in Labour if you would 1 Cor 15. ult not labour in vain and not with the Israelites stand still nor go Exod. 14. 13. back but forward if you would see the Salvation of God Every Grace adorns a Christian Perseverance onely crowns him Rev. 2. 10. Now that you may 1. Consider what the work of Religion is before you engage in Luke 14. 28 29 30. it There is a Cross to be found in the way of Religion as well as a Crown at the end of it and therefore if you unadvisedly enter upon it without considering what it is or what it may cost you you may meet with a difficulty that will make way for Apostasie A thing well resolv'd is half done but never well resolv'd unless first considered and therefore this is the first thing you must do fail in this and you will fail in all If an Arithmetician mistake in his first figure the whole Account will be wrong 2. Take
not up a profession of Religion to serve your worldly Interest or Advantage Sin upon no mans account whatsoever Callisthenes would not pledge Alexander to have need of Aesculapius nor be not Religious upon that score onely as Joash was for Jehoiada's sake 2 Chron. 24. 17 18. while he lived for if that be all your Religion is little worth and you may as quickly lose it as find it they that follow Christ for Nunc harum nunc illarum partium nullifidus as Tully of Ant. Loaves will leave him when they are spent and gone and they that are for any Religion because in fashion either are of none or will easily be so It is better to be of no Religion than of every one 3. Beware of the least degree of remisness in Religion either in Judgment or Affection A Gangreen goes on by degrees first one part or Member is infected and then another and so does Apostacy it begins in the Judgment and if that disesteems Religion the Affections will decline Voluntas sequitur dictamen intellectus and forsake it the Affections follow the Judgment and what that lightly approves of the other will as coldly and indifferently receive He that is careless of little slips is in danger of a fall 4. Be much in the use and exercise of the publick and private Duties of Religion These are as one says the Sphere of Grace and in these consists the life of Religion and therefore if nothing of them appear in your Life or if you live in the neglect of them or are negligent in them your pretended Religion will soon vanish and come to nothing If once you become formal in Devotion you will quickly be any thing in Conversation 5. Be established in the Faith It is true Fear is the Grace that keeps you in your standing and Prov. 28. 14. 1 Cor. 10. 12. 2 Cor. 1. ult Eph. 4. 4. Col. 2. 7. therefore if you would never fall you must ever fear but Faith is the Grace by which you stand for it unites you to Christ in whom you are preserv'd and therefore be well rooted and grounded in it If you be carried away with 2 Tim. 4. 7. 1 Pet. 1. 5. every wind of Doctrine you will at last be true and sted fast to none but if you are established in the Doctrine of Faith and grow in the Grace of Faith if you live the life of Faith and keep the Doctrine of Faith you will be safe for if you keep the Faith the Faith will keep you Of Original Sin It is an Ancient Tradition among the Jews that when Noah sent forth his Sons to people the World he gave to every one of them some Reliques of Adam but it is a more certain and ancient truth that all the Posterity of Adam have receiv'd not onely some but all the Reliques of his sinful Corruption a leaven that has overspread the whole lump of Mankind for all have corrupted their ways viz. all except Christ Psal 14. 1. and all that is done by them and all that is in them viz. all the faculties of their Souls all the Members Mat. 15. 18. of their Bodies and the Actions of each are defiled by it Tria Augustinus tribuit peccato originali quod sic peccatum poena peccati causa peccati A Toads poyson is but in one place but this is in all like a Disease that has corrupted the whole Mass of Blood By this you are indispos'd to all good for there is nothing in the World but it will either find as a hindrance to it or make it so When Paul had a will to work Gal. 5. 17. Rom. 7. 18. he wanted a power By this you are inclin'd to all evil There is not a sin in Hell but has a Root in this nor any sin so great or foul but you would commit if under the power of it and left to your self for it is virtually all sin The new Man the new Creation 2 Cor. 5. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not so much one Grace as all and the Old Man Original sin is not so much one sin as all So that here you may see 1. What cause you have to be humbled under it Plato says if Vertue could be seen with Bodily Eyes it would Ravish the Beholders and if the Corruption in all by Nature could be seen it would as the Schools say transport them to Madness David and Paul were humbled Psal 51. 5. Rom. 7. 24. under it therefore and well may you 2. Where to lay the blame when you sin Some when fallen under afflictive Evil lay all on Providence and nothing on Sin that caused it and when fallen into sin lay all on the Devil and nothing on themselves and thereby make the Devil to whom due should be given worse than he is and themselves better than indeed they are for were there no Devil to tempt to sin there is that within them that both can and would do it Since then the Devil cannot prevail unless you yield to him for his strength is within you let the time of Complaint against him be spent in resisting of him that you may not It is the Belloâ—s and fire that makes fire And since you are when drawn aside enticed by your own Lusts James 1. 14 15. the Enemies within you let all the actions of sin be laid at the door of your own Heart David though a Man after Gods Heart sometimes walk'd 1 Chron. 21. 1 17. after his own yet then he laid the blame not on the Devil but on himself 3. What little cause you have to censure any when fallen into sin Plato's Advice to his Scholars was that when they saw any irregular and exorbitant in their Lives they should not rashly censure them but reflect on themselves and consider if they were not or had not been such themselves And it is the Advice of St. Paul a greater than Plato when any are overtaken in a fault not to insult over them but to restore Gal. 6. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them in a Spirit of Meekness to set them in Joynt and there is good reason for it for though all are not alike evil by practice yet all being by Nature so viz. Aut sumus aut suimus aut possumus esse quod hic est seminally and dispositively the same they either have done or may do so The worst mens actions shew what the best men by Nature are inclin'd to Of your own sin and of the sins of others Of your own sin IN every body there is some predominant Humour and in every one there is a sin that may properly be called their sin more than the sin of any other or than any other sin that they themselves are inclin'd to This sin is either 1. That sin you are most tempted to the Devil knows the sin that you and all are by disposition as well as
transgressions 1 John 3. 4. of Gods Law Thoughts are free from the censure Cogitationis paenas nemo luit de minimis non curas lex of Humane Laws and small offences are little regarded or taken notice of but the Divine Law reaches to the least sins and forbids the whole Latitude of sin from the beginning to the end from thoughts to deeds and from the appearance to the act for 1 Thes 5. 22. Mat. 5. 28. Heb. 4. 12. Gods Law as the Exchequer Accounts reaches to the least sums and farthings Little spots as well as great ones made a Leprosie as much crookedness may be in a small line as in a greater and as much contempt of God and his Law in the least sin as in the greatest 2. Little sins are Mortal The breach of every Law of Earthly Kings is not Capital and Mortal but all of the King of Heavens are for the wages of sin the transgression of those Laws viz. of sin indefinitely is Death they are not all alike great but all are Mortal and will Rom. 6. 23. without Repentance bring sure Damnation though not equal degrees of it for as the promise is annexed to the least Grace so a curse is to the least sin A little leak unstopt will sink a Ship a little Sword will kill as surely as a great one a little Debt will cast into Prison as well as a great one and a little sin unrepented of will as surely send you to Hell as a greater and when once there it will be but sorry comfort to think what you are there for whether for great sins or small ones 3. Little sins make way for greater David by being Idle became wanton and from a wanton glance of his Eye he proceeded to Adultery from lust to act and from one act to another viz. from Adultery to Murder Solomon from sensual Lusts went on to Spiritual viz. to Idolatry Judas from Covetousness to Murder first he grudg'd the costly Oyntment bestow'd on Christ and then betray'd him and Peter from Lying to Perjury and so will all not only Seducers but all that indulge any sin wax worse and worse and 2 Tim. 3. 13. Jer. 9. 3. proceed from evil to evil viz. both as to kind and degree Little Wedges make way for greater little Burthens strengthen for greater little Coals kindle greater the lowest stair helps up Principis obsta to the highest the least figure in Arithmetick increaseth the Sum In minimo esse fidelem magnum est Aug. and in the least sin there is a tendency to the greatest it is of an increasing Nature and will unless timely prevented proceed untill it is out of measure sinful That sin is ever most dangerous that is most contemptible Of Custom in Sin Much might be said as to the evil of Custom in sin viz. that it will indispose you to any thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo that is good and disenable all the Faculties of your Soul to receive it that it will put you upon sinning with freedom facility pleasure and delight and bring you under a fatal necessity of sinning whether you will or no or at least without any sense of it like the People of Alexandria who did not mind their Earthquakes because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omne peccatum vilescit consuetudine fit quasi nulium qui ad ostia Niâ—i vivunt nimium audiendo nihil audiunt ex voluntate perversâ facta est libido dum libidini servitur facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur facta est necessitas they were daily Or like them that lived at the Cataracts of Nilus who by hearing too much heard nothing at all A doleful Paradox but true But all that I shall say relating to it shall be onely two things viz. 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin Custom in sin is sin by Multiplication for it is not got by one act but by many and the multiplication of sin is the great aggravation of it the breach of Humane Laws is not lessened but aggravated by a frequent repetition of it and so is the breach of Divine Laws too for as sin has a Power and a Law by which in some it reigns so it is the more heinous when it is so for the least sin that reigns is more displeasing to God than the Rom. 6. 12 16. greatest that does not All Acts whether good or bad please or displease as the good or evil habits are from whence they come 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin Evil Habits as well as good are got by degrees and perfected by use for Acts strengthen Habits and Aâ—io perfecta non recipitur nisi imperfecté primó Ab imperfecto ad perfectum consuetudinem vincere dura pugna the stronger they are with the greater difficulty will they be conquer'd and overcome Trees well Rooted and of some standing are not easily transplanted streams of Water of long continuance are not easily diverted from their Chanel the League of Friendship betwixt Old Friends is not easily broken nor sin easily remov'd when habituated by Custom for Custom is a second Nature and that is not without difficulty if at all repell'd Naturam expollas furcâ licet usque recurrit Mark 9. 17 21 26. The Devil that possess'd the Young Man from a Child was of all with the greatest difficulty cast out The Cretians when they Curse one another say the Devil lead you into an evil Custom but my Prayer for you shall be that God would keep you from it that you may not be hardened in sin Zech. 7. 12. Adamas né ferro quidem cedit nullis seilpris nullis malleis domaâ—ilis Mark 6. 52. 16. 14. The stone of the Heart is in all by Nature and felt by all that are not dead in sin your Heart by Nature is a stone and by custom in sin it will be as an Adamant the hardest as Naturalists observe of all stones a greater Misery than which you cannot lye under either here or in Hell for Hell it self would be no Hell to any of a tender and broken Heart Of Thoughts The great Misery come upon all by reason of sin is that every Gen. 6. 5. imagination of the thoughts of their Heart are evil onely evil and continually so Evil thoughts are all thoughts of evil against God and Man so called either as arising from evil or tending to it Thoughts are known to God Gen. 6. 16. The Ark that was made close on every side had a Window on the top towards Heaven as an Emblem of Gods Omniscience who sees you not onely when in secret but the secret within you for he knows your thoughts yea your thought every single thought afar off viz. either
Gods Friends that converse familiarly with his Enemies 2. Evil Company will make you what you should not be Dinah the Daughter of Jacob Gen. 34. 1 2. went gadding abroad to see the Maids of the Countrey till she was none her self Joseph Gen. 42. 15. by being in Pharaoh's Court learn'd to swear by the Life of Pharaoh The Israelites though Homo malus telum diaboli they hated the Egyptians yet by living among them they learned their Manners their Lusts not their Laws they that should have Converted them were as one says perverted by them and became twice their Slaves their Bodies being Conquered by their Weapons and their Souls by their Vices Solomon by conversing Neh. 13. 26. with Idolatrous Women became Idolatrous Peter whilest he warm'd himself at the fire in Luke 22. 55 56 57. Fascinus unius multorum pestis Salvian the High Priests Hall got cold and abated in his Zeal he warmed his Hands but cooled his Heart Evil Company among other things as St. Ambrose observes helped on to make the Younger Brother a Prodigal 1. His Portion 2. His Fathers Indulgence 3. His Youth 4. Evil Company St. Austin as he confesses committed some sins which he had not before to gain Credit and Esteem with his Companions and there is no good Man as Epictetus says but will either suffer evil or learn it from them that are evil Pure Streams passing by a corrupt Inficitur terrae sordibus unda fluens Aliquod malum propter vicinum malum Soil contract some of its filth rusty Metals corrupt the pure scabby Sheep rotten Grapes and sore Eyes will infect the sound and evil Men the good by conversing with them It is seldom found that the bad are made better by it but the good made worse getting a bane with Peter where they could not get a blessing It is odds to be with the Lame and not to learn to limp It is true sometimes good examples put others upon the practice of that which is good when Peter said he would not leave Mat. 26. 35. Christ all the Disciples said so too and Vespatian's Frugality gave check to the Romans Luxury but they oftner lead to that which is evil Nero's Fiddle had too many Dancers after it for all Naturally are prone to be led more by Example than Precept and by bad Examples more than good ones living not as they should Non quo eundum sed quo itur non ad rationem sed ad similitudinem Seneca de vitâ beatâ Psal 119. 115. Prov. 4. 14. Isa 6. 5. 1 Pet. 4. 3. but as they see the most do and as beasts following the drove or herd though it be to their own destruction and therefore if you would neither be nor do as they delight not to be where they are or when Charity or Necessity may oblige you to it be separated from their sins when you are not from their persons and at all times shun and avoid the works of Iniquity Eph. 5. 11. though sometimes you cannot the workers of it Their Hatred is better than Non est perfecté bonus nisi qui cum malus bonus their Company Of the Spirit The Spirit is sometimes taken for the whole Divine Nature and equally agrees with any Person of the Godhead when abstractedly considered Sometimes for the Divine Nature Heb. 9. 14. 1 Pet. 3. 18. of Christ for as flesh is sometimes taken for his Humane Nature so Spirit is for his Divine Nature Sometimes for the Holy Ghost as distinct from the Father and 1 John 5. 7. the Son with all its Gifts and Graces who Sanctifies Teaches Quickens Guides and Comforts all in whom he dwells and therefore it concerns you 1. To ask God for this Spirit 2. To do nothing when given to grieve it Enquire of your self as Paul Acts 19. 2. did of the Disciples at Ephesus whether as yet you have receiv'd the Holy Spirit with its Gifts and Graces and if upon enquiry you find you have not then 1. Ask God for it 2. Do nothing when given to grieve it 1. Ask God for the Spirit God promised at first that he Joel 2. 28. would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh viz. extensively and Isa 30. 19. 44. 3 49. 15. 55. 1. 59. 21. 65. 24. Rom. 10. 12. Eph. 3. 20. Tit. 3 6. James 1 5. intensively not upon the Jews onely to whom it was then confin'd but upon all and more of that Spirit than formerly was poured out upon them and since that he has promised to give his Spirit to them that ask it and as an encouragement to asking has assured that he will much more Luke 11. 13. give it than Earthly Parents either can or will give good Gifts to their Children They are Earthly but God is Heavenly they Fathers of the Flesh he of the Spirit they evil viz. either simply or comparatively but he infinitely good a more Rich Bountiful Faithful Cujus pâ—rticipatione sumus justi ejus comparatione sumus injusti and a more tender hearted Father than any of them and therefore both can and will much more willingly freely certainly compassionately abundantly and constantly give than they the Spirit to all that ask him for it Since then God is so willing to give his Spirit be you earnest and importunate for it there is good reason you should for it had been better you had never received Rom. 8. 9 the Spirit of a Man unless you have this Spirit of God And that you may speed in asking seek it in Christs Name Joh. 1. 16. 3. 34. who received the Spirit without measure for you and meritoriously fulfills the promise of it 2. Do nothing to grieve the Spirit when given to you There is mention made in Scripture of resisting quenching Acts 7. 51. 1 Thes 5. 19. Eph. 4. 30. and grieving the Spirit The first as usually said is proper to Impenitents the second to Apostates and the third to Saints Properly the Spirit cannot be grieved it being contrary to the Per figuram non naturam Quoad effectum non quoad affectum Nature of the Spirit either to make any sad or it self to be made so but Metaphorically it may and then it is when it appears as one grieved and then you may be said to do it when you do those things that would grieve the Spirit if the Spirit was capable of it and this two ways viz. either by sins of Omission or of Commission 1. By sins of Omission or by neglecting the good you should do viz. By idleness and slothfulness by not answering to the calls and not yielding to the motions of the Spirit by not walking in the light and strength in the fellowship and communion in the exercise of the Graces and Phil. 2. 1. in the comforts of the Spirit for it is a sin to oppose the Comforting as well as
24. Numb 16. 22. and the God of the Spirits of all flesh with this his Spirit in you Do not lose your Soul in looking after its Servant the Body as Shimei lost his Life in looking after 1 Kings 2. 36 37. 38 39. 40 41. 46. his but do your principal work for this principal one All that a man has will he give for his life but life and all must be Job 2. 4. given and laid out for the good of the Soul And there is good reason for it if you consider 1. That your Soul was given to you that you should take care of it and every thing else for the good of your Soul Every one has not a Child nor an Estate to look after but every one has a Soul the poorest Widow has these two Mites a Soul and a Body and the most indigent Beggar this Treasure Since then it is every ones yours as well as their possession it should be yours and every ones Redde animae quae sua sunt care to secure the happiness of it and therefore give to the soul the things that are the souls 2. Christ likes them best that are most careful of their souls Christ when on Earth lov'd them most who lov'd their souls more than his body Maries Breakfast was better to him than Martha's Dinner and much more then will he love them that love their souls more than their own bodies He that would not have you Murder your Body would much less have you Murder your Soul 3. According to the care for your Soul here so it is like to fare with your Soul and Body hereafter You are daily Travelling to the Land of Souls viz. the world of Spirits both of the just and unjust every day you take a step to it and within a little while you will be all Soul and as you live to it here so it will be with that and your Body for ever hereafter the welfar of your Body depends upon the welfare of your Soul and the eternal welfare of that upon your care in time about it and therefore as by a care for your Soul you may do two works at once viz. secure the happiness of Soul and Body so by a neglect of it will undo both for ever at the first death your Rev. 20. 14. 21. 8. Soul shall go to Hell and your Body at the second 4. The loss of the Soul is the greatest loss Christ who best knows the worth of a Soul by the price he paid for it says that the gain of a whole World if Mat. 16. 26. it could be obtain'd with the loss of a Soul would be a gain without profit a loss rather than a gain and that not the least but greatest as an irreparable and irrecoverable loss a loss that could neither be made up nor recovered All other losses even of Life it self may be made up either in kind or vertue but nothing can Habet anima mortem suam cum vitâ beatâ caret quae vera animae vita dicenda est repair or make up the loss of the Soul for in this God is lost a lost Groat may be found lost Time may be redeem'd and a lost Estate recovered by diligence but a Soul when gone into Eternity and lost will be for ever so Heaven it self salvâ justitiâ cannot redeem a Soul fròm Hell when once there Your Soul is Gods as well as 1 Cor. 6. 20. your Body that he has bought and therefore Glorifie him with it and commit the keeping of it to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator of Souls as well as of Bodies that at last it may 1 Pet. 4. 19. Heb. 12. 22 23. be taken up to the innumerable Company of Spirits viz. of Angels created perfect and of just Men made so Begin the work of Religion early Make it the great business of your Life Be hearty and sincere in it Be true and faithful to it to the end of your Life 1. Begin the work early 1. God commands and expects it 2. It is the best time for it 1. God commands and expects it Cain brought Fruit to God an Gen. 4. 3. 4. Offering of the Fruit of the Ground Abel brought first fruits the firstlings of his Flock and God had respect to Abel and his Offering but not to Cains and this before the special Law of Exod. 13. 2. 22. 29. 34. 26. first-fruits and first-born which were Gods in all was made to shew as is usually observ'd that it was not Ceremonial but Moral and perpetual God or the Devil will have the use and service of your Life but God has the greatest Right to it and his will is not onely for work but for Day and Time and the first of that viz. your Eccles 12. 1. Youth he calls for which shews kindness on his part in taking any into his Service before they can well work for him and should promote Obedience on yours God is the fashioner and former Psal 139. 13 14 15 16. Deut. 32. 18. Psal 71. 17. Jer. 3. 4. the teacher and preserver the guide and strength of your Youth all the parts Beauty Strength and all the other Excellencies of it come from him and ought to be employ'd for him and therefore do not give the Devil your Youth and God your Old Age him your Spring and God your Winter him your Vintage and God your Gleanings him your Flower and God your Bran him the best and God the worst but the best for he is best and deserves the best Not an old or rotten Sacrifice Mal. 1. 8 14. but the fattest and fairest must be laid upon Gods Altar 2. It is the best time for it Eccles 12. 1. The time of your Choices Primum in unoquoque generè est perfect issimum As to Ease Honour Service Comforts and Safety 1. As to Ease Old Age is the best for Advice and Counsel but Youth the best for Action both as to the Natural and Moral frame of the Body and Mind viz. the parts of one and the endowments of the other Old Age is called the Sickness of Nature but Youth is the Health and Strength of it that is called Eccles 12. 1. the evil day not onely in respect of the evil then suffered but of the indisposition from that evil to any thing that is good but this a good day as most fit and proper for work the Body being most active and vigorous the Fancy and Invention most quick the Memory most strong the Affections most smart and lively the Conscience most pure the Will most pliable and the Heart as not hardened by Custom in sin most soft and so most fit to receive the impressions of Virtue Trees are transplanted Horses broken and Cattel accustomed to the Yoke with ease when young and Youth more fit for Instruction than Old Age even then when it is scarce fit for any thing else
by custom and calling most inclin'd to and how to accommodate and sute his Temptation to it Now that sin you are most frequently tempted to that is your sin 2. The captivating conquering sin against which you are most weak and by which as Samson by Delilah you are most easily Rom. 6. 12. Ezek. 16. 30. Rom. 6. 16. 2 Pet. 2. 19. overcome You are most his who is Master over you and whose Servant you are 3. That sin you are most tender of and indulgent to that sin you Judges 6. 31. defend and most excuse We always take the part of them we love 4. That sin you make most provision for for which any thing Rom. 13. 14. shall be given and to which any thing shall be Sacrificed The best Friends are ever best provided for 5. Or that sin which is most highly esteemed of viz. as a right Hand and a right Eye that has the Throne of the Heart and Commands in Chief that which the thoughts and desires are most busied about and most approve affect and follow after Jer. 22. 7. Hos 4. 8. The Affections make any thing most our own This is a sin against knowledge and of all sins the principal a sin that shews not onely the Communion of the Heart with it but the Union also of the Heart to it and the greater because so for the more a sin is against Knowledge and the more there is of the Heart in it the greater it is and therefore above all either great or small you must resist and oppose it David prov'd his uprightness Psal 18. 23. before God by this viz. that he had kept himself from his Iniquity and you cannot be sincere unless you do so too That sin you love most God hates most Of other mens sins Merchants can Trade in bottoms that are not their own and a Trade in sin may be driven by you by other mens sins as well as your own and then it is when either you advise or provoke them to sin consent to it or indulge them in it Jonadab was guilty of Amnon's 2 Sam. 13. 5. uncleanness with Tamar Ahitophel of Absalom's with his Fathers Concubines 2 Sam. 16. 21 22. for they advis'd them to it and the Chief Priests and Pharisees were guilty of Christs death John 11. 47 53. for they sat in Council about it Sapphira was guilty of the sin Acts 5. 1 2. of Ananias for though she kept not back part of the price yet she was privy to it and Saul of Stephen's Death for he consented Acts 22. 20. 26. 10. to it and kept the Raiment of them that slew him and of many others that were put to Death for he gave his voice against them Jezebel was guilty of Ahab's sin 1 King 21. 7 25. and of Naboth's Death for she stirred up Ahab to it Balaam and 2 King 17. 21. Numb 23. 14. 25. 1. Rev. 2. 14. Jeroboam were guilty of Israels Idolatry for they provoked them to it and Eli of the sin of his Sons in that he restrained them not when they made themselves vile a sin so great that it was 1 Sam. 3. 11 12 13 14. not to be purged with Sacrifice These are some of those many ways by which others have been and by which you may be guilty of the sins of others and therefore it concerns you to avoid them that you may not It is bad to sin of your self but worse to advise others to it for it shews a great ripeness in sin Flowers and Herbs when ripe shed their Seed By consenting to the sin of another you discover a will to act it if you had Opportunity and are equally guilty with them The Receiver is as bad as the Psal 50. 18. Thief By provoking others to sin you will provoke God to vengeance against them and your self too Jeroboam caused Israel to sin and it was the Ruine both of him 1 King 13. 34. and them To defend sin is a high degree of sinning and to indulge it is not the least To indulge the least sin some say is as bad as the commission of the greatest if not yet the least sin indulg'd becomes great The non-execution of God's Law against sin is an open and evident breach of it He that does not punish sin Qui non prohibet Jubet when his Duty and Place obliges to it Commands it Therefore never either secretly or openly in will or in word by permission or approbation flattery or applause consent to the sin of another nor either allure or entice incense or provoke any to sin but either restrain them from it or reprove them for it that you may with Paul Acts 20. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be pure from the Blood and clear from the guilt of the sins of all with whom you converse If any Mischief happened under the Law either to Man or Beast fallen into a Pit he was guilty that saw the Pit open and did not cover it and so will you be of the sin of another though not acted by you if not prevented by you so far as you are able before it is committed or not reproved and condemned when it is Now that you may not spoil Gods Cause with ill Pleading nor become an Advocate for the Devil when by the reproof of sin you appear one for God you must do it 1. Seasonably 2. Speedily 3. Prudently 4. Meekly 5. Boldly 1. Seasonably Reproof is an affirmative Duty that binds all though not all Semper non ad semper alike but not always for every time sin is committed is not a fit time to reprove it therefore you must chuse a fit season for it The best time to strike the Iron is when it is hot and pliant to Plough when the Earth is made soft by Rain and the best time to reprove sin is when the mind of 1 Sam. 25. 36. the sinner is prepared to receive it There is a time to keep silence Eccles 3. 7. as well as to speak 2. Speedily Take no season that is not fit for Reproof nor neglect any that is for either the person to be reproved Heb. 3. 13. may be out of your reach and then it will be impossible or more hardened in sin for the habit of sin is intended and confirmed by custom and then it will be more difficult to reclaim him The longer any are the Devils Captives the stronger are the Chains he binds them with 3. Prudently All persons are not alike nor are all sins neither nor must they be reprov'd alike you must therefore consult not onely the convenience of time and place but the Nature of the sin and both the quality and temper of the sinner that your reproof may be receiv'd not as an affront but as a kindness to him Nettles and Thorns must be Ezek. 2. 16. handled in a different manner 4. Meekly If Hatred
on this day than on others and an extraordinary exercise of Grace in them The whole day is his and unless works of Necessity and Mercy Mat. 127. relating either to Man or Beast intervene it must be wholly denoted to him The Duties of the day are not all of a sort but various there are all the means and ways of Communion with God on this day to take off Tediousness and promote Delight in them If you come with rejoycing Ps 122. 1. you will go away so Christ's coming in the Flesh was the fulfilling of the Law the coming down of his Spirit on this day was the fulfilling of the Gospel then he took our Nature on this we were made Partakers of his when he died he shed his Blood effectually for our Justification on this he shed abroad his Spirit abundantly for our Sanctification on this day he arose and then his Spirit quicken'd his natural Body on this day his Spirit descended and quicken'd his mystical Body when he ascended he carried our Nature up to Heaven and on this day he sent down his Spirit to us Now my Prayer for you shall be That the same Spirit that descended this day may sanctifie you that you may sanctifie this day and that you by it may be made holy that you may keep this day holy to God that made it so that keeping this day of rest here you may at last be taken up into his Rest that remains for ever hereafter Heb. 2. 9. Live to the Honour of that worthy Name in which you were baptiz'd and by which you are Jam. 2. 7. called Baptism is a sacred Flood sent not to drown but to save the World but then you must be in Christ the Ark and walk worthy 1 Thess 2. 12. of him that as you are in the Bond of the Covenant you may be also under the Blessing of it The outward Baptism of Water will avail you nothing Mat. 3. 11. without the inward Baptism of the Spirit The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was instituted by Christ and appointed as a standing Ordinance Matth. to the end of the World for the commemoration of Christs Death and his great Love in it and for the Confirmation of all those Blessings obtain'd by him to them that believe in him They only that are in the Covenant have a right to the Seal of it Some seldom receive it some never living in a wilful breach and contempt both of God's Law and Mans some are careless and negligent when they do receive But do you 1. Duely attend upon it 2. Come worthily to it 1. Duely attend upon it While you live in the neglect of it you reject not only motives but instituted means to subdue your Corruptions and strengthen your Graces question God's Wisdom as if he had ordain'd a needless and superfluous thing contemn Christ and his Love as if they were not worth the remembring and live in disobedience to a Gospel Command and thereby become liable to the Wrath of God He that came to the Feast Mat. 22. 3. 4 5 6 7 11 12 13. without a wedding-garment was destroy'd and so were they too that did not come 2. Come worthily to it The Sacrament is a Feast the Souls Exceedings if you come not to it you will starve your Soul if you come unworthily you will poison it eating Damnation as surely as you eat Bread and 1 Cor. 11. 29. drinking a Cup of Wrath instead of a Cup of Blessing and therefore do what you can to come in a worthy manner viz. With hungring and thirsting after Righteousness Unless you come empty you Mat. 5. 6. Luk. 15. 3. wil be sent away so With Faith without which Christus fide digerendus though you eat you will never be nourish'd You may touch the Body but you will receive no Vertue from it With inflamed Love to God for giving Christ to you and to Christ for offering up himself for you He is the Founder of the Feast and died to make it With a Heart deeply humbled for Sin that you may not crucifie him afresh but mourn over him Heb. 6. 6. who was crucified for you and by you A broken Saviour must be received with a broken Heart With Humility and lowliness of mind as unworthy of the Crums that fall from his Table much more as a Guest to sit there The more humble the more welcome With Praise and Thanksgiving The Feast is all of free-cost and you can do no less than take the Cup of Salvation Ps 116. 13 and bless him for it In the Sacrament Christ's death is shewn forth and in a holy Conversation his Life now when in that you have shewn forth his Death go and shew forth his Life in the Holiness of yours that it may appear you have an interest in the Power of his Cross as well as in the Merit of it Sin is an Impostor it comes of a cheating kind by the Fathers and Mothers side viz. the Devil and your Heart he is the Incubus and that the Womb. The first Sin by which you may judge of all the rest came into the World by a cheat and all whether Angels or Men that ever had any thing to do with it have been deceived by it your great wisdom Pro. 11. 18 therefore will be to understand the deceitfulness of Sin and Heb. 3. 13. to watch against it Our first Parents expected Gen. 3. 5 6 7. to be as Gods but they became as Devils Unbelief is a Sin That gave life to the first actual Sin and ever since gives life to Gen. 3. all and maintains the life of them in the Judgment as in a Castle in the Heart as in a Closet and in the Life as in a Trade All Grace acts in the strength of Faith and all Sin in the strength of Unbelief A Sin that puts God in the Devils place and the Devil in God's for By dis-believing God you believe the Devil A Sin that binds the Guilt of all other Sins fast upon you they deserve Punishment but this binds you over to it Hell seems to be prepar'd on purpose for Unbelievers and Hypocrites as the chief of Sinners I hope you have so much Faith Heb. 3. 12. Quantò magis à Deo recedimus tantò minus sumus as to believe this that you may take heed and beware of an evil Heart of Unbelief in departing from the living God By going from a living God will go to a killing Devil Pambo was thirty years as he says learning how to rule his Tongue and yet had not perfectly learn'd that Lesson and Saint James tells us the Tongue is an unruly Member not easily tamed yet an endeavour to do it is not more difficult than necessary for without it your Religion is Jam. 3. 8. 1. 26. vain The Sins of the Tongue are many but I shall here only advise you in an
me The Rabbins have a Saying that we must fly to Mount Gerizim but creep up to Mount Ebal that is we must be swift to Mercy and slow to Anger and it will be your Wisdom to do so Passion is a short Madness it may pass through a wise man's Heart but rests no where but in a Fool 's What is one man's Duty may be another man's Sin and what is lawful at one time may not be Pr. 26. 4 5 lawful at another it will be your Wisdom therefore to understand your Duty the proper season of it and to do it Duty must be done though Safety be hazarded by it Make that out of Question that ought to be matter of the greatest Question viz. Whether Christ 2 Cor. 13. 5. be in you if Christ is not the Devil is but if Christ is then 2 Cor. 5. 1 you are a new Creature Then Christ is formed in you when you are conformed to the Image of Rom. 8. 29 him There are some that pray but Prov. 28. 9 turn away their Ear from God's Law and some that never pray they turn away both Ear and Mouth from God the first are Hypocrites the latter Atheists Mat. 23. 14. none are good that do not pray nor any that do no more for Hypocrites pray though not always therefore neither neglect Job 27. 10 Prayer nor trust in it be not false to your Profession of Religion by living without Prayer nor false to your Prayers by living contrary to them but own that Domine fac me in iis consequendis operam colloeare pro quibus obtinendis soleo ad te orare Sir Thomas More 's Prayer in your Life that you do in your Prayers for Prayer is not only a means to get good but an Engagement to be so Daily Prayer is as necessary for your Soul as daily Bread for your Body Some live as if there was no Heaven and some as if they desir'd no other Heaven but what is here no Paradise but an earthly one but do you live in the belief of it and have your Conversation there while you are here Phil. 3. 20. that you may be there when you shall be here no more A heavenly Conversation Joh. 14. 23 Heb. 12. 14 will at last bring you to a heavenly Habitation Some believe there is no Hell some think there is none but a guilty Conscience and if it were true that will be bad enough some fear no other Hell but Poverty and some will not think of Hell lest melancholy Thoughts should drive them to Despair but do you ever fear Hell that you may never feel it Christ's own Disciples Mat. 10. 28. were bid to fear Hell and did good and bad think more of it both might be better Do nothing against Conscience truly inlightned Quicquid sit contra conscientiam aedificat ad gebennam You cannot have a better Friend next God than Conscience nor a better Jury to acquit you therefore keep that your Conscientia est animae paedagogus ante peccatum froenum post peccatum flagellum Friend whoever is your Enemy Peace there though you have none any where else if you do not you may want a Friend when you will most need him for At the day of Judgment when the Mouth of Conscience shall be open yours will be shut Matt. 22. 12. You live in a World full of Job 5. 7. Troubles and there is but little if any thing else that you can be sure of it will be your Wisdom therefore to expect them and prepare for them before they come and patiently to bear them when they do If you fly the Cross you may lose the Crown The things of this World are requisite that none should under-value them but momentary that none should over-prize them 1 Cor. 7. 30 31. love them therefore as if you did not love them and live above them while you live in the Enjoyment of them It is Folly to love any thing much that you cannot love long Be established in the Truth that you may not be blown about with every Wind of Doctrine Eph. 4. 14. Distraction of Mind is sad but Distraction of Judgment is worse Engage not in any thing in which you cannot expect God's Blessing nor ever expect any Blessing from him in any thing in which you are not first counselled by him In all your ways acknowledge Pro. 3. 6. him and he will direct your Paths Be just to all and deceive none if you do you will deceive your self most of all Honesty is the best Policy Patiently bear Reproaches At the day of Judgment there will Luke 6. 22 23. be a Resurrection of Names as well as of Bodies and then all Jude 15. things shall be set right Heartily forgive Injuries if Mat. 18. 35. you do not you will do a greater Injury to your self It is no Pride to refuse to act below your self you ought therefore to be sensible of them and to make them whoever they are sensible of their Evil that have injured you but you must not revenge it not to be sensible is brutish to revenge is devilish A wise Man will make better use of his Foes than a Fool can of his Friends Never forget a Kindness you receive nor remember any you have done to another The first is Ingratitude Haec beneficis inter duos lex est Alter obtinisci debet dati statim alter accepti nunquam the latter is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Merchandize rather than a Gift Be more afraid to be evil than to be seen to be so and more asham'd not to do good than to Bona agere mala pati regium est be reproach'd for doing of it You may deprecate Shame and complain of it too David did both but you must not either Ps 119. 31 Ps 6◠19 20. shun or fly from Duty to avoid it Live the Life of Faith here if you would live the Life of Sight hereafter and evidence your Faith by your Works for it is no more without them than Jam. 2 ult Fire is without Heat and Light They are none of Abraham's Children that do Job 8. 29. not Abraham's Works Live above the inordinate love of Life and sinful fear of Death and that you may make all sure before you die that when you come to dye you may have nothing else to do but to dye Pulchra res est consummà sse vitam ante mortem Constantine gave it as his chiefest Instruction to his Children that they should prefer the Knowledge of God and his holy Religion above worldly Wealth yea above the Empire and it will be your Wisdom to value it above all the Riches and Honours of this World certainly there is great Excellency in Religion in that the Enemies of it so often put on a form of it its Friends notwithstanding all hazards so much own