know what a many woes Christ pronounced against the Pharisees for making Religion a colour for their Hyprocrisie and covetousness under pretence of long prayers devouring poor widows and their houses Matt. 23. 14 15 16. where he instances in many other particulars insomuch that by their evil example which was then much looked upon they shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men for they neither go in themselves nor suffer them that are entring to go in This was the case of the Shechemites Gen. 34. you see how desperately the two sons of Iacob Simeon and Levi played the hypocrites pretending Religion to the Shechemites that if they would be circumcised they would marry with them and give their daughters in marriage to them again This was the Cloak but what was their End and Ayme you shall see Verse 23. say they when they are circumcised and not able to stir shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours And so in the 28. Verse They fell upon them and took their sheep their oxen their asses and that which was in the field and all their wealth c. Thus the Devil is transformed into an Angel of light he will be religious to serve his own turn and to accomplish his own ends when men instead of making Godliness great gain which is pretended 2 Tim. 6. 5. they make Gain godliness And that is intended 4. COMMANDMENT Fourthly For the Sabbath Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day six dayes shalt thou labour but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work c. The covetous man commonly is of Pharoahs Religion Exod. 5. 17. Ye are idle ye are idle therefore ye say Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord They count that day a lost day One day in seven is above seven weeks in a year say they and what loss of time is this And those covetous persons in Amos who were weary of one day in seven Amos 8. 5. When will the new Moon be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat Many keep their Sabbaths in their Saddles riding up and down for profit and gain about their worldly occasions Nehemiah when he saw how they prophaned the Sabbath how zealous was he the course he took you may see Neh. 13 15 16. If he were alive now and should see what is now done to see how thrust the Lawyers chambers are on this day what would he say But you see all this is the fruit of Covetousness 5. COMMANDMENT The fifth Commandment is Honour Parents by which is meant not onely in brief that we owe them first Reverence Secondly Obedience But thirdly Maintenance also but Covetousness will keep back all these As Levi in a good sense said of his Father and Mother I have not seen him Deut. 32. 9. so it is through Covetousness more often practised in a bad sense as Prov. 28. 24. He that robbeth his father and mother and saith it is no transgression the same is a companion of a destroyer This will Covetousness do and wipe its mouth and say I have done no evil This was the practise of the Pharisees Matth. 15. 4. saith Christ God commandâ— To honour father and mother and he that curseth father or mother shall dye but ye say whosoever shall say to his Father or Mother Corban It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and honour not his father or his mother he shall be free They would give a small gift to the Temple to be excused from a greater duty and further charge Still COVETOUSNES is in all this 6. COMMANDMENT I but you will say though Covetousness be a breach of all the Commandments hitherto yet the covetous man doth not kill and break the sixth Commandment yea Covetousness also is a Blood-sucker and the covetuous man-slayers those that are gold-thirsty are blood-thirsty also especially now in these hard times in hard times those that pinch the poor grinde their faces do as it were such their very lives and blood see Prov. 1. 11. My Son if sinners intice thee consent thou not if they say Come with us let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause let us swallow him up alive and whole as the grave Why do all this We shall finde all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil and verse 19. saith he So are the wayes of every one that is greedy of gain for it taketh away the life of the owners thereof Therefore Covetousness and Blood are joyned together Ezek. 22. 13. I have smitten my handâ— at thy dishonest gain and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee I need not instance the case of Ahab and Naboth Ahab taking away his life to get his vineyard nor of Iudas who for gain betrayed Jesus Christ his Lord to death for thirty pieces of silver And if the hands of many covetous persons are not defiled Actually with shedding of blood It is the Law and not Conscience keepeth them clean they have bloody hearts thoâ—gh not bloody hands and to God they are in that regard guilty of blood as if they had shed blood and though mans Law cannot finde them culpable yet Gods Law doth for that forbids the Murther of the wish and of the heart 7. COMMANDMENT But sure he is not guilty of Adultery yea for you know Covetousness was the cause that Tamar suffered Iudah to lie with her Gen. 38. 16. What wilt thou give me to lie with me saith Tamar to Iudah What is the cause of the permission of so many Stews and Brothel-houses in the Popes Territories at Rome and Venice and Dance and other places but Covetousness for Gain they will a give dispensation for any sin And on the other hand how common is it even among us That many refuse Marriage meerly out of Covetousness to avoid the charge of marriage 8. COMMANDEMENT 8. I but He doth not steal yea surely for the world having stollen the heart of a Covetous man from God he himself will make no bones to steal from men and Thieves and Covetous are immediately joyned together in that I Cor. 6. 10. Iudas was a Thief why Iohn 12. 6. This he said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a Thief and had the bag and bare what was put therein You see he was called a Thief because he was covetous Defrauding oppressing over-reaching cozening cheating gaming extortion vsury all of them Worms bred in the dunghill of a covetous heart Nor is it any excuse to say there is as much evil or more in spending it prodigally that excuses not thee at all as the end of evil asking may be to spend it upon their lusts Jam. 4. 3.
adore and worship thee and thee I will serve saith another Profit thou art my God thee I will please and obey Thus if you will examine your selves punctually and particularly you cannot deny but must confess that you have worshipped and served other Gods And thou mayest truly complain and say O Lord Other Lords besides thee have ruled over me Though Reason will excuse and defend it self yet hear God speak in thee hear what His well-beloved Son saith in thee and confess that thou art as the truth is Guilty of the breach of this Commandement and that the reward of sin is death hell and eternal damnation and this confession from the heart and from a true sight is a sure means and way that thy spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus This sight of thy spiritual thraldom and being delivered over to Sathan is that thy Spirit may be saved and that thy flesh may be crucified And so you might go over all the Commandments and try your selves by them as hereafter I may have time and if you do but thus examine your selves you will never complain of want of Catechizing But for this time the time hath cut me off SERMON VI. ROM 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together THis is the sixth hour I have spoken to you out of these words Many men may think themselves exempted from suffering with Christ because they do not suffer as Christ did viz. In Disgrace Buffeting Spitting upon Poverty Whipping Crucifying c. For As a Lamb dumb before the shearer so opened He not his mouth Therefore I defined a condition to you wherein every one may claim a part in his sufferings and that was in Phil. 2. 6 7. He Emptied himself And he Humbled himself Phil. 2. 6 7. And I told you If we suffer never so much if we suffer not on This foundation we do not suffer with Christ And if we do suffer from these two then if we suffer never so little we do suffer with him Nay if these two foundations be laid It matters not whether we be called to suffer in the former cases or no so we have but a readiness and a fit disposition and willingness to suffer therein also if God please but suffering in these two respects In Emptying our selves and humbling our selves as Christ did we do suffer with Christ and shall Reign with him For all other sufferings let them be what they will are nothing to these or without these yea the external and bodily torments of hell are below these sufferings It may be we are far from the sufferings of our neighbours in Germany in the other sufferings yet if we have suffered in these Two we have suffered beyond them if they have not suffered in these kindes All the Tyrants in the world cannot invent Tortures comparable to these sufferings The last day we came to handle one of those six steps that lead up to this Throne of Solomon The first was Condemnation of our selves The second Annihilation The third For saking all The fourth Indifferency to all conditions That is to be as willing to have pain as ease as willing to have want as plenty foul weather as fair bad report as good report that we can as well bless God for evil as for good Enough can say blessed be his name for good things God hath given me health Oh! blessed be his name God hath given me wealth God hath given me a good year of increase God hath sent fair weather to get in my crop Oh! blessed be his name God hath given me the life of my wife or the life of my children Oh! blessed be his name God hath given me many goodly and happy children that are a comfort to me in my old age Oh! blessed be his name Every one can bless God for these things And what great things do ye Do not Heathens and Hypocrites the same saith our Lord. But where is the man that when God hath taken away any of these things can say as heartily Blessed be his name that when God hath taken away his dear wife that when God hath taken away his hopeful child he can say Blessed be the name of the Lord God hath taken away my credit God hath taken away my wealth taken away my health yea all yet blessed be his name Thou mayest say so in words but what saith thy heart doth that say so The fifth was Conformity to Christ. And the last Deiformity when we are captivated and have given up our selves and delivered up into the will of God and all our members presented unto God A living Sacrifice Holy and Acceptable unto God that we no longer do any thing but it is God that doth all in us while we do it All Attain not to the same measure in these as I told you before but all must attain to the same desire and affection to come to these The first is Condemning our selves Iudge your selves and ye shall not be judged Beloved consider what it is that makes us afraid when we come to dye and to leave all our dear friends behind us when that hour comes that we have bur three Deep Groanes or sighs to fetch to cool our languishing heart And then to give up the Ghost I say What makes you afraid then to go out of this body and to leave the world behind you Is it not because you and the world have made a league together and you esteem it so dear a friend as you can have no better Answer me seriously Is it not because you are afraid the Comforts hereafter are not comparable to the Comforts here but would you escape this fear would you escape this judgement then you must ascend these six steps The first whereof is To condemn our selves Let your selves pass first under this judgement Iudge your selves and ye shall not be judged But you will say This Office belongs to Christ To judge as in Acts 10. 42. He is Appointed to be judge of quick and dead What have I do to enter upon the office of Christ All judgement is committed to the Son John 5. 22. To which we Answer It is true that whosoever is truly judged it is Christ that judges him for no man will condemn himself will reason judge Reason or will think you Lucifer cast out Lucifer will Belzebub cast out Belzebub will devillish practises condemn devillish practises You are not so senseless to think so It is true you say in our ordinary speech and you have it at your fingers end we must judge our selves and we mâ—st condemn our selves but as I said it can never be expected that Belzebub and Lucifer and Antichrist will condemn themselves he can â—ver suffer his Kingdom to be divided he knows then he cannot stand There be as I told you three sorts of men The Carnal The Reasonable And The Spiritual Man I am carnal
may be of no effect Christ may be to thee infatuate unsavoury good for nothing as he is in reprobates Now I hope is answered that Question What if the salt hath lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted Christ who is the true salt in himself he cannot be unsavoury and good for nothing but he may lose his favour in thee and to thee may be as a thing good for nothing because he dyed in vain to thee his cross is of no effect and so may be as he saith himself good for nothing but to be cast out and troden under the feet of men Alas brethren Christ blessed for ever he in himself cannot be said to be good for nothing noâ— he cannot be troden under the feet of men but till their eyes be opened to see him and acknowledge him as he is that they be aware of Christ and oâ— his presence and greatness and filling all things they as it were tread him under foot And as it is said Heb. 10. 29. How much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy of who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the convenant an unholy thing wherewith he was sanctified and hath done despite unto the spirit of Grace But beloved none of all these things can any creature do to Christ in himself for to him all Angels cry aloud Rev. 4. 8. The heavens and all the powers therein cry continually Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabboths heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory No creature can dishonour him in himself but in â—hemselves and to themselves they tread him under foot because he lives not in them and so they see not neither acknowledge him or his workings in them Then my beloved let us make this use of this If this salt be in us and that wee see it is he that is our life and our motion then let us not onely give ear to him but let us love reverence and obey him and hearken to what he woâ—ld teach us and work in us let him be sole Lord and Saviour to us to deliver and save us from our lusts and from Satan nay if this salt be in us these will be the fruits and effects that will follow To love reverence and obey him God himself proclaims him to be his well beloved Son in whom onely he is pleased hear him Silence then your selves deny your own life hear no longer your selves nor your own lusts what honour saith what profit saith what self and your own by-ends saith But hearken now to what he commands This shall be your wisdom before all people this shall be your life and he that findeth his life shall lose it but he that loseth his life thus shall find it Beloved Christ being once dead dyeth no more saith the Apostle and yet he saith again That we crucifie to our selves the Son of God afresh He in himself cannot dye cannot be crucified no more but to our selves and in our own soules he maâ— be and is crucâ—fied daily that is when your lusts and your sins live then Christ he is dead and you have crucified him of whom you have been the betrayers and muâ—therers as Stephâ—n said to the Jews Acts 7. 52. so that he hath then losâ— his savour and his taste in and to thy soul for thou tastest him not seest him not nor feelest him though he be in thee Further know this that Christ himself is that salt himself hereâ—ommandeth â—ommandeth To have salt in our selves is to have Châ—ist himself in us as if he should say Though I be in you as I am in all things in all creatures yet my being there doth you no good except you feel and see me there except your faith believe me there and your life express me The third and last point is What is it to have salt in our selves We must have salt in us 1. Exclusively and 2. Inclusively not onely to see Christ in our selves and in â—ll creatures as we have shewed you but to have it in our selves is to be sure we look to our own 〈◊〉 whether we have this salt or no and this is a necessary Exhortation now in these times when men are so ready to neglect themselves and are so much in questioning the estates of others We are too ready to â—udge and condemn otheâ—s that tâ—ey have not this salt but heâ—e we are admonished 〈◊〉 others alone and first be sure to look circumspectly that we have it in our selves Another mans grace will do thee no good if thou haâ—â— none in thy selfâ— Warm thy self at thine own fire and drink the waters of thine own Cistern as Solomon counsels Prov. 5. 15. And who made thee Iudge over others what hast thou to do to take Christs office from him he is appointed to be Iudge of quick and dead Acts 10. 42. Yet thou wilt take upon thee to be Iudge and to sit in Christs throne thou wilt be judging and censuring of thy Brethren before thou hast censured thy self Christ is not in such and such men thou canst spy motes in thy brothers eye and perceivest not the beam in thine own Mat. 7. 5. whereby thy sight is quite put out as to thy self You know Christ himself when he was here in the slesh when they brought to him the woman taken in Adultery sayes he Hath no man condemned thee neither dâ— I. John 8. 11. Beloved did he disclaim this Iâ—dicature and shall we presume to take it up shall we overlook our selves and judge reproch and condemn other men This man hath no grace and that man hath no grace away away with all these things such a man O he is a wreâ—ched sinner and thou wouldst have God destroy him and plague him thou wonderest God doth not strike him down dead and seest not thy self how vile thou art Lord shall we call for fire from heaven said some of the Disciples away away saith Christ Ye know not of what spirit ye are of Leave off then â—udging of others and leave all â—udgement to God Vengeance is mine saith the Lord Christ could have writ every mans sins in his forehead as his are whom thou despisest to be read and seen of all men But thy sins are more secret and hidden and yet as odious to God as his and this thine own conscience knows what would become of thee I pray thee â— if all thy secret sins were written visibly in thy forehead But know that this gift of having salt in our selves is not in any mans power to take but God onely must give it where and when he pleases to bestow it they shall have it and none else And in his time and not sooner nor later But this command to have Salt in our selves is as much as to say before you go about to search other mens cellars that you see your cellars be
on the Throne Rev. 4. 12. and proclaim All glory all honour and all power be unto him for ever I say down with all your graces your excellencies that wherein you really do excel throw all down before him your real excellencies all must be thrown at the feet of the Lamb he hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent empty away Luke 1. 53. But here steps in and here stands in our way the old Adam the old Serpent Lucifer Flesh Selfness c. he hath divers names for our better kowledge of him and 〈◊〉 he heareth of these sufferings he cryes Oh Master favour thy self Mat. 16. 23. none of these things shall happen to thee what needest thou go this â—ay here is a killing way indeed live still fill thy self with riches and fill thy self with pleasures and fill thy self with wisdome c. you will find the benefit of it but you know Christs answer Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that be of men Object But it may be you will say to me What do you tell us of the old red Dragon and Lucifer and of the Devil c. we have nothing to do with any of these things tell those of them that it concerns I hope there is none of us possest some are ready with Peter to curse bitterly swearing I know not the man I never saw any of these things What strange things will this babler make us believe what will he bring us to at last Beloved I answer Have patience with me Did any of you ever see his own eyes His own face except in a glass though you think you never saw the Devil yet had you looked into Gods book there you might have seen him in you There you are bidden to fight with your own selves with your own desires with your own affections with your own reason with your own will and therefore if you will find your enemies never look without if you will find out the Devil and what He is and what his nature is look within you you will never find him without there you may see him in his colours in his nature in his power in his effects and workings but my fear is that hearing you hear and understand not and seeing you see not Mat. 13. 14. Again You never saw your own souls did you but onely in the effects it may be you never saw this Fiery red Dragon but in his effects you may see him daily From whence come lyes saith the Apostle Iames and wantonness and pride envy hatred debate come they not from hence even from your lusts James 4. 1. In the time of the Law there was much a do about the leprosie the Priest must come and look on it again and again much ado there was and all was to this end that they might know it that so they might avoid it So we shall never avoid this Old Serpent this bloody Dragon if we do not learn to know him to know him in his effects in us and as I said before we cannot come to set our foot so much as on this first step leading up to Solomons Throne but we shall find HIM this Giant this Goliah Armed being full of ire terror and dreadfulness standing in our way and there is 〈◊〉 coming near without he be overcome subdued conquered and taken away And now I have This dreaful Dragon to fight withal For I have desired it Through the power of God to give him such a blow that he may be mortally wounded in you and me I desire that it may be with me as it was with the sword of Saul and the bow of Ionathan which never returned empty or in vain from the blood of the slain and from the fat of the mighty This Mighty NIMROD And when I have gone over his several names and opened them I hope to discover him so to you that you may say experimentally as Abigal said of Nabal Nabal is his name and so is he 1 Sam. 25. 25. Nabal is his name and so is his nature if he be called Satan that you shall say I have found him Satan to me which signifies Seducing and so is his nature if he be called the Old man the Old man we have â—ound him in our practise if called the Red Dragon or the Strong man or what else he is called so we have found him in his effects to our poor souls And I have desired to discover him and now I have fallen upon it God grant I may do it effectually even to the assaulting and rasing his strongest and most spiritual wickednesses and strong holds in you and me that I may now have a deadly blow at the Head of this SERPENT that hath so long and so often bitten my Heel and wounded you and me when we felt it not But my Endeavours and my Wisdome nor my strength will do no good he is too MIGHTY for me to encounter wâ—th neither go I against Him with Sword or Spear but in the name of THE LORD OF HOSTS FOR THE BATTEL IS THE LORDS The feeling of these things in your selves will be farr beyound my describing them Neither will I bring any Rayling accusation against him but onely such as the Scripture hath given him and onely say as the Arch-Angel Mâ—chael said when he and his Angels fought with the Devil and his Angels Iude 9. THE LORD REBUKE THEE SERMON II. ROM 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together I Brought and Reduced the last Sabbath all the imitable sufferings of Christ for some of them are not imitable in manner nor alwayes in the matter none of them in the measure to the expression of two words 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2. 7 8. First He humbled himself Secondly He emptied himself And in these two things consists our suffering with Christ it may be to be whipt with Christ to be poor with Christ to be reproched with Christ to suffer death with Christ c. it may be we are not called to these neither matters it whether we do or no suffer in that kind except God calls us to those conditions But in these two we must of necessity suffer with Christ if we would be glorified with him He was found saith that Text in the form of a servant he was Humble as a servant He that was Lord of all glory emptied himself of all that glory which he had with the Father being God equal with him in full power and glory yet he emptied himself pouring out all his glory and made himself of no reputation and indeed he became a Servant of Servants as you know who calls himself so And as you may remember the last day when we intended to discover those six
you compare me therefore he that compares God to any thing he hath not smitten The City of Kiriathsepher and taken it he hath not married Achsah So likewise the Third Commandment The letter of it commands not to take Gods name in vain or blaspheme his name Now if a man hath â—ot in words blasphemed nor swore an oath but when he hath been called to it he hath done what Moses required and No man else was externally punished but he that externally broke the Letter of the Commandments But Gods name you know signifies his attributes his Power his Wisdom his Iustice his Mercy c so that the Spirit of this Commandment is He that takes or appropriates this Power or Wisdom or Mercy or any other Attribute and saith They are His That he hath either power or goodnessâ— or wisdom or justice or mercy or that any creature hath any of these or whatsoever is Gods Name or That he shall apply These to any sinister by or self-end and doth not at all times use them onely â—o glorifie serve and honour God with them I say this man hath fearfully and desperately broke this Commandment this man hath not onely Buried his talent in a napkin and been An unproâ—itable servant for which the Lord Commands from him to be taken away That which he hath that is That which he seemeth to have To himâ—elf and to other men like himself for which â—nprofitableness he is to be cast into Outer Darkâ—ess where is weeping and gnashing of teeth But then what shall become of him that hath Arrogated purloined and appropriated those things which were but lent him to imploy for his Lords 〈◊〉 to his own self-ends and advantage Nay moreover This man hath subjected God himself to â—erve his turn and his own carnal ends as the Lord himself complains by the Prophet You have made me to serve your iniquities that is you have served your selves with my power and strength and wisdom and goodness and not me nor my ends O Beloved that we could but see all these things in oâ—r selves to shame us and to bring us to nothing that we may put our mouthes in the very dust for these high indignities against the Throne and Scepter of Jesus Christ in our souls Beloved know This is the substance of the Commandment the other part is but the shadow this is the Commandment it self the other is but the Sacrament the symbol the Image And so likewise in the fourth Commandment he that refrained his hands and feet from servile labour and rested did no work nor gathered 〈◊〉 sticks Moses found no fault with them but the Spirit of this Commandment goes farther for he that goes but thus far keeps but the Sabbath of the Ox and the Ass but the Sabbath is to be sanctified what 's that onely to go to Church and hear or read and make a prayer or to do the like at home No no But blessed is the man who keepeth the Sabbtah from polluting it Many think because they are constant in such things as Those that they have sanctified the Sabbath But as I said He that truly keeps the Sabbath Holy he must keep Gods Sabbath Object You will say What is that Answ. He is called The God of Sabbaths not because as many ignorantly think that he is the God of the Sunday more then of the Munday or Tuesday oâ— of the seventh day more then of any other day But because He is the God of Rest for Sabbath is as much as to say Rest Because the creatures are all in motion in vegetation and action and no creature can be at Rest till they return to Tim He Onely is at Rest. All creatures were created by him and are as it were gone out from him as Noahs Dove sent out of the Ark and they rest not One minute till they return into this Blessed Noah again And till He be pleased to put forth his hand and take it in again Beloved know this The most stable and most durable creature that is is in Motion is still and always inchanging It remains not the same not one tittle of time The iron the gold the silver the stones none are at rest no not One minute For could you but shew me any one creature that is at Rest but for one minute I would be so bold as to say It were God and that creature were immortal and everlasting but it is God onely that is at Rest it is He onely that is immortal and therefore no creature can be God Almighty He is the True Sabbath and those that return to be One with Him they onely keep a True Sabbath for God Rested on the seventh day and sanctified it six dayes He was in creating and working while we are absent from the Lord we are in continual travel and labour and so in continual changing till the seventh day come while we are in the world and in the body we must work and be in changing and removing from place to place and doing the actions of creatures as creatures But know as the Prophet saith Arise depart hence for this is not your rest Remember your Sabbath To keep it Holy without turmoils and hurryings after the creatures and learn to live above while you are here below I say Above in the quiet and still Regions Above All the creatures and things below for here in these things you can never Rest But Return to God Return to thy rest O my soul saith David where onely you shall find Rest and there keep your Sabbaths All other keeping Sabbaths is but External and bodily labour and bodily labour profiteth nothing sayes the Apostle yet most men those that not onely profess religion but also most Teachers they are gotten into such a Form of religion and External holiness of Outward and Bodily labour in keeping Sabbaths and other things in religion so that true and real godliness is almost lost and which is most dangerous of all Herein they rest and bless themselves and their disciples Therefore I would gladly disturb them and Rouse them from their Lees whereon they are setled Therefore I say look not among the creatures nor in your External duties nor in Outward keeping of Sabbaths to find your true Rest but onely in your God who is the God of your Sabbaths Then for the fifth Commandement God by the Letter commands us to honour Father and Mother that is to be done To honour and obey those that are our Fathers and Mothers of the body and according to the flesh and those that are termed Fathers and Mothers in regard of their office For my aim is not in this nor in any other Commandement â—o dehort you from doing the External part thereof But when you have done that there you Rest and think you have done some great Act but this is that I say this is not that God chiefly intends but God would by them
mincing terms and call it the infirmity of the flesh and your weakness when indeed it is no less then Rebellion and as the sin of witchcraft as Samuel told Sauâ— when you take little notice of this High Crime and High treason against the Most High yet you pass it by and make light of it as Saul did when as in plainterms it is no less then the renouncing oâ— God Rejecting him and his Government And iâ— you were in His place you think you would do otherwise in this thing and in that Oh poor Drop why contendest thou with thy Maker Who shall set him A Rule wilt thou Sit above him and Rule him according to thy mind wilt thou give Laws to the Almighty Oh tremble before him Ye Earthen Pitchers ye poor Dust of the ballance tremble before him the whole earth and let them not dare thus presumptuously to strive with thtir Maker who is able for One of these thoughts to undo thee and it is his infinite mercie he pasheth thee not to nothing Oh! learn learn Poor Dust of the ballance and poor Drop of a Bucket to be pleased with whatever he doth whether he pleases thee or pleases thee not be thoâ— pleâ—sed with him If he drives down The Banks before him like a mighty Ocean if he Rend the Rocks and overwhelm the Mountains if he make the Sea Roar and the whole earth to Shoot for fear learn we To tremble before him and be Afraid to withstand him lest he â—onsume thee and bring thee to nothing Learn to be ruled and guided by His wisdom Learn of faithful Abraham to obey God Learn to deny thine own will and to take up his Cross Readily and follow him As Abraham when God had made him Rich and he was setled in Uâ— of the Chaldees God Of A suddain Bids him Leave All and follow him he presently obeyed and went But whither must he go Whither I shall shew thee He told him not whither no he inquires not what conveniencies and accommodation the country had whirher he was to goe but this was all Follow me Even Any where where God shall shew thee thou shouldst willingly go if he bid thee leave Health that thou leave it willingly and if he will have thee go with him into sickness that thou go with him willingly if he lead thee into any condition yea even into the vale of tears as David saith and into the shadow of death that thou go with him readily and cheerfully And so likewise consider Abraham in the sacrificing his onely son How readily he did it and consulted not with flesh and blood For consider if it be Gods will that thou shalt go this way Thou must go it Why wilt thou do that unwillingly which thou must do Again in the seventh Commandment with Moses he that did not commit Actual adultery with a woman was not guilty of the bâ—each of this Commandment And our Saviour goes further In inteâ—pâ—eting the very letter He that lusts after a woman in his heart hath committed adultery already But the spirituality of this Commandement is Take heed of spiritual Adultery Take heed of turning Aside from the Creator and going a Whoring after the creatures to set thy affections on any creature above the Lord God Almighty and not to love Him withal thy mind with al thy might and with al thy heart To set them upon any thing below God Thou hast therein plaid the Adulterer in the highest degree And this is that Adultery set out in the 7. of the Proverbs of the strumpet and the simple young man Void of understanding She had Attired her self like an Harlot and she was subtile in heart and she caught him and kissed him with an impudent face And tels him How she had decked her bed with tapestry and perfumed her bed Come let us take our fill of love until the morning And with much fair speeches she caused him to yield and her flattering lips forced him But saith the Holy Ghost He goeth after her but it is as an Ox to the slaughter and as a fool to the stocks till a dart strike through his liver And he hasteth as a bird to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life This is the letteâ— But yet All this is chiefly To set out to us that all the sons of men are This simple Young man and that the beauty of the creatures woes us to go a whoring after them they Court us as she did the young man and tell us What pleasure and delights we shall have if we will follow them and by this means the spirit of man is defiled and goes a whoring from the Lord. All those excellencies and beauties in the creatures should be As so many Beams from the sun to draw up and fix our eyes upon the Sun it Self but we Are like PENELOPES Suitors Many hearing of Her admirable and incomparable Beauty and Comeliness Attempted to come to her but few or none ever came at Her For She had many Fair Damsels attending Her to Conduct Her lovers to her which were so fair and Amiable that they thought none so fair as they and so fell in love with them and never came at The Mistris of All Beauty of whom the Handmaids were but shadows All which is a lively emblem of God and man God is compassed about with various and Beautiful Creatures which should onely serve to lead us and to bid us look higher then them And though we all pretend To aim at God at perfect bliss and happiness yet How Few Attain to him How many fall short And by the way they are wholly taken up with the creatures His Handmaids and thereby their souls are caught As a bird in a snare And they know not That it is for their lives But yet know the creature may be loved and used so we could but use it rightly and love it râ—ghtly but that is very hard to do if we could use it and love it as if we used it not or loved it not As not appropriating it to our selves And always being ready to leave it willingly and freely so that thou sufferest No Rending No Tearing in thy soul to part with it and using it so thou usest it for God and in God and to Ends appointed by God Then for the eighth Commandment Every one will be ready to justifie themselves from theft That is a poor base beggerly sin But as I said I say still the outward part of this Commandment and so of the rest you may keep exactly It is the easiest part of all The Outward man may keep it without any Divine or spiritual assistance Every natural man may attain The keeping of them According to the letter and yet They are deeply guilty of the spiritual breach thereof Foâ— there is a spiritual Theft and besides you know the external part of this Commandment and so of others God can
our feeling to our sight to our apprehension and comprehension but not at all in himself We cannot Honour him no nor dishonour him as to himself he is infinitely Far Above our praises or dispraises neither toucheth him as David saith My goodness extendeth not to him and Iob If I sin it toucheth not him He is neither better or worse by all our works either by sin or righteousness Beloved be sure of this we can neither diminish nor increase his praise in Himself though in regard of â—s we do for though we hold our tongues though we run upon our own destruction yet All as Creatures Praise him if he be not glorified by us in his Mercy he is and will be in his Iustice. It is said in Phil. 2. that he emptied himself of all his glory that is he as it were drew a curtain between Our eyes and His glory not between his own eyes and his glory for he was the same in himself but as to men He drew a Curtain or Vail before his glory for he honoured himself most in that he Emptied himself and therefore he saith here All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth not but that he had the same power before But now All power is given me that is Now men shall see it how in this very thing I honoured my self How in this very thing I manifested my self to be the Saviour of the world And though he seemed to Unclothe and dis-robe himself of all power and glory yet men shall now see and acknowledge that he still At that very instant retained it as much as ever yea manifested it more to them I seemed to lay it down and now to them I will be seen to Take it up again and they shall see that it never departed from me nor I from it But now it may be you will say to me We see you have partly cleared it and made it appear in what sense it is to be understood that All power is given to him in Earth but how is all power given him in Heaven do the Angels add any thing to him or is any thing added to them yea certainly for by the Church these things are More made known unto them for they were not created in such an estate but they may be made better nor are they so perfect but that they desire an increase in their perfection for it is said 1 Pet. 1. 12. The Angels do stoop down to pry into these mysteries therefore their knowledge and perfection is increasing And indeed it is certain They see their imperfections more then man because of the great light they have they are nearer to God who is light and therefore see their darkness and imperfection more then we for we are more dark and further off the light but alas Vain men think they see a great deal and because of their blindness they think themselves such excellent Creatures being thereby puffet up in themselves looking on themselves as Lords of all every thing was made for Him and that Christ was sent Meerly to Redeem him to save him God overlookt as he conceives All Creatures both above him and below him and had respect to none but to him as proud Haman said I onely am in the Kings favour O poor Creatures you are deceived think not so this is onely a fruit of your ignorance of your blindness limit not Gods Church to so narrow a scantling The Dominions of his Church reach infinitely further ther then you are aware of but we must not now enter upon that But hereby you may see that things in Heaven have a revelation and manifestation of Christ unto them and his power is given unto him There as well as on earth if so it be That you do take Heaven according to our general and common Notion of taking Henven which we Vulgarly conâ—eive to be above the Circumference of the Sun and God to be present more especially there but this also is a limiting The bounds of his Church and Kingdom His Kingdom as I conceive is every where and Heaven is where he is for he is Every where Yet I remember I was taught when I was a Child either by my Nurse or my Mother or Shoolmaster that God Almighty was above in Heaven viz. above the Sun Moon and Stars and I thought of a long time afterwards that there was his Court and his Chamber of presence and I thought it a great Height to come to this knowledge but I assure you I had more to do to unlearn this principle then ever I had to learn it and I am afraid too many of us are gone no further then this Childish principle whereupon follow many errours But it is more safe Taking Heaven in the largest sense Eiâ—her as God Filling all places and all things as well above the Sun as below and below as above and so Heaven to be where God is that is ever where for he cannot be excluded from any place but he is not onely in every place but in every place Alike Or else to take Heaven in that sense the Prodigal doth Luk. 15. 18. Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee to take Heaven to be in our souls When God comes into our souls and dwels there that is when he manifests his presence in us and to us then he is said to dwell there not but that he dwelt there in regard of himself as much before but then he is there as in his Temple As in his glory to Us-ward then we see him there In the Beauty of Holiness Then He is compassed about with our praises as it is exprest in that 68 Psalm It is well seen O God how thou goest How thou My God goest when thou art in thy Sanctuary The singers go before and the minstrels follow after in the midst are the damsels with timbrels c. When God is not onely in us as he is in all Creatures but when he is there sensibly to us that we feel him and see him and Rejoyce to behold his Presence and Glory and so we come Thereby to glorisie him more Whenever we come to this Sight then are we come into a degree of the kingdom of Heaven Into Gods Chamber of Presence There we shall see all Creatures all Angels and Saints and the whole Creation compassing him round about with Glories and Hallelujahs Then as to us is He set upon his Throne And till then he is As Crucified As upon the Cross as Buffetted as Spit upon as Emptied as disrohed as Slighted Trod upon As upon the dunghil as separaâ—e from his glory but all this is but as to men not as to Himself as I said before For to him all Angels Cry A loud the Heavens and the Earth and all the Powers therein and all Creatures cry continually Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaths Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty of thy glory And
pious and precious proverb All things must be comprehended and keep Sabbath there must be no going up no running out nor no work done Seeing God desires not Our works but Our Sabbath and that himself in us Free and None Hindring him a MASTER and a GOD may Work Know Love Praise Pray Hear Crown and Reward HIMSELF in us Beloved without all doubt this is the ONE and Onely thing that pleaseth him And he commands All Flesh that in Divine matters it never Stir it self or desire any thing And therefore it is that I in this Book have Robbed man of all and Rejected him with all his Best Ware and most Precious Riches that he had in Divine businesses viz. Of all his Will Knowledge Wisdom Goodness All these must we Unlearn from all these must we Fast and keep Holy-day as from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil from whence Death is eaten And therefore there is in Heaven meer Peace Gladness Felicity as where there are Eternal Sabbaths and no Will but Gods Will Light Knowledge Art Wisdom in all his Saints whereby he doth Illustrate and Enlighten them And Christians do pray in the Lords Prayer that the same thing may be upon earth and that the will of God may be there done as it is in Heaven where no man Doth Wills Knows Speakes any thing but God who will have and in Christ hath Appointed this Sabbath also upon Earth This God grant unto us all Amen A most clear Glass and lovely Example of our Lord Iesus Christ which as he practised in himself so he propounded unto us to be followed and it may serve for an EPILOGUE or Perclose of this Book out of the 106 page of Iohn Taulerus his Works printed at Colen in Folio 1548. VVHosoever desireth to order his life according to the most Acceptable will of God and to be Partaker of his grace without any impediment ought warily to look into this Instruction following of the life of Christ which containeth all good things and to express it in his life and conversation Therefore every good and religious Christian ought in all things and above all things aâ—d at all times with all the strength of his soul in all his thoughts words and works purely to love and intend for God who is the eternal happiness and blessedness of all men as his own Portion which that he may the better do he shall most strictly observe himself within and in silence hearâ— what the Lord saith within him and avoiding all Imployments and Multiplicity he shall rest with God in unity He shall Shut up all his Senses in quietness Continually Praying and Calling upon God His eye being Fixt on him in all his actions He shall enjoy His Presence in every place time and thing He shall be A perpetual inhabitant of himself and shall Especially love Truth of heart and peace of conscience He shall be milde and Humble in heart as well as in word and be Divine and God-like in his life and conversation Taking Patiently All things at the hand of God He shall Praise Thank Honour and intend him in all his works He shall be always Endued with a certain humble Abnegation ordering of himself to what God wils shall submit himself not only to God but to All creatures avoiding those hateful vices Pride Envy Wrath and Arrogancy Moreover perpetually considering and marking the Goodness and Perfection of God He shall wonder and be astonished at the great love and faithfulness of God toward him and contrariwise at his own Unthankfulness and Infidelity judging himself from his heart The Least and Unworthiest of all men He shall more diligently take heed of his own Sense Estimation and of all the wickedness of his nature neither shall he think More of Himself then he hath from or of Himself which is indeed Nothing He shall alwayes take in hand a certain New life and exercise himself in New virtue and in New Truth He shall be Sober and Sparing in words but Plentiful in Holiness of life and shall desire to be Left and Despised of all men as men He shall much weigh Small sins and shall think The least defect not light He shall take so great care of Himself that he be never frustrated of the presence of God in his soul and that other men may be by him provoked to better things he shall do all his works in the most Perfect manner and shall Satisfie those things which he comprehends in his understanding He shall by his good will do nothing in this life to repent of hereafter He shall have In daily Adversity either within him or without him perpetual patience and in continual Multiplicity A Recollected mind he shall not 〈◊〉 either to Have or to Will any thing Proper in this world but be ready to distribute to others wants nor to have any Election oâ— Choise in things but receive thankfully The goodwill of His Father in every thing He shall admit nothing within himself but God continually He shall diligently Eschew and withdraw himself from all men as men and shall preserve himself Naked and Free from all Inwardly-received Images and his soul Untangled from all Accidents whatsoever that he may continually receive The Influence of His Heavenly Father into his soul. He shall often behold and Exercise himself in the Most worthy Life and Example of our Lord Jesus Christ As in a glass considering well How like or unlike He is unto Him and He shall in himself give an Ensample and Testimony to all men Of A Better life then This He shall be True in all his words Religious and Mature in His conversation He shall contemplate His beginning and Original From whence He and All things flowed forth and shall Strive with all diligence To return into the same again Finally tending diligently What He is whether He Ought what He Doth and for What cause he doth every thing and shall most constantly persevere in virtue and truth even unto Death And all this not by any power of his own but by Christ He alone Working all these things in him and not Himself nor Any His own Industry or Acquiring Another short Instruction taken from the same place in Iohn Taulerus his works pa. 107. VVE shall most certainly Attain The Various and Numerous exercises of this Book yea whatsoever can be written of a Perfect and Divine-like Life viz. by this means if we withdraw our selves from the love of all frail and mortal things if we study to attain an humble Resignation and inward Nakedness and embrace Onely God by faith and love in the bosom of our souls and hide our selves wholly with our Souls Spirit Body Heart and Senses in his Most Holy Humanity and labour by a certain lively imitation to become comformable thereunto and Finally by His life and merits Inhere and cleave continually and perpetually to his Divinity Whoâ—oever is enabled by Jesus Christ to do These things doth doubtless Obtain all