hands of Violence and Treason yet they will most certainly be rescued set at Liberty and preserved to the disappointment terror unpitied destruction and the joyfull execution of the enemies of God and the King For whose happy Restauration without swimming through a Sea of Christian bloud to his Throne and his preservation from barbarous bloudy men when he is safely arrived and restored let us all frequently heartily cry unto the Lord. The Prayer ANd be thou pleased most gracious God I humbly beseech theeto protect his Royall person from open violence and secret Conspiracies Let no weapon formed against him prosper and let every arm stretched out against him wither Make him O Lord good and great holy and happy Establish his Throne in peace upon the sure foundations of Truth and Righteousnesse Crown him with the chiefest and choycest of all thy blessings Be O Lord a shield and a Sun unto him fasten him as a Nail in a sure place and make him a gracious ancient glorious Father in Israel Shour down the Mercies and Comforts of the upper and nether springs upon the Heads and Hearts of him and the rest of that Royall Family Cause dear God Wars to cease Religion to flourish and Love to abound in this Kingdome Let not our sins provoke thee to turn our Goshen into an Aceldama any more Make O Lord our Soveraign happy in his People make his People happy in Him their rightful King and make us all happy in the enjoyment of thy love protection and favour for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Per obedientiam pax prosperitas libertas per Rebellionem Inf elieitas poena paupertas infamia desolatio damnatio VII Of Riches Riches are a golden hook wherewith Satan catches and destroys the greedy Sons of Mammon They are without Grace the rust canker poyson that eat consume and kill the very sinews heart and vitals of honestie contentment piety They are nothing without Christ but silver letters glorious burdens guilded miseries glittering troubles shining vexations painted Cares afflicting friends miserable Comforters Aegyptian reeds broken Cisterns birds on wing a squalid Gloworm They are the Mother of Pride fewell of contention pandars to vice Divitiae sunt alimenta vitiorum voluptatum organa Clavis aurea scelerum They make men the prey of Enemies spunges of Tyranny and the Butâ— of envy And therefore when the a Aemy Probus in vita Thrasibuli p. 28. Mitylenians had given to Pittcus one of the seven wisemen many thousand acres of Land he refused their gift saying Nolite rogo vos mihi dare quod multi invideant plures etiam concupiscant Do not I pray you said he bestow that on me which many will envy and more will covet Riches they breed a Dropfie in the mind which makes it thirst insatiably They make that Heart which immoderately loves them like the ground wherein the Mines are found so barren that no good thing grows in it They are that fair inticing apple for which men lose Paradise * Prov. 11. 4. false friends in distresse a shadow which vanisheth when the clouds of sicknesse trouble of mind * If every feather in that fetherbed whereon I lye were a piece of Gold it would now doe me no good if I had not made my peace with god said that sincerely gracious eminently religious and most heavenly Servant of Jesus Christ Ms. Sarah Sharp of Filby in Leicestershire upon her death-bed who put off her rotten Rags of flesh and frailty to be clothed with the white precious and shining Robes of Immortality Felicity glory March the 14. 1658. or death hang over our heads being no more able in such a condition to quiet content or satisfie the mind with reall Comforts then vertue is to fill a pot or the sight of Gold an hungry stomack As that rich-poor man found who being very sick and full of grief called for a bag of Gold and laid it at his heart in hope thereby to find help and ease but presently after he called to them that stood by to take it away saying O it will not do it will not doe Riches they glue and nail the heart of a Worldling to the earth so that what Valerius saith of Ptolomaeus King of Cyprus he was in title King of that Island but in his heart a miserable drudge of money may in truth be affirmed of most very wealthy men They are called Impedimenta the b Bacon Essaâ— 33 p. 205. Baggage of vertue that hinders men in their march towards Heaven They are compared to long garments which hinder men from running the Race of Piety Gold and Silver are too heavy metals for him to carry that seeks Heaven They are the roots of care and the seeds of Trouble Divitias invenisti requiem perdidisti King Eutrapeus used to heap most riches on them whom he most hated saying that together with their Riches he should crush and oppresse them with aâ— heavy burden of cares And Bishop Latimer said in a Sermon Believe me auditors if I had an enemie to whom I might lawfully wish any evill I would desire chiefly that he might be very rich because I am certain that when once he enjoys abundance of wealth he will alwaies want rest and quiet Riches they dead our affections to heavenly things and make us prefer gain before Godlinesse Silver before Sanctitie Plentie before Pietie and cosfers full of Gold before a gracious Christ If I were not Alexander the great I would be Diogenes the Philosopher said Alexander If I were not great I would be good sayes a rich man 'T is almost impossible saies one 't is a miracle of grace sayes another for a rich man to be righteous And yet if Riches be sanctified Prov. 10. 12. they are great * blessings and singular advantages to honour God and to do good withall to others if not curses being like poison if corrected physick if not death and like muck if not spread abroad good for nothing Wealth consists not in having but in desiring Vis fieri dives nil cupias Wouldest thou have enough desire nothing A contented mind is Lord of both the Indies c Plut. Apophthegm The Samnites after M. Curius had overcome them in battaile sent unto him for a present a good Sum of Gold the Embassadors came found him sitting by the fire side tending the Pot wherein he boiled certain Râ—pe Roots and tendring the present to him he gave them this answer d Plurimum habet qui desiderat minimum habet autem quantum vult qui vult minimum Putean Orat. 1. That he who could content himself with such a supper had no need at all of gold Would ye be rich be vertuous and righteous Be vertuous because they only saith an Heathen Qui virtute sunt praediti divites sunt soli enim possident res et fructuosas sempiternas solique quod proprium est divitiarum contenti sunt rebus suis c. Be
be merciful to sin is to be cruel to our selves since he that loves and spares it doth not only lash and wound but * O Israel thou hast distroyed thy self Hâ—sea 13. 9. murder himself Because as holiness is both a work an incomparable felicity and a reward So sin is both a Crime a punishment and an Executioner to all unconverted offenders Pharoah's sins as well as the Sea drowned him * Numb 16. 32. And Corah's swallowing down sin without repentance was the cause that the earth swallowed up him without example for never did so many of her ungracious children as he his wicked companions were who was therefore most justly by God made wofully miserable in that dreadful destruction because they was all wilfully guilty of that damnable Rebellion fall down into her gaping inlarged new made mouth slide or rather tumble head-long into her empty greedy stomack entrails or lye down alive in her cold and mercilesse bosome before O the misery and madnesse of a gracelesse Sinner How can he expect or hope to escape the dreadful vengeance of God that by his unkindnesse unthankfulnesse and undutifulnesse to his heavenly Father hath most justly provoked the God of mercy to become his everlasting enemy What the people of Rome said when they lamented the death of Octavius Augustus he will most certainly when 't is too late have cause in another sense to say Vtinam aut non l Aurel. Vict. nasceretur aut non mor eretur would he had never been born or never dyed The Prayer O LORD thou art a God infinite in all Divine perfections Thou hast all things and art all things eternally from within and unto thy most glorious self Thou dost therefore want neither the praises nor the Services of either the most gracious Christians or the most glorious Cherubims The holinesse praiers and duties of Saints or Angels can add nothing to thy most transcendently divine Excellencies Nor can the vices vilenesse crimes and Sinnes of men lessen stain or eclipse thy Glory Yet such O Lord is thy miraculous condescensiâ—n thy wonderful thy undeserved Compassion to the Bankrupted posterity of Adam that thou art pleased not only to acquaint but also to assure all those who walk humbly conscientiously holily before thee and sincerely endeavour to praise thy great and glorious name that though they be but dust ashes and worms yet they do honour and glorifie thy ever blessed Majesty And although sin be so contrary to thy holy nature opposite to thy righteous Laws and Will and loathsome in thy pure eye that even the least sin is a great yea an infinite offence injury and contempt done unto thee and doth at once vex load and grieve thee Yet such O Lord is thy never enough to be admired acknowledged or magnified mercy and patience to rebellious self-polluting poysoning self-ruining Man that thou dâ—st not only forbear to punish plague and damne him but thou art also pleased though he daily offend thee and persist in his provocations of thee and reject thy gracious tenders of peace pardon and salvation to seek unto him to intreat yea by thy Ministers to importune and beseech him that he would be reconciled to thee love accept imbrace thee and thy offered mercy that so tbou mayest forgive own delight in him deliver and save him both from Wrath and Death O Lord let the riches of thy unparallel'd goodnesse long-sufferance and forbearance lâ—â—d us unto speedy unfeigned hearty Repentance Let the serious consideration of the cursed defiling deforming damnable nature of sin the guilt whereof could not be expiated nor the filth thereof purged away with any Sacrifice but the bloud and death of the only Sonne of God Jesus Christ both God and Man make us not only fear but tremble to commit the least evill O let it pierce and break our hearts with Grief and Remorse to consider how we have pierced our Saviours very heart and broken his most just and holy Commandements by our wilfully transgressing against him Let O Lord our spirits melt mourn and bleed within us for our shedding and trampling under our profane feet without pity or sorrow that precious bloud of our dearest Saviour which alone can cleanse and cure our defiled wounded Souls Whensoever we are tempted to commit any sinne let us O Lord not only meditate and remember what it cost Christ to make our peace with a displeased God to pay our debts and to ransome our inthralled Souls but let us also set before our eyes and look upon Jesus Christ who never committed any sin sweating suffering grâ—aning wounded bleeding and lying for our Sins that so we may in his unexampled and unexpressible miseries with the eyes of detestation and lamentation behold the danger and desert of our own Iniquities Let not sin most holy God be sweet dear or delightfull to us which was Gall and Vinegar bitter painful and deadly to Jesus Christ O let the knowledge of thy power and purity awe and deterre us from evill but chiefly let our frequent serious admiring and thankfull reflexions upon the bounty mercy and long-suffering of our gracious God and the free the infinite Love of Jesus Christ prevail with us and make us both watchful and carefull to detest decline loath leave confesse forsake and crucifie all our lusts and transgressions and to love honour please praise and glorifie our God And let us not imbrace entertain or welcome sinne into our hearts and crucifie our blessed Saviour any more lest our bloudy cruelty both to him and our own souls deprive us for ever of Christ Comfort Grace and Glory Amen Peccatum lethale est Venenum Quod delectat necat V. Of the World and the brightest Jewell in its Crowne Soveraignty 'T is a fools Idol a wise mans Inne 't is a storehouse of vanities a shop full of gaudy but empty pots a fair house haunted with evil Spirits it 's a maze a desert a disguised mockery an Ocean of troubles a pitfal to the rich a burden to the poor a traducer of the good a deceiver of all that love and trust it 'T is a Garden enamelled with beautiful flowers under which lurk deadly Serpents a green soft pleasant walk covered and bespread with nets and snares a Speed Chron p. 118. a path like that of a Heliogabalus strawed with the powder and dust of Gold and silver but leading to a Gibbet A sweet spring set round with lime-twigs a stately wealthy Citie infected with the plague 'T is the body's Paradise but a Purgatory to the soul 'T is a painted treacherous Harlot which allures invites but destroys her Lovers a tender Nurse to vice dandling it upon her knees of Pleasure and Profit but a step-mother which hates and strangles vertue 'T is a dâ—ie pit a broken Cistern in a drought an empty cloud a Feast in a dream and without Christ as one said of her dead husband a cold armful And as for Soveraignty though
very strangely if not irecoverably distempered and sick Heu quam periculâ—sus est iste morbus quum et infirmitates suas amat medicos suos odio habet aegrotus Certainly that malady is mortall which makes the patient love his disease and hate his Doctor And thus to disesteem oppose and hate the faithfull Ministers of Jesus Christ is a sin in the highest form of those crying crimes which wil shorten the life of our peace cloud if it do not totally eclipse the glorious sun of the Gospell amongst us †2 Chron 36. 16. and * provoke the Lord to consume and destroy the Land with the Inhabitants thereof Let us then if we will not love them nor be liberall to them and thankfull for them for Gods their own nor our souls sake yet be just to them and pay them their dues for very shame †Levit. 72 30. 1 Cor. 9. tithes are the Lords He hath reserved them to himself and therefore man cannot either lawfully or safely alienate them Nor did ever any man yet that purchased a Lordship or Lands except the Estate he bought were impropriate the rise and age whereof I mean of Impropriations is known almost to every man claime or pretend any right or title to the tenth part of what he bought And yet further Tithes have been setled upon the Ministers of England and confirmed unto them by sixty Acts of Parliament saies Mr. Prynne and which is yet more they were confirmed and payd unto them before the Conquest by the Saxons and all along since the Conquest down to these times wherein the malice and power of Satan the avarice of some self-seeking Christians and the both envy and subtilty of Jesuits those implacable enemies to and restlesse underminers of the Gospel and Ministers of Jesus Christ have stirred up some seduced people to declaime against them as a burden and grievance and to petition the Magistrates to take them away notwithstanding their undoubted right unto them See for your fuller and better satisfaction herein the 8th Chapter of Mr. Seldens History of Tithes p. 195. And yet further Tithes were instituted and payd both before the Law under the Law and under the Gospell too See D. George Carletons Tithes proved to be due by a Divine Right D. Will. Sclater his Ministers Portion Mr. Prynns Gospell plea c. since the Labourer is worthy of his wages Since Tithes is their unquestionable right both by the Lawes of * I know it is either hellish malice or pernicious basenesse or ignorance of the work and burden of Ministers that makes their maintenance so generally incompetent and their very livelyhood subsistence so envyed and grudged at M. Baxter Saints everlasting rest p. 91. God and men and since riches gotten by sacriledge are alwaies put into a bag with holes And therefore it was a saying among the Jews Decima ut dives fias Let then all such as have or do so defraud their pastors alwaies remember and seriously consider That it 's unpardonable Felony to rob Embassadors And let them frequently and impartially view and weigh what God himself sayes in * Malach. 3. 8. Malachi the last of the Prophets who is therefore elegantly styled Fibula legis Evangelii the button or claspe of the Law and Gospell ye have robbed me saith the Lord wherein say they that were guilty of Sacriledge have we robbed thee God himself is pleased to answer and resolve them thus In Tithes and offerings And if the conscience of their duty cannot perswade them to hate this crimson crime yet let the fear of Gods fierce wrath and heavy curse dissiwade and deterre them from being guilty of it Since it 's most certain that God will both apprehend and arraign all such Sacrilegious theeves and also that without true repentance they are then sure to be cast to be denyed the benefit of their clergy and to be condemned without mercy Lastly let such cankers and caterpillars of the Ministry consider that that dangerous odious felony will not inrich them nor will that unjust gain be enjoyed by them for others will be as ready and resolved to require yea to compell the payment of their Tithes to them as they are willing and desirous not to pay them to their Ministers whose just dues and rights they are o August Sermo 219. de tempore If thou wilt not give thy Tithes Dabis impio militi quod non vis dare Deo Sacerdoti Hoc tollit Piscus quod non accepit Christus saith St. Augustine Thou shalt be sure to give that to an impious Souldier which thou wilt not give to God and a religious Minister The Exchequer takes that away which Christ hath not received And what greater folly or madnesse can there be in the world then for men to sin ruine and wilfully to pull down Gods anger judgments and curses upon themselves to please or profit others The Prayer O LORD it is thy sweet gracious and precious promise that thou wilt be with thy Ministers to the end of the World Be pleased therefore I most humbly earnestly and heartily beseech thee to own honour blesse multiply protect and continue them in spite of all opposition both from earth and Hell And as thou hast assured us that the gates of Hell shall never prevaile against thy Church So neither suffer O Lord the Agents Factors and Emissaries of Satan the implacable enemies of truth holinesse reformation ordinances and righteousnesse to ruine or root â—ut thy Ministers lest thy Church lie buryed under the rubbish filth and straw of Atheisme idolatry heresie ignorance and profanenesse Preserve and shield them good God from contempt opposition and persecution Let their feet be beautiful in our eyes their voice melodious to our Ears and their message most welcome pleasant acceptable to our hearts that bring publish and preach the glad tidings of Salvation unto us Bring not a fatall dreadfull eclipse upon us by causing the Sun to go down upon our Prophots Let not O Lord those stars fall out of thy right hand but let them be as the Signet upon thy finger and as the Apple of thine eye near and dear unto thee And since in the darker times of the Law thou didst require and command that thy Priests should be holy and without blemish O grant that in these brightest days of the glorious Gospell thy Ministers may be holy heavenly harmlesse and blamelesse Make them O Lord carefull to feed their stocks both with holy doctrines and with religious examples that so they may be not only preachers but patterns too of vertue and piety to their people Grant this inward purity and outward Beauty to our Pastors O Lord for his sake who is the greatâ— Shepherd both of their and our Souls Jesus Christ Amen Sacerdotes pii sunt dotes preciosissimae XXI Self-calling Of Self-making preachers or rather Praters and Seducers THey are bloudy Empericks whose Medicines murder whose potions poyson
his people yet he hath declared * Esay 55. 7. promised * Ezechiel 33. 11. yea sworn that if by true repentance sound humiliation and a through reformation of their hearts and lives they will mourn for and turn from their sins enter into a Covenant to walk holily closely uprightly before him keep it and by servent prayer beg for mercy and forgivenesse heartily * Prov. 28. 13. acknowledge their crimes that then he will pardon them be reconciled unto them and not destroy them d Don Anthony de Guavara Diall of Princes Fol. 200. Darius to mock Alexander the great sent to him to know where his treasures were for such great Armies Alexander answered Tell Darius he keeps his treasures in his coffers and that I have no other treasures but the hearts of my friends He that hath God for his friend shall be sure to be rich he shall want no good thing the Lord will give him both grace and glory he will make him both holy and happy And he that makes God his Treasure esteeming loving seeking his favour a sweet holy Communion with him and a stock a hoard of vertue and all heavenly graces above all earthly enjoyments shall be sure to find all precious substance here and to be crowned with eternal felicity hereafter e Rainold Oâ—as p 484. When Caesar had commanded Pompeys Statua's to be erected M. Cicero said thus to him Statuas Pompeii statuisti stabilisti tuas He that sincerely indeavours to honour God shall certainly by it but not for it because all yea more then we can either do or pay is both debt and duty to him * honour himselfe Non reputes magnum quod Deo servis sed maximum reputa quod ipse dignetur te in servum assumere sibi f 1 Sam. 2. 30. Julian commanded by an Edict all the Christians in his Army to sacrifice to his Gods g Spee Chroâ—â—â— p. 171. 173. or else they should lose their places and Honours whereupon Flavius Valentinianus chose rather to forsake the Camp then Christ his Conscience and his Religion but God did eminently abundantly reward him for afterwards he became Emperour of Rome Amongst the Ancestors of the Rhodians it was a Law that if a Father had many Children the most virtuous should inherit and if he had but one virtuous child that then he should be the sole heir of his goods and Estate Only they who art obedient pious gracious men and women shall be Heirs of glory and enjoy the inheâ—itance of the Saints in light It is therefore our wisdome duty interest and will be our comfort peace happinesse to get cleare evidences that this God is our God for unlesse we have a propriety in him and can truly beleevingly experimentally say with Thomas My Lord and my God although he be aboundlesse bottomlesse Ocean of mercy not so much as one drop thereof will ever flow out from him to refresh our souls It s no advantage or comfort to an Esau that the Lord loves a Jacob. Quid mihi profuerit Deus alienus Vae illi qui non habet Deum de proprio The Ark preserved none but only those who were in it from perishing Let us therefore do to God as i Senec. de Benef. lib. 1. Cap. p. 385. Aeschines did to Socrates his Master resigne and give up our souls and selves freely sincerely intirely to him saying with him Nihil dignum te inveni quod dare tibi pâ—ssim hoc modo pauperem me esse sentio Itaque dono tibi quod unum habeo Me ipsum Such is O Lord my poverty that I have nothing worthy of thy acceptance or answerable to my desires to present unto thee and therefore I doe cordially give thee my selfe and then the Lord will answer us as Socrates did him Accipio sed ea lege ut te tibi meliorem reddam quam recepi I do not only accept thee but I will also make and return thee to thy self better richer holier happier then I received thee For if we will be his people then the Lord will be our God and in and with him we shall enjoy all good things but without him nothing Because Quicquid praeter te est Domine non reficit non sufficit si ad Corpus sufficit non tamen perpetuo satiat quum adhuc amplius quaeratur qui autem te habet satiatus est finem suum habet non habet ultra quod quaeratur quia tu es supra omne visible audibile adorabile gustabile tangibile sensibile In a word what King Henry the 5th promised to his Souldiers when he said to them h Speed Chroâ— p. 796. Whosoever desires Riches Honor and Rewards here he shal find them Ni mirum haec medio posuit Deus omnia campo the Lord of hosts makes good to his people who are sure to find life in his favour to receive grace with every good thing here and eternal glory hereafter This is the portion pay and promotion of all that faithfully serve that truly love God The Prayer MOST High most holy most gracious and most glorious God since thou art both the Lord of Hosts and the King of Saints the Father of Mercy and the fountain or rather the inexhaustible never-failing every fully sweetly and freely satisfying Ocean of all true felicity heavenly Joyes heart-reviving supporting Graces and thirsty soules Let all those I beseech thee that know and professe thy name fear love trust obey thee and delight in thee Let them know thee savingly fear thee filially love thee cordially obey thee sincerely and delight in thee chiefly yea infinitely more then in Corn Wine Oyle pleasure profit honour and all sublunary enjoyments Let oh Lord nothing please quiet or content them till they have gotten comfortable evidences of thy special Love and untill they enjoy an humble holy sweet communion with thee Let them not account the choysest rarest most endearing things in the whole world worth either desiring seeking or possessing without thee since they all are if they do not flow from thy Love in Christ as well as come or streame from thy common thy general providence but shels without kernels Bones without marrow Combes without honey and Huskes without fruit to those that receive them that so being sensible and perswaded of their Creators All-sufficiency the Creatures emptinesse deceitfulnesse insufficiency their own nothingnesse unworthinesse wretchednesse loathsomnesse and spiritual misery by reason of their Originall pollution actual Rebellions and crying abominations committed against thee they may beg earnestly heartily constantly to thee who alone canst and wilt hear help heal them for spiritual Mercy for hearts to abhor sin humiliation for sin pardon of it strength against it and victory over all sinne for mindes to know thee holinesse to be like thee sincerity to please grace to glorifie thee and for thy Favour which is at once like a Cabinet of Pearl full of most precious unvaluable
Gall then Honey in it To arise to honour it is enough that the body sweat water but to maintain it it is necessary that the heart weep bloud said Sophia the Emperesse to Tiberius Thou wilt not deny said one to Alexander the great that all which thou hast in thy Conquest gotten is little and that the quietnesse which thou hast lost it much the Realms which thou hast subdued are many but the cares sighs thoughts which thou hast heaped upon thy heart are infinite for the Gods do seldome suffer them to injoy that quietly in peace which they have unjustly gotten in warre s Bacon Essai 19. p. 105. Kings like to heavenly bodies have much veneration but no rest for the choycest and best refined treasures or favours which the world hath to bestow upon her eldest sons are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Giftless gifts nor doth she only deceive her Favourites but destroy them also even by advancing of them the price which they usually pay for their worldly felicity being not only temporal calamities but too often eternal miseries For dignity is not only often but most commonly the moth of vertue honour the Canker of honestie power the poyson of piety and greatnesse is too frequently the death of goodnesse t Mr. Baâ—ter Saints everlasting rest p. 78. The difficulty is so great of conjoyning graciousnesse with greatnesse that is next to an impossibility and their conjunction so rare that they are next to inconsistent To have a heart taken up with Christ and heaven when we have health and abundance in the world is neither easie nor ordinary u Oâ—uphriâ—s Pius quintus dixisse fertur Cum essem religiosus sperabam bene de salute animae Cardinalis factus extimui Pontifex Creatus pene despero Quid igitur insanius quam pro momentanea felicitate aeternis te mancipare suppliciis 'T is a madnesse even to miracle to lose eternal blisse and glory to gain temporal withering honour and mundane felicity The Prayer O LORD thou art that God who didst both create this beautifull World out of nothing and dost know that there is nothing in this bewitching beguiâ—ing insnaring intangling World that can either afford the Soul of man any reaâ—â— Comforts or make it truly happy For if thou but frown chide hide thy face or manifest the least displeasure against us all the lower springs of Creature-comforts will immediately fail dry up disappoint deceive us and like the early dew or morning Clouds consume fly away and vanish before the heat and wind of thy fiery wrath and fierce fearful irresistible Indignation Let therefore Christians O Lord I beseech thee that know the greatness the terriblenesse of thy Power admire thine omnipotency adore thy wisdome praise thy goodnesse tremble at thy wrath strive for Heaven and contenm the World Let them O Lord prefer Goodnesse before Greatness Holinâ—sse before Honour Piety above Pleasure and Righteousnesse bâ—yond Riches Let them not ship-wrack their Consciences or destroy their Souls for Dominion Let not their Ambition to be great men make them forget neglect or cease to be Christians and good men Let them study and endeavour more earnestly to command their own rebellious hearts to govern aright their unruly passions to get their misplaced Affections unnailed and their head-strong traiterous Lusts subdued then to obtain Authority or Dignity amongst Men. And let ibem account it a greater happinesse mercy advancement glory to be Loyall faithfull dutifull Subjects and Servants to Jesus Christ then to be Soveraigns over Kingdomes Let not their eyes be blinded with the Splendour of power nor dazled with the Lustre of Honour nor their hearts and affections lime-twigg'd by an inordinate sinfull Love of Wealth or Greatnesse that so their rise may not prove their ruine their exaltation their destruction their power their poyson and that so their temporall Eminency and momentany Felicity may not usher them unto ingulph and suck them into or both sadly suddenly unexpectedly and unpreparedly end in ever enduring misery Amen Mundus delectat decipit destruit VI. Of Loyalty and Rebellion THAT Kings whose Originall in England is beyond the Memory of History whether good or bad do derive and receive their Authority immediately from God That Subjects do justly and indispensably owe both submission and subjection unto them And that God hath placed them so far beyond the power and so high above the reach of their Subjects cruel unjust ingrateful when against them armed hands that they are accountable to himself only for their Actions are Truths so bright so evident that we may run and read them confirmed by the sacred Scriptures asserted by the pens of learned men and sealed with the bloud of pious Christians in all Ages * prov 8. 15. By me saith God Kings reign †Dan. 2 21. He removeth Kings and seteth Kings up * Dan. 1. 37. The God of Heaven saith Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar a wicked King hath given thee a Kingdome power and strength and glory 2. Touch not mine anointed saies David a man after Gods own heart †1 Sam. 24. 5. whose Counsel and Command to others was his own * practise as well as Duty Nor are we only inhibited to oppose or resist him for there is no rising vp against him sayes wise * Prov. 30. 31. Agur But which is yet more we are prohibited by †Eccles 8. 4. Who may say to a King what dost thou words to question him much more then certainly it is unlawful and sinful for his Subjects to depose or with Swords to murder him Holy Augustine tell us that Kings have their Kingdomes from God not from men Solus verus Deus dat regna terrena bonis malis Famous Bracton saith positively Rex non habet superiorem nisi Deum The King hath no superiour but God The Oath of Supremacy which we take both as lawful and necessary hath these expresse words in it The Kings Highnesse is the only Supream Governour of this Realm and all other his Highnesses Dominions and Countreys as well in all spirituall or Ecclesiastical things or Causes as Temporal c. And Lastly our a Magn. Cha. 29. Law saith That none shall be arrested imprisoned disseized of their Estates deprived of his Liberty banished or otherwise destroyed but by the verdict of his equalls and the Law of the Land This Magna Charta was granted enacted confirmed by the Kings of England from whom this and all other Laws receive their life and being For he is Anima Legis his Fiat animates and quickens them without it Bils are but breathless Embryo's where or whence then have we any Law or just power to restrain imprison arraign condemn banish or to destroy our Sacred Soveraign who hath no peers no equals within his Dominions Thirdly this truth That Christians ought not to resist or Râ—bell against their Kings though Pagans Papists or Tyrants hath been subscribed by millions of
wicked and rebellious Children of Adam whose Life on Earth is both a Warfare and a wayfare a Fight and a voyage that thou hast both provided them a Magazine and set them up great yea glorious Land-marks The Holy Scriptures to furnish them with Weapons to subdue all their Enenemies And also to afford them Light and to give them Direction whereby they may safely saile by those Shelves and Quick-sands that threaten to ruine and swallow up their Souls in their passage to eternity And further as one of the greatest and most mischievous of them all hast in love to their Souls acquainted them with the danger mischief and misery of Avarice that so they may both fear avoid decline and escape that Soul-wracking Soul-ruining Rock Blessed God add one Link more I beseech thee to the long the precious Chain of thy free Love and rich immerited Mercy Give Christians hearts I pray thee to hate Covetousnesse Let not their Affections O Lord be riveted to earthly things Let them not set up Gold or goods in their minds above their good God Let them not sinfully love or seek that here which will either leave or betray them when they come to lye under black and sad Providences under the burden anguish trouble and terrours of a wakened Conscience and the affrighting confounding Arrest of Death Give them Grace O Lord to covet the best Gifts and then the best of Gifts Jesus Christ that reall Indie wherein all the most precious I never-failing Mines of Saving Grace heavenly Blessings spiritual Joyes and Comforts everlasting Treasures purest sweetest pleasures highest Honoures and eternal Felicity are to be found and gotten will be given unto them Let them O Lord make Christ their All and then they will be sure to want nothing Let all their fresh springs be in thee and then dry and broken Cisterns Creature-comforts will neither deceive nor destroy them And let all O Lord that enjoy the Gospel of Jesus Christ both remember and consider with timely Care and Fear that covetous Persons are not written in the Book of Life and enrolled in Heaven but that they are Registred Listed and put by the Lord into that black Catalogue and Muster-roll of hainous Sinners and odious Idolaters whose souls shall never enter into Gods rest Kingdome and Glory Amen Avaritia Averni est porta pietatis Gangraena Honestatis Tinea Mors Animae IX Of Pleasure IT s an Itch that overspreads all the senses till it grow an incurable disease A hand which tickles us like Trouts to our ruine A Tarantula that stings men so as to make them die laughing It deprives us of our Palats so that we cannot tast any sweetnesse in the duties of holinesse and service of God It 's pleasing but dangerous Opium to the soul and hath a Sirent tongue wherewith it sings such Melodious Lullabies unto it that at length the heart is laid down by it so fast asleep in the Cradle of security that nothing but either the thunder of threatning or the lightning of flaming wrath and scorching anger or the fire of Hell flashing in the very face of Conscience can awaken it * All sublunary delights pleasures and contentments Gustata magis quam potata delectant Cicer. Tusc lib. 2. The top of the cup is honey but the bottome Gall. It at our first acquaintance with us smiles upon us and bids us welcome but afterwards it scourges us with Scorpions By it men and women a Hackwel Apolog p. 458. like the Jesters of Heliogabalus are smothered with violets and buried under Roses a bitter sweet death Voluptuous persons like the b Sr. Anthony Shirlies relation Kings of Persia doe Hauke at Butterflies with Sparrows their lusts make them pursue vanities They are like the c Howel in the Life of Lewis 3. French of whom one saith in regard of their Inconsideratenesse that they are Animalta sine praeterito futuro Creatures that have no respect either to time past or time to come When they have tired glutted and turned the edge of their lusts by a full and free injoyment of their darling lushious delights and their foolish filthy pleasures they say of such a day or time as the d Burton melancholy Barbarous Prince did of that when he saw Julius Caesar and his gallant Romane Army that he had now seen the Gods and that it was the happiest day that ever he had in his life And as the Glutton did at a great feast sure there is no other Heaven but this They are like that Cardinal who said he would not give his part in Paris for his part in Paradise The Alpha of pleasures is mirth but the Omega mourning It 's a false fire an Ignis fatuus that lights leads and betraies those who follow it to danger dishonour destruction It 's a soft sweet pleasant Gale that fills the sails of mens corrupt affections and wasts them delightfully down the calm streams of carnall Joy and sensuall pleasures into the Mare mortuum of everlasting lamentation It 's like the Apples of Sodome very beautifull without when within there 's nothing but dust and rottennesse Like some pictures exceeding fair and amiable if look't upon one way but most ugly and deformed if beheld another way It hath a weight of lead on the one hand as well as a wing on the other a sting as well as a speckled skin And when best or sweetest it 's but honey and Aloes wine and water mixed together nay many times it stings the heart so painfully that even while smiles sit upon the * Prov. 14. 13. face sighs and sorrowes fill and pearch upon the spirit That very day saith Marcus Aurelius when I triumphed in Rome openly for my Victories my heart wept secretly Pleasure it strangles the soul with silken halters smothers it in a bed of down throws it from a Tower of Pearl stabs it with a Golden dagger kils it with a delicious banquet and drowns it in a Sea of Wine The infatuated Lovers of it are like e Speed Cro. p. 85. Domitian whose delight was to catch and kill flies Like f Hackwel Apolog p. 463. Nero who used to fish with golden hooks and nets drawn with purple coloured Lines for Gudgeons T is like Diogenes his laqueus melleus delightful but deadly A voluptuous person is an Aetna alwaies burning within with foolish and filthy desires and often flaming out in Acts of impurity beastialitie impiety Hee 's an Israelite dying with Quailes in his mouth Pleasure it 's like a Favourite both a summe and a cypher in a very little time all and nothing she serves and deludes her Lovers as t is said the Devill hath done some witches glving them shining leaves instead of reall Gold and proves an empty cloud instead of a Juno to those that embrace her She decoys men into snares and dangers and instead of a pleasant walk she proves at last a deep pit and a narrow
into his presence injoy his Favor and live for the just shall live by his faith him God doth love and will honour but all Vashti's * Esther 1. 11. all unbelievers shall be rejected divorced from Christ though Hypocrisie Morality wealth or greatnesse may make them like her very fair to look on who is the head and Husband of his Church and people for ever Faith 't is a tree that bears those golden Apples those rare sweet pleasant precious fruits love to God and his Saints purity and humility of heart and affections peace of conscience victory over the world charity joy in the Holy Ghost courage and constancy in the confession and profession of the truth c. These are the Daughters that rise up and call their Mother blessed These are the Jewels that adorn and the Royall train which attends the Kings Daughter who is all glorious within yea and makes that Palace that heart where she resides and keeps Court all glorious too for the God of glory the Lord of glory and the Spirit of glory do all take up their abode in a beleeving Soul Faith 't is a Stephen beholding a living Christ in heaven through a thick and violent shower of stones when the body is dying upon earth 'T is a brasse wall a * Ephes 6. 16. shield wherewith a beleever both repelleth and quenches all the fiery darts of the Devill Hostem visibilem feriendo invisibilem vincis credendo Our visible enemies may be subdued by striking and fighting but our invisible Adversary the Devill cannot be conquered but by beleeving 'T is that heavenly David which overcomes that spirituall Goliah Satan and all those uncircumcised Philistins sin the world temptations our carnal hearts corrupt affections filthy lusts and our disorderly unruly passions those wild horses which carry us headlong into sin and run away with the soul towards Hell 'T is a divine Apelles that draws the Image of God defaced by sin to the life again upon the Soul 'T is the salt which maketh all our Sacrifices both savory and acceptable because * Heb. 11. 6. without faith it 's impossible to please God Justifying faith works by love and lover runs down the several Chanels †We must love God above all things Apprenativè 2 Intensivâ— 3. Adâ—quatè First of Love to God Amat enim non immerito qui amatus est sine merito Amat sine fine qui sine principio se cognovit amatum And his love to God he demonstrates by yielding a willing sincere constant and universall obedience to all his Commandements For Quicquid propter deum fit aequaliter fit True obedience doth neither deny nor dispute Gods commands but obeyeth them all both equally and cheerfully 2. Of charity to the poor because he that 's freely through grace made a member of Christ cannot but both pity and relieve Christs members The sense of Gods undeserved mercy and bounty to himself will melt his heart into Compassion and open his hand to distribute unto those that are in want 3. Of praying and sorrowing for those that are profane The wicked like those who are infected with the plague desire and delight to corrupt and destroy others incourage them to sin and accompany them in sin But those that love God do so love their Brethren in the flesh also that they both mourn for their iniquities and earnestly heartily cry to the Lord to convince convert pardon and save them 4. Of forgiving enemies freely cordially fully since no man was ever either so malitious against or injurious to another as man was to his maker and Saviour yet Christ did not only forgive him but dyed also to make an atonement for him and to reconcile God and him and therefore for Christs sake in obedience to his command and to expresse his conformity to his Redeemer he will pardon his worst greatest and most implacable adversaries yea and love even those that hate him 5. Lastly of sympathizing with afflicted Christians If one string on a musicall instrument be but touched all the rest will expresse their fellow-feeling thereof in a sound If the head ake the tongue will complain if a finger be burnt the eye will weep And all those whom God hath comforted in their own sorrows will mourn for others calamities and grieve for the afflictions of Joseph Certainly then those are but dead and rotten members which are not sensible of nor affected with the maladies and miseries of their brethren Love 't is the weight which moves all the wheeles of the soul in duty Amor meus pondus meum Eo feror quocunqne feror said holy Augustine 'T is the spring of all wel-pleasing services to God e Curtius Alexander the great had two Friends Hephestâ—onâ— and Parmento Hephesten loved Alexander Parmenio the King God hath two sorts of Friends good men and bad men A worldly wicked man loves God as a King able to protect promote honour provide for him Nam amici ficti fortunae sunt amici non sui But a true believer loves Christ as a Lord Husband Prophet with a heart not only willing but resolved to be guided commanded instructed by him and to be loyal dutifull obedient chast faithfull unto him The one follows Christ for loaves forbâ—y base low carnal ends aimes designs the other to honour serve please praise him The one because he 's great and bountifull the other because he 's good and holy the one withers shrinks repines forsakes God when he is nipt with the frost of adversitie or threatned with the storms of persecution being like a tree that seeds and loses both its fruit and leaves in the cold sharp winter of tryals dangers and like a Mushroome without root But the other like a Palm-tree is not only green in the winter of Affliction but he will also rather then he will want deny or dishonour Christ goe through flames and flouds to serve obey meet injoy him Faith and Love are like a pair of compasses whilst saith stands firmly fixed with the center which is God nam Circumferentia fidei est verbum dei Centrum fidei deus verbum Love walks the round and puts a girdle of Mercy about the loins There may be a shew of charity without faith but there can be no shew of Faith without Charitie d Rainold Orat p. 320. Cato Vticensis being asked by one Quem maxime amaret Respondit fratrem my Brother Being asked the same question a second and a third time still answered Fratrem my Brother and nothing else Aske a true Believer whom he most really intirely loves both his tongue heart and life will answer My elder Brother Jesus Christ Socrates said often he had rather have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Kings favour then the Kings gold or silver A true beleever had rather injoy the love of God the light of his countenance and a sweet Communion with Christ then ten thousand worlds and saies with e
Melch. Adam in vit Luth. Luther Mallem ego cum Christo ruere quam cum Caesare stare For Christ is the loadstone to which the needle of his heart doth willingly constantly restlesly though tremblingly turn Nothing can keep disswade or withhold him from him neither enemies troubles dangers nor devills for his love is strong as death and love alone over-powers all powers * Genes 8. 9. Christ alone is the Ark wherein his soul like †Noahs Dove in the Deluge can find rest Faith and love are to the soul of a gracious praying Christian wherein Amalek and Israel the flesh and Spirit are up in Arms and will continue fighting all the day during the time of this natural life as * Exod. 17. 11 12 13. Aaron and Hur were to Moses the Servant of the Lord. For although Amalek may yea doth sometimes prevail against Israel Corruption against Grace And although as Moses hands were heavy a Christians Spirit may be faint or weary with so long so sharpe a conflict yet he like Moses being set upon a stone resting trusting and relying upon that chief corner-stone that precious stone cut out of the Mountaine without hands Jesus Christ and being also like Moses hands steady fixt and constant being upheld by faith and love as Moses hands were by Aaron and Hur in crying to and begging of the Lord both strength assistance and victory untill the going down of the Sun till death he obtains under the great Captain of mans Salvation through whom Christians are more then conquerors Jesus Christ a comfortable happy glorious Victory over Amalek and his people Satan temptations sin corruptions and all its deadliest enemies The Prayer MOST Holy Lord God thou hast not only given unto Christians a glimpse of the Felicity and Glory of Heaven by revealing to them what it is so far as they are capable to apprehend it for they can never comprehend it till they enjoy it and are crowned with it But thou hast also chalked them out the way that leads to it offered them an infallible guide to conduct them in it and promised yea assured them if they will accept thy gracious offer to give them both Leggs and strength to carry them unto it Thou O Lord art truth it self inable us stedfastly to believe thee Thou art Goodnesse it self grant that we may ardently intirely love thee And since without these graces in reality we can neither please nor enjoy thee Crown us with them I beseech thee for these are such sweet Flowers as did never grow since Adam by his fatall fall sowed it all over with venemous Weeds in the Garden of Nature that so being regenerated quickened inflamed and inabled by thee we may come boldly unto thee rely confidently upon thee set our Affections sincerely on thee delight chiefly in thee and rest eternally blessed with thee Grant this for his sake in whom thou canst deny thy people nothing Jesus Christ the Sonne of thy Love Amen Per fidem in Christo corona in Caelo XII Of Repentance 'T Is the Souls return from travailing in the foraign Countrey of sin 'T is a Vagabond prodigall * Luke 15. 17. First come to his right mind being before no better then a mad-man out of his wits and then coming home to his Heavenly Father upon the feet of †Idem v. 21. confession and sorrow for it 's not only far more infamous to commit sin then to confesse it because nihil pudori esse debet poenitenti nisi non faterl true penitents should blush at nothing but at the concealing of their crimes but it 's also very dangerous not to acknowledge or to excuse our offences Quicunque enim sibi se excusat accusat deo because either to extenuate our faults or to plead our own innocency will both aggravate our sins and provoke the Lord to punish us for our wickednesse Since the surest way for transgressors to be found guilty and to be condemned * Prov. 28. 13. is to †hide their sins and to justifie themselves for wounds that bleed inward and poyson that is not vomited up are most deadly Repentance is an Augustins a Christians retractation It makes the soul a Solomon wise and happy living as well as speaking or writing an Ecclesiastes 'T is an * 1 Kin. 20. 32. 34. Aramite with importunity submission and supplication begging the Life of Benhadad the soul of the mercifull King of Israel God Almighty An humble hearty particular ingenuous * Prov. 28. 13. confession of all sin a sound humiliation and godly sorrow for all sin a reall detestation of and an irreconcilable hatred to all sin a resolute resistance and constant opposition against all sin an holy jealousie and Christian vigilancie at all times in all places in all company and in all our callings and imployments over our consciences affections hearts tongues lives souls and bodies to fly and decline all occasions of all temptations unto sin a pious care when through frailty temptation corruption or securitie our souls are become black â—oul and deformed by sin to a Gods children fal but it 's the property of the Devils child to lye stil Mr. Philpot. Humanum est cadere â—ace rebelluinum resurgere Christianum perseverare in peecato diabolicum August bath them in and to wash them with tears of godly sorrow til they be white and clean to be afraid of fullying of defiling them again Inanis enim est ista poenitentia quam sequens culpa coinquinat A conscientious care to do no wrong to our neighbors or if we have willingly knowingly injurd any man to give him ful satisfaction for non tollitur peceatum nisi restituatur ablatum b I have read of one Pyâ—rhus that when he perswaded the Sultan Selimus to give the wealth and treasure which he had taken from the Peâ—sian Merchan S unto an Hospital for the maintainance of the poor Nay rather said Selimus let it be restored to the right owners and accordingly restitution was made thereof unto them It would certainly be very much for the glory of God the honour of the Gospel the comfort of those that profess themselves to be Christians and the good of their posterity if they would write after and copy out the honest example of this Turk herein but if this be called or esteemed foul because a Mahomitan set it I shall present them with one equally fair and necessary written by a good Christian I mean pious and conscientious Zaccheus Luke 19. 8. And also with one Royal precedent one noble pattern of our own viz. King Henry 7th who in his last Will and Testament willed that Restitution should be made of all such Moneys as had unjustly been levied by his Officers Speed Chron. p. 993. Go thou then and do like these who ever thou art that art grown rich or great by unjust gain and means and then the Lord wil pardâ—n honor bless thee But if
and carryed to the Court to be honoured advanced so highly by the King as not only to become his Favourite but his Son and Heir also But it 's the greatest wonder of all and the highest phrensy for men to wound and poyson themselves because they may be cured to break their bones because they may chance to get them well set again to run into the fire because it 's possible their Father will pull them out and not suffer them to be burned and to love act live and persevere both in theft murder and rebellion in hope of being not only pardoned but promoted when they come to be executed And certainly it 's no lesse then the greatest folly yea madnesse and cruelty to our own Souls that we are capable either to invent act or expresse to presume and expect to obtain mercy favor and pardon from God at our death when we have knowingly wilfully and impenitently continued both robbers of God and traytors to God by sinning against him all our life For it 's most just and equall that the Lord should abhorre reject and burn the bone when the Devill hath had all the marrow The Prayer O LORD under the Law those sacrifices that were acceptable to thy Majesty were offered up with Fire but under the Gospell those Oblations those duties and services are most pleasing to thee which are presented and tendered with Water with penitentiall tears flowing from the bitter-sweet springs of a saving sight of sin and godly Sorrow for sin Grant O Lord that we may both love thee and grieve that by our Iniquities we have offended thee Let us serve thee with gladnesse of heart and yet be in bitternesse of Soul for our dishonouring of thee O give us Holy God to worship serve and pray unto thee not only with the fire of Love and zeal burning upon the altars of our inflamed hearts but also with the waters of contrition and remorse streaming out of broken Spirits Let us not seek thee and sin wilfully against thee Let us not professe repentance and practise rebellion Let us not O Lord forsake Egypt and long to enjoy it again But grant that we may never any more attempt or presume to repeat or act our former old or any new crimes And since most Holy God every known sin even the very least is a great a grievous a deep and a desperate wound to the Soul so soon as it is acted that festers in it by continuance gangrenes by delight and kills the Soul by impenitency O let all transgressing Christians speedily search their Souls and sores with the Probe of serious consideration let them behold them with the eyes of grief and humiliation let them bath and wash them with Tears of sorrow and contrition inable them by a justifying Faith to receive and apply unto them that Soveraign all-healing plaister made of that most precious Balm the bloud of Jesus Christ let them bind up their wounded spirits with the hands of compunction and self-abhorrency and grant that they may keep on their plaister both by a through reformation and a constant conscientious care willingly deliberately knowingly to sinne no more that so they may recover be healed and live Grant this great mercy O thou God of mercy unto us for the merits of Jesus Christ Amen Poenitere est vere sapere valere vivere XIII Of Prayer 'T Is that safe carefull nimble spirituall messenger and post that carries and brings letters of intelligence and love-tokens to and from Christ 'T is the language of Canaan A Christians Shiboleth 'T is the souls both Orator and Sollicitor in that great Court of Requests Heaven 'T is a Jacob wrastling with God and prevailing A Jonah though buried alive in a swimming Sepulchre though shipt in a living Vessel and carried down under Deck to the confines of Hell crying for and obtaining a safe landing on the shoar of Life 'T is a Moses begging and receiving cure of the souls Physitian of Almighty God for Miriam a leprous sinful person 'T is a Christians Forces wherewith he besieges Heaven and takes it by storm by violence 'T is the souls industrious faithfull factor in Heaven from whence it brings the precious everlasting riches and Jewell of grace forgivenesse comfort to the heart T is the key that opens and shuts Heaven Oratio justi clavis est coeli ascendit precatio et descendit Dei miseratio licet alta sit terra altum coelum audit tamen Deus hominis linguam si mundam habet conscientiam Prayer like a Hackw Apolog p. 295. histor of Flanders .. Dousa's Doves when Leyden was besieged it brings certain intelligence of relief supplies assistance coming from the Lord of Hosts to strengthen succour and deliver the soul when it 's beleaguered indangered or assaulted by sin Satan or the world What was said of Luther is true of prayer It may have almost what it will of Christ There is a kind of omnipotency in it whereby it holds hinders and with an humble holy reverence be it spoken binds the arm of Almighty God that he cannot strike Let me alone saith the Lord to Moses and get thee out of Sodome said the * Genes 19. 22. Angell to Lot for thy supplication is her preservation thy prayers and presence are her protection thy company is her security thy residence her reprieve I cannot do any thing I cannot rain down Hell out of Heaven in a fiery showre to consume her till thou beest out of her and got to Zoar. As Faith is the Emperesse of Graces so prayer is the Queene of duties The Elements of effectuall Prayer are First Faith Vt oremus credamus ut ipsa non deficiat fides qua oramus * James 5 16. Hebr. 11. 5. Oremus Fides fundit orationem fusa oratio fi dei impetrat firmitatem Faith and prayer are like the fire and fewel fire makes the fewell burn and flame and fewell feeds the fire and keeps it burning and flaming Faithlesse prayers are fruitlesse prayers or rather such supplications are provocations for God is so far from smelling a sweet savour in the sacrifices of unbelievers that he loaths them they stink in his nostrils and therefore he will cast their duties like dung into their faces 2. * James 5. 16. Fervency Qui frigide rogat negare docet prevalency is the child of importunity An * Luke 18 4 5. Atheisticall unjust judge that neither fears God nor cares for man will grant the earnest suit of a poor Widow though a stranger to him How much more then will the great judg of Heaven and earth who is not only a just but also a most gracious compassionate God and Father both hear and grant the ardent humble and hearty petitions of his own Children He that did never say to the house of Iacob seek ye my face in vain He that commands us to aske and seek and hath promised that we shall receive and find
will certainly for he is the God of truth attend to the cries and grant the requests of his own people when they begge such things as tend to his glory and the good of their own souls But yet no heat no hearing because cold prayers are but carcasses and carnall sinful services which the Lord detests and will never accept 3. * Psalm 118. 1. We must love God 1. Amoreamicitiae because he is most excellent and lovely 2. Amore desiderii because he is the Ocean of our Joy comforts and happinesse 3. Amore complacentiae with a love of Joy delight 4. Amore benevolentiae with a sincere endeavour to honour serve and praise him Love Favours are both the seeds fewell and Bonds of Friendship Compassion is the Spring of affection Mercy is the Mother of Amity Magnes amoris amor Love is loves loadstone A saving sense and a right apprehension of Gods infinite immutable undeserved love to us will inkindle the fire of love in us And if we once truly love God we shall then be alwaies careful to please fearfull to offend and grieved if we do displease him †Minus te amat domine qui tecum aliquid a mat Aug. in soliloq we shall delight and rejoyce in him above all things We shall desire to be more intimately acquainted with him we shall esteem his favour and prize his presence more then the honours treasures and smiles of all the world we shall never willingly do any thing that may cloud his face or cause a distance between us And then but never before may or can we impart our sorrows or discover our wants straights wounds and miseries by prayer to our reconciled God with boldnesse assurance and a well grounded hope to be comforted inlarged supplyed cured delivered For God will not hear those that hate but * Prov 8. 17. those that love him 4. Constancy constancie in duty is the top-stone of duty If we would be heard we must persevere and continue * Rom. 12. 12. Eph s 6. 18. instant in prayer no constancie no crown T is so necessary and so profitable for us to call upon God that we are commanded to * 1 Thes 5. 17. pray without ceasing we daily commit iniquities receive mercies escape punishments and therefore we ought daily yea hourly not only to beseech the Lord to pardon us but also to praise and magnifie him for blessing and protecting of us Prayer 't is both a duty and a priviledge a work and a reward a service and a comfort T is an approved experimented infallible means to procure and obtain a blessing upon our blessings a glorious victory over the world the flesh and the Devill assurance of Gods speciall love deliverance in support under and protection from so far as it 's good for Gods children troubles afflictions desertions peace of conscience pardon of sin sanctification of the crosse Joy in the Holy Ghost a supply of our wants a holy contentation of mind in every condition and whatsoever is good either for soul or body here or hereafter Oratio est oranti subsidium Deo sacrificium Diaholo flagellum The Trophees Successe Triumphs of Prayer are eminent glorious infinite both in all ages and places T is Murus animae munimentum inconcussum armatur a inexpugnabilis T is a cordiall to the heart an acceptable sacrifice to God a scourge to Satan a brasse wall to the soul I shall therefore conclude with the same exhortation to all Christians that some of the blessed b Laurence Saunders George Marsh John Careless Fox B. of Martyrs vol. 3. p. 138. Col. 1. vol. 3 p. 235. col 2. Idem p. 721. col 1. Martyrs did their pious confirming consolatory Letters to their friends and Relations Pray Pray Pray for the fervent effectual prayers of the righteous like * 2 Sam. 1. 22. the Sword of Saul do never return empty and like Jonathans Bow they neither turn back nor return without successe and victory The Prayer O LORD thou hast commanded all men to call upon thee promised that they that ask shall receive and yet that we may strive and resolve to be humble fervent upright pure and holy hast assured us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts thou wilt not hear us though we beg weep houl and cry unto thee O inable us to pray unto thee most holy God with Hearts stedfastly resolved not to provoke thee by sinâ—ing wilfully and delightfully against thee Because it 's not only a vain and a very dangerous attempt but also an intolerable dishonour to thee and a most horrible a most abominable crime committed against thee with our Tongues to professe piety and to beg for mercy when our hearts are deeply and resolvedly in Love with hatefull iniquity That therefore we may pray acceptably prevailingly give us Grace and hearts to hate all sin perfectly implacably and let thine own Spirit of prayer O Lord inable us powerfully and assist us effectually to call upon thee that so thou mayest both hear and grant the prayers of thine own Spirit Grant this O thou that didst never say to the house of Jacob seek ye my face in vain for his sake who sits at thy right hand to make intercession for us Amen Preces prosunt obtinent praeliant vincunt triumphant XIV Of Sincerity and Hypocrisie Together with some Characters of both sincere and hypocriticall Christians and Professors SIncerity 't is the salt that both seasons and purifies that muddy stinking spring the heart 'T is the Gardener that keeps though it cannot utterly extirpate nor kill the noysome rank poysonfull weeds of sin from over-growing and smothering the herbs of Grace in the garden of the Soul 'T is the touch-stone of vertue the marrow heart spirits life of piety 'T is a Simeon with Christ in its Armes Like the Emperesse Mammea's Guard appointed by her to watch at the door and commanded to keep out all vitious infamous persons from going in to her Son Alexander lest they should corrupt debauch him It stands Centinell at the gate of the heart that so no sin may enter into it to pollute or poyson it An upright man is like a Pliny Nat. Hist that Assyria malus quae venenis medetur et omnibus Anni temporibus edit fructus pomis aliis maturescentibus allis subnascentibus He is homo quadratus like a dye which cast high or low by the hand of providence still falls upon a square and stands firm as well when an Ace or when a Cize or Cinque He both really desires and carefully indeavours for he dares not divide or put asunder what God hath joyned together I mean the means and the end love and labour prayer and pardon hearing doing professing and practising holinesse happinesse Grace and Glory and therefore he hath Oculus ad Coelum manus ad clavem well knowing that bene cogitare est bene somniare good wishing is but good dreaming if
Socrates did of his enemies Anitus and Melitus they may kill me but they cannot hurt me for he is like the Amiantus stone called the Asbest which t is said being cast into the fire seems forthwith to be all on a flame but being taken out shines more gloriously And like gold which put into fire is more pure and being cast into the water is most radiant Tribulation is to him as the enemies sword was to that souldier who being therewith wounded in his side was thereby cured of an Impostume which otherwise would have caused his death Adversity it is a Christians Topicks from whence he deduces Arguments to prove himself a * Prov. 13. 1â— Favourite in the Court of Heaven 'T is his Heraldry or Coat of Arms where by he is able to prove himself allyed to Christ and an Heir of Glory they being Bastards Esay 27. 9. not Sons who are not chastened of the Lord. Deus unicum tantum habet filium sine peccato nullum sine flagello It 's the †Physick that purgeth out the peccant dangerous humours of sin 't is a painfull but a health-bringing medicine Nulla remedia quae vulneribus adhibentur tam faciunt dolorem quam quae sunt salutaria saith the Orator Corrections like Plato's suppers are best the day after * A gale of groans and sighs a stream of tears accompanies us to the very gates of Heaven and there bids us farewell for ever M. Baxter A good mans drink is wormwood here for he must not expect two Heavens Delicatus es si hic gauderevelis cum seculo postea regnare cum Christo Since they that would reap in joy must sow in tears they must expect both clouds and showres †1 Thess c. 3. v. 3â— it being the lot portion and condition of all Gods people to have foul weather and foul way in their Journey towards their everlasting home Heaven c Rainold Orat p 401. Cyrus olim suos Persas libertatis dulce dinem ex labore servitutis docuisse traditur * Si mihi tranquilla placata omnia faissent incredibili qua nunc fâ—uor laetitiae voluptate caruissem Cicer. post reditum Misery gives a sweet relish to mercy and therefore God will have his people to be slaves in Egypt before he makes them free denisons of Canaan * Afflictions are the snuffers wherewith God makes his people to burn and shine more bright Affliction 't is the Morter in which a Child of God is beaten and bruised to make his graces like sweet spices smell more fragrantly Afflictio piorum non est tam poenae criminis quam examen virtutis For Gods sharpest dealings and severest dispensations towards his children are corrections not judgments chastisements but not punishments or if they be punishments they are yet poenae emendatoriae non interfectoriae reforming not consuming temporall not eternall sin-killing but not soul-killing punishments Affliction 't is the Sive wherewith God sifts and as it were dresseth them to make them fit grain to be gathered into his Garner 'T is the workhouse in which he frameth his Servants like to his Son 'T is the mould wherein God casts his own people and forms Jesus Christ in them 'T is the Mint-house wherein the Lord stampeth his own Image upon them with this superscription Holinesse to the Lord. d There is no greater sign of damnation then to lie in sin and evill unpunished of God saith blessed Mr. Bradford 'T is the mark livery Cognizance of the friends sheep and servants of Christ 'T is a Rod like †1 Sam. 14. 27. Janathans with honey at the end of it whereby mens eyes are enlightned to behold their misery most men and women being too like the Mole who they say is blind till a little before her death but then see 's * Job 36. 8 9. If they be bound in fetters and be holden in the cords of affliction then God sheweth them their work and their transgressions that they have exceeded saith Elihu Manasses could not see his sins so as to be humble for them and to repent of them till affliction had opened his eyes Adversity 't is the Grave of sin and the Womb of Grace 'T is like d Rainold Orat p. 394. the picture of Diana in Chios which frowns when you come to it and smiles when you go from it * Nihil mihi videtur infeliciâ—s eo cui nunquam aliquid â—venit adversi Demetrius Demetrius an Heathen accounted it a great unhappinesse that he had no misfortune And not without just cause since prosperity is usually the mother and fore-runner of iniquity security * Prov. 1. 32. misery e Plutarch Apothegm When Philip King of Macedon had tidings brought unto him of many worthy and prosperous exploits atchieved all together in one and the same day he cryed out O fortune work me but some small displeasure I beseech thee for these so many blessed good turns f Camerar lib. 1 p. 38. And when Amasis King of Egypt heard of Polycrates his happinesse he wrote to him saying I have thy great felicity in suspicion And afterwards said that he feared he should be forced to sorrow and lamentation because of this his friend overwhelmed with misery And that he feared came to passe for not long after Polycrates was hanged upon a Gibbet by the Command of Oraetes the Lieutenant of Cyrus * Miserum te judico quod runquam fuisti miser Seneca de divin providentia Impunity is the greatest infelicitie * Prov. 2. 1â— prosperous wickednesse being the usuall Harbinger of grievous calamities for God is most angry at the wicked when he seems because he doth not punish them to be pleased with them Amongst men there is et misericordia punienâ— crudelitas parcens Witnesse Tiberius g Suetonius vita Tyberii who constrained them to live who were willing to dye And h Camerar lib. 5. p. 334. Caligula whose Command to the bloudy Executioner of his cruelties was Ita feri ut mori se sentiat strike so as he may feel Death And when a poor prisoner said to Tiberius I beseech your Majesty that I may dye he answered him thou art not yet in my favour So the Lord but most justly punisheth his enemies by sparing wounds by not striking and plagues them by prospering of them For Adversity with Gods mercy is true felicity but prosperity with Gods wrath is reall misery Paul in a Dungeon was happily miserable when Nero upon a Throne was miserably happy The way to Canaan for the Israelites lay through a howling desert Affliction is the Kings great road to Heaven i Don Anthony de Guevara Dial of Princes Fol. 28. Bias amongst others ordained this Law That none should be a Prince of the Perinenses but he that had been brought up ten years in the Warres Because saith he he alone doth know how
all transgressions pardoned and exiled persons were recalled Whoever cometh to this holy Sacrament clothed with the new and rich apparell of Christs righteousnesse and can with the hand of a justifying faith touch Jesus Christ shall be sure to find and receive comfort favor acceptance a discharge from the debt of sin liberty and inlargement from the slavery of his own Lusts and from the captivity of Satan communion with Christ here and admission into the Kingdome of Heaven out of which man was justly excluded exiled for sin and Rebellion hereafter For when by death a true Christian doth put off the Rags of his mortality God will invest him with the Robes of Glory to all Eternity The Prayer EVer blessed God such are thy tender mercies unspeakeable Love and matchlesse Bounty to thy Children upon earth that as thou hast prepared and provided for them both Mansions and a feast a Supper of Glory with the Lamb in the Kingdome of Heaven so hast thou also provided a spirituall Banquet and furnished thy Table with most exquisite curious precious and delicious dainties to refresh nourish comfort strengthen and unite them in their journey and whilest they are upon their way thither this Blessed Sacrament O Lord let not I beseech thee this Soul-feeding heart-chearing Grace-strengthening and increasing communion and Supper be neglected undervalued contemned or denyed through the corruptions contentions differences carelesnesse or ungrounded scrupulousnesse of Men. â—ut let Ministers O Lord carefully obey thy command and conscientiously discharge their own Duty in rightly and frequently administring of it to their people that thy bitter thy bloudy Death O Blessed Saviour may be constantly and thankfully remembred thy wonderful unparalleled undeserved love pity goodnesse acknowledged and thy great Name praised and glorified And let Christians O Lord come to this Holy Sacrament so qualified and prepared that their Graces may be strengthened their Souls as with marrow and fatnesse satisfied their interest in Christ cleared and confirmed their joyes and comforts multiplied their Affections inseparably united and their mutuall love to one another mightily increased Grant this O Lord for his sake who is both the maker of the Feast and the Feast himself Jesus Christ Amen Coena Domini cibus est Animae alimentum Gratiae Nutrix pietatis solaminis canalis pignus amoris condonationis sigillum et corroborationis Sacramentum XIX Of Preaching THE sacred word of God purely rightly and powerfully preached is that Bethesday wherein Mephibosheths souls lamed in their feet their affections by the fall which they had out of the arms of Adam and Eve are cured and thereby inabled to run the ways of Gods commandements 'T is the * Cantic 4. 16. and 7. 5. Garden the Gallery where Christ meeteth speaks to and walks with his people 'T is the mount of blessings conduit of faith Golden Scepter of mercy and the spirituall seed of Grace and Life 'T is the Chariot in which Christ rideth triumphantly into the Soul 'T is the hammer that breaks open the iron door of the heart the key that unlocks it T is the fire that consumeth all Satans strong holds in the spirit 'T is spirituall eye-salve that gives a blind Bartimeus his sight And 't is the voice that awakens the most drouzy deaf secure sinner a Rainold Orat. 1. p. 41. What the Orator saith de Oratione is true de praedicatione Morbis inquit animi medicinam facere debet praedicatio facit comprimendo quae tument roborando quae languent quae inflammant leniendo coercendo quae diffluunt expurgando quae redundant 'T is an Ark alwaies bringing blessings with it Nathan which wil rouse convince and humble Davids relapsing Saints T is a Peter pricking the hearts of great and grosse sinners to their conversion sanctification Salvation 'T is a messenger sent from God and bringing with it those three wonderfull glorious instimable Jewels and blessings to the soul sense of sin assurance of pardon and a through reformation both of the Heart and life It s the means which God hath promised commanded owned blessed and sanctyfied by the inward powerfull and effectual operation of his holy Spirit speaking home to the conscience stirring those healing waters of the sanctuary and accompanying the outward administration of the word most ordinarily and efficaciously to instruct the ignorant confirm the weak to warm the cold mollifie the hard melt the frozen comfort them that mourn to awaken those that are drowsie resolve those who doubt incourage and quiet such as fear guide them that erre bind up the broken hearted and to quicken those that are dead in trespasses and sins T is a Cornâ—copia of all those excellent spirituall mercies and comforts 'T is the granary of celestial food and Manna the silver trumpet of peace and the white flag of mercy to a people It 's a Nilus that softens refresheth and fructifieth barren hard and languishing hearts T is a Mary with Christ in the womb of it an Angell instructing a Philip a light in the thickest saddest darknesse and a comfortable seasonable rain in a drought 'T is both meat to the hungry water to the thirsty physick to the diseased milk to the weak a Lamp to them that wander and wine to the sorrowfull In Asia it was a custome that the Child which was not nursed by his mother should not have the goods of his Mother Those who are not nursed by that Mother the true Church of Christ with the breasts of Gods word and ordinances faithfully and duly administred are never like to have God for their Father nor to be heires of the Churches estate I mean the love promises protection grace and blessing of the Lord nor to enjoy the glorious inheritance of her Children eternall felicity hereafter The Prayer O LORD thou art so farre from desiring or delighting in the eternall Damnation of the vilest greatest grossest sinners that thou hast commanded the Gospell of Salvation to be preached to every creature both to Jews and Gentiles Yet since even this word of Life is both a dead and a killing Letter without the quickening sanctifying influence and efficacy of thy holy Spirit Grant blessed God that the Holy Ghost may both teach and speak effectually convincingly convertingly savingly to the ears and hearts of unregenerated Sinners that so the dead may both hear and feel the voice and power of the Son of God and live And be thou pleased most merciful God so to own blesse and prosper thine own Labourers in thy vine-yard that the Consciences of those who are enemies to thine own ordinances and Ministers may be convinced their spirits grieved and humbled their mouths stopped their sin and errours discovered to them hated by them and forsaken of them And that the understandings of those who hear and enjoy them may be savingly enlightened their hearts graciously changed their Lives throughly reformed and their souls everlastingly saved Let him who is the Word Jesus Christ be ushered
into their hearts by the preaching of thy Word Let not Christians spill the potion or throw away the plaister that should heal and cure their sin-diseased Sin-wounded Souls by neglecting or despising this Soul-converting and this Christ-conveying Ordinance But grant that we may both love prize and hunger after this Heavenly Manna thy word preached that so our souls may not be famished but fed and nourished unto eternall Life Grant this for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Evangelii praedicatio eternae est vitae promulgatio Pietatis semen virtutis pabulum consolationis vehiculum Cordis fulcrum Imber gratiae pharmacon Animae Mortuis tuba caecis Lux Dux errantibus Titubantibus baculus esurientibus cibuâ— ignorantibus fons Scientiae Oceanus gaudii parens Fidei XX. Of godly learned and of ungodly unlearned Ministers PIous Ministers they are the brightest stars in the firmament of the Church a Tully Diis proximi sunt Deorum sacerdotes They are the pillars on which it standeth The Spokesmen that wooe the soul with heavenly Rhetorique that court it with Divine Oratory to love Christ and the paranymphs that lead it to marry him They are Celestiall Ambassadors sent by the Lord Jesus to treat with sinners and to conclude an everlasting peace betwixt him and them They are the chariots horsemen watchmen and as Saint Ambrose was said to be of Millaine et ornamenta munimenta urbis ecclesiae The beauty safety blessing honour and bulwarks both of the Nation Cities Towns and places where thâ—y live b Dr. Arrowsmith Tact. Sa. Nequit Hippo devastari ante obitum Augustini nec ante obitum Parei Heidelberga c Dr. Stoughton Like the heavens they enlighten comfort fructifie that Microcosme Man with their heat light influence with the light of saving knowledge the heat of well grounded well guided zeal and the influence of an exemplary pious conversation without which Ministers are like those Physitians that give an Antidote with one hand to their patients their people and poyson with the other And at best they are but like that * Act. 27. 22. Ship wherein St. Paul was that perished it self though it saved others * Such Ministers are like Cooks that labor and sweat to dress meat for others but eate none of it themselves Or those carpenters that built the Ark wherein Noah his family were preserved and yet themselves were drowned in the deluge When they are wicked that may be said of them which was objected by Cato unto Tiberius concerning the Dalmatian commotions scl d Camden Annal. of Q. Elizabeth That their flocks are committed not to shepherds but Wolves e Such Ministers are praedatores non praedicatores seductores non doctores peculatores non speculatores raptores non pastores For such men do not watch but worrey they do not teach but tear they do not feed but kill and flay their sheep Ah Lord how black and terrible will that Bil of inditement appear which wil be both preferred found at that great assize the day of Judgment against such Ministers as do either poyson or pine their flocks That either kill them as Henry the first King of France is said to be murdered with consecrated wine with the deadly flesh-pleasing muskadine of erroneous or Heretical doctrins principles or famish them for want of the sincere milk of the word through their ignorance or idleness or lead them out of the narrow way of life and not only incourage and perswade them to but harden them in sin by their profaneness worldliness * Si quid injungere inferiorive lis id prius in te ac tu os si ipse stotueris facilius omnes obedientes habebis Liu. l. 26. vitious lives scandalous examples Certainly all such blind seducing dumb ungodly Ministers will inevitably irrecoverably without repentance and reformation sink under the insupportable weight of the bloud ruine and destruction of their wandering miscarrying and everlastingly undone people to the very bottome of Hell O Lord let them fear it here that they may not feel it hereafter There was as I have read a Woman in England who believed there was no God A Minister came to her to convince her and demanding of her how she became an Atheist she answered That the very first thing which caused her to question the Deity was the seeing of himself to live so wickedly for saies she I know you to be a Learned man and a good Preacher and the beholding you to live so impiously to be a Swearer a Lyar a Drunkard and a Profaner of the Sabbath this made me to question whether there was a God in Heaven or no seeing he did let you run on in your wickednesse still unpunished Methinks this sad story should make the hearts eyes and and ears of all scandalous ungodly Ministers to bleed weep and tingle that either do or shall know read or hear of and I heartily beseech the Lord it may But this is not all For besides the danger and misery to which they render their own souls obnoxious by their wickednesse they do also both bring a great * Thou therefore that teachest another teachest not thou thy self Thou that preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal 1 Rom 2. 21. 22 24. Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum scandall upon the Gospell and give their people just cause to complain of them for being a heavy burden and a grievous scourge unto them and most deservedly to account them the unworthiest men in the world That saying of Seneca is most true here Nullos pejus mereri de omnibus mortalibus quam qui aliter vivunt quam vivendum praecipiunt They are also wens and spots upon the fair face and beautifull body of the Ministery and which is yet more ignorant profane bad pastors are the very worst of men f Dr. Arrowsmith Tact. Sa. Perussima creaturarum visibilium est homo degener pessimus hominum pseudo-Christianus Christianorum vero pessimus nequam verbi Minister They live without Love honour and doing good and they dye without comfort g Gospell Ministers should resolve to do like him who said Ita literarum illud Nectar hauriam ita auditores mâ—os instruam tanquam parum victurus ita vivam tanquam semper docturus Pâ—tean Orat. He alone said that Tyrant Phalaris may be called happy of whom it may be truly said he gave good Doctrines to live and left a good example to dye Facile est monere said Thales that 's but the body pie vivere that's very difficult but it 's the soul of a true Gospell Minister Because the way for Ministers to do good is to be good Nisi praestes quod praedicas mendacium non evangelium videbitur It 's no peculiar conceit but a matter of sound consequence that all duties are by so much the better performed by how much the men are more religious from whose
for givenesse because he sins willingly even at that very time when he seems earnestly to beg of the Lord the pardon of his sins and so doth not please or serve but mock God For the God of love and life doth infinitely hate and will not hear those that love hatred and live in it But he will avenge himself severely upon all those that desire and delight to revenge themselves implacably upon others 64. 'T is midnight with an impenitent transgressor when he hath the brightest noontide of prosperity And 't is a serene a shining Noontide with a Saint when he is in the cloudiest midnight of adversity 65. A Saint is a great gainer though he lose all that he hath in the world But a wicked man is a great loser though he gain all that the world hath in it 66. He is mercifully cruell to his own Soul that spares the lives of those Amalekites his Sinnes But he is both cruelly merciful and merciful without any cruelty to his soul that kils them all without mercy 67. He that would live when he dies must kill by mortification all his deadly sins in his life And he that would never die * Mortibus viâ—imus Senec. must die daily 68. The sins of others will increase his sorrow that doth not sorrow for others sins 69. He that would be married to Jesus Christ must get his heart divorced from an inordinate love of worldly things because Christ Jesus will give him a Bill of Divorce that loves the things of the world inordinately For he that makes earth his Heaven or Paradise by suffering a sinful love thereof to enter into his Soul his Soul shal never enter into the Paradise of Heaven 70. He that hath a saving interest in Christ shall be full and rich even when he is empty wantful and deprived of all creature-comforts But he that wants a saving interest in Christ will be poor and empty in the midst of his fullest injoyments and greatest plenty 71. His Soul is sick to death that neither is nor ever yet was heart-sick with grief for the sins of his Life which will be without true repentance the death of his Soul nor love sick for the great and good physitian of the soul Jesus Christ who is both lovely and loving to those only that are sick of love for him 72. His sins are most both odious and hainous that after he hath repented of them returns again with delight to the commission of his hainous sinnes Because he hath laid God in one and put the Devill into the other Scale of the ballance and suffered the Devill to weigh down the Lord. He hath also heard God and the Devill argue and plead and after a full hearing he doth deliberately by wilful relapsing decree for Satan against his Saviour And so he doth both undervalue dishonour and provoke God and also repent that he did repent God will therefore most certainly judge him for his sins without mercy that gives so sinful a judgment against the God of mercy 73. It 's reported that when Caesar saw M. Brutus come running upon him amongst those that murdered him he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thou my son The sins of Gods Children do grieve and offend Christ more then the iniquities of his Enemies Because a contempt or an injury from a friend doth both dishonour him more highly and wound him more deeply then an affront or an abuse from a professed Adversary 74. He is a bad Magistrate that is not good for nothing And as pious Governors do clothe a Nation with the Robâ—â— of Joy and gladnesse So wicked Rulers do put it into Sackcloth and mourning 75. He that undermines the Church of God doth at once labour sweat and weary himself to dig a hole down to hel for his Soul to fall irrecoverably into the bottomlesse pit And he that persecutes the people of God by shedding their innocent crying bloud puls up a sluce to let in a crimson deluge to drown him 76. Never did any wicked men attempt to pull down God from his Throne by setting up themselves their lusts interests and idols above him or his glory but the God of glory pulled or rather tumbled them down headlong for that wicked attempt Either by humbling their proud presumptuous hearts or else by destroying their persons or blasting their cursed designes or which is yet more dreadful by damning their rebellious Souls 'T is then a fearful thing not to fear falling into the omnipotent Arms and the angry hands of that terrible God who both can and will with one irresistable blow kil and confound the offender and with one frown or stroke send him at once both to his Grave and Hâ—ll 77. A pious Christian though he hates no mans person is yet the worst most inexorable and invincible enemy of all mortall creatures to the ungodly whose works and waies his Soul doth loath and detest For by his faithful prayers he can prevail with God to infatuate their Counses dispirit their stout hearts blast their designs wither their flourishing hopes to break the Arme of their power and to rescue himself and those that fear God out of the Jawes of Enemies dangers and death 'T is therefore a stupendious astonishing madnesse in wicked men to hate those whom God loves to destroy those for whose sakes themselves are preserved to hope to build themselves houses upon earth by pulling the pillars thereof to condemn them that shall one day be their Judges and to plot and presume to plant themselves or their Posterities in the World by supplanting and rooting out the upright * Prov. 2. 1. who shall dwell in the Land whereas the * Prov. 3. 33. wicked * in whose house the curse of the Lord is shall be cut off from the earth †Prov. 2. 22. For if Cedars vinâ—â— olive and orenge trees be cut down then brambles briers and barren Fig-trees will certainly suddainly miserably be cursed burned and consumed 78. He is the worst malignant and Incendiary in a State that is a wicked man For he not only hates goodnesse and good Christians but he also both kindles the fire of Gods wrath against it and keeps it burning and flaming by casting continually the oyle of sinne upon it 79. Those Governours and great ones who are so bewitched with the fading dying and killing glories of this World as for the Love of them to slight Heaven neglect the great Salvation offered them and to reject Jesus Christ their pomp will end in pain their honour in Infamy and their Glory in eternal misery 80. He that slights opposes robs and wrongs the Ambassadours of Jesus Christ Gods faithful Ministers doth dishonour displease and bid defiance to their Master the Lord of Hosts He must therefore without repentance restitution and submission expect to receive neither peace pardon nor quarter but death without mercy that steals from or fights against the God of bounty Justice and Mercy and