lost to himself lost to his right wits because he hath no knowledge or no good opinion of the comfort of Prayer Which is my purpose to make him learn by that which follows looking upon the Substance or Matter of Prayer The Qualification of him that Prayeth and the fitness of Time when Prayer is to be made I. The Matter of Prayer is as copious as all occasions that can be named it shall suffice for my purpose to treat of three Heads Glorifications with Thanksgivings Supplications and Intercessions 1. The first is bent to magnifie the Almighty to extol his Name to praise him for his Goodness This is the Hallelujah of David and of the Saints in Heaven that is give glory to Jah or the great Jehovah which is followed with a rare variety in the Song of the three Children O all ye works of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever It is a ditty that is balsamed all over with a perfusion of delight to praise God from all things that he hath made from the centre of the Earth to the top of Heaven And this is most divinely exprest in that which is called St. Ambrose his Hymn in our Common-Prayer We praise thee O God we knowledge thee to be the Lord And let the servant of God that will listen to me repeat it often and often For it is a piece of devotion so sweetly spread out into the branches of Heavenly praise Confession of Faith and devout Petitions that the like did never come forth since the time it was penn'd Let me speak to others out of the sense of my own heart and I may safely profess that in the service and worship of God I find nothing so delightful as to continue in the praise and honour of the Lord. If another contradict it and say that there are some means more aptly calculated as I may speak for the high Meridian of Comfort He is He and I am I and I appeal from him to my self what I find in my own motions and feelings And what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him 1 Cor. 2.11 And I observe that in the prudent institution of our Church to hold forth the Consolation we have in Christ after the participation of his Body and Bloud in the blessed Sacrament it teacheth us to break out all together into a Jubilee Glory be to God on high We praise thee we bless thee we glorifie thee c. For when we are full of that holy Feast and have eaten Angels food we fall into the tune of Angels and signifie immediately before we depart how much our Spirit rejoyceth in God our Saviour But who knew better the mind of the Lord than the Spirit it self in those admirable exstacies of David Sing praises unto God for it is pleasant Psalm 135.3 Sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Psalm 147.1 Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob Psalm 81.1 Every furrow in the book of the Psalms is sown with such seeds I know nothing more certain more constant to expel the sadness of the world than to sound out the praises of the Lord as with a Trumpet and when the heart is cast down it will make it rebound from Earth to Heaven This was the wisdom of the holy Church throughout all the world till distempers put us out of the right way not long since to solemnize the praise of our Saviour upon the Feasts of Christmas Easter c. that we might celebrate the great works which God hath done for us with the voice of joy and praise and with a multitude that kept Holy Day Psalm 42.4 O give thanks unto the Lord be telling of his mercy and salvation from day to day Give thanks unto him with chearfulness for a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful Who is a just man and fair condition'd that would not pay a debt and be exonerated of it He that can say he hath paid what he ow'd is it not a quietness to his mind to be discharg'd It goes further a great deal and brings more advantage when we offer up the sacrifice of retribution the incense of Thanksgiving unto the Lord for we draw on more benefits when we declare the goodness of the Lord upon the receipt of the old And the gratuitum which God gives is a thousand fold greater than the present which we bring This proposed to them that will fly high from the pinacle of the Lord's Prayer the first Petition Hallowed be thy Name 2. Neither let them faint that stoop low in Supplication for mercy will embrace them on every side Two things being put together are of much weight we pray with God's Spirit and by his Word He invites us in his Word to pray and he gives the gift with which we pray I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplications Zach. 12.10 Did He pour upon us his Grace and have we received a Commandment the outward sign of his Will and can we suspect after all this that He will put us off and deny us Is his Grace given in vain or hath He sent his Word to delude us He hath kindled a fire in our breasts and it is an Heavenly flame that burns within us Lord though we are vile and despicable thou canst not despise the acting of thine own Spirit nor frustrate thine own operations Or do we come unbidden when we cast our selves down in thy presence Nay Lord thou hast beckned and called us Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden Hold fast to these two and who can forbid us to be comforted the Lord bids us pray and he gives us a heart to pray For it is not strange to his mercy perhaps it is strange to mans conceipt to give us strength to bring forth that obedience both to will and to do which himself hath commanded As he gave the Blessed Virgin strength to bring forth the Babe who was conceived and formed in her womb by the Holy Ghost This I do the rather enforce because we can see no comfort in our selves therefore as I derive all the vertue and spirituality that is in Prayer from the efficacy of Grace So I refer all the success to Christ in whom we are blessed with all spiritual blessings Eph. 1.3 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my Name he will give it Jo. 15.16 But He and his Father are one therefore he says If ye shall ask the Father any thing in my Name I will do it Jo. 14. verse 14. If we had no better means to God than our selves and our own merits there were no hope to speed nay our hearts would be as faint and dead as if we heard our selves denied before we had opened our lips But we conclude as it is to
Church but such an humble sinner God draws thee and none but those that are like unto thee near unto his mercy Though thy sins do cleave unto thee be comforted that thou dost not cleave unto thy sins Elkanah gave a more worthy portion to Hannah that was barren but meek and devout than to Peninnah that bare him sons and daughters but was proud and scornful 1 Sam. 1.5 God hath heard his beloved Son when he made Prayers for sinners will hear those sinners that are his Sons when they ask any thing in the name of Christ III. Good fruit must be brought forth in a good season which only remains to be thought upon and to be added to the Consolation of Prayer For every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3.1 But neither days nor hours nor seasons did ever come amiss to faithful Prayer Evening and morning and at Noon will I Pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice Psal 55.17 which includes all the space of duration For all time is included in Morning Noon and Night Pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance Ephes 6.18 Short passes quick ejections concise forms and remembrances holy breathings Prayers like little posies may be sent forth without number on every occasion and God will note them in his book But all that have a care to walk with God fill their vessels more largely as soon as they rise before they begin the work of the day and before they lie down again at night Which is to observe what the Lord appointed in the Levitical ministery a morning and an evening Lamb to be laid upon the Altar So with them that are not stark irreligious Prayer is the key to open the day and the bolt to shut in the night But as the skies drop the early dew and the evening dew upon the grass yet it would not spring and grow green by that constant and double falling of the dew unless some great showers at certain seasons did supply the rest So the customary devotion of Prayer twice a-day is the falling of the early and the latter dew but if you will increase and flourish in the works of grace empty the great clouds sometimes and let them fall into a full shower of Prayer chuse out the seasons in your own discretion when Prayer should overflow like Jordan in the time of harvest keep strictly as much as you are able to those times of the day which you have designed to appear in before the Lord for then you offer up not only your Prayers but the strict observation of set times which is a double sacrifice and an evidence that you will not dispense to pretermit that holy work for any a vocation He that refers himself at large to Pray when he is at leisure gives God the worst of the day that is his idle time I account them prudent therefore that are precise in keeping Canonical hours of Prayer as they call them so they Pray to God alone who alone knows their heart and so they Pray with the Spirit and with the Vnderstanding 1 Cor. 14.15 that is in a tongue wherein they know what they say and understand the language wherein they vent the meditations of their Spirit This was the milk that the Church of England gave every day out of her breasts to praise God in Common-Prayer at set hours before noon and after in the assemblies of her devout children How many have rejoyced to hear the Chiming of the Bells to call them together and would never miss their station As Peter and John went together to the Temple at the hour of Prayer being the ninth hour Acts 3.1 O when will these profane days come to an end that we may again so orderly so delightfully appear before the living God Of one thing the Devil disappointed us many years past in the time of Prayer which was the Night-offices of prayers called Vigils which are disused because it was feared they grew incident to scandal and uncleanness And though they be left off I believe for good reason in a concourse of open meeting yet let not God lose his tribute of Prayer which should be paid him in the still and quiet opportunity of the night The day is God's and the night is God's the darkness and light to him are both alike let not so many hours as run out from our lying down to our rising up again pass away without any Prayer Says David O Lord I remembred thee in my bed and meditated on thee in the night-watches Psalm 63.6 It seems while the Tabernacle of Moses stood that the Priests did some duties in it all night long Psalm 134.1 Bless the Lord ye servants of the Lord which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Apostles allowed widows must continue in Supplication and Prayers night and day 1 Tim. 5.5 And Anna the widow-prophetess served God with Fasting and Prayers night and day Luke 2.37 The Lord hath foretold that he will come as a thief in the night at the great day 2 Pet. 3.10 Therefore O Lord with my Soul will I desire thee in the night and at midnight will I think upon thee and call unto thee that if it shall be this night even now when Christ Jesus will come to judge the world my Soul may find mercy from him and both Body and Soul may be glorified and so continue with him for ever All this about the opportunity of time shall shut up with one Instruction of the Psalmist Psal 32.6 Every one that is Godly shall Pray unto thee O Lord in a time that thou mayest be found When you find stirrings and impulsions more than ordinary to provoke you to Prayer follow the admonition of the Spirit and let not such a time slip You know not whether such a divine presage may rowle in your thoughts again I make no question but there are some Critical moments wherein God offers more than he will do again if you neglect him when he courts you with so great advantage But now change the case from mine to the whole Nations from private to publick then thus I will be peremptory in my resolution There is no time too late for any Christian that lives in his single person to beseech God to be merciful to him he may find the same propitiousness that the penitent thief did But there may be a time too late to save a Kingdom or a state from ruine when the Lord hath decreed the period of it Therefore when confusions threaten and begin to peep out watch them betimes and let the whole Land Pray for peace and let the Governours prepare conditions for it to avert publick calamitie If we let tumults and conspiracies grow to a head it will be in vain to struggle by monthly or weekly humiliations when our destiny is unavoidable Plutarch
your self upon every disquietness and deep plunge of heart and how can you chuse but convince your self that your melancholy and distrust is causeless The hope of the righteous shall be gladness Prov. 10.26 And we rejoyce in hope Rom. 12.12 The design of Hope is consider'd four ways First it intends unto that which is good which makes a difference between Hope and Fear for we hope for that which is good we fear that which is evil Secondly It is not that good which is present but absent and this makes a difference between Hope and Fruition Rom. 8.24 Hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for Thirdly Though it be a good absent and not yet obtained yet it is possible which is the difference between Hope and Despair but we have no colour for despair since all things are possible to God Fourthly It is a possible good but bonum arduum to be gotten with difficulty and pains which puts a difference between the diligence of Hope and careless Security These are the four promontories of Hope and a good wind blows from every quarter I. First It is good for a man to Hope since we hope for that which is good so good that it exceeds all that Eye hath seen for as yet we see not God but in his creatures Nor Ear hath heard it that is in its full unutterable excellency which the words of Holy Scripture cannot express to our imperfect reason Then neither can it enter into the heart of man for things can seem no greater than words can utter We know as yet but in part hereafter we shall know as we are known If we have boasted to the Heathen that we look for a Kingdom and a Crown of glory we are sure we shall not be ashamed of that hope Rom. 5.5 We may be ashamed that we have doted upon petty things out of which we have devised felicity and they have failed and deceiv'd us but our treasure laid up in the Heaven is so sure that in the end and in the day of trial none shall insult over our hope and say where is now the Lord your God If a mortal man detain the wages of the labourer 't is a sin Therefore it cannot be incident to God who is not unrighteous to forget our work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 We shall not always be forgotten our Expectation shall not perish for ever Psal 9.18 The judgment of a good eye-sight is to see afar off so is the judgment of a good hope to remark the unspeakable reward of a better age to come Whereupon it hath sufficient satisfaction and content to leave or to lose all it hath things not worthy to be compared to the glory which is revealed in us Rom. 8.18 The rich Mines and Golden trade of both the Indies are on the other side the Line so the rich trade of Hope is in the other world Change your poor fraught which is your lading in this vessel of clay and barter it for an immortal possession Hope that is not under the embers but mounts up in a trembling flame reckons not what it is worth by a very little which it hath in hand but by its share which is reserved in the store-house of God's eternal recompence Now I am abased but there is mine honour a far abundant exceeding weight of glory Now I carry about a crazy sickly body there it shall be immortal and incident to no distemper Now my neighbours and acquaintance despise me and run far from me there I shall be enrolled with Angels and Saints and with the Church of the first born and with the Spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 Now I live in all disorder of Church-ordinances in distraction of Schisms in the filthy stanch of old and new heresies but there is the new Jerusalem where all things set forth the glory of the Lamb in beauty and holiness and truth Now I must die and deliver up my body unto the dust but Christ died and rose the third day and will bring again with him in due time all those that sleep and comfort one another with these words saith St. Paul 1 Thess 4.14 And as when Christ ascended into Heaven He went up with a merry noise and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet Psal 47.5 So let every heart break out into praise and gladness whose hope flies up unto the Lord in his holy places Holding fast the confidence and the rejoycing of hope firm unto the end Heb. 3.6 II. Stay yet and consider it is a good which is absent that we hope for When it is come and brought to pass Hope is at the journeys end Say to the righteous it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Isa 3.10 It shall be well Dixit erit It is not paid down as we say in ready money but we have a good bond for assurance Let me object upon this Doth not Hope deferr'd afflict the Soul Yet be not disheartened it is better than so For first we have somewhat in hand because that which Faith lays hold of is really and actually its own now Hope is Faith's rent-gatherer and takes up that which Faith claims upon the bargain which Christ hath made for us To be clearer yet Eph. 1. verses 13 14. We are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance You see then that though we have not the inheritance as yet we have the earnest of it and an earnest-penny is more than nothing Here I must distinguish between a pledge and an earnest A pledge is laid down for assurance to repay that which was lent but an earnest is given upon a bargain to keep that till the rest be brought in Now the earnest that we receive of the Kingdom to come is the seal of the Spirit an imprinted comfort that it shall be ours A seal that cannot be defaced a comfort that cannot be taken from us So much as you have of that seal so much you have of the earnest therefore you cannot say that Hope hath quite nothing to stay its longing The blossoms of the Spring do not only promise but are God's earnest to represent the fruits which will wax ripe in Autumn I will make it out in another similitude He that is in a Merchants ware-house where spices are stored up shall have some taste of them in his palate by their strong scent though he put not one corn into his mouth so we taste Heaven because the Spirit that comes from Heaven dwells in us and gives many delightful signs of a glorified reversion But to go forward it may not be denied but that Hope is anxious and restless till it come to enjoy How tedious a thing it is to stay long without the company of them whom we entirely love And can it be otherwise than irksom to be so long absent from the vision of
Christian Consolations Taught from FIVE HEADS IN RELIGION I. Faith II. Hope III. The Holy Spirit IV. Prayer V. The Sacraments Written by a Learned PRELATE Isaiah 40.1 2. Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Excellent Majesty 1671. TO THE READER THIS Manual of Christian Consolations derived from Five Heads of great importance in Religion was written by a late R. Prelate of our Church and is now Printed according to his own Copy The Papers were presented by him to a Person of Honour for whose private use they were designed But as the Noblest Spirits are most communicative that Noble and Religious Lady was pleased to impart them for the good also of others We read in the Evangelists how that the Holy Jesus who went about doing good that 's the short but full Character which * Acts 10.38 Saint Peter gives of him did by a Miracle of Mercy bless five Loaves to the feeding of a very great multitude And may the same Almighty Goodness bless and prosper whatsoever Spiritual good is contained in these Five Helps and Directions for a Christian's Comfort to the refreshing and strengthening of such Souls as truly hunger and thirst after God May the serious and devout Readers taste and see how good the Lord is that his Loving kindness is better than Life and that the Light of his Countenance the sense of his favour is infinitely more Heart-cheering and brings with it a truer and larger satisfaction than the encrease of Corn Psal 4. and Wine and Oil doth to the men of this world who only or chiefly mind Earthly things and unwisely place their felicity in the fading and empty enjoyments of this present life It is good then that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. for he is good to them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him He who is the God of Love and even * 1 Jo. 4. Love it self He who is the ever-flowing Fountain of Goodness will not fail to fill the hungry with good things Such a Christian hath meat to eat which the world knows not of he feeds on the hidden Manna he hath as S. Austin said of S. Ambrose occultum os in corde ejus and with this he doth sapida gaudia de pane Dei ruminare The Father of the World who openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing Psal 145. giving to all their meat in due season he is as ready to fulfil the desire of them that fear him he will give grace and glory Psal 84. and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly And here from the character and qualification of the Persons them that fear him and them that walk uprightly it highly concerns us to observe and to lay it to heart That a Sincere desire and Serious endeavour to fear God and walk uprightly is a necessary and indispensable Condition to qualifie and make us meet for the receiving of the best of Divine favours and blessings We must first walk in the fear of the Lord if we would walk in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost as these two are set together in Acts 9.31 If we would have the Spirit to be our Comforter we must follow the Spirit as our Guide and Counsellor If we would find rest unto our Souls we must take Christ's yoke upon us Matth. 11. the yoke of his Precepts which are all holy and just and good A state of inward Comfort and true Tranquillity of Spirit can never be secured and preserved but by a continued care to walk before God in a faithful obedience to his Will in all things For there is no peace to the wicked as is * Chap. 48. 22. Chap. 57. 21. twice exprest by the noble Prophet Isaiah But Great peace have they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 saith the Royal Psalmist the man after God's own heart who herein spake his own experience and elsewhere Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace While he lives he lives in peace his Soul dwells at ease he feels an unspeakable joy and pleasure within upon the sense of his doing his duty and being faithful in obedience to his Lord and Master in Heaven And when he dies he departs in peace and shall * Isa 57. enter into peace and ‖ Mat. 25. into the joy of his Lord. Here he tastes how sweet the Lord is but there he shall be abundantly satisfied with the plenty of God's House Psal 37. and made to drink of the River of his pleasures The meek shall eat and be satisfied and their heart shall live for ever Psal 22. And so full and compleat shall be their joy and satisfaction that they shall neither hunger nor thirst any more Rev. 7. for the Lamb shall feed them and shall lead them unto living Fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes This is the happy Portion of those Souls who have the Lord for their God with whom there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures most pure and permanent for evermore The Contents of the Chapters THe Introduction CHAP. I. Of Faith That Faith is the Ground and Foundation of a Christian's Comfort Several doubts and scruples about Believing answered Page 1. CHAP. II. Of Hope That a Christian's Comfort flows from the Grace of Hope The object of Hope is 1. That which is Good 2. A Good absent 3. Though absent yet possible and that for Three Reasons 4. Though possible yet difficult An account of two sorts of difficulties with particular encouragements against them Pag. 13. CHAP. III. Of the Holy Spirit How a Christian's Comforts flow from the Inhabitation and Testimony of the Holy Ghost as also from the Sanctification of the Spirit unto all Obedience and the fruits of Righteousness Pag. 67. CHAP. IV. Of Prayer Prayer is the great Instrument of a Christian's Comfort Concerning Prayer three things to be considered I. The Substance or Matter of Prayer in three Heads 1. Thanksgivings 2. Supplications 3. Intercessions II. The Qualification of them that Pray III. The fitness of Time for Prayer Pag. 99. CHAP. V. Of the Sacraments How the Sacraments minister to a Christian's Comfort A general Survey of Sacraments Five Reasons why God ordained Two Sacraments under the Gospel What Comforts flow from the Grace of Baptism What Comforts flow from the Lord's Supper Pag. 155. Christian Consolations taught from five Heads in Religion THE INTRODUCTION THE work of the Ministry consists in two things in Threatnings or Comforts The first is useful for the greatest part of Christians who are led by the Spirit of bondage and
them with whom God is well pleased No sin is forgiven to him that is not in Christ and against him that is in Christ there is no condemnation They are the sons of God to whom the Lord doth graciously remit any fault but where any fault is not remitted they are his enemies He that is justified from any sin must be truly penitent but a true penitent is sorry for all sins together hates them eschews them all alike Then follows a plenary absolution from all iniquity through Christ our Lord. And beware that you over-look not these multitudes of sins of the under size as if little grief or anxiety would serve for them are they not numberless corns of sand and may not a weight of too much sand sink a ship as soon as a burden of too much iron The dailiness of sin must be bewailed with the dailiness of sorrow And then when thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid yea thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet Prov. 3.24 Now tell me if this balm be not enough to heal the bleedings and bruisings of despair Talents of sin and sins in small mony you may hide them all in the wounds of Christ It is possible for God to do the benefit and possible for thee to receive it Let Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Psalm 130. verse ult 3. It must now be added how that which Hope waits for is possible since it may find satisfaction from long and constant experience In the yonger days of the world somewhat might be said to excuse the backwardness of Hope they wanted proof and demonstration in those times Even Cain was the sooner overtaken with despair crying out My sin is greater than can be forgiven me He had not lived so long to be taught the contrary by experience But every age hath given advantage to Hope to be satisfied better and better O God we have heard with our ears and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days and in the old time before them Psalm 44.1 The records of God do tell us how the Armies of aliens have been discomfited before his Children how the rocks have given them drink and the barren wilderness bread how the Church hath been scattered and recollected the righteous continually supported either with deliverance or patience that the dead have been raised up to life nay that Enoch and Elias were taken up alive into Heaven to implant into our minds that both they that are in the graves shall hear the voice of Christ and come forth and that such as shall be found living at that day shall be caught up in the clouds and be translated into Heaven And I challenge Hope to instance if it can surmise that any thing is impossible to be brought to pass since there is a president in every thing to demonstrate that the right hand of the Lord hath brought mighty things to pass There is one thing I confess for which there is no example neither can be evidenced till all things be accomplisht that is the coming of the Lord Christ with the new Heavens and the new Earth and yet to confirm us in that mystery to come St. John did see the Idea or glimpse of it in his Revelation The use of all this is to remember the transactions of God in the times that are gone before Who ever saw the righteous forsaken or the wicked flourish long was there ever any persecution of the Church which hath not ended in its triumph But stay for it and pray for it and condole for the delays of God's providence till you may say in earnest My soul fainteth for thy salvation Psalm 119.31 How easie is it for a Christian that hath any nostril to run after God in the odour of his sweet ointments and trace his steps from point to point and then to say with David I have remembred thy judgments of old O Lord and have comforted my self Psalm 119.52 and from another Prophet Ezek. 14.22 Ye shall see their way and their doings and shall be comsorted concerning all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem The great store-house of Consolation is Hope therefore all this and more must be said to keep it fresh like a green Olive-tree having never a sear or withered bough upon it I come now to complete it I have shewn it aims only at good and that which is only and excellently good at such a good whose harvest is not brought in all in a year but still there is more and more to be had and the most to come It is possible through the greatness of Gods power and mercy as all ages have witnessed IV. But lastly that which may seem to pinch is that it is Bonum arduum a good not easily attained but with great labour and diligence to give warning against sloth and security It were not worth our longing to say we hope for petty things easie and at hand but for things of value for which we must struggle with many lets and impediments to possess them No man need to hope to find Cockle-shells on the shore but to find Pearls in the Sea that 's an object for the adventure of a Jeweller Neither is the Jewel of Christian Hope easily purchast But as Elijah said to Elisha Thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee 2 Kings 2.10 Much after that sort I commune with my heart and say It is good to seek for eternal life pursue it as the Hart brayeth after the rivers of waters there will be much a-do to get it for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13.24 Nevertheless if thou canst see the Lord as if he were continually before thee thou shalt not miss of that thou desirest for all things are possible to him whose eyes are ever toward the Lord. These difficulties upon which I strike are either in our selves or in our adventure in our selves partly through natural imbecillity partly through contracted impotency 1. Our natural languor is that of original contagion which makes us so weak that there is none that doth good no not one Which is not to be extenuated as if the malignity of it might be supprest with a little resistance It is good to know the power of so strong an enemy that we may be fortified against it It is a root of bitterness never to be digg'd up out of corrupt nature a coal of fire spitting out sparks of temptations continually as inward to us as the marrow is in our bones Yet there is hope in Christ to slake this fire though not utterly in this life to quench it It is a body of death a whole body consisting of all the members of sin yet a body is but
15.8 and why God's delight but because his servants delight in prayer He that sheweth mercy let him do it with chearfulness Rom. 12.8 And he that giveth offereth a blemisht sacrifice if he do it grudgingly For God loveth a chearful giver 2 Cor. 9.7 Not so much but our losses and tribulations must be sustained with gladness Thy rod and thy staff do comfort me Psalm 23.4 Enter into the combat willingly and the continuance will be a pleasure Our consolation aboundeth by Christ for as ye are partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation 2 Cor. 1.7 Therefore the Apostles did change the name of a famous Disciple called Joses into a notion of this Theme and called him Barnabas which is being interpreted The son of consolation Acts 4.36 The Rabbies of the Jews hold themselves very close to this doctrine and would have it observ'd that the merrier the heart is in the Lord the more capable it is of the Spirit of God Partly because Miriam when she prophesied of the mighty acts of Jehovah took a Timbrel in her hand and danced Exod. 15.20 Partly because that Samuel after he had anointed Saul to be King over Israel told Saul Thou shalt meet a company of Prophets coming down from the high place with a Psaltery a Tabret a Pipe and a Harp and they shall prophesie and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee and thou shalt prophesie with them and shalt be turned into another man 1 Sam. 10. verses 5 6. More emphatically when Jehosaphat called for Elisha to enquire of the Lord says Elisha Bring me a Minstrel and it came to pass when the Minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him 2 Kings 3.15 That by the ravishing strains of Musick his mind might be exalted into Heavenly contemplations Which is a great check to that drowsie dulness in devotion which our late Reformers have brought in and have excluded the solemn melody of the Organ and the raptures of warbling and sweet voices out of Cathedral Quires They that miss that harmony can best tell how it was wont to raise up their Spirit and as it were to carry it out of them to the Quire in Heaven And beside chearfulness is not only an adjunct or companion with all the works of grace in that time they are bringing forth but being done and finisht that which is post-nate the after-birth as I may call it comes with such a gleam gliding over all the Soul with such serenity and peace of mind as cannot be exprest our Conscience bearing us witness that we have been conversant in doing the pleasure of the Lord as it is 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Here I shall find work to heal the broken in heart who look upon the fruits of their lives with no content in themselves but are unsolaced and cast down because neither in number nor in weight have they brought in that which the Lord required they look on their ways and they find them crooked they look on their heart and they find it is not constant to good purposes To whom I rejoyn If this proceed from penitence from quick sense of sin from humility which is opposite to a self-justifying they have cause to praise God that they are thus affected Let them look narrowly if this Gold for it may prove no worse be currant when it is brought to the touch-stone then they may lift up their eyes and look chearfully towards Christ for it is no flattery to say they are under his grace and mercy Deal clearly that you are astonisht at your frailties because you think you can never work enough never shun sin enough and though your Conscience condemn you God will afford you equity against the rigour of Conscience for he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit Rom. 8.22 We are conceived in sin and it is so intimate unto us that we have no promise to be so spiritualized in this life that we shall not often trespass God hath concluded all in sin all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all Rom. 11.32 But it is one thing to fall into sin another thing to run into it One thing to be carried away by the passions of it another to covet and desire it One thing to be overtaken in a fault another thing to abide in it without repentance And great odds between those that are given over to please themselves in filthiness and between them that labour and desire to please God though many times they attain not to perfect that willingness The scope of the Seventh Chapter to the Romans as I apprehend the mind of the Apostle is to refresh our guilty Consciences that a regenerate man is not obnoxious to condemnation though his flesh upon some temptations make him the servant of sin because still in his mind he serves the law of God And I am confirm'd in that sense because without all contradiction He teacheth the like doctrine Gal. 5.17 The flesh and the Spirit are contrary one to another so that we cannot do the things that we would And will the righteous God require more of a sick and feeble servant than his best endeavour Will not Christ accept from us the same that he did from Mary that broke the Box of Ointment over his head She hath done what she could Mark 14.8 Let a contrite heart that would fain be righteous remember the prayer of Nehemiah Chap. 1. verse 10. Let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name or the protestation of St. Paul Heb. 13.18 We trust we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly But this desire and willingness must be without hypocrisie not like iron that is gilded base mettal within and rich without It must be steddy industrious instant to perform Vehement holy desire is a great degree to perfection in our state For the beginning of wisdom is the desire of discipline Wisd 6.18 but a lazy careless desire is a great token of imperfection The Soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing Prov. 13.4 And again The desire of the slothful killeth him for his hands refuse to labour Prov. 21.25 Like Vagabonds that when an Officer catcheth them will feign that they desire a service and to be set at work but take them at their word and they will run away that they may live in loitering and upon other mens labours St. Paul provoking both rich and poor to liberality according to their respective abilities frames a rule upon that occasion which is applicable to all good works 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be a willing mind it is accepted according to that which a man hath and not according to that which he hath not Yea in some cases when I desire a good thing
I am at my furthest I desire the appearance of the Lord Jesus at the great day Come Lord Jesus come quickly I can do no more I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ I must do no more for I must not attempt my own dissolution I wish for the conversion of the Jews to the Faith I must not compel them This holds in a few things In the most willingness must shew some practice as in the same Chapter Verse 11. Now therefore perform the doing of it that as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also of that which you have But to desire to do and to do little is a sign that there was little desire This hath overthrown many that they desire not to reach high But we know that God gives his Grace by Talents and not in petty summs yet a luke-warm professor can be content with mites Could such a one get a moderate competency of righteousness knowing that without holiness no man shall see God then he would sit down and let others strive if they like it to be the tallest Cedars in the house of the Lord. There are many such indifferent Disciples that would be always babes and never come to a manly growth wrap themselves about with as many fig-leaves as would cover their shame and think they want no more apparel These if they knew what it were to a dram that would serve them to attain salvation they would reach so far if the grace of God would assist them but would put themselves to no trouble to purifie their body and Spirit any further Here 's a pretence of a desire to serve God but with so much laziness with so much lethargy that the Lord disdains it as dead carion He would serve God and he would serve Mammon He approves much prayer but he cannot attend it He would not for all the world but be a Christian yet a small share in profit or a snap at a little pleasure will pervert him to be a dishonest Christian But real and holy desire stands up for much though it cannot do so much honour to God as he would like the disease Ephialtes that oppresseth us in the night between sleeping and waking we would turn to the other side of the bed and cannot But to shake off this Incubus it listens after all the noble exploits that the Saints of God have done and would exactly follow them or if it were possible run before them if not it will be heartily sorry that frailty makes it come short of the best It would compound for no less than to pay all if it were able Then you shall find the heart pant often with these inward earnings Sweet Saviour should any of thy servants love thee better than I should any of thy Disciples be more obedient than I No Lord for none of thine are so much endebted to thy passion because none had so many sins to be forgiven How amiable are thy Commandments O Lord of hosts my Soul thirsteth to be the nearest of them that shall stand before the presence of the living God Lord let me love thee as Peter did Lord let me love thee more than these So I have revealed the First comforts flowing from the Holy Ghost by his Inhabitation and inward Testimony and the next Comforts by the Fruits of Righteousness and those sincere desires of Godliness which by Christs merciful interpretation supply our failings All which I conclude out of our Church-Song made to the Holy Ghost Visit our minds and into us Thy Heavenly Grace inspire That in all Truth and Godliness We may have true desire CHAP. IV. Prayer is the great Instrument of a Christian's Comfort Concerning Prayer three things to be considered I. The Substance or Matter of Prayer in three Heads 1. Thanksgivings 2. Supplications 3. Intercessions II. The Qualification of them that Pray III. The fitness of Time for Prayer THE order laid down in the beginning carries me to the Fourth part of Christian Consolation The Heavenly delight of Prayer It is the lively expression of Faith the Embassador which Hope sends to God the comfort of Love the fellowship of the Spirit our Advocate unto our Advocate Christ Jesus our Incense whose smoke ascends up and is sweet in the nostrils of the most High which promiseth such abundant success that humility had rather conceive than utter it lest we should seem to boast A lowly supplicant to God never rose up from his knees without some stirrings of gracious expectation nor without a prophetical instinct that the mercy of the Lord was nigh at hand Which fortunate presage Isaiah confirms unto us Chap. 56.7 I will make them joyful in my house of Prayer And how readily may we use this mighty Ordinance of God how soon it may be done if we have a mind to it What freedom have we no man can deny it to utter a brief Prayer and very often if we will in the greatest toil and business The tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak elegantly Isa 32.4 It is so facile a part of Religion as he that hath a tongue can scarce miss it It is as easie to say Our Father which art in Heaven as to see Heaven which is always in our eye Every Sect of Pagans and Idolaters were taught by instinct to fly unto it ex tempore as the Heathen Mariners cried every man to his God Jon. 1.5 An Atheist falling into a sudden danger as suppose a Pistol were put to his breast would cry out as soon to God to help him as any true believer And he that upon deliberation did say there was no God will break out into a confession before he is aware that there is a God by natural impulsion A poor Whelp hath found a way to lick its own sores whole with its tongue so when we are opprest with misery whether the evil of sin or the evil of punishment we are prompted by the natural notions of our Soul to lick the sore with our tongue that is to call for help from Heaven That Soul which God did breath into man cannot shake off this principle That all succour comes from above for which it must breath out it self unto God No creature among Beasts but being smitten will fall upon the way to relieve it self except a blind incogitant sinner Such as have written upon their sagacity in that kind tell us That the Fishes in the fresh waters being struck with a tool of Iron will rub themselves upon the glutinous skin of the Tench to be cured The Hart wounded with an Arrow runs to the Herb Dittany to bite it that the shaft may fall out that struck in his body The Swallow will seek out the green Tetterwort to recover the eyes of her young ones when they are blinded Only a stupid sinner forgets how to redintegrate his miserable estate by throwing himself down prostrate before God in humble petition He walks forlorn
the most of our Collects through Christ our Lord. When we bring that Name in the rear and quote him for our Merit and Mediator then I know it will be well and that the Lord will hear the petitions of his servants Should we not put our requests into Christs hand to offer them to his Father Sion might spread forth her complaints and there would be none to comfort her and we might remain for ever in that heavy plight Psalm 77. verse 3. I remembred God and was troubled I complained and my Spirit was overwhelmed But if we renounce our wretched selves and imagine not the least intrinsecal perfection to be in our Prayers do we sail then by the Cape of Good Hope yes because God is contented to yield upon such addresses Jacob may wrestle with the Angel all night and protest he will not let him go till he have blessed him But Victus est quia voluit God was overcome because he would be overcome of Jacob he lets us prevail because he is willing to yield but there is no strength is us to win if he would not suffer himself to be vanquisht There is no other person but Christ in whom the Father I know not what kind of necessity to call it cannot but be well pleased Which made him say before his Disciples Jo. 11.41 Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me and I know that thou hearest me always As it is also Heb. 5.7 Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears was heard for his piety This is the preheminence of our High Priest who is an Orator for us all that the Lord cannot reject his Prayers Therefore committing our daily Oraisons to our High Priest to bear them into the Holy of Holies before his Father they are in a sure hand and they that know his Name will put their trust in thee Psalm 9.10 Much more they that know his Office perfectly Wherefore let Prayer carry on these considerations with it That we are invited by God to that duty That the Spirit instigates us unto it and helps our infirmities Rom. 8.26 That it is presented to the Father by the mediation of the Son then how canst thou be sad O my Soul and fear to miscarry Is not the lot fallen unto thee in a pleasant field and may'st thou not promise to thy self a very goodly heritage Without all dispute then proceed unto Prayer and for a beginning 1. Ask in Faith James 1.6 that is attribute unto God that he is Almighty and can do above all that we ask or think Consent to his truth that he is faithful in his promises for he that believeth not those makes God a lyar Acknowledge his goodness and mercy through Christ that He will withhold no good thing from them that lead a Godly life Let there be no wavering no disputing about these Attributes of God lest we be condemned out of our own mouth So much Faith so much efficacy so much confidence so much comfort in Prayer Then will a solicitous Christian reply What will become of me I have not that plenitude of Faith at least in sundry occasions I have it not to ascertain my self that I shall prevail with God No more had Abraham himself a perfect Faith without any flaw Excellent things are spoken of him Rom. 4.18 Who against hope believed in hope and that he staggered not at the promise but was strong in Faith Verse 20. Yet see how he stoopt a little Gen. 17.18 Shall a Son be born unto him that is an hundred years old and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear O that Ishmael may live God is not extream to mark what is done amiss in every convulsion of Faith which appears Psalm 31. verse 22. I said in my haste I am cast out of thine eyes nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee You must be sure that in general David subscribed to the power and truth and goodness of God but there was a temptation upon him at that time in some particular case in which he distrusted or doubted that there was no likelihood to prevail But if there be such a one that says I will pray but I know I shall be never the better he is an infidel and mocks God in that bad mind he did well to say he should be never the better for he did usurp a form of Godliness and denied the power thereof He is the right Supplicant but a very rare one that hath no staggering or diffidence in his heart that comes close up to our Saviour's rule Mark 11.24 What things soever ye desire when ye Pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them Yet the Lord will not cast them off who are but in the next form and do not resolutely promise success unto themselves in the instant of their present Supplications but bear it thus between Faith and doubting whether I shall succeed in this or that I am not confident but of this I am most assured that I shall be the better for my Prayers And I would it were thus and thus because I conceive it would be best for me but I am certain it will be better than the best that I can imagine which the Lord knows to be most expedient Another perhaps may wrangle himself into an error and say How do the Heathen and the wicked obtain good things if nothing will prevail with God but the Prayer of Faith Consider that even a Pagan and Idolater would ever Pray but that they have some kind of belief to obtain fruit by their Prayers The King of Nineveh bad a solemn Fast at the hearing of Jonah's prophesie For says he Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not Jon. 3.9 None but a Lunatick would ask for relief from them that had neither knowledge of his case nor power to redress it O but the prayers of such are not grounded on the Faith that we speak of It is true such a Faith as possest Idolaters is not that which impetrates mercy from God Then I say neither Jews nor Mahumetans nor wicked men get any thing by that Prayer to which the promise is made Ask and ye shall have For whether they Pray or not all that they obtain had come to pass though they had held their peace It is for our sins and to scourge us that they have kingdoms and victories it is not their motley-faith that did purchase them And for all manner of store and plenty that the Earth yields to them it is but as God gives fodder to the Cattle and meat to the yong Ravens that call upon him 2. The Prayer of Faith then is only available but out of the mouth of an humble suiter For who will give an alms to a proud begger Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth
Eternity I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Isa 57.15 Let the comparison between the Publican and the Pharisee remain for ever in our memory Luke 18. The Prayer of the poor destitute the contrite the penitent the bleeding heart is a sacrifice well season'd with the salt of anguish and misery Away with high looks and high words Lord thou dost hear the desire of the humble and dost prepare their heart Psalm 10.17 And God comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 Put your self back who are but dust and ashes in a great distance from the Lord that you may behold him the better in his infinite greatness And a lowly heart will never spare to deject the body O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Solomon pray'd upon his knees 1 Chron. 6. so did Daniel Chap. 6. so did Peter when messengers came to him from Cornelius Acts 9. so St. Paul For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Eph. 3.14 And not only men upon Earth but the glorious Spirits in Heaven cast themselves and their Crowns down before him that sitteth on the Throne Revel 4. Nay the Son of God fell down upon his knees and pray'd unto his Father Luke 22.41 And Fasting which is a pregnant circumstance of humiliation was much in use with Prayer the instances are innumerous to signifie we had no part in any comfort nor any delight in the Creatures till we were reconciled to the Lord. So was Sackcloth used and all apparel of beauty all ornaments of riches and pride were put off for that time Let them be no more than outward circumstances yet they are significant But that which is a sure companion and most intimate to humility in Prayer is Patience It breaks not away in a pet because it is not answer'd at the first or second asking that 's disdainful and arrogant It holds on and attends and cries till the throat is dry I waited patiently for the Lord Psalm 40.1 And there must be patient continuance in them that seek for Glory and Immortality Rom. 2.7 Faith is the foundation of Prayer and to continue the Metaphor Patience is the Roof The winds blow look to the foundation or the building will fall Rain and storms will descend but if they light upon a Roof that is close and compact they run aside and are cast upon the ground He that expects God's pleasure from day to day will neither faint nor fret that his suit hangs long in the Court of Requests such storms as proceed from murmuring cannot beat through a solid Roof Says Habbak Chap. 2. Verse 3. A great thing will the Lord bring to pass but not presently says the Lord The Vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lye though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come Many diseases will never be cured well unless they be long a curing and many deliverances will never be throughly setled unless they be long a preparing and many mercies are hid like seed in the ground and will be long a growing I give God thanks that every blessing of worldly Comfort that I Pray'd for the longer I was kept from it and the more I pray'd for it I found it the greater in the end Observe that there is nothing of moment yea be it of lesser and vulgar size with which the Providence of God hath not interwoven a thousand things to be dispatcht with it which requires time perhaps seven years to finish them Expect therefore from the Divine wisdom to do all things in their order and give honour to the Supream Majesty to wait his leisure For yet a little and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 3. The third thing which gives assurance of Comfort to Prayer is Zeal Devotion Fervency which will pluck on Patience further and further For he that is zealous in any thing will not easily give over till he have brought his ends to pass Zeal is a continual and an earnest supplicant it Prays without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Prays exceedingly 1 Thess 3.10 Asks with confidence seeks with diligence knocks with perseverance A swarm of Bees that is many thousands must gather into a Hive to fill it with Hony-combs and a swarm of Prayers is sweeter before the Lord than the Hony and the Hony-comb Likewise it is as vehement as it is assiduous labouring fervently for you in Prayers Coloss 4.12 Stir up your wit and diligence and memory and meditations when you come to spread out your wants before your Father but if you yawn out heedless heartless petitions you shall depart with discouragement as it is Psalm 80.4 O Lord God of hosts how long wilt thou be angry with the Prayer of thy people The Laodiceans were lukewarm neither hot nor cold in the worship of God therefore the Spirit said to the Angel of that Church Be zealous and repent Revel 3.19 Zeal is defined to be a vehement and inflamed love There must be an ardour and a flame in Prayer as if we would mount it up like fire to Heaven Then we may say that a Seraphin hath laid a coal from the Altar upon our mouth and touched our lips Isa 6.7 Zeal takes away the Soul for a time and carries it far above us I write to them that have felt it that it darts a mans Spirit out of him like an arrow out of a bow This is it which infallibly begets Hope Comfort Patience all in a Sheaf as they are divinely put together Rom. 12. verses 11 12. Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord rejoycing in Hope patient in Tribulation continuing instant in Prayer The transportment of Zeal will excuse or rather commend some Ejaculations of Prayer which seem to be too bold with God as Psalm 44. How long wilt thou turn away the face from us O Lord and forgettest our misery and trouble So Jer. 14.9 Why should'st thou be as a man asleep and as a mighty man that cannot save us And we do but follow our Saviour's pattern in it upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Tell not a troubled heart that is in anguish tell it not of modesty it is a complement it will not be tied to The Shunamite swallowed up in sorrow for the loss of her child runs to mount Carmel to Elisha and before she said any thing she catcht him fast by the feet Gehazi thought it irreverent and unwoman-like behaviour and laid hold to thrust her away Let her alone says the Prophet for her Soul is vexed within her 2 Kings 4.27 The passions of an afflicted Soul have much indulgence to break out far They are not in good compass till vehemency of Zeal carry them beyond ordinary rule and fashion Mary Magdalen did
says that a discontented person challeng'd the Oracle of Delphos that it never gave a comfortable answer That 's your fault says the Oracle for none of you come to me till your case is past help Venimus huc lapsis quaesitum oracula rebus says the Poet that ever keeps decorum in his Verses Therefore awake right early seek the Lord in the first season that the course of misery may not wax too strong and remediless Otherwise the Prophet will say The days of visitation are come the days of recompence are come Israel shall know it Hos 9.7 and then whither will ye flie for help to be delivered But prevent such dismal tribulations while it is called To day For nothing is more Consolatory than seasonable Supplication CHAP. V. How the Sacraments minister to a Christian's Comfort A general Survey of Sacraments Five Reasons why God ordained Two Sacraments under the Gospel What Comforts flow from the Grace of Baptism What Comforts flow from the Lord's Supper THough by that which hitherto hath been set forth I trust I may assume that every one that sets his heart to make use of it hath drunk well yet as the Ruler of the Feast said at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee I have kept the good that is the best Wine until now Jo. 2.10 The water of life in Baptism the wine that delighteth the Spiritual thirst in the Lord's Supper Other things in the Word report unto us what a good land the Lord hath promised to his Israel but these two Sacraments are Caleb and Josuah spies that have seen and searcht the land and bring us sensible and sure tidings that it is a noble land flowing with Milk and Hony by the Grapes which they have brought with them and by their ocular and diligent survey they yield evident testimony that God hath provided a gracious Country for us in the Kingdom of Heaven To put all my work of Consolation into one prospect together Prayer the best comfortable Grace is married to Hope the Holy Ghost gives it in marriage Faith is the Priest that joyns them together and the two Sacraments are the outward signs by which they have declared their consent as it were by giving and receiving a Ring and by joyning of hands First I will treat of Sacraments in general then of each in particular by it self A Sacrament being a visible sign of inward grace as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof or more at large which comprizeth the end of all such outward signs a token to confirm mens Faith in the promises of God observe first That God hath condescended above all expression to our weakness that He would have us to take notice of his mercies in gross and sensible things A way that is framed to our level and dull apprehension For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth Jo. 4.24 that 's purely a Heavenly way But some alterations have been admitted to bring us forward in our own pace that is after humane and bodily fancies Deus quandoque insantilia loquitur For our sakes the Lord speaks in the Scriptures in a plain and vulgar Emphasis strangely beneath his Infinite wisdom as a nurse useth to babble to her Infant So He is pleased to give himself to our hands to our eyes to our taste in common and obvious matter but out of his surpassing wisdom to make us more spiritual by cloathing Religion in a bodily attire The Church began in innocency and yet it began with a Sacrament the Tree of life instituted to keep mankind on Earth immortal by tasting it if Adam had not ambitiously eaten of the Tree of knowledge When the old world was drowned and repaired again God told Noah Gen. 9. I do set my Bow in the cloud and it shall be for a tokken of a Covenant between me and the Earth that the waters shall no more become a floud to destroy all the Earth This is the World's Covenant and not the Churche's a Covenant to save all the Earth from a total deluge And God is to be perceived and to be thought of in that sign Ezek. 1.28 The glory of the Throne of God was as the appearance of the Bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord and so the same glory is figur'd in the Rainbow Revel 4.3 After this it being not discovered who did openly and entirely profess the worship of the true God Abraham was called out of Chaldea and he and his family were imbodied into a Church and received the sign of Circumcision as a mark stampt upon them to be known to be those whom God had called out for his own and did admonish them to circumcise the fore-skin of their heart Deut. 10.16 Chiefly to imprint into them that the promised seed should come from that stock in whom all Nations should be blessed When Abraham's seed became a National Church before they could get out of Egypt the bloud of a Lamb was sprinkled upon their doors with a statute given upon it that from thenceforth every family at that time of the year should give account for a Lamb slain and be eaten within their houses till John Baptist's Lamb was slain to take away the sin of the world Under the like discipline they were trained up for a while in the wilderness when Moses set up the figure of a Serpent upon a Pole that they might look upon it and live that were stung by Serpents Numb 21. verse 9. The Author of the Book of Wisdom writes Divinely upon it That they might be admonisht for a small season it was a sign of Salvation And he that turned himself toward it was not saved by the thing he saw but by thee that art the Saviour of the world Wisd Chap. 16. Verses 6 7. Neither are we such perfect men under the New Testament to be taught only by the words of holiness and truth but we are received into the Covenant of Grace and preserved in it by Mysteries signifying wonderful things to our outward senses that we may suck and be satisfied with the Churches two breasts of Consolation Isa 66.11 And be filled with the two golden pipes that empty the golden oil out of themselves Zach. 4.12 I stand upon the number of Two because they are put together 1 Cor. 10.3 The Israelites were all baptized in the cloud did all eat the same spiritual meat and all drank of the same spiritual drink As good account for it is 1 Cor. 12.13 By one spirit we are all baptized into one body and have been all made to drink into one Spirit Or learn it from St. John 1 Epist 5.6 Christ came not by water alone but by water and bloud And there are three that bear witness the Spirit that is the ministry of the Gospel the water that is Baptism and the bloud
that is the Lord's Supper I will not promise a precise testimony out of Antiquity which shall say there are but two Sacraments under the Gospel and no more but learned men have produced out of the Fathers as much as amounts unto it to them that will not be contentious Justin Martyr 2. Apol. to the Emperor speaks of these Two marks or professed signs of Christianity and no other Tertullian against Marcion lib. 3. c. 51. bring them that are married to Baptism and the Lords Supper St. Cyprian lib. 2. Ep. 1. to Stephen Then they are sanctified when they are born again by both Sacraments St. Cyril and St. Ambrose writing purposely of Sacraments speak but of Two St Austin Ep. 118. to Januarius Christ hath subjected us to a light yoke to Sacraments of the smallest number easie in observation excellent in dignity Baptism in the Name of the Holy Trinity and the Communion of Christs Body and Bloud and if any thing else be commanded in Scripture And many allude to that number from Cant. 4.5 Thy breasts are like two young Roes that are twins Here is a brief survey how God in all Ages hath Communicated with us in Sacraments May the reason of it be discovered nay Who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Rom. 11.34 Yet it is no trespass against the sobriety of wisdom to ask why Christian Religion depends so much upon visible Sacraments 1. First it is to give Faith a third manner of corroboration and a threefold cord is not easily broken First God hath promised us all blessings in Christ Secondly he gave an Oath for it unto Abraham that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have a strong consolation Heb. 6.18 Thirdly after He had plighted both Oath and Promise he hath given us holy Signs to confirm it When God had both promised and sworn durst we of our selves have askt a Sign to confirm it to make us more believing No truly we durst not for an evil and an adulterous generation seeketh after a Sign It were a great blemish in Faith if we should appoint God to lend us a crutch to lean upon But God hath prevented us herein and as we say in the Common-Prayer That which for our unworthiness we durst not ask He hath supplied of his own accord and hath instituted Sacred Signs wrapt up in the Creatures of most ordinary use to make it more easie to lay hold of the Hope that is set before us 2. Secondly Every great deliverance in Gods Book was accompanied with some outward Sign to make it more comfortable upon so remarkable an impression As Moses being appointed to be the Captain to lead Israel out of Aegypt was bade to cast his Rod before the People and to let it turn into a Serpent and return into a Rod again to make his hand leprous and whole again in an instant by putting it into his bosom and by drawing it out And Moses shewed these Signs in the sight of the People and they believed Exod. 4.31 It would be tedious to recite the stories of Asa Hezekiah Joash c. these were perswaded by the Signs of God that he would visit them with a mighty deliverance But there is no deliverance like unto that which is brought to pass for us through the Death and bloudy Passion of Christ And the two Sacraments are the Remonstrance of that great Salvation which hath set us free out of the hands of all our enemies 3. Thirdly It is meet that great benefits should be fastned to our memories by a sure Nail Therefore God distrusting mans memory represents his greatest works of mercy in the Ordinances of manifest Signs to prevent forgetfulness The help of some outward mark doth avail by experience to bring that to mind that else would have slipt away As upon occasion we use to tye a thred about our fingers or to unloose the gemmal of a Ring to make us mindful of a promise or some weighty business 4. Fourthly though all our worship must hold its tenure as it were in capite from the Spirit if we hope to have it acceptable to God yet we are better capable of such worship by the opportunity of material conveyances Only Angels and Blessed Souls in Heaven can serve God in the pure and immaterial zeal of their mind But while we are cloathed with flesh the mind receives all it takes in from bodily objects and which passeth in by the pipes of the senses it is connatural to us to apprehend it with mare tenacity and fast-hold Finally As Christ descended into the womb of his Mother and to walk with us upon Earth so God hath vouchsafed to offer his Word and Promise to us in the Creatures of the Earth setting a Seal unto the Word which makes the Patent very valid and of force and comfort For if a Commandment of promise were remarkable that of honouring our Parents the first Commandment of promise in the second Table Ephes 6.2 much more is a Seal and Sacrament of promise remarkable Doubt not then but as Faith is our hand to receive Christ so the Sacraments are as it were God's hands to give Him unto us Being past the general Survey of visible Sacraments it is time to enter into the consideration of Baptism Which God hath exalted to marvellous Vertue and Consolation by his Omnipotent appointment The Jews that first received it will teach us that they expected this New and Gracious Ceremony upon the coming of Christ For Jo. 1.25 The Priests and Levites sent to ask John why Baptizest thou if thou be not the Christ c. It seems they had a Tradition that Baptism should come into the Church with the Messias which they learnt as I take it from two of the Prophets Isa 4. states out a famous praise of Christs Kingdom then it brings in this Verse 3. In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Sion and shall have purged the bloud of Jerusalem from the midst thereof The other place is Ezek. 36. a plain prophesie of Christs Kingdom and Verse 25. he thus describes it Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness John made way unto this Sacrament and it came from Heaven therefore the Pharisees rejected the counsel of God being not Baptized of John Luke 7.30 But in the fulness of the Gospel Christ confirm'd it For he that made them promise was the only able person to set the Seal to ratifie it Except his admired doctrine and his miracles all things else about Christ did make no shew to outward appearance so he would go no higher in the institution of an outward Sign of cleansing and regeneration than to bring the people to a River to be washt or to a Vessel of water to be sprinkled For
unthankfulness will undo us if we take not heed of it O rub over your memory and consider the noble works of the Lord especially this great work how he suffered for us unto Death Remember seriously this one thing as you ought and God will let you forget nothing that will do you good There is no grievous sin which we incur but for the present Christ is forgotten as if he had never come to charge us to keep our selves unspotted from the world But look upon his wounds which bleed for our transgressions and it will stanch the flux of sin and make our hearts bleed because we have forgotten obedience In our distresses our sickness and losses we cry out that God hath forgotten us he hath forgotten to be gracious and shuts up his loving kindness in displeasure But distrust him not a Mother cannot forget her Child much-less such a Father Every tribulation which he inflicts is but a Thorn in our sides to prick us and awake us because we have forgotten God And remember the Death of Christ not only casting your eyes back to the large Histories of it in the Gospels as if that would suffice but affectingly practically zealously and then every thing else will come to mind to perfect holiness When we remember his Death we are sure he is past Death and Risen again now to Die no more and that he is Ascended into Heaven and makes Intercession for us We have obtained that Faith that we partake in the New Testament of his Bloud and that our Names being found in the Testament we are heirs of God co-heirs with Christ The custom of the world will teach us that an Heir is bound to execute the Will of the Testator to see every thing perform'd that he hath charg'd and bequeathed Do your part like a true Executor with a righteous Administration in remembrance of him But forgetfulness cannot creep upon us when there is so visible a Monument before us to bring it often into our thoughts Luther says it will help a man more in the study of Piety to meditate profoundly upon Christ's Passion one day than to read over all the Psalms of David A bold comparison It will indeed ravish the Soul with trembling to consider how much Christ loved us by how much he suffered for us it will make us look upon sin with horror which begat such torment and ignominy to the innocent Lamb of God it will Comfort our weak Faith that he who hath done so great things for us will not abandon us and having subdued our Enemies will not let them renew the Battel to overcome us it will encourage us to lay down our life for him who hath laid down his life for us My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psalm 104.34 He hath drunk up the Cup of sorrow that I might drink of nothing but the Cup of Salvation This is the Wine Prov. 31.6 which being given unto him that hath a heavy heart confutes all the objections of Infidelity Despair an evil Conscience or whatsoever the tempter can suggest against the Hope of my Glorifications Says the Son of Syrach Chap. 49.1 The remembrance of Josias was sweet as Hony in all mouths and as Musick at a Banquet of Wine If the Name of Josias was so precious for restoring Religion what melody is there in the remembrance of Christ's Name what Musick in his Banquet which is the very Mercy-seat from whence the voice of the Lord gives the principal Oracles of Consolation Whose Definition I have reserved to be the last words of all Consolatio est conveniens Vnio potentiae cum Objecto as our best Scholars have it Consolation is a convenient Vnion of any Faculty with its Object As when the Eye meets with light it is the Comfort of the Eye When the Ear meets with harmony it is the Comfort of the Ear. What is the most transcendent Consolation therefore but the Union of the Soul with God the best Object in a real and most significative manner the Union of the Spirit with Christ in the Sacrament of his Holy Supper To whom be Praise and Glory and Thanksgiving Amen ERRATA PAge 39. line 21. read taught us p. 54. l. 18. r. these p. 59. l. 18. r. wherefore p. 146. l. 5. r. God that p. 187. in the Title read the Sacrament of Baptism THE END Some Books Printed for R. Royston since the Fire A Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament The third Edition by H. Hammond D. D. Ductor Dubitantium Or the Rule of Conscience in Four Books Folio The second Edition by Jer. Taylor Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles the First and late Lord Bishop of Down and Conner The Sinner Impleaded in his own Court The third Edition Whereunto is now added The love of Christ planted upon the very same Turf on which it once had been Supplanted by the extream Love of Sin in 4o. A Collection of Sermons upon several occasions by Tho. Pierce D.D. and President of St. Mary Magdalen-Colledge in Oxon. A Discourse concerning the true Notion of the Lords Supper to which are added two Sermons by R. Cudworth D. D. in 4o. The Vnreasonableness of the Romanists requiring our Communion with the present Romish-Church in 8o.