thoughts of God if no looking up to better things then without doubt they are unclean not legally unclean as the beasts were but really unclean in the fight of God and his â—oly Angels Wherein the true Knowledg of Christ consisteth MAry when she went in quest of her Saviour stopt not at the empty Monument but searches and follows him so far that she discovered him under the disguise of a Gardiner and then casting her sâ—lf at his feet takes possession of him with this acclamation Rabboni which is in effect as much as Thomas his congratâ—lation My Lord and my God Thus it is that true Knowledg doth not alwayes hunt objects at the view nor doth it stop at the numerous effects wrought by the Creator It is not a shallow or supersicial knowledg that God is in a general consideration the cause of all things a Creator at large but in a nearer My God my Creator So that Religion and Faith are but aery empty sounds if a Man possesse nothing of them beyond the words the fruit of either consists in their application 'T is true that Christ is the Saviour of the World so much I know but this is an uselesse truth to me if my knowledge reach no further unlesse my Faith entitle me to him and by appropriâ—ting his work be able to call him my Lord my God my Redeâ—mer c. To beware how we come into the debt of Sin A Wary discreet Traveller when he comes to his Inne calls for no more then he means to pay for though he see a great deal of good chear before him in the house yet he considers how far his purse will reach otherwise if he call in for all he sees and never take any thought of the reckoning he shall not onely run into a great deal of disgrace but of danger also So fareth it with most Men in taking up more then they are able to pay for but let every good Man howsoever hâ— sees a number of goodly things in this World which may allure him and set his desire on Fire causing expence both of time and Mony be carefull how he comes into debt especially the debt of Sin the worst of all other For though by death he may be out of the Usurers hands yet Death cannot free him from the debt of Sin neither can he escape out of the hands of a just and all-knowing God Infant-Baptism asserted A Ristotle was so precise in admitting Schollers to his Moral Lectures that he would first have them past their Wardship as thinking that their green capacities would not be mellow enough for his Ethiques till Thirty at least But Christ our Master was of another mind his Sinite parvulos Suffer little ones to come unto me and sorbid them not encouraged Parents and Supervisers of Children to enroll them in his bands his Church before they were Masters of so much tongue as to name Christ well knowing that though their narrow apprehensions could not reach the high mysteries of Faith yet in a few years their understandings being elevated with their statures would grow up to them and the accession of a little time digest those precepts which their Infancy drew in into the constant habit of a good life not â—owing themselves into any crooked postures of Error nor forgetting that streight form into which their first education brought them Grace to be communicated IF a Man had a thousand tuns of Wine stored up in a Cellar which he had no use of but should be kept up close What were any Man the better for it but if he would make a large Cistern and turn out a Conduit cock into the street that every one that passed by might be refreshed then would they commend his bounty and be very thankfull unto him So when it hath pleased God of his goodnesse to afford us the graces of his holy Spirit and we should keep them to our selves not being profitable to any in the communication of them it would be matter of rebuke and reproach untill we let the Cock run untill we tell others what God hath done for our Souls For Grace like oyl is of a diffusive nature like Mary's box of oyntment which she brought unto Christ that filled all the house with the sweet scent thereof so that God smells the savour and others receive good thereby To be patient under Afflictions because they will have an end AS an Apprentice holds out in hard labour and it may be bad usage for seven years together or more and in all that time is serviceable to his Master without any murmuring or repining because he sees that the time wears away and that his bondage will not last alwayes but he shall be set at large and made a Freeman in the conclusion Thus should every one that groaneth under the burthen of any crosse or Affliction whatsoever bridle his affections possesse his Soul in patience and cease from all murmuring and repining whatsoever considering well with himself that the rod of the Wicked shall not alwayes rest upon the lot of the Righteous that weeping may abide at Evening but joy cometh in the Morning and that troubles will have an end and not continue for ever Every Man to find out the impediments of Repentance in himself THey who have Water running home in Conduit-pipes to their houses as soon as they find a want of that which their Neighbours have in abundance by and by they search into the causes run to the Conduiâ—-head or take up the pipes to see where they be stopt or what is the defect that so they may â—e supplyed accordingly Even so must every Man do when he finds that the Grace of Repentance flowes into other Mens hearts and hath no recourse or accesse into his Soul by and by sit down and search himself what the cause should be where the Remora is that stayes the course where the rub lyes which stoppeth the grace of Repentance in him seeing they that live it may be in the same house sit at the same Table lye in the same bed they can be penitent for their sins sorry that they have offended God and so complain in bitternesse of Soul for their Sins but he that had the same means the same occasions more sins to be humbled for morâ— time to repent and more motives to draw him to the duty is not yet moved with the same nor any way affected with the sense of Sin this must needs be matter of high concernment to look about him Murmuring at Gods doings the prejudice thereof IT is reported of Caesar That having prepared a great Feast for his Nobles and Friends of all degrees it so falling out that the day was extream foul tâ—at nothing could be done to the honour of the meeting with comfort he was much displeased and so far enraged at present that he willed all them that had bowes to shoot
spoil and rob the Church so as they may enrich themselves and their Families thereby Publick men to have publick spirits PLutarch recordeth an excellent speech of Pelopides when going out of his house to the Wars his Wife came to take her leave of him and with tears in her eyes praies him to look to himself O my good wife said he It is for private Souldiers to be carefull of themselves not for those in publick place they must have an eye to save other mens lives Such a spirit becomes every man in publick place flesh and blood will be apt to prompt a man that it is good to sleep in a whole skin why should a man hazard himself and bring himself into danger But let such know that men in publick places are to have publick spirits and to take notice that though there be more danger by standing in the gap than getting behind the hedge yet it is best to be where God looks for them to be Every man to be employed in his Calling NO Creature though destitute of Reason but keepeth his course they let us see in their working whereto they were ordained The Sun giveth his light the fire his heat the water moistnesse the earth beareth fruit In all Creatures may be read this lesson Deus natura nihil faciunt frustrà And if Creatures void of Reason do so much more should those that are endued with Reason not to wrap up their Talent in a napkin and hide it but as St. Peter adviseth Every one as he hath received the gift so he must dispose it Death strips us of all outward things SAladine a Turkish Emperour he that first of that Nation conquered Ierusalem lying at the point of death after many glorious Victories commanded that a white sheet should be born before him to his grave upon the point of a spear with this proclamation These are the rich spoiles which Saladine carrieth away with him of all his triumphs and victories of all the riches and Realms that he had now nothing at all is left but this sheet Why then should we desire so much after other mens goods and seek to get them by hook and by crook Why should we devour houses even widowes houses Why should we encroach upon other mens fields and seek unlawfully to joyne land to land calling the lands after our own names entayling them upon children's children to make as the Lawyers speak a perpetuity when at last if we could conquer never so much rake and scrape up all that we can reach we must come to the pit with Saladine and carry nothing away with us but a shrouding mantle Selfishnesse condemned THere is a story of a Fool who being left in a chamber and the door locked when he was asleep after he awakes and finds the door fast and all the people gone he cries out at the window Oh my self my self Oh my self Such Fools have we now amongst us in these self-seeking daies nothing but self is in mens thoughts in their hearts and all their endeavours self-ends self-policy like that of Israel an empty Vine that brings forth fruit to her self All seek their own themselves not the things of God and it were just with God to leave such men to themselves hereafter that look so much to themselves here in this World To blesse God for the peace of Conscience WHen the Romans by conquest might have given Law to the Grecians at Corinth in the solemn time of the Isthmian games their Generall by an Herald unexpectedly proclaimed freedome to all the Cities of Greece the Proclamation at first did so amaze the Grecians that they did not believe it to be true but when it was proclaimed the second time they gave such a shout that the very birds flying in the air were astonished therewith and fell dead to the ground But if you will have a better story take that of the Iewes who when at first they heard of Cyrus's Proclamation and that the Lord thereby had turned the captivity of Sion they confesse that at the first hearing of it they were like men that dream't but afterwards their mouths were filled with laughter and their tongues with singing Now the peace that the Grecians and the Iewes had was but the peace of a People or a Nation and a great blessing of God too but how much more reason is there that our affections should be strained to the highest pitch of â—oy and thanks when we hear of the Proclamation of the peace of conscience that peace which is not of our bodies but of our souls not of our earthly but of our heavenly estate a peace that shall be begun here that shall endure for ever hereafter such a peace as will make God at peace with us reconcile us to our selves and make us at concord with all the world A forraigne Enemy to be prevented FAbius Maximus kept aloof from the Carthagenian Army upon an high hill till he saw that Hanâ—â—bal had worsted 〈◊〉 in the plain but then he falleth upon him and routs all his Troops Whereupon Hannibal uttered that memorable speech I ever feared that the cloud which hovered so long on the hills would in the end poure down and give us a sad shour The case is ours we are together by the ears in the plain as to the matter of judgment especially but Fabius is upon the hill there is a considerable party upon the mountains a forraign Enemy that hath an eye upon our divisions and if not prevented may in all likelyhood by the reason of our sins be the destruction of us Husbands to bear with the Wife's infirmity PRetious things whereof we make account the weaker they be the more tenderly and charily they are to be handled as China-dishes and Crystall-glasses and the like of all parts of the body the eye is most â—enderly used and touched Now what things what persons are more pretious than a Wife and yet withall a weak vessell and therefore to be born withall As the Husband is the stronger so he must bear with the infirmities of the weak The language of Zipporah was not so rough to Moses as his was smooth to her Ahab replies not to the upbraiding words of Iezeball and they that do otherwise may look big and stand upon their headship and authority but the wisdom that should be in such heads as to dwell with their wives according to knowledge is much to be questioned And certainly this is not to bear with the weaker vessell but rather to crush and shatter what they should but tenderly touch The time of Repentance not to be deferred THe Charriot-wheeles when they run the second runs near the first all the day long but never overtakes it In a Clock the second minute followes the first but never reacheth it So it is with all â—unctaâ—ors in Religion such as defer the time of Repentance as the
in such and such Psalms such complaints and workings of spirit I had never understood the practice of Christian duties had not God brought me under some affliction And it is very true that God's rod is as the fescue is to the child pointing out the letter that he may the better take notice of it and to point out to us many good lessons which we should never otherwise have learned Vnworthy Communicants condemned ABraham when he went with his servants to sacrifice Isaac said unto them Abide you here with the Ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you Thus too too many do with their sins when they come to the Sacrament they do in effect say to their sins and lusts Stand you a while aside I must go to the Sacrament and receive the Communion do but stand by a while and when the Sacrament is over or at farthest as soon as the Sacrament-day is over I will come again to you thus the duty once over and the Sacrament a little forgotten they and their sins are hail fellow well met upon all occasions Religion not Reason is the square of good actions A Carpenter when he is working doth see by his eye when he applyeth the square to the wood whether it be straight or not but yet his eye without the which he cannot see is not the Iudge to try whether the tree be straight or not but onely the square is the Iudge So Reason in man without the which he could not judge is not the square to try what is right or wrong in ordine ad Deum in order to salvation but Religion the word of God it self is tâ—e onely Rule and square For instance Reason cannot consider how faith justifieth a man or whether works be an effect of faith or not but Reason can conclude ex concessis of things granted If faith be the cause and works the effect then they must necessarily go together and Reason can go no higher God chastiseth his childrens security A Bsolon sends once or twice to Ioab to come and speak with him but when he saw that Ioab would not come he commands his Corn-field to be set on fire and so he fetched him with a witness So the children of God when they stand off upon tearms and will not see his face the fire of affliction will make them seek him early and diligently It is the custom of our Gallants when their horses be slow and dull to spur them up If Iron grow rusty we put it into the fire to purifie it And so doth God in our backwardness to duties he pricks us on or being in our filthiness purifies us by casting us into the hot coals of tribulation Christ in all his Excellencies to be the Christian's Object A Woman in travel being delivered if she should desire but to see the feet onely of the Babe and not the head face and body would she not be accounted a strange foolish and wicked woman So man being in travel and sorrow under sin but salvation having appeared by the Coming of Christ into the World Is it sufficient for him to look onely upon the death of Christ it being the last extream or foot as it were of his sufferings and passion No it is not he will behold the dignity of his Nature he being God the preheminence of his government he being the head of his Church the beauty of his goodness he having love and mercy shining in his face the painfulness of his labour he sustaining and bearing all in his body The convenience of Virginity THere are none but Beggars that desire the Church-porch to lodge in which others use onely as a passage into the Church So Virginity is none of those things to be desired in and for it self but because it leads a more convenient way to the worship of God especially in time of persecution and trouble For then if Christians be forced to run races for their lives the unmarryed have the advantage lighter by many ounces and freed from much incumbrance which the marryed are subject to who though private persons yet herein are like Princes they must have their Train follow them The certain prevalency of Prayer IT is reported of a Nobleman in this Kingdom that had a Ring given him by the Queen with this promise That if he sent that Ring to her at any time when he was in danger she would remember him and relieve him This was a great priviledge from a Prince yet it is known to many what that was subject unto he might be in such distress as the Queen could not be able to help him or though she were able as she was in that case yet the Ring might be sent and not delivered Now then consider what the Lord doth to us He â—ath given us this priviledge he hath given us Prayer as it were this Ring he hath given us that to use and tells us whatsoever our case is whatsoever we are whatsoever we stand in need of whatsoever distress we are in do but send this up to me saith he do but deliver up this message to me of Prayer and I will be sure to relieve thee And most certain it is whatsoever case we are in when we send up our prayers to God they are sure to be conveyed for we send them to one that is able and ready to help us which a Prince many times is not willing or not able to perform Infirmities to be in the best of God's children and why so THe Merchants of London petitioned Qu. Elizabeth that they might but have liberty to levell the Town of Dunkerk a place at that time very obnoxious to the safety of the Merchants trade and they would do it at their own charges The Queen by the advice of her Councel returns them an answer in the Negative She could not do it What not suffer them to beat hers and their enemies not to fire such a nest of Hornets not to demolish such a Pyraticall Town as that was No it must not be And why She knew well that it would not do amiss that they should be alwayes sensible of so neer and so offensive an Enemy and so be alwayes preparing and prepared to defend themselves and the State of the whole Kingdom which took a right effect for hereupon all turn men of War hardly a Boat but is man'd out for service which otherwise might have either rotted in the Harbour or ridden security at Anchor Thus God when his dear children cry out unto him to be delivered from the body of sin that sin may not raign in their mortal bodies he so far granteth their requests that by the special dispensations of his holy spirit sin shall not prevail over them not but that sins of infirmity shall still cleave to the best of his children here in this world Why because they shall be still
been without them Gen. 6. Thus when Men send out lusts to seek them wives and unclean spirits to woo for them When Men send out Ambition to make their houses great and Covetousness to joyn house to house and land to land When Men send out flattery lying and deceiptfull speeches and do not send out Prayers and loud cryes unto Almighty God to direct them in their choyce they may thank themselves if they meet with wives but not such meet helps as God otherwiâ—e intended for them The heighth of Patience QUeen Ann Bullen the Mother of the blessed Q. Elizabeth when she was to be beheaded in the Tower thus remembred her thanks to the King From a private Gentlewoman he made me a Marquiss from a Marquiss a Queen and now he hath left no higher degree of earthly honour for me he hath made me a Martyr Here was Patience in the highest degree such a Patience as had its perfect work and came up to its full growth when punishment becomes preferment when for Christs sake and his Gospels persecution shall be held an honour and misery a dignity ipsamque crucem coronam and the very Cross a Crown This is the Patience of the Saints The prevalency of a good Example JUstin Martyr confesseth that he left Philosophy and became a Christian Scholler through the admiration that he had to behold the innocent and godly lives of the Primitive Christians hearing them pray unto God for the good and welfare of those who to the utmost of their power endeavoured and wrought their ruine Thus forcible thus effectuall thus prevalent is the Example an holy life When Men and Women live so chastly walk so circumspectly and order themselves so holily so meekly so blamelesly that Men that are even strangers to a godly life are strongly wrought upon and very much affected with and won to Christ by their religious and gracious conversation Faults in manners and Errours in Doctrine to be distinguished in the matter of Reproof IT is observable that Almighty God hath in old time dispensed with some precepts of the second Table concerning our duty to Men as in bidding Abraham to kill his Son Isaac contrary to the sixt Commandement and in suffering the Fathers to have many Concubines contrary to the seventh Commandement and in advising the Children of Israel to rob the wicked Egyptians of their Jewels contrary to the eighth Commandement But he who cannot deny himselfe as the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. 2. 13. never dispensed with any Precept of the first Table concerning his own true honour worship and holinesse Thus it is that there must be a difference put betwixt Faults in manners and Errours in doctrine for principles of faith are like a Mathematicall point which admits of neither ademption nor addition to be patient in suffering a private wrong onely concerning our own Persons is commendable yea Noble But when once the quarrell is made Gods and the Churches injurias Dei dissimulare nimis est impium it is too great impiety for any man to bear In such a case the Prophet Eliah called for fire from Heaven upon his Enemies In such a case St. Paul in the sight of the whole Church of Antiochia withstood Peter to his face In such a case God assisting me saith Luther I am and ever shall be stout and stern herein I take upon me this title Cedo nulli I give place to none And in such a case renowned Iewel sweetly to the same purpose I deny my learning I deny my Bishopwrick I deny my selfe onely the faith of Christ and truth of God I cannot deny with this faith and for this faith I trust I shall end my dayes Judgement-day the terrors of it to the wicked IT is reported of Zisca that valiant Captain of the Bohemians that he commanded that after his decease his skin should be flead from his body to make a drum of it which they should be sure to use when they went out to battail affirming that as soon as the Hongarians or any other of their enemies should come within the sound of that Drum they would never be able to abide it Now if Zisca's Drum and the beating thereof was so terrible to the poor Hongarians how fearfull shall the sounding of the last Trumpet be to the wicked when the Lord Iesus shall shew himselfe from Heaven with his mighty Angels to judge the quick and the dead Saul was astonished when he heard Iesus of Nazareth but calling unto him Herod was affrighted when he thought that Iohn Baptist was risen again The Carthagenians were troubled when they saw Scipio's sepulchre The Saxons were terrified when they saw Cadwallon's image The Philistims were affraid when they saw Davids sword The Israelites were appalled when they saw Aarons rod The Romans were dashed when they saw Caesars bloudy robe Iuda was ashamed when he saw Thamars signet and staffe Baltazar was amazed when he saw the hand-writing on the wall And all the Enemies of God and goodnesse look they never so high wax they never so bigge in this World shall be then confounded when they shall see Christ appearing in judgement Christ seen more clearly under the Gospel than under the Law AS a King in his progress coming to some great City divers of his train ride before him and many more come after him yet all come to the same place but those that are before do not see what entertainment is made in the way so wel as they that come behind Thus it is that Christ is seen more clearly under the Gospell than under the Law The Patriarks and the Israel of God saw somewhat of Christ as they were before him but not one half which we see that are behind Moses was then under a cloud but his face is now unveyled It was a good observation of an acute Preacher now with God then lying on his death-bed O how happy said he are the Peopl of this age that see more of Christ than ever their Predecessors did more than the Patriarks and People of old They had onely Moses Psalms and the Prophets but we the Books of the new Testament setting out Christ before us Not to give occasion that Religion be ill-spoken of WHen a Pagan beheld Christians receiving the blessed Sacrament and observed with what reverence and devotion they demeaned themselves in that holy businesse he was inquisitive what that action meant It was answered by one of them That God having first emptied their hearts of all their Sins as pride envy covetousnesse contention luxury and the rest did now enter into them himself with a purpose to dwell there He was silent for the present but followed and watched them whom he saw to be Communicants in that action for two dayes together And perceiving some of them to fall into quarrells uncleanness
aliena pericula another Man's harms may teach us how to beware Much of Morality may be picked up from the Heathens much of the Knowledg of God from Philosophers much of Learning from the Poets and much of Divine truth from some of our well-read Adversaries of Rome of whom it may be said as it was sometimes of another Ubi bene nemo melius ubi male nemo pejus Where they have written truth as in meer speculative points of God the blessed Trinity c. thâ—re no Man better and there it is that as the Israelites so we may go down to the Philistims forges to whet our swords and spears to be â—urnished with sharp arguments and solid reasons to the confutation of false and heretical opinions but where they have roved from the Truth as in the doctrine of Merit Indulgences c. where you shall be sure alwaies to find a Matthew sitting at the receipt of Custome there no Man worse and there we may and must forsake them Merit-mongers condemned A Gardiner offering a Rape-root being the best Present the poor Man had to the Duke of Burgundy was bountifully rewarded by the Duke Which his Steward observing thought to make use of his bounty presented him with a very fair horse the Duke ut perspicaci erat ingenio being a very wise discreet Man perceived the project received the horse and gave him nothing for it Right so will God deal with all Merit-mongers that think by their good works to purchase Heaven which cannot be the work being finite the Wages infinite so that Merit must needs be a meer fiction sith there can be no proportion betwixt the Work and Reward There is indeed mention made of a Mercy-seat in the Temple but there was never heard of any School of Merit but in the Chappel of Antichrist He that truly feareth God passeth not for the affronts of Men. NOah is commanded by God to make such a Vessell as should save him and his from a floud which should drown all the World beside he sets upon the work the People laugh at him and think the poor old Man doated and had dreamed not as we say of a dry Summer but a wet Winter and that he was no wiser then the Prior of S. Bartholomews who upon a vain prediction of an addle-headed Astrologer went and built him a House at Harrow on the Hill to secure himself from a supposed floud that that Astrologer had foretold Many a brâ—ad jest many a bitter scoffe was no doubt broken upon Noah yet for all that he went not onely about but through tâ—e work that God had enjoyned so did Abraham Lot David Esay Chap. 20. Ieremy Chap. 19. Ezekiel ch 4. Hâ—sea ch 1. And thus he that truly feareth God passeth not for the aâ—â—ronts of Men He is a fool we say that will be laughed out of his Coâ—t but he 's a fool indeed that will be laughed out of his skin nay out of his Soul out of his eternal salvation because he is loath to be laughed at by lewd and wicked Men No no the true Fear of God will make a Man set light by such Paper-shot it will carry him through the pikes not of evill tongues onely but of the most eager opposition that either Sathan himself or any limb of his shall at any time be able to raise against him How every good Christian is to order his life IT is said of the Israelites in their Travells through the Wildernesse that they wandred like Pilgrims without house or home they fought like Souldiers the battels of the Lord and they called upon the Name of the Lord their God who heard them in the midst of their distresse And thus it is that every good Christian is to order his life as a Pilgrim not seeking high things for himself but having food and rayment therewith to rest contented As a Christian Souldier not to be ashamed to confesse the Faith of Christ crucified but to fight manfully under his banner against the three Arch-enemies of Mankind the World the Flesh and the Devill Lastly as the true Servant of God to tread often upon the threshold of his Sanctuary to frequent his Ordinances to be alwaies in such a frame of Spirit as to blesse and praise and magnifie and speak good of his holy Name Men to hear the Word of God though they come with prejudicate thoughts WHen one Henry Sutphen was Preacher at Breme the holy Roman Catholiques were not idle but sent their Chaplains to hear every Sermon that so they might trap him in his words But God whose footsteps are in the midst of the floud would have his marvellous power to be seen in them by the conversion of them Insomuch that the greatest part that were sent to hearken did openly witnesse his doctrine to be the truth of God against which no Man could contend and such as in all their life they had not heard perswading them also that sent them that forsaking all impiety they should stick to the Word of God and believe the same if they would be saved Thus it is good to come and hear the Word though it be with ill intent to sit under the Ordinance though a Man be as it were upon thorns all the while he is there They that come to see fashions as Moses came to the bush may be called as he was They that come to sleep as old Father Latimer said in a Sermon before K. Edw. 6. may be catch'd napping They that come with a resolution to steal peradventure the first word they hear may be Thou shalt not steal or Let him that hath stole steal no more and so become honest Men They that are sent upon any wicked design as Saul's Messengers were to take David the Spirit of God may come upon them And they that come to catch at the Preacher may be catch'd themselves as Augustine was by S. Ambrose Lastly they that come as it were in despight of Christ may become lovers of Christ as the Officers that were sent to apprehend Christ were so taken with his parts their malice being turn'd to admiration that they were made Proclaimers of his divine excellencies saying Never man spake like this Man The great work of Repentance not to be deferr'd and why so GOd spake thus unto Noah An hundred and twenty years hence will I bring in a Floud that shall drown the whole World and therefore if thou wilt be saved go thy way out of hand and build thee such an Ark as I will shew thee Gen. 6. He was then 500 years old and might have thought thus with himself I am 500 years old and it will yet be one hundreth and upwards before the Floud do come Why I may be dead and rotten in my grave before that time or at leastwise very near the end of my dayes And who would go moyl and toyl
strawes sticks mud or filth that it holds Thus it is with most Mens Memories by Nature they are but as it were pertusa dolia meer riven tubs especially in good things very treacherous so that the vain conceits of Men are apt to be held in when divine Instructions and gracious Promises run through trifles and toyes and Worldly things they are apt to remember tenacious enough but for spiritual things they leak out like Israel they soon forget them Psal. 106. 13. Sin the remainders thereof even in the best of Gods Children AS in a piece of ground even after the best and most accurate tillage some seeds and roots of those noysome weeds wherewith it was formerly much pestered will still remain and will be springing up be it never so sedulously never so assiduously managed So after the gracious work of Regeneration there will be a smatch of all Sin in some degree or other hence it it that Methodius an ancient Bishop of the Church compares the inbred corruption of Man's heart to a wild Fig-tree growing upon the wall of some goodly Temple or stately Pallace whereof albeit the main trunk of the stem be broke off and stump of the root be plucked up yet the fibrous strings of it piercing into the joynts of the stone-work will not utterly be extracted but will be ever and anon shooting and sprowting out untill the whole frame of the building be dissolved and the stone-work thereof be disjoynted and pull'd in pieces Four sorts of Men undertaking the work of the Ministery MArcus Antonius de Dominis that shufling Archbishop of Spalato then Dean of Windsor and furnished with a fair Mastership besides would needs put on for a good fat Parsonage in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of that Church Dr. Thomas White the same that founded Sion Colledg London being one of the Prebends opposed the motion hinting to the greedy Bishop the unevennesse of his desires by telling him that there were four sorts of Men that undertook the work of the Ministery quorum pascere quidam nec volunt-nec valent quidam valent sed non volunt quidam volunt sed non valent quidam et valent et volunt some that neither would nor could discharge it some that could but would not some that would but could not some that both would and could And thus it is that some are to be found in the midst of us who such is their ignorance that they neither will nor can divide the word aright such as leaping from the shopboard leave sowing of garments to make a rent in the Church or if by chance they looked upon the university they think themselves as suâ—ficiently inspired with the gift of Prophecy as he did with the gift of Poetry thaâ— dream't upon the top of Parnassus Others there are such is their unworthinesse that can but will not that are able but sloathful in the work of the Lord and look more after the Fleece then the Flock committed to their charge some also such is their unhappinesse that would but cannot as hindred by some natural imperfection in the want of Utterance weaknesse of Memory or the like Other some again such is their glory that both can and will deliver the whole truth of God preach in season and out of season to the great comfort of themselves and those thaâ— hear them How the Heart of Man may be kept up steady in troublous times TO make a Ship ride steady in the midst of a tempe stuous Sea Four things are required First she must be well-built strongly well-timberd not weak artificially well-moulded not tender-sided Secondly she must be down ballasted with some sad and ponderous lading Thirdly low-masteâ— and low-built may be added too for high-carved and Tant-masted Ships wilâ— fetch way in a stresse Fourthly Sure Anchor'd by which means though moved she may be said to live and keep her station Thus the Heart of Man if ever we think to have it steady and fixed in the midst of troublesome times if eveâ— we labour for stable and composed spirits that whatever Hurricano storms or raging Tempests come down upon the World upon the Church upon the places where we live or upon our selves we may be able to ride it out We must be built upon a sure foundation and that is Jesus Christ well timberd with sanctifying Graces down ballasted with sound Iudgment and true Christian direction Low-masted to be humble and lowly not heady and high-minded And lastly sure Anchored having a sound solid and substantial Faith Faith not fancy Hope not like that of the Hypocrite which shall be cut off Iob 8. 13. 14. To keep close to the word of God especially in times of trouble IT is reported by Mr. Fox of one Gregory Crow a Seaman that being wracked at Sea and having cast all overboard he kept his New Testament about his neck and so floating upon his broken mast was after four daies discovered by some Passingers taken off all Frozen benummed and as it were sodden by the continual washings of the water but which was most observeable he kept his book close to him Thus if ever we intend to keep our heads above water in the Sea of this troublesome World we must be sure to keep close to the Word of God and not to suffer it to depart from us let money wares Ship and all go ere we forego that So likewise in all our doubtfull Cases whether Vowes Oaths Marriages dealing with Men entercourse with God or any difficulty whatsoever go to the Law and to the Testimony for resolution being glad that God hath found out a way to cast the wavering scale and to direct our conversation Faith a sure Anchor-hold in time of distresse AN Anchor being let fall it passeth through the Water and violently maketh its way through all the waves and billows never staying till it come at the bottom where taking hold of the ground which lyeth out of sight thus by a secret and hidden force staying the Ship so as though it be moved yet it is not removed but still keepeth her station Of such use is Faith to the Soul of Man when it is in a stress tossed with the waves and billows of Temptations and trials threatning to swallow it up Faith breaks through all never resting till it come at God himself who is invisible and taking hold upon him by a secret force it stayeth the Soul and keepeth it from being driven upon the rocks or sands of desperation An Anchor it is and a sure Anchor tâ—at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Sheat Anchor which the Soul must trust to which it may ride and live by in whatsoever stress can come down upon it The exceeding love of God to Mankind admirable IT is reported of a certain Merchant in London that he made much of a poor Cobler that dwelt near him and did as good
them if he stay a Fortnight or a Moneth he may pull up another but it will be somewhat harder If he stay a year or two till it have taken deep root then he may pull and pull his heart out his labour is all in vain he shall never be able to move it And thus it is that one Sin one offence if we labour to pull it up in time it may be forgiven it may be taken away And if we let that one go on to two or three yet with unfeigned Repentance with bleeding tears with uncessant out-cryes to a gracious God they may be raced out and wiped away but with greater difficulty but if a Man give up himself unto Sin accustome himself to do evill so that it take deep root in the heart and be settled in the Soul he shall never be able to pull it up nor arise from the death of Sin which hath so fast seized on him Sectarian subtilty Diabolical delusion AS common Drunkards when they get in a temperate Man upon their Ale-house-bench entice him tempt him tole him on first to taste then to pledg them then when he is well whitled and come on cup after cup this health and that health till he be fully fudled and his brains intoxicated Thus the subtile Sectarians are modest at the first and very Maiden-like they will not force upon their Proselytes a full carouse of their Circean cups but by degrees by little and little they wind into their hearts and privily bring in damnable heresies They do not violently rush but slily creep into houses and there they begin at the apronstrings with illiterate Mechanicks silly women such as are led more by aâ—â—ection then Iudgment then they let fall an apple to see if Atalanta will take it up some general received Truth but withall secretly foyst in some â—rronious opinion or poysonous principle scatter some sparks of their mild-sire to see whether they will heat or enflame And having their methods and wayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rules to go by they grammer and ground their deluded Followers 〈…〉 admission in general and Fundamental principles of their black art but let them not see at what they drive acquaint them not at the first dash the mystery of Iniquity the depths of Sathan Rev. 2. 24. Men not to be proud of their Lands and Livings WHen Socrates saw Alcibiades proud of his spatious Fields and wide Inheritance he calls for a Map of the World looks for Greece and finding it asks Alcibiades Whereabout his Lands lay When he answered They were not set forth in the Map Why saith Socrates are thou proud of that which is no part of the Earth And to speak truth Why should any Man bear himself high upon the greatnesse of his Revenue the largenesse of his demesnes For if the dominion of a King be but a poor spot of Earth What a nothing must the possession of a Subject be some small parcell of a Shire not worthy the name of a Chorographer And had he with Lycinius as much as a Kite could fly over yea if all the whole Globe were his six or seven foot would be enough to serve his turn in the Conclusion Repentance to be Universall IF a Ship spring three leaks and onely two be stopped the third will sink the Ship And if a Man have two grievous wounds in his body and take order to cure onely one that which is neglected will kill him Even so if we having divers lusts which fight against our Souls do mortifie but some of them 't is to no purpose If the guilt of many Sins lye upon us as in many things we sin all and we repent but of some of them it will not avail us any thing Hence is that Counsel of Solomon Let all thy wayes be ordered He that will make a true search must search all his wayes and try all his thoughts words and deeds repent of all Sin For he that favours himself in any one Sin be it never so small that Man hates no Sin perfectly what shew soever he makes to the contrary Wicked Men see the miseries but not the Joyes of Gods People AS a Man standing upon the Sea-shore sees a great heap of waters one wave riding on the back of another and hears too especially if it be in stormy weather the lowd roarings thereof but all this while though he see the waters he doth not see the wealth the gold and silver the infinite Riches that lye buried in the bottom thereof So it is that Wicked Men see the want but not the wealth of Gods People their conflicts but not their comforts they easily take notice of the miseries and troubles that usually attends upon the bodies of the Children of God but they cannot possibly discover the joyes and rejoycings of the Spirit that are in their Souls neither indeed can they For they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. 14. Magistrates and great Men not to raise themselves by the ruine of the Church IT is reported of Sabbacus a King of Ethiopia who being by dreams admonished that he could not possesse himself of the Kingdom of Egypt otherwayes then by Sacriledge and the slaying of the Priests He chose rather to lay aside his claym and advantages of Warr which he had gotten and to refer the Government of that Kingdom to twelve wife Men who erected to that Prince's piety one of the stateliest Pyramides of Egypt which yet remains How much more will it become Christians in any way of power and Magistracy not to make their way upon the spoyles nor lay the Foundations or to carry on the Fabrick of their greatnesse and dominion upon the carcasses and ruines of any much lesse of the Church and Church-men such as are able true and faithful Ministers of the true God and the Lord Iesus Christ. How it is that the sweet fruits of Grace come to grow on the bitter root of Nature IT is a question put by Plutarch How it comes to passe that the Fig-Tree being of that extream bitternesse the root the branches the leaves the stock and stem being all of them so bitter the fruit should be so sweet and pleasant to the taste The like may be proposed How it is that the sweet fruits of the Spirit should ever grow upon the bitter stock of Nature how Man by Nature being in the very gall of bitternesse should ever become a sweet smelling favour in the nostrils of his God Surely no otherwise but that by Faith an Repentance being ingrafted into the stock Christ Iesus he sucks in juicy sweetnesse from thence and so is made a Tree of Righteousnesse in Gods Garden How it is that Afflictions lye oft-times so heavy IT is said of Hagar That when her bottle of Water was spent she sate down and fell a weeping as if she had been utterly undone her provision and
conducing to life eternal The proposall of Rewards and punishments very usefull to the bringing into Christ. A Spouse that is considering with her self Whether she should marry such a Husband or not beginneth to consider What she should be without him and what she shall have with him she considers him perhaps as one that will pay her debts and make her Honourable c and yet it may be she considers not the Man all this while however these considerations are good preparatives to draw her on to give entertainment to him but after some converse and acquaintance with the person she comes to like the Man himself so well that she is content to have him though she have nothing with him and so she gives her full and free consent to him and the match is made up betwixt them out of true and sincere free love and liking Thus it is that the proposals of Rewards and punishment are as it were a beginning a Prodromus a good introduction to the full sight and fruiâ—ion of God When it is that Men begin at first to consider their own misery most and that if they should apply themselves to other things as remedies they would be still to seek For there is a Vanity in all things And if to themselves that they cannot help themselves in time of Trouble therefore they judge that they must go to Almighty God who is able to do more than all and to rid them out of misery And they consider that going to him they shall have Heaven besides yet all this while they consider not the Lords power however this consideration makes way that God and they may meet and speak together it brings their hearts to give way that the Lord may come to them it causeth them to attend to him to look upon him to converse with him to admit him as a Suitor and to be acquainted with him And whilest they are thus conversing with him God reveals himself And then being come to the knowledg of him in himself they love him for himself are willing to seek his presence to seek him for a Husband though all other things were removed from him And now the Match is made up and not till now and then they so look upon him that if all other advantages were taken away they would yet still love him and not leave him for all the Worlds enjoyments No Man a loser by giving up himself unto God IT is said of Vapours that arising out of the Earth the Heavens return them again in pure water much clearer and more refined then they received them Or as it is said of the Earth that receiving the Sea water and puddle-water it gives it better then it received it in the Springs and Fountains For it strains the water and purifies it that whereas when it came into the bowels of the Earth it was muddy salt and brinish it returns pure clear and fresh as out of the Well-head waters are well known to come Thus if Men would but give up their hearts desire and the strength of their affections unto God he would not onely give them back again but withall much better then when he received them their affections should be more pure their thoughts and all the faculties of Soul and Body should be renewed cleansed beautified and put into a far better condition then formerly they were Ignorance and Wilfulnesse ill-met IT is a Maritime observation that if a thick Fogg darken the ayr there is then the great God of Heaven and Earth having in his providence so ordered it no storm no Tempestuous weather And if it be so that a storm arise then the sky is somewhat clear and lightsome For were it otherwise no Ship at Sea nor Boat in any Navigable River could ride or sayl in safety but would clash and fall foul one upon another Such is the sad condition of every Soul amongst us wherein Ignorance and Wilfulnesse have set up their rest together And why because that if a Man were Ignorant onely and not Wilfull then the breath of wholesome Precepts and good Counsell might in time expell those thick mists of darknesse that cloud his understanding And were he Wilfull and not Ignorant then it were to be hoped that God in his good time would rectifie his mind and bring him to the knowledg of himself but when the storm and the fogg meet when Wilfulnesse and Ignorance as at this day amongst the Iews and too too many Christians do close together nothing without the greater Mercies of God can befall that poor Shipwrack't Soul but ruine and destruction Unsteadfastnesse giddinesse c. in the profession of Religion reproved IT is said of an intoxicated Man who the liquor being busie in his brain fancied himself at Sea in a great storm in present danger of Shipwrack and thought there was a necessity of lightning the Ship and throwing some of the lading over-board and so threw the goods of his house out at the Windows Thus it is that this Age hath been taken with an unhappy Vertigo which hath made some Men not keep the ground they first stood upon and wanton delight hath possessed many Men to be medling trying of experiments and ringing changes Nay so distempered have divers been that like the drunken Man they have fancied a great necessity of abolishing and throwing away what they would have done better to have kept Men in the midst of their Worldly contrivances prevented by Death AS it is with a Man being come to some great Fair or Market with a con siderable summe of money about him who whilest he is walking in the throng considering with himself how he should lay out his money to the best advantage some sly fellow either cuts his purse or at unawares dives into his pocket and there 's an end of all his marketting So it is with the most of Men that whilest they are in the midst of all their secular employments and as it were crowded in the throng of Worldly contrivances how to secure such a Ship advantage trade compasse such and such a bargain purchase such and such Lands c. things in themselves with necessary cautions not unlawful in steps Death cuts the thread of their life spoyls all their Trade and layes their glory in the dust Riches their uselesnesse in point of Calamity NUgas the Scythian King despising the rich Presents and Ornaments that were sent unto him by the Emperour of Constantinople asked him that brought them Whether those things could drive away sorrow diseases or Death looking upon them as not worthy presenting that could not keep off vexation from him And such are all the Riches and glories of this world they cannot secure from the least calamity not make up the want of the least Mercy It is not the Crown of gold that can cure the head-ache not the gilded Scepter that can stay the
shaking hand not the Honourable garter that can ease the gowt nor the Neck-lace of Pearl that can take away the pain of the teeth And a bag of gold will prove but a hard pillow to rest on miserable Comforters are they all onely the usefull Riches of Grace that are to be found in Christ Iesus give ease and refreshment under all pains and torments whatsoever Apparrel whether richer or plainer the necessity thereof AS Crates reproved by the Athenians because to countenance his professorship he wore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Mantle of Estate being but a Philosopher which Theophrastus before him was never seen to do answered them again that Theophrastus whom they all thought so well of did many times wear a lighter garment The which when the Magistrates would not believe he brought them to a Barbers shop and shewed him unto them all dight as he sate in his pyed napery Intimating hereby that costly Apparrell and other cloathing in themselves are things indifferent but grow often necessitated by the circumstances of time and place as soft cloathing for the Court and that which is courser for the Cart a fine suit for the Citizen a plainer for the Countryman every one wearing that which is fitting for his place and Calling True comfort in God onely GReat was the grief or C. Figulus who to his Friends that came to comfort him about the losse of the Consulship said Omnes consulere scitis Consulem sacere nescitis All can give me counsell but ye cannot make me Counsull And could outward things rid us from the troubles of this life from death the end of this life from damnation after death then said they something worth the hearkning to but this they cannot do they cannot make us happy there 's no true comfort to be drawn out of the standing pools of outward sufficiencies but out of the living Fountains of the All sufficiencies of the Lord Almighty The resolved constant Christian. IN the Salentine Country is mention on made of a Lake brim full put in never so much it runneth not over draw out what you can it is still full Such is the condition of a resolved constant child of God tide life tide death come what can come he is still the same so true to this primitive institutior that if Adversity frown he entertains it as a tryall of his patience if prosperity smile upon him he looks upon it as a blessing extraordinary whether it be peace or war abroad sicknesse or health at home he is resolved Whereas a carnal Man who bears his Prosperity neither with moderation not prudence but is full blown like a bladder with the wind of his own Pride he seldome in Adversity shews either courage or constancy one small prick of distaster empties his swola heart of all hopes and like an unskillfull and dejected Sea-man upon every little storm he cuts Cable and Mast and throws all overboard where but the flaking of a few sails would serve the turn Godly Resolution would do the deed The rage of War in the richest Countries IN natural bodies the longer they subsist in perfect health the more dangerous is the disease when it cometh and the longer in curing as having none of those humours spent which by distemper give foment and force to the approaching malady So it is in bodies politique when War once seizeth on a Country rich in the plenties of a long peace and full with the surfets of a continuall ease it never leaves purging those superfluities till all be wasted and consumed The grace of God is all in all VVE get Aqua-Vitae ready against qualms Bezoar stone and Cordiall against fits It was well said of Reverend Dr. Lake Lake B. of Bath when in the time of his sicknesse a Cordiall was tendered unto him O said he the Cordiall of Cordialls which I daily take is this The bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all our sins And it is true that Art is blind and often posed Nature weak and often foyled like a bow that must not be drawn beyond compasse Onely the Grace of God is all in all helps all get but that and you may sleep in a Dungeon want all and yet have all want that and a Flea may break your sleep and a hand-writing dash all your mirth in pieces Promises without abilities of performance not to be regarded IN the country Carinensis of Spain there is a River that shews all the Fish in it to be like Gold but take them into your hand they appear in their natural kind and colour Such are Promises and specious pretences of love in his mouth that would obtain his purpose bring them to the touch and thou shalt find All is not Gold that glisters Great boast and small roast will never fill the belly He therefore that will engage himself into any great action upon promise of great assistance if he be not as sure of his Friends ability in power as readinesse in Will he reckons without his Hoast and sits down with the losse The workings of God in the deliverance of his People are Various WHen God said to Paul that all the souls with him should be safe there were divers means used all were not able to swim to the shore and the Ship was not able to bring them all to the shore but yet by broken boards and by one means or other all got to the shore So the Lord brings things to passe in a strange manner sometimes by one way sometimes by another if one way do not hold another shall he breaks in pieces many times the ship that we think should bring us to the shore but then he casts us on such planks as we little thought on opens a dore for our deliverance that we little dream't on Kings Princes Governours c. to be regarded by those that are under them ALl the members of the body have care one of the other but especially of the Head and the Heart If the Head do but ake all the humours of the Arms run to the Head and therefore the Arms become small and slender because they want their proper nurture And so if the Heart be sick or in danger or in fear the outward heat retires inward to comfort the Heart so that the body looks outwardly pale yea if the Head or the Heart be in danger periculis se exponunt the other members will hazard limb and life to save them Thus should all subjects do for the King their Head they ought to have speciall care of him They are to care one for another to pray one for another and to do good one for another but especially for Kings and Princes and those that are in Authority they are to prefer their lives before ten thousand of their own as the People of Israel did for if a Member or some