And the Ministers of the Gospel do speak even as if Christ himself spake in us 2 Cor. 5.10 we speak in Christs stead But as in the time of the Law God sent his Prophets sometimes to such as would not give them the hearing so doth he now in the time of the Gospel but that must not discourage our Ministry at their peril be it Gods Word will ever be Gods wisdom though the prophane count it foolishness and it will be Gods truth though heresie and schisme pick quarrels Therefore if you would learn to pray and be prepared for that holy worship hear Gods speech first and that will teach you what to ask as you ou ought Hear the word from us as the Thessalonians did 1 Thes 2.13 When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe 2 Here is metus I was afraid the Seventy read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I was in an extasie as St. John saith when he saw the vision of the Son of man Rev. 1.17 I fell at his feet as dead There were two things to strike the Prophet vvith astonishment 1 The Majestie of the Speaker 2 The matter of the speech And both these must both meet in our understandings and in our affections to enlighten and to move them that vve may know what vve have to do and vvith vvhom vvhen vve pray that vve may come before him vvith fear and holy reverence 1 The great glory and Majesty of God to vvhom vve resort in prayer is such as no creature can endure the sight thereof The Angels standing before him Isa 6.2 cover their faces with their wings 2 The matter of his speech conteined in his vvord to the Prophet is the summe of the Bible Justice punishing sin in his Church Vengeance destroying the enemies of his Church and Grace redeeming his Church from the povver of Satan by the glorious Kingdom of Jesus Christ Quae. Why should the Prophet be afraid at this here vvas matter of comfort the heaviness of the night is promised the joy of the morning The Church though it must suffer for a time for sin hath here a promise of tvvo main consolations 1 Their ovvn deliverance from dangers into a restitution of them into Gods favour 2 Their eye shall have their desire also upon their enemies they shall see the vvheel of vvrath go over them and the Lord shall let out of their throats the bloud of his people vvith vvhich they have made themselves drunk all this is matter of joy and vvhat needeth this fear Sol. Who can come without fear before him that can and will do all this for if he be angry yea but a little they are blessed that trust in him fear is a proper passion of a true believer and is inseparably joyned with saving faith For seeing the bond of our union with Christ by faith whereby he dwelleth in us is Partly the hold that he hath of us by his Spirit Partly the hold that we have of him by faith The first is firme Joh. 10.27 There shall not any one pluck them out of my hand he giveth a strong reason for it for my Father who gave them me is greater then all and none is able to take them out of my Fathers hand we are his gifts and his gifts and calling are without repentance But the flesh doth put the Spirit to it so hard some times even in the elect of God that the hold on our part is weak which breedeth fear and that fear makes us hold so much the faster From hence it comes that all the intelligence between God and man doth begin at fear in us This is not the fear of an evill conscience as it was in Adam when he hid himself from God but the fear of reverence of God and the good conscience of our unworthinesse being fallen from our originall righteousnesse The Shepheards that were keeping watch by night because of their flocks were sore afraid when they saw the light shining at that time of night that the Angel began with Nolite timere fear not yet were they in the lawfull businesse of their calling The blessed Virgin no doubt wel and holily employed Zecharie the Priest in the Church about the occasions of his office yet all afraid This is the seasoning and preparing of the heart for God to be cast down before him it is humbling our selves under the mighty hand of God and we cannot pray as we ought without it When the Apostle saith we cannot pray as we ought and that the spirit helpeth our infirmities he sheweth that such as he have infirmities and they feel them when they come to appear before God and where infirmities are there must needs be fear if they that have them be sensible of them Yea I dare say that they that come to prayer without fear come without faith and all their prayers are turned into sin Ob. We read of comming with boldnesse to God Because we have an high Priest which is touched with the feeling of our infirmities Heb. 4.15 16. in all points tempted like as wee are yet without sin Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that wee may obtein mercy and finde grace to help in time of need Sol. this is cleered by the same Authour in the same Epistle declaring how many considerations must concurre as ingrediences in this our spirituall boldness 1 Let us draw neer with a true heart Heb. 10.22 2 In full assurance of Faith 3 Having our hearts sprinkled from an evill Consciences 4 Our bodies washed with pure water 5 Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering 6 Let us consider one another to provoke to love and good works 7 Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together c. 8 Exhorting one another Let a man before he pray try his vvayes and examine his soul upon those interrogatories and I dare say the best of us if we sin not also in presumption vvill finde himself short in every one of these perticulars of that perfection that should accomplish boldnesse But having those things in some measure and more in desire and endeavour our boldness must needs be as much shaken with fear as these graces in us are shaken with infirmity And upon this fear our Church teacheth us to pray to God in these words Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid 12 Dom. post Trinit and giving unto us that which our prayers dare not presume to ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. And this some of our brethren have quarrelled as a contradiction in our prayers because we say we pray for tha we dare not pray for To whom I answer in these words of my Text O Lord I heard thy voice
corruptions drowned and destroyed in the same waters And the Apostle saith I would not that ye should be ignorant of this thing which admonisheth both you and us that are your ministers 1 You not to be ignorant in those great mysteries of salvation 2 Us not to leave you untaught or unremembred thereof We that preach to a mixt auditory consisting incipientes Abcedaries in religion who are not yet out of their first elements which the Apostle calleth the doctrine of beginnings And some few proficients who also have their measures not all of equall growth but some few as much better grown then others as Saul was higher then all the rest of the people must as well give milk with the spoon as break bread and divide strong meat and me thinks there be two places that direct us well in the dispensation of the Word of God 1 That of the Prophet Isaiah The Word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept precept upon precept Isa 2. â—3 line upon line line upon line here a little and there a little in which words The matter of our preaching is exprest in two words 1 precept which teacheth us what to do 2 line which exemplifieth doctrine and serveth as a copy to write by And again the manner of our preaching is declared profitable if the same things be well taught till they be well learned And this is modicum ibi modicum ibi here modicum not too much at once for oppressing the spirituall stomack and here is ibi and ibi ibi amongst the proficients and ibi amongst the incipients 2 That of St. Peter Wherefore 2 Peâ— 1.12 I will not be negligent to put you in mind of those things though ye know them Yea I think it meet so long as I am in this tabernacle to stirre you up by putting you in remembrance This sheweth the use of often repetitions of such things as we ought not to forget for it is not enough to have light in our understanding there must be also zeal in our affections Religion in the head is speculation in the heart affection in the hand action If we do our duty thus as we are directed it must be your great fault if either you be ignorant or forgetfull of these things The spirit of God is our example for he remembreth this passage of Israel often and modicum ibi a little here in the old Testament modicum ibi a little there in the new Testament for this is also profitable for us This sheweth that the often preaching and learning and remembring the doctrine of our Baptisme is a most necessary lesson in the school of Christ that we do not enter into a new peace with the Egyptians whom God hath drowned in the red sea that we do not revive and quicken in us those things which the laver of new byrth hath purged by suffering sin to reign in our mortall bodies and by obeying it in the lusts thereof That we do not so much as in heart return again into Egypt out of which God hath so gratiously delivered us Profitable is the remembrance of our Baptisme for it is the sacrament and seal of our deliverance from the curse of the 〈◊〉 from the spirituall bondage of Satan from the dominion of sin iâ—â—heweth us the old Adam dead in the death and buried in the grave of Christ It also serveth being often remembred to stirre us up to a practise of Christian conversation and to an holy imitation of Christ in godly life that we may not receive the grace of God in vain that wee be not again defiled with the world for the Apostle will tell us That if Christ hath opened us a new and living way through the vail Heb. 20.22 23. that is his flesh we must draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evill conscience and our bodies washed with pure water Holding fast the profession of our faith without wavering For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledg of the truth Veâ—se 26. there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearfull looking for of judgment Verse 27. and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries I conclude in the Apostles words therefore brethren I would not have you ignorant concerning this passage of the Lords Israel through the red sea Vers 16. Hab. â— 6. When I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottennesse entred into my bones and I trembled in my self that I might rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up unto his people he will invade them with his troops AT this verse beginneth the third Section of this Chapter and it conteineth the consternation of the Prophet dejected before the Lord with the former considerations and the sad estate of the land of Canaan 1 Concerning the words When I heard The Prophet fitting this Psalme as you have heard for the common use of the Church doth not speak in this place in his own person perticularly When I heard but in the person of that Church of God to which this prophecy was sent Verse 14. They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me is spoken of the Midianites invading Gods people not the Prophet Habak So that Theard here is collectively the whole Church and perticularly every member thereof But what is that is here heard Surely this hath a double reference 1 To the former prophecy of Gods threatned judgments against his people of which you heard before Verse 2. O Lord I have heard thy speech and was afraid For it was a fearfull judgment which God had denounced against them 2 It hath reference to the full commemoration of Gods former mercies for howsoever faith may grow upon this root of experience of Gods favour yet when the Church of God shall consider all that former favour now turned into indignation and shall feel that power which once protected them so miraculously now armed against them this cannot but cast them into great fear This fear is described fully and rhetorically in four severall phrases 1 My belly trembled 2 My lips quivered 3 Rottennesse entred into my bones 4 I trembled in my self It is the manner of the spirit of God in such like phrases to expresse a great horrour and dismay by the belly is meant the inward parts and bowels So the Prophet upon the denunciation of the burthen upon the desert sea saith Therefore are my loyns filled with pain Isai 21.3 pangs have taken hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that travaileth I was bowed down at the hearing of it I was dismayed at the seeing of it My bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab Isa 16.11 and mine inward parts for Kirharesh So Job Job 30.27 My bowels boyled and rested not And David Mine eye is consumed with grief yea Psal 31.9 my soul and belly I am poured out like water all
but in the fields and amidst their military preparations when their tents were pitcht as it were in readinesse to give battail which is a Rhethoricall amplification of the greatnesse of their terrour My observation from this place in this The power of God shewed in the terror of the wicked doth prove that there is a God Doctr. and therefore no people on earth can be altogether ignorant of the God-head Why should the tents of Cushan be in affliction Why should the curtains of Midian tremble but that the fear of the Lord is upon them God daunteth and dismayeth them It was one of Gods promises to his people Ye are to pass through the coasts of your brethren the children of Esau which dwell in Sen and they shall be afraid of you Deu. 2.4 This deliverance of Israel from Egypt was a most memorable act of Gods power and made his name great in all the earth it followeth He i.e. Esau knoweth thy walkings through the great wilderness these forty years Vâ—r. 7. the Lord thy God hath been with thee thou hast lacked nothing Rahab that entertained the Spies whom Joshua sent to view the Land of Canaan saved them from the dangerous pursuite of the messengers of the King of Jericho and she said to them I know the Lord hath given you the Land and that your terror is fallen upon us Josh 2.9 and that all the Inhabitants of the Land melt because of it For we heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you when he came out of Egypt and what you did to the two Kings of the Amorites on the other side Jordan Sihon and Og whom ye destroyed utterly And assoon as we heard these things our hearts did melt neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you for the Lord your God he is God above in Heaven and in Earth beneath And this is the right way to make God known to the wicked and ungodly of the earth From thence came that prayer of David Put them in fear O Lord that they may know themselves to be but men Psa 9.20 The fear of God vvill smite them vvith such terrour that they shall not have hear to stirre against him So it is said that God is known by executing his judgments Reason Rom. 2.5 For as the Apostle saith the very naturall man hath the work of the law written in his heart The lavv vvritten in the heart of every man is a generall principle both of truth in the understanding vvhich affirmeth a divine nature and of avve in the affections to make him feared And this lavv is not idle but it vvorketh for there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vvork of the lavv And this is the true cause vvhy there is no peace at all to the vvicked man because he hath the lavv of nature vvorking vvithin him vvhich is against him and he hath not the lavv of grace to lay the storms vvhich the law of nature raiseth From hence it commeth that the wicked flyeth when no man pursueth as Solomon saith and he feareth where no fear is and Tully could say that all the poeticall fictions of the furies which disquieted men so much were but the pinchings and convulsions of mens guilty consciences who when they had done evill knew that they had broken the law written in their hearts and then feared the power which they saw above them armed with vengeance against evill doers St. Paul teacheth us the use of this point Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power Vse Rom. 31.3 do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same Where doing that which is good hath a double reward for it quiteth fear and it crowneth us with praise Me thinks that this consideration of the reward should stirre us up to say What shall we do that we may work the works of God John 6.28 29. Then will Christ tell us This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent Faith in Christ taketh away this terrour of the Lord as the Aoostle saith we knowing the terrour of the Lord do perswade men and what is the thing to which the Apostles doe perswade but to reconciliation with God through Christ so that when we preach faith to you wee preach peace even as the Apostle saith peace to them that are neer peace to them are far off and the God of peace sendeth his Son the peace of his Church with the Gospell of peace Wee are taught here that the welfare of the Church is the grief and vexation of her enemies 2 Doct. Cushan and Midian are afflicted and in a cold fit when they hear what God doth for Israel So did the Aegyptians repine at the prosperity of Israel in Aegypt they said Behold the children of Israel are more and mightier then we Exod. 1.10 Come let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply c. You see vvhat the vvorld thinks of their plots against the Church of God they think they do vvisely vvhen they vex the Church this is that wisedome which the Apostle doth call carnall sensuall and divelish And these be the wifemen of which it is said ubi sapiens where is the wiseman and God hath made the wisedome of the world foolishnesse The reason of this opposition is given by our Saviour the world hateth you because you are not of the world Reas 1 and I have chosen you out of the world and for this they weep at the joy of the Church they joy at their weeping the Prophets complaint Truth faileth and he that departeth from evill maketh himself a prey Isa 59.15 So David But mine enemies they are lively they are strong Psal 38.19 and they that hate wrong fully are multiplyed They also that render evill for good are mine adversaries Verse 20. because I follow the thing that good is They began betimes for Cain slue his brother 1 Joh. 3.12 Ratio rationis and wherefore slue he him because his own works were evil his brothers righteous I can easily bring you to the head of these bitter waters so soon as Adam had fallen from grace when God kept his first assise upon earth and convented and arraigned the transgressours the man the woman and the serpent he revealed his eternall counsell of election and reprobation and put a difference between the seed and seed the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent Which is not onely to be understood of the unreconciliable enmity that is between Christ and the Devill For Christ was the seed of the woman quia solus ita semen mulieris non etiam vâ—ri semen sit But hee meant therein that enmity vvhich should be betvvixt the elect vvho are the seed of the vvoman by naturall generation and the holy seed by spirituall regeneration so called Semen sanctum and the seed of the
stirre up strife all the day long And when there is not only contention as in those that secretly work one against another but there is Jurgium a chiding and scolding too and that they go so farre in it that when the Prophet speaketh to them of peace they prepare themselves to battail this is hostility to peace Here all those that disquiet the peace of their brethren by secret whispers and by open detractions and all those that molest one another in needlesse suits of law all talebearers that carry fire about them to enflame a brother against a brother do see who takes notice of them even God himself and they make the Prophets and Ministers of God like Joseph to carry their evil report to their father and to complain of them as enemies unto peace All those that when a contention is layd asleep do awak it with new suggestions and stirre it up a fresh and put fewelâ—o it to inflame it all which proceeds from an evil root of bitternesse in us and witnesseth against us that surely the fear of God and the love of brethren is not in that place The Apostle telleth us That if we be led by the Spirit of God we are the sonnes of God But it is clear that contention and strife and debate are fruits of the flesh and declare us to be carnall and flesh and bloud cannot inherite the Kingdom of heaven Those contentions do make us unfit for the service of God and to performe all Christian offices to one another and God seeing it for the good of his people he detecteth it to his Prophets of purpose that they may seek Reformation thereof But these did strive even with the Prophets How farre this unquietnesse did stretch in this people the next words declare Therefore the Law is slacked By the Law here he meaneth the Law of God that labefactata est is weakned or as others read it lacerata est is torne in pieces others dissolvitur is dissolved that is the Law of peace and charity for the whole summe of the Law is love that is broken and no man maketh conscience thereof or careth to be rued by it here observe 1. This goeth near the heart of Gods Prophet when he seâ—th that God is no more set by and his Law no better regarded so doth the Prophet complain I beheld the transgrtssours Ps 119.158 and was grieved because they kept not thy word this complaint then was no humane perturbation but a sad compaint for the injury done to Almighty God in his Law And herein we shew our zeal of Gods glory when we are moved and troubled at the contempt of his Law for commonly we are full of hear and provocation in personall injuries when our selves are touched but we are too cold in the quarrell of God The holy Psalmist cryes out Away from me all ye that work iniquitiy for I will keep the Commandments of my God This is to be angry without sin when we are provoked against them that violate the holy Law of God 2. Note how licentiousnesse was overgrown in this people and to what an height there sin was come up when the Law of God which was by God given to them deposited with them given with such a charge of keeping it with such terrible threatnings of all declining from it given with such promises annexed to the keeping of it was now neglected the lanthorn and light to their feet put out of purpose because they love darknesse more then light These two things mutuo se generant do mutually beget each other For from the contempt of the Law of God doth arise licentiousnesse and custome of sinning and from that licentiousnesse doth grow a further contempt of the Law When men live out of the aw of Gods Commandments and will not be kept within the bounds and limits which the Law of God â—oth set them there can be no hope of their conversion their estate is desperate the Prophet must repaire to God this is Dignus vindice nodus It is time for thee Lord to put to thine hand for they have destroyed thy Lawes Judgment doth never go forth 1. Some understand this of the impurity of those wicked men that God doth see their violence and how his Law is broken and yet he keepeth in his judgment and doth not punish the transgressours which maketh them to sin boldly for because sentence is not speedily executed against the wicked the heart of the children of men is wholly set in them to do evil In which sense the Prophet doth chaleng God of remissnesse in execution of his judgment and quickneth him by this complaint 2. Others do understand these words of the corruption of all judicial authority amongst them for where the Law God of faileth and is not regarded there can be no seat of Justice no man can expect that judgment should come from thence expectavi judicium excce clamor there is the stool of wickednesse And that sense doth best agree with this place and the coherence of the Text For where Religion is despised the courts of Justice must needs be corrupt Justice is either turned into wormwood if the Judg be incensed and carrie a spleen for if the Judg be servile and live in fear of some great power he must take his directions from them he must decree as he is commanded Or if he be covetous justice is a prize then winne it and weare it Or if he be partiall as the parties are befriended so the cause is ended So that judgment that is upright and uncorrupted judgment never goeth out and so the best causes speed worst You see here was great cause of complaint when there was neither Religion nor Justice left in that land It followeth The wicked doth compasse about the righteous Psal 12.8 so David complained The wicked walk on every side And again Be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help Psal 22. He complaineth of the ungodly and calleth them Bulls and Lyons strong Bulls ravening and roaring Lyons Dogges have compassed me Where the law of God is neglected authority and power degenerateth into oppression and tyranny Vers 16. men lay aside humanity and are transformed into brute beasts that have no understanding There is nothing more dangerous then to be an honest man and one that feareth God and maketh conscience of his wayes amongst the wicked They came about me like bees As the Sodomites came about Lot and they cry down with them down with them and let them never rise again The Prophet Isay describeth it well And Judgment is turned away backward Isa 59.14 and Justice standeth a farre off for truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter Yea truth faileth and he that departeth from evil Vers 15. maketh himself a prey and the Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no judgment Christ told us long ago in his disciples
very earth for their enemies to go over them and this is the punishment of their pride for Pride must have a fall and these towring fouls of the ayre must be turned into creeping worms of the earth 2. They have no ruler over them this is here set forth as a point of especial note to expresse the unhapinesse of a People to be without a ruler and therefore Anabaptists are wise polititians that would have no Magistrate but the punishment of the Iews is just that they should be without a ruler Because they did so much abuse Authority and rule that the very Seat of judgement were corrupted the wicked is Plaintiffe and the godly defendant The wicked compasseth about the righteous therefore wrong judgement proceedeth Better no rulers at all then such as David describeth Thou seest a thief and thou consentest with him a Companion of thieves whose Iustice is like that on Sarisbury plain Deliver thy purse Perchance on both sides But rule and Magistracy is the ordinance of God as St. Paul teacheth and God by his subordinate rulers on earth carrieth a sword and not in vain without this as when there was no King in Israel every man doth what seemeth good in his own eyes Which doth utterly destroy the body not only disfigure the face of a Common-wealth 5. Observe also here the outrage of the ungodly when they finde any way open for their violence Note 5 for they come in like a floud that hath made it self way through the weak banks and deluge all Here is Angle and Net and Dragge as before The wicked compasseth about the righteous which way shall the righteous escape As if aman did fly from a Lyon and a Beare met him or went into an house and leaned his hand on a wall and a Serpent bit him Amos 5 19 This made David so earnest with God not to fall into the hands of man There is nothing more cruel then a multitude of ungodly men that have no fear of God before their eyes Certum est insilvis inter spelaea ferarum malle pati the teeth of these dogs the hornes of these buls of Basan the hornes of these Unicornes the tusks of these wild Boars the pawes of these Lyons and Bears are mentioned in Scripture often to expresse the the fury and outrage of the wicked As Edom cried in the day of Jerusalem Rase it Ps 11.3 If the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do Judge now is it not a great grievance to see and feel the force and fury of the wicked carry all before them and neither their own conscience nor the lawes of men restrain them and God sit still look on and hold his peace this is that which grieves the Prophet to the heart But God that seeth it hath pure eyes and hath a right hand that will finde out all his enemies Amos will tell us that God hath his Angle too and his Net and his Dragge I saw the Lord standing upon the Altar Amos 9.1 and he said I will slay the last of them with the sword he that fleeth of them shall not fly away and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered Though they dig into hell there shall my hand take them though they climb up into heaven thence will I bring them down And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel I will search and take them out thence and though they be hid from my sight in the bottome of the sea thence will I command the Serpent and he shall bite them And though they go into captivity before their enemies thence will I command the sword and it shall slay them I will set mine eyes upon them for evill and not for good Let us not be discouraged for the Wiseman saith comfortably to us If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a Province Eccl. 5.8 marvel not at the matter for he that is higher then the highest regardeth and there be higher then they Our Common-wealth grew foul the hand of the oppressor was stretched out and they that pretended to be the Physitians of the diseases of this State gave it a potion of deadly wine that it grew sick and drawing on even to death the hearts of true Patriots failed them The poor cried out the rich could not say of that which he possessed Haec mea sunt these are mine seats of justice instead of judgment yeelded wormwood ecce clamor and behold a cry even the loud voyce of grievances But God awaked as one out of sleep and what the angle of the Magistrate and the net of the King could not take the drag of the Parliament is now cast out to fetch it in and we have gracious promises that we shall see Religion better established and Justice better administred the moths that fretted our garments destroyed the Caterpillar the Canker-worm and the Palmer-worme the Projectors of our times that devoured the fruits of the earth and drew the breasts of the Common-wealth dry into their own vessels both detected and punished yea that we shall see Ierusalem in prosperity all our days it is the musick of the voyces of both Houses of the Parliament and he that is rector Chori the Mr. of the Quire doth set for them both Let Peace be within thy wals and plenteousnesse within thy Palaces This fils our mouths with laughter and our tongues with singing The Keeper of Israel is awake and hath not been an idle Spectator of those tragedies that have been acted here amongst us he hath but tarried a time till the abominable wickednesse of the sons of Belial was found worthy to be punished One note more remaineth The Prophet doth find that all this evil doth not come upon the Jews by chance Note 6 by the malice of Satan or the proud covertous cruelty of the Chaldaeans for he faith to God Thou makest men as the fishes of the sea Here is the hand of God and the counsell of God in all this And God taketh it upon himself as you have heard before Behold yee among the heathen Vers 5. and regard and wonder marveilously For I will work a work in your days which you will not believe Lo I raise up the Chaldaeans c. For though sin brought in punishment Vers 6. yet Gods Justice is the Author of all evils of this kind and the inflicter of punishment Tu domine fecisti saith the Psalmist Thou Lord hast done it And I have taught you that the wisedome and goodnesse of God can make use of evil men for the correction of his Church They be ingredients in the dose that God giveth to his diseased People to purge them Therefore let not our hearts fret at those rods which have no strength to use themselves but rather stoop to the right hand of God who manageth them for our castigation We have no fence against these judgments but a good
conscience endeavouring to serve God sincerely for that either diverteth the judgment that the Sun shall not smite us by day nor the Moon by night or it maketh us able to bear it as from the hand of a Father that cannot finde in his heart to hurt us You heard the faith of this Prophet concerning this point we shall not die Thou hast ordained them for judgment thou hast established them for correction Only let not us be incorrigible nor faint when we are rebuked for he chasteneth every son that he receiveth The fourth grievance is the pride and vain-glory of the proud Chaldeans exprest in two things 1. In the joy of their victories They rejoyce and are glad 2. In their attribution of this glory to themselves which is self-idolatry 1. They rejoyce and are glad The enemies of the Church have their time to laugh the Wiseman calleth it the candle of the wicked it lighteth them for a time it is unius diei hilariis insania they dance to the pipe and drink their wine in bowles they eate of the fat and they remember not the affliction of Joseph to pity it they remember it to result over Joseph The King and Haman sate drinking together when the Edict was gone forth for the destruction of the Jewes Hest 3.15 and then the City Shushan was perplexed The grief of the Church is the joy of the ungodly It is Davids complaint Yea they opened their mouth wide against me and said Ps 35.21 Aha our eye hath seen it They have Davids deprecation Let them not say in their hearts Vers 25. Ah so would we have it let them not say we have swallowed them up They have Davids imprecation Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion that rejoyce at mine hurt Vers 26. let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnifie themselves against me He was in the very passion of this Prophet for this Lord how long wilt thou look on Saint Augustine upon these words saith Vers 17. Quod capiti hoc corpori what was to the head that to the body for thus did the Jewes rejoyce in the Crosse of Christ they had their will of him it is vox capitis the voyce of the head But in mine adversity they rejoyced and gathered themselves together against me Vers 15. Saint Augustines comfort against this calamity is Quicquid faciunt Christus in caelo est honoravit ille pâ—nam suam jam crucem suam in omnium frontibus fixit which hath reference to the signing with the signe of the Crosse in the Baptisme of Christians then in the use of the Church The reason of this joy in the wicked at the sorrowes of the Church is Reason 1 because the wicked do want the knowledge and feare of God they do not know that God is the protector of the Church but because they see them in outward things most neglected they judge them given over of God and forsaken Davids complaint For mine enemies speak against me Ps 71.10 and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together Saying God hath forsaken him persecute and take him for there is none to deliver him For they measure the light of Gods countenance according to the scantling of outward prosperity 2. The wicked want the unity of the spirit Reas 3 which is the bond of peace for the God of peace is not in their wayes they love not they call not upon God Charity is a Theological virtue where there is not true Religion there can be no true love I am sure this is a true Rule in Divinity whatsoever humane policie have to say against it Christ foretold his Disciples in the world ye shall have affliction These things I command you that ye love one another Joh. 15.17 Vers 18. Vers 19. If the world hate you ye know it hated me before it hated you If ye were of the world the world would love his own Charity is the bond of peace only to the children of peace and they that in Religion do stand in termes of contradiction it is not possible to fit them with a girdle This point is thus made profitable to us 1. For our selves seeing Religion is the best bond of brotherhood Vse and where no Religion is there can be no sincere love let us labour to grow up more and more in the knowledge and love and obedience of the truth that we may be fortified throughout both in our bodies and in our souls and spirits for this maketh us all one body and we can no more fall out then the members of our natural bodyes can disagree one with another the Orator spake ignorantly of the union of affections by the same Country Patria omnes in se charitates complexa est the love of charity comprehends all love for we know that we have had many unnatural fugitives which have abandoned their Country and plotted treasons abroad against it and have returned full of forraine venome and poyson to corrupt the affections of the natural subjects of their Soveraign with hatred of Religion and peace That is only true of Religion for that so sweetneth the affections of men that as they are content to do any thing they can one for another so they can be content to endure any thing one for another to beare for one anothers sakes and to put up at one anothers hands many things to forgive not seven times but seventy times seven times For the true Church as Bernard saith doth suspendere verbera producere ubera hide the rod and lay forth the breasts 2. For our children we must instruct them betimes in the knowledge and fear of God that they may learn the doctrines of piety charity and may be taught to be members one of another 3. This fetteth a mark upon the enemies of God because where there is strife and envying where there is hatred and malice are not they carnal If it be our duty to rejoyce with them that rejoyce and to weep with them that weep they belong not to the fold of Christ that rejoyce at the weeping or weep at the rejoycing of their brethren 4. This declareth the vanity of the joy of the world for seeing their rejoycing is evill it cannot be long lived and therefore it is said that the candle of the wicked shall be put out but the joy of the elect shall no man take from them Therefore wo to them that laugh here for their Harp shall be turned into mourning and their Organs into the voyce of them that weep but blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted and the time shall come when they shall rejoyce over them who have joyed at their paines and rejoyce over her O heaven and ye holy Apostles and Prophets Pro. 18.20 for God hath avenged you on her 2. They attribute the glory of the conquest to themselves they understand not who raised them up against the
then should keep thee from this remedy 1. Consider that there is no man in better case then thou by nature for all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God 2. Confider that this remedy is without thy self if it were of thy self thou hadst cause to distaste it but it is the free offer of Gods grace to thee 3. Consider that the giver of the Remedy is the giver of faith also by which the remedy is apprehended and applyed and if thou do not feel this faith in thy self do not judge thy self void of it for there may be and is faith often where is no feeling thereof 4. Tarry the Lords leasure as before wait for the vision will not lye How long lay the poore man at the Poole of Bethesda and though still hindered yet was he not without hope We must not part the truth of God and his justice and mercy for the truth of God bindeth both the threatnings of his judgement and the truth of his mercy Thus is the faith of the Elect given and nourished in us 2. How our faith may be proved Because there may be a shew and seeming of faith where the true substance thereof is wanting the best way to try our faith is by the true touchstone for as gold is tried by the touch so faith which is much more precious then gold that perisheth hath a proper touchstone to try it 1 Pet. 1.7 1. That is the conscience of man within for that doth declare to himself his faith 2. That is good conversation and godly life for that doth declare our faith to men 1. A good Conscience For being justified by faith we have peace toward God Rom. 5. This peace a wicked man cannot have Non est pax impio saith God No peace to the wicked Against this is a double objection 1. Many wicked men have quiet hearts and aile nothing Object they are not humbled like other men they are not poured from vessel to vessel therefore their sent remaineth in them The effect of true peace is joy in the Holy Ghost Sol. The wicked mans joy is not such it is but a flash it is neitâ—â—â—â—ound for when any tryal cometh it faileth neither is â—t 〈…〉 for it perisheth in time neither is it growing and increâ—â—â—â—g neither is it excusing 2. Many of the best of Gods servants have their minds troubled and suffer great distresses in their conscience for sinne Object 2 yea such a winter there is upon their souls that they feel not any life of grace at all in them True but observe from whence this ariseth Sol. even from the warre of the spirit against the flesh the world and the devil in which conflict often times the spirit is daunted and dismayed for a season but there is ever joy in tribulations and joy arising and growing out of sorrowes whereas the hearts of them that have not Faith dye in them And this fire is from heaven the covering of it with oppressions doth make it burn so much the hotter and the strring of it up with temptations doth make it shine the clearer so that peace of conscience is a sure signe of a good Faith 2. Another touch-stone for this gold this Faith is an evidence of godly conversation to approve our selves to God and man both by doing all the duties of a godly life and avoyding the contrary This is the only work of Faith in us 1. The pit whence we draw this water of life is deep the bucket by which we fetch it up is Faith for whatsoever desire or strength we have or endeavour to live godly it is an extraction drawn by our Faith from Jesus Christ I live by Faith in the same God 2. Faith only doth assure to us the loving kindnesse of God God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son c. Ecce quantam charitatem what eye shall behold this but the eye of Faith 3. Faith worketh love that is it breedeth a correspondence between Christ and us for the beleeving soul assured of Christs love to it doth cast about within it self quid rependam and finding nothing to recompence that love it seeketh how God may be pleased and walketh in that way so neer as he can So it is said of the faithful that they walk with God and they answer every temptation to evill as Joseph did How shall I do this and sin agaâ—â—â—â—â—â—d Or if by infiâ—â—â— â—hey fall they cry God mercy and they groan and grieâ—â—â—â—hin themselves that they cannot performe better service to God Thus we love God 1 Joh. 4.19 Luk. 7 47. because he loved us first And Christ said Many sins are forgiven her quia dilexit multum This is a fruit of the Holy Ghost shed abroad in our hearts by faith Observe it when faith doth lie concealed in us that our selves cannot discern it yet may we discern in our selves our love of God and of such as love God and this proves Gods love to us for we could not love him except he loved us first 4. Faith maketh us sincere for it is the notation of our faith it is called faith unfained and Christ saith Blessed be the pure in heart faith purifieth the heart as the Apostle saith These are not the generation of them that are pure in their own eyes of which Solomon spake but the other of which David his father spake Haec est generatio quaerentium faciem tuam Seeing there cannot be perfectio operis the perfection of works God is pleased if there be puritas cordis purity of heart 2 Cor. 1.12 which the Apostle calleth Simplicitie and godly purenesse And that is known by these signes 1. If a man be humbled in true contrition for sins which he knoweth himself guilty of and hath no peace in his heart till he hath comfort in his conscience that God hath forgiven them 2. If he consider his own weaknesse so farre as to acknowledge that he committeth many sins that he knoweth not and prayeth earnestly and often with David à secretis meis munda me cleanse me from my secret sins 3. If he finde in his heart a present strife of his spirit against the flesh wrastling with his own corruptions and not suffering sin to reign in his mortal body leading him captive to the Law of sinne 4. If he finde him watchful to prayer and fasting and watching and all exercises of mortification striving to bring his body in subjection to the law of God 5. If he be willing to hide the word of God in his heart to arme him against Satans temptations as Christ did with scriptum est it is written 6. If he finde a desire of perseverance therein to the end which is discerned by his spiritual growth from grace to grace bringing forth more fruit even in age as Christ testifieth of the Church of Thyatira more at the last then at the first Rev. 2.19 For he that beleeveth in
soul hath no peace till it hath wrought a revenge upon it self and upon the body too in which it committed sin Davids Humiliavi animam meam and St. Pauls Castigo corpus meum Ps 35.13 1 Cor. 9.27 Isa 38.17 There must be afflictio and amaritudo animae we carry rods about us for the nonce even our own hearts will smite us as Davids did this brings God home to us again For I dwell with the humble and contrite and then salvation is come home to our house once again Isa 57.15 2. Impii autem non sic Not so with the wicked They sin against their souls because all the evils of their whole life are written in the book of Gods remembrance and foulded up in the rowle of their own conscience which shall be opened against them in the last day and they shall be judged according to all that is writen in those books and there shall be judgment without mercy to them that shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 This doth not exclude temporall punishments for so shall they smart also they shall have no peace in this life for ever and anon as Job sa it their candle shall be put out and God shall distribute his sorrows amongst them They shall have many great shames many great fears many sad affronts of care and discontent though commedled with some faire weather good chear ease delights and such sweetnings as the flattery of the world and the favour of the times shall yeeld them Yet in the end all the evil that they have studyed and intended against others shall fall upon their own heads But still the worst is behind their souls and bodyes shall smart for it in the last day and the hand of God shall then pay home For them I take no care be it unto them as they have deserved and the Lord requite it at their hands and requite it upon them But for so many as follow righteonsnesse and fear God and would walk in his ways let us stirre up one another in the fear of God to seek the Lord whilst he may be found and to tender our souls The sins that we commit with such delight will cost us many an heart-breaking sigh many floods of salt water tears of bitternesse which are sanguis animae the blood of the soul hanging down of the head beating of the brest fasting from our full fare and stripping our bodies out of their soft raiment into sackcloth and changing our sweet powders into ashes There is no such disease incident to man as this Tremor cordis the trembling of the heart for sinne this Anima dolet the learning of the Physitian the art of the Apothecary have no receipt for it As Saint Paul saith of the law that is the strength of sinne so I may say that at first in the beginning of the cure the very remedy is the strength of the disease and makes the disease double the distresse thereof as in David 1. The Pophet came to heal him and he saith I said in my haste all men are lyars Prophets and all if they speak of any comfort to me Ps 116.21 2. God himself presented himself to his thought and that would not do I thought upon God and I was troubled my fear came and ceased not my soul refused comfort Yea there is such a sweetnesse in revenge that a penitent man doth take upon himself that he hath a kind of delight in his own self-punishment as in Jeremiahs example Look away from me Isa 22.4 I will weepe bitterly labour not to comfort me There is nothing that makes us sinne with so much appetite and so little feare as this we have banished Confession which bringeth shame upon us and penance which bringeth smart we have taken the matter into our own hands and no man hateth his own flesh Repentance is rather matter of discourse and contemplation then of practice and passion and so we sin and our souls are not much troubled at it But whosoever is toucht in conscience throughly with the remorse of sin will say there is no disease to a wounded Spirit and the costliest sacrifice that a man can offer to God is a contrite spirit and a broken heart 3. Punishment labour in vain Is it not of the Lord of Hosts that this People shall labour in the very fire and weary themselves with very vanity 1. Here is labour it is labor improbus that useth to carry all before it it is amplified For here is labour in the fire Multa tulit fecit que puer sudavit alsit labour even to wearines 2. Here is much ado about nothing For all this is for vanity very vanity 3. Who crosses them Is it not of the Lord of Hosts Annon ecce à Jehova exercituum Calv. Nonne ecce à cum Domino Interlin From the first here is labour This sinne is very painful Covetousnesse to gather wealth together Doct. and cruelty to destroy so many to strip them and ambition to purchase high place hereby we may truly say Hic labor hoc opus est Is it not strange the way to hell is all down the hill yet it is very uneasie and very weary travelling thither Christ calleth to him all that are weary and heavy laden Mat. 11.28 and promiseth to refresh them And God sheweth his People a rest saying This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing Isa 28.12 But this rest is not promised to them that weary themselves and work in the fire rising early and going late to bed to work shame for their own houses and to sin against their own souls such shall one day complain We have wearied our selves in the ways of wickednesse and destruction Wisdom 5 yea we have gone through deserts where there was no way but as for the way of the Lord we have not known it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a wicked man cometh of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth labour for it is a great deal of labour that they take that live in pursuit of honour in the oppression and molestation of their brethren in the racking vexation of covetous congestions of wealth Cain vexeth himself Nimrod must be a mighty hunter before the Lord Lamech must kill a man the earth must be full of cruelty to have their own will this is labour in the very fire to do mischief The head of wickednesse must be always plotting and projecting they imagine wickednesse upon their bed it will not suffer them to sleep The hand of wickednesse must be always working The foot of Pride must be always climbing The eye of envy is ever waking Shall I give you a full description of the labour of the unrighteous Deut. 28.65 drawn to the life The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee and thou shalt feare
my salvation 19. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like Hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon my high places To the chief singer upon my stringed Instruments THis is the last part of this Psalme it endeth in consolation notwithstanding all these afflictions of the Church threatned though they shall fall upon it and it must needs suffer this sharp Visitation Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord. It is the Apostles counsell Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes and here the Church doth so the Apostle resumeth it again I say rejoyce and the Church here resumeth it I will joy in the God of my salvation shewing the reason and ground of her joy Psal 13.5 which is Gods salvation My heart shall rejoyce in thy salvation The Lord God is my strength they are the words of David and he is more full and Rhetoricall in the expressure thereof I will love thee Psal 18.1 2. O Lord my strength The Lord is my rock and my fortresse my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation my high tower David speaks like one in love with God for he doth adorn him with confession of praise and his mouth is filled with the praise of the Lord which he expresseth in this exuberancy and redundance of holy Oratory the Church addeth He will make my feet like hinds feet this also is borrowed of David in the same Psalme He maketh my feet like hinds feet and setteth me upon my high places Psal 18.33 that is he doth give swiftnesse and speed to his Church as St. Augustine interpreteth it transcendendo spinosa ambrosa implicamenta hujus saeculi passing lightly through the thornie and shadie incumberances of this world He will make me walk upon my high places David saith he setteth me upon my high places For consider David as he then was when he composed this Psalm it was at the time when God had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul For then God set his feet on high places setting his Kingdome and establishing him in the place of Saul The Church here hoping to obtein of God the like deliverance by faith apprehendeth the same mercy and favour of God that God will again restore them to their high places and establish them in the same that is in the free and undisturbed possession of their own land and the liberties thereof Isaiah 58.14 Those are called high places Deut. 32.13 because God was exalted in them in the profession of Religion and God exalted them above all other places of the world by his speciall favour as it is said Non fecit taliter St. Augustine goeth higher in the mysticall surveigh of these words and looketh up to the future glory of the Church saying Super Coelestem habitationem figet intentionem meam ut impleat in omnem plenitudinem Dei The last words of the Psalm are a dedication thereof to the use of the Church dedicating it to the chief singer to be fitted to the Church musique that it may be sung in the congregation The words are taken from Davids Psalmes Doct. 1 and applyed to this perticular occasion of the Church From whence we are taught what use we may make of Davids Psalms in our frequent reading and meditation of them Our Church hath divided the Psalms into so many equall portions for our reading that in every thirty days such as can read may read over the whole book of Davids Psalmes and it is no great task for every one of us so to read them over privately in our houses the benefit is great that will redound to them that shall do this for this will our experience finde that St. Augustine long ago hath testified of the book of Psalms that it is Communis quidam bonae doctrinae thesaurus a common store-house of good learning it will instruct the ignorant it will draw on forward those that are incipients it will perfect those that are proficients it will comfort all sorts of afflictions veteribus animarum vulneribus novit mederi recentibus remedium applicare it knows how c. He that would pray to God may make choice here of fit forms dictated by the Spirit of God to petition God upon all occasions whatsoever he would desire of God either to give him or to forgive him He that would make confession of his sins to God is here furnished accommodated with the manner of searching and ripping up of the conscience and laying the hid man of the heart open before God He that would make confession of praise hath his mouth filled with forms of praise to set forth the goodness of God either in perticular to himself or in general to the whole Church He that is merry and rejoyceth in the Lord may finde here the musique of true joy and may from hence gather both matter and manner of Jubilation you see that the Church in my text resorteth to this store house of comfort He that findeth himself dul and heavy in the duties of Gods service may here finde cheerfull strains of musique to quicken his dead affections and to put life into them Many are too well conceited of their own sufficiency for those holy services of God so that in confession of sins in prayer or in praysing God they over-ween their own measure of the spirit of God and are too much wedded to their own forms of addresse to God But let no man despise these helps the best of us all need them the most able amongst us shal abate nothing from his own sufficiency to borrow of them we are sure that the Holy Ghost hath indited them and if a wise judgment do make choice and fit application of them to our severall purposes and occasions we cannot more holily or more effectually expresse our selves then in them the sweet singer of Israel hath furnished us plentifully by them 2 Before I come to handle the text in the parts thereof let me return your thoughts to the former verse where the Church putteth her own case in great affliction supposing the good land flowing with milk and hony touched and accursed for their sakes so that neither their best fruit trees nor their common fields nor their fruits nor their flocks and herds shal yield encrease yet saith she Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Teaching us that where there is the true joy of the Holy Ghost no temporall affliction whatsoever Doct. 2 though it extend even to deprivation of the necessaries of life can either extinguish or so much as eclipse that joy but that as a light it will shine in darknesse The Book of God is thick sown with examples and promises with doctrine and use with assertions and experience of this truth and it is so sealed to the perpetuall consolation of the
we consider with what coarse fare and little rest and mean apparell the labouring man doth passe through great labour we cannot but acknowledge that experience hath sealed this doctrine that God is the strength of man for man layeth on load upon man and they that live at ease feel not the burthens that they do lay upon their brethren God is our strength in eo quod patimur in that we suffer for could we fore-think our selvs able to bear that sorrow and misery which captivity and war doth bring upon us do you not hear some say they cannot eat such and such meat they cannot rise early they cannot brook the air their tender flesh cannot endure any hardnesse Can such endure to spend their whole time in praysing the goodnesse of God toward them for his great mercy that he putteth them not to it to try what they can suffer let them hear the Prophet Jeremie complain The pretious sons of Sion comparable to fine gold Lam. 4.2 how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghils The women fed on their own aborrements and did eat their own unripe fruit children of a span long Lam. 2.20 Such as were so tender that they could scarce endure to touch the ground of the street with the soals of their shoes even to such God sent word that Her own feet should carry her a far off to sojourn When it shall please God to turn the wheel of providence and to set Princes and high persons in the rank of common men in the condition of miserable and distressed men tender hands will learn to labour and God will give strength The ordinary the extraordinary the outward the inward the expected the sodain calamities of life are manifold to bear them all with patience to digest them with cheerfulnesse to turn them into the nourishment of our faith and hope this is the strength of the Lord in us our soul would soon grow weary of them if God did not establish our hearts for the sense of evils incumbent and the fear of evils ingruent would soon distract and distemper us if the strength of the Lord did not sustein us This doctrine which informeth us whence we have our strength Vse directeth us also in the use of it for so God himself hath taught us Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Deut 6.5 with all thy soul with all thy might We must put our whole strength to his service Luk. 10.27 and to the obedience of his Law All other use of our strength for this life is subordinate to this for they mistake their own creation that think they were made for themselves and employ their wits and time and strength to support to adorn and to make pleasant and easie this temporall life of ours Christ saith that this love of our God must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with all our strength Some abuse their strength to oppression and spoil to wrong their brethren so Babylon is called the hammer of the whole earth for God did use these Chaldaeans as the rods of his fury to punish the transgressing nations but there came a time when this hammer was cut asunder and broken How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations Jer. 50.23 I have laid a snare for thee and thou art also taken O Babylon and thou wast not aware thou art found and also taken because thou hast striven against the Lord. Let the oppressours of their brethren consider this the snare of God is full of danger for it hath three dangers in it 1 To catch suddenly thou wast not aware 2 To hold fast thou art taken 3 To destroy for they that are taken in the snare of God are at his mercy in his power Vpon the wicked Psal 11.6 he will rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. Some give their strength to women and by unchast and lewd conversation weaken those bodies and defile the Temples of God where Gods holy spirit should dwell It was the advice which Batsheba the mother of Solomon gave to her beloved Lemuel and she putteth it home in a mothers holy passion What my son and what the son of my womb Prov. 31.2 and what the son of my vows Give not thy strength to women nor thy wayes to that which destroyeth Kings It seemeth that Solomon had taken out his mothers lesson for he giveth all that fear God warning to take heed of the strange woman for he saith She hath cast down many wounded Prov. 7.26 yea many strong men have beea slain by her Her house is the way of hell going down to the chambers of death Some give their strength to drunkennesse they have a woe for their labour Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning Isai 5.11 that they may follow strong drink that continue till night till wine enflame them Some give their strength to covetousnesse some to pride some to their bellies some wast and consume their strength in idlenesse God gave them not their strength to any of these evill ends It is his strength that they abuse and he calleth for all of it in his service Me thinks the Apostle doth plead for God very reasonably and therein he teacheth us to try our selves whether we be innocent or faulty in this As you have yielded your members servants to uncleannesse 〈◊〉 6 1◠and to imquity to iniquity so now yield your members servants to righteousnesse unto holinesse It is unreasonable when God desireth but the same service done to him that made and preserveth us and would save us that we give to Satan who goeth about like a roaring lyon to destroy us and it is a good way between God and conscience to try our hearts whether we have done our God the right that we should do him in our strength for have we had as great delight in the Bible and have we read that with as much diligence as we have read other books of delight and pleasure have we heard the Word with as much attention and profit as we have heard other vain and wanton tales have we bestowed as many private hours in prayer as we have done in game Have we as much delighted in the Lords Supper the souls feast as we have done in the feasts and banquets of the body Nay have we not usurped some of Gods day for our temporall businesse and neglected the Church assembly and the ministery of the word to eat and drink and game and sleep take our ease would we have done so if some comand from some superiour powers had comanded us any speciall service This is the way to try us surely we have not given our whole strength to the Lord if