ivory or to be clad like Dives with silk and purple It doth not maintain their great Retinue nor present them with soft Airs It doth not provide for their Families nor keep up their pomp and grandeur were it such a powerful thing as the Philosophers Stone is fabled to be and did it enable them to turn their Iron into Gold and did it make their Trade to flourish and did it make their garners full affording all manner of store and cause such fruitfulness among their flocks that their sheep might bring forth thousands and ten thousands in their streets Did it raise them to the power of Senacherib to the magnificence of Nebuchadnezar to the pleasures of Solomon Did it promise a Kingdom and whisper in their ears that they should enjoy ease and plenty without all peradventure nothing should have so much of their care or hearts as Consideration of their wayes But having none of these baits and their hearts being fix'd on the world they can find no time for this exercise Cannot did I say They will not allow themselves time to retire and consider that they have such things as souls or that these souls are capable of punishment and glory when they shake hands with their old companions their bodies They think that time mispent that is bestow'd upon Consideration of another world and what minutes or hours are taken from their fleshly satisfactions or from prosecuting their worldly concerns they look upon as flung away By worldly concerns I do not only mean businesses which an Estate or Trade or Family or office or sensual pleasures cause but business of study and learning too and one may be as much taken up with his study as another is with his Trade and consequently be very loth to allow any time for this Consideration we speak of To be studious and yet inconsiderate implies no contradiction and a man may contemplate God and Heaven and the whole Creation and yet not contemplate them in order to a holy preparation for another life or with an intent to mortifie his sins and corruptions and to imitate God in holiness without which it cannot be Consideration and the best name we can give it is an empty Speculation so that a spiritual Meditation may be but a worldly business if that which puts me upon it be my profession whereby I get a livelihood if that which makes me study and meditate be temporal profit or honour or applause if it be not undertaken with an intent to edifie my own soul as well as the souls of others if it be done either to please the fancy or to please the gentle Reader by publishing it to the world And indeed where worldly concerns fill all the channels of the soul there can be but very little employment for serious Consideration A continunl hurry of business sheds darkness upon the soul thrusts out that eye whereby it should reflect upon it self and makes it intent only on things which tickle and please the flesh and like Felix when any motions to serious Consideration arise replies Go thy way for this time and when I have a convenient season I will call for thee Acts 24.25 It fares much with Consideration as with that Princes invitation Luc. 14.16 worldly cares and businesses like those guests when the soul feels any suggestions or invitations to Consideration are presently ready with excuses and a thousand things are pretended why they cannot come or stoop to the gracious message or vocation and these bryars and thorns choak the good seed that 's thrown among them Thus earth keeps out Heaven and the world like shutters of a window excludes the light that would irradiate the room not but that the business of our worldly callings may lawfully be performed and follow'd and men ought to work with labour and travel night and day rather than be chargeable to others 2 Thess. 3.8 But where the World is made God and fills mens minds as well as their hands and all the time that can be got is spent in embracing and grasping of it it 's impossible Consideration should find entertainment there it 's like a heartless prayer may for that can be hudled up and requires not much time and leaves them as worldly as it finds them and doth not hinder or cross them in their fondness to the world which they are afraid Consideration will do And indeed they guess aright for Consideration would shake their love make them unquiet in their amours and unsettle their affections pull down that high esteem they have of the world and make them see that there is not that beauty that glory or that happiness in things below which their sickly fancy dream'd of before it would shew them that all these Gaudes are but a Pit cover'd with curious flowers where people may irrecoverably perish if taken with the treacherous flowers they smell on them and admire their odour and fragrancy It would shew them the vanity of heaping up riches when they know not who shall inherit them and represent unto them â—he folly of flattering their souls with an Ede Bibe Lude Soul take thine ease eat drink and be merry thou hast much goods laid up for many years It would shew them how false how perishable all these outward comforts are and that they have something more than this deceitful world to look after Consideration like a faithful Counsellor would undeceive them in their fond opinions of this treacherous friend discover to them his base designs the mischiefs he drives at under all his smiles the Serpent that lies under those green herbs and bid them beware of him But such is the love they bear to the world that they are jealous of all things that would subvert their love and hate Consideration as an enemy because they are afraid it will discompose those embraces and break the league between them and these earthly satisfactions and put their hearts that lie close to the world out of their place dispossess them of their earthly mindedness and prompt them to lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come and lay hold on eternal life A strange fondness this which doth not only marry the heart unto the world and makes them two one flesh but sends out Spies to watch against all the endeavors of this faithful Monitor viz. Consideration that it may not break the match or dissolve the bond or make the heart sensible of its adulteries O God! How is thy similitude in Man defaced How is that glorious Image thou didst once shed into his breast blotted and defiled Is this the Man that receiv'd a Soul to mind Heaven most Is this the Man over whom thou didst spread thy skirts whose nakedness thou didst cover and with whom thou didst enter into an everlasting Covenant whom thou dost draw by cords of love whose soul thou didst betroth unto thee for ever in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in
in the mire and pit thou didst advance me into thy Fathers bosom I lay trembling under the jaws of the hellish Dragon thou gavest me a place in the heart of God I was unworthy of thy gracious Aspect and thou hast made me capable of being embraced by the Great and Terrible God I lay in a Dungeon thou didst promote me to a Throne thou hast done that for me which I durst not have hoped or wish'd for it had been enough to have deliver'd me from Hell but that would not content thee except I were raised above the Heavens and above Angels too it had been favour enough when my condition was so desperate if thou hadst parchas'd for me a suspension or forbearance of thy Fathers Anger but thou didst go further and didst purchase me a Pardon too and not satisfied with that thou didst incline thy Fathers love to me and as if that had not been enough thou didst procure me Gifts and Blessings too and not only Blessings in general but the greatest Blessing imaginable even thine own Kingdom and thine own Heritage How unworthy have I lived of this incomprehensible Love O that I might not be able to reflect upon my life without indignation Thou art the way the truth and the life direct me and I 'll strive to enter in at the strait Gate purify my Spirit wash my Soul with thy Bloud that 's the Eye-salve which will make me see that 's the Medicine which will cure my blindness O cleanse me and I shall be whiter than Snow O thou inexhausted Fountain of Goodness let me not goe away dry from thee let the light of thy countenance always shine about me and by that light let me discover not only my grosser sins but my more secret corruptions Draw me after thee and I shall run hide me in thy wounds be my Advocate and plead my Cause thou spreadest open thy Arms to all that desire Rest behold I come receive me Graciously love me Freely teach me to relye on thee My Joy my Treasure my Sovereign Comfort cause all the fruits of the Spirit to grow in my Soul O help me or else I perish O assist me or else I faint my Conscience terrifies me O do thou speak peace unto it the roaring Lion threatens to devour me O shew thy gliterring Sword and drive him away Gods anger burns against me O throw some drops of thy Bloud into that fire and it will goe out Let me be content to sell all for thee let me not scruple to part even with the best things I have for thy service set me as a seal upon thy Heart stream down the waters of Life upon me I 'll open my mouth wide O do thou fill it I will live to my self no more possess all my faculties and unite them to thee make me truly acquainted with my self let those joys thou hast promised to thy Saints support me in all my tribulations Come Lord Jesus come quickly O Thou Blessed and Eternal Spirit vouchsafe to breath upon me blow upon my Garden that the Spices may flow move powerfully upon my Soul that it may bring forth fruits meet for Repentance Let me be truly afraid to resist thy suggestions Sanctify and give success to all my attempts to make my Calling and Election sure when my stubborn heart would baffile thy designs to save me let thy Grace overcome and conquer me represent the love of God to me in that Glory that I may instantly throw down all I have at the feet of Christ O let my Soul be so dazled with its beams that I may desire and breathe after nothing so much as after a Glorious enjoyment of God Break the chains of my sins command the Fetters I have been bound in to fly asunder whatever good thoughts I have of God increase them enlarge my Soul that I may truly delight in thinking of thee let me feel the sweetness of Holiness let me taste those joys which thou dost vouchsafe to those that improve thy motions tempt me by a foretaste of Heavens Glory to lay force upon it Give me a glimpse of yonder Paradise that I may not faint in my journey give me arguments against my self that I may be deliver'd from my self Fill all the channels of my Soul with thy gifts while I sojourn here on Earth let my heart be in Heaven let not self-self-love in me hinder me from loving thee Take my heart away and give me thy self be thou my heart and all my delight wherever I am be thou my Director let thy word be my rule and enable me to live according to that rule O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity one God thou immense Sea of happiness make me to know what it is to be one with thee O thou everlasting Goodness O thou everlasting Wisdom O thou everlasting Sweetness grant I may see thee seeing may love thee loving may admire thee admiring may imitate thee and imitating thee may enjoy thee enjoying thee may never be separated from thee but live in thy Light and Love and Glory to all Eternity FINIS Acts 14.11 * Aen. Sylvius Psal. 18.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hagg. 1.5 7. 1 Sam. 15.14 * Tertullian Apolog. c. 50. * Id. Ibid. * Tertull. lib de patientia c. 14. Erumpentes bestiolas in eosdem specus pastus foraminosae carnis ludendo revocibat 1 Pet. 5.8 Matth. 4.3 Eph. 6 12. Sucton in Calig vid. Euseb. Nierem de ador lib. 1. c. 〈◊〉 seq
for indeed a flash of Thinking is no more Consideration than a few wandring sparks can be said to warm a spacious Room and as in cold Weather Men do not get themselves a heat by a step or two but by such exercises as put the Body into a violent motion so neither will a careless thought now and then heat the heart within but Consideration which puts the Soul into a strong and vigorous motion or agitation is that which must kindle the holy fire and shed life into all the faculties of the inward Man Not to mention here that the word was originally us'd to express the industry of Astronomers who by diligent contemplation and observation of the stars their Motion Position Conjunction Influences c. gave a judgment of the several Phaenomena or appearances they met withall from whence it was afterward applied to Men who seriously and attentively ponder things of moment whether Civil or Sacred The Scripture usually expresses it by laying our hearts close to our wayes as if it were with Consideration as it is with Mens listening to a confus'd noise and laying their ears close to a Wall with design to get a more distinct knowledge of it And indeed without Consideration Eternal Life and our Duties in order to it appear no very great attractives Consideration clears up those Notions dispells the Clouds and Mists that dwell upon our Reason wipes away the Dust discovers unknown Worlds and makes even such things as were vulgar obvious before look with a new face they being found upon Consideration things of greater consequence of greater comfort of greater necessity of greater virtue and efficacy than before they were believed to be It is much with Consideration as it is with Microscopes and Magnifying Glasses what contemptible Creatures do some little Animals and the smaller sorts of Plants appear while beheld with our naked eye but view'd through Dioptrical Glasses what curious Fabricks do we spy How inconsiderable an Insect is a Flie How despicable a Creature is a Mite Yet he that through such Glasses beholds in them all the perfections of the largest Animals the multiplicity of their parts the variety of their motions and how curiously every limb is wrought how mathematically all their little members are framed and set together cannot but wonder at the spectacle and break forth into admiration of the immense Wisdom of their Maker Consideration is that Glass which represents spiritual objects in other colours than before were observ'd and detected in them Sin that look'd but with a faint red before through this Glass appears all Scarlet and Crimson Gods Laws which before were hardly regarded so much as humane Injunctions through this Glass appear so beautiful so rational so wise so wonderful so suited to an intelligent Nature that a Man with David cannot hold but must cry out O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day The New Jerusalem which look'd but like an ordinary Building before when view'd through this Glass the Towers and Bulwarks of it are seen glittering afar off the Pearls and precious Stones it 's paved withall shine with more than ordinary lustre and that which look'd but dull and weak before now dazles the Spectators eyes with its oriental brightness But this will further appear if we enquire into the essential parts or necessary ingredients of these spiritual Opticks Consideration as it is the Sun that enlightens this Microcosme Man and irradiates the benighted faculties of the Soul so that it may have this virtue there is required and it cannot be Consideration without it Self-Examination Expostulation and strong Resolution I. Self-Examination That man who examines not his spiritual estate or condition whether he is that sinner that shall be everlastingly miserable whether the threatnings of the Gospel concern him whether he finds those qualifications in himself which the Son of God requires of all that shall be Heirs of glory whither he feels those things in his Soul which men that have a title to the great Inheritance are sensible of and whither he walks in that strait way and strives to enter in at that narrow gate the Holy Ghost doth speak of He that with Gallio cares for none of these things is so far from considering that he doth not believe the immortality of his Soul or another World For were his heart season'd with a sound belief of that future state he could not but enter into his Closet and reflect In this Bible in this Book which I do believe contains the Oracles of God and his peremptory Will concerning the salvation of men I find stubborn careless unconverted sinners adjudg'd to eternal torments I find God protest he will know none in the last day so as to shew them favor but such as dare deny themselves for Heaven and heartily endeavor to do the Will of their Father which is in Heaven I find God swear that men who prefer their Farms and Oxen and secular Concerns before his Injunctions and Commands shall never taste of the great Supper of the Lamb. Am I one of these stubborn unconverted careless men or no Why should I be afraid to ask such a question when there is no less than Eternity in the case If I am none of this number What means the bleating of Sheep and the lowing of Oxen in mine ears What means my earthly mindedness What means my living in wilful Contempt of so many commands of the Son of God I take no pains to be sav'd some little formalities and complements of Religion serve my turn and satisfie my Conscience I can put off the great God of Heaven with the Worlds leavings and throw him a dull heartless prayer at night when I have been wallowing in sin all day I am for no devotion that 's either expensive or troublesom to flesh and blood and such ejaculations as do not molest me in my pleasures and as my flesh can easily spare without any detriment in its satisfaction I am willing to lay upon Gods Altar I feel little or no sorrow for sin no remorse no compunctions when I offend a gracious God A temporal advantage affects and revives me more than all the joyes of Heaven If I do sometimes resolve to leave either my grosser vices or my more secret iniquities the next company or divertisement takes me off again and I make no more of breaking my solemn promises of better obedience than if God were a meer stock or stone that takes no notice of affronts and injuries Self-denial I am so great a stranger to that I know not what it means The graces and fruits of Gods Spirit Love Joy Peace Goodness Faith Temperance Meekness Patience Long-suffering have so little of my desires and affections that I think it but time and labour lost to bethink my self how to be Master of any of them Why should I flatter and deceive my self Why should I sooth my self into kind thoughts of my condition that is so
seriousness they formerly derided they then wish for when the Sentence is passing upon them Cut them down why do they cumber the ground The Pearl they might formerly have had at a reasonable price and would not they now would purchase with ten thousand worlds if they had them and cannot This it is to turn the grace of God into wantonness to play with the glorious message sent to them by the great Bridegroom of their Souls and to make light of invitations to the Supper of the Lamb O folly O madness O monstrous stupidity O my Soul come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united I 'll take warning by these sad examples Their Imprudence shall make me wise Their indiscretion shall make me take another course I see there are snares laid for my Soul I am beset with Temptations If I tremble at the main Ocean a shallow Puddle is offer'd me to drown my self in What should make the Devil so busie so earnest so industrious to draw my Soul away from the Fountain of living waters without all peradventure he fees what happiness it 's capable of even of a happiness which knows neither measure nor end He sees the inclinations and propensions it hath to take up with God alone and to divert the stream he dresses out sin in several garbs that if one will not tempt me another may But O my God sin shall insinuate into my favour no more it shall creep into my bosome no more I 'll avoid all familiarity with it I 'll hugg the Monster no more I 'll take it no longer for a harmless thing it shall be my Darling my Benjamin no more my eyes shall be no longer pleas'd with viewing of it my tongue shall commend and praise it no more I 'll open my door to the fatal Guest no more My faint oppositions shall be turn'd into stronger resistances I 'll call up my blood and courage to withstand its juggles I have resolv'd and my heart shall be carried out after this Idol no more It was resolution made the three Men Shadrach Meshech and Abednego adventure into a fiery Furnace It was resolution made St. Paul ready not to suffer only but to dye at Jerusalem for the Name of Jesus It was resolution made David's Worthies enter into the Camp of the Philistines and draw water out of the Well of Bethlehem It was resolution made Ignatius despise Fire and Sword and wild Beasts to procure the favour of him whom his Soul did love It was resolution made that Grecian Woman endure the Rack and when prompted by the Executioner to confess her Associates in the Treason bite her tongue to pieces that she might not be in a possibility of betraying her Partners in the Conspiracy It was resolution made Mutius stand still and unconcern'd while his right hand burn'd It was resolution made Empedocles sacrifice himself to the flames of Aetna It was resolution made Anaxarchus when his bones were crusht make sport with his torments and cry out Break break the Carcass of Anaxarchus but his mind you shall never break It was resolution made Regulus fling himself into the merciless Arms of his Enemies and suffer himself to be stung and prickt to death It was resolution made Job bear his losses and ulcers with invincible magnanimity and as he said play with the Worms that bred in his sores and as they were crawling out drive them back into the holes and pastures of his putrified flesh It was resolulution made David run through a Troop and leap over Walls Psal. 18.29 It was his resolution made these words drop from him I have sworn and will perform it that I will keep thy righteous judgments I will speak of thy testimonies before Kings and will not be asham'd and I will delight my self in thy Commandments my hands will I lift up unto thy precepts which I have lov'd and I will meditate in thy statutes Psal. 119.46.106 And why should not my resolution prompt me to the same generous enterprizes Why should other Men to purchase an immortal same resolve to lose their ease and lives and estates and all that 's dear and pleasing to them here below and I not resolve to lose my sins my lusts my pleasures to gain an everlasting inheritance My heart is ready my heart is ready A gracious God invites me a loving Saviour calls to me from his Cross wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well a holy sanctifying Spirit beckens me The great God that might laugh at my calamity and mock when my fear comes because he hath call'd and I refus'd because he so often stretched forth his hands unto me and I have not regarded This great this tender Father after all the wrongs and injuries and abuses and insolencies I have offer'd him is willing to receive me provided I 'll be faithful to him run no more after other Lovers and resign my self to be guided govern'd and directed by him And can I resist that Love Can I harden my heart against these Charms Can I refuse this kindness Spurn at this favor Slight this stupendious blessing And provoke him to swear in his wrath That I shall never enter into his rest No no I yield I render myself Captive I am convinc'd that Gods service is perfect freedom He that enters upon it is under the government of a lawful Prince his life is sweet and easie he feels no Tyranny no Oppression the King with everlasting kindness visits him and guides his feet into the wayes of peace gives his Angels charge to keep him in his going out and his coming in and will not suffer any of his bones to be broken He is with him in distress and when he weeps holds a bottle under to catch his tears Psal. 56.8 He binds up his wounds and is a wall of brass to him that mocks at the flashes of Hell and dashes all the fiery darts of the Devil Here men are free from flavish fear as being under the wings of a Father Here nothing but Love rules in their hearts which makes their yoke easie and their burthen light makes the strait gate pleasant and the narrow way full of delight and satisfaction Here peace of Conscience reigns and the Subjects of this Kingdom are acquainted with joy in the Holy Ghost Here men are freed from the curse of the Law and their minds are employ'd in the noblest contemplations Here they dwell in the secret place of the most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty Here I 'll fix here I 'll build Tabernacles for it 's good to be here Away with all suggestions that would make me unwilling or backward to this work Away with all thoughts that would discourage me Away with all imaginations that would possess me with misconstructions of the wayes of God Ye are all miserable comforters ye
their Souls for ever It 's very probable that God wherein all goodness all mercy and of infinite pity and hath made this world to serve man and endow'd him with a capacity of knowing and adoring God would not leave him destitute of such helps and means as might best promote his knowledge of him but find out a way to manifest himself to him especially when it 's evident that without some better directions than Nature gives men are so very apt to fall into errors and misapprehensions of his glory and majesty Whether this Book contain therefore the true Revelations which God hath been pleas'd to make to mankind is the question Upon examination I find That there is nothing in this Book either promised or threatned or commanded but what is Deo dignum fit for a God to promise and threaten and command Whatever is deliver'd here seems to be very agreeable to his Majesty and Sovereignty and Divine Nature The rewards as well as punishments are Godlike and the Duties pressed here are but the necessary consequents of his Goodness and Justice and Government and Supremacy which consequences because man by reason of his corruption was not able to deduce from the Notion of a God God thought fit to reveal and manifest to him by various Passages Histories Prophecies Parables Precepts and Conclusions Upon inquiry I perceive that the designs of this Book are at least very harmless its great aime being to make men good and just and honest and live like men of reason Whatever verity or truth the light of Nature or Reason dictates is here to be found and this Book is so far from contradicting or abolishing any thing of that nature that it improves and refines it If I search all the Volumes of the ancient Heathen Philosophers men who ransackt Nature and tryed what Nature would discover of God and anatomized the Law written upon mens hearts If I peruse all the Lessons and Rules of Morality they gave and prescribed to Mankind I find them all deliver'd in this Book much purer and much clearer than those Philosophers were able to propose them The Sacred Writers whoever they were for ought I see were men of very noble and generous spirits for their great endeavor is to instruct and edifie mankind and to teach them such delights as are fit for a rational Soul to embrace I see they exhort men to live like themselves like persons capable of conversing with God I see they are all for preservation of humane Societies and to this end they speak against all that 's evil and encourage Justice and Peace and Unity and Charity and Obedience to Governors and all that 's good and holy and condemn al Hypocrisie commend upright dealing and sincerity of heart and proscribe even those sins which the world can take no notice of sins of thoughts sins of the heart and sins of secresie and urge a hearty unfeigned love to our Neighbor Their great care and sollicitude is that men may not be kept unacquainted with themselves and though they liv'd in different Ages at different Times and were of different Educations yet they all agree in their great endeavor and design to purifie mens hearts and to keep their Consciences void of offence towards God and towards men They would have God worship'd and honour'd like a God in Spirit and in Truth and require the cream and marrow of our endeavours our dearest and tenderest love to be given to him which indeed is a worship fit for him that is our Supreme Ruler and Governor in whom we live and have our Being They condemn all Sensuality which makes men live like Beasts and all impatience and discontent which makes their Lives miserable and all Pride and Haughtiness which makes their near Neighbors hate and despise them and all base Selfishness which makes them uncompassionate They prescribe the greatest Cordials against Crosses and Afflictions for they promise a better life after this a life of everlasting joy and bliss and suppose there were no such life yet would the fancy of it be mighty pleasing in distress and calamities and serve to bear us up under the greatest burthens and should we find nothing of that nature when we come to dye to be sure there would be no body to laugh at us They represent God as infinitely merciful to wretched men and willing to accept of those that repent and turn and sincerely fear him and to make them everlastingly happy and yet that men may not presume and turn the grace of God into wantonness they represent him just withall that will take vengeance on those who provoke his patience and mock his compassion and abuse his mercy into contempt of his Laws They represent him as a very reasonable Master that layes upon his servants no more than they are able to bear and expects returns answerable to the favors he bestows on them and such services as are in some measure proportionable to the means he hath afforded them which is no more but what we expect from our servants All which is highly rational and I must needs imagine since no men that ever liv'd in the world could give the world such exact Rules for the improvement and advancement of a rational Soul as these Writers do that they must have had some Divine Spirit to guide them To exalt the Soul and to elevate it above Sense and Earth and Dross and Dung and to make it fit to be admitted to familiarity with its Maker seems to be the very drift and design of this Book and if it were not Divine or Inspired it might however deserve the reputation of maintaining the greatest and most generous designs that ever were carried on by mankind But sure its original is more than humane and the persons who deliver these things had certainly a Divine Commission When I look either upon Moses and the Prophets in the Old or upon Jesus and his Apostles in the New Testament Men who were the chief Promulgers of the Truths deliver'd in these Books methinks there appears something extraordinary in them and I cannot but see the Finger of God that did direct and help them If I believe any thing that I never heard or saw my self I have the greatest reason in the world to believe that that Moses whom both Jews and Heathen call the great Leader and Captain General of the Jews was inspired from above when he gave his Law to the whole Nation of the Jews That he wrought those stupendious miracles which are recorded in Scripture the Jewish Nation hath firmly and constantly believed ever since they were wrought and how 600 000 men before whom they were wrought and who did feed upon many of those Wonders and who have delivered the real performance of those Miracles down to their Posterity and so imprinted it on the hearts of their Progeny that neither Sword nor Fire could ever make them deny it How I say this vast multitude of men could be
Soul Is this giving all diligence to make my calling and election sure when I am infinitely more concerned how to secure a small sum of Money than I am to secure those Treasures which fade not away Will God give a reward to Men that stand yawning and stretching themselves in his Vineyard unresolv'd whether they shall work or no A reward indeed they shall have but such a reward as hypocrites receive a reward from which Good Lord deliver us And am I so stupified that nothing of all this can move me neither the Glory of God nor the interest of my Soul nor all that can be said against my want of Zeal and fervency of Spirit Were these reason laid home by serious consideration it would rowze the Soul from her slumber and make her see how dangerous her rest is and how deer that sleep will cost her she is for the present lull'd in if it be not suddenly dispell'd and scatter'd but want of consideration makes the careless sinner fancy God such a one as himself one that is pleas'd with his indifferency in Religion as well as himself this is it makes him entertain very gross absurd and unreasonable conceits concerning that all Wise most Excellent and most lovely Being despise a Treasure of infinite value trample on the pearl of price and forget what the hope of God's calling is and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance is in the Saints Had the Covetous but a Heart to think with himself vain foolish man How loath am I to confess my self guilty of this vice How do I deceive my self with the fair names of good Husbandry and Frugality but will these delusions stand the fire Will these Paper Walls be proof against everlasting burnings if there be such a sin as covetousness and that sin so odious to God and his Holy Angels as Christ and his Apostles make it and so great an impediment to everlasting happiness as the Scripture represents it it must needs be worth knowing whether I am infected with this plague especially since my behaviour and actions look as if I were why should the Apostle call this sin Idolatry but because it makes men set their affections on the World more than upon that which is to come and more on their Riches Estate or Incomes than upon God and everlasting Glory whereby God is robb'd of his Honor and that high Esteem and Love which is God's due as he is God is given to be creature which in Gods sight is Lighter than nothing and vanity and is not this my case How is my Soul fix'd upon this World How close doth my heart stick to the profits and advantages it affords How is my Soul bound up with my Corn and Wine and Oyl How do I fancy that all my happiness is gone when these outward comforts are gone Did sin ever grieve me a quarter so much as a temporal loss Did offending a Gracious God ever cost me the tenth part of the Tears I shed for being deprived of a little shining Clay How hearty is my joy under the blessings of Gods left hand How little am I affected with the blessings of his right How far greater satisfaction doth my thriving in the world give me than my thriving in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ How loath am I to honour God with my substance How unwillingly how grudgingly do I part with any thing considerable for Charitable uses How loath am I to part with any of this worlds Goods for Gods service How happy do I count my self when Religion doth cost me nothing How loath am I to be any at charges for Heaven How doth it grieve me when I spend any thing upon Religion How do I dote upon these sublunary vanities How far greater pains do I take to be rich than to be happy for ever How can I dispense with a sin for profits sake How little of my desires and breathings hath God and a bleeding Saviour How dull am I under the most lively descriptions of the joys of Heaven How dull under the stupendous offers of Grace and Mercy How dead under the joyful message of pardon How dull when tempted by all the ravishing arguments of Gods love to love him above all What means my unwillingness to take God for my greatest portion What means that quickness sagacity and wisdom when my Riches Plenty or worldly prosperity is concerned and that strange dumpishness when God courts and beseeches my Soul to lay hold on Eternal Life Are not these evident signs that the World draws and attracts my Heart most powerfully God sees my Heart is not upright with him he sees I am afraid to take up with him alone he sees how covetousness hath possess'd my Soul and can I cherish this root of an evil in my Breast and not tremble at the danger my Soul is in Am I by the Apostles verdict an Idolater and do I make light of so great a guilt if no Idolater must expect a Crown of Glory alas what can I look for but Eternal Darkness when I read that it 's easier for a Camel to enter through the eye of a Needle than for a rich man who sets his heart on his Riches to enter into Heaven am not I frighted with the expression I find how this sin deprives me of a Holy communion with God and shall I loose my greatest comfort and support and satisfaction for it If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him and can I be contented without the love of God if God be not my friend what doth the friendship of the whole World signify When my Soul must leave this Tabernacle and appear before Gods Barr O God I shall have so many witnesses against me that I shall not know what to say or whether to betake my self for refuge the Poor will accuse me because I have not open'd my Hand and Heart to them my own Conscience will accuse me because I have not been a good Steward of the means God gave me the Ministers of God will accuse me because whatever was laid out upon my Pride and Lust was thought too little and the least kindness I shew'd to those that wait at Gods Altar too much The Devils will accuse me because having a Soul so great so noble so precious I did employ it chiefly in scraping a little Dross and Dung together nay the Lord Jesus will accuse me because his example of contentedness and Heavenly mindedness would not allure me into imitation God will accuse me because having furnish'd me with all the motives and encouragements imaginable to mind Heaven more than Earth I preferr'd this Earth before all the joyes of Heaven and how shall I bear up under all this weight Would the poor deluded Worldling but let such thoughts sink into his Heart what a damp would it strike on his strong desires after the World and how would it make his immoderate love
to these sublunary Riches break into longings after a nobler Inheritance but neglecting this he Serpent-like feeds on Dust and prepares for anxiety discontent and vexation of Spirit and for a miserable death like a Hog lies rooting in the Earth and buries his Soul in a Chest of Money despises all admonitions to Charity and like the Smiths Dog can hear the hammering and beating of his Master and endure the sparks flying about his ears without being stirr'd or concern'd at it Hypocrisie is a sin which the painted Christian does not easily part withal yet would he reflect like a person that hates to sow pillows under his own Elbows can I read Christ's discourses against the Pharisees and not ask my own heart whether the Pharisees temper be an emblem of my complexion Have I no self-end in any Religious Duty What is it puts me many times upon doing good applause from Men or the love of God Do not I pretend God's Glory sometimes when I aim at nothing but mine own Do not I draw nigh to God with my Lips when in my heart and conversation I deny him Do not I by pretending to please God neglect my Duty to my neighbor Am not I more severe in pressing the lesser concerns of Religion than I am in urging the greater Doe not I commend that in a rich or great man which I can reprehend in my inferiors or meaner persons Do not I require those Duties of other men which my self am loath to practise Do not I applaud my self for my own sanctity while I despise others whom I fancy not so Holy as I am Am not I more curious to know other mens conditions than mine own Am not I more zealous in publick than I am in private Am not I Religious for filthy lucre's sake Do not I make a gain of Godliness and use Religion as a cloak to cover my secret sins Do not I make Devotion a scaffold to erect my own credit and profit by What is hypocrisie if this be not Though I can hide it from the sight of Men can I conceal it from him who knows my down-sitting and my up-rising and understands my thoughts afar off Can I remember the fate of Judas and not think of a serious repentance Can I hear the Son of God call so often Woe Woe to ye Hypocrites and hug the sin in my bosom Shall I harbor a Snake there which will sting me into endless gnawings of Conscience How shortly will all these delusions be discover'd Before I am a few days older God may summon me and lay open all my deceits and juglings in Religion Do I think to blind the Eyes of him in whose Book all my Members are set down Is the portion of Hypocrites no discouragement What promise in the Gospel can I lay hold of during this condition They all run to the upright in heart and must I go without these Cordials Must I see others run away with these Treasures while my self can expect nothing but Gods curse and anger Must I see others go to possess the Promis'd Land while I must stay behind in a Wilderness Must I see others gather Manna and feed upon the rich clusters of Canaan while my own Soul must perish for want of that Bread of Life Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy Holy Hill He that walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the Truth in his Heart And must I have no seat in yonder Mansion No House in that Jerusalem which is above No habitation in that City which hath foundations whose Maker and Builder is God O my Soul stay not here in Mesheck dwell no longer in the Tents of Kedar Away and hate this Garment spotted by the Flesh. Such serious thoughts would check Hypocrisie but the vain man hardens his Heart against them locks them out will give them no entertainment and that makes him serve God to please the Devil and turn Religion into a meer shew and formality burn in Words and freeze in Deeds and like that Son in the Gospel say I goe Sir but he goes not From the Premisses we may easily guess what to think of other sins viz. that the great cause of them is want of consideration and therefore the Holy Ghost likens men that live in any sin or indulge themselves in any transgression to a Horse that rushes into the Battel and considers not what he doth ventures among Swords and Arrows and the greatest dangers without recollecting what will be the issue of it Jer. 8.6 Consideration is the Bridle that must govern our sense and appetite take that away and the Beast runs away with the Rider and hastens him into a thousand inconveniences CHAP. VI. Of the various advantages of serious consideration it 's that which makes a man master of all Christian Duties it helps a man to improve sublunary Objects into Heavenly Contemplations It 's the greatest support under afflictions disposes a man to be a worthy receiver of the Lords Supper Prepares him for an Angelical Life on Earth makes him prudent and discreet in Secular affairs and businesses THough in the preceding Chapters we have already in a great measure discover'd what Men may hope for from Consideration and of what use it is to a truly serious and Christian life yet we must not leave so rich a subject thus without giving an account of some other positive advantages which do render it very desirable to a rational man And 1. It hath most certainly a very great influence upon all Christian Duties whatever qualification Christ or his Apostles require or recommend it 's by consideration of the excellency and dignity of that Duty that Men must expect to arrive to it The first and great Commandment is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and will all thy Soul and with all thy mind But he shall never be master of this Duty that doth not frequently and seriously consider the immense and stupendous love of God to him and indeed then I may hope to be acquainted with a sincere and cordial love to God when I give leave to such considerations as these to impregnate my understanding O my God can I think of so great so holy so infinite so merciful so munificent a Being and forbear to be enamour'd with thee whence are all my Mercies but from thee thou art the Spring the Fountain of them all Whatever Blessings are convey'd to me by the hands of Second Causes they come originally from thee and thou mov'st and order'st those Second Causes to come in to my assistance By thee have I been upheld ever since I was born when I lay in the shades of nothing thou didst awake me into a Being gavest me a rational Soul a Soul capable of admiring adoring and worshiping thee and ever since thy mercies have follow'd me and thou hast been a pillar of a Cloud unto me by day and a pillar of Fire by night what Parts
Gifts or Abilities I have they are thy Gifts and Characters of thy Compassion Thou order'st my steps thou art about my bed and about my paths and dost preserve me in all my ways many a time should I have stumbled and fallen and perish'd irrcoverably but that thou hast supported me and given charge to thy Holy Angels to be my Guardians O my God! how often have I deserv'd thine anger and yet in the midst of thy wrath thou thinkest upon mercy What judgements mightst not thou have inflicted on me for my wilful sins but thou hast sent none as yet and all to magnify thy mercy every morning thy mercies are renew'd upon me and with the natural there rises upon me the Sun of righteousness with healing under his wings Thou prosper'st my endeavours givest success to all my lawful undertakings thou preserv'st me from those disasters which befall other men How wisely dost thou order my affairs How often dost thou bring light out of darkness and turnest my affliction into the greatest joy How wonderufl are thy Providences to me and mine How often have I fear'd such an accident would be my ruine and God hath turn'd it into the greatest good How wisely hast thou many times denied me temporal mercies because thou hadst a mind to enrich me with spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places What Friends what Benefactors hast thou rais'd me How miraculously hast thou turn'd the hearts of Men many times into mercy and compassion for my good How often hast thou heard my Prayer and granted me the request of my Lips When I have been in the greatest straits how hast thou shewn me a way to escape How strangely hast thou wheel'd things about for my deliverance How hast thou allur'd me by the various tokens of thy Love to love thee better than the World How great hath been thy care of my temporal concerns but how far greater thy care of the weighty concerns of my Soul How strong have been the convictions thou hast vouchsafed me How great the light thou hast imparted to me How bright that knowledge thou hast revealed to me How numerous the checks of my own conscience which thou hast sent me How frequent the motions of thy spirit thou hast shed into my Soul How often hast thou reason'd the case and expostulated with me and as the Angel did to Balaam stood in a narrow way where there was no turning neither to the right nor to the left and all because thou wouldst not have me stand out any longer against thy most Gracious offers of Salvation How hast thou adjur'd me by the bowels of Jesus by the wounds and agonies of the Son of God to dye unto sin and to live unto righteousness How strange hath been thy condescension and doth not all this deserve my love Is not here enough to warm my affections towards thee False stubborn heart What canst thou plead for thy averseness from God after such a prospect of his favours Notwithstanding my long contempt of these loving kindnesses of the Lord I am alive yet and on this side Hell How may I stand amazed at this prodigious long suffering of my God Had any man but shewn me the ten thousandth part of that love which God hath manifested to me how should I love him how should I adore his Name How should I study to please him What pains should I take to manifest my gratitude How should I revere his memory How should I speak of his favours How should I praise his munificence Can mans kindnesses be so prevalent and shall not the goodness of God fire my Soul into a practical love to his Name Can I do less than love him to whom I owe all I have To love him is my happiness my interest my greatest felicity O my God shall I love a little shining Clay a little Dust a little Earth and not love thee who art worth more than ten thousand worlds Shall I love Father and Mother and not love thee who hast been better to me than my Parents and when my Father and Mother have forsaken me hast taken me up and with everlasting kindness visited me Shall I love my Friend and shall not I love thee my Joy my Treasure my Hiding-place But how can I love thee except I keep thy Commandments How can I be thy Friend except I doe whatsoever thou commandest me Shall I love thee in words only who hast loved me in Deeds Shall I flatter thee with my Lips and hate thee in my Heart Shall I Judas like kiss thee and betray thee love thee and love my sins which are thy greatest enemies did I but love thee as I do a dear friend how easy would all thy Precepts seem How little reason should I have to complain of the tediousness of thy Yoak What great what noble what generous actions would thy love put me upon Should I pretend to love my Prince and affront his Law how soon would my love be accused of a lye How can I be said to love thee while I hate to conform my self to thy Will and Pleasure How vain will my love appear in the last day if it hath been a stranger to obedience here The Angels love thee and they have no other way to demonstrate their Love but by running at thy commands Doe I hope to be like unto the Angels of God hereafter and shall not I take pattern by their obediential love while I sojourn here O my God thou art the proper object of my love I rob thee of thy Honour and commit Sacriledge if I love any thing here below better than thee I am married to thee and I must love nothing above thee When no eye pittied me to have compassion upon me when I was cast into the open field to the loathing of my Person Ezek. 16.5 6 7 8. thou didst pass by me and sawest me polluted in mine own Bloud and saidst unto me when I was in my Bloud Live thou didst cause me to multiply as the bud of the field and when it was the time of Love thou didst spread thy skirt over me and coveredst my nakedness and swearest unto me and entredst into a Covenant with me and I became thine and shall my Soul be married to so great a Prince and play the Harlot O my Lord hast thou united me so close unto thee and shall I defile my self by setting my love on trifles What Man what Devil can hurt me while I love thee without whose command no creature dares stir or move What should discourage me from loving thee when I have all the promises of the Bible to prompt me to it If I loose in this World by loving thee hast not thou Treasures enough to recompence my losses If men despise me for loving thee hast not thou Honour and Glory enough to crown me withal If I do not thrive in outward Riches by loving thee hast not thou who art rich in mercy a pearl of price to bestow upon me
Earth they enjoy a perpetual Sun-shine we are allow'd no more but Moon-light we see as it were through a Glass darkly they face to face their light like that of the Sun never lessens ours like that of the Moon is sometimes greater sometimes less and sometimes we have none at all How often doth the afflicted Beleever walk in darkness God hides the Light of his countenance from him and he is troubled sometime he is all joy by and by all darkness again sometimes he is like St. Paul wrapt up into the third Heaven sometimes like Men that see God's wonders in the deep he goes down again to the depths and his Soul melts because of trouble how cleer are the apprehensions sometimes he hath of the love and mercy of God! and he seems to be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the depth and breadth of the love of God how often on the other side is a vail drawn over all these bright Conceptions and he groveling in the dust What flouds of Consolation doth God sometimes pour out upon his Soul whereas at other times those comforts come down in drops which use to come in showers how great sometimes is his strength against temptations how weak his courage at another how chearfully sometime can he cry out I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me how mournfully is he forced to express himself at another I see a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of Sin Behold O my Soul the vast number of the Stars and Lamps of Heaven how wise how powerful is that God that made them who can look upon those curious Lights without admiring their Creator Behold they rise and goe down at his command and do not fail one minute of their appointed time how should this teach thee obedience how chearfully shouldst thou run at the command of thy God these glorious Stars though their number be vastly great yet they never clash or disagree one with another how should this engage thee to unfeigned charity and peaceableness how should this put thee upon promoting peace and concord and agreement among thy neighbors and doe not these Stars put thee in mind how e're long thou shalt shine as the Stars in the firmament for ever Happy hour Blessed day when thou shalt be cloathed with splendor and immortatity when thou shalt see night no more and shalt need no candle neither light of the Sun but the Lord shall give thee light and thou shalt reign with him for ever Come down lower O my Soul I have not done yet with Gods wonderful Works reflect upon the Air in which all sensitive Creatures breathe without this Air the whole Creation would dye it 's this that keeps Men and Beasts and all Plants and Herbs alive and is not the Holy Spirit of God O my Soul the very same to thee that the Air is to all creatures without this spirit of God to enlighten to move and to direct thee thou hast the name that thou livest but thou art dead it 's this spirit must give thee life it 's he that must warm thee into a practical Love to God it 's he must teach thee how to pray it 's he must help thy infirmities and bear witness with thy Spirit that thou art a Child of God beg this rich gift at the hands of God and thou shalt have it seek it and thou shalt find it knock at Heaven Gate for it and God will open and grant thee thy hearts desire Behold O my Soul how vain and foolish these men are that will not believe the Being of Angels or of Spirits because they never saw any can they see the Air and why do not they question whether there be such a thing as Air or no this Air supports all Creatures so doth thy God much more The Eyes of all do wait upon him and he gives them their meat in due season he opens his hand and fills the desire of every living thing Psal. 145.15 16. When this Air yields to all gross Bodies and lets them pass without opposition how doth it read to thee Lectures of Patience and Humility in that flexibility thou mayst see the sinfulness of thy inexorable temper the odiousness of thy revengeful desires and reviling again when thou art reviled and giving the offender as good as he brings the Air reproves thee when thou art deaf to all entreaties to be reconciled to him that hath injured thee when thou wilt not yield to the humble supplication of distressed creatures and when thou opposest thy own humour to all the rational perswasions of wiser men than thy self Look upon the Fire 0 my Soul and behold how differently it acts upon Bodies it meets withal how it consumes the Hay and Stubble and cleanseth and purifies Gold and Silver doest thou not see here as in a Glass how thy God destroys the workers of iniquity and advances and encreases and purifies the desires and affections of a devout and religious Soul thou seest how hard and black Iron is when it is not near the Fire and how bright and tractable it becomes in the fire and is not this the true picture of a sinner while he is a stranger to the Law of God he hardens his heart as Flint and Adamant no threatenings pierce him no promises prevail with him no judgements fright him no providences move him no mercies melt him he feeds upon Gods Blessings as Swine do upon Acorns without minding the hand that throws them down he hears Sermons but they awake him not he is intreated and he slights the invitation he is reproved and laughs at the reprehension but when that Holy Fire the love of God enters into his heart how flexible how tractable doth he grow how doth the love of God constrain him to avoid sin and to bid defiance to all the works of Darkness he that before scorn'd to hear the glad tidings of the Gospel how doth he now submit to Christs easy yoak he that before thought such a duty unfit and improper for a person of his quality how cheerfully doth he now bow and yield to it he that before had a thousand excuses why he could not do what Christ enjoyns him how doth he now lay all those idle apologies by he that before was churlish becomes now affable and courteous he that before was apt to be very angry at the least affront now bears it more quietly he that before put off the Eternal God with the meanest of his endeavours now is willing to give him the fat and strength of his affections he that before could hear Ministers call to him and call again without effect now cries out Sirs what must I do to be saved he that before could not be perswaded to walk in the strait way now runs in the way of God's Commandments Blessed Fire which consumes not but illuminates never suffers the heart to be harden'd
it if thou art not heartily resolv'd to part with it why dost thou complain what makes thee cry out O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death what makes thee wish that what thou hast done against God were undone what makes thee afraid of offending God why dost thou weep why dost thou watch against thy corruptions what makes thee angry with thy self for displeasing God what makes thee breathe and pant after Christ as the wounded Hart pants after the Water-brooks what makes Christ so sweet and sin so bitter to thee what makes thee asham'd of looking up to Heaven whence is it that all the preferment and riches of this World cannot tempt thee to sin wilfully whence is it that thou delightest not in the company of sinners but thy delight is chiefly in them that fear the Lord If these be not signes of Grace what character of mercy wouldst thou have hath not thy God said that he 'l love those that do love him if thou lov'st him not why art thou restless till thou enjoyest him if thou lovest him not why dost thou desire him why art thou willing to follow him through misery and the greatest troubles to be forever with him thou hast infirmities to wrestle withal but hath not thy God promis'd thee that he 'll bruise Satan under thy feet shortly thou canst not totally master such a corruption but dost not thou fight against it thou meetest with temptations but dost not thou grapple with them Satan follows thee but dost not thou resist him thy Conscience terrifies thee but hast not thou the Cross of Christ to fly to if God had a mind to kill thee would he have shewn thee all these things if God were gone from thee would not his Spirit be gone too if thou hast not the Spirit of God what mean thy longings after God what means thy love to a Spiritual life why dost thou pray so earnestly for the fruit of the Spirit why art thou altogether for a clean Heart and for renewing of a right Spirit within thee are not these signs that Gods Spirit warms thy affections and makes intercession for thee with groanings which cannot be uttered God seems to go away that thou mayst cry more earnestly after him and clouds his comforts that thou mayst sue for them with greater importunity he lets thee sink a little that thou mayst cry with a louder voice Lord save me or else I perish and falls asleep in the Ship that thou mayst take the greater pains to wake him He sees thou grow'st weary of his favour he therefore darkens it that thou mayst be at some trouble to recover it and having recover'd it set a greater price upon 't he withdraws himself for awhile that at his return thy joy may be fuller and bids his gracious influences stop awhile that when they flow in upon thee again they may fill all thy faculties with greater gladness thou canst not perform thy Duties with that alacrity and chearfulness thou desir'st but hast not thou reason to bless God that thou dost in good earnest desire to doe better was Heaven purchas'd in a moment or Sin conquer'd in an hour is not the way to life a race where men must run on till they reach the mark Go on O my Soul go on the farther thou proceedest in Gods ways the sweeter thou wilt find them the more thou strivest the more thou'lt conquer and the oftner thou dost address thy self to God the more thy dullness and weariness will vanish and the more thou lookest upon the everlasting recompence the greater mind thou wilt have to go on from strength to strength O my Soul hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God IV. It disposes a man to be a worthy receiver of the Lords Supper Indeed I doe not see how without it a man can receive any benefit by that blessed Sacrament for it being an Ordinance designed chiefly to impregnate the Soul with very strong longings and breathings after a crucified Saviour with a deep sense of the incomprehensible 1ove of God in Christ Jesus and with earnest resolutions to love and to obey him before all the dictates of Flesh and Bloud and of our carnal Interest it is not to be conceiv'd which way the Soul should arrive to all this without considering the end nature and advantages of this Sacrament and its probable a man may then be affected with this sublime mystery when he rowzes his Soul some such way as this Dost thou rightly understand O my Soul what this great and tremendous Ordinance means Behold thou art going to feast with that God who stretches out the Heavens like a Curtain and layes the beams of this chambers in the waters and makes the clouds his chariot and rideth upon the wings of the wind What Feast with so Glorious a God and come without a Wedding-Garment What Sup with him who dwelleth in the Heavens and not purify thy self even as he is pure Can two walk together except they be agreed what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness What concord hath Christ with Belial What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols This is the great Ordinance O my Soul which must either promote thy everlasting happiness or aggravate thy everlasting condemnation how happy mayst thou be if this Sacrament charms thee into a fervent love to thy dear Redeemer but how wilt thou escape if thou neglect so great a Salvation Here are the greatest engagements the greatest motives to a life as becomes the Gospel of Christ here God adjures thee to use the words of the Church By Christs agony and bloody sweat by his cross and passion by his death and burial to bury thy unclean desires and inordinate affections and to dedicate thy self and all thou hast to his service Here is represented the greatest love that ever was vouchsafed to men here the Son of God appears all bloudy to fright thee from thy sins here Christ is as it were crucified before thine eyes that looking upon him whom thou hast pierc'd Thou mayest mourn as one that mourns for his onely Son Here Christ appears laden with all the blessings of Heaven here the ever-blessed Trinity seems to use its utmost endeavours to perswade thee into a Heavenly conversation here the desert of sin is discover'd in the wounds and torments of an infinite God and hither thou comest O my Soul to renew thy Baptismal vow hither thou comest to enter into a solemn Covenant with God and faithfully to promise him to resign thy self entirely to him to fall out with him no more to defile thy Garments no more to dishonour to betray him no more to be faithful to him to vindicate his Glory to esteem his friends as thy friends and his enemies as thy enemies and to live up to those laws which he hath sealed with his
Love and consequently of being too Religious art thou afraid of being too much enamoured with this Jesus art thou afraid that the sight of his broken Body will break thy Heart too much art thou afraid that the sight of his effused Bloud will make thee pour out too many Tears and Prayers and Praises of his Love considering how dull how dead thou art thou hadst need come frequently to the Cross to have thy Affections suppled and softned with this precious Bloud how frail is thy memory and hadst not thou need of refreshing it often with the sight of Christs incomprehensible love art thou afraid of renewing thy Repentance thy Faith thy Hope thy Charity too often The oftner thou dost resort to this blessed communion the greater will be thy acquaintance with thy best of friends the greater sense thou wilt get of the need and want of him the greater encouragement thou wilt find to imitate him in his Holiness Meekness Patience and Humility and the greater assurance thou wilt get of his Love and Favour and Pardon and everlasting Mercy and are these Blessings to be scorn'd and undervalu'd thou pretendest want of preparation but whose fault is it that thou art not prepar'd what can hinder thee from preparation but love to sin and shall love to a sensual careless life hinder thee from laying hold of the greatest Treasure will this Plea hold when thou shalt appear before the great Tribunal O my Soul this is to excuse sin by sin and to despise God's Ordinance because thou despisest his commands and how will this aggravate thy folly one day and fill thee with shame and horror O play not with everlasting mercy let not business hinder thee from advancing thy Spiritual and Eternal interest Remember what became of the men that pretended they had Farms to see and Oxen to try and Wives to marry when they were invited to the Supper of the Lamb canst thou think of the protestation of the Master of the Feast against these stubborn wretches and not conclude thy fate by their being excluded from Gods Favour forever if it be a sense of thy own vileness and unworthiness that keeps thee away thou mistakest and misrepresentest the goodness of thy Lord and Master No persons more welcome at this Table than the humble and broken-hearted none meet with a more favourable reception than the poor in Spirit these the Crucified Jesus prays for on his Cross Father forgive them and the everlasting Father hears and saith to them Be of good chear your sins are forgiven you V. It prepares a man for an Angelical life here on Earth for he that frequently considers and contemplates the Joyes the Triumphs the Scepters the Crowns the Diadems of yonder Kingdom the everlasting Love and Peace and Satisfaction which Angels and glorified Saints enjoy cannot but think himself during that consideration in Heaven and participating of that content and happiness which is possessed by the general Assembly of the First-born which are written in Heaven Indeed this is to make Earth a Heaven and to change this Wilderness into a Paradise a Closet into the Seat of Glory and a Desart into those Regions of Bliss and Happiness How like an Angel may that Man live that is often engaged in such considerations as these Heaven what do I hear Heaven the harbor of all laden and wearied Souls Heaven the end of all my sorrow and miseries Heaven the Port I have been sailing to these many years Heaven the inheritance of those that keep themselves uspotted from the World Heaven the rest of Gods Servants and the habitation of the Mourners in Sion Heaven the great mark of my Desires the anchor of my Hope the foundation of my Confidence Heaven the University where we shall know even as we are known how undisturb'd how quiet do all the Inhabitants of those blessed Mansions live there rest those Saints who were made as the filth of the World and as the off-scouring of all things how different are the thoughts of God from those of the World these men the world regarded not behold God remembers them and when he makes up his Jewels spares them as a man would spare his own Son that serves him There rests that Mary Magdalen that stood behind Christ at his feet weeping and washed his Feet with her Tears and did wipe them with the hair of her Head and kiss'd them and anointed his Head with ointment There rests that Lazarus who desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich mans Table There rest that David that made his Bed to swim and water'd his Couch with his Tears There rests all the Prophets of old who through Faith subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtain'd Promises stopp'd the mouths of Lions quench'd the violence of the Fire escap'd the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong wax'd valiant in fight turn'd to slight the Arms of the Aliens There rest all those Souls that look'd for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of their Saviour Jesus Christ. There rests all those Martyrs and Confessors that were ready not only to suffer but to dye also for the name of the Lord Jesus There they rest encircled with an Eternal calm There they rest incompass'd with an innumerable company of Angels There they rest surrounded with the Gracious Presence of a merciful God There they rest from all the calumnies and slanders of this poor envious world There they rest from all Darkness in Eternal Light and in the beams of the Sun of Righteousness forever Awake O my Soul awake advance into yonder regions of Glory retire into yonder Paradise leave this world and goe higher let thy thoughts transcend the Sun and Moon and Stars get before the Throne of God take a view of the still waters whereof the vast Armies of Glorified Spirits drink where they are there are no Wolves no Tygers no Bears no Lions as in this barren wilderness in those happy shades is no noise but that of Halelujahs no discontent no War no dissentions inhabit there there all agree there Ephraim is no more against Manasse nor Manasse against Ephraim nor they both against Juda but all are delighted with the everlasting Glory and Love of God there they hunger and thirst no more Wonderful change Here O my Saul thou art ever thirsting after God as the dry Land thirsteth after water there thou shalt be satisfied with him to all Eternity here thou longest after the hidden Manna there it will never be taken from thee here like Solomons Bride by night on thy Bed thou seekest him who is altogether lovely there his Beauty and Presence will ravish thee for ever Here though thy desires after the Blessings of Gods left hand be subordinate to thy desires after spiritual Mercies and thy esteem of God preponderates and is higher than thy esteem of any outward felicities yet while so nearly allied to Sense thou canst not so abandon Nature as to
Hosts my Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh cryeth out for the living God when shall I come to appear before thee when shall I shake off this clogg of the flesh and praise thee day and night in thy Temple when shall I be freed from this Earth and Dross and do thy Will O my God without Lett or Interruption O my Soul dost thou believe such a Heaven where no good shall be absent and canst thou be hunting after the husks and empty shells of sensual pleasure how little do the Inhabitants of that New Jerusalem mind the pomp and grandeur of this world they have nobler objects to mind and more delightful employments to take up their minds and thoughts didst thou live more in this Heaven O my Soul how wouldst thou look down upon this Earth as an inconsiderable trifle how little wouldst thou regard what man can do unto thee how contentedly mightst thou part with all that the world counts dear and precious for Christ his sake as knowing that there is laid up for thee the Crown of Righteousness which the Righteous Judge will give to thee one day and not only to thee but to all those that love his appearance Look upon the Primitive Martyrs O my Soul they broyled in Flames but loo'kd upon that Heaven and smiled St. Stephen hath a thousand Stones flying about his Ears but looks upon that Heaven and the Glory of God appears upon his face Abraham sojourns in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob but looks for a City which hath foundation and goes on triumphing Moses suffers affiiction with the people of God but hath respect unto the recompence of reward and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the Treasures of Egypt The Apostles are scourged and beaten for the testimony of Jesus but look upon this Heaven and depart from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus St. Paul five times of the Jews receives forty stripes save one thrice is he beaten with rods once he is stoned thrice he suffers shipwrack a night and a day he is in the deep in journeyings often in cold and nakedness but what ails the Man he sings his heart dances for joy under all these troubles O my Soul he saw he saw that his light affliction which was but for a moment would work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory O my God give me but my portion in this Heaven and I desire no more Come what will come Sword Fire Imprisonment Hunger Thirst Nakedness Disgrace Reproach Perils by Sea and Perils by Land Enemies Devils Friends Poverty Sickness Exile c. Here is a Jewel will counterballance all O give me but a room in that great House made without hands Eternal in the Heavens and then cut burn torture and afflict let storms and tempests come I 'll fight against them with my Title to that Inheritance which fades not away this shall quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil this shall bear up my Head above water this shall hush all my discontented thoughts this shall be my refuge in a storm my hiding place in flames my portion in poverty my pillow in great anguish my liberty in prison my cordial in temptations my Elixir in a swound my prop when I stumble my Laurel when it thunders my Rock in persecution my Safeguard in destruction my Light in the midst of darkness my Goshen in this Egypt my Ship under the fiercest Billows my Shield when I am assaulted my Helmet when I am in danger my encouragement when I do resist my Crown when I conquer my Manna in the Wilderness my Food in the Desart my Rose to smell to in a Dungeon my Guide in my journey my Pole-Star in my voyage my Staff in my Pilgrimage my Song in my misery my All when Death and Hell conspire unto my ruine VI. It makes a man prudent and discreet in secular affairs and businesses Consideration as it is a very great improvement of Mans Reason so it cannot but be very useful to him in governing his secular affairs with discretion Consideration makes a man master of his Reason and that man must needs act more wisely that hath his reason at command than he that makes it a slave to every flattering passion and since it is confessed that the fear of God hath that influence upon all humane affairs that it disposes a man to a wise and prudential management of them Consideration must of necessity be of the same Virtue and Efficacy for this fear of God is the immediate product of Consideration I deny not but men wise in Spiritual are not always so in Temporal concerns for either their scrupulous Consciences or fear of having their hearts carried out too much after the world or their giving themselves wholly to Heavenly employments may make them careless and unmindful of things belonging to this world but still in its nature and tendency this circumspection in things which concern a Christians Soul is able to shed wisdom and discretion into his carriage and behaviour to things which appertain to this present life hence from a man who seriously considers he hath a Soul to be saved you may expect great order in his Family a prudent foresight of dangers and a moderate care to shun them great temper in discourse and exact justice in his dealings and rendring to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honor to whom Honor as the Apostle's phrase is Rom. 13. 7. In all probability it was the attentive consideration of his Spiritual concerns that made David both valiant and prudent in matters as he is call'd 1 Sam. 16. 18. and to what can we ascribe Joseph's and Daniel's discreet Government of themselves and their secular affairs but to that Piety and Goodness which by long and serious consideration they had setled in their Breasts When 〈◊〉 mans wayes please the Lord he makes even his very enemies to be at peace with him i. e. He doth not only by an extraordinary providence turn their hearts towards him but infuses wisdom and discretion into his Soul so to behave himself towards his enemies that they cannot but bury their hatred and return to their former friendship and civility Prov. 16. 7. He that considers his ways with reference to his Eternal state and condition his ways cannot but please the Lord and such wisdom if he stand not in his own light will surely fall to his share and hereof we need no other proof but common experience The man who truly minds his everlasting interest and so considers the account he must give to God when this life is ended as to provide for that great and dreadful Audit thinks himself obliged to use what cautiousness he can that he may not wrong
his God his Soul and his Neighbor and this cautiousness cannot but make him prudent in his Secular Vocation hence such a man hath commonly his Wife Children and Servants in better order than other men and mingles that sweetness and kindness with his gravity or severity that they may have encouragement to love him and dread offending a far greater Master in Heaven there is not that discontent that emulation that ill language that backbiting that luxury that extravagance that tumult in such a mans Family as is to be observed in Houses where little of God and Eternity is regarded Such a person spends in his house no more but what is decent and convenient and so provides for those of his own Houshold as not to forget doing good to the Levite and to the Widow and to the Fatherless his Speech is commonly with Grace seasoned with Salt full of meekness and gravity and therefore less offensive and he takes heed that it may not be laid to his charge that he hath bestow'd more to feed his pride and luxury than Christs distressed members and in publick affairs or places of great Trust such a man as minds first Heaven and then Earth usually discovers far greater wisdom in management of State affairs than those who first mind Earth and Heaven when they have nothing else to do for his Principles lead him so to carry himself to man as not to affront his God and to advise his King to nothing but what is truly great and glorious and beneficial for the Realm he governs and as a Prince may confide in such a person more than in a sensual Man so he hath reason to believe that all things will prosper better in his hand than in the others because he first seeks the Honour of God and then the happiness of his King and the Honour of that Nation he is a member of which is a thing so pleasing to God that there is nothing more frequent with him than to bless such honest endeavours and to crown them with success and prosperity And certainly he that can consider how to keep himself from the everlasting evil may with greater ease prevent temporal mischief and danger which depend upon the imprudence of his actions he that can row against the Stream may with greater facility row with it he that can chearfully goe up the Hill will find no great difficulty in going down he that can do that which his Nature hath more than ordinary aversion from may more easily doe that which his nature hath a strong byass and inclination to and he whose mind will serve him to turn away the ever-burning wrath of Almighty God cannot want judgement and prudence to prevent the wrath and anger of those men he converses withal and he that can by serious consideration make sure of a Seat in Heaven cannot want power to consider how to manage the Estate God hath given him in this world to Gods Glory and his neighbors good and though men that are very considerate in their Soul concerns doe not always use that prudence we have mention'd in the concerns of this present world yet it is sufficient that if they will make use of that light and those arguments which their reason thus improved by consideration doth furnish them withal they may most certainly arrive to this wisdom and discretion in secular concerns and businesses which we have been speaking of Indeed it 's very rational that he that exercises his reason much and examines the nature ends causes circumstances and consequences of things as he must do that seriously considers the things that belong unto his everlasting peace should arrive to more than ordinary wisdom in other things and that he that 's prudent in the greater should be able to proceed prudentially in lesser matters that he who is faithful in much should be faithful in a little also and that he who is just in the true Riches should be very just in the Mammon of unrighteousness too as we read Luk. 16. 10 11. CHAP. VII A pathetical Exhortation to men who are yet strangers to a serious religious life to consider their ways wilfulness of their neglect how dangerous it is How inexcusable they are how inhumane to God and their own Souls How reasonable God's requests are and how justly God may turn that power of consideration he hath given them into blindness and hardness of heart since they make so ill a use of it c. ANd now Reader whoever thou art that doest yet wallow or allow thy self in any known sin and art not sincerely resolved to close with the terms of Christs Eternal Gospel let me adjure thee by the mercies of God not to reject or superciliously to despise what here we have propos'd As thou art a man and owest civility to all creatures that have the signature of man upon them be but so kind and civil to this Discourse as to allow it some serious thoughts Either thou hast a rational Soul or thou hast not if thou hast let me entreat thee by the Bowels of Jesus to consider whether this present world be all the Sphere that God intended it should move in If it be not and if how to secure the happiness of the world to come be the chief thing this thy Soul is designed for why wilt thou frustrate God in his expectation why wilt thou goe contrary to all creatures and not prosecute the end for which thy Soul was made and shed into thy Body That there is such a thing as a life to come and an Eternity of joy and torment the one promised to a strict and Heavenly conversation the other threaten'd to a loose and careless or sensual life cannot be call'd into question by him that shall impartially reflect upon the premisses it 's certain the things which concern that other life are not discover'd by our sences and therefore thou canst not hope to be affected with them that way It 's thy reason only that can and must apprehend that future state and so apprehend it as to work upon thy affections But which way is it possible thy reason should so apprehend it as to fright thee from thy evil courses except it be improv'd by consideration Sinner I do here in the presence of God conjure thee by all that 's Good and Holy by the interest and welfare of thine own Soul by all the Laws of self-interest by the Revelations of the Son of God by all that God ever did for Mankind by that love which transcends the understandings of Men and Angels by the groans of those miserable Souls which are now in Hell by all the joys of Paradice by the testimony of thine own conscience by all the motions of God's Spirit in thy Heart by all the mercies thou dost receive from Heaven by that allegiance thou owest to God by that Faithfulness thou owest to thine own Soul I do most seriously conjure thee to tell me whether thou art not able to
and send his Spirit so to move upon her affections so to actuate her endeavours so to encourage her with promises that it may not lye in the power of the Devil nor in the power of her Lusts to gain-say or contradict or dash the resolutions she hath taken where the Soul doth with strong desires pour out these her requests before God the good Father opens the Gates of Heaven le ts in the Messenger makes him welcome smiles upon him and sends him back laden with Mercy and puts words into his mouth and bids him tell the Soul boldly from that God who heareth Prayer I have heard thee in an acceptable time in the day of Salvation have I succour'd thee I 'll pour out my Spirit upon thee I will open a river in high places and fountains in the midst of valleys I will make thy wilderness a pool of water and thy dry land springs of water I will plant in the wilderness the Cedar and the Myrtle and the Oil-tree I will set in the Desart that thou mayst see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy one of Israel hath created it 2 Cor. 6.2 Es. 41.18 19 20. Up then Christian who art resolved not to let the concerns of thy Soul lye at six and sevens who art afraid to hazard Eternity with the careless besotted world like another Lazarus beg Alms of the King of Heaven Cry aloud and spare not shew him thy wounds thy ulcers thy poverty thy want thy necessity let a greater fervency attend thy Prayer for Spiritual blessings than others use in begging for Temporal Mercies Prayer is the way to be enrich'd with all the Treasures of Heaven seek Gods assistance with tears in thine eyes remember thy Soul is infinitely more precious than thy Body and if a Beggar in the street is so earnest with those that pass by to give him something for the relief of his corporal wants oughtst not thou to be all fire to procure those blessings which will enrich thy Soul for ever Josephs Brethren were pinch'd with Famine because they knew not that their Brother reign'd in Aegypt why shouldst thou starve Christian when thy elder Brother reigns in Heaven who knows what thou wantest and is a faithful High Priest and is touch'd with the feeling of thy infirmities and was in all points tempted even as thou art Come boldly to the throne of Grace that thou mayst obtain mercy and find help in the time of need If God hath done good to others for his servants sake who have pleased him what will not God do for thee for his Sons sake in whom alone he is well pleased if God doth so highly esteem the Piety of Men that he professes for my servant Jacob's sake for my servant David's sake I will be kind to such a one will he derogate dost thou think from the merits and love of his own Son will he harden his heart or stop his ears or turn away his eyes when thou callest upon him for Christs sake to send down upon thee the day-spring from on high Christ is the very object of Gods delight nothing is sweet nothing is pleasing to him but through and in Christ what ever is amiable and acceptable in us it is for Christ his sake that God doth think it so Without light all colours are invisible there is no beauty in them the light shining upon them makes them look lovely and amiable without Christ nothing would appear pure or lovely or great or delightful He that looks on a green Glass fancies all things he looks upon to be green God looking upon our Holy endeavours in Christ Jesus they all appear to him lovely and good because all that Christ did was good and infinitely pleasing to him The world had perish'd ten thousand times if God had not look'd upon it through his Son and so supported it he that looks through a Glass upon a stinking carcass afar off doth not smell the ill scent of it so God through Christ looks upon our imperfections and he smells not the ill savour of our performances Take courage then and lay hold on the horns of this Altar and if thou knowest not what to say when thou hast taken a serious view of thy ways make use of this or some other Form Oh thou who art the Father of the Spirits of all flesh the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning here lies a poor miserable sinful wretch before thee not worthy to lift up his eyes and hands to Heaven I know not where to look for shame and confusion of face so long have I gone astray from thee so often have I provoked thee so often have I slighted thee so often have I turned thy grace into wantonness so long have I hunted after broken Cisterns which can hold no water forsaking the Fountain of living water that thou mayst justly absent thy self from me for ever so disingenuously have I dealt with thee so often have I endeavoured to blind thy all-seeing Eye and to cheat my self that thou mightst justly cause me to fall a prey to Satan look stern upon me and charge me never any more to see thy face O wretched creature that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Oh my Lord how often hast thou darted Rays of Light into my Soul and the impure fire of my Lusts hath prevailed against them how often hast thou suggested to my Soul the danger it hath been in and yet I have not trembled how often hast thou stung my heart prick'd it and goaded it into serious reflexions and how soon hath this vain world taken me off again and dull'd and dash'd those considerations how often hast thou sent sparks of Grace into my Soul while I have done what I could to smother that Holy fire how justly mightst thou say My Spirit shall no longer strive with thee O my God there is no plague no punishment that 's threatned in thy Law but I have deserved it I only stand amazed at thy patience that I have escaped so long without being consumed and ruined Wilt thou receive such a Prodigal into thy favour wilt thou be reconcil'd to so great a rebel wilt thou pass by unkindesses of so deep a Dye are the gates of Mercy open yet for so vile a wretch Doe not I come too late O my Lord to the throne of Grace will God be yet intreated for such a poor forlorn creature Is there yet compassion left for such a poor sinner O my God I question not thy Power but thy Will to pity such a Traitor as I have been I know thy Mercy is infinite it would be a disparagement to thy Glory and Perfection to deny the exceeding riches of thy Grace thou couldst not be God if my sins exceeded thy power to forgive but when I reflect on thy threatenings how justly thou denouncest wrath
under the smiles and gracious looks of my Benefactor And cannot I consider what a felicity doth attend them that enjoy the light of Gods countenance Here is but changing the object And I that can consider how disingenious and sordid a thing it is to act against a man that hath rais'd me out of dust and advanc'd me to great dignity and preferment cannot I consider what baseness and disgenerous ingratitude it must be to provoke that God who maintains me and preserves me and without whom I cannot breathe or move I that can consider the reasonableness of sorrow and grief where I have offended and done a signal injury to my Superior cannot I consider how just and equitable it is when I look on that Saviour whom my sins have pierc'd to mourn as heartily as one that mourns for his onely Son Why should not my understanding serve me to consider the one as well as the other Spiritual things are the most adequate and most proper objects of my understanding They are the proper fuel for that flame which cherish and feed it and make it rise and soar to Heaven Whatever concerns provision for the flesh or for this present life is but a secondary object more by favour and permission than by design For Gods design in giving us understandings was that they might be receptacles of spiritual Truths storehouses of invisible Treasures Contrivances how we may get our bodily wants and necessities supplied for ought I know may be perform'd and order'd by sense alone without reason without this sublime faculty of understanding as we see in Beasts and ignobler Animals which being strangers to this priviledge and directed only by sense furnish themselves with necessaries conveniencies and superfluities Go to the Ant thou sluggard consider her wayes and be wise which having no Guide Overseer or Ruler provideth her meat in the Summer and gathereth her food in the Harvest Prov. 6.6 7 8. But what will not men call difficult if they are unwilling to do what they should And who sees not that this is but a shift to satisfie their Consciences that they may not twitch them for the omission and they must have some plea left they should sin bare-faced and seem to affront God without cause or instigation And indeed this plea is a true stroke of the Devil for though the way to destruction be far more craggy and infinitely fuller of precipices than the way to life witness mens breaking through infamy the hatred of their Friends the displeasure of their Relations the fences of Modesty the scorn of Angels the indignation of a consuming fire to get at sin witness their venturing sometimes their Fortunes sometimes their Lives sometimes their Reputation sometimes the ruine of their Families to please the Devil yet the broad way being down whereas the strait is up the hill his persuasion prevails the sooner that the former is infinitely more facile and easie and thus he brings an evil report upon the good Land particularly upon Consideration the great Ladder whereby we must climb to Heaven and hard it must be though nothing be more easie it 's a thing portable and is alwayes to be had it 's alwayes in season always at hand alwayes within call no Burthen in a Journey no Load in a Voyage men may carry it with them wherever they go when they are travelling when they stay at home in company and out of company when they are walking when they are sitting down when they go to Bed when they rise they need not run beyond Sea to fetch it nor evolve many Books to be Masters of it they need not fail to the Antipodes to compass it nor dig under-ground to find it they need not ransack the Indies to enrich themselves with it nor venture shipwracks to bring it home they need not sell Lands and Houses to purchase it nor run the hazard of Sword and Fire to secure it they need not clamber Mountains to possess it nor wade through Rivers to inherit it They carry this Treasure in their hearts and it must be meer sluggishness if they let it lie there and make no use of it The fire is hid under the ashes and they need but stir it and blow it and it will soon flame out and God hath made the duty so easie on purpose that men might not be deluded by the Devil into a belief of its impossibility Strange stupidity they do not think it hard to carry Talents of Lead or Mountains of Sin on their backs and yet they think Consideration hard even that Consideration which like a faithful Friend would tell them how to be rid of that heavy Load they bear a Load which would immediately sink them into Hell but that the Devil puts under his shoulder and helps them to carry it and so they feel it not They do not think it hard to dig into Hell and yet they think Consideration hard which would teach them a way how to quench that fire They do not think it hard to be oppress'd by a most bloody Usurper and yet they think Consideration hard which would shew them how they might shake off that yoke which neither they nor their Forefathers were ever able to bear They do not think it hard to obey every little Slave every silly Lust every common Soldier in that Camp of which themselves might be the Generals and yet they think Consideration hard which would free them from that Tyranny and acquaint them with a way how they might be Kings and Priests unto God and shine as the stars in the firmament for ever O men unwise and flow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken you that have courage to meet an Army in the field and to use Job's expression have confidence to laugh at the glittering spear and the shield Job 39.23 you that have courage to plough the Sea to face a Cannon to mock a shower of Arrows to stand under a volley of shot to fight Duels to expose your Lives to lay Siege to a Fort to endure the noise of Guns to hear the clashing of Swords to lie on the cold ground many nights together or to have an Arm or Leg cut off to preserve the founder parts of your bodies you that have courage to do all this and do not think it hard shall you think Consideration hard even that Consideration that would make you live like men and free you from the â—ubbish the lapsed posterity of Adam lies groaning under you that do things every day almost much harder and much more difficult than Consideration is will you scruple that which may be perform'd with greater ease and which you are more obliged to than adventuring on the Dangers I have mention'd II. Impediment II. Love of the World and being continually employ'd about sensual objects This is another impediment of Consideration And indeed we need not wonder to see men neglectful and careless of this great and necessary work when the
world takes up their hearts and engrosses their affections when we see how all their Plots Designs Contrivances Desires are for the world and when they mind onely fleshly things as the Apostles phrase is Phil. 3.19 What I mean by the world none can be ignorant of that hath either read what wise men have written concerning it or hath heard the Word of the Gospel sounding in his ears For indeed it 's not the least part of our Commission to dehort and dissuade men from fixing their Affections on these sublunary objects and but that continual inculcating of the same thing would make our Auditors nauseate the most wholsom Lessons we could not do them greater service than by making such Dehortations the perpetual Subject of our Sermons All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life saith the great Divine 1 Joh. 2.16 Whatever outward object serves to gratifie sense whatever here below is most commonly desired and lusted after whatever makes for satisfaction of the flesh or of our sensual appetite all is comprehended under this name And indeed it is with these worldly comforts as it was with the garden of Eden some are for food some for tryal some to keep our bodies serviceable to our souls some to prove our souls whether they 'll rest on these broken Reeds or seek their rest and acquiescence in him that is the Creator of all And accordingly the Almighty thought fit to limit the use of these terrestrial felicities and to signifie in his Word that his intent in giving them was that they should be our servants not our masters that he design'd them as advantages to us not hinderances in admiring and adoring the immense goodness and bounty of God and that he appointed them for our use no farther than they would serve to promote his glory and the eternal felicity of our immortal souls But here we find men generally live the reverse of Gods designs and intentions and instead of using these visible comforts in order to a greater end make that their home which was intended only for their Inn and are for erecting Tabernacles to dwell there which God design'd only as a thorow-fare And to this unhappiness preposterous education which most men are subject to doth very much contribute For whereas we should be educated into Reason and a right apprehension of things we are usually educated into sense and deceptions and those that have the care of us and should teach us self-denial in these outward things and by that means engage our souls to fix on nobler objects do commonly present us with nothing but sensual satisfactions All their Discourses to us are of the World and of the magnificence greatness splendor and ravishing aspects of these outward gayeties and the first principles they teach us are how to please sense and to pamper our appetite and though now and then they teach us some little Notions of Divinity yet it is in such a sensual way that it amounts to no more than a formality and divertisement and being a thing that 's taught by the by it makes little or no impression upon our affections But whatever disadvantages men lie under upon the account of their sensual education one would think when they come to the full use of their reason and are capable of understanding the vanity emptiness unconstancy of these lower objects and of apprehending that they were only intended as Ladders to raise us into contemplations of our great Benefactor in heaven when they arrive to this ripeness of understanding come out of their apprenticeship set up for themselves become as it were their own masters and enter upon the possession of that estate which before was managed by others one would think I say they should then begin as there is commonly an alteration of our temper upon the alteration of our fortunes to rectifie those sensual principles which their Nurses and Tutors have shed into them and wash away the stains those fond Masters as indeed men may be kill'd by kindnesses and like that Olympian Victor be stifled with Posies have unluckily imprinted on their souls But alas there are so very few that having gone thus far stop and attempt to captivate their appetites to the obedience of Reason and Religion or seek to elevate their souls above the dung and trouble of the World according to the intent of their Maker that most men sink deeper and deeper into the gulf of sensual desires open the gates wider make the door larger for sensual satisfaction to enter in nay if it be modest and loth to enter compel it to come in and to give their spirits an infusion of carnality to water and keep warm the seed of worldly inclinations and find out wayes to encrease their Thirst to add heat to their Fever to provoke their sensual appetite to enlarge it self as Hell and fearing they have not been sufficiently or faithfully enough instructed in the enjoyment of these worldly felicities they try experiments and conclusions to find out new satisfactions and thus plunge themselves into the main Sea being charmed by the Sunbeams playing and glittering upon the water and the curling of the waves And the impressions which were made on the wax when soft and tractable remain when it 's grown harder by a continual hurry of worldly cares and businesses which they are content to admit of they make their souls the least object of their solicitude and were they ask'd as that profane Duke What they think of Heaven it's like they would answer in his language or think so or at least act as if they thought so That they have so much business on earth that they cannot think of Heaven Thus their very spirits become flesh and their souls turn to earth as well as their bodies Whence it comes to pass that their minds being altogether sensual impregnated with worldly cares and satisfactions and all their faculties employ'd in contriving how to get a greater share of earth than they have already or at least to keep and preserve what they have there is no room for this Consideration of their spiritual estate or condition They hearken to nothing with any zeal or attention or life that doth not carry either some worldly profit or pleasure with it and that which charms or wins them must be the musick of temporal interest Consideration how they shall be saved hereafter there is no Lands to be bought with it no Mannors to be purchas'd no Houses to be built no Countries to be conquer'd no Honours to be got by it It brings in no Riches it fills not their Coffers with gold and silver it doth not give them respect and credit with Princes and Men of Quality it doth not cover their Tables with dainties and delicacies it doth not furnish them with portions for their children It doth not feed their bellies nor put them into a condition to lie on beds of