out of which all griefs and sorrows all pains and dolours are banished where there is no place for fears and terrours for diseases or death but all is full of joy and pleasure Happy are they who have passed their hard and wearisome time of Apprenticeship and are now Freemen and Citizens in that joyful high and continuing City the new Jerusalem CHAP. X. Use 2. THe second use that I shall make of Use 2 this point is that of the Apostle in my Text seeing Heaven is a continuing City let us therefore seek this City that is to come You see by experience that we are not to abide for ever in this world neither are men nor any creature of long continuance your health your strength your life your estate your houses your Lands your City your Country are of no duration your pains your aches your weaknesses your sicknesses your Funerals frequently before your eyes do preach that we are not to continue here Oh then make it your work your care your business your one thing necessary to seek after the heavenly City Will ye have everlasting life then seek after this City will ye have happiness that shall continue for ever then seek heaven will ye have pleasures riches honours mansions that shall continue for ever then seek this continuing City that is to come SECT I. Now seek after this heavenly City 1. It supposeth a sense and apprehension that we have lost heaven we were driven out of heaven when we were driven out of Paradise losing Communion with God we lost heaven Sin hath made a wide Gulf between every son of Adam and heaven now till men are under conviction of this loss they will never seek after heaven When the woman in the Parable was convinced of the loss of her groat she made earnest and diligent search after it The Psalmist tells us plainly that men seek not God because they understand not they do not understand they have lost him Psal 14.2 Many a poor creature never cometh to the knowledge of their loss of heaven till they have lost both heaven and their souls for ever and their first entrance into hell is the first tidings of their loss of heaven 2. It implieth a trouble of mind for the loss of heaven it is the fear of hell that puts men upon the diligent seeking after heaven if men were not troubled for the loss of any thing they would never seek after it Let it go say they we care not for it If a man be not troubled for the loss of a friends favour he will never seek to regain it This is one reason why so few seek heaven because few are troubled at the loss of it Oh where is the man that signeth and crieth out woe is me I am undone for I have lost heaven and am in danger of hell I can lay no claim to heaven but hell layes claim to me Where is the man that is troubled in spirit that he is without God without Christ without hope therefore it is that this heavenly City is so little sought after it is only the troubled spirit that is an heaven-seeking soul 3. It supposeth a knowledge of the worth and necessity of the thing we seek for No man will seek for a thing of no value let it go will men say such a thing is not worth a seeking after we can do well enough without it but when men are once convinced of the worth and necessity of a thing which they cannot be without they will earnestly seek after it Now if there be any thing worth seeking for it is this heavenly City Who can be without heaven Is there any thing more precious than God Is there any possibility for our souls to be happy without enjoying God Is not eternal life of unspeakable worth What more precious in this world than life Is not life eternal in heaven most precious O who can suffer the pains of eternal death That man will never be perswaded to seek heaven who never thinks it worth the having and enjoying 4. It implies vehement desires of heaven what a man desireth not that he seeks not earnest longings will put us upon seeking for every thing in other things desires are not seekings but in spiritual things earnest desires of God and heaven are seekings of God and heaven For what are heavenly desires but the reachings of the soul after heaven pursuings after God O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee my soul followeth hard after thee Psa 63.1.8 SECT II. In the second place I will shew you wherein this seeking doth consist 1. It consisteth in an earnest enquiry after the way to heaven Isai 55.6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found the word in the original signifies quaerere interrogatione verbis to seek by words and interrogation as a wandring traveller will be enquiring of all he meeteth the way to such a City So they who seek after this City that is to come they will be very enquisitive about the way to heaven very desirous to be directed in the right way How did divers persons come to Christ Good Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life What shall I do to be saved O that my feet were directed into the wayes of thy testimonies saith David The greatest fear of holy men is lest they should be out of the way therefore none more scrupulous and less confident than they none fuller of holy doubts than they and more frequently putting forth holy questions Usually men are very confident that they are in the right way to heaven therefore they never seek out after it It vexeth them very much when they are put to the question are ye sure that ye are in the right way to heaven I know not any thing in all the world wherein the generality of men are more contentedly cheated than about their state of Grace and their title to Heaven few there be who have a care to buy gold tryed in the fire 2. It consisteth in a diligent and industrious application of our selves to the use of all appointed means leading and directing us to this heavenly City He that diligently prayeth diligently seeketh heaven he that diligently heareth the Word diligently seeketh heaven Hence in the New Testament the Gospel is often called the Kingdome of Heaven and seeking God is frequently put for the worshipping of God Gods Ordinances are a Jacobs Ladder the top whereof reacheth to heaven though the foot thereof be on earth for by it we scale heaven The Ministery of the word are a light and a Lanthorn to our steps to guide our feet in the way to heaven God hath set up the Ministery as way-marks to direct Travellers in the right way those that neglect Gods faithful Ministers do neglect the seeking heaven Take this rule or caution when you come to Gods Ordinances make heaven and salvation and seeking
consumed by fire some are torn with the teeth of Beasts others are taken away by poyson and so by many means the miserable life of man is finished CHAP. IV. Sheweth the Reasons why God taketh away from us what he pleaseth SECT I. THe reasons why God taketh away from his poor creatures what he pleaseth are these Reas 1. Because of that right and property that God hath to and in all his creatures they are his creatures whatsoever they have he gave them therefore he doth with his own as he pleaseth Gods own people did not consider this therefore the Lord threatens the Church to take away what he had given her Hos 2.8 9. She did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oyl and multiplied her silver and gold therefore I will return and take away my corn in the time thereof and recover my wooll and my flax given to cover her nakedness Though man be the possessor yet God is the chief Lord we are but Stewards God is the owner as David acknowledgeth All things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee 2 Chron. 29.15 God hath given us only the use of such things he hath committed to us for a time not the propriety A Steward cannot say this house is mine these Farms are mine these are my Tenements this is my Land these are my Cattle this is my Treasure for they are his Lords He only hath the care of them not the propriety in them So every particular man whatsoever he enjoyeth he hath but the use of it not the propriety God is the Lord of heaven and earth he stileth himself the possessor of heaven and earth all these things are his he hath jus ad omnia jus in omnibus a right to all things a right in all things therefore he calleth all the creatures his servants Kings and Emperours are his servants My servant Nebuchadnezzar and all the Kingdomes of the world are Gods God calleth all things his as Jacob said concerning Joseph's sons Ephraim is mine and Manasseh is mine as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine Gen. 48.5 So God calleth all things his which we do possess These houses are mine these riches are mine these lands are mine these children and servants are all mine the Sea is his and he made it and all the Fishes therein are his The earth is the Lords and all the fulness thereof Psa 24.1 and Psa 50.10 11. God challengeth all the creatures to be his Every beast of the forrest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills are mine I know all the fouls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine the rich treasures within the bowels of the earth the rich Mines of gold and silver are his the precious pearls are his yea all the Inhabitants of the world are his And all men at the best are but Domini usu fructuarii as the Civilians term is such as have the use and benefit but not the right and property in the things they possess God hath let out the world to the sons of men as Solomon did his Vineyard at Baal-hamon Cant. 8.11 12. unto certain Keepers Solomon was to have a thousand pieces of silver and those that kept the fruit thereof two hundred God will have the honour of property and possession we the fruit of his Vineyard Therefore it was a presumptuous usurpation of foolish Nabal 1 Sam. 25.11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed for my Shearers He speaks like a covetous usurper as if all these were his own and not Gods as if he had both the propriety and use of them There are two things that demonstrate that God hath the right and property of what we do enjoy 1. Because there is but one Lord of all things in the world God is the wise Creator of all things and he will be the Lord of all his creatures he will preserve the propriety of things to himself although he giveth the useful fruition of his creatures to man There are two reasons why God made man Master of all the creatures one is ut cum mundus refertus sit intelligeret quod locum in coelis non in terris quaereret that seeing all necessaries are provided for him on earth he should not seek after a place upon earth to settle himself in but a Mansion in heaven Another reason is to shew that seeing all things were made before him that the creatures were the Lords and not his that he was brought to this great house of the world to be Gods Steward Tenant or servant therefore God enjoyned Adam to labour presently even in Paradise he was to dress the garden Adam in his state of Innocence when he enjoyed the whole world yet he was not Dominus terrae the Lord of the earth the earth was the Lords and the fulness thereof Adam was but as the French-men call a titular Lord Dominus sine terrâ 2. Because God will have all men to be dependent upon him if men had their riches or honours from themselves they would stand upon their own bottom they would even dare with Impudence to stand out and contest with God Who is the Lord saith proud Pharaoh Thus every one would be ready to say who is the Lord that I should serve him but when men shall know that what they have they have from God they will depend upon him as a Steward dependeth upon his Master you see the unjust Steward Luke 16. was undone when his Master turn'd him out of his service SECT II. God many times takes away from us what he pleaseth to manifest his power and Soveraignty over us God will have us to see that he is the Commander of all men and that we are under his Command and he may do with us or take from us according to his pleasure and he is not bound to give us a reason of his actions We are many times as blind as the Disciples of Christ and blinder too when they moved the question about the cause of the natural blindness of the man in the Gospel whether that man had sinned or his Parents that he was born so Joh. 9.3 Our Saviour answered neither of both but that the works of God might be manifest in him What do I hear saith S. Augustine neither he nor his Parents If there be no man without sin then doubtless not his Parents and was not he himself born in original sin Or is it credible that in his life time he had added no actual offences to it and though his eyes were shut did not concupiscence wake within him How many mischiefs do some wicked blind men commit yea from what evil almost do they abstain his eyes were closed indeed but an evil mind can keep Centinel well enough within it self He knew how to think upon and perhaps to lust after something which being blind he could not put in execution but be judged in
no dangers nor enemies for I am thy shield fear no wants nor losses for I my self am thy reward Are any dangers so great any enemies so strong that I cannot shield thee against them who am ready to cover thee with my wings and defend thee against all the wicked of the world and against all the legions of hell canst thou be undone by any losses or be sunk by any wants when I my self am thy exceeding great reward Hast thou the possessor of heaven and earth in thy possession and hast thou cause to fear any wants if the earth cannot supply thee heaven shall if neither heaven nor earth can yet I will who am the Lord of heaven and earth I my self am thy exceeding great reward So Gen. 17 7 8. I wil establish my covenant between me thee thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God to thee and unto thy seed after thee He doth not say only to be a helper to thee or a friend to thee but to be a God to thee I will give myself to thee as I am essentially God so I will be a God to thee thou shalt have me for thy own those that are in Covenant with God they are in possession of an infinite good and they have him in everlasting possession CHAP. VI. Vse 1 THis may serve to discover to us the extreme folly of those whose chiefest care and greatest labour is about the getting worldly goods that may soon be taken from them their shops their trading their wares their plate their jewels their money their corn and wine and oyl their houses lands and possessions their wealth and substance are in their thoughts and God is seldome or not at all in all their thoughts heaven is not in their desires and grace which is the riches of heaven is nothing lookt after these things are the least of their thoughts and endeavours when they are to leave the world then is their time to think of God and to take care for grace and for their immortal souls when they are dying then is their time to study how they may become godly while they are strong and healthy and fit for labour their main care and labour is for the meat that perisheth and to try who can outstrip one another in worldly riches although God can soon clap a pair of wings to them and make them to flee away from them These things are the summum bonum the chiefest good the very God of the world the Paradise the All in All of this world the great Diana that all the world magnifies they think it better to be out of the world than to have no riches esteeming them the only miserable men that are poor and needy Jeroboams golden Calves are still the worldlings God the world is of Jeroboams Religion to this day no lusts are more unsatiable than worldly lusts they are green and vigorous even in old age the love of the world is a sin that never waxeth old when men should think most on the world to come yet then are old earth-worms too mindful of this present evil world O what unspeakable folly is this so eagerly to thirst after and pursue such perishing vanities which may soon be taken from us and which only serve us while we are in this world for if once our soul be taken from us then whose shall all these things be while the rich Glutton lived in the world he fared deliciously every day and wore Purple and fine linnen every day but when he died he left all these things behind him Death turned him out of the comforts and possession of these things He that drank Wine in Bowls is now drinking of the Cup of Gods wrath in hell he that had all things to the full doth now want a drop of water to cool his flaming tongue he that was cloathed with Purple and fine linnen every day is now bound with chains of darkness and cloathed with woe curses and unspeakable wrath he that maintained Hawks and Hounds for his delight and pleasure is now howling and roaring with cursed Fiends and damned Hell-hounds Thus he that had the worlds goods only while he was in the world he hath nothing in hell to enjoy but Gods wrath that is his everlasting portion So again rich Abraham and Job that had this worlds goods have now no need of them in heaven there is no need of the Sun by day nor of the Moon by night for the Lord God is the light thereof What a folly is it in men therefore to labour so eagerly after this worlds goods and to set their minds upon them and to neglect the good of their immortal souls to love riches more than grace and love dross and dung more than Christ when as Christ and Grace will bee their comfort in this world at death and in the world to come when this worlds goods shall be taken from them though your houses and goods be burnt and consumed to ashes yet Grace is a good that fire will not burn nor water drown Justly did our Saviour call the rich man in the Gospel fool and in him all such fools that had more care for this world than for heaven Who ever seeks the world for their bed shall at best find it but short and ill made and a stone and thorns under their sides to keep them waking rather than a soft Pillow to sleep upon O that it were written upon the bags upon the doors upon the chests tables counting-houses of worldlings which holy Job said Naked came I forth of my Mothers womb and naked shall I return I must appear before God not in the worlds goods but in the sins which I have done in this world It pitieth me many times to see the industrious Bees to take such great pains all the Summer to get a little honey for the winter they go abroad daily from flower to flower to suck honey and carry it to their Hives and are burnt in their Hives perhaps before winter cometh and others take the honey Thus worldlings toil and spend their lives and strength for the goods of this world and think in their old age to take their ease and give up themselves to a devout solitude but before that it may be God takes away their goods by fire or water or suffereth thieves and robbers to break in upon them and take away all their wealth and riches from them or it may be death cometh and exerciseth dominion over them and turneth them into hell and there they burn and others enjoy their goods upon earth Will ye then spend most of your care thoughts strength and time for the things of this world and have no care and thoughts for grace and heaven Will ye like Martha cumber your selves about many things that may quickly be taken from you and neglect the one thing necessary that shall never be taken away from you if once you have
it Luke 10.42 This worlds goods will do you good no longer than you live in this world but godliness will make you happy and the fruit of it will remain with you when the goods and the world it self shall have an utter end Leave then this worlds goods to the children of this worlds whose names are written in the earth they are the only portion of worldly men So Abraham said to Dives Son remember thou in thy life time hadst thy good things God gives unto Esau's the fatness of the earth but denies them the dew of heaven Indeed God sometimes promiscuously scatters these outward things upon the godly and the wicked he gives the wicked some share of his goodness yet it is worth your observing that Isaac would not vouchsafe to call Esau's Portion a blessing yet he gives him the fatness of the earth the worlds goods are the influences of Gods Providence not of his love only the riches of his Grace is the influence of his love and favour Ah! what pity it is to see how Satan layes upon many men a burden of cares above a load and makes a Pack-horse of their souls when they are wholly set upon the world we owe the Devil no such service it were wisdome then to throw off that heavy load into a mire and to cast all our cares upon the Lord Oh never seek warm Fire under cold Ice this world is not a field where true happiness groweth CHAP. VII THe work which now remains to use 2 be done is the application of this to the distressed Citizens of London in special many of whom have had their goods and houses taken away and consumed to ashes by that late sad and raging fire that hapned among them 1. I beseech you enquire into the procuring cause and that you will find to be sin if sin be in the City and in the house vengeance may quickly be seen at the door and at the gate sooner or later God will visit iniquities sin shall never go unpunished This was Davids resolution when God took away his subjects Behold it is I that have done wickedly but those sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24.17 This was Hezekiah's confession for his own life I have cut off like a Weaver my life Isai 38.12 Thus did that godly Widow of Zareptha acknowledge at the death of her Son What have I to do with thee O man of God art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son 1 Kings 17.18 She verily thought that either some of her former sins or else the not using of so holy a man according to his place was the cause of this present punishment A harsh string to be touched but will be tuneable enough in the ears of the Childe of God that is already touched with the feeling of sin whose heart is still rather in the house of mourning than in the house of mirth it is the Unison of Gods people We have sinned and dealt wickedly Our Saviour prophesied Mat. 24.12 that iniquity shall abound c. and do not the times wherein we live tell us that iniquity doth abound It hath abounded and doth abound exceedingly among us in all our Country Towns and Villages but I had almost said it cannot abound more than it hath among you in London I wish I could draw a veil over the sins of these times and cover the iniquities of the City and Country as Constantine did over the errours of learned men in his daies But the sins of our times and the iniquities of your City cannot be hid they are too publick too common among us See whether all manner of sins do not abound among you the iniquities of the head the iniquities of the heart iniquities of the tongue iniquities of the life do abound in the midst of you have not the streams of all iniquities fallen into your City as all waters and rivers run into the Sea There are some particular sins for which God threatens to poure down fiery showres of wrath and indignation upon a people 1. The first I shall set before you is Sabbath-breaking the profanation of the Lords day Jer. 17.27 See how God threatens the City of Jerusalem for this sin But if you will not hearken to me to hallow the Sabbath day and not to bear a burden even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof and it shall devoure the Palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched Examine now whether there were not many among you that neglected and despised the publick worship of God and others that as soon as they came out of the House of God laid aside all thought of the Word preached to them either spending the rest of the day in the Alehouse or in some idle recreations yea many suffering their children and servants in the close of the Publick Worship to turn Gods Ordinances sc prayer singing of Psalmes hearing the Word into shouting and clamors idle sports and foolish loud laughter and that in such a rude manner as if they would profess themselves open despisers of God and of his Ordinances Is this to bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Is this to do like Abraham to command your children servants to keep the way of the Lord Is it a wonder to see Gods Judgments upon your City to see the Plague raging among you destruction wasting at noon-day poverty encreasing and a fire kindled in your Gates and devouring the stately houses and Palaces thereof SECT II. A second sin is a general contempt and rejection of the Gospel and a despising of his faithful Messengers We read Mat. 23.37 38. that our Saviour prophecieth of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem for killing and crucifying and stoning some of Gods Prophets for scourging others in their Synagogues and persecuting them from City to City therefore saith he Behold your house is left unto you desolate His Disciples were troubled to hear that so goodly a Structure should be made a ruinous heap wherefore they shewed him the goodly buildings of the Temple wishing him but to look on them vainly imagining that he could not but admire the stateliness of the house and sumptuousness of the buildings and would call in his threatning and prevent the desolation of it but Christ who regardeth not the magnificence of buildings or persons but will stain the pride and glory of man was so far from revoking his threatning as he doth assure them by an oath that the stately Temple so much admired for its curiousness so strongly seated and enriched should not only be left desolate but should be totally demolished Verily I say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down Mat. 24.2 This was for their contempt of the Word and their cruelty toward the Prophets This sin God hath alwayes
did deny my Lord and Master Such a mourner was Mary Magdalen who washed the feet of Christ with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head so David made his bed to swim and watered his couch with tears Psal 6.6 Again such as mourn for sin not only because it doth terrifie the conscience but because it doth pollute and defile the soul who mourn for sin not only because it is a soul-damning evil but because it is a God-dishonouring evil these are true mourners Thus David mourned Against thee against thee have I offended Psal 51.4 This was that which troubled his spirit that he should offâ—nd a gracious God a loving Father and dishonour his holy Majesty and violate the holy Law of God Moreover such as mourn for sin and repent for sin that bewail and forsake sin these men are sorry after a godly manner 2 Cor. 7.10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation never to be repented of These holy tears are very acceptable unto God when our sins are put into the morter of our hearts and there pounded with the pestel of compunction and so brought into dust and moistened with the waters of our tears then is there made thereof a sweet smelling Oyntment and sacrifice unto God as one well noteth The Angels in heaven do rejoyce over one sinner that repenteth Luk. 15. They much rejoyce to follow such a sinner carrying the tears of godly compunction in his eyes and of godly sorrow in his heart Which is not unaptly figured Luk. 22. where the Disciples of Christ went after the man which carried the vessel of water and in that house prepared the Passeover of the Lord so in a spiritual sense the man carrying this vessel of water is the penitent sinner whose heart and eyes are full of tears of godly sorrow whom the Angels following do enter the house of his soul and there do prepare an holy banquet for the Lord for which cause St. Bernard saith The tears of holy penitents are the sweet wine of Angels because in them is the savour of life the taste of Christ the smack of pardon the health of the returned the joy of reconciliation and the sweetness of conscience Bonaventure saith this is one reason why God made Paradise that our first Parents might hate and detest sin the more hainously and eagerly which had cast them out of so pleasant an habitation God would therefore that Adam should feel what hee had lost by his sin that he might seek to regain another Paradise by repentance that he who had lost paradise on earth should more earnestly seek after that heavenly Jerusalem so my Brethren you that have been lately driven out of your houses by that lamentable Conflagration God thereby sheweth you that he would have you to hate and detest sin the more vehemently which hath cast you out of your pleasant habitations God would have you to feel what you have lost by your sins that ye may seek to regain better Mansions by repentance that you who have lost your houses on earth may more earnestly seek after a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens CHAP. IX SECT I. LOok to the ends that God aims at in taking away this or that from you his ends in it are diverse 1. One end is to teach you that there is nothing in any man nor of any man that you can safely trust unto Man hath nothing in him that he may rely upon his best abilities will fail him in time of his greatest need 1. For bodily strength take the example of Sampson Judg. 16.20 21. when he had dealt treacherously with God in discovering to an Harlot the strength he had received as a Nazarite he awaked out of sleep and said I will go out as at other times but the text saith he wist not that God was departed from him then the Philistines took him and bound him and put out his eyes and made him to grinde in a Mill his strength now failed him when he had need to make use of it now he found he had no strength of his own to trust to and was left wholly to the will of his enemies if the Lord leave a man to himself his strength will soon fail him whatsoever his strength and abilities bee So it is in multitudes of men and combinations of men who more vigorous than David and his men of war yet when he would have the people numbred to see the number and multitudes of his people the Lord in three daies space cut off seventy thousand men by the Pestilence to shew him the vanity of trusting in numbers of men There is no King saved by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength an horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength Psal 33 16 17. 2. The abilities of the soul whether natural or moral abilities are not to be trusted to Eccles 9.11 thus saith Solomon I returned and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong nor bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill but time and chance hapeneth to them all 1. Time Notwithstanding all their skill and cunning unless God go along with them they cannot bring their enterprizes to pass be they never so wise and skilful unless God go along with rhem they cannot take the fittest time to accomplish their ends and desires And on the other side Time happeneth to them that is such a time happeneth to them that casteth them into such straits and exigences that all their wit and skill and understanding cannot help them Some think they have so much wit and so much forecast so much understanding skill and foresight as that they can shift and provide for themselves in the worst of times as it is said of Cato hee was suae fortunae Faber let him live in any time or Common-wealth he would make shift for one but Solomon here tells us that favour shall not be to men of skill notwithstanding all their wit and understanding they shal not be able to get the favour of those they do desire and notwithstanding all their understanding though they think they shall lay up wealth and riches to sustain them in a time of trouble yet riches shall not be to men of understanding neither shall they have bread to eat in a time of Famine thus Time happeneth to them all 2. Chance also hapneth to them no chance hapeneth to God for he ordereth all things by his providence no contingency hapneth to him but many chances and occurrences happen to men beside their expectation many things happen to them above and below their expectation contrary to their own wills to their own waies and means to their own ends to their own thoughts projects and designs Achitophel relied much
up this very Wormwood this meer Aloes this bitter Gall Why then sayest thou The Cup which my Father hath given me This Cup was the Cup of his sufferings which God put into his hand ut Pater non ut Judex as a Father not as a Judge saith Rupertus amore non irâ voluntate non necessitate gratiâ non vindictâ it was of love not of wrath it was voluntary not of necessity it was of grace not of vengeance that this Cup was given to him This Cup saith Christ cometh to me from a most loving hand is it not fit that I should drink it the Father drinketh to me and though there be many things which commend this Cup as the restoring and redemption of the world the enlargement and augmentation of the Kingdome of heaven yet above all these my Fathers hand doth most of all commend this Cup unto me it is indeed a most bitter Cup but my drinking it will be profitable to many people therefore because my Father gives me this Cup to drink I will drink it As my Father gave me Commandment so I do Joh. 14.31 And saith he Luk. 24.46 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things We are apt under our losses to cry out such a one hath done me a mischief the Devil set such a one on to fire my house to consume my goods Satan himself hath thrown down his Thunderbolt upon me Oh such complaints are foolish as it pleased the Lord so things have been are and shall be done nay so they are best done not so much as one hair of thy head falleth to the ground but God foreseeth and willeth the same What hurt is it if fire consume thy house if God himself be thy habitation What evil is it though an Enemy tear thy body to pieces when as thy God numbreth thy hairs Whosoever was the Apothecary to mingle the Cup yet drink it off if thy Father put it into thy hand The Prophet Micah saith that evil came from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem Mic. 1.12 Behold against this Family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not remove your necks Mic. 2.3 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it All losses crosses all evils of punishment do come from God and from his divine will God is not the Author of any sin but he is the Author of all punishment for sin nor are we hurt by him but only corrected for our amendment saith Origen Remember this word saith S. August The Lord hath given the Lord hath taken away as it pleased the Lord so come things to pass They were unjust who sate by Job on the dunghill yet he was scourged and received they were spared to future punishment God reserveth all to his own judgement Good men labour and are punished as sons the wicked rejoyce and are punished with condemnation That which afflicteth us shall exercise us not hurt us CHAP. XI IF God hath taken all away from you then content your selves with Gods promises if thou hast an interest in the Promises thou hast enough Answer all wicked worldlings as Esau did Jacob I have enough I have enough my Brother so say thou I have a heavenly Mansion in the promise which is more worth than my earthly house which is consumed I have heaven in the promise which is more worth than a thousand worlds in present possession Eternal glory is better than fading honour eternal delights are better than momentany pleasures eternal habitations are better than our Clay-tabernacles what if I have lost my goods in heaven there is a more enduring substance worth more than all present enjoyments What if the world be a Wilderness so long as I have Canaan in the promise and thither I am going Oh how good is it for Christians to store up promises afore-hand and to let the Word of God dwell richly in our hearts especially the promises which are the quintessence of the word we use to say of a rich man he is worth God knows what this may we say truly of him who is rich in promises we are subject to variety of estates and conditions here no mans Mountain is so strong but it may be removed Now as the Astronomers say there is no herb growing on the earth but hath its star in heaven from which it receiveth sweet influences so there is no estate or condition wherein a Christian possibly may be in this life but there is a promise to it in the holy word of God from which he may receive sweet influences by faith And considering that all Promises are yea and Amen in Christ under all your losses and afflictions labour wisely to apply them depend on Christ in them he will faithfully perform all and every promise in due time to thee for faithful is the Promiser urge him with his promises produce to him his hand and seal Lord thou hast promised this or that good thing oh make it good be it to thy servant according to thy word that soul may walk on thorns on tempestuous Seas whose feet are shod with the Promises he may walk in the very valley of the shadow of death who hath the staff of a promise in his hand he may fear no ill but expect all grace glory and every good thing who hath a promise from Christ CHAP. XII STudy to behave your selves Christian-like under all your losses endure them Patiently Thankfully Chearfully With submission to the will of God SECT I. Learn to bear them patiently what the Apostle saith of the distressed Hebrews after the spoiling of their goods Ye have need of patience Heb. 10. So may I say to you that have sustained the loss of your houses goods and possessions ye have great need of patience As Souldiers have need of good Boots or Shooes to save their feet and legs from being hurt with gravel stones thorn-bushes sticks or other impediments that may either lie or be hurled in their way so a Christian-souldier being armed and having his feet shod with patience may by help thereof pass the pikes and go thorow all losses crosses and calamities that may betide or befall him in the warfare of this world In patience possess ye your souls saith our Saviour Luk. 21.19 As faith gives us possession of Christ so patience gives us the possession of our selves An impatient man is so far from possessing himself that he loseth himself and tearing himself in his passion throws all reason out of door whereupon follows a great loss the dominion of the mind is not attained but by patience the soul is not possessed by your deep counsels nor by your prudence nor by your wealth but by your patience Impatience exposeth a man to the greatest hazards and dangers if the Waggoner hath not reason enough to guide the Waggon saith Augustine but suffereth the horses to have their heads they will draw both him and it into destruction The impatient man is
that are therin shall be burnt up Here you have a full description of the Worlds destruction it is above all humane determination whether this fire shall be a fire of utter abolition of the world or a fire of purgation to refine it when these things come to pass then Heaven and Hell will divide the whole world between them CHAP. IV. SECT I. Quest HOw is it that nothing here is of continuance Resp 1. The very law of their Creation subjecteth the world and all creatures therein to dissolution and corruption Every creature qua creature is corruptible look but upon their composition the materials the principles are corruptible and there is a contrariety and opposition between them how can creatures stand and continue which are divided within themselves look upon the things we are most apt to dote upon our Cities Houses are they not made of dissoluble materials though some continue for many generations yet either water fire or war or if none of these their age consumeth them We see how among men some dye of old age so age ruineth Cities Towns and all other things the heavens which of all creatures are the most durable yet saith the Psalmist they shall wax old like a garment Psa 102.26 which Text is enough to confute the Philosophical opinion that maintaineth the heavens to be made of incorruptible matter 2. Mans rebellion against his Lord and Creator hath put the whole creation in subjection to great vanity and corruptibility Rom. 8.20 21. The creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope By the creature there is meant the heavens and the earth with all the creatures in them Angels excepted who are only spectators of this vanity not vassals to it as all other creatures are By vanity we are to understand a state of imperfection opposite to their created condition and perfection they have lost much of their Primitive excellency and perfection And they are made subject to vanity which denoteth that they are unavoidably in a state of vanity they cannot help themselves But yet not willingly Here the Apostle continueth his Prosopopeia attributing will to inanimate and sensitive creatures which have no will at all It sheweth that this vanity that is upon the creature is against the natural inclination of the creature Creatures by natural instinct do abhor corruption all creatures are strongly carried with a desire of self-preservation to preserve their own perfections Moreover it noteth that all the vanity in the creature is not from it self but it is meerly adventitious mans rebellion and Gods curse is the cause of all their vanity As Death passed on all men because all had sinned so Vanity and Corruption hath passed upon the whole Creation because man hath sinned But by reason of him who hath subjected the same These words clearly shew how and by whom this yoke of vanity came to be laid on the creatures not by themselves but by him who hath subjected the same viz. God who being provoked by the sin of Adam layes this bondage of vanity on the creature as part of the penalty of mans disobedience Cameron passionately contendeth that it must be meant of man not of God because the Apostle doth not mention the Name of God but the following words sufficiently confute him and evince it is God who subjecteth the creature to vanity because though he hath powred forth vanity on them yet he hath left in them a hope of restitution And to reconcile Cameron with other Interpreters this distinction may be used Man is the procuring and deserving cause of the creatures subjection unto vanity and God is the efficient or imposing cause of this subjection unto vanity All creatures in their own being were by nature corruptible but our sin makes them two-fold more the Children of vanity and corruptibility Mans sin and Gods curse on the creature for sin hasteneth the creatures to their dissolution As the house of the Leper was in it self not unclean but the walls thereof being once infected with Leprosie it was the sooner pulled down SECT II. I know it is a Dispute among Divines whether there be a decay of Nature in all creatures Some strongly affirm that yet there is no decay but they are as vigorous now as they were in their first Creation Others and I think more truly affirm a decay in Nature both in the Heavens and the earth the Sun and the Heavens have not those vigorous influences as formerly What meaneth the curse upon the earth thorns and bryars shall it bring forth but a decay of its Nature What is meant by vanity and corruption under which it groaneth but their natural decay Why are not the lives of men of that duration as formerly One reason given is because the fruits of the earth are not so nourishable and healthful as before the flood A general Deluge brought saltness and barrenness upon the earth so that now there is a gradual privation of the creatures of their original beauty goodness pleasantness sweetness which they received from God in their Creation by which privation they are rendered unable to perfect the particular uses for which they were created The Sun Moon and Stars though still they remain excellent creatures yet it is supposed by sundry Divines they have lost much of their Primitive splendour and that they shine not so bright as at their first Creation The Moon hath her spots it is disputable whether she had them from the beginning Some Stars though great bodies yet are scarce perceptible by the eye The ayr the waters have lost much of their sweetness pleasantness and clarity the earth hath lost much of her beauty the herbs plants fruits trees have lost much of their virtue all the living creatures have lost much of their created goodness All men see with what art toyl and labour the husbandman provokes the earth to its present fruitfulness seeing the whole earth was naturally propense to bring forth fruits of all kinds in great abundance but for our sakes it is subject to much barrenness all the Heaths and wilder wasts in the world are marks of this curse of vanity on the earth had not the soul of man become a Wilderness in respect of grace and holiness there had been no Wilderness in the earth in respect of barrenness All mans labour and sweat to make the earth bring forth is a part of mans punishment also Had not man sinned though Adam in Innocence should have laboured yet it should have been without sorrow sweat and wearisomness Men may thank their own sin for every drop of sweat that trickleth down their face and for every miscarrying of the earth SECT III. Moreover it consisteth in a positive malignity which through sin and the curse of God is now cast upon the whole Creation the Sun it self worketh deliquia eclipses it suffereth it worketh a contrary evil to the good for which it was created
earth because our heart and thoughts are here and how unwilling are we to go out of it albeit we are in danger of being suffocated with the smoak of it It is a great folly so eagerly to love fading and unstable things Gregory speaks well to this purpose We never forego any thing willingly but what we possess inaffectionately and speaking of Job he saith He parted with all with a willing mind which he possessed without inordinate delight You now see the best of this world to be but a Moth-eaten thred-bare Coat resolve now to lay it aside being old and full of holes and look after that house above not made with hands eternal in the heavens Set not your heart upon the world since God hath not made it your portion and your inheritance What misery of miseries is it for the immortal soul of man to be enslaved to the world which is but an heap of fuel kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men especially now in this age of the world when it is ready for the fire but in that day when the perdition of the ungodly shall be then shall the world be destroyed the world and all its fond lovers shall perish together in one day How shall this make for the glory of Gods Justice who shall bring destruction upon them that love the world above himself on that day wherein the world it self shall be destroyed Let us therefore endeavour daily to curb and restrain this exorbitancy of affection as King Tarquinius walking in his garden whipped off the tops and heads of the tallest flowers with his staff so must we cut off these rising affections as soon as they begin to peep forth and put up head in our hearts this world which God will not have to be yours O Christians is but the dross and scum of Gods Creation the portion of the Lords poor hired servants the moveables not the heritage of the Sons of Zion It is but an Offal or hard bone cast to the dogs that are thrust out from the new Jerusalem upon which they rather break their teeth than satisfie their appetite Keep your love and your hope in heaven it is not good your Love and your Lord should be in two sundry Countryes as one excellently speaketh he is semper idem alwayes the same yesterday to day and for ever Keep at a distance from the walls of this Pest-house even the pollutions of this defiling and fading world SECT IV. Do not muse too much upon these transitory things do not let your thoughts dwell too much upon them do not mind the things that are beneath do not think often nor think seriously of them so as to say It is good for us to be here let us here build Tabernacles as they are transitory in their own nature so they must be lookt upon in transitu As a Traveller in a Journey may see many fine Towns and stately Edifices with his eye but he mindeth his way he will not stay his horse to take a view of them So he that hath heaven in his thoughts and will seek after a City that is to come must not suffer these fading things to stay him in his course heaven-ward It is the vanity of our spirits that enclineth us to muse upon these transitory things and on the other side the more we dwell upon them in our thoughts the more light and vain our spirits are the more you muse upon them the more you will be ensnared by them What is a soul the poorer to want the lusts and perishing vanities of this present evil world Certainly we have no cause to weep at the want of such toyes as these we have nothing to do in this prison except to take meat drink and house-room in it for a time only this world is not yours let not your heaven be made of such poor mettal as mire and clay Oh where are those heavenly-minded souls that have nothing but their bodies of earth walking up down upon the Superficies of it whose souls and the powers of them are up in heaven Oh mens souls have no wings and therefore they keep their Nest and fly not to that upper Region Could we be deaf and dead to this worlds charms we might deride at the folly of those who are wooing this world for their match and scorn to Court such a withered Princess or buy this worlds kindness with a bow of our knees Alas it is little the world can take from us and it is not much that it can give us but the worst of Christ is better than the worlds best things his Chaff is better than the worlds Corn. Oh let your thoughts dwell much upon that blessedness that abideth you in the other world and upon that continuing City that is to come SECT V. Labour not much for these transitory things Labour not for the meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 Our Saviour therein teacheth us to look upon all things here below whatsoever but as meat that goes into the belly and is cast out of the draught to the dunghill and exhorts us to labour after that meat that shall endure to eternal life Do not then toil and moil for such uncertainties all earthly things are very mutable they are like a Land-flood which faileth in a time of drought when we have most need of water S. Peter tells us The end of all things is at hand It is true in a two-fold sense 1. In a relative sense in relation to every particular person and his interest in them in relation to thee and me and every one of us when our end cometh then the end of all things is come unto us when thy life endeth then the world and all the things of the world do end to thee it is as much to thee as if all the world were at an end 2. It is true in an absolute sense 2 Pet. 3.10 The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up So that all these visible things are temporal and shall have an end Now these visible things are of two sorts either first The substances or subjects Or secondly The accidents though in a proper sense the accidents are visible and the substances cannot be discerned but by their accidents You see not the substance of the world but the colour the form and figure of it the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and even this also is temporal and the fashion of it passeth away 1 Cor. 7.31 All visible things though never so pleasing to us as health wealth honours pleasures riches beauty strength all the outward and natural perfections that are in any creatures are not abiding they are temporal only though never so pleasant to us On the other side all