of religious parents servants that have lived much in religious families and people that have lived long under a powerfull fruitfull Ministery but are not bettered Secondly such as seem to be good but are not that can transform themselves into the shape of Saints who have the voyce of Jacob and the hands of Esau that speak like the Lamb but are ravening Wolves Oh! how hath Religion suffered under the pretence of Religion in later times Thirdly such as have been good at least in the hopes of many but are not These are trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead and plucked up by the roots The first are civill persons that have no faith too good for the Devill but not good enough for God The Lord deliver us from such for they may prove unreasonable because they have no faith The second sort are Hypocrites and the third Apostates the most bitter enemies to â—olinesse and the power of godlinesse Such was Iulian the Apostate It is said that tame Foxes if they break loose and turn wilde will do more mischief then any Iulian was once a Christian and a forward professor but turning back to Heathenisme drew more from the Faith by fraud then any of his predecessors did by force Baldwine and Bolsack turned Apostates and were hired by the Papists to write the Life of Calvin and proved desperate adversaries to the truth Parsons and Harding had sometimes a taste of the truth but falling away proved most bitter enemies to the Church of God The greatest enemies that any man can have are those of his own house He was of the society of Jesus that betrayed him Such Apostates are not onely injurious to others but in conclusion are the greatest enemies to their owne souls To fall backward is more dangerous to the body and to apostatize is most dangerous to the soul What became of Iulian the Apostate his Vicisti Galilaee which taking a handfull of blood and flinging it up into the air against Christ told all the world that his end was miserable If any man draw back saith the Apostle my soul shall have no pleasure in such Henry the fourth King of France after his revolt to Popery was perswaded by a great Duke about him not to readmit the Jesuites into the Land who had been justly banished by the State He answered Give me then security for my life and thereupon admitted them and gave them one of his owne houses for a Colledge but did that secure him certainly it did not the Jesuites would never trust him for first one by their procurement stab'd him in the mouth and after that another to the heart and that was the end of so great an Apostate And surely he that draws back from the God of truth must needs embrace error if from the God of wisdome will be a fool if from the God of happinesse cannot but be miserable This is a great sin but not that sin 4. So that if I may take liberty to expresse my thoughts with humble submission to better judgements I am of opinion that not onely an unwillingnesse to submit unto but a most violent opposition against the Kingly government of Jesus Christ in his Church by his owne officers and ordinances is the sin of this present generation It is very observable that the offices of Christ have met with strong opposition some in one age and some in another more apparently Some times have been more notorious for the opposition that was made against his Propheticall office as when the Circumcellians defaced and burnt the Scriptures So did the Papists who made it death for any Protestant to have and read any part of the Old or New Testament The same grand Hereticks have made their Injunctions Precepts Traditions of equall authority with the Word of God So did the Councel of Trent at their fourth Session Some times have been more infamous for the opposition that was made against the Priesthood of Christ who made peace for us by his Death and still maintains our peace by his Intercession Thus the Papists have mightily opposed Christs Priesthood by their doetrine of Justification by Works their figments of Purgatory works of Supererogation prayers to Saints Every man say they must suffer for his owne particular yea the works of one may suffice for another So say the Rhemists in their Annotations Rom 8. 17. Col. 1. 24. But these times are such as do more cleerly fight against the Kingdome of Christ and herein cunningly they strike at the root and undermine all his offices the end whereof viz. his Kingly office being to support the Priesthood and Prophesie of Christ in their vigour and efficacy that as a Prince and Captain of salvation to the Elect he might bring them to God A practicall vigorous open opposition of Christs Kingly office exercised in his ordinances was never more eminent then in these days Wherein there are so many Gallioes or Gadarens Gallioes that care not for those things as either too far below their greatnesse or too heavy a yoke to put their necks under or Gadarens who say plainly We will not have this man reign over us but desire him to depart out of the Countrey who are not only an unwilling but a rebellious people in the day of his power The reverend and learned Ministers of London met together in their Provinciall Assembly in their Vindication of this government to use their owne words say as much We are not ignorant that this government hath many adversaries The ignorant person hates it because it will not suffer him to go blindfold to hell the profane person hates it because it will not suffer him to eat and drink his owne damnation by unworthy coming to the Lords Supper the Heretick hates it because after two or three admonitions it rejects him the Jesuite hates it because it is an invincible bulwark to keep out Popery the Schismatick hates it because the main designe of it is to make all the Saints of God to be of one lip one heart and one way And above all the Devill hates it because if rightly managed it will in a short time blow up his Kingdome And indeed hence are all our miseries and mischiefs Church-discipline is like the hem to the garment rend off that and how soon will all Religion ravell cut to nothing It is like the hedge to the Vineyard if that be pluckt up how soon will the Boar out of the Wood and the wilde beasts of the field devour it What a company of Hereticks and Schismaticks break in upon it all that passe by the way pluck it Antitrinitarians Antinomians Antiscripturists Socinians Familists Quakers c. would dig up this Vineyard by the very roots How are Christs ordinances despised the authority of the Scriptures questioned Gods faithfull Ministers misused They were never more learned more pious or more painfull and yet never more scorned and undervalued then at this day All Sectaries and Schismaticks though
Son All comfort is divided amongst the creatures as by severall channels but united in God as the fountain The King of Bohemia as some have reported when he was beaten out of Prague and therefore almost out of all in that Kingdome was encouraged by some great Commanders about him that he had many Princes his friends and Allies that were potent and would readily assist him to which he made no answer but wrote the word DEVS in great letters implying thereby that all these must be found in God or they could do him no good whence some pickt out his meaning and found Denmark in D England in E Hungary in V and the Swedes in S. But I have read that Herod in a speech that he made in the head of his Army that was ready to joyn battle with the enemy the better to encourage his Souldiers had this passage Where justice is God is and where God is there is no want of men or fortitude God is a perfect good as well as a solid good Id bonum perfectum dicitur saith Lactantius euj nil accedere solidum cui nil decedere potest That is a perfect good to which nothing can 〈◊〉 added that a solid from which nothing can be spared Hence it is that God in wisdom and mercy plucks these stools from under us that we sit so securely upon that we may look up to him and finde that comfort in him that we lost in them When David's Captains and Commanders that so long had ftuck so close to him spake of stoning stoning him he comforted himselfe in his God When Habbakuk could finde no blossome in the fig-tree nor fruit in the vines when he could finde nothing in the fold nor in the field nor in the stall yet he would rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of his salvation because all might be found in a God When Micah looked upon the miserable face of the Time in which he lived wherein there was scarce a good man to be found nor a friend to be had the best was but as a bâ—yar and a mans enemies were those of his owne house so that neither the childe of a mans loyns nor the wife that lay in his bosome were to be trusted he resolves to look up to God Therefore I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation there I shall finde all comfort How happy is he then that hath the Lord for his God! He is one of St. Paul's rich men as having nothing yet possessing all things So that I shall conclude this passage with that of the Prophet Let not the wise man glory in his wisdome neither let the mighty man glory in his strength nor the rich man in his riches but let him that gloryeth glory in this that he knoweth me c. Not the wise man in his wisdome Satan is wiser then he and yet a Devill nor the strong man in his strength for the Horse is stronger then he and yet a Beast nor the rich man in his wealth the Earth is richer then he and yet he treads upon it every day but let him that gloryeth glory in this that he knoweth the Lord to be his God Happy is the people that is in such a case saith the Psalmist yea happy is that people that hath the Lord for their God That any of us have the cap and the knee from our inferiours is our priviledge but not our happiness that any of us have the uppermost seat in the Church or chiefest room at a feast is our honor but not our happinesse that any of us eat the fat and drink the sweet when others eat ashes as bread and mingle their drink with their tears is our comfort but not our happinesse but happy is that people that is in such a case yea happy is that soul that can say The Lord is my God Thirdly observe well the mediums the choyce wayes and means by which all good things are conveyed to us It is good to know how we come by what we have These three wayes take speciall notice of as most observable All good things come to us 1. By Christ savingly 2. By the promise certainly 3. By the creatures sensibly 1. Observe how all good things come in by Jesus Christ savingly God gives all good things to his through Jesus Christ If God spared not his owne Son but delivered him 〈◊〉 for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Peace with him and liberty and riches and honor with him are a good portion indeed All things are yours saith the Apostle to the Corinthians Paul and Apollos things present and things to coâ—e c. But how come they in Ye are Christs saith the Apostle and Christ is Gods All comes to us by Jesus Christ as all the corn in Aegypt came through Joseph's fingers so all comforts come to us by Jesus Christ who is our Mediatour who hath not onely by his blood purchased all things for us but sanctified all to us he turns our waters into wine and makes our bitter waters sweet Hence as all our duties are presented from us to God by Jesus Christ and therefore are accepted so all things are conveyed to us from God by Jesus Christ and so are sanctified Christ is not onely our Mediator but our Husband also and so we enjoy all good things with him and by him we have conjugal communion with him so that we may say as Hamor and Sechem said to their people the better to perswade them to be circumcised and to marry into Jacob's family Shall not all their cattle and substance and every beast of the field be ours So if we be married to Jesus Christ and become one with him shall not all be ours through him who is heir of all Not onely his wisdome to inlighten us and his power to uphold us but the world to supply us so that if this Husband of ours he honorable we cannot be mean if he be rich we cannot be poor and so a little with him is a great portion when the whole world without him is nothing Hence the Saints of God out of their love to Jesus Christ do use to set Jesus Christ above all his name also shall be above every name Princes in their Proclamations Charters and Grants set their names in the beginning on the top as James by the grace of God King of England c. Subjects do alwayes use to subscribe their names to their Wills Letters Leases in the bottome Both the Old Testament and the New wherein the Will of God is contained have the name of God set down in the beginning as In the beginning God created c. Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Joh 1. 1. It is good to set Jesus Christ above all for he is the summa
they say and a book of remembrance shal be written of it before the Lord. Cornelius was a most devout benefactor and the Angel tell him that his prayers and alms were come up in remembrance before God It is a mercy that God will remember us though it be with a rod to correct us but it is a rich favour indeed if he remember us with a staffe to support and comfort us As our remembrance of God or men is the summe of all we do for them Remember me saith Joseph to Phaaroh's Butler that is speak a good word for me do me the favour as work out my deliverance But the chief Butler did not remember Joseph but forgat him that is he did nothing for him Even so Gods remembrance is the summa totalis of his goodnesse to us He remembers us indeed for he pities us and spares us and pardons us supplyes us in all our necessities and supports us in all our extremities he will not leave us in our straights nor leave us in our sins and if we do or suffer any thing for him he hath a book of remembrance and it shall be written down At the last day it is said the books shall be opened and is not this one of those books and the dead shall be judged out of those things which were written in those books according to their works Jesus Christ will read to all the world the good works of his people out of that book I was anhungry and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in â—â—ked and ye clothed me You never did anything for God but he hath put it down in his book it is very just and equall then that what he hath done for you should be written down in your book Thirdly it is very necessary you should keep such a Journall and that in three regards 1. In regard of the badnesse of your memory Memoriaprimùm senescit say Physicians The memory decayes first old men and dying men will tell you so but the memory of a benefit sooner the memory of divine favours soonest of all Some things we can hardly forget as our sorrows and our pleasures It was about 20 yeers ere Esau could forget the sorrow he conceived for the losse of the blessing and the injury Jacob did him in getting it away from him And he was so mindfull of his pleasures that he forgat his bread And there be some things we can hardly remember â—as our faults and our friends It was two full years saith the story ere Pharaoh's Butler could remember Joseph or call his faults to minde for which he suffered imprisonment Many O Lord my God saith David are thy wonderfull works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to 〈◊〉 ward they cannot be reckoned up in order to thee if I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred Then certainly many of these mercies that God hath vouchsafed to us would quite be forgotten did we not keep such a Diary by us 2. It is necessary that thereby we prevent the great fin of forgetfulnesse To forget God is a mother fin a root-fin What will not that man be what will not he doe that forgets God He is a very wicked man The wicked shall be turned into hell saith the Psalmist and all the nations that forget God He is a proud man and I am sure a proud man is a wicked man Through the pride of his countenance he will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts his thoughts are not of him or his thoughts are not of him or his thoughts are that there is no God He that forgets God forgets that God is He that forgets God is an hypocrite and an hypocrite is a very wicked man Consider this ye that forget God But who were they Such as took Gods name into their mouths and yet hated instruction and cast Gods words behinde them He that forgets God is a most unthankfull person and an unthankfull man is a most wicked man Dixeris ingratum dixeâ—is omnia Call a man an unthankfull man and call him any thing There was a little City saith Solomon besieged by a great King and a poor wise man delivered that City by his wisdome yet no man remembred that poor wise man It was a wicked part to forget that man but most wicked it is to forget God When Tamerlane that victorious Emperor had beaten Bajazet in battle and taken him prisoner he sent for him and amongst other questions asked him Whether ever he were thankfull to God for making him so great a King he answered that he never so much as thought of him which was a most wicked speech of a wicked man 3. It is necessary to prevent the great danger of forgetting God To forget God is a provoking sin He that forgets God sins not at an ordinary rate and therefore shal be punished not after an ordinary manner Consider this ye that forget God saith the Lord lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Eli forgat God and so did Saul and Jeroboam they forgat the great things God had done for them and did not God plague them and their posterity Forgetfulnesse of God makes him rage not onely against the work of his hands but the sheep of his pasture David forgat God and so did Solomon and how severely were they punished The one by his Son who rebelled against him the other by his Servant that pluckt the greatest part of the Kingdome from his posterity A Souldier of Philip King of Macedonia having begg'd the lands of one that had entertained him kindly was branded with Ingratus hospes on the forehead to his perpetual shame It is reported of Caesar and Alexander two of the most valiant Souldiers that ever the world had that the one would never give to and the other forgive an unthankful man Because saith the Lord Pharaoh King of Aegypt saith the river that is Nilus is mine owne I have made it for my self therefore will I dry up the river and cause the fish to stink What became of Herod the proud who after his oration and the peoples acclamation The voyce of a god and not of a man gave not the glory to God the Angel of the Lord â—mote him and he was eaten of worms and gave up the Ghost He that forgets God is unthankful to God and he that is unthankful forfeits all mercies as the not paying of Custome forfeits all a Merchants goods It is written of one Timotheus the Son of Conon a noble Citizen of Athens that after he had proudly said in a great assembly Haec ego feci non fortuna These things I have done and not Fortune which that people adored as God he never prospered but lost all the glory he had gotten A poor