come from the dead that hath made proofe of this way and life and would speake of his own experience would we heare Behold Paul slaine by the Law reuiued by the Gospell what doe wee thinke of him Did he not from the time of his conuersion to the time of his dissolution enioy a constant tenour of ioy liue if euer any comfortably happily And doth not hee tell vs euen while he liued in the flesh that he liued by the Faith of our Lord Iesus Christ. Surely he must needs be blessed that liueth by the same faith with Bloffed Paul Come therefore you which desire to see good dayes and lay holde on the waies of life Beleeue and liue CHAP. II. Christ the Fountaine and Faith the meane of Life WHat then Commit we sacriledge against Christ in deifying of Faith Rob we the Lord to adorne the seruant with his diuine honours God forbid Let that be giuen to Christ which is Christs and that to Faith which is Faiths Let the power of life and death be intirely reserued euer ascribed to the Lord of life the well of life the light and life of the World the breath of our nosthrils the life of our liues Thy body oh man hath it soule which enliues it and so hath thy soule its soule whereby it liues and that is Christ the quickning spirit Take away the soule from the body and earth becomes earth seuer Christ and the soule what is it but a dead carrion Elementary bodies lighten and darken coole and warme die and reuiue as the Sunne presents or absents it selfe from them Christ is to our soules the Sunne of righteousnesse Sin parts vs Faith reunites vs And so wee liue primarily and properly by Christ as by the soule by Faith secondarily as by the spirits the bond of soule and body by a personall and speciall faith appropriating Christ to the beleeuer as the leg or arme liues by proper sinews arteries and nerues vniting it to the liuer heart and head such an one as Paul had in Christ that dyed for him whereby hee ingrosseth the common God to himselfe as if his and no bodies else Thus saith hee himselfe that is the Truth and the Life I am the Life and Resurrection of the World hee that beleeueth in mee though hee be dead yet shall he liue and not die And this is the testimony of those three heauenly and earthly witnesses God gaue life to the Sonne And he that hath the Sonne hath Life And he that hath Faith hath the Son So that whateuer we lend to Faith it redoundes to the honor of Christ neither haue we any sinister intent to praise the wombe or the paps of Faith but to cast all vpon Christ who giues and works this Faith in vs vivisies and nourishes it yea iustifies the imperfection thereof by the perfection of his merit Nay let Faith knowe that if shee should waxe arrogant towards her Lord or insolent ouer her fellow seruants she should Lucifer-like fall from her dignity and in so doing of the best of graces become the worst of vices Verily what hath the habite of Faith in it selfe considered better or equall with loue Is it not a poorer and meaner Act to beleeue then to loue more like a beggarly receiuing then a working and deseruing hand Haile then oh Faith freely graced graciously exalted aboue all Christs Handmaides Thy Lord hath looked vpon thy meane estate because that hauing nothing of thine owne as other Vertues haue whence thou mightest take occasion to reioyce thou mightest the better exclude that hatefull Law of boasting the more humbly and frankely reflect all vpon thy Lord who willingly emptied himselfe that he might fill thee with honour whiles hee sayes to the cured of the Palsey Goe thy way thy Faith hath saued thee Hence forth cals hee thee no more seruant or friend but stiles thee as Adam his Spouse Chauah the Mother of all Liuing Counts it no iniurie to diuide his praises with thee likes it well that thou which doest nothing but by him shouldest bee said to doe all things which he doth To purifie the heart to ouer come the world to saue men c. And è contra hee to doe nothing without thee which yet does all of himselfe Hee could worke no Miracles in Capernaum because they had no Faith So glorious and wonderfull things are spoken of thee I had almost said so omnipotent is thy strength which hast said to the Sunne and Moone Stand yee still yea if but as big as the least graine canst say to the greatest Mountaines Remoue What can God doe which Faith cannot doe if requisite to bee done Questionlesse Iustifying Faith is not beneath miraculous in the sphere of it owne actiuitie and where it hath the warrant of Gods Word It 's not a lesser power then these to say Thy Sinnes are forgiuen thee thy person is accepted of God what-euer thou askest thou shalt haue c. Wherefore we need not doubt vnder Christ without feare of Praemunire or offence to his Crowne and Dignity to affirme of Faith That it is Gods arme and power to the enliuing and sauing of euery beleeuer as it is written The Iust shall liue by Faith CHAP. III. The third kinde of the Life of Faith BVt least wee seeme to speake swelling thinges whiles we soare in the Cloud of generalities let vs descend to some solide particulars Three thinges there are whence commeth Death to the Soule of Man Sinne with the guilt thereof giues the first deadly blow exposing it to the wrath of God who is a Consuming fire whose anger is the messenger of Death whence came the first Thunderbolt striking thorough the Soule that sentence of God to Adam Thou shalt dye And such as Nathans to Dauid Thou hast sinned and art the childe of Death The second is the spott and corruption of sinne deprauing yea deading all the faculties of man to spirituall actions which made Paul cry out That which I would doe I doe not And wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of Death Thirdly that swarme of plagues and army of punishments in the re-reward wherof comes first a second death All which made Iob cry out Why is light giuen to him that is in misery and life vnto the bitter in soule which long for death more then for treasures and ioy when they can finde the graue Were it not for these three man might liue fare and doe well but sin hauing entred into the World brought in Death with it which reigneth and triumpheth ouer the sonnes of Adam with this three-forked Scepter of Guilt of Corruption of Punishment Here comes in Faith with a three fould Antidote brings vs to the Tree of Life whose fruit and whose leaues heale vs of the sting and deadly poyson of Sinne working in vs a three-fold life opposite to the forenamed deaths The first is the life of righteousnesse discharging vs
a sword souldier like by the side and not to draw it forth vpon an assault when a dump ouer-takes thee if thou wouldest say to thy soule in a word or two Soule why art thou disquieted know and consider in whom thou beleeuest would it not presently returne to it rest againe would not the Master rebuke the Windes and Stormes and calme thy minde presently Hath not euery man something or other wherewithall hee vseth to put away dumps to driue away the ill spirit as Dauid with his Harp some with merry company some with a cup of sack most with a pipe of Tobacco without which they scarce ride or goe if they misse it a day together they are troubled with rhumes dulnesse of spirits they that liue in Fennes and ill ayres dare not stirre out without a morning draught of some strong liquor Poore silly smoaky helps in comparison of the least taste but for dishonouring of Faith I would say whiffe or draught of Faith Oh! that wise Christians would as often take the one as idle Guls doe the other would not the drawing in of sweete ayer from the pretious promises breede excellent blood and cheerely spirits It is a mystery in bodily health that to keepe the arteries and the nosthrils veines and other passages to the head heart and liuer cleere and free from colds and obstructions maintaines a healthfull and cheerefull temper The Pipe of Faith is the same to the soule Hee that is Astmaticall narrow breathed or straight breasted in his Faith cannot bee but lumpish and melancholly Wherefore as thou louest thy mirth aboue all other tend this vitall artery aboue all keepings keepe thy Faith and it will keepe thy ioy It will keepe it an euen euerflowing current without ebbe and flowe clouds and eclipses turning euer vpon the hinges of heauenly and solid mirth And indeed how or why should it be otherwise Doe not Christians consider how vnseemely it is for them to goe drooping hanging the head Is any so simple to think because hee is a Christian that hee should affect a sad carriage a deiected look a demure countenance like an image Away with such Monkish hypocrisie How doth it become the Righteous to reioyce Do they not consider how they wrong themselues of the maine benefit of their Iustification what is a Christian but his mirth wherein doth the kingdom of Heauen consist but in Ioy Doe they not see how they offend standers by and beholders Is not heauinesse a check that driues away and mirth as a lure that wins to the liking of their profession Men wonder to see a rich man that hath the world at will all things at hearts desire to be but in a fit of heauinesse What say they should hee ayle The Irish aske such what they meane to die but I wonder a thousand times more to see one that hath Christ to friend that beleeues God to be his shepheard that knowes all must worke for the best to bee at any time out of tune or out of sorts For a Nâ—abal to be all a mort like a stone it is no newes to me but to see Nehemiahs countenance changed there must needs be some extraordinary cause should such a man as he feare or carke or grieue What if it doe not yet appeare what thou shalt bee Is a yong Ward prouder and gladder in his minority of an vncertaine reuersion then a yeoman of his present estate And is not Faith an Hypostasis and euidence to thee of an infallible inheritance Canst thou bee sad which mayest say not to thy belly but to thy soule Thou hast not many goods but fulnesse of all treasures layd vp not in the earth where moath and canker and theeues may come but in heauenly places out of the Deuils reach and that not for many yeares but for euer and euer neuer to bee taken from thy soule nor thy soule from them Oh thou vaine man shew mee thy Faith by thy ioy if thou liuest dumpishly and yet say thou liuest by Faith I wil as soone beleeue thee as him that shall say hee hath the Phylosophers stone and liues like a beggar If it were euer well with thy Faith could it euer bee amisse with thee should not the temper of thy body follow the temper of thy soule and the temper of thy soule the temper of thy Faith The body may incline thy soule but the soule commands the body and Faith is the Lord of them both According to thy Faith so be it vnto thee so will it be with thee Vse thy Faith and haue ioy encrease thy Faith encrease thy ioy CHAP. VIII The vse of Faith to a growne Christian. NAy Christian now I haue gotten thee hither I must draw thee yet a pegge higher and tel thee it is a small thing for thee to come to an ordinary pitch of cheerefulnesse except thy ioyes exceedes the mirth of a worldling yea of a professed Epicure in the qualitie and quantitie of it If thy mirth bee not a sweeter and more rauishing mirth of an higher kinde of a more pure defecate nature of a more constant tenure then any Carnall man what euer thou disparagest Faith thou art very little and yong in the Kingdome of Heauen which consists not in meates and drinkes but in ioy vnspeakeable and glorious in the ioy of the Holy Ghost And must not that needes bee another manner of ioy then euer entred into the heart of a naturall man then euer a Sardanapalus tasted of Yes vndoubtedly So must bee construed that text 1. Cor. 2. not of the ioyes of Heauen which here the spirituall man himselfe cannot tell what they shall be but of the Gospels ioy of the Wine and Fatlings already prepared and now reuealed to the beleeuer by the Spirit which if the carnall man scorne and scoffe at thou canst no more helpe him or prooue to him then a seeing man to a blinde man that hee sees orient rich colours It is enough for thee to secretly feele and enioy it Only it ought in thy life so to be expressed yea so to shine in thy forehead so to be read in the very face of thee that their teeth may be set on edge and that they may enquire what is thy beloued aboue other beloueds what is that makes this man thus merry in all estates Thus let them enuy at thine let not thy soule descend to theirs Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better then the vintage of Abiezer Shouldest thou that hast tasted of the grapes of Canaan long after the Onions and Garlick of Aegypt Is Pharphar like vnto Iordan hast not thou Riuers of water euer flowing out of thy belly and wilt thou stoope to their puddle waters to their stolne waters blousing carding dicing whoring c. which should not thy soule altogether lothe and abhor after the taste of Faiths Nectar and Ambrosia But euen their ordinary and lawfull delights the wine and oyle musicke hunting hawking c. to these God allowes thee
Leaue tuggling and strugling with thy sinne and fall with Iacob to wrestle with Christ for a blessing and though thy selfe goe limping away yet shalt thou bee a Prince with God and bee deliuered from Esaus bondage Yea what if Satan what if Legions of Principalities and powers haue long held possession in some strong fort of thy heart beginne to pleade prescription scorning as the Iebusites to bee eiected out of their impregnable tower hast thou Faith and canst thou beleeue persist in resisting and hee shall flye and thou shalt see him fall like lightening before thee Christ raised from the dead not onely the daughter of Iairus which was yet within bed not layd forth nor the Sonne of the Widdow newely carryed out of the Gate to buriall but Lazarus that had foure daies lyen in the graue to that ende sayeth Augustine That such as haue long beene dead in sinne yea such as vpon whom Satan hath rowled the stone of Custome and such as stinke in the nostrilles of the world through putrified soares of sinnes should not yet despaire but know that which falles out in frequent experience Faith can cure diseases past all other cures and hopes Through Faith thou shalt roule away the stone from the Caue of Makpelah and take out the fiue Kings that haue domineered and tyrannized ouer thee set thy feete in the neckes of them and triumph ouer them CHAP. XI How Faith Viuifies ANd what is there yet further thou wouldest haue Faith doe for thee Oh sayest thou it is not enough to bee healed of the disease vnlesse thou mayest take vp thy bedde and walke yea leape and skippe as the Lame restored to his limmes Oh! that I could finde that life of Grace which I see in some that can make it their meate and drinke to doe the will of God Though I be not pestered and mastered with any reigning corruption yet I finde my selfe so dull and vntoward that I take no pleasure in my life Know also that this quickning power Faith only can helpe thee withall To pray to meditate to haue thy conuersation in heauen to keepe a Sabbath cherely is as easie to thee as to Iron to swimme and stones to ascend vpward but nothing is impossible to Faith it can naturalize these things vnto thee metamorphize thee make thee a new creature of a moule of the earth a soule of heauen of a snaile a dromedarie such a change as the Sunne workes in the vapour when of an earthy heauy substance it makes it light and aery apt to ascend into the middle Region Such a change Cyprian saith hee felt in his conuersion And how else came Dauid to that high delight in Gods seruice that he loued the Commandements of God more then thousands of gold and siluer the honey and the honey combe that hee rose at mid-night to meditate in them The selfe-same duties may be done by the Ciuill man and by the beleeuer for the outside and deede done both may goe to Church heare a Sermon reade a Chapter but the one goes as the Beare to the stake as a slaue to the mill and the dullard to schoole in comparison of the other who hath a different internall principle which is as a spring and oile to the wheeles that makes them goe smoothly and currantly makes the yoake light and easie They that trust in the Lord shall renue their strength lift vp the wing as the Eagle runne and not bee weary walke and not faint Faith it is that fetcheth sap from the roote Christ that makes euery tree bring forth fruite in it kinde euery Christian in his owne calling What else made Dauid so worthy a Souldier what taught his fingers to fight so that a bowe of steele was broken in his hand What made Paul an able Minister of the Gospell gaue him the doore of vtterance made his tongue as the penne of a readie writer Hee beleeued therefore hee spake What made Onesimus of a false eye-seruant trusty to his Master as to the Lord The like might bee said of all trades and sciences Looke what a full treasurie of all sorts of graces Christ hath stored vp in him Faith dreineth and deriueth them out of his fulnesse to the vse of euery seuerall Christian euen Grace for Grace Faith is the Conduit Cocke that watereth all the Herbes and flowres in the Garden All which the more I consider the more I pitty the preposterous care and vnhappy trauell of many well affected who study the practise of this and that vertue neglecting this cardinall and radicall vertue As if men should water all the branches of a Tree and not the roote Faine would they abound and shine in patience meeknesse zeale yet establish and roote not themselues in Faith that should maintaine all the rest are ambitious to doe good workes build Hospitalles giue Almes but study not to doe the worke of the Father And what is the worke of the Father but to beleeue in the Sonne whom hee hath sealed and sent into the world to bee relyed on for Saluation which worke is the gratefullest work that we can performe and which will make gratefull all that we doe besides without which all that we can doe will not please him What cares hee for thy thousands of Rammes thy Riuers of Oyle Hath he not shewed thee Oh man that he that trusteh in his Sonne honoureth him most of all in putting to his Seale that hee is true This honour if thou wouldest doe vnto him hee would honour thee with all other graces and withhold no ornament no good thing from thee if it be fit for thee Meeke thou shalt be as Moses patients as Iob zealous as Dauid thy soule and life embroadered with all kinde of shining Graces as the high Priests apparell with Iewels Wherefore adde this prescript to the former when thou art on the toppe of Mount Tabor solacing thy soule in thy Lord and his fauour through Faith feasting and banqueting with him as Ester with Ahasuerosh Bethinke thy selfe what suite thou hast to him what troublesome enemy thou wouldest bee ridde off suppose it bee some potent Haman of prid make but thy complaint and it shall bee executed and crucified before thine eyes Consider what grace thou standest in neede of and make thy petition as Achsah to Caleb And hee shall giue thee the springs aboue and the springs beneath This prescript if thou wilt dayly obserue some daies more largely and feruently as the Spirit that blowes how and where it lists shall assist and as occasion shall require but euery day some what more or lesse though I will not promise thee thou shalt attaine to perfection of degrees such as the perfected spirits of the Iust enioy in glory because here thou shalt euer beleeue but in part and therefore bee holy but in part yet this I dare promise as thou growest from Faith to faith so shalt thou grow from strength to strength in all other graces till by degrees