presume to hold competition with heaven What furious tempests he raises in the air as that which from the Wilderness beat upon the four corners of the house of Job's eldest son and overthrew it Lo Job was the greatest man in the East his heir did not dwell in a cottage that strong Fabrick could not stand against this Hurricane of Satan What fearful apparitions he makes in the upper regions what great wonders he doth causing fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men Lastly what grievous tyranny he exerciseth upon all the children of disobedience Couldst thou look for any less my son from those whom the Spirit of God himself styles Principalities and Powers and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickednesses in high places and the Prince of the power of the air Surely it were no Mastery to be a Christian if we had not powerfull opposites But dost thou not withall consider that all this power is by concession and the exercise of it but with permission with limitation What power can there be in any oreature which is not derived from the Almighty This measure the infinite Creator was pleased to communicate to them as Angels which they retain and exercise still as Devils their damnation hath stripped them of their glory but we know not of how much of their strength And seest thou not how their power is bounded Those that could in appearance turn their rods into Serpents could not keep all their Serpents from being devoured of that one Serpent of Moses Those that could bâ—ing Frogs upon Egypt cannot bring a baser creature Lice Those that were suffered to bring Frogs shall not have power to take them away Restrained powers must know their limits and we knowing them must set limits to our feares A Lion chained up can do lesse harme then a curre let loose What is it to thee how powerfull the evill Spirits are whiles they are by an over-ruling power tied up to their stake that they cannot hurt thee §. 2. The fear of the number of evil spirits and the remedy of it Thy feares are increased with their number they are as many as powerfull One Demoniack was possessed with a Legion How many Legions then shall we think there are to tempt those millions of men which live upon the face of the earth whereof no one is free from their continuall solicitations to evill That holy man whom our counterfeit Hermites would pretend to imitate in the vision of his retirednesse saw the air full of them and of their sâ—ares for mankinde and were our eyes as clear as his we might perhaps meet with the same prospect But bee not dismaid my son Couldst thou borrow the eyes of the servant of an holier Master thou shouldst see that there are moe with us then they that are against us thou shouldst see the blessed Angels of God pitching their Tents about thee as the more powerfull vigilant constant guardians of thy soule Loe these are those valiant ones which stand about thy Bed They all hold swords being expert in Warre every one hath his Sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night Feare not therefore but make the Lord even the most High thy Habitation Then there shall no evill befall thee neither shall any Plague come nigh thy dwelling For he shall give his Angels charge ever thee to keepe thee in all thy waies They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone yea and besides this safe indempnity Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou trample under feet In secular enmity true valour may be oppressed will not easily bee dâ—unted with multitude I will not be afraid of ten thousand saith David They came about me like Bees but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them It was a brave resolution in that Generall who when one of his Souldiers could tell him that the cloud of Persian arrows shot at them darkned the Sun Bee of good chear said he wee shall sight in the shade Answerable whereunto was that Heroicall determination of Luther who after his engagements against all threats and disswasions would goe â—nto the City of Wormes though there were as many Devils in it as Tiles upon their houses and why should not we imitate this confidence What if there were as many Devils in the air as there are spires of grasse on the earth God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed though the mountains be carried into the midst of the Sea Behold God is our salvation we will trust and not bee afraid for the Lord Jehovah is our strength and our song he also is become our salvation Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered let them also that hate him flee before him like as the smoak vanisheth so shalt thou drive them away §. 3. The malice of the evill spirits and our fears thereof remedied But oh the malice of those infernall spirits implacable and deadly whose trade is temptation and accusation whose delight is torment whose musick is shrieks and howlings and groanes and gnashing and whose main drift is no lesse then the eternall death and damnation of miserable mankind Why should we my son expect other from him who is professedly the manslayer from the beginning that carries nothing but destruction both in his name and nature that goes about continually like a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may devoure Surely this malignity is restlesse neither wil take up with any thing on this side hell But comfort thy selfe in this that in spight of all the malice of Hell thou art safe Doest thou not know that there stands by thee the victorious Lion of the Tribe of Iudah whom that Infernall Ravener dare not look in the face Dost thou not remember that when the Sentence was pronounced of eternall enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent it was with this Doome It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Loe a bruise of a mans heel is farre from the heart but a bruise of the Serpents head is mortall there his sting there his life lies Neither did the seed of the woman Christ Jesus this for himself who was infinitely above all the power and malice of the Devil but for us the impotent and sinful seed of man The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet saith the blessed Apostle Under your feet not under his own onely of whom God the Father had long before said Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool Yea what do I speak of the future Already is this great work done already is this great work atchieved For the Lord of
whereby we have communion with Christ and an assured testimony of and from him For he that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself And what witness is that This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life O happie and sure connexion Eternal life first This life eternal is in and by Christ Jesus This Jesus is ours by faith This faith witnesseth to our souls our assurance of life eternal Chariâ—y is the last which comprehends our love both to God and man for from the reflection of Gods love to us there ariseth a love from us to God again The beloved Disciple can say We love him because he loved us first and from both these resulteth our love to our brethren Behold so full an evidence that the Apostle tells us expresly That we know we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren For the love of the Father is inseparable from the love of the Son He that loveth him that begets loves him that is begotten of him Now then my son deal unpartially with thine own heart ask of it seriously as in the presence of the searcher of all hearts Whether thou dost not finde in thy self these unfailing evidences of thine election Art thou not effectually though not perfectly called out of the world and corrupt nature Dost thou not inwardly abhor thy former sinfull ways Dost thou not think oâ— what thou wert with detestation Dost thou not heartily desire and endeavour to be in all things approved to God and conformed to thy Saviour Dost thou not gladly cast thy self upon the Lord Jesus and depend upon his free all-sufficiency for pardon and salvation Dost thou not love that infinite goodâ—ness who hath been so rich in mercies to thee Dost thou not love and bless those gleams of goodness which he hath cast upon his Saints on earth In plain terms Dost thou noâ— love a good man because he is good Comfort thy self in the Lord my son let no fainting qualms of fear and distrust possess thy soul Faithful is he that hath called thee who will also preserve thy whole spirit and soul and body blameless unto the coming of oer Lord Jesus Christ. Comfort against Temptations § 1. Christ himself assaulted our trial is for our good THou art haunted with Temptations that which the Enemy sees he cannot do by force or fraud he seeks to effect by importunity Can this seem strange to thee when thou seest the Son of God in the Wilderness fourty days and fourty nights under the hand of the Tempter He that durst thus set upon the Captain of our salvation God blessed for ever how shall he spare frail flesh and blood Why should that Saviour of thine thinkst thou suffer himself to be tempted if not to bear thee out in all thy temptations The keys of the bottomless pit are in his hands he could have shut up that presumptuous spirit under chains of darkness so as he could have come no nearer to him then hell but he would let him loose and permit him to do his worst purposely that we might not think much to be tempted and that he might foyl that great enemy for us Canst thou think that he who now sits at the right hand of Majestie commanding all the powers of heaven earth hell could not easily keep off that malignant spirit from assailing thee Canst thou think him lesse merciful then mighty Would he die to save thee and will he turn that bandog of hell loose upon thee to worry thee Dost thou not pray daily to thy Father in heaven that hee would not lead thee into temptation If thou knowest thou hast to doe with a God that heareth prayers oh thou of little faith why fearest thou Loe he that was led by his own divine Spirit into the Wildernesse to bee tempted of that evill Spirit bids thee pray to the Father that he would not lead thee into temptation as implying that thou couldst not goe into temptation unlesse he led thee and whiles he that is thy Father leads thee how canst thou miscarry Let no man when he is tempted say I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evill neither tempteth hee any man God tempteth thee not my sonne yet know that being his thou couldst not be tempted without him both permitting and ordering that temptation to his owne glory and thy good That grace which thy God hath given thee he will have thus exercised thus manifested So wee have known some indulgent Father who being assured of the skill and valour of his deare son puts him upon Tiltings and Barriers and publique Duels and lookes on with contentment as well knowing that hee will come off with honour How had wee known the admirable continency of good Joseph if hee had not been strongly solicited by a wanton Mistresse How had wee known Davids valour if the Philistims had not had a Giantly Challenger to encounter him How had wee knowne the invincible piety of the three Children if there had not beene a Furnace to try them or of Daniel if there had been no Lions to accompany him Be confident thy glory shall be according to the proportion of thy triall neither couldst thou ever bee so happy if thou hadst not been beholden to temptations §. 2. The powerfull assistance of Gods Spirit and the example of S. Paul How often thou saist have I beaten off these wicked suggestions yet still they turn upon me again as if denials invited them as if they meant to tire me with their continuall solicitations as if I must yeeld be over-laid though not with their force yet with their frequence Know my sonne that thou hast to doe with spirituall wickednesses whose nature is therefore as unweariable as their malice unsatisfiable Thou hast a spirit of thine owne and besides God hath given thee of his so as hee lookes thou shouldst through the power of his gracious assistance match the importunity of that evill spirit with an indefatigable resistance Be strong therefore in the Lord and in the power of his might and put in the whole armour of God that thou maist be able to withstand â—n the evill day and having done all to stand Look upon a stronger Champion then thy selfe the blessed Apostle thou shalt finde him in thine owne condition see the missenger of Satan sent to buffet him and he did it to purpose how soundly was that chosen vessell buffeted on both sides and how often Thrice hee besought the Lord that it might depart from him but even yet it would not be the temptation holds onely a comfort shall countervaile it My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weaknesse It is not so much to be considered how hard thou art laid at as how strongly thou art upheld How many with the
infinite blisse how much more gladly would he have taken off his Hemlock and how much more merrily would he have passed into that happier world All this wee know and are no lesse assured of it then of our present beeing with what comfort therefore should we think of changing our present condition with a blessed immortality How sweet a song was that of old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mineties have seen thy salvation Loe that which hee saw by the eye of his sense thou seest by the eye of thy faith even the Lords Christ he saw him in weaknesse thou seest him in glory why shouldst thou not depart not in peace onely but in joy and comfort How did the holy Protomartyr Stephen triumph over all the rage of his enemies and the violent fury of death when he had once seen the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God Loe God offers the same blessed prospect to the 〈◊〉 of thy soul Faith is the key that can open the heaven of heavens Fixe thy eies upon that glorious and saving object thou canst not but lay down thy body in peace and send up thy soul into the hands of him that bought it with the sweet and cheerfull recommendation of Lord Jesus receive my spirit Comforts against the terrours of Judgement §. 1. Aggravation of the fearfulness of the last judgement THOU apprehendest it aright Death is terrible but Judgement more Both these succeed upon the same decree It is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgement Neither is it moâ—e terrible then lesse thought on Death because he strikes on all hands and laies before us so many sad examples of mortality cannot but sometimes take up our hearts but the last judgement having no visible proofs to force it self upon our thoughts too seldome affrights us Yet who can conceive the terrour of that day before which the Sun stall bee turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood That day which shall burne as an Oven when all the proud and all that doe wickedly shall bee as the stubble That day in which the heavens shall passe away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also â—â—d the works that are therein shall be burnt â—p That day wherein the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ That day wherein the Lord will come with fire and with his Chariots like a Whirlewinde to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire For by Fire and by his Sword will the Lord plead with all flesh That day wherein the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him and shall sit upon the Throne of his glory and all Nations shall bee gathered before him That day wherein all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him Sâ—ortly that great and terrible day of the Lord wherein if the Powers of Heaven shall bee shaken how can the heart of man remain unmoved wherein if the world be dissolved who can bear up Alas we are ready to tremble at but a Thunder-crack in a poor cloud and at a small flash of lightning that glances through our eyes what shall wee doe when the whole frame of the heavens shall break in peeces and when all shall be on a flame about our eares Oh who may abide the day of his comming and who shall stand when hee appeareth §. 2. Comfort from the condition of the elect Yet bee of good chear mâ— sonne Amids all this horrour there is comfort Whether thoube one of those whom it shall please God to reserve alive upon earth to the sight of this dreadfull day he only knowes in whose hands our times are This we are sure of that we are upon the last houres of the last daies Justly doe we spit in the faces of S. Peters scoffers that say Where is the promise of his coming Well knowing that the Lord is not slack as some account slackness but that he that shall come will come and not tarry Well mayst thou live to see the Son of man come in the clouds of heaven and to be an Actor in this last Scene of the world If so let not thy heart be dismayed with the expectation of these fearful things Thy change shall be sudden and quick one moment shall put off thy mortality and clothe thee with that incorruption which shall not be capable of fear and pain The majestie of this appearance shall adde to thy joy and glory Thou shalt then see the Lord himself descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God Thou shalt see thy self and those other which are alive and remain to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shalt thou be ever with the Lord. Upon this assurance how justly may the Apostle subjoyn Wherefore comfort one another with these words Certainly if ever there were comfort to be had in any words not of men or Angels onely but of the ever-living God the God of Truth these are they that can and will afford it to our trembling souls But if thou be one of the number of those whom God hath determined to call off before-hand and by a faithful death to prevent the great day of his appearance here is nothing for thee but matter of a joy unspeakable and full of glory For those that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him they shall be part of that glorious train which shall attend the Majestie of the great Judge of the world yea they shall be coâ—â—seâ—â—ors to the Lord of heaven and earth in this awful Judica ture as sitting upon the Bench when guilty men and Angels shall be at the Bar To him that overcometh saith the Lord Christ will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne What place then is here for any terrour since the more state and heavenly magnificence the more joy and glory § 3. Awe more fit for thoughts of judgement then Fear Thou art afraid to think of Judgement I had rather thou shouldst be awful then timorous When Saint Paul discoursed of the judgement to come it is no marvel that Fâ—â—ix trembled But the same Apostle when he had pressed to his Corinthians the certainty and generality of our appearance before the Judgement-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body whether good or evil addeth Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we perswade men but we are made manifest to
better eyes 239 Sect. 3. Comfort from the better object of inward sight ib. Sect. 4. The ill offâ—ices done by the eyes 241 Sect. 5. The freedome from temptations by the eye and freedome from many sorrows 243 Sect. 6. The chearfulnesse of some blind men 247 Sect. 7. The supply which God gives in other faculties 248 Sect. 8. The benefit of the eyes which once we had 252 Sect. 9. The supply of one sense by another 255 Sect. 10. The better condition of the inward ear 258 Sect. 11. The grief that arises from hearing evill things 260 Comforts against barrennesse 261 Sect. 1. The blessing of fruitfulnesse seasoned with sorrows 261 Sect. 2. The paines of child-bearing 263 Sect. 3. The misery of ill disposed and undutifull children 265 Sect. 4. The cares of Parents for their children 267 Sect. 5. The great grief in the losse of children 273 Comforts against want of sleep 276 Sect. 1. The misery of the want of rest with the best remedy 276 Sect. 2. The favor of freedom from pain 280 Sect. 2. The great favour of health without sleep 281 Sect. 4. Sleep is but a symptome of mortality 284 Sect. 5. No use of sleep whither we are going 286 Comforts against the inconveniencies of old age 287 Sect. 1. The illimitation of age and the miseries attending it 287 Sect. 2. Old age is a blessing 292 Sect. 3. The advantages of old age 1 Fearlesness 295 Sect. 4. The next advantage of old age Freedom from impetuous passions of lust 298 Sect. 5. The third advantage Experimentall knowledge 301 Sect. 6. Age in some persons vigorous and well-affected 306 Sect. 7. The fourth advantage of age near approach to our end 308 Comforts against the fears and pains of death 311 Sect. 1. The fear of death naturall 311 Sect. 2. Remedy of feare acquaintance with death 313 Sect. 3. The misapprehension of death injurious 315 Sect. 4. Comfort from the common condition of men 318 Sect. 5. Death not feared by some 320 Sect. 6. Our deaths-day better then our birth-day 322 Sect. 7. The sting of death pull'd out 323 Sect. 8. Death but a parting to meet again 324 Sect. 9. Death but a sleep 326 Sect. 10. Death sweetned to us by Christ 330 Sect. 11. The painfulnesse of Christs death 332 Sect. 12. The vanity and miseries of life 334 Sect. 13. Examples of the courageous resolutions of others 338 Sect. 14. The happy advantages of death 341 Comforts against the terrours of Judgement 347 Sect. 1. Aggravations of the fearefulnesse of the last Iudgment 347 Sect. 2. Comfort from the condition of the elect 350 Sect. 3. Awe more fit for thoughts of judgment then terrour 354 Sect. 4. In that great and terrible day our Advocate is our Iudge 356 Sect. 5. Frequent meditation and due preparation the true remedy of fear 361 Comforts against the fears of spirituall enemies 364 Sect. 1. The great power of evill spirits and their restraint 364 Sect. 2. The fear of the number of evil spirits and the remedy of it 368 Sect. 3. The malice of the evill spirits and our fears thereof remedied 373 Sect. 4. The great subtilty of evill spirits and the remedie of the feare thereof 376 The universal Reeeipt for all Maladies 385 I Have perused this excellent Treatise intituled The Balm of GILEAD containing in it many singular medicines and soverain Salves compounded and made up with so many sweet and spirituall Ingredients of holy and heavenly consolations as may be sufficient and effectual being rightly applied to cure and heal all sicknesses and sores of body and mind caused by the fearfull apprehension of imminent dangers or the sense of present evils unto which I subscribe my probatum est and do allow it to be Printed and Published JOHN DOVVNAME THE COMFORTER Comforts for the sick Bed The Preface WHat should we do in this vale of teares but bemoan each others miseries Every man hath his load and well is he whose burthen is so easie that he may help his neighbours Hear me my son my age hath waded through a world of sorrowes The Angel that hath hitherto redeemed my soul from all evill and hath led me within few paces of the shore offers to lend thee his hand to guide thee in this dangerous foard wherein every error is death Let us follow him with an humble confidence and bee safe in the view and pity of the wofull miscarriages of others § 1. Aggravation of the misery of sicknesse Thou art now cast upon the bed of sicknesse roaring out all the day long for the extreamity of thy pain measuring the slow houres not by minutes but by groanes Thy soule is weary of thy life through the intolerable anguish of thy spirit Of all earthly afflictions this is the soarest Job himself after the sudden and astonishing newâ—â— of the losse of his goods and children could yet beare up and blesse the God that gives and takes but when his body was tormented and was made one boyle now his patience is retched so farre as to curse not his God but his Nativity The great King questioning with his Cup-bearer NEHEMIAH can say Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick as implying that the sick man of all other hath just cause to be dejected worldly crosses are aloofe off from us sicknesse is in our bosome those touch ours onely these our selves here the whole man suffers what could the body feele without the Soule that animates it how can the soule which makes the body sensible choose but be most affected with that pain whereof it gives sense to the body Both partners have enough to doe to encounter so fierce an enemy The sharper assault requires the more powerfull resistance Recollect thy self my son and call up all the powers of thy soul to grapple with so violent an enemy § 2. 1 Comfort from the freedom of the soul. Thy body is by a sore disease consined to thy bed I should be sorry to say thou thy self wert so Thy soul which is thy self is I hope elsewhere That however it is content to take a share in thy sufferings soares above to the heaven of heavens and is prostrate before the throne of grace suing for mercy and forgivenesse beholding the face of thy glorious Mediator interceding for thee wo were to us if our souls were coffin'd up in our bosomes so as they could not stirre abroad nor goe any further then they are carried like some snail or tortoise that cannot move out of the shell Blessed be God he hath given us active spirits that can bestirre themselves whiles our bodies lie still that can be so quicke and nimble in their motions as that they can passe from earth to heaven ere our bodies can turn to the other side and how much shall we be wanting to our selves if we doe not make use of this spirituall agilitie sending up these spirits of ours from this dull clay of our
with the expectation of that blessednesse which if thy torments were no lesse then those of hell would make more then abundant amends for all thy sufferings §. 12. 11. Comfort The favour of a peaceable passage out of the world Thou art sick to die having received the sentence of death in thy selfe thy Physitian hath given thee up to act this last part alone neither art thou like to rise any more till the generall resurrection How many thousands have died lately that would have thought it a great happinesse to die thus quietly in their beds whom the storme of warre hath hurried away furiously into another world snatching them suddenly out of this not suffering them to take leave of that life which they are forced to abandon whereas thou hast a fair leasure to prepare thy self for the entertainment of thy last guest to set both thine house in order and thy soule It is no small advantage my son thus to see death at a distance and to observe every of his paces towards thee that thou maist put thy selfe into a fit posture to meet this grim messenger of heaven who comes to fetch thee to immortality That dying thus by gentle degrees thou hast the leasure with the holy Patriarch Iacob to call thy children about thee to bequeath to each of them the dear legacy of thy last benediction and that being incompassed with thy sad friends now in thy long journey to a far country though thine and their home thou maist take a solemn farewell of them as going somewhat before them to the appointed happy meeting place of glory and blessednesse That one of thine own may close up those eyes which shall in their next opening see the face of thy most glorious Saviour and see this flesh now ready to lie down in corruption made like to his in unspeakable glory Comforts for the sick Soul § 1. The happiness of a deep sorrow for sin THy sin lies heavie upon thy soul Blessed be God that thou feel'st it so many a one hath more weight upon him and boasteth of ease There is musick in this complaint the Father of mercies delights to hear it as next to the melody of Saints and Angels Go on still and continue these sorrowful notes if ever thou look for sound comfort It is this godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of Weep still and make not too much haste to dry up these tears for they are precious and held fit to be reserved in the bottle of the Almighty Over-speedy remedies may prove injurious to the Patient and as in the body so in the soul diseases and tumors must have their due maturation ere there can be a perfect cure The inwards of the Sacrifice must be three times rinsed with water One ablution will not serve the turn but when thou hast emptied thine eyes of tears and unloaded thy brest of leasurely sighs I shall then by full commission from him that hath the power of remission say to thee Son be of good comfort thy sins are forgiven thee § 2. Comfort from the welgrounded declaration of pardon Think not this word meerly formal and forceless He that hath the keys of hell and of death hath not said in vain Whose sins ye remit they are remitted The words of his faithful Ministers on earth are ratified in heaven Onely the Priest under the Law had power to pronounce the Leper clean had any other Israelite done it it had been as unprofitable as presumptuous It is a precious word that fell from Elihu When a mans soul draweth nigh to the grave and his life to the destroyer if there be a messenger of God with him an interpreter one among a thousand to shew unto that man his uprightness then he i. e. God is gracious unto him and saith Deliver him from going down into the pit I have found a ransom Behold this is thy case my son the life of thy soul is in danger of the Destroyer through his powerful temptations I am howsoever unworthy a messenger sent to thee from heaven and in the Name of that great God that sent me I do here upon the sight of thy serious repentance before Angels and men declare thy soul to stand right in the Court of heaven the invaluable ransom of thy dear Saviour is laid down and accepted for thee thou art delivered from going down into the pit of horrour and perdition § 3. Aggravation of the grievous condition of the Patient and remedies from mercy applied Oh happie message thou saist were it as sure as it is comfortable But alas my heart findes many and deep grounds of fear and diffidence which will not easily be removed That smites me whiles you offer to acquit me and tells me I am in a worse condition then a looker on can imagine my sins are beyond measure hainous such as my thoughts tremble at such as I dare not utter to the God that knows them and against whom onely they are committed there is horrour in their very remembrance what will there then be in their retribution They are bitter things that thou urgest against thy self my son no adversary could plead worse But I admit thy vileness be thou as bad as Satan can make thee It is not either his malice or thy wickedness that can shut thee out from mercy Be thou as foul as sin can make thee yet there is a fountain opened to the house of David a bloody fountain in the side of thy Saviour for sin and for uncleanness Be thou as leprous as that Syrian was of old if thou canst but wash seven times in the waters of this Jordan thou canst not but be clean thy flesh shall come again to thee like to the flesh of a little childe thou shalt be at once sound and innocent Be thou stung unto death with the fiery serpents of this wilderness yet if thou canst but cast thine eyes to that Brazen Serpent which is erected there thou canst not fail of cure Wherefore came the Son of God into the world but to save sinners Adde if thou wilt whereof I am chief thou canst say no worse by thy self then a better man did before thee who in the right of a sinner claimeth the benefit of a Saviour Were it not for our sin what use were there of a Redeemer Were not our sin hainous how should it have required such an expiation as the blood of the eternal Son of God Take comfort to thy self my son the greatness of thy sin serves but to magnifie the mercy of the Forgiver to remit the debt of some few farthings it were small thank but to strike off the scores of thousands of talents it is the height of bounâ—y Thus doth thy God to thee he hath suffered thee to run on in his books to so deep a sum that when thy conscious heart hath proclaimed thee bankrupt he may infinitly oblige thee
I could be ascertained of mine election to life I could be patient so I might be sure But wretched man that I am here here I stickâ— I see others walk confidently and comfortably as if they were in heaven already whereas I droop under a continual diffidence raising unto my self daily new arguments of my distrust could my heart be setled in this assurance nothing could ever make me other then happie It is true my son that as all other mercies flow from this of our election so the securing of this one involves all other favours that concern the well-being of our souls It is no less true that our election may be assured else the holy Ghost had never laid so deep a charge upon us to do our utmost endeavour to ascertain it and we shall be much wanting to our selves if hearing so excellent a blessing may be attained by our diligence we shall slacken our hand and not stretch it forth to the height to reach that crown which is held out to us But withal it is true that if there were not difficulty more then ordinary in this work the Apostle had not so earnestly called for the utmost of our endeavour to effect it Shortly the truth is in all Christianity there is no path wherein there is more need of treading warily then in this on each side is danger and death Security lies on the one hand Presumption on the other the miscarriage either way is deadly Look about thee and see the miserable examples on both kindes some walk carelesly as if there were no heaven or if there were such a place yet as if it nothing concerned them their hearts are taken up with earth neither care nor wish to be other then this world can make them The god of this world hath blinded their mindes that believe not Some others walk proudly being vainly puft up with their own ungrounded imaginations as if they were already invested with their glory as if being rapt up with the chosen vessel into the third heaven they had there seen their names recoâ—â—ded in the book of life where as this is nothing but an illusion of that lying spirit who knows the way to keep them for ever out of heaven is to make them believe they are there It must be thy main care to walk even in a jusâ— equidistance from both these extremes and so to compose thy self that thon maist be resolute without presumption and careful without diffidence And first I advise thee to abandon those false Teachers whose trade is to improve their wits for the discomfort of souls in broaching the sad doctrines of uncertainty and distrust Be sure our Saviour had never bidden his disciples to reâ—joyce that their names are written in heaven if there had not been a particular enrolment of them or if that Record had been alterable or if the same Disciples could never have attained to the notice of such inscription Neither is this a mercy peculiar to his domestick followers alone but universal to all that shall believe through their word even thou and I are spoken to in them so sure as we have names we may know them registred in those eternal Records above Not that we should take an Acesius his Ladder and climb up into heaven and turn over the book of Gods secret counsels and read our selves designed to glory but that as we by experience see that we can by reflections see and read those Letters which directly we cannot So we may do here in this highest of spiritual objects The same Apostle that gives us our charge gives us withal our direction Wherefore saith he brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as divers copies read it by good works For if ye do these things ye shall never fall For so an entrance shall be ministred to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Lo first our Calling then our Election not that we should begin with heaven and thence descend to the earth it is enough for the Angels on that celestial Ladder of Jacob to both descend and ascend but that we should from earth ascend to heaven from our Calling to our Election as knowing that God shews what he hath done for us above by that which he hath wrought in us here belowe Our Calling therefore first not outward and formal but inward and effectual The Spirit of God hath a voice and our soul hath an ear that voice of the Spirit speaks inwardly and effectually to the ear of the soul calling us out of the state of corrupt Nature into the state of Grace out of darkness into his marvellous light By thy calling therefore maist thou judge of thine election God never works in vain neither doth he â—ver cast away his saving graces what ever become of the common But whom he did predestinate them also he called and whom he called them he justified and whom he justified them also he glorified This doubtless thou saist is sure in it self but how is it assured to me Resp. That which the Apostle addes as it is read in some copies By good works if therein we also comprehend the acts of believing and repenting is a notable evidence of our election But not to urge that clause which though read in the vulgar is found wanting in our editions the clear words of the Text evince no less For if ye do these things ye shall never fall here is our negative certainty And for onr positive So an entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Lo if we shall never fall if we shall undoubtedly enter into the Kingdom of Christ what possible scruple can be made of the blessed accomplishment of our election What then are these things which must be done by us Cast your eyes upon that precious chain of graces which you shall finde stringed up in the fore going words If you adde to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charitie If you would know what God hath written concerning you in heaven look into your own bosom see what graces he hath there wrought in you Truth of grace saith the divine Apostle will make good the certainty of your election Not to instance in the rest of that heavenly combination do but single out the first and the last Faith and Charity For Faith how clear is that of our Saviour He that believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting-life and shall not come into condemnation but hath passed from death to life Lo what access can danger have into heaven All the peril is in the way now the believer is already passed into life This is the grace by which Christ dwells in our hearts and
alone shall free-denizen thee in the best of forain States and shall entertain thee in the wildest desarts § 4. The advantage that hath been made of removing Thou art cast upon a forraign Nation Be of good chear we know that flowers removed grow greater and some plants which were but unthriving and unwholsome in their own soyl have grown both safe and flou rishing in other Climates Had Joseph been ever so great if he had not been transplanted into Egypt Had Daniel and his three companions of the Captivity eveâ— attained to that Honour in their native Land How many have we known that have found that health in a change of air which they could not meet with at home In Africk the South-winde clears up and the North is rainy Look thou up still to that hand which hath translated thee await his good pleasure Be thou no stranger to thy God it matters not who are strangers unto thee § 5. The rigâ—â— that we have in any country and iâ— God Thou art a banished man How canst thou be so when thou treadest upon thy Fathers ground The earth is the Lords and the fulness of it In his right where ever thou art thou mayst challenge a spiritual interest All things saith the Apostle are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods No man can challenge thee for a stranger that is not thy Fathers childe Thine exile separates thee from thy friends This were no small affliction if it might not be abundantly remedied That was a true word of Laurentius That where two faithful friends are met God makes up a third But it is no less true That where one faithful spirit is there God makes up a second One God can more then supply a thou sand friends § 6. â—he praâ—tice of voluntary travel Thy banishment bereaves thee of the comfort of thy wonted companions Would not a voluntary travel do as much Dost thou not see thousands thaâ— do willingly for many yeers change their Country for forraign Regions taking long farewells of their dear friends and comerades some out of curiosity some out of a thirst after knowledge some out of covetous desire of gain What difference is there betwixt thee and them but that their exile is voluntary thy travel constrained And who are these whom thou art so sorry to forgo Dost thou not remember what Crates the Philosopher said to a young man that was beset with parasitical friends Young man said he I pity thy solitude Perhaps thou mayst be more alone in such society then in the Wilderness such conversation is better lost then continued if thou canst but get to be well acquainted with thy self thou shalt be sorry that thou wert no sooner solitary § 7. All arâ— pilgrims Thou art out of thy Country Who is not so We are all pilgrims together with thee Whiles we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord Miserable are we if our true home be not above that is the better Country which we seek even an heavenly And thither thou mayst equally direct thy course in whatsoever Region This center of earth is equidistant from the glorious circumference of heaven if we may once meet there what need we make such difference in the way Comforts against the loss of the Senses of Sight and Hearing § 1. Comfort from the â—â—o inâ—ard â—ghts of â—ason â—nd faith THou hast lost thine eyes A loss which all the world is uncapable to repair Thou art hereby condemned to a perpetual darkness For the light of the body is the eye and if the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Couldst thou have foreseen this evil thou hadst anticipated this loss by weeping out those eyes for grief which thou must forgo There are but two ways by which any outward comfort can have access to thy soul The Eye and the Ear one of them is now fore-closed for ever Yet know my son thou hast two other inward eyes that can abundantly supply the want of these of thy body The eye of Reason and the eye of Faith the one as a Man the other as a Christian Answerable whereunto there is a double light apprehended by them Rational and Divine Solomon tells thee of the one The spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly The beloved Disciple tells thee of the other God is light and we walk in the light as he is in the light Now these two lights are no less above that outward and visible light whereof thou art bereaved then that light is above darkness If therefore by the eye of Reason thou shalt attain to the clear sight of intelligible things and by the eye of Faith to the sight of things supernatural and Divine the improvement of these better eyes shall make a large amends for the lack of thy bodily sight § 2. The supply of better eyes Thy sight is lost Let me tell thee what Antony the Hermite whom Ruffinus doubts not to style blessed said to learned though blinde Didymus of Alexandria Let it not trouble thee O Didymus that thou art bereft of carnal eyes for thou lackest onely those eyes which Mice and Flyes and Lyzards have but rejoyce that thou hast those eyes which the Angels have whereby they see God and by which thou art enlightned with a great measure of knowledge Make this good of thy self and thou shalt not be too much discomforted with the absence of thy bodily eyes § 3. The better object of our inward sight Thine eyes are lost The chief comfort of thy life is gone with them The light is sweet saith Solomon and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun Hath not God done this purposely that he might set thee off from all earthly objects that thou mightst so much the more intentively fix thy self upon him and seek after those spiritual comforts which are to be found in a better light Behold the Sun is the most glorious thing that thy bodily eyes can possibly see thy spiritual eyes may see him that made that goodly and glorious creature and therefore must needs be infinitely more glorious then what he made If thou canst now see him the more how hast thou but gained by thy loss § 4. The ill officer done by the eyes Thou art become blinde Certainly it is a sore affliction The men of Jabesh-gilead offered to comply with the Tyran of the Ammonites so far as to serve him but when he required the loss of their right eyes as a condition of their peace they will rather hazard their lives in an unequal War as if servitude and death were a less mischief then one eyes loss how much more of both For though one eye be but testis singularis yet the evidence of that is as true as that of both yea in some cases more for when we would take a perfect
vision of God as they apprehend more darknesse in all earthly objects certainly thou shalt not misse these materiall eyes if thou maist finde thy soul thus happily enlightned §. 8. The benefit of the eies which once we had Thine eyes are lost It is a blessing that once thou hadst them hadst thou been born blinde what a stranger hadst thou in all likelihood been to God and the world hadst thou not once seen the face of this heaven and this earth and this Sea what expressions could have made thee sufficiently apprehensive of the wonderfull works of thy Creator What discourse could have made thee to understand what light is what the Sun the fountain of it what the heavens the glorious region of it and what the Moon and Starres illuminated by it How couldst thou have had thy thoughts raised so high as to give glory to that great God whose infinite power hath wrought all these marvellous things No doubt God hath his own waies of mercy even for those that are born dark not requiring what he hath not given graciously supplying by his spirit in the vessels of his election what is wanting in the outer-man so as even those that could never see the face of the world shall see the face of the God that made it But in an ordinary course of proceeding those which have been blinde from their birth must needs want those helps of knowing and glorifying God in his mighty works which lie open to the seeing These once filled thine eies and stay with thee still after thine eies have forsaken thee What shouldst thou doe but walk on in the strength of those fixed thoughts and be alwaies adoring the Majesty of that God whom that sight hath represented unto thee so glorious and in an humble submission to his good pleasure strive against all the discomforts of thy sufferings Our Story tels us of a valiant Souldier answerable to the name he bore Polyzelus who after his eyes were struck out in the Battel covering his face with his Target fought still laying about him as vehemently as if he had seen whom to smite So do thou my son with no less courage let not the loss of thine eyes hinder thee from a chearful resistance of those spiritual enemies which labor to draw thee into an impatient murmuring against the hand of thy God wait humbly upon that God who hath better eyes in store for thee then those thou hast lost § 9. The supply of one sense by another Thou hast lost thy hearing It is not easie to determine whether loss is the greater of the Eye or of the Ear both are grievous Now all the world is to thee as dumb since thou art deaf to it How small a matter hath made thee a meer cypher amongst men These two are the senses of instruction there is no other way for intelligence to be conveyed to the soul whether in secular or in spiritual affairs The eye is the window the ear is the door by which all knowledge enters In matter of observation by the eye in matter of faith by the ear Had it pleased God to shut up both these senses from thy birth thy estate had been utterly disconsolate neither had there been any possible access for comfort to thy soul and if he had so done to thee in thy riper age there Had been no way for thee but 1 to live on thy former store But now that he hath vouchsafed to leave thee one passage open it behâ—ves thee to supply the one sense by the other to let in those helps by the window which are denied entrance at the door And since that infinite goodness hath been pleased to lend thee thine ear so long as till thou hast laid the sure grounds of faith in thy heart now thou mayst work upon them in this silent opportunity with heavenly meditations and raise them up to no less height then thou mightst have done by the help of the quickest ear It is well for thee that in the fulness of thy senses thou wert careful to improve thy bosome as a Magazine of heavenly thoughts providing with the wise Patriarch for the seven yeers of dearth otherwise now that the passages are thus blocked up thou couldst not but have been in danger of affamishing Thou hast now abundant leasure to recal and ruminate upon those holy counsels which thy better times laid up in thy heart and to thy happie advantage findest the difference betwixt a wise providence and a careless neglect § 10. The better condition of the inward ear Thine outward hearing is gone But thou hast an inward and better ear whereby thou hearest the secret motions of Gods Spirit which shall never be lost How many thousands whom thou enviest are in a worse condition they have an outward and bodily ear whereby they hear the voice of men but they want that spiritual ear which perceives the least whisperings of the holy Ghost Ears they have but not hearing ears for fashion more then use Wise Solomon makes and observes the distinction The hearing ear and the seeing eye the Lord hath made even both of them And a greater then Solomon can say of his formal auditors Hearing they hear not If thou have an ear for God though deaf to men how much happier art thou then those millions of men that have au ear for men and are deaf to God § 11. The grief that arises from learâ—ing evil Thou hast lost thy hearing and therewith no small deal of sorrow How would it grieve thy soul to hear those woful ejulations those pitiful complaints those hideous blasphemies those mad paradoxes those hellish heresies wherewith thine ear would have been wounded if it had not been barred against their entrance It is thy just grief that thou missest the hearing of many good words it is thy happiness that thou art freed from the hearing of many evil It is an even lay betwixt the benefit of hearing good and the torment of hearing evil Comforts against Barrenness §. 1. The blessing of fruitfulness seasoned with sorrows THou complainest of dry loins a barren womb so did a better man before thee even the Father of the faithful What wilt thou give me seeing I go childless So did the wife of faithful Israel Give me children or else I die So desirous hath Nature been even in the holiest to propagate it self and so impatient of a denial Lo children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh from the Lord. Happie is he that hath his quiver full of such shafts It is the blessing that David grudged to wicked ones They have children at their desire It was the curse which God inflicted upon the family of Abimelech King of Gerar that he closed up all the wombs in his house for Sarahs sake And the judgement threatned to Ephraim is a miscarrying womb and dry brests And Jechoniah's sad doom is
God c. Lo the holiest man may not be exempted from the dread but from the slavish fear of the great Judge We know his infinite justice we are conscious to our selves of our manifold failings how can we lay these two together and not fear But this fear works not in us a malignant kinde of repining at the severe Tribunal of the Almighty as commonly whom we fear we hate but rather a careful endeavour so to approve our selves that we may be acquitted by him and appear blameless in his presence How justly may we tremble when we look upon our own actions our own deserts but how confidently may we appear at that Bar where we are beforehand assured of a discharge Being justified by faith â—we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. When we think of anâ— universal conflagration of the world how can we but fear but when we think of an happie restitution of all things in this day how can we but rejoyce in trembling § 4. In that great and terrible Day our Advocate is our Judge Thou quakest at the expectation of the last Judgement Surely the very Majestie of that great Assize must needs be formidable And if the very delivery of the Law on Mount Sinai were with so dreadful a pomp of Thunder and Lightning of Fire Smoke Earthquakes that the Israelites were half dead with fear in receiving it with what terrible magnificence shall God come to require an account of that Law at the hands of the whole sinful generation of mankinde Represent unto thy thoughts that which was shewed of old to the Prophet Daniel in Vision Imagine that thou sawest the Ancient of days sitting upon a Throne like the fiery flame 〈◊〉 a fiery stream issuing and coming forth from before him thousand thousands ministring unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before him the judgement set and the Books opened Or as John the Daniel of the New Testament saw a great white Throne and him that sate on it from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away and the dead both small and great standing before God and the Books opened and the dead judged out of those things which were written in those Books according to their works Let the eyes of thy minde see before-hand that which these bodily eyes shall once see and tell me how thou feelest thy self affected with the sight of such a Judge such an appearance such a process And if thou findest thy self in a trembling condition cheer up thy self with this That thy Judge is thine Advocate That upon that Throne there sits not greater Majestie then Mercie It is thy Saviour that shall sentence thee How safe art thou then under such hands Canst thou fear that he will doom thee to death who died to give thee life Canst thou fear he will condemn thee for those sins which he hath given his blood to expiate Canst thou fear the rigour of that Justice which he hath so fully satisfied Canst thou misdoubt the miscarriage of that soul which he hath so dearly bought No my son all this divine state and magnificence makes for thee Let those guilty and impenitent souls who have heaped unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath quake at the glorious Majestie of the Son of God for whom nothing remains but a fearful expectation of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries But for thee who art not onely reconciled unto God by the mediation of the Son of his love but art also incorporated into Christ and made a true limb of his mystical Body thou art bidden together with all the faithful to look up and lift up thy head for now the day of thy reâ—emption is come And indeed how canst thou do other since by vertue of this blessed union with thy Saviour this glory is thine every member hath an interest in the honour of the Head Rejoyce therefore in the day of the Lord Jesus and when all the Tribes of the earth shall wail do thou sing and rejoyce and call to the heavens and the earth to bear thee company Let the heavens rejoyce and let the earth be glad let the sea make a noise aud all that is therein let the field be joyful and all that is in it Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoyce before the Lord for he cometh for he cometh to judge the earth and with righteousness to judge the world and the people with his truth §. 5. Frequent meditation and due prepaâ—ation the remedies of our â—ear Thou art affrighted with the thought of that Great Day Think of it oftner and thou shalt less fear it It will come both surely and suddenly let thy frequent thoughts prevent it It will come as a thief in the night without warning without noise let thy careful vigilance always expect it and thy soul shall be sure not to be surprised not to be confounded Thine Audit is both sure and uncertain sure that it will be uncertain when it will be If thou wilt approve thy self a good Steward have thine account always ready set thy reckoning still even betwixt God and thy soul Blessed is the servant whom his Master shall finde so doing Look upon these heavens and this earth as dissolving and think with Jerome that thou hearest the last Trump and the voice of the Archangel shrilling in thine ears as once thou shalt Arise ye dead and come to judgement Shortly let it be thy main care to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Comforts against the fears of our spiritual enemies § 1. The great power of evil spirits and their restraint THou art affrighted at the thought of thy spiritual enemies No marvel Neither earth nor hell hath any thing equally formidable Those three things which are wont to make enmity dreadful and dangerous Power Malice Subtilty are met in them neither is it easie to say in which of these they are most eminent Certainly were we to be matcht with them on even hand there were just cause not of Fear onely but Despair I could tremble thou sayst to think what Satan hath done what he can do what contestation he enabled the Egyptian Sorcerers to hold with Moses how they turned every man his rod into a Serpent so as they seemed to have the advantage for the time of many Serpents crawling and hissing in Phoraoh's pavement for one How they turned the waters into blood How they brought Froggs upon the Land of Egypt 〈◊〉 as if thus far the power of hell would