that thou art engaged in Magna silentii laus est quo confessus est Aron justo Dei judicio extinctos esse ita se cohibitum fuisse ut cum Deo rixari non auderet Ad animum enim refertur ut Psal 39.3 Psal 62.1 Calv. in loc Ephes 2.12 Qui extra foedus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est sine Deo à se culto à se amato eoque propitio nonbabet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jus sibi vendicandi postulandi possidendi quod est filiorum Dei Coc. de foeder Testamento Dei. Thes 1. §. 7. prevail not let not thy heart rise against it Aaron had a great tryal Levit. 10.13 He lost two Sons by an immediate stroke of Gods hand in an act of sin and yet Aaron held his peace A higher tryal had Abraham O that Ishmael might live in thy sight The Lord answers my Covenant will I establish with Isaac Abraham knew that there was no salvation out of Covenant and that this Covenant should not be established with Ishmael and yet he sits down in silence under the hand of God If once the will of God be manifested the soul ought to acknowledge it It is the Lord let him do what seems him good This was the blessed temper of Ely when he heard of the miseries that should come upon his house I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy fathers house and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever 1 Sam. 2.31 Brachium ipsa materia cogit ut de fortitudine vitali sermonem esse intelligamus Cajet Descriptio est eripiendi sacerdotii quod illius familiae robur erat firmamentum dignitatem authoritatem tuam Pontificiam auseram c. P. Martyr A Lap. Se tantis opibus spoliatos prae dolore deficiant propter excitati animi dignitatem invidia contabescant and he that is left in thy house shall be to consume thy eyes and to greive thy heart yet he answers it is the Lord. 3. Exercise a weaned heart towards thy present enjoyments It may be thou hast lost an estate thy freinds fail thy hopes are faln God hath blown upon all the projects that thy heart did fancy to thy self for thy own advancement thy heart ought to be as a weaned * Significat se nullius rei esse sollicituÌ„ infantis instar quem mater lacte alere desut ille tamen à matris cura pendet sic se omnem eventum Deo committere c. Muis in loc child Psa 131.2 It s spoken in reference to his dependencies that as children look only to their mother they have no projects for themselves so it is with me I wait only upon God look unto him only Homines quaÌ„ par est sapere providi esse appetunt Calv. Men are prudent and provident creatures but my heart is taken off from the dug of all my former comforts my dependencies are upon an immediate providence for supply I project nothing for my self The poor leaves himself with thee Psal 10.14 So much the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth fignifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est ita quempiam relinquere ut eum juvare aut tueri prorsus dimisit Psa 22.1 Job 39.14 Ezech. 8 12. His verbis signific dandum esse tempus Providentiae ut pii homines curas in Dei finum rejiciant Deo igitur relinquit quisquis in ejus fidem se ita consert ut fidele depositorium esse persuasus maturum redemptionis tempus placide expectet Cal. a man puts himself out of his own protection into the hands of God with an exclusive resolution I will seek no farther I am willing to be in that condition in which he will set me take the provision the Lord will make for me If he will make me a Shepherd or a King my heart is ready Vis me pastorem ovium vis me Regem populorum ecce paratum est cor meum as Bernard brings in David so speaking of himself 4. Accept the punishment That is the expression Levit. 26.41 If their uncircumcised heart be humbled and they * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat consentit Psa 50.18 acceptavit Eccles 9.7 hinc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derivatur Avernar A Sept. reddit per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat etiam placavit expiavit Esay 40.1 inde sensus est ad poenam tanquam meritam consentire ut propitiam utilem aequo grato animo ferre Videtur etiam subjicere studium placandi Deo alludit enim ad sacrificia quibus se Deo reconciliabant Calv. Esay 39.8 Lam. 3.22 Gen. 32.10 accept the punishment the word signifies to be well pleased with it to acknowledge it to be less then their iniquities deserve Ezra 9.13 As when the Lord threatned a grievous punishment upon the house of Hezechiah He accepts the punishment saying good is the Word of the Lord that there shall be truth and peace in my dayes And when they were in Babylon they acknowledge it is the Lords mercy that we are not consumed And if a man should accept it for himself I conceive it also a Duty to accept the punishment for others and not to have his spirit to rise with impatient frettings as if the Lord had dealt with others in a way of rigour and paid them beyond their deserts Surely there ought to be a complacency of soul in all the dealings of God towards our selves or others An humble heart is less then the least of all Gods mercies And a man should bless God that he is not brought into the lowest condition of men that he sees any creature below him As when the two Cardinals were riding to the a Luther in tertium praeceptum Ecce hanc bestiam bufonem intuitus tam eximiam creaturaÌ„ fecit â—e Deus nunquam gratias egi quod me quoque tam deformem bufonem non fecerit hoc est quod amarè fleo Councel of Constance they heard a man in the way weeping and wailing greatly asking him what he alled they found him looking upon an ugly Toad and his heart was melted with the consideration of this mercy that God had not made him such a creature who was made of the same clay with it Which made one of them cry out well said the Father Surgunt indocti rapiunt coelum nos cum doctrinis nostris volutamur in carne sanguine Aug. 5. Judge it to be best now the will of God is manifested or else thou dost prefer thy will above Gods will Blush at such an unworthy thought that when God hath declared what his will is thou shouldst think that if it had been thus it had been better for herein thou dost make thy will the Rule of goodness and dost prefer it unto the will of God Surely The b Psal 24.1 principes non cogitent se dominos esse terrarum
Hebrews 2 7 146  16 81 11 25 228  26 ibid. 12 23 30 13 18 64 James 1 18 81 2 19 49 3 13 168. See margent 4 15 140 See marg in p. 141. 1 Peter 2 2 22 3 15 15 2 Peter 1 19 20 2 2 149 1 John 5 19 219 Jude 0 11 326 Revelation 1 13 267. 268 6 12 192 11 1 295  15 162  19 188 13  183  2 193  3. 8 185  16 181   See mar 15 7 111  8 186 16 1 190  8 ibid.  9 293 17 3 161  13 184  17 33 19 13 107  14 112 A TREATISE Shewing the subordination of the will of MAN unto the will of GOD. Acts 21.14 And when he would not be perswaded we ceased saying the will of the Lord be done CHRISTS going forth in the Gospel is compared unto the Lightning which cometh out of the East and shineth unto the West Luc. 17.24 That is 1. Repentè suddainly unexpectedly when there was the saddest and darkest night upon the world when the world in wisdome knew not God 1 Cor. 1.21 then did the Light of the glorious Gospel break forth 2. Celeritèr swiftly the Gospel did pass through the world with incredible speed as Lightning out of a Cloud as an Arrow out of a Bow Rev. 6.2 Psal 45.5 that they were subjected to it ere they were aware 3. Vniversaliter generally the Lightning is not seen in one place only but it inlightens the whole heavens so it was with the Gospel it spred over the whole world Rom. 10.18 4. Irresistibiliter irresistibly it s observed of the Lightning Aristâ—dâ— Meteor it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is of a kind of spiritual nature of which there is no resistance if it meet with a subject that yields it will insensibly pierce it without prejudice but if with a subject that opposeth it will melt it so it is with the Gospel the word of the Kingdom wheresoever the light of it shines forth A very glorious accomplishment of this Scripture we have set before us in this book of Acts which contains the labour and travels the sufferings and successes of those blessed Instruments which the Lord did first employ to spread the savour of his knowledge in every place But Paul being the most eminent instrument and as it were a chosen shaft in the Lords hand Esay 49.2 1 Cor. 15.10 for he laboured more abundantly then they all therefore in this book chiefly his Preachings Travels and Sufferings are recorded concerning whom looking upon that as a Motto spiritus Pauli exemplum Ministri before I come to the words of the Text I cannot pass by four things which I find by Chrysost observed First De laudibus Pauli 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. his spirit he describes in two things 1. He feared nothing but sin to displease God and to dishonour him was only terrible unto him 2. He prized nothing in comparison of the love of Christ and Communion with him he chose rather the lowest condition with his love then the most eminent condition without it to see his face was his heaven and it was even hell to him to be deprived thereof Secondly His sufferings for Christ were his pleasures his delights he could take pleasure in infirmities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the more he did suffer the more was his spirit inlarged unto suffering and he came out of every tryall with a new resolution and readiness of mind unto suffering when we have escaped a danger we commonly resolve to take the more care for time to come and so by every cross our fear is encreased but Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by every cross his courage was raised and he came off from suffering with a new desire and readiness to suffer again Thirdly the aym and bent of his spirit was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only to offer up himself body and soul as a living sacrifice but his constant aym and daily labour was to offer up to God the whole world as a sacrifice and therefore laboured in the conversion of so many severall Nations unto God preaching the Gospel where Christ was not named Fourthly for his labour he was unwearâ—ed in it for the happy accomplishment of that end he was abundant in the work of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he went over the greatest part of the world as if he had wings and laboured without cessation as if he forgat whether he were in the body setting no bounds to his labour but his life This glorious instrument in the hand of the Spirit was in an eminent manner guided by the Spirit in all his wayes carrying him to those places where he had any service to imploy him in and when the work was done by the guidance of the same Spirit he was removed to another place Sometimes the Lord sends him from Ierusalem that he might bear his name before the Gentiles Act. 22.18 and sometimes the Spirit forbids him to preach the Gospel in Asia and when he did assay to preach the Gospel in Bithinia the Spirit suffered him not Acts 16.6 7. Then he hath a vision Acts 16.9 in which a man of Macedonia saith come down and help us Thus he spent his dayes in planting and confirming the Churches At this time by the direction of the same Spirit he was engaged to go to Jerusalem Behold now I go bound in the Spirit Non levitate vel temeritate quadam motus eò proficiscor sed fortiter à spiritu sancto impulsus acsi vinculis quibusdam injectis cò traherer Sicut per vincula iniquitatis spiritualis peccati captivitas notatur Glass Rhet. sacr p. 414. Spiritus validè me impellit sicut nubes aguÌ„tur vento ut ei alligatae videantur A lap in loc Acts 20.22 That is by speciall direction from the Spirit à Spiritu impulsam as if the Spirit went with me thither and I were bound up with the same Spirit As watry vapours bound up in the Clouds are carryed about with them so was Paul bound up in the Spirit who is the Prorex in the government of Christ and hath an eye to the affairs of his Kingdom all the world over This Spirit having clearly revealed Gods mind unto the Apostle concerning this service and by a strong impulse subdued his heart thereunto he is therefore said to go bound in the Spirit to whatsoever service or suffering the Lord would call him But this instinct and motion of the Spirit met with great opposition First when he came to Tyre he met with certain Disciples that did say to him by the Spirit Fratribus istis quid futurum sit Dominus revelavit interea vero quid postulet vocatio Pauli nesciunt non eo usque extenditur doni mensura c. Cal. 1 King 13.18 Facilis
a Covenant the consent of the Creature is necessarily included Burg. vin dic legis p 121. The terms of the Covenant are offered to him and subjected to his choyce Neither dare I embrace that Doctrine that Adams consent was not necessary unto the first Covenant because he was bound to accept what God did require for he was bound freely to consent to the terms of the Covenant as he was bound freely to obey the precepts of the Law but yet his consent did constitute a Covenant between God and him which else had remained a Law only That God did indent with Adam as a publike person the word is clear and that Adam knew upon what terms he stood or else he was ignorant of the nature of his Covenant which were dangerous to affirm and so did neither know the necessity of his obedience nor the danger of his fall Now when the soul doth chuse the will of God as best and best for him herein doth his subjection to the commanding will of God further consist 3. Intentio est in aliud tendere inde pertinet ad id quod movet ad finem est ergo actus voluntatis Aquin. 1. 2ae q 19. a. 7. Intentâ—o electio sunt idem motus fed in 〈◊〉 distinguuntur quod intentio primò sertur in finem deinde in media electio vero primò attingit medium deinde finem Medina 1. 2ae q. 12 a. 4. Psal 17.3 Acts 11.23 Intentio The intention of will The Law being consented to as good and chosen as best for us then the aym and the bent of the will is to walk in all things according to this Rule It is that which he intends in his whole course Paul proves the goodness of his conscience by this Heb. 13.18 That he was willing in all things to live honestly This was the constant intention and bent of his will and when the Saints do otherwise it is praeter intentionem for they are stedfastly purposed to keep his Precepts and with full purpose of heart they cleave to God when they fall they are overtaken Gal. 6.1 It is by way of surprize as that which they intended not I do that which I would not Rom. 7.19 Therefore the regenerate part which is born of God doth not sin It may be over-born by the flesh and led Captive but it consents not to it The bent and intention of the will is against it all the while Daven in col 1 10. Sufficit quod praecesserit illa intentio in habitu retineatur licet in singulis actibus non cogitetur c. Some of our Divines do distinguish between an habitual and an actual intention and they say though there cannot be always an actual intention of God and his glory yet there must be always an habitual a constant purpose of obeying God and submitting to his Law in every thing for the power of Grace cannot stand with a purpose of sinning 4. Imperium Homo non agit ex necessitate naturae sed liberè sc modò rationali hoc est modo imperii Ad imperium requiritur dictamen ultimum intellectus practici stante efficaciâ imperii voluntas liberè movetur Cumel de volunt p. 50. The power and the command of the will The will is the leading faculty it hath a strang ruling power over the man it commands all the faculties of the soul Imperio politico all the members of the body Imperio despotico It commands the understanding to search the memory to retain the affections which are as it were the ebbings and flowings of the will to go out towards those objects the will is set upon If the will move towards any object the eye looks the hand works the feet haste towards it with all manner of readiness and unweariedness because the will commands it We have all known how powerful the commands of the will were and how unwearied in ways of sin Mich. 7.7 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ad malum manus 〈◊〉 reddun sc aptaâ— peritas 〈◊〉 Merde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. when we did evil with both hands earnestly fulfilling the wills of the flesh and of the mind Therefore Rom. 7.5 Sin is compared to a Husband and the Soul to a Wife because the will of sin is the law of the soul And as it is in sin so t is in Grace also Grace being the Law of the mind Rom. 7.23 And the end of the Law is Obedience Now though Grace be in the whole soul yet the Commanding power of it is chiefly in the will For Grace doth act in the soul according to the nature of every faculty In the understanding searching into the will of God as the Rule of Duty in the memory laying up the Commandments as the greatest treasure I have hid thy Law in my heart In the affections also the soul goes out to it Oh how do I love thy Law thy precepts are my delight I hope in thy word I have rejoyced in thy Testimonies more then in all riches But the commanding power over all these comes from the will therefore the Law of the minde is mainly seated in that faculty which commands the man Now when this imperium of the will is exercised over the whole man for the Law of God bringeth all into subjection thereunto as the Rule of Duty then is mans will brought into a perfect and compleat subjection unto the will of God Vse If the power of godliness doth mainly consist in the subjection of our will to the commanding will of God This serves as an Exhortation mainly to place your Religion therein Godliness consists not in reasoning and Disputing but in willing and doing when there is much inquiry what the will of God is with a resolution of will not to do it that the Lord hates as they did in Jeremiah 42.5 6. The Lord be a true and a faithful witness between us say they to the Prophet If we do not according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us whether it be good or whether it be evil we will obey the voyce of the Lord our God and yet after so solemn calling God to witness upon their souls they say Jer. 44.16 The word that thou hast spoken unto to us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken to it but we will certainly do whatsoever goeth out of our own mouth To enquire what the will of God is as a Rule of Duty to no other end but with the greater obstinacy to oppose it and neglect it is the greater abomination and the Lord abhors it To enforce this Exhortation of subjecting our wils to the commanding will of God we may take these considerations 1. Consider The Commands of God are the highest testification of the soveraignty of God The Lord hath an absolute soveraignty over the Creatures He is the only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords
is as well King of Nations as King of Saints and his glory is as well seen in his providential as in his spiritual administrations So do the Saints see him with a spiritual eye even then when he doth arise to shake terribly the Earth Hab. 3.3 4. It s spoken of the Lords going forth for his people in their deliverance and for the destruction of their Enemies Manus pro actionibus quae manibus ut plurimuÌ„ perficiuntur 2 Sam. 22.17 Esay 20.2 Hag. 1.1 Glass Rhet. Sacr. p. 9. Cornu significat 1. Robur potentiam ita Calv. in hunc locum potentiam Metaphoricè per cornua designat sc splendorem hunc cum potentia conjunctum fuisse 2. Radium cornui sunilem rutilantem cornua radii sunt quales emittere solent cornua spendentia Drus Tarnov His brightness was as the light and he had horns coming out of his hands there was the hiding of his power By these hands of the Lord is meant his administrations dispensations and actions in the world the hand being the instrument of action therefore all things below are called the work of his hands Psal 8.6 The horns that come out of his hand are interpreted to be radii or splendores raies or beams of light which were as it were horns The same word is used of Moses Exod. Dicit potentiam ejus absconditam esse quia nolebat Deus promiscuè per totum orbem virtutem suaÌ„ palam facere sed peculiariter populo suo Quemadmodum dicitur Ps 31.19 magnitudinem bonitatis ejus absconditam esse solis fidelibus qui eum timent reverentur Calv. 34.29 His face did shine the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies horns and so the vulgar renders it quod cornuta esset facies ejus So that the Lord in all his dispensations was glorious His works had a lustre beams a brightness that went with them and yet there was the hiding of his power That is he doth so work by instruments and second causes that his hand is not seen but by a spiritual eye yet to him that hath such an eye the hand of the Lord is exceeding glorious There are horns come out of it but there is a latibulum potentiae in all the dispensations of God towards the men of the world Now to see horns in the hand of Christ to see him glorious in his administations even when his power is hid from the rest of the world under instruments and second causes this is the duty of all the Saints So doth the Church Isaiah 63.1 2. * Non agit de Christo patiente iram Dei placante sed de Christo Rege suos potentissime ab hostibus externis liberante contra cos defendente c. Tarnov exercit Bibli p 418. c. Who is he that comes from Edom with garments died from Bosrah glorious in his apparel c. To see the Lord cloathed with a Vesture dipt in blood and his name called the word of God Revel 19.13 His name was the Word of God * Antealudibrio pene habuit verbum Dei acsi tantum essent magnifica verba sed sub phiala septima mysterium Dei consummatuÌ„ erit tunc maximè florebit Divini verbi authoritas coÌ„stantissima ejus veritate in singulis perspecta Brig in loc from the beginning but then he was the Word revealing and discovering the promises and the truths of God but now he is the Word of God fulfilling and accomplishing of them A place parallel to it is Exod. 6.3 By the name Jehovah I was not known to them The Lord was known by the name Jehovah when he did give a being to the promises so Christ was then called the Word of God but then he did manifest himself to be Jehovah when he did fulfil these promises To see the Lord glorious in his administrations however they be cloathed by instruments and second causes to rejoyce in all appearances of Christ is our duty though they be terrible to the rest of the World Whatsoever †Amictus quidam gloriae Dei in ultione adversus hostes Metaphorâ ab Heröe armis induto in arenam adversus hostes descendente desumptâ Glass Rhet. Sacr. p. 160. Esay 63.1 apparrel he goes forth in he is infinitly glorious 9. When the will of God is manifested the soul should keep it self from all disquieting passions all unpleasingness of spirit whatsoever When I once see it is the will of God I will not grudge at it I will not mourn under it as if I would have it otherwise only I will mourn for my sin that hath been the cause of it This was Davids case for his child his heart was set upon him 2 Sam. 12.20.21 David acquiescit sententiae quaÌ„ definitivam facto ipso intellexit agnita voluntate Dei acquicscunt sancti Lavit se David ut ingrederetur Templum Dâ—mini ille percusserat non tamen euÌ„ habuit pro hoste suo sed accedâ—t eum adorat supplex c. Petr. Martyr and he prayed earnestly for him with fasting yet the child must die and assoon as he saw the will of the Lord was manifested he mourns no more but with a submissive spirit stoops under it A man should not continue the disquiet of his spirit when the will of God is manifested but with all meekness acknowledge his wisdom and submit to his will It is an evil that the Lord reproves in Samuel 1 Sam. 16.1 How long wilt thou mourn for Saul seeing I have rejected him that he should not raign over Israel The sentence of Sauls rejection was gone forth from the Lord and made manifest unto Samuel Vâ—detur quod illicitus fuit iste planctus nisi Samuel ignorasset reprobationem Saulis Pro hoc lugâ—hâ—t Samâ—â—l quia definiâ—â—at Deus eum abâ—icere noluissâ—t tamen Samuel quâ—d 〈◊〉 Saul Lititus tamen fuit quia lagebat solum ex quadam compassione ut patet de poenis damnatorum aeternaliter quia nulli licet pro â—is orare â—â—â—tum autem est pro illis dolere nihil orando Tostat in 1 Sam. 15.9.41 though he was not as yet removed from the Government of the Kingdom no not in many years after Now Samuel mourned for him because he was rejected of God but when the will of God was made manifest for him to disquiet and trouble himself therein as if all the future happiness of Israel depended upon this one man and that he did not rather look out Audiverat Samuel Domini sentenam de Saule exauctorando tamen non potest primo intuitu quinam id fiat animadvertere Agnoscens unctum Samuel Dei mandato non potest repentè reverentiam illi abjicere Non satis in peculiari hoc facto animadvertit quid à se Deus postuinret sc Deum ut agnosceret velle Saulis abrogare imperium quod dederat quia ipsius voci non obtemperasset Calv. homil in
sect 18. p. 317. Glass Rhet. sacr p. 46. Periculosum est sibi placere cui cavendum est superbire Ille autem qui super omnia est non extollit se nobis namque expedit Deum nosse non illi unde patet quod Deus suam gloriam non quaerit propter se sed propter nos Aquin. 2. 2ae q. 132. ad 1um Eo fortior adversus â—aeli minas surge cum mundus undique exarserit cogita te nihil habere de tanta mâ—le perdendum Sen. q. nat l. 2. c. 59. Psa 76.10 Necesse est omnes homines quantumvis feroces furentes tibi cedere si quid furoris adhuc vertet ita coercet ut erumpere non possit Muls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sym. either essential and so his glory is himself which no man hath seen nor can see or manifestative the shining forth of his excellency in the discoveries of his Attributes Now that the glory of the Lord might shine forth as the Sun though all the Stars be eclipsed he is well pleased If the Lord please to make me a footstool that he himself might be exalted into his own Throne I rejoyce in my own abasement If he will get himself a name by the shaking of the earth and heavens by the overthrows of Kingdoms as he will do by the general conflagration of the world at the last day a Saint can with rejoycing stand upon the ruines of all things and say I have lost nothing my end is secured God that made all things for himself he rules all things for himself he will provide for his own glory in the midst of all the tumuls and turnings that are below Now if he will cause light to shine out of darkness and win to himself glory by working a harmony out of the discords of the Creatures Finis solus in mediis amari debet ergo finis solum est ratio motiva voluntatis media qua talia tantum terminativa Scot. disp 3.8 Gibeuf de libertate creat l. 1. cap. 11. §. 2. in this I can and will rejoyce This is indeed the great happiness of a Saint though in his inferior ends he may miscarry yet he is always secured in reference to his utmost end Whereas all ungodly men as they many times fail in their subordinate ends so they always miss of their utmost end and therefore must needs be miserable for the rule is finis ultimus perficit tam agentem quam actionem Omnis finis secundarius ex ultimo acquirit perfectionem Keker log de fin c. 18. Therefore nothing can make a man happy but the securing of his utmost end And nothing can make a man miserable but his missing of his utmost end While a man therefore sees that to thrive and prosper God answering cardinem desiderii as Austin speaks of prayer though he fails in many other things which he in his judgement conceived necessary means conducing thereunto yet he is fully satisfied and well pleased 2. The power of godliness consists much in self resignation unto God and the happiness of the Saints is Fuerunt aliis hominibus cum Ethnicis tum Christianis loca quaedaÌ„ exstructa reditus constituti ad pauperum relevandom miseriam is cui haec provincia demandata fuit dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum parvuli vel parentibus erant orbati vel publicè expositi à parentibus non agniti Greg. Tholoss Synt. juris l. 15. c. 28. Pupillus est 1. Qui omni hominum praesidio caret ope humana destituitur 2. Qui suae ignorantiae nuditatis inopiae conscius est 3. Qui se totum curae tutoris sui committit ac proinde humilis est à tutoris metu mandatis solus pendens Tarnov in Lam. 5.3 Zanch. in Hose 14.3 to be in themselves fatherless to be put out of their own protection and provision Hosea 14.3 The Church is described leaning upon her beloved Cant. 8.5 her support is out of her self there she takes up her repose Psal 10.14 The poor leaves himself with thee they commit their souls unto him in well doing 1 Peter 4.19 And they commit their wayes Psal 37.5 to him in the issues and successes of them Now a man that does commit all his own and the Churches affairs into the hands of God brings all to him and leaves them with him let him do what seems him good which way soever God casts it his soul is satisfied and he is quiet under his dispensations Grace makes a man solicitous for nothing but duty as it makes a man to fear nothing but sin It is never troubled about events but when the duty is done though the event answers not his desires he can as well quiet his soul in God as if he had had all the success in the world So doth the Lord Jesus Christ Isai 49.4 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signinificat laborem cum singulari molestia conjunctum A Septuag redditur per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 uti Hab 2.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est humor nativus in quo vigor robur corporis consistit qui à laboribus assiduis indefessis deficit exarescit I have laboured in vaine one word signifies to labour with a mans might with his utmost diligence even unto faintness and weariness and the other word doth signifie humidum radicale It is the same word that Christ useth Psal 22.15 My strength is dried up like a Postsheard and yet even in that labour the event and the success is exprest to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for confusion which he intended for preservation and for destruction which he intended for edification yet my work is with the Lord and my reward with my God †Bis glorificatur Deus si votis successus respondeat sed ubi nihil omiserint verbi ministri non est cur eos poeniteat Deo placuisse Calv. A soul by reason of this self resignation can sit down satisfied and give up himself to God as freely having done his duty as if the success had answered his desires So may a faithful Minister lie down in his grave and yield up his soul 2 Cor. 2.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Vterque Deo gratus est odor quo electi recreantur in salutem quo reprobi enecantur Et si Deo suavis est odor nobis quoque esse debet abunde sufficere si justam reprobis damnationem afferendo Dei gloriam promoveat Calv. with as much comfort as if the people had been gained So may a gracious magistrate as if the people had been preserved and established And in this mainly doth the power of grace consist it enables a man to resign all things The state of Churches Kingdomes Families into the hand of that God unto whom he hath committed his soul and he is as truly quieted in Gods disposing of the one as the other 3.
The power of godliness is mainly seen in a mans submission unto the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat doctrinam Evangelicam instar typi cujusdam esse cui innitamur ut ejus figurae coÌ„formemur Beza Ita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sumitur Heb. 8.5 Grot. A gracious heart is moulded to it as it was begotten by it Rom. 6.17 And the word is the Scepter of the providentiall as well as of the spiritual Kingdom the Lord rules all things by his word in the world as well as in the hearts of the Saints For as he hath stretched forth the expansum of the Heavens over the natural M. Tho. Goodwin Ep. Dedicat to the return of prayers Psal 149.9 Judicium scriptum intellige mandatur divinum quod iis arma haec pro libertate seu potius pro regno Christi propugnaâ—do amolificando induit Non suae rationis sed Dei jud cum scriptum exequi debent Jer. 1.10 Vendicat Deus summum imperium sermoni suo tantae est virtutis potentiae ut emineat supra omnes mortales nedum supra unam gentem Calv. Rev. 19.15.21 Verbum gladio comparatur propter vim pentrandi Heb. 4.12 propter vim nocendi Mat. 10.34 Glass Rhet. Sacr. p 397. Edvardus sextus Angliae Rex cum coronationis die tres gladii ei offerrentur in signum quod brium regnorum Monarcha esset respondit unum gladium adbuc deesse sc volumen saâ—rorum Bibliorum ille inquit gladius spiritus est omnibus his longe anteserendus Wolfius lect memoral cent 16. An. 1550. so he hath the expansum of the word over the rational world As appears by comparing Rom. 10.18 with Psal 19.23 Now as they rejoyce to see the word to run and be glorified in the souls of men when they believe which is Christs spiritual Kingdom so likewise when great things are accomplished by it in the world which is Christ providential Kingdom We see Psal 29. the great effects of the Word in the dispensations of providence in the world The word of the Lord is powerful it is full of majestie it breaketh the Cedars it maketh the mountaines to skip like a calf Lebanon and Syrion like a young unicorn c. Therefore in all the great changes that Christ makes in the world when he hath accomplished them all then his name is called the word of God Revel 19.13 And the sword by which he destroys his enemies is the sword that goes out of his mouth The Saints delight to see the word of God prosper and prevail Dan. 9.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He hath caused his word to arise when the word doth not lie despised but is exalted by the wonderful effects that are wrought by it the Saints receive therein abundance of satisfaction because they are the Rules of this word into which their hearts are moulded Not only as governing the spiritual but also the providential Kingdom 4. The power of godliness lies mainly in emptying a man of his own ends Sin lies mainly in ends and in that also doth the main of godliness lie Rom. 14.8 Now a man that is Gods servant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vobis tantum vestro commodo spectatis non quomodo mihi obsequamini sed tantum quomodo vestro morem geratis animo Yarnov must have no ends of his own As he must do his masters work so he must aym at his masters end or else he is his own servant his own will he doth and not his masters As it appears in the instance of Iehu and in their fasting Zach. 7.5 When you fasted did ye at all fast to me even to me did you not fast to your selves and eat and drink to your selves God owns nothing as a sacrifice unto him in which his end is not sought Now a man that hath no ends of his own how will he be pleased to see Gods ends prosper and to be effected and there is nothing makes a mans spirit bitter when Gods work is finished but when a man hath missed his end in it Hab. 2.1 I will stand upon my watch-Tower and see c. Every godly man hath a watch-Tower * Militis personam gerit consisto super munitionem id est verbum Dei à mea parte stat quo confido cui credo unde loquoâ— aliis praedico Si enim ille nutaverit qui verbi dux adservator esse debeat tum actum est vexillum succumbit vigil interemtus est Luth. Sâ—abo in specula mea id est in prophetiae meae sublimitate Jerom. Some understand it to be verbum Dei I will look into the word and observe there how God accomplisheth all things and brings them to pass and how his works are a fulfilling of his word But †Si quis propius expendat rationem Metaphorae facile intelliget speculam esse recessuÌ„ mentis ubi a mundo nos subducimus c. Si non statim apparuerit aliquid spei tamen non frangar animo neque deseram staioneâ— meam Calv. others understand it to be recessum mentis a mans own retiring thoughts and meditations the observations of a gracious heart The Saints by the word can discern what purposes and designs God hath upon the world and they observe how by his works he doth go on to effect and accomplish these designs Now to stand by Hoc sanctis Angelis gaudium affert quod diabolo regnum minuitur Deo verò regnum augetur vide quanta sit humana malitia iniquitas propter quoà Angeli benedicunt Deo laetantur homines murmurantes invidia flagrant Stella in loc 15.10 to retire a mans self and observe how in Gods workings thorough all the confusions of the world he doth accomplish his own purposes and that they are all turned about to bring to pass what he hath determined should be done thus to see Gods ends accomplished a Saint can exceedingly rejoyce in it This is the very joy of the Angels and Saints in Heaven and whosoever hath no ends of his own he must needs rejoyce to see God in his workings bring to pass his ends Vse 1 First It reproves all those that profess godliness and yet their wils are exceeding opposite unto the will of God and his dispensations in the world God works but they cannot approve it they would have it otherwise if it were in their power And this is a temper of Spirit that may befal a gratious man We see it did Jonah chap. 4. God had caused a gourd to spring up in a night and it was a present convenience unto Ionah for it was a shelter unto him from the Sun and he sate under the shadow of it this gourd the Lord smote by a worm at the root and it withered For this act of God Ionah is angry Non ignorat Deum loqui tamen non deponit animi serociam cum semel
and scandalous falls And yet this hath been the condition of some of the most eminent Saints as David Solomon Sampson and Peter c. 3. The Lord doth suffer his people to lie under the power of the temptations of Satan which I confess is a very great misery so to be subjected unto an unclean spirit that he should have access unto our spirits and a mans heart should be as an Anvil for the Devil to form and fashion his lusts upon It was one of the greatest abasements of Christ that his holy and gracious Spirit should be subjected at least to the cursed and blasphemous injections of Satan but the Prince of this world came and found nothing in him but he doth seldom come near us but he doth touch us 1 Joh. 5.19 tactu qualitativo for there is nothing that Satan can suggest but there is a seed and a principle in us and so far as it takes with the seed there is something in us that windes with it it is as well Partus cordis as Seminarium hostis And therefore although it be a distinction which some Divines do use that if there be no consent on our part it is our misery but not our sin yet I conceive it is a hard thing for a soul to satisfie himself in this that there being a corrupt principle in men which doth close with every thing that Satan caâ— inject that there is nothing in me thaâ— doth close with such a temptation 〈◊〉 and its so much the more misery because it is an act and fruit of that ancient selling of our selves unto Satan and therefore it is just with God in a degree to leave the best of the Saints under his power for Quod vendituâ— transit in potestatem ementis But seeing it is the will of God and a mans duty to submit and to gird himself unto the battel though we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spirituaâ— wickedness in heavenly places Eph. 6.12 yet we are to fight the good fight of faith go forth under the banner of Christ who hath promised to tread Satan under foot shortly Rom. 16.20 Christ was led of the Spirit into the wilderness How did the Spirit lead him by sweet and secret motions Christ having received the Spirit as an unction this same Spirit was the guide of his way the ordererâ— of all the acts of his humane nature so he is also the guide of our ways â—nd the guidance of this Spirit Christ doth follow and though he meet with a temptation yet doth he submit to the permitting will of God therein 4 If the Lord will let wicked men rule over you if he will leave you in their hands will let out their rage and malice upon you that they shall shew you no mercy Tread you down as mire in the streets as Nebuchadnezzar is said to receive a command to do to Ierusalem Isa 10. yet it is your duty to conform your wills unto the permitting will of God If the Lord luster the Caldeans and Sabeans to plunder Iob of his goods and leave him poor to a proverb He must say The will of the Lord be done the Lord hath given the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord If the Lord will suffer Shimei to curse David in the day of his extremity and to rail upon him as a bloody man David must say Let him alone the Lord hath bidden him and if so Who shall say why dost thou so 2 Sam. 16.10 Though the Lord be not the author yet he is the ordereâ— of sin and it s he hath now let ouâ— this evil therefore look not at the instrument in it but at the hand of God so doth Christ if the cup may not pass from him but he must be delivered into the hands of men and be crucified holy Father not my will but thy will be done And this same is the case in the Text concerning Paul if the Jews shall take him and deliver him unto the Gentiles and they shall put him to death surely they could not do any such thing if the Lord did not suffer it therefore our will must not oppose Gods will but we ought to say The will of the Lord be done 3. Now we come to the grounds and reasons of the point that we may from hence see what of godliness there is in it to have our will brought into a conformity unto the permitting will of God 1. The more self-denial there is in any thing the more of the power of Grace there is exprest in it for self-denial in any man is the measure of all the grace that is in the man as self-seeking is the measure of all the corruption for the body of siune in a man is nothing else but self-exalted above God Therefore Christ rule is Matth. 16.14 Let a man deny himself Penitus abneget self must be denied in every consideration in every respect therefore Jesus Christ that was the pattern of all grace he was the great pattern of self-denial and hath left us a Copy therein to write after him 1 Pet. 2.21 He came not to do his own will nor to seek his own glory but as a Servant to be wholly at the will and the command of another Now Divines commonly say that there is a threefold self that is respectively to be denied First there is Self as corrupted sinfull Self Secondly Self as created natural self Thirdly Self as renued moral religious self Now to deny self-natural is more then to deny self-sinfull because that is not absolutely to be denied but in comparison to deny moral-self is more then to deny natural self because that is not to be denied but when it comes in competition Now this conformity of our will unto the permitting will of God exercises self-denial in all these First a man must deny natural self If God will have a man subject it under the power of wicked men or will leave him to be hurried in his person or estate by the power and according to the lust of the devil and the Lord will suffer it stand by and look on and not come in for his his help Now a man may lawfully yea he is bound in duty to seek his own preservation as Christ that he might not be delivered into the hands of unreasonable men He prayed to his Father and yet the Lord did not deliver him and he gave them power to apprehend him and did not interpose Now the will of nature gives place unto the will of duty and Christ says Not my will but thy will be done It s God that hath given Satan this power to men and therefore who am I that I should say Why dost thou so Secondly A man must deny renewed-self and truly grace in the man is dearer to him then his life he would be content to lose his life that he may maintain and perfect his grace It is the divine nature the Image of Christ begun in
poison into a most excellent medicine how to profit his people by their lying under the power of ungodly men making them the Scullions to wipe them even as a man would wipe a dish He knows how to refine them by that fire which they thought would have consumed them and he doth sit by as a refiner and he will suffer them to lie in the fire no longer then till they are refined He knows how to work his own end out of all these permissions For all the permissions of God are in design for a time till he hath accomplished his own purpose Isa 10.12 Till I have wrought my good work upon Sion And be assured the permissions of God shall be means to destroy sin as well as his Sanctification and the Enemy shall be as well destroyed by his permissions as by his executions Cuâ— off in their own malice ensnared in the works of their own hands The Lord will surely accomplish the ends of his permissions but they shall never accomplish their ends and determinations There is nothing the Lord permits but he will bring good out of it and he knows how to do it His permission of sin was an occasion of bringing in a better Covenant a more glorions head a higher righteousness a greater Sonship a more excellent name and he that can bring so much good by the permitting the worst of evils we need not fear but he can bring very great good also out of the temptations and out of the sufferings of the Saints 3. A man should not fret and be impatient but labour for a calm and quiet spirit under it because it is the will of God to suffer it and had not he suffered it it had never been There is as truly a principle of quietness in the permitting will of God as there is in the commanding and effecting will of God do not impatiently and discontentedly reason why doth the Lord suffer it to be thus It was that which David did quell in his followers when they would presently have taken off Shimet's head he answers the Lord hath bidden him and who shall say Wherefore hast thou done so 2 Sam. 16.10 Therefore Psal 37.7 his counsel is Fret not because of the man that prospers in his way against the man that bringeth wicked devices to pass God suffers Satan to infest thee and wicked men to oppress thee take heed of an unquiet Spirit under it for the permitting will of God acts as truly for the good of his people as his effecting will And it is part of that portion which the Lord doth make over to them when he saith I will be thy God whatever is in God is theirs and works for them though for the present it seems to make against them David in this bewails his own folly that his soul was not quieted under the permissions of God and therefore doth set himself before us as an example afterwards for a pattern of patience to be imitated and a pitch of patience to be attained when as he was before in his distemper foolish and as a beast before God 4. A man should not only desire that the commanding will of God might stand but his permitting will also and a man should desire onely to be delivered with a subjection to his will So Christ saith in his subjection to the will of God in Pilats condemnation of him John 19.11 Thou couldst have no power over me unless it were given thee from above It is only the permitting will of my Father which hath put this power in thy hands and if it be his will that I shall be delivered into your hands I do not desire that this permission of God should be taken off until his time is I can with satisfaction and contentment lie down under it If it be not his will that this cup pass his will be done Use Let us then endeavour that the power of grace in us may appear in submission unto the permitting will of God There should be no testimony of Godliness in the power of it but a Godly man should search to find it in himself and if he doth not find it he should labour after it James 1.4 Let patience have its perfect work There is a perfect work of grace in the hearts of all the people of God not perfect in this life as it is in heaven but yet there is a fulness of the age of the stature of Christ in this life Now look what power grace hath had in any mans heart the same we should desire it might have in ours not only subduing our wills to the commanding but also to the permitting will of God in all things For it is true we know in part and many things we do not beause we know not A Gracious heart his care is to keep his eye open for every new discovery of truth and he carries with him a resolution to walk answerably thereunto when once it is made known to him by the Spirit of Revelation Now the arguments to inforce it are these 1. As it comes from God it is good For the will of God is the rule of goodness and it is onely good It is true that the things willed are not good and therefore as it is sin the Lord doth not will it but suffer it but yet though sin be not good yet it is good that God should glorifie himself and work his own ends not only out of the services but also out of the sins and the contrary actings of the Creatures 2. To be given over unto a contradicting spirit to dispute against any part of the will of God is one of the greatest plagues that a man can be given up to Who art thou that replyest against God Rom. 11. Either against the will of his purpose in his decrees or else the will of his precept in his commands or against the withdrawings of grace in his permissions there is scarcely a greater plague then to be given over to a gainsaying spirit To call the actions of God into question in either of these it is a sin that is commonly reproved Isa 1.5 All the day long I have stretched out my hand against a disobedient and gainsaying people And it s the Judgement that the damned in hell are given up to they are acted by a gainsaying spirit Therefore Luke 16.29 30. Abraham saith They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them But Dives saith Nay Father Abram if one rise from the dead again they will repent The best way to bring them to Repentance saith Abraham is to hear Moses and the Prophets Nay saith Dives the best way to bring them to repentance is by one rising from the dead again And if an Angel or a Saint from heaven should preach to men they would dispute and resist So men do against the permitting will of God Why doth God suffer this he can hinder sin if he would Qui non vetat peccare cum potest jubet He that
against God with a high hand is proudly to sin against him Now as humility is the measure of all grace so pride is the measure of all sin therefore Psal 19.13 David doth express presumptuous sins which are in degree next the great transgression by a word which signifies Ab insolentibus so Montanus Ab superbiis so others Now is there a higher pride in the world then this for a man to stand it out with God Whether Gods will or his will shall stand Whether God shall command as he pleaseth or I obey as I please Whether God shall Rule the world or I shall rule the world Either what will please God or what will please men And therefore the Prophet resolves all opposition unto the will of God unto this Ier. 13.17 If you will not hear my soul shall weep in secret for your pride There cannot be a higher discovery of pride in any of the sons of pride then this therefore the greater the sin is 4. This shews that there is but little dominion or authority that grace hath in the soul Grace sets up the Kingdom of Christ in the heart where it is and Christs kingdom is mainly exercised over the spirits of men It is not in meat and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost therefore Prov. 16.32 It is said He that rules his spirit is better than he that wins a City Men generally strive for authority though few use it well when they have it there is a government that all should exercise a rule over your own spirits Now so much grace as there is in any man so much authority and rule that man hath over his own soul he that hath no rule in himself but it breaks forth into contention and disorder upon all occasions that man hath no grace in him Grace calls first for a wel-ordered soul and afterward for a well-ordered conversation And if it be so great a matter to rule the tongue that he that seems to be religious and bridles not his tongue that mans Religion is in vain it is much more to rule the spirit to set up the government of Christ in the inward man 5. It is the Devils way of sinning and it is the Judgement he is given up unto he is a restless and unquiet spirit goes about like a roaring Lion always acting in opposition unto God in way of revenge always fretting at the dispensations of God in the government of the world Matth. 12.33 He seeks rest and he finds none Ever restless under any of Gods dealings and this is his Judgement and the greatest torment that now he hath beside a certain expectation of Judgement that the Lord hath given him over to a spirit of opposition and that in a constant and a restless way and this is the Devils Hell Tolle propriam voluntatem non erit infernus So Bernard therefore on the contrary Uno posito ponitur alterum Set up a mans will against Gods will and deliver him over thereunto and it will be an hell unto that man 6. It is a fearfull Iudgement from the Lord for to be as the troubled sea that cannot rest Isaiah 57.20 There is no peace saith my God unto the wicked It is spoken upon occasion of the return of the people out of Babylon as appears verse 14. Cast cast ye up prepare the way of my people take away the stumbling block the Lord will not contend for ever neither will he be alway wrath Being returned the Lord doth promise to send them the Gospel the Messengers of Peace the Ministers of God shall now speak peace to them who did before speak error and the fruit of it shall be a constant peace and quietness in their own consciences for God would create the fruit of the lips peace peace The repetition notes excellentiam seu abundantiam Ier. 7.4 The temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord that excellent Temple where the Lord promiseth his presence should be for ever and it should be called by his name Isa 28.16 Behold I lay in Zion Musad Musad a foundation a foundation a glorious an excellent a sure foundation And the repetition also notes Continuationem Deut. 16.20 That which is Justice Justice shalt thou follow That is indesinenter sectaberis Thou shalt wholly constantly and continually follow that which is just So here he will create the fruit of the lips peace peace it notes a glorious and an eminent peace that God would give them in their own spirits and it should be a constant a setled peace not to be disquieted any more But after this return when the Lord should speak this peace to his own people yet the hearts of wicked men should have no peace they should be like the raging sea that cannot rest It notes their own inward unquietness Affectibus suis afflatu malorum Spirituum agitati floret After they are returned out of the captivity and there was peace to the Saints even then there should be no peace to the wicked Though they be not disquieted by enemies as winds from without yet as the Sea they shall disquiet themselves by their own inward motions and estuations There is an offence that men take sometimes at the word of God sometimes at the works of God At his word Hos 14.9 There is a path that the upright shall walk in and transgressors shall fall in There are some passages in the word that the Saints themselves do sometimes stumble at in scandalum This is a hard saying who can hear it but ungodly men stumble at them in ruinam There are also some works of God at which men are offended stumbling Providences either when they are above mens apprehensions the wheels being lifted up from the earth or beyond mens expectations Matth. 13.21 When persecution ariseth for the words sake by and by they are offended So Christ saith Matth. 11.6 both in respect of his word and works Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me There are as great snares of Satan and as great Judgements of God laid in scandals as in any thing in the world beside and therefore men ought to take heed how they take offence because there is a bait in it in which they may in judgement be insnared and taken It is an observation much to be confisidered that if Satan woul instill in the hearts of men any evil impression concerning any truth of God he doth usually bring it in by some Providence of God that men may take offence at we see it in the Gaderens Math 8.31 If thou cast us out suffer us to go into the heard of swine Ut eos jactur a porcorum ad maledicendum Christo impelleret that they may never desire his company and preaching more that brought so great a loss upon them and though it was the devils desire yet the Lord doth somtimes grant it as he did his request against Iob for his owne just and
great ends thereby to try and prove the obedience of the Saints such works are a stumbling block unto ungodly men and thereby a great difference is put betwixt them and others It is as great a judgment to stumble at the works as it is at the word of God 2. We are to consider the dangerous use that the devil makes of an unquiet spirit he loves it being unto him a sutable habitation Ephes 4.27 Let not the sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devill If once a mans spirit be in a disturbed frame there is a doore set open for Satan to enter at and the use that he doth make of such a frame of spirit is commonly this 1. He doth hereby keep the soul in a continual tumult that a man shall not be able to make a supplication unto God it shall disturb him in all his duties See it in Jonah ch 4. v. 2 3. when his spirit was in an unquiet frame see what an angry pecvish prayer he made and offers up unto God No man is fit to have communion with God that hath not the command of his own spirit 2. Another use the devil makes of it is this to imbitter a man against God and all the Instruments that God doth use This we finde to be in Saul 1 Sam 16.14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord vexed him So that all the actions that afterward he did were by the impulse of the evil Spirit It is observed by Interpreters that this was a perverse and melancholy temper into which Saul was cast by Satan through the just Judgement of God It was saith Peter Martyr something more then natural Vel si antea in eo fuerit â bono Spiritu reprimebatur It is reported of Dioclesian the Emperour out of meer melancholy and discontent he gave over the Government of the Empire and be took himself to a private life because he could not root out the Christians whom with the uttermost violence he had persecuted This was the Judgement that befell Nebuchadnezzar for seven years he lived the life of a beast and was banished the society of men secundum imaginationem suam though not secundum imaginem And therefore Ierome observes his figure and shape was not changed for he saith My understanding returned unto me Ostendit non formam se amisisse sed mentem he lost not the shape but the understanding of a man being given up to a melancholiness and madness delivered over to a delusion and rage of the unclean spirit Suitable to which the Lord threatens Deut. 28.28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness and with blindness and with astonishment of heart To be delivered over to the discontents of a mans spirit is the next way thereunto There is a degree of madness in all the ways of sin There is madness in the heart of a man while he lives Eccles 9.3 And these were not Judgements proper and peculiar to those times but such as the Lord will inflict also in all Ages suitable to their discontents But in an especiâ—â— manner this is to be taken noticeâ—â— in the fourth and fifth Vial when the Vial is poured out upon the Sun Rev. 16.9 Men were scorched with heat and blasphemed the name of God There is no element whose torment is so exquisite as that of fire as Herodotus reports of the Atlantici men that live under the South Pole qui omnibus diris solem execrantur because they are scorched by it therefore it is called the Torrid Zone The Holy Ghost notes by it as Brightman observes Mirae inusitatae erunt acerbitates a strange kind of bitterness of spirit shall be poured out upon men in Judgement So in the fifth Vial which is upon the Seat of the Beast Men shall gnaw their tongues for pain and blaspheme the God of heaven Gnaw their tongues prae rabie furore their grief and rage shall be such as they shall gnaw their tongues and gnash their teeth as wicked men in hell are said to do yet this is the plague that shall follow they shall blaspheme the God of heaven Non est existimandum apertam fore blasphemiam It shall not be open direct blasphemy but as Antichrist doth open his mouth against God his name his worship his tabernacle his Church and his Saints they that dwell in heaven To be given up to either of these is the common use the devill makes of all the discontents of the spirits of men at any of the dealings of God 3. Satan makes use of it to this end to make their lives uncomfortable for they have no peace in their dayes no comfort in their callings because their wills are engaged against the will of God and God carries on things against them and they cannot attain their end but every thing in providence falls cross and therefore they are exceedingly displeased they have no joy in their lives for men may rise up to such discontent that their very lives may be a burthen to them Psalm 112.10 The horne of the righteous shall be exalted with honour the wicked shall see and gnash their teeth and melt away The word in the original signifies to melt by degrees not all at once but by little and little It is the same word that is used of the melting of wax before the fire Psalm 68.3 So that mens rage and discontent shall consume them It shall be such a constant griefe and vexation of spirit And this shall be the misery of those that are enemies to the two witnesses Revel 11.12 having been brought to a low ebb they shall lie dead for three years and a halfe and then they shall ascend up into heaven that is be exalted unto the highest honour by a voice from heaven that is supremi magistratus jussu and their enemies shall behold them The devill could not wish a man a worse mischife then that his heart should be engaged against any work of God that he will carry on and be greived to see it prosper Acts 4.2 It is said that they were greived that the Apostle taught the people There cannot be a greater mischiefe befall a man then this which is the ground which inrages the devill himself and is the cause of all the blasphemy in hell that their minds are contrary to the will of God which yet they cannot withstand 4. Satan makes this use of it to keep men off from receiving direction from God let God speak what he will the soul is in a disturbance cannot hear as it is to speak to a man in a tumult so it is with the noise and the rising that is in a mans heart Exod. 6.9 It was a welcom message a man would think to men in affliction that God would deliver them and that they should inherit the promise made to their fathers yet they hearkned not to Moses because of the anguish and bitterness of their spirits This
this Spirit is wholly according to the will of God As he doth make intercession in us according to the will of God so he doth work subjection in us according unto the will of God And when the soul is brought into a subordination then all contention ceaseth Subordinata non pugnant Now every unregenerate man being acted by the spirit of Satan doth act in a way of opposition Satan being a turbulent and unquiet spirit never at rest goes about like a roaring Lion is alway compassing the earth therefore where he bears rule the soul is full of unquietness and for ever restless When an evil spirit came upon Saul how unquiet was he continually As the man possessed with the Devil there were no chains could hold him he dwels among the tombs he doth continually cut and wound himself So it is with the soul in whom Satan rules because he acts it in wayes of opposition unto the will of God If the Lord would give Satan leave and give him power of the winds he would raise nothing but tempests and thunders and blustering in the world as appears Job 1.19 there came a wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of his house We hear of Witches that sell winds to Merchants by the permission of God If the Lord would give Satan leave and power over the soul he would raise nothing but winds and tempests there If the Lord would suffer him to blow upon the great sea of corruption that is the man there would be nothing but waves and billows for he loves nothing more then to disturb and disquiet the soul because he acts men in opposition unto the will of God whereas the Spirit of God acts them sweetly and quietly because it is in wayes of subordination thereunto 6. It doth plainly appear in this because when the soul of the creature is subjected fully unto the will of God there is no disquietness in any thing which either the Lord commands or effects but a constant calmness and serenity of Spirit We see it in Adam so long as he continued in his integrity in a conformity to God in a righteousness and holiness of truth and his will subjected unto the will of God in all things he had none of those disquieting affections at any thing commanded or wrought by God he was able to delight himself in the whole law of God and rejoyce in all the works of his hands And so it is with the Saints in glory the souls of just men made perfect they freely submit unto Gods commanding will and they do truly rejoice in his effecting and permitting will because their will is wholly melted into the will of God and they have no private interest apart from God therefore whatsoever he do pleaseth them They take pleasure in all his works Psal 111.2 3. And the same is true of the Angels they obey his voice they do his pleasure without any unquietness or reluctance They go and come like lightning Ezech. 1.19 The Angel Gabriel did fly swiftly Dan. 10. They do it speedily they do it chearfully Were there nor a conformity in their will unto the will of God this could not be For that is the ground of all the droopings of the Saints in all their services they drive heavily because their will is not fully subjected unto the will of the Lord. So it was in the Lord Jesus Christ he had the will of God manifested towards him in the most unpleasing manner to flesh for he must deny the will of nature and that must stoop unto the will of duty and yet if it be to take flesh with the infirmities thereof that in that nature he might lay down his life he saith Lo I come to do thy will O God He had no unquietness of spirit in him from a principle of opposition though in point of satisfaction he saith My soul is heavy unto death Therefore Rev. 1.13 he is said to be girt about the paps with a golden girdle Though I conceive Christ doth appear in heaven as he is the Churches high Priest Amictu Sacerdotali And among other priestly ornaments the curious girdle is one Exod. 28.39 yet I conceive they had all a spiritual signification and this doth note the suppressing of all inordinate motions and affections in the soul It is said Justice and Faithfulness should be the girdle of his reins Isa 11.6 But it is now described to be about his paps Mr Brightman gives the reason because under the Law there being less grace poured out the lusts of men were restrained in a more legal way by principle of fear Coercebantur cupiditate But under the Gospel more grace being poured out the breasts being the seat of Love all unruliness and unquietness of Spirit being in a way of love supprest and kept under therefore he is not said to be girded about the loins but about the paps with a golden girdle After the same manner also it is spoken of the Saints for there was not only a girdle made for Aaron but for his sons also So were the Saints to be girt about the breasts Rev. 15.6 They do partake in the same honour with him and grace in them hath the same power over them Thus we see that when the will of man is brought into a full and compleat subjection to the will of God then all unquiet and unruly passions and motions in the soul are done away and there follows an holy calmness and tranquillity of spirit all unquietness arising from no other ground but the opposition that is in our will unto the will of God we would have our will stand and not Gods will and because his will doth cross ours therefore our spirit is full of tumult and disorder 3. What is there in the subjecting of our wills unto the will of God that can be a ground of this inward quietness and tranquillity of mind There are two things that are the main causes of all disquiet in the soul disquieting reasonings in a way of disputation and tormenting risings in a way of passion Now our subjection of our wills unto the will of God doth calm the raging seas in a man in both these and then there must needs follow a great calm 1. There are in the soul disquieting reasonings which do proceed from a mans fleshly will For reason in the man is the Wills privy Counsellor whose directions and dictates it follows and while the will is unsubdued the man is full of disputings and gainsayings sometimes against the Counsel of God his decreeing will Rom. 9. Seeing he hardens whom he will and we cannot help it because none can resist his will why doth he yet find fault and lay the blame upon us Sometimes against his commanding will When the Lord commands Moses to go to Pharoah he objects how shall I go to Pharoah I am a man of 〈◊〉 slow tongue and the people they will not believe me And if I say the God of
Israel hath sent me and they ask me what is his name what shall I answer So John the Baptist when Christ came to be baptized of him he disputes the case saying I had need to be baptized of the◠and comest thou to me Sometimes against his effecting will Isa 45. The clay saith to th◠Potter Why hast thou made me thus 〈◊〉 and the thing begotten saith unto hi◠Father What hast thou begotten and to his Mother What hast thou brought forth Censores Divinitatis dicentes Non sic debuit Deus sic magis debuit consultiores sibimet videntur Deo Tert. in Marcion lib. 2. cap. 2. And so it is against the permitting will of God Lord why do the wicked prosper and wherefore are they happy that deal trecherously Jer. 12.1 Wherefore lookest thou on and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous then he and makest men like the fishes of the Sea that have no ruler Hab. 1.13 14. O quam sapiens argumentatrix sibi videtur arrogantia humana praesertim cum aliquid de gaudiis metuit amittere Tert. And these kind of reasonings fill the soul with abundance of disquiet when the heart of man shall dare rise up against the will of God disputing against the equity of it saying The Lords wayes are not equal But when once the will of man is concluded under the will of God then the reasonings of the soul are calmed the fleshly wisdom disputes no more but obeyes As the poor woman in the book of Martyrs said I cannot dispute but I can burn So the Christian saith I cannot dispute but I can obey upon this ground because it is the will of God Arrogantiam existimo de bono divini praecepti disputare nee quia bonum est oscultare debemus sed quia Deus praecepit There be two difficult commands that God gave to Abraham one to forsake his Country and his Kindred and to go into a Land in which he was a stranger But it is said the Lord called him to his foot Isa 41.2 that is subdued his heart unto the call to follow the Lord in all the wayes in which he should go before him Though he might have much disputed yet the subjection of his will did silence his reason and suppressed his disquieting thoughts which otherwise might have risen within him Then the Lord gave him another command to offer his son his only son Much might have been said against it from the Law of God the light of Nature but his will being concluded under the will of God it is said Rom. 4.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he staggered not he did not dispute it pro and con with himself but the will of God being manifested immediatly he did obey and rose up early in the morning to the service to which he was appointed It is said of all the Saints Deut. 33.3 that they sit down at the Lords feet to receive his word It is an expression after the manner of Scholars among the Jews they sate down at the feet of their Tutors as Paul did at the feet of Gamaliel And they are not to dispute their Instructions but receive them So it is with the Saints when the will of God is manifested they are not to argue but to believe And when the will of man is concluded under the will of God it is upon these two principles 1. A man receives all things from Gods will as wise for it is a will guided by Counsel He doth not work barely by will as men many times do but he works all things according to the Counsel of his will Ephes 1.11 2. He looks upon it as good It is the good and acceptable will of God Rom. 12.2 good in it self and good to us even the rule of goodness whensoever the soul receives the will of God under these notions it must necessarily follow that disquieting reasonings in the soul must be suppressed 2. The soul is strangely disquieted by tormenting passions The affections of men are of two sorts some are chearing and comforting as Love Hope Joy some are afflicting as anger sorrow and fear therefore when in Scripture a man is commanded to afflict his soul the meaning is to raise up and to act in his soul these afflicting affections for it is by them that the soul is disquieted and so afflicted Therefore in heaven though the affections themselves shall not cease because they are of the nature of the immortal soul yet all the acts of them shall cease that a man shall never sorrow more never fear more As in hell all the chearing affections of the soul in their actings shall cease a man shall never love more hope more joy more Now in the souls of just men made perfect in heaven they being freed from the actings of these tormenting affections there is nothing that doth or can disquiet them therefore there must needs be a continual calm These onely cloud the souls of men below now if all the clouds were removed and dispelled there would be nothing to hinder the sun in its brightness from shining constantly forth So it would be with the soul at quiet and at peace when all the affections that distract and disquiet it are removed Now when the soul is concluded under the will of God it is disquieted by none of these For he delights to do the commanding will of God It is the joy of his heart his meat and drink He delights to be under the effecting will of God in what kind soever Si vis constituere me Pastorem ovium aut Regem Populolorum ecceparatum est Cor meum He can sing in a prison take with joy the spoiling of his goods and chearfully part with his choicest relations Per calcatum perge patrem ficcis oculis ad vexillum Crucis evola He is never vexed with tormenting cares We are not careful to answer thee in this matter For he hath cast all his care upon him that careth for him If he be called before Rulers he takes no thought what he shall answer or what the event or success shall be it shall be given you in that hour He is not disquieted with vexing fears I will not fear what man can do unto me Though an hoast of men were encamped about me I will not fear What ever befals him in the way of duty Fides famem non timet The instance of Luther in going to Worms to the disputation makes that manifest I will enter Worms in the name of the Lord though there were as many Devils as there are tiles upon the houses He is never tormented with thoughts of despair But he saith though I fall I shall rise though I sit in darkness the Lord will be a light about me I shall yet praise him Now a man that never grieves never fears never cares what should hinder this man from a constant calmness and serenity within himself Now when our will is subdued unto