congregation The Psalmist exhorteth to this duty very much Sing unto the Lord sing Psalms unto hi◠〈◊〉 ye of all his wondrous works It was the Psalmist his practice Come and hear all ye that 〈◊〉 God and I will declare unto you what God hath dâ—â—e for my soul Moses the servant of the Lord did so He told Jethro his Father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Aegyptians for Israels sake and all the travell that had come upon them by the way and how the Lord delivered them Which occasioned much prayse unto God from a Midianite who said Blessed be the Lord who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Aegyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh c. Christ himself commanded the man whom he delivered from the legion of Devils that he should goe home to his friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for him and had compassion on him And indeed to return thanks unto God for all his mercies is so great a debt that we alone cannot pay unlesse God give us time and no lesse then eternity is enough And therefore we had need make collection of praises from friends that the summe may be made up the more full The Psalmist goes to all the creatures both in heaven and earth and makes a collection Heavens Angels saith he Sun Moon and Stars Kings and all people young men and maids old men and babes praise the name of the Lord. Comemmoration Sermons which are in use in Colledges and some other places are excellent And as there may be good use made of them divers wayes so this way especially that all may be provoked to blesse God for their Benefactors It is observable that to beg prayers is the common complement of friends at their pâ—â—ting and Ora pro nobis is the conclusion of all our Letters but we seldome beg praises When do we say I beseech you blesse God for me and with me for such a late deliverance for such successe in mine endevours for such comfort in my relations c. As if we served an hard Master as if God had been a barren heath or a wildernesse to our souls as if his service had no profit Whereas there is no Matter like the Lord no service like his whose very work is wages CHAP. VII An use of Exhortation wherein Christians are perswaded to keep such a Journall or Diary AND thus far shall suffice to have been spoken of the manner how such a Journall should be used For the application of all I shall onely 〈◊〉 such as have not been acquainted with this duty to set upon this work Indeed there is a latitude in Christianity and the wayes of God that all do not reach I have have an end of all perfection saith the Psalmist but thy commandement is exceeding large When things are come to their perfection to their flower they quickly fade 〈◊〉 a Lute string if wound up to the highest it breaks but the course of holinesse and way of righteousnesse have large limits and boundaries that many come not at There are sins that some seldome confesse as Sacramentall sins Sacramentall ignorance Sacramentall unbelief impenitency uncharitablenesse c. There are some things they seldome pray for Where is the man who with Agur prayes Lord give me no riches We often in prayer presse the promise but how few at any time presse the seal wherein God is come under the power of law under the power of his own law wherein all his wisdome power faithfulnesse goodnesse and mercy is under the power of his owne law yea so far engaged that he cannot go back And yet how few urge the seal and enter a suit with the Lord There are some duties we seldome or never perform Where is the man that makes conscience of private fasting and â—rayer that shuts himself up in his closet and wrâ—stles with God in secret that his Fatâ—â—r that seeth in secret may reward him openly To conclude how few are there that keep a Diary by them of all Gods gracious dealings with them Now that I may perswade such Christians at least as have any abilities and opportunities to enter upon this duty I shall doe these two things 1. Give some directions that may be as advantages to further this service 2. Give some arguments that may encourage and provoke thereunto and so conclude 1. Therefore often remember your sinfull estate when you were in a naturall estate and therefore in the 〈◊〉 of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity God commanded his people so to do Remember and forget not â—ow thâ—n provokedst the Lord thy God in the wildernesse c. This charge the Apostle lays upon the Ephestans Remember that you being in times past Gentilâ—s in the flesh that at that time ye were without Christ â—liens from the Common-wealth of Israel and stâ—angers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world God promised that his people should do so You shal remember your wayes and your doings wherewith you have been defiled and you shall loath your selves Paul did so he oftentimes makes mention of his sinfull condition before his conversion he is not ashamed to declare it before King Agrippa I thought verily with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth which thing I also did in Jerusalem for many of the Saints I shut up in â—â—ison and when they were put to death I gave my voyce against them and I punished them oft in every Synagogue c. So much he telleth the Corinthians I am not worthy to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God The like he declares to Timothy I was a blaspheâ—â—â— a persecuter and injurious Yea he was more then an ordinary sinner in his owne eyes Jesus Christ saith he came into the world to save sinner's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereof I am thiefâ— or primus the first as it is in the originall He was primus the first non ordine sed excellentia not in order of â—ime but in the excesse of wickednesse for 〈…〉 every sin hath his 〈◊〉 So did Joseph 's Brethren when he dealt roughly with them and God lookt so mercifully on them as to afflict them for their â—in They said one to another we are very guilty conâ—â—â—â—ing our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear And how have those old bruises and fins of youth being sadly and seriously remembred caused much brokennesse and tendernesse much care and watchfulnesse in some all their days Themâ—sâ—â—eles told his friends when being banished out of his Countrey and most honorably entertained by the King of Persia Perâ—eram nisâ— periissem I had been undone if I had not been thus distressed So may many a gracious soul say I had
Imprimatur Edm. Calamy THE JOURNAL OR DIARY OF A THANKFVL CHRISTIAN Presented in some Meditations upon NUMB. 33. 2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their Journeys by the commandement of the Lord. By J. B. Master of Arts and Minister of the Gospel at Barnstone in Essex Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord Psal 107. 43. Who hath despised the day of small things Zach. 4. 10. Nihil tam conveniens Deo quam beneficentia nihil autem tam alienum quam ut sit ingratus homo Lactan. de ira Dei ad Donat. cap. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Rom. Hom. 18. London Printed by E. Cotes for Tho. Parkhurst at the Three Crowns over against the great Conduit at the lower end of Cheapside 1656. Deo plane quod debet retribuere nemo potest quod tam copiose supra nos accumulaverit misericordiam quod tam multa deliquerimus quod tam fragiles nihil sumus quod tam plenus ille sufficiens sibi nec bonorum nostrorum egens Bern. Serm. 3. De adventu Domini Hucusque NOS Adiuvit 1. Sam. 7. 12 Curatoâ—em mei rerumque meâ—rum ex pacto Deum habeo illi bene notum est quid mihi sufficit quando conduceret hactenus non fefellit quando dubitare inciperem non simul ingratus esse inciperem Foxius To the Right Honorable truly Noble and Religious Lord Robert Earl of Warwick Baron of Leez c. And to the Right Honorable the Lady Eleanor Countess of Warwick His most Pious and Vertuous Consort Such an encrease of Grace on Earth as may bring them to fulnesse of Glory in Heaven RIGHT HONORABLE AS there is no Grace that giveth more glory to God so there is no Grace that hath more honour from God then Faith Who though he doth all our work for us and therefore should have all the glory from us yet is pleased that Faith should go away with the praise of that which himself only doth Daughter thy Faith hath made thee whole saith Christ to the woman that by the touch of his garment received virtue from him and was healed By faith the Israelites passed through the Red-sea as on dry ground By faith the wals of Jericho fell down When we know that the Waters of the one and the Bulwarks of the other obeyed the soveraign authority of the Word of Gods command Yea further as there is no Grace that brings more glory to God so there is no Grace that yeelds more benefit to us then Faith It is a Grace as the most usefull so the most successefull and of the largest capacity for our good As thou hast believed so be it done unto thee saith our Saviour to the Centurion He that is inlarged in his faith cannot be straightned in his comfort Through Faith God the Father is our portion God the Son is our pledge God the Holy Ghost our earnest Heaven our home Holinesse our way the Angels our gard the Saints our company the World our servant and the Promise under seal our security And what would we what can we have more yea such is the large capacity of this Grace of Faith that could we be rich in that grace we might have our wils even with an overplus Oh woman saith our Saviour to the woman of Canaan great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Luther was so strong in faith and therefore so powerfull in Prayer that when Frederick Myconius his dear friend was sick he prayed for his recovery and used these words Hoc peto volo fiat voluntas mea This I aske and this I will and let my will be done a while after Myconius recovered according as he had prayed Whereupon Justus Jonas said of Luther Iste vir potuit quod voluit That man could have what he would Now the reasons why through faith we may have what we will and more then we will are these three First Because by Faith we live the best life in this world From life to life how vast a distance is there from the life of the highest Angell to the life of the lowest Mushrome how great a difference 1 There is the life of Vegetation and that is the life of Plants 2 There is the life of Sense and that is the life of Beasts 3 There is the life of Reason and that is the life of Men. 4 There is the life of Faith and that is the life of Saints Now according to the kinde of life such is the capacity of the creature The life of a Beast is more excellent then the life of a Plant and therefore more capable of good The life of a Man is better then the life of a Beast and the life of a Saint far above the life of a meer Man The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour saith Solomon and therefore more capable of good the good of the body and the soul the good of this life and of that which is to come As we have believed so shall it be done unto us much faith and much comfort whilst we live rich in Faith and rich in Glory when we shall go hence and be no more seen Secondly Because other Graces make us like unto God as Wisdome Holinesse and Righteousnesse but Faith makes us Sons of God As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his name And if we be Sons we are capable of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved for us in the heavens For if Sons Heirs Heirs of God and co heirs with Christ who is heir of all things Such a man is capable of being heir to an Esquire of a vast estate not because he is like him but because he is his Son Other graces make us like unto Christ as Humility Zeal for Gods glory and Love to the Brethren but Faith makes us members of Christ and it is our membership our union to Christ our communion with Christ that makes us capable of all that grace and glory that he hath for us for he is only the Saviour of his body A painted arme and a woodden legge are like those members but they draw no virtue from the head It is because we by faith live in Christ and grow up with Christ That of his fulnesse we receive grace for grace Thirdly Because Faith is a grace by which we venture upon the willingnesse and power of Christ to save and succour us Every true believer is a Merchant adventurer whose returns must be greater then his ventures or he cannot live even so it is with every believer if God whose thoughts are above our thoughts should not send in to our Faith more then we come for we should live but barely The believing Palsie man and his
totalis of all our comforts The Grecians set the summa totalis of their bills of accompt in the top of the page as we do in the bottome Christ and riches Christ and honors Christ and liberty is the totall sum of all we enjoy Let us make Jesus Christ our Generalissimo Commander in chief Primate Supreme All in all set him above all 1. Above all comforts and outward contents Like those brave Germane Ladies in a fiege who when the Emperor at the surrender of the Town gave them liberty to carry with them what they could but excepted the men who were to stand to his mercy left all their gold and silver with their rich jewels and took up their Husbands and carryed them out with them Let us leave all so we may enjoy Christ Let Ziba have all saith Mephibosheth to David so that the King return Let the men of the world have all the wealth though we be impoverished let them have all the honour and friends though we be disgraced and forsaken so Jesus Christ may rule in us and rejoyce over us and be all in all to us 2. Set Jesus Christ above all the men and means of any good Men are apt to make idols of such as have been instruments of their outward peace and happinesse Christ will admit of no corrivals he will be all or none When Tiberius the Emperour of Rome sent to the Senate and required that the Image of Christ might be set up in the Capitoll they returned this answer from their Priests that if he were set up all the other Images of their gods must down if Jesus Christ be set up all our Idols must fall our Dagons will fall before the Ark. 3. Set Jesus Christ above all your duties parts gifts and abilities Your selfishnesse proves often your greatest prejudice Like the viper in Paul's bundle of sticks which he brought in to make a fire and warm his fingers with would sting you to death did not God in mercy prevent the mischief If you compose your selves with such sparks you shall lie down in sorrow if God be not more gracious to you In all your duties therefore it is best to do as Joaâ— did when he had won Rabbuh he sent to David to take the Crown and good reason for all the men and means the money and ammunition were David's So here all your sufficiency is from Christ you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you Let him therefore go away with the Crown Be not like proud Haman whom nothing could content but the royall apparell the royall horse and crown Christ will part with any thing to you but his crown but his glory take heed of usurping that What part or member of the body soever is used in getting the victory by the consent of all the head is crowned However you speed let Christ have the crown When Caesar and Bibulus were Consuls Caesar did all Bibulus did nothing being over-awed by Caesar whereupon the Wits of Rome would in jest subscribe their Letters Julio Caesare consulibus Do you so if through the grace of Christ you can bear afflictions patiently perform duties fruitfully pray with heart confesse with sorrow beg with life hear with fruit say we can do all things by Jesus Christ assisting us â— Observe how all good things are 〈◊〉 upon you continued to you by the Promise certainly All providences to a grâ—cious heart are but as so many fulfillings of promises Carnall men have nothing but by common providence but whatever this man hath he enjoys by speciall promise so that his peace is the peace of promise his liberty the liberty of promise his deliverance the deliverance of promise Labour therefore to see every comfort you have 〈◊〉 in your Journal conveyed to you in and by a promise Thus did Joshua who when the people were setled in the Land of 〈◊〉 told them that they knew in their 〈◊〉 and souls that not one thing had failed of all the good things which the Lord their God had spake concerning them all was come to passe It is good to observe how Gods judgements are executed upon transgressors according to his Word and to say as Jehu did when the fiercenesse of Gods wrath was poured out upon Ahab and Jiâ—â—hel This is the burthen that the Lord laid upon him and this is the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah the Tishbitâ— When we see Adâ—ltâ—rers brought to shame and a morsel of â—â—â—ad say This is according to the Word of thâ— Lord who hath said Whoremongers 〈◊〉 adulterers God will judge When ye see swearers and blasphemers and perjured persons punished with a stroke from heaven say This day is this Scripture fulfilled in our eyes God will not hold them guiltlesse that take his name â—vain But it is far more comfortable to see all good things bestowed according to a promise and to be able to say as David Thou hast dealt well with thy servant O Lord according to thy Word So did Solomon when he sate upon the throne of his Father David Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath fulfilled with his hand that which he spake with his mouth And again in the same prayer The Lord hath performed his word that he hath spoken for I am risen up in the room of my Father David and am set on the throne of Israel as the Lord hath promised We talk much of Providences and indeed we are apt to make Providences to serve our turns as Jonah though a Prophet and a good man when he was sent to Nineveh and not willing to go upon that Embassage but to Joppa and finding a ship going to Tarshish Oh surely thought he here 's a providence God would have me now go rather to Tarshish so providence leads me and indeed this is a great part of the Religion of our time here was a providence and there was a providence yea a continned series of providentiall actings but no man asks Where is the Precept requiring or the Promise encouraging He that walks by common providence without a speciall Precept to guide him or singular Promise to comfort him walks by a dark 〈◊〉 and will finde that his successes will prove but pitfalls in the conclusion and will â—â—ll short of an happy issue according to that saying Careat successibus opto Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat But let every wise man observe how his successefull proceedings are fruits of a Promise So did the Virgin Mary God hath holpen his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our Forefathers Abraham and his seed for ever So did Zachariah God hath raised up for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 born of salvation in the house of his servant David as he spake by the mouth of his holy 〈◊〉 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate
bloody Amalekites and fiery Serpents were in their way So falls it out with any Christian who though whilest he walked in the broad way that leads to more then an Aegyptian darknesse and bondage he had no cause of complaint but all went well with him yet when he set his face to heaven and walkt in that narrow way that leads to life then found that his wants were many and his temptations great The best even in the midst of their abundance have their just complaints and he that hath most hath not all One man hath wealth but no honour he is under a cloud another hath wealth and honour but not a dayes health scarce in a moneth a third hath all these but not a childe The life of the best is like a shuttle-cock kept up a while betwixâ— two battle-dores and at the last falls to the ground Betwixt prosperity and adversity good dayes and evill light and darknesse our lives run on and at the last we are laid in the grave The Germanes have a proverbiall saying of the three Princes Electors that the Palâ—sgrave hath the honour Brandenburg the land but the Duke of Saxony the money No man hath all Even Adam in Paradise was taught to want something he must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evill Moses one of the five grand favourites of heaven called in one chap. five times the servant of the Lord. And to be a servant of God is a great honor Deo servire regnare est To serve God is to reign And yet Moses must not go into the Land of Canaan though he begg'd hard for it Let it suffice thee saith God to him speak no more to me of that matter I know no man that enjoys that abundance of all good things but I may say to him as our Saviour to the young man in the Gospel One thing thou lackest If the possession of many things make us proud God knows how by the want of one thing to keep us humble Oh be sure that one thing be not that one thing necessary namely faith by which we may see God in all enjoy God with all and love God above all 3. In the midst of all our wants reckon how many wayes those wants are supplyed with other comforts God usually makes us a good amends as David said to Abisha when Shimei railed on him It may be God will requite me for this cursing this day If Adam may not eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the Garden yet of the fruit of every tree in the Garden besides he might freely eat If Moses may not goe into the Land of Canaan yet his body shall have the most honorable buriall that ever man had the Lord buried him and no man knows of his sepulchre unto this day and his soul went to heaven which was far better If we be straightned in outward comforts and enlarged with spirituall graces if we be weak in body and strong in the Lord if poor in the world and rich in faith if forsaken of friends and God stands by us we have no great cause to complain Travellers into forain parts will tell you that those Countreys that are most Paganish are most stored with gold and silver and that those lands that are without those rich mines have more of the knowledge of Christ and his wayes One man hath little to live upon but his labours but he hath a very strong and healthy body Many times the poorest men have most children which some esteem a great blessing though others look upon it as a burthen and put it into the bill of charges Even Haman when he boasted before his wife and friends of his great wealth and honors reckons the multitude of his children amongst his great preferments If one childe be a blessing then ten children are ten blessings Children of youth saith the Psalmist are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them And certainly many a man would willingly part with half his estate for the fruit of the loyns and wombe If God send mouths he will provide meat Ashur's blessing was children but God will provide for him and them Ashur shall be blessed with children saith Moses but let him be acceptable to his Brethren and let him dip his foot in oyl his shoes shall be iron and brasse and as his dayes be so shall his strength be His bread shall be fat saith Jacob and be shall yeeld royall dainties Every childe that cometh into the world commonly hath two breasts The like may be said of any other wants and the several wayes by which God is pleased to supply them very graciously to his yea sometimes to those that are without It is said of Galba the Emperor of Rome that he had a crooked body but a good head insomuch that one said of him Galbo's great wit had but an homely habitation Aesop was much deformed but very wise and Erasmus a plain man but a great Scholar Such a man and blessed be God there are many such is but one story high in the world but a very godly man and high in Gods favour and esteem of all his people To conclude could any man live the dayes of Methuselah and should all his way lie by Weeping-crosse God reconciled in Christ with the enjoyment of heaven at the last would make amends for all 4. Take great notice of the singular peculiar excellency of all Gods dispensations towards you above the world Your waters are become wine your gleanings are better then the vintage of the world God dealeth with you as with Sons the Servant shall have his wages and it may be a livery but the Son shall have better He is the Saviour of all but especially of them that believe Every passage of providence towards you if you be the Lords hath something more speciall in it God hath choyce mercies for a chosen generation peculiar favours for a peculiar people hidden comforts for his hidden ones that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into a carnall heart to conceive See this made good in three passages 1. Such have ever what the world hath and something more an overplus the meanest Christian may vie comforts with the greatest men of the world as Paul sometimes with the false Apostles Are they Hebrews So am I. Are they Israelites So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham So am I. Are they Ministers of Christ I am more in labours more abundant c. So a gracious heart Are the men of the world honorable So am I that am a Son of God and a partaker of the divine Nature Have they friends So have I that have union to and communion with Jesus Christ and his members Are they rich So am I that am rich in faith and an heir of heaven as poor
is the flame so the elder you grow the better you should be If so it is well These things saith St. John I have written to you that beleeve that you may beleeve that is that you grow more and more in that grace of faith Faith is not like Jonah's gourd up in one night and down in another but like the sound of the trumpet on the Mount lowder and lowder or like a great bell that is long in raising and strikes but a while on one side but at last is up and makes a great sound and is heard aâ—ar off Such was the faith of the Romanes small at the first but afterwards it grew to that height that it was spoken of throughout the world When Grave William the Prince of Orange died his Son Maurice was but young whereupon the States were doubtfull whether they should choose him their Generall or no. Maurice perceiving it by his friends wrote a Letter to them and in it onely these foure words Tandem fit surculus arbor A young plant at last becomes a tree Upon which they made choyce of him and he made his Motto good for he grew a brave Souldier and proved not onely a happy instrument of their good but a great ornament to himself and family I shall conclude this passage with a saying of St. Augustine Si vis pervenire ad id quod non es semper displiceat tibi quod es Si dixeris sufficit periisti If you would attain to what you are not let it grieve you that you are as you are that is no better You are undone if you think that what you are is sufficient 11. In the eleventh place Be sure that after all these questions be strictly asked and seriously answered you make it your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your very work to be thankfull for all Gods mercies otherwise why do you keep such a Journall In every thing give thanks saith the Apostle for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you It is ordained by the Rabbins as some observe who write the History of the Jews that they should say a benediction and render particular praise and thanks to God for every benefit they receive not onely for every extraordinary mercy that befalls them but in every action that they do for their meat drink and every good smell for all the precepts of the Law and of the Rabbins for every new thing and every strange thing that befalls them And certainly where God is never weary of giving his people should never be weary of thanksgiving God delights much in the praise of his servants He loves a cheerfull giver but much more a cheerful thanksgiver Give God thanks for all things but especially for these foure 1. For Jesus Christ and the unsearchable riches of Gods grace in him which is the fountain of all the good we enjoy or hope to enjoy who was by God made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him He that knew no sin in the act knew all sin in the weight He that knew no sin by commission knew all by imputation The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Who made peace for his people by his death and maintains this peace for them by his intercession he died once but he prays ever his passion is over but not his compassion for he stands between us and all our harms and will at last reward every one according to his works Cyrus in a great expedition against his enemies the better to encourage his Souldiers to fight in an oration that he made at the head of his Army promised upon the victory to make every Foot-souldier an Horseman and every Horseman a Commander and that no Officer that did valiantly should go unrewarded But Christ our Generall doth promise more He that overcometh shall sit with me in my throne as I overcame and am set with my Father in his throne He will make us all Kings Oh therefore be thankful for Jesus Christ It is our sorrow or should be our shame that we cannot be thankful for Christ as we ought It is our comfort and shall be our happinesse that one day we shal be Eternity of time I confesse is little enough to be thankful in for Christ all the rich incomes we have with him but endevour whilest you are here to be thankfull for him and certainly he that cannot be thankful for Jesus Christ can never be thankfull for any mercy 2. Be thankfull for afflictions Blesse God for every twig of his rod every drop in his cup. He holds the rod and the cup in the same hand by which he gives you Jesus Christ yea he afflicts you with the same love with which he gives you any good Afflictions are evill many and evill saith Father Jacob to Pharaoh have the dayes of my life been But being sanctified they are necessary So St. Peter to those he wrote his Epistle now for a season if need be you are in 〈◊〉 through many tribulations Even the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—e are sometimes like a top that will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—hen it is whipt we will not mend our pace and râ—n the wayes of Gods 〈…〉 without the rod. Some stories say that there was a King of Scotland that whilest he was a prisoner in Mortimer's hole he scraped the History of Christs passion in the stone wall which was more then ever he did in his palace Afflictions wil make us run to God In their affliction saith God of his people they wil seek me early that is speedily and instantly Out of the depths saith David I cryed unto thee O Lord. Deep afflictions should raise up strong affections The Ark was neerest heaven when the waters of the stood were highest Afflictions meeting with a gracious temper will melt the heart and make it tender and humble and the lowest humility is neerest the highest majesty Aâ—iâ—â—ippus the Cynicke fell on the ground before Dionâ—sius and kissed his feet when he presented a Petition to him and being askt the reason answers Aures habet inpedibâ—s He hath his ears in his feet Never doth a poor prostrate soul brought down to extremity seek Gods face with prayers and tears in vain but meets with a gracious answer Now if afflictions sanctified be so good then surely you should be thankfull for them this being one eminent excellency that praise hath above prayer that we may praise God for that for which we may not pray though we may not pray for afflictions yet we must blesse God for them Job did so The Lord hath taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord. When one came to Mr. Bradford and told him that if he would recant he should have the Queens pardon he answered If the Queen will let me live I will thank her if she will banish me I will thank her if she will
Lord of Israel the kindnesse of thy youth the lose of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wildernesse in a land that was not sown Our first works and our last works are commonly our best works when we begin first to live the life of grace and when we are ready to die and are entring upon the life of glory how excellent is our marriage how savoury our words how heavenly our conversation Even so it is when we are delivered from any great danger when enlarged with any singular comforts how lively how zealous and how active are we Call to minde the fifth of November 1605. when we were delivered from that barbarous Gunpowder-treason how forward were we in making laws against Papists how severe in suppressing Jesuites how zealous in setling true Religion Iâ— Iâ— reported of the City of Berne when first delivered from Antichrist when that State cast off that Romane bondage and reformed Religion that they wrote the day of their Redemption upon pillars in letters of gold And it is observable that in all the ages of the Church God hath set out himself to his people by such names and titles as were most suitable to his present dispensations or such as were of the last edition And why so But that his late mercies might be the better considered and remembred Hence in the beginning he was called the most high God the possessour of heaven and earth who had made all by the word of his power Under those times Melchisedech blessed Abraham Blessed be Abraham saith he of the most high God possessor of heaven and earth And Abraham covenanted to take nothing from the King of Sodome and that under these terms I have lift up my hand unto the Lord the most high God possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take from a thread to a shoe-latchet and that I will not take any thing that is thine Afterwards when God entred into a covenant with Abraham and his seed he was called the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And under those titles God gave his charge to Moses when he sent him to bring his people out of the Land of Aegypt I am the God of thy Father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. After that he was called the God that brought them out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of bondage Such was the preface to his law I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of bondage And so it continued for many generations even until he brought them out of Babylon And then saith the Lord It shall be no more said The Lord liveth that brought them out of the land of Aegypt but The Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of the North. And now under the Gospel he is known by this most excellent name The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ And why so But because our redemption by Christ is the last and the great work he hath done for his Church and most fresh in our memories Whilest therefore mercies are fresh and work most upon the heart doe something in remembrance of Gods goodness and why not then write them downe in a Journall A small matter I should think whilest the heart is warm and well affected with the present sense of some singular pledge of Gods loving kindnesse may easily perswade to this duty 5. And finally love the Lord for his goodnesse If any thing under heaven will constrain us and help forward this duty love will Oh! love the Lord all ye his Saints saith the Psalmist And indeed none but Saints can love him He knocks at every dore and as it were pulls every man by the sleeve and saith Oh! love you the Lord Let the drunkard love his cups and the adulterer his harlots and the covetous person his bags but do you that are Saints love the Lord. For the Lord preserveth the faithfull and pletifully rewardeth the proud doer When one bucket goes downe the other will come up When Pharaoh is drowned Israel is saved When Haman is hanged Mordecai is advanced When proud doers are plagued the faithful are delivered Oh! love the Lord therefore And indeed love is all that God looks at in us and expects from us and where there is love there is no lack After so large a repetition of the great things God hath done for Israel What saith Moses to them doth God now require for all this but that you would love him And indeed love is complementumlegis the fulfilling of the Law Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing saith the Apostle but faith that worketh by love Faith and Love are like a pair of Compasses Faith like one point fastens upon Christ as the center and Love like the other goes the round in all the works of holinesse and righteousnesse Now certainly Love hath a good memory or would have a good memory What we slight we soon forget but what we love we endevour to lay up sure in our memories Vbi amâ—r ibi animus Where our love is our minde is Where our treasure is there will our heart be It was the eye that made the match That which which the eyesees not the heart desires not And as love came in by the eye so it delights by the same dore to look after that beloved object Such a soul that hath seen God in all things and therefore loves God above all things delights still to look after God in all his wayes that he may love him more and more Such a soul loves God as Jonathan loved David 1. Amore unionis with a love of union the soul of Jonathan was knit to David for he loved him as his own soul 2. He loved him amore complacentiae with a love of delight for it is said that Jonathan delighted much in David 3. He loved him amore benevolentiae with a love of good will for Jonathan said to David Whatsoever thy souldesireth I will even do it for thee Even so doth a gracious heart love God not onely with a love of union and a love of delight but with a love of good will too who saith to God as Paul at his conversion Lord what wilt thou have me to do Such an one is ready to suffer what ever may be inflicted on him and to do what ever may be required of him especially whatsoever may testifie how well he remembers God and his loving kindnesse to him CHAP. VIII Severall arguments propounded by which Christians may be provoked to keep such a Journall or Diary as hath been commended THat such Christians as have any abilities for the keeping of such a Journal or Diary as hath been commended to them may be encouraged thereunto I shal in the second place propound these foure arguments First it is
God hath not onely enough in himself to enable him unto all this for he is the only wise and almighty God but he hath also enough to encline him thereunto for he is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort Yea he hath enough to engage him for he is in covenant with us and that covenant is under seal that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation 4. It will much enlarge our hearts in kindnesse and compassion to our brethren for because as the Psalmist saith our goodnesse cannot extend to God it shall to the Saints that are in the earth And surely he that loveth God loveth him also that is begotten of God And sucâ— love to the Saints is very profitable 1. For the present for it is a good evidence that we are past from death to life because we love the brethren He that loveth not his brother abideth in death 2. For the future it shall be remembred and rewarded at the last day For Christ will say to such In as much as ye did all this to one of these my Brethren ye did it unto me Come ye therefore ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world 5. The keeping of such a Journall especially if we look often into it and read it over will be a notable means to encrease in us that self-abasement abhorrency of spirit that is most acceptable in the sight of God The more we look upon the loving kindness of the Lord the more vile shall we be in our owne eyes When I consider saith David the heavens the work of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained What is man that thou art mindsull of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him Alas man is not onely srail as a creature but filthy also as a sinner yet the riches of Gods grace overlooks â—all so that God will bestow his thoughts upon him and visit him We may be very mindful of such as we do not we cannot visit but God will do both David in another place goes a step higher What is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the Son of man that thou makest account of him Man is like to vanity his days are like a shadow that passeth away Man is not worthy that God should cast an eye upon him and make any account of him and yet the highest Lord will take knowledge of the lowest worm Majesty will make some reckoning of meanness Oh! how will the serious survey of such a Journal abase the soul before the Lord When David did but tell Mephibosheth what he would do for him and he cryes out from the sense of his owne vilenesse What is thy servant that thou should look upon such a dead dog as I am A dog yea a dead dog What more vile in the world But when God told David how he would build him an house and set up his seed after him he replyes Who am I and What am I that thou hast brought me hitherto And this was yet but a small thing in thy sight O Lord but thou hast spokâ—n of thy servants house for a great while to come If God be great and good in our eyes we shall be little and vile in our owne sight If God be high in our hearts we shall be as low in our thoughts as we are in our deserts And this will be for our profit for if we be mean in our owne account God will set his heart upon us and magnifie us for as he resisteth the proud so he giveth grace to the humble 6. This Journal with a survey of all the good things God hath bestowed on us and continued to us will much provoke us to thankfulnesse They that have but heard much of Gods goodnesse cannot be unthankfull Indeed they that were born deaf remain dumb they that could never hear can never speak They that could never hear the voyce of the Son of God and live are tongue tyed in his praises But they that have heard of him by the ear seen him by the eye and every day taste of his bounty their mouths will ever run over with thanksgiving Now certainly the more thankfull any man is the more successefull As faith is the way to thankfulnesse so thankfulnesse is the way to thrive It is said that Aaron had on his robe round about a bell and a pomegranate the Bell signified thankfulnesse and the Pomegranate fruitfulnesse He that offereth me prayse saith God glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright I will shew the salvation of God I will not be in his debt but work some great extraordinary deliverance for him Let the people praise thee O God yea let all the people praise thee saith the Psalmist Then shall the earth bring forth her increase and God even our own God shall blesse us Prayers get mercies but praises keep them and enlarge them with a blessing and a little blessed is better then the whole world enjoyed 7. Such a course would very much help our faith Every experiment of Gods former goodnesse is a strong prop for our faith for the future When Moses went up to the Mount to pray for Israel and against Amalek he took the rod of God in his hand And the reason certainly was because by that rod God had done wonderful things for his people and against their enemies as by that he turned the waters into blood by that he brought frogs and lice upon the land of Aegypt by that he divided the waters of the Red Sea And the very fight of that rod did encourage Moses to trust in God for the deliverance of his people and the overthrow of their enemies and that from the experience of his former goodnesse Now questionlesse the best way to be stored with such experiments is to keep such a Journal or Diary by us And who can read such an history but must needs say Why should not I trust to and depend upon such a God at all times and for all things First I say at all times for there is not prius posterius in Deo first and last in God as in man He can do what he hath done I am is his name I have been young and now am old was the language of David but not of David's God Secondly as at all times so for all things for there is not majus minus in Deo not more and lesse in God he can do what he will do he can pardon all sins as well as one supply all wants as well as one subdue all our enemies as easily as one I cannot do as I have done is the voyce of the creature not of the Creator See how Jacob reasons from experience when he blessed Joseph's Son The God which fed me
all my life long unto this day The Angell which redeemed me from all evill blesse the lads Now is not faith a profitable grace Faith is the greatest gather-good in the world What need he care why should he fear what can he want that is rich in faith For rich in faith and rich in God and he that enjoyes God shall inherit all things By this faith strengthened and by so many experiments thus enlarged he may erect a monument and say Hitherto the Lord hath holpen me And thereupon look up into heaven and thus admire at the large allowance that is provided for him there with the Psalmist How great is thy goodnesse O Lord which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee If my friend will give me such entertainmentat an Inne by the way how welcome will he make me when I come to his house If earth be such what is heaven If my comfort in a cottage be so great what are the joys of those everlasting habitations not made with hands but eternall in the heavens where I shall have glory with a double hyberbole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an exceeding weight of glory Oh! that our treasure were laid up in heaven that our conversation were in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Heaven wil make us amends for all but Jesus Christ is better then heaven Jacob's Sons met with hard measure whilest they travelled into Aegypt for food but I am Joseph your Brother and Governour of all Aegypt did abundantly recompense them for all their trouble After all our sorrows and sufferings in this vale of tears Fear not it is I. All power is given unto me your Captain your Brother your Head will satisfie abundantly Paul had a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Riches are good but Learning is better Learning is good but Grace is better Grace is good but Glory in heaven is better Heaven is good but Christ is far better A picture of the globe of the whole earth set out with all the brave things that Sea and Land can afford with this sentence encircling it round To be with Christ is far better is a Christians embleme Indeed Jesus Christ is a Christians heaven in whose presence there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Whither he bring us who hath so dearly bought us to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be given by us and all his Saints all honor and glory now and for evermoâ—e Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christianus gratulabundus Thankfulnes A way to thriue Exod 28. 34. FINIS The Contents CHAP. I. The Preface wherein an entrance is made to the words and the duty of a Journall or Diary is propounded pag. 1 To forget Gods mercies a provoking sin 2 God is very gracious in affording means for the helping of our memories 5 CHAP. II. The matter whereof a Journall or Diary is compounded and first Nationall and publick 14 1. Take notice what Governours have ruled over us Ibid. 2. What Religion was by such countenanced 16 3. How variable the condition of the Times have been 19 4. What remarkable judgemints God hath inflicted upon notorious offenders 22 5. What the Nationall sin for the present generation may be It 's good to know that 25 Some times have been more notorious for Drunkennesse 26 Some for Swearing 27 Some for Pride and Ambition 28 Our generation as some think most guilty of Contention 30 Some think Hypotrisie 33 Some think Apostasie Ibid. Enâ—â—ity against the Kingly government of Christ in his Church is the sin of this age 39 CHAP. III. What personall and private passages of Providence those are which ought to be recorded in our Journall or Diary 48 1. Keep an account of our conversion Ib. 2. Of all divine assistance either for the doing of that which is required or the bearing of such evils as are inflicted 51 3. All deliverances from dangers 55 4. All the men and means God hath used for our good 58 5. All the returns of our prayers 62 CHAP. IV. The manner how a Journall or Diary is to be used and first what is to be done by way of observation 66 1. Labour to see and observe God in all things 66 2. Labour to see and observe all things in God 70 3. Observe the wayes and means by which all good things are conveyed to us 74 1. By Christ savingly 75 2. By the promise certainly 79 3. By the creatures sensibly 85 Wherein observe Gods wisdome in the choyce 1. Of the instruments that are used 86 2. Of the the time 89 3. Of the measure 93 In all which hold fast these three conclusions 1. Where God sees any fit to use more he can afford more 98 2. That it is a mercy when our mindes are conformable to our means 99 3. That God hath many wayes to throw these things in to us and as many to take them from us 100 CHAP. V. The manner how a Journall or Diary is to be used according to the rules of Practise 102 1. Look often upon the Journal and read it over Ibid. 2. Cast up all your wants 105 3. Reckon how many ways those wants are supplyed with other comforts 107 4. Take great notice of the peculiar excellency of all Gods dispensations towards you above the world 109 5. Take heed that the want of some comfort do not rob you of all other 114 6. Reckon much upon what you may want 115 7. Study much the vanity of all Creature-comforts 118 8. Be very moderate in the use of these things 122 9. Trust not too far depend not too much upon men 124 CHAP. VI. More rules of the same kinde that concern our practice 128 10. Ask your own hearts 3 Questions Ib. 1. What honor do I bring to God for all this Ibid. 2. What good do I to my neighbor 131 3. What good do I reap by all for my self 137 11. Labour to be thankfull for all 140 1. Especially for Jesus Christ 141 2. For afflictions 142 3. For preservation from scandals 144 4. For heaven 146 12. Declare to others what God hath done for you to provoke them to blesse God with you and for you 148 CHAP. VII An use of Exhortation wherein Christians are perswaded to keep such a Journall or Diary 150 Directions to further this work 151 1. Often remember your sinful estate 152 2. Remember your low poor estate 155 3. Labour to understand every mercy aright 156 4. Take notice of the actings of God whilest they are new 158 5. Love the Lord for his goodness 161 CHAP. VIII Arguments propounded that may provoke Christians to keep such a