by Faith only a carnal Christian gathereth That good works are not necessary He commends others that do good works but he persuades himself that he shall be saved by his Faith without doing any such matter But he should know that though good works are not necessary to justification yet they are necessary to salvation for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath predestinated that we should walk in them Whosoever therefore in years of discretion bringeth not forth good works after he is called he cannot be saved neither was he ever predestinated to life eternal Therefore the Scripture saith that Christ will reward every man according to his works Christ respects in the Angels of the seven Churches nothing but their works and at the last day he will give the heavenly inheritance only to them who have done good works in feeding the hungry clothing the naked c At that day righteousness shall wear the Crown No righteousness no crown no good works according to a man's talent no reward from God unless it be vengeance To be rich in good works is the surest foundation of our assurance to obtain eternal liâ—e For good works are the true fruits of a true faith which apprehendeth Christ and his obedience unto salvation And no other faith availeth in Christ but that which worketh by love and but in the act of justification that faith which only justifieth is never alone but ever accompanied with good works as the Tree with his fruits the Sun with his light the fire with his heat the water with his moisture And the faith which doth not justifie her self by good works before men is but a dead faith which will never justifie a man's soul before God But a justifying faith purifieth the heart and sanctifieth the whole man throughout II From the Doctrine of God's eternal Predestination and unchangeable Decree he gathereth that if he be predestinated to be saved he cannot but be saved if to be damned no means can do any good Therefore all works of Piety are but in vain But he should learn that God hath predestinated to the means as well as to the end Whom therefore God hath predestinated to be saved which is the end he hath likewise predestinated to be first called justified and made conformable to the Image of his Son which is the means And the saith St. Peter who are elect unto salvation are also elect unto the sanctification of the spirit If therefore upon thy calling thou conformest thy self to the Word and Example of Christ thy Master and obeyest the good motions of the Holy Spirit in leaving sin and living a godly life then assure thy self that thou art one of those who are infallibly predestinated to everlasting salvation If otherwise blame not God's predestination but thine own sin and rebellion Do thou but return unto God and God will graciously receive thee as the Father did the prodigal Son and by thy conversion it shall appear both to Angels and Men that thou didst belong to his Election If thou wilt not why should God save thee III. When a carnal Christian hears that Man hath not free will unto good he looseth the reins to his own corrupt will as tho' it lay not in him to bridle or to subdue it Implicitly making God the Author of sin in suffering Man to run into this necessity But he should know that God gave Adam free-will to stand in his integrity if he would Man abusing his free-will lost both himself and it Since the Fall Man in his state of corruption hath free-will to evil but not to good for in this state we are not saith the Apostle sufficient to think a good thought And God is not bound to restore us what we lost so wretchedly and take no more care to recover again But as soon as a Man is regenerated the grace of God freeth his will unto good so that he doth all the good things he doth with a free-will For so the Apostle saith That God of his own good pleasure worketh both the will and the deed in us who as the Apostle expoundeth cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and finish our sanctification in the fear of God And in this state every true Christian hath free-will and as he increaseth in grace so doth his will in freedom for when the Son shall make us free then shall we be free indeed and where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty for the holy spirit draws their minds not by coaction but by the Cords of Love Cant. 1. 4. by illuminating their minds to know the truth by changing their hearts to love the known truth and by enabling every one of them according to the measure of grace which he hath received to do the good which he loveth but thou wilt not use the freedom of thy will so far as God hath freed it for thou dost many times wilfully against God's Law to the hazard of thy Soul that which if the King's Laws forbid under the penalty of death or loss of thy worldly Estate thou wouldst not do Make not therefore thy want of free-will unto good to be so much the cause of thy sin as thy want of a loving heart to serve thy heavenly Father IV. When the natural man hears that no man since the Fall is able to fulfil the Law of God and keep all his Commandments he boldly presumes to sin as others do he contents himself with a few good thoughts and if he be not altogether as bad as the worst he concludes that he is as truly regenerate as the best And every voluntary refusal of doing good or withstanding evil he counts the impossibility of the Law But he should learn that though since the Fall no man but Christ who was both God and Man did or can perfectly fulfil the whole Law yet every true Christian as soon as he is regenerated begins to keep all God's Commandments in truth though he cannot in absolute perfection Thus with David they apply their hearts to fulfil God's Commandments always unto the end And then the spirit of grace which was promised to be more abundantly poured forth under the Gospel helpeth them in their good endeavours and assisteth them to do what he commands them to do And in so doing God accepteth their good will and endeavour instead of perfect fulfilling of the Law supplying out of the merits of Christ who fulfilled the Law for us whatsoever wanteth in our obedience And in this respect Saint John saith that God's Commandments are not burthenous And St. Paul saith I am able to do all things through the help of him that strengtheneth me And Zachary and Elizabeth are said to walk in all the Commandments of the Lord
of the sacred names of God but we should thereby be put in mind of his goodness unto us and of our duties unto him And then should we find how comfortable a thing it is to do every thing in the Name of God A phrase usual in every man's tongue but the true comfort thereof through ignorance known to few men's hearts It is a great Wisdom and an unspeakable matter for the strengthening of a Christian's Faith to know how in the mediation of Christ to invocate God by such a Name as whereby he hath manifested himself to be most willing and best able to help and succour him in his preseâ—t need or adversity The ardent desire of knowing God is the surest testimony of our love to God and of Gods favour to us Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deilver him I will set him on high because he hath known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him c. And it is a great strengthening of faith with understanding to begin every action in the Name of God Thus far of the nominal Attributes The real Attributes are of two sorts either absolute or relative The absolute Attributes are such which cannot in any sort agree to any Creature but to God alone These are two simpleness and infiniteness Simpleness is that whereby God is void of all composition division multiplication accidents or parts compounding either sensible or intelligible so that whatever he is he is the same essentially It hinders not God's simpleness that he is three because God is three not by composition of parts but by co-existence of Persons Infiniteness is that whereby all things in God are void of all measure limitation and bounds above and beneath before and after From these two do necessarily flow three other Absolute Attributes 1. Vnmeasurableness or ubiquity whereby he is of infinite extension filling heaven and earth containing all places and not contained of any space place or bounds and being no where absent is every where present There are four degrees of God's â—resence the first is universal by which God is repletively every where inclusively no where Secondly Special by which God is said to be in Heaven because that there his Power Wisdom and Goodness is in a more excellent manner seen and enjoyed as also because that usually he doth from â—hence pour forth his Blessings and Judgments Thirdly more special by which God dwelleth in his Saints Fourthly more special and altogether singular by which the whole fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in Christ bodily 2. Vnchangeableness whereby God is void of all change both in respect of his Essence and Will. 3. Eternity whereby God is without beginning of days or end of time and without all bounds of precession or succession Thus far of the absolute Attributes now of the relative or such which have reference to the Creatures Those are five 1. Life 2. Vnderstanding 3. Will. 4. Power 5. Majesty 1. THe Life of God is that by which as by a most pure and perpetual Act he not only liveth of himself but is also that ever and over-flowing Fountain of life from which all Creatures derive their lives so as that in him they live move breath and have their being And because only his Life differs not from his Essence therefore God is said only to have Immortality 1 Tim. 6. 16. 2. The Vnderstanding or Knowledge of God is that whereby by one pure act he most perfectly knoweth in himself all things that ever were are or shall be Yea the thoughts and imaginations of Mens hearts This Knowledge of God is either general by which God knoweth simply all things eternally the good by himself the evil by the good opposite to it imposing to things contingent the Lot of contingency and to things necessary the Law of necessity And thus knowing all things in and of himself he is the cause of all the knowledge that is in all both Men and Angels Or secondly special called the knowledge of approbation by which he particularly knoweth and graciously acknowledgeth only his Elect for his own Vnderstanding also contains the Wisdom of God by which he most wisely created all things of nothing in number measure and weight and still ruleth and disposeth them to serve his own most holy purpose and glory 3. The Will of God is that whereby of necessity he willeth himself as the soveraign good and by willing himself willeth most freely all other good things which are out of himself The Will of God though in it self it be but one as in his Essence yet in respect of the diversity of Objects and Effects it is call'd in the Scriptures by divers names as 1. Love whereby is meant God's eternal good Will whereby he ordaineth his Elect to be freely saved through Christ and bestoweth on them all necessary graces for this life and that to come taking pleasure in their persons and services 2. Justice is Gods constant Will whereby he recompenseth Men and Angels according to their works punishing the impenitent according to their deserts called the justice of his wrath and rewarding the faithful according to his promises called the justice of his Grace 3. Mercy which is God's mere Good Will and ready affection to forgive a penitent sinner notwithstanding all his sins and ill deserts 4. Goodness whereby God willingly communicateth his good with his Creatures and because he communicates it freely it is termed grace 5. Truth whereby God willeth constantly those things which he willeth effecting and performing all things which he hath spoken in his appointed time 6. Patience whereby God willingly forbeareth to punish the wicked so long as it may stand with his justice and until their sins be ripened Ad poenam tardus Deus est ad praemia velox Sed pensare solet vi graviore moram 7. Holiness whereby God's Nature is separated from all prophaneness and abhorreth all filthiness and so being wholly pure in himself delighteth in the inward and outward purity and chastity of his servants which he infuseth into them 8. Anger whereby is meant God's most certain and just Will in chastening the Elect and in revenging and punishing the Reprobate for the injuries they offer to him and his chosen and when God will punish with rigour and severity then it is termed Wrath temporal to the Elect eternal to the Reprobates 4. The Power of God is that whereby he can simply and freely do whatsoever he will that is agreeable to his nature and whereby as he hath made so he still ruleth heaven and earth and all things therein This Almighty power of God is either absolute by which he can will and do more than he willeth or doth Matth. 3. 9. and 20. 53. Rom. 9. 18. Or actual
Belly his God his Lust his Law as in his life he sowed vanity so he is now dead and reapeth misery In his prosperity he neglected to serve God in his adversity God refuseth to save him And the Devil whom he long served now at length pays him his wages Detestable was his life damnable his death The Devil hath his Soul the Grave hath his Carcass in which Pit of Corruption Den of Death and Dungeon of Sorrow let us leave the miserable Caitiff rotting with his Mouth full of Earth his Belly full of Worms and his Carcass full of Stench expecting a fearful Resurrection when it shall be re-united with the Soul that as they sinned together so they may be eternally tormented together Thus far of the miseries of the Soul and Body in Death which is but cursedness in part Now follows the fulness of cursedness which is the misery of the Soul and Body after Death Meditations of the misery of man after death which is the fulness of Cursedness THe fulness of cursedness when it falls upon a Creature not able to bear the brunt thereof presseth him down to that bottomless deep of the endless wrath of Almighty God which is called the damnation of Hell This fulness of cursedness is either particular or general Particular is that which in a less measure of fulness lighteth upon the Soul immediately as soon as she is separated from the Body For in the very instant of dissolution she is in the sight and presence of God For when she ceaseth to see with the organ of fleshly eyes she seeth after a spiritual manner like Stephen who saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand Or as a Man who being born blind and miraculously restored to his sight should see the Sun which he never saw before And thereby the testimony of her own Conscience Christ the righteous Judge who knoweth all things makes her by his omnipresent Power to understand the doom and judgment that is due unto her sins and what must be her eternal state And in this manner standing in the sight of Heaven not fit for her uncleanness to come into Heaven she is said to stand before the Throne of God And so forthwith she is carried by the evil angels how came to fetch her with violence into Hell where she is kept as in a Prison in everlasting pains and chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great Day But not in that extremity of torments which she shall finally receive at the last Day The general fulness of cursedness is in a greater measure of fulness which shall be inflicted upon both thy soul and body when by the mighty power of Christ the supreme Judge of heaven and earth the one shall be brought out of Hell and the other out of the Grave as Prisoners to receive their dreadful doom according to their evil deeds How shall the reprobate by the roaring of the Sea the quaking of the earth the trembling of the Powers of heaven and terrours of heavenly signs be driven at the worlds end to their wits end Oh what a woful salutation will there be betwixt the damned Soul and Body at their re-uniting at that terrible Day O sink of Sin O lump of Filthiness will the Soul say unto her Body how am I compelled to re-enter into thee not as into an habitation to rest but as a Prison to be tormented together how dost thou appear in my sight like Jephthah's Daughter to my greater torment Would GOD thou hadst perpetually rotted in the grave that I might never have seen thee again How shall we be confounded together to hear before God Angels and Men laid open all those secret sins which we committed together Have I lost Heaven for the love of such a stinking Carrion Art thou the flesh for whose pleasures I have yielded to commit so many fornications O filthy Belly how became I such a Fool as to make thee my God! How mad was I for momentany joys to incur these torments of eternal pains Ye rocks and mountains why skip ye so like rams Psalm 144. 4. and will not fall upon me to hide me from the face of him that comes to sit on yonder throne for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Rev. 6. 16 17. Why tremblest thou thus Earth at the presence of the Lord and wilt not open thy Mouth and swallow me up as thou didst Korah that I be seen no more O damned furies I would ye might without delay tear me in pieces on condition that you would tear me into nothing But whilst thou art thus in vain bewailing thy misery the Angels hale thee violently away from the brink of the Grave to some place near the Tribunal Seat of Christ where being as a cursed Goat separated to stand beneath on Earth as on the left-hand of the Judge Christ shall rip up all the benefits he bestowed on thee and the torments he suffered for thee and all the good deeds which thou hast omitted and all the ungrateful villainies which thou didst commit against him and his holy Laws Within thee thine own Conscience more than a Thousand Witnesses shall accuse thee the Devils who tempted thee to all thy lewdness shall on the one side testifie with thy Conscience against thee and on the other side shall stand the holy Saints and Angels approving Christ's Justice and detesting so filthy a Creature behind thee an hideous noise of innumerable fellow-damned Reprobates tarrying for thy company Before thee all the World burning in flaming fire above thee an ireful Judge of deserved Vengeance ready to pronounce his Sentence upon thee beneath thee the fiery and sulphureous mouth of the bottomless pit gaping to receive thee In this woful estate to hide thy self will be impossible for on that condition thou wouldst wish that the greatest Rock might fall upon thee to appear will be intolerable and yet thou must stand forth to receive with other Reprobates this thy Sentence Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels Depart from me There is a separation from all joy and happiness Ye cursed There is a black and direful Excommunication Into fire There is the cruelty of Fain Everlasting There is the perpetuity of punishment Prepared for the Devil and his Angels Here are thy infernal tormenting and tormented Companions O terrible Sentence from which the condemned cannot escape which being pronounced cannot possibly be withstood against which a Man cannot except and from which a Man can no where appeal so that to the damned nothing remains but hellish torments which know neither ease of pain nor end of time From this Judgment-seat thou must be thrust by Angels together with all the damned Devils and Reprobates into the bottomless lake of utter darkness that perpetually burneth with fire and brimstone
pretence of my Calling and Office robbed and purloined from my fellow Christians yea I have received and suffered Christ where I was trusted many a time in his poor members to stand hungry cold and naked at my Door and hungry cold and naked to go away succourless as he came and when the leanness of his checks pleaded pity the hardness of my heart would shew no compassion Where I should have made conscience to speak the truth in simplicity without any falsehood prudently imaging aright and charitably conâ—â—â—ing all things in the best part and should have defended the good name and credit of my Neighbour alas vile wretch that I am I have belyed and slandered my fellow-brother and as soon as I heard an ill report I made my tongue the Instrument of the Devil to blazon that abroad unto others before I knew the truth of it my self I was so far from speaking a good word in defence of his good name that it tickled my heart in secret to hear one that I envied to be taxed with such a blemish tho' I knew that otherwise the graces of God shined in him in abundant measure I made jests of officious and advantage of pernicious lies herein shewing my self a right Certain rather than an upright Christian And lastly O Lord where I should have rested fully contented with that portion which thy Majesty thought mâ—â—râ—st to bestow upon me in this Pilgrimage and rejoyced in anothers good as in mine own alas my life hath been nothing else but a greedy lusting after this Neighbours house and that Neighbours land yea secretly wishing such a man dead that I might have his living or office covâ—â—iâ—g rather those things which thou hast bestowed on another rather than being thankful for that which thou hast given unto my self Thus I O Lord who am a carnal sinner and sold under sin have transgressed all thy holy and spiritual Commandments from the first to the last from the greatest unto the least and hear I stand guilty before thy Judgment-seat of all the breaches of all thy laws and therefore liable to thy curse and to all the miseries that Justice can pour forth upon so cursed a creature And whether shall I go for deliverance from this misery Angels blush at my Rebellion and will not help me Men are guilty of the like transgression and cannot help themselves Shall I then despair with Cain or make away my self with Judas No Lord for that were but to end the miseries of this life and to begin the endless torments of hell I will rather appeal to thy Throne of Grace where mercy reigns to pardon abounding sins and out of the depth of my miseries I will cry with David for the depth of thy mercies Though thou shouldest kill me with afflictions yet will I like Job put my trust in thee Though thou shouldest drown me in the Sea of thy displeasure with Jonas yet will I catch such hold on thy Mercy that I will be taken up dead clasping her with both my hands And though thou shouldest cast me into the bowels of Hell as Jonas into the belly of the Whale yet from thence would I cry unto thee O God the Father of heaven O Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the World O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier three Persons and one eternal God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner And seeing the goodness of thine own Nature first moved thee to send thine only begotten Son to die for my sins that by his Death I might be reconciled to thy Majesty O reject not now my penitent Soul who being displeased with her self for sin desireth to return to serve and please thee in newness of life and reach from Heaven thy helping hand to save me thy poor servant who am like Peter ready to sink in the Sea of my sins and misery Wash away the multitude of my sins with the merits of that Blood which I believe that thou hast so abundantly shed for penitent sinners And now that I am to receive this day the blessed Sacrament of thy precious Body and Blood O Lord I beseech thee let thy holy Spirit by thy Sacrament seal unto my soul that by the merits of thy Death and Passion all my sins are so freely and fully remitted and forgiven that the curses and judgments which my sins have deserved may never have power either to confound me in this life or to condemn me in the world which is to come For my stedfast faith is that thou hast died for my sins and risen again for my justification This I believe O Lord help mine unbelief Work in me likewise I beseech thee an unfeigned repentance that I may hearâ—ily bewail my former sins and loath them and serve thee henceforth in newness of life and greater measure of holy devotion And let my soul never forget the infinite love of so sweet a Saviour that hath laid down his life to redeem so vile a sinner And grant Lord that having received these seals and pledges of my Communion with thee thou maiest henceforth so dwell by the Spirit in me and I so live by faith in thee that I may carefully walk all the days of my liâ—e in godliness and piety towards thee and in Christian love and charity towards all my Neighbours that living in thy fear I may die in thy favour and after death he made partaker of eternal life through Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen 3. Of the means whereby thou maiest become a worthy Receiver THese means are duties of Two sorts the former respecting God the latter our Neighbour Those which respect God are Three First sound Knowledge Secondly true Faith Thirdly unfeigned Repentance That which respecteth our Neighbour is but one sincere Charity 1. of sound Knowledge requisite in a worthy Communicant Sound Knowledge is a sanctified understanding of the first Principles of Religion As first Of the Trinity of Persons in the unity of the God-head Secondly Of the creation of Man and his Fall Thirdly Of the curse and misery due to sin Fourthly Of the Natures and Offices of Christ and redemption by faith in his death especially of the doctrine of the Sacraments sealing the same unto us For as an house cannot be built unless the foundation he first laid so no more can Religion stand unless it be first grounded upon the certain knowledge of God's Word Secondly If we know not God's Will we can neither believe nor do the same For as worldly businesses cannot be done but by them who have skill therein so without knowledge must men be much more ignorant in divine and spiritual matters And yet in temporal things a Man may do much by the light of nature but in religious misteries the more we rely upon natural reason the further we are from comprehending spiritual Truth Which discovers the fearful estate of those who receive without knowledge and the more