Moment unto me for that it hath as great an Influence on my Spirit as any inward thing hath and I believe God will provide for me herein or otherwise supply the want of it My earnest request therefore to God is That my outward Condition may be so stated by his wise and gracious Providence as may be least exposed to Temptations and best disposed and furthered as to Duty Mr. Corbet Truth DIonisius Areopagitus said That he desired Two Things of God 1st That he might know the Truth himself 2d That he might Preach it as he ought to others Help me O Lord that I may examine my Self in the Evening how I have born the Troubles and Crosses of the Day Did I not Murmur Vex and Sink Did I not Entertain hard Thoughts nor utter hard Words against God One being designed an Agent waited on the knowing Lord Wentworth for some Directions for his Conduct and Carriage who delivered himself thus To secure your self and serve your Country you must at all Times and upon all Occasions speak Truth and by this means Truth will secure your self if you be questioned and those you deal with who will still run counter to a loss in all your Disquisitions and Undertakings Theodosius Junior said That Emperors of all other Men were most Miserable because commonly the Truth of Business was concealed from them Vntowardliness SIR Edward Fox in his First years none more untowardly in his last none more staid The untoward Youth makest the ablest Man he that hath Mettle to be Extravagant when he cannot govern himself hath a Spirit to be eminent when he can Vsurpation THE Earl of Strafford used this Maxime That there is no danger small but what is thought so This was his great Principle Usurped Royalty was never laid down by Perswasion from Royal Clemency for with Tirants Omne Jus Regni Vain-Glory I Have an Inclination to seek Self particularly in vain Applause and that in Religious Services and herein I have been highly Guilty but I shame my Self for it before God and am willing to be satisfied with the Praise that comes from Him alone I trust through his Grace that I my self in matter of Reputation seek to do his Will. Corbet's Enquiry Victory THere is a compleat Victory and an incompleat over the World 1 John 1.3 If we say we have no Sin we deceive our Selves and the Truth is not in us The compleat Victory our Saviour only performed John 14.30 The Prince of this World hath nothing in me which cannot be so with us until our Change come for until then we carry about with us Lusts Passions and Corruptions which without Vigilancy kept under and daily impaired in their Power and Malignity will hold Corespondency with the Prince thereof and be ready to betray and deceive us tho never to regain their Empire and So veraignty and the Reason is significantly given by the Apostle 1 John 3.9 For his Seed abideth in him and he cannot Sin because he is born of God Indeed he may and shall have Sin as he hath Flesh about him 1 John 1.3 If we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us for tho we have Sin still abiding in us and like the Byas of a Bowl warping us to the World yet that Vital Seminal Principle of the Grace of God in Christ always keeps its Ground its Life its Tendency towards Heaven and wears out and gradually subdues the contrary Tendency of Sin and Corruption Hales 101. Vertues TO set out Vertues and by Words to destroy the same are nothing worth All the Vertues are so linked together that he that hath one hath all and he that wants one wants all Vertues separated are annihillated Chrysologus Heavenly Sayings SEneca a man of great Parts Prudence and Experience after a serious Study of almost all the Philosophy then in the World was almost a Christian in his severe Reproofs of Vice and Excellent Discourses of Vertue and Jerom reckoning him for his supposed Epistle to St. Paul and St. Paul's to him being read by them that study saith Mr. Gattater Divinity as they that study other Learning came to that Excellent Temper by the Consideration of his reduced years which is to be seen in his Excellent Preface to his Natural Questions What a pitiful Thing is Man were it not that his Soul soared above these Earthly Things yea and was somewhat dubious as to the future Condition of the Soul Yet he could tell his dear Friend Lucilius With what Pleasure he could think of it and at last he was settled in his Opinion of an everlasting State with thought That the Soul had the mark of Divinity in it That it was most pleased with Divine Speculations and conversed with them as matter that did not merely concern it and when it had once viewed the Dimensions of the Heavens it was asham'd of the Cottage it dwelt in Nay were it not for these Contemplations it had not been worth the while for the Soul to have been in the Body as he goes on Whence come such amazing Fears such dreadful Apprehensions such startling Thoughts of their Future Condition in Mind that would fain ease themselves believing that Death would put an end or period to Soul and Body When on the other side come such encouraging Hopes such confident Expectations comfortable Preposessions of their future State in the Souls of Men when their Bodies are nearest the Grave and whilst the Soul is kept in its Cage it is coutinually fluttering up and down and delights to look out now at this part and then at the other to take a view by Degrees of the whole Universe To these Notions of the future State it was that Caesar owed that Opinion of Death That it was better to die once than to lose his Life in continual Expectations of Death being troubled with that Unhappiness of Men mentioned in Atheneus That he had done his Work as if it had been his Play and his Play as if it had been his Work. Daniel Hensive Historiographer at Leyden Secretary and Bibliotheatory of that Famous University appointed Notary of the Synod at Dort said at last Ah as to Humane Learning I may use Solomon's Expression That which is crooked cannot be made streight Methinks saith the same Hensive and Mr. Baxter out of him I can bid the World farewel Immure my self among my Books and look forth no more were it a Lawful Course but shut the Door upon me as in the lapse of Eternity and among those Divine Sages employ my self with Content and pitty the Rich and Great Ones that know not this Happiness Surely then it is true Delight indeed which in the true Lap of Eternity is enjoyed Francis Junius a Gentile and Ingenious Person who hath written his own Life as he was reading Tully de Legibus fell into a Perswasion Nihil curare Deum nec sui nec alieni till in a Tumult at Lyons the Lord
thy Face Aquinas Set Death into your Minds and it will put Life into your Actions St. Austin saith There 's nothing more abateth Sin than the frequent Meditation of Death He cannot Die Ill that Lived Well and seldom doth he Die Well that Lived Ill. Ambrose saith Death is the Burial of all Vices To be willing to Die consider the harmlesness of Death to the People of God tho' it keeps its Dart yet it hath lost its Sting Thy Heart may be kept from shrinking back in time of Sickness by considering the necessity of Death in order to the Fruition of God 2 Cor. 5.6 Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. Another Argument to this unwillingness to Die is The immediate Succession of a more excellent and a more glorious Life it is but Wink and you shall see God Rom. 8.10 11. At Death you will be freed from Trouble here and have Communion with God and Communion of Saints Flavel Cardinal Richleu being Tempted to doubt and disbelieve a God another World and the Immortality of the Soul and by that Distrust to relieve his aking Heart but in vain So strong he said was the Notion of God on his Soul so clear the Impression of him upon the frame of the World so unanimous the Consent of Mankind so powerful the Conviction of his own Conscience that he could not but taste of the Powers of the World to come and so Live as one that must Die and so Die as one that must Live Eternally And being asked one day Why he was so sad he answered Monsieur Monsieur the Soul is a serious thing It must be either Sad here for a moment or Sad hereafter for ever Cardinal Mazarine when he came to Die said O my poor Soul Whither wilt thou go saying one Day to the Queen Mother Madam your Favors have undone me and were I to Live again I would rather be a Capuchine than a Courtier Sir Francis Walsingham towards the latter end of his Life grew very Melancholy and Writ to the Lord Burleigh to this purpose We have lived long enough to our Country to our Fortunes and to our Soveraign It is high time to live to our Selves and to our God. In the multitude of Affairs that pass through our Hands there must be some Miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot make our Peace Whereupon some Court Humorist being sent to Divert Sir Francis Ah! said he whil'st we Laugh all things are serious round about us God is serious when he Preserveth us and hath Patience towards us Christ is serious when he Dieth for us the Holy Ghost is serious when he striveth with us the Holy Scripture is serious when it is Read to us the Sacraments are serious when they are Administred unto us the whole Creation is serious in serving God and us they are serious in Heaven and Hell and shall a Man that hath one Foot in the Grave Jest and Laugh Dr. Dunn a Man of as great Parts and Spirit as any in this Nation being on his Death-Bed taking his solemn leave of all his most considerable Friends left this with them I Repent of all my Life but that part of it I spent in Communion with God and doing Good. That Person in a Dying hour shall wish himself not a Man that hath not been a good Christian When Queen Mary Died Mr. Fox that Writ the Book of Martyrs was Preaching Comfort to the English Exiles in Geneva at which time he did tell them That now was the time come for their return into England and that he brought them that News from God for which Words many of the Grave Divines Rebuked him greatly for the present but afterwards excused him by the Event for it appeared that Queen Mary Died but the Day before he so spake to them Judge Nichols used to say That he knew not what they called Puritan Preaching but he said that Preaching which went next his Heart and spake as Attorney General Noy used to say of Doctor Preston as if they knew the Mind of God. Mr. Selden that Universal Scholar being suspected by many to have too little Affection to Religion a little before he Died sent for the Bishop of Armagh and Dr. Langbane and told them to this effect That he had Surveyed most part of the Learning that was amongst the Sons of Men And that he had his Study full of Books and Papers of most Subjects in the World yet at that time could he not recollect any Passage out of those many Books and Manuscripts he was Master of whereon he could rest his Soul save of the Holy Scriptures wherein the most remarkable Passage that lay upon his Spirit was Titus the 2. ver 11 12 13 14 15. Grotius one of the greatest of Scholars concluded his Life with this Protestation That he would give all his Honor and Learning for the plain Integrity and harmless Innocency of Jean Urick who was a Devout Poor Man who spent Eight hours of his Time in Prayer Eight in Labor and but Eight in Sleep and other Necessaries And with this Complaint to another who admired his Astonishing Learning and Industry Ah Vitam perdedi opero se nihil Agendo And this Direction to a Third that desired in his great Learning and Wisdom in brief to shew him what to do who bade him Be Serious Count Gundomer was as great a Wit and Statesman as ever Europe knew and took as much Liberty in point of Religion till drawing towards his latter end he would say as they say of Ansalem I fear nothing more in the World than Sin often professing That if he saw Corporally the Horror of Sin on the one hand and the Pains of Hell on the other and must necessarily be plunged into the One he would choose Hell rather than Sin yea that what liberty soever he had taken he had rather be torn in pieces with Wild Horses than wittingly or willingly run into any Sin. Above all says Sir Philip Sidney at the time of his Death govern your Will and Affections by the Word and Will of your Creator and in me behold the end of this World. Damnation PEter Lumbard says GOD Condemns none before he Sins nor Crowns any before he Overcomes Disrespect IF any despise thee do not bear a grudge against him for it And be not offended with any meerly because they do not Honor thee If any neglect or slight thee care not for it yet observe it Distrust IT is Distrust of God to be troubled about that which is to come Impatience against God to be troubled for what is present and Anger at him to be troubled at what is past Vid. Afflictions and Sufferings Doubting ONe cause of uncomfortable Living is That Christians look more at their present Cause of Comfort or Discomfort than they do at their future Happiness and the way to attain it Another cause of Doubting is The weakness and small measure of your Graces
wonderfully delivered him from eminent Death so that he was compelled to acknowledg a Divine Providence therein his Father seeing the dangerous ways his Son was led into sent for him home where he carefully and holily instructed him and caused him to read over the New-Testament of which he himself writeth thus When I read over the New-Testament I first lighted on the First Chapter of St. John In the beginning was the Word c. I read part of the Chapter and was suddenly convinced that the Divinity of the Argument and the Majesty and Authority of the Writing did exceedingly excel all the Eloquence of Humane Writings My Body trembled my Mind was astonished and so affected all the Day that I knew not where or what I was Be thou mindful of me O my God according to the Multitude of thy tender Mercies call home thy lost Sheep into thy Fold And as Justin Martyr of Old so he of late professed that the Power of Godliness in a plain simple Christian wrought so upon him that he could not but take up a strict and serious Life Mr. Howard afterwards the learned Earl of Northampton being troubled with Athestical suggestions put them all off this way viz. If I could give any account how my self or any thing else had a Being without God how came there so uniform and constant a Consent of mankind in all Ages Tempers and Educations otherwise differing in their apprehensions about the Being of God the Immortality of the Soul and Religion in which they could not likely come so many or being so many could not be deceived I could be an Atheist And when he was urged that Religion was a State-policy only to keep men in awe he replyed That he would believe it but that the greatest Politicians have sooner or later felt the Power of Religion in the grievous lashes of their own Consciences and dreadfulness of their own apprehensions about that State wherein they must live for ever Sir John Mason having been imployed much in State-Affairs said I have learned this after so many experiences that Seriousness is the greatest Wisdom Temperance the best Physitian and a good Conscience the best Estate and if I were to live again I would leave the Court for a Cloyster my Privy Councellors Bustles for a retired Life and the whole Life I lived in the Palace for one Hour Enjoyment of God in the Chappel all things forsake me besides my God my Prayer and my Duty Sir Henry Wotton after so many years Study with proficiency and applause of the University his being a Favorite of Robert Earl of Essex his intimacy with the Duke of Tuscany and James the 6th of Scotand his Embassies into Holland Germany yet desired to retire with this Motto Tandem didicit animas sapientiores fieri quiescendo He was very Ambitious of the Provost-ship of Eaton that there he might enjoy his beloved Study and Devotion saying That that day he put on his Gown was the happiest day of his Life that being the utmost happiness a man could attain to he said to be at leasure and to do good never reflecting on his former years but with Tears in his Eyes he would say How much Time have I to repent of and how little to do it in Charles the Fifth Emperor of Germany King of Spain and Lord of the Netherlands after 23 Pitch-fields 6 Triumphs 4 Kingdoms won and 8 Principalities added to his Dominions and 14 Wars finished he resigned his Empires and Kingdoms retiring to his Devotions in a Moastery and had his own Funeral Celebrated before his Face leaving this Testimony of the Christian Religion That the sincere Profession of it had in it Sweets and Joys that Courts were strangers to Salmasius that excellent French Scholar whom the Learned men of his Time never mention without such Expressions as these Vir nunquam satis laudatus went out of this World with these words in his Mouth Oh! I have lost a World of Time that most precious thing in the World whereof had I but one year more it should be spent in David's Psalms and Paul's Epistles Oh! Sirs said he to those about him Mind the World less and God more all the Learning in the World without Piety and the true Fear of God is nothing worth The Fear of the Lord that 's wholsome and to depart from Evil that 's understanding Robert Rollock said at the time of his Death Haste Lord and do not tarry I am a weary both of Nights and Days Lord Jesus that I may come to Thee break these Eye-strings and give me others I desire to be dissolved and to be with Thee Haste Lord Jesus and defer no longer Go forth my weak Life and let a better succeed Oh my Lord Jesus Christ thrust Thy Hand into my Body and take my Soul to Thy Self O Lord Jesus set my Soul free that she may enjoy her Husband The Earl of Strafford said Oh trust not in man that shall Die nor to the Son of Man as shall be made as Grass there is no Confidence in Princes the only things that stands by a man are the Blood of Christ and the Testimony of a good Conscience An Excellent Person having writ exquisitly for the Christian Religion hath this Discourse of the Nature of it viz. Doth now the Conquest of Passions forgetting of Injuries doing Good Self-denial Patience under crosses which are the expressions of Piety abound to the support of a Luxurious Malitious and Impatient Spirit Is there nothing more becoming Malitious Proud and Impatient Soul of Man in examplary Piety and an Holy and well ordered conversation than in the Lightness and Vanity not to say in Rudeness and Debauchery in them which the World accounts the greatest Gallants Is there nothing more graceful and pleasing in the Sweetness and Ingenuity of a truly Christian-temper and disposition than in the revengeful Spirit of such whose Honour lives and is fed by the Blood of their Enemies Is it not more truly Honourable and Glorious to serve that God that Commandeth and Ruleth the World than to be a Slave to those Passions and Lusts that put men upon continual hard Service and torment them for it when they have done it Is there nothing else to Commend Religion to the Minds of men besides that Tranquility and Calmness of Spirit that Serene and placable temper which follows a good Conscience where soever it dwells it were enough to make Men to welcom that Guest which brings such good Entertainment which it wherefore the Horrors Anxiety and Amazement of Mind which brings at one time or other which prostitute their Consciences to a Violation of the Laws of God and of the Rules of rectified Reason may be enough to perswade any Rational Person that Impiety is the greatest Folly and Irreligious Madness Sir Thomas Smith after he had served Queen Elizabeth as Secretary of State and done many good Services to the Kingdom especially in setling the Corn-Rate for the
AN ESSAY To Promote VIRTUE By Example IN A COLLECTION OF Excellent Sayings Divine and Moral OF Devout Learned Men In all Ages from the Apostles Time to this present Year 1689. By William Whitcombe Gent. Licensed March 2d 1688 / 9. LONDON Printed for the Author And are to be Sold by Edw. Evets at the Green Dragon in St. Paul's Church-yard 1689. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER I Here present to thy Perusal and Consideration these Serious Sayings following Spoken and Delivered not Rashly but upon the Experience of whole Lives and that too in those most seriously Reflecting Moments the Close of Life and Approach of Eternity And moreover not by any one Party or Perswasion or of any one Age but of all Men of all Perswasions of all Ages Spoken too when they were so disinterested and disobliged from the World as neither to be deluded or abused thereby nor by any the most tempting Baits of Honour or Wordly Profit whatever With this Authentick stamp upon them they are offered to thy Reading and retired Thoughts and for this Great End That these Memoirs and Reliques of the Learned and Pious in all Ages together with what other Examples of the like Kind thy farther Conversation with Good Books or Good Men may afford thee may in some Measure excite thee by a Zealous Imitation of their Lives to endeavour to arrive to the Comfort and Peace of their Deaths and that Eternal Glory that Crowns them And considering how certainly and very shortly we must Die as they did thou may'st therefore Labour to Die as happy too The Design of these Collections of so many Warning-pieces from departed Saints being no other than making the Dead an Instrument towards the Salvation of the Living W. W. Excellent Sayings OF DEVOUT AND Learned-Men c. Alphabetically Digested Abby-Lands THE Pope by a Bull would confirm Abby-Lands but who said Burleigh can confirm the Pope's Bull In the Secret Judgment of God it is to be Admired and Adored in that those Houses and Abbies that were so full of all Abominations as appeared to the Kings Commissioners upon Examination and remains upon Record so Horrible to be heard so Incredible to be believed that it is a Wonder God would suffer them unpluck'd up So that we may say with Mat. Paris Cujus foetor usque ad Nubes fumum toterrimum exhalabat i. e. Whose filthy Stink did Breath a most Pestiferous Fume even to the Clouds of Heaven and with Sodom's Sins cryed aloud for Vengeance c. Accusation IF God's People be Accused falsly Christ will Iustifie them If they have Sinned and truly Believe Repent and Amend He will Pardon them thro' His Meritorious Righteousness and Sacrifice and will make them and pronounce them Just Adversity PRosperity is not without many â—ears and Distastes and Adversity not without many Comforts The Vertue of Prosperity is Temperance the Vertue of Adversity is Fortitude Prosperity doth best discover Vice but Adversity doth best discover Vertue Prosperity is the Blessing of the Old Testament Adversity of the New and the clear Manifestation of the favour of God. The good things of Prosperity are to be Wished the good things of Adversity to be Admired My Lord Cook would say That no Wise Man would do that in Prosperity whereof he would Repent in Adversity His Motto was Prudens qui Patiens Advises EDward Earl of Rutland left these Four Advises behind Him viz. First Be always Imploy'd Secondly Look to the Issue Thirdly Be Furnished with a Friend Fourthly Reflect on thy Self Vita est in Reflectione Affections OBserve this Rule That we never give this Affection of Love leave to run out alone without Judgment and Consideration going before it and along with it That we suffer not our Passions which are Love Hatred Anger Joy Grief Fear or Hope to deal out their own Measures but our Judgment and Deliberation That we always keep this Affection of Love especially under Discipline and Government and suffer it not to run away from us as an unruly Beast without a Chain for it is certain the due Government of this Affection governs all the rest Vae Soli. If any Affection come alone I will ask him for his Fellow If Love to God or Good come alone I will ask him Where is Hatred for Sin If Grief or outward Crosses come alone I will ask him Where is thy Fellow that is Joy in the Lord and in Spiritual Mercies If Fear of Evil come alone I will ask Where is thy Fellow that is Hope in the Lord in his Promises and in his Providences Afflictions NIciphorus saith God so moderates our Actions using the Scourge of Affliction for our Castigation and Conversion and after due Correction shews his Fatherly Affection to those that Trust in him for Salvation Christ asked Peter Three times whether he Loved him not for his own Information but that for his Threefold Profession he may help and heal his Threefold Negation Among the many Preparations for Afflictions patiently take this one which includes the rest viz. Labour to get thy Peace made with GOD through Jesus CHRIST our Lord When this is once done and attained thou art above the Love of the World and fear of Affliction because thou hast an Assurance of a greater than this World can give or take away a Kingdom Heb. 12.2 9. an Hope an Expectation that is above the reach and Region of Affliction and renders the greatest and sorest Afflictions as they are namely Light and Momentany And yet notwithstanding because thou art in this glorious Expectation yet but in this lower Region and so subject to Passions Perturbations and Fears The Merciful God hath engaged his Promise to support thee under them to Better and Improve thee by them and carry thee thro' them by his All-sufficient Grace and Mercy 119. Psal 74. 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Cor. 4.17 Christians under your greatest Afflictions lies your greatest Treasure Afflictions are Good but not Pleasant Sin is Pleasant but not Good there 's more Evil in a Drop of Corruption than in a Sea of Afflictions God seperates the Sin he Hates so deadly from the Soul He Loves so dearly By the greatest Afflictions God Teacheth us the sweetest Instruction A Believer when he lies under the Hand that doth Afflict him he lies in the Heart that doth Affect him Believers are Crucified by the World that they may not be Crucified in the World. The Flesh is an Enemy to Sufferings because Sufferings is an Enemy to the Flesh It may make a Man an Earthly Courtier but it will never make a Man an Heavenly Martyr They that carry not the Yoke of Christ on their Neck will never carry the Cross of Christ on their Backs but the Believer Studies more how to Adorn the Cross than how to avoid the Cross None so Couragious as those that are Religious A Believer never falls asleep for Jesus till he falls asleep in Jesus Some Glory in that which is their Shame and shall
are ever holding Holy things without feeling Bacon If Atheists say The World or its Materials were Made they must grant a GOD that made it If they say They were not Made they then assert an Eternal Being of it self that is they allow the Difficulties for which they pretend to deny a GOD. Cares WHen Men Believe weakly and Love GOD but little they can scarce find whether they Believe or Love at all and therefore remain in doubt To Remedy which follow your Duty till Grace be encreased ply your Work wait upon God in the use of his prescribed Means and he will undoubtedly bless you with Increase and strength of Grace If you would lay out those serious Affections in Praying and Seeking unto Christ and for more Grace you would in time Believe strongly and Love fervently and thereby put it out of doubt whether you Believe or Love or not Mrs. B. If by moderate and due Care we would resign up our Selves and Concernments into the Hands of God He would charge himself with us but if we will Immoderately Care and be so peremptory in our Designs and will not submit them to him then God is discharged and we must look to our selves You need not fetch the Misery of another Day and put to this it hath enough for its own Let them consider that fear Want that they want nothing so much as Faith A little more trusting in God and a little less sinful Foresight and needless Care would do well Our daily Defects and Disappointments procure Misery and Vexations He that would make Earth sure must first of all make Heaven sure Shall I by taking thought what I shall Eat and what I shall Drink here never fear Wanting or Begging a drop of Water hereafter Shall I be Solicitous for Cloaths and do not know but my Soul and Body may lie naked in the scorching Flames of the Wrath of God to all Eternity Besides that I have a Promise of God for outward things if I make it my business to look after Heavenly It s a very needless Care God provides Meat for me that I may not be taken off my Work to seek those things that are Heavenly Mat. 6.33 Christ Crucified the knowledge of it IT is a kind of Catholicon of universal Use and Conveniency in reference to this Life Am I in Want in Prison in Contempt in Banishment in Sickness in Death this Knowledge gives Contentedness Patience Chearfulness Resignation of my self to his Will who hath Sealed my Peace with him and Favor from him in the great Covenant of his Son I could live upon this tho' I were ready to Starve when I am assured that it is for my Good and the glory of his Name I shall be delivered if not I can be contented if my Jewel the Peace of God and my own Conscience by the Blood of Christ be safe if not in Wealth Honor greatness in Esteem in the World. This Knowledge teacheth me Humility as knowing of whom I have received it Fidelity as knowing to whom I must account for it and in all it teacheth me not to over-value it nor to value my Self the more by it or for it It makes Death not Terrible because a most sure Passage to Eternal Life Here I find a way to get my Sins Pardoned whereas all the World without this cannot contrive a Satisfaction for me I find such a Way to obtain such a Righteousness as is valuable with God and perfect before Him even the Righteousness of God in Christ and here I find the means the only means to avoid the Wrath to come the Terror of the Judgment of the last-Last-Day Everlasting Life to all Eternity which the blessed God and the Lord Jesus Christ all the blessed Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect The knowledge of Christ above all other Knowledge and Christ Crucified above all other Knowledge of Christ being the highest manifestation of his Love. J. Hale With all my Heart saith Calvin I embrace the Mercy of God which he hath used towards me for Jesus Christ's sake recompencing my Faults with the Merits of his Death and Passion that satisfaction being made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I witness also and profess that I humbly beg of him that being washed and cleansed in the Blood of that highest Redeemer shed for the Sins of Mankind I may stand at his Judgments-Seat under the Image of my Redeemer Had Christ been God only he could not have Suffered had he been Man only he could not have Merited Christ's Blood was shed as well for Oblution as for Absolution Diffidence of ones Self and Dependance of Christ is the Motto of a Christian Counsel THe greatest Trust between Man and Man is the Trust of giving Counsel For in our Confidences saith our Lord Bacon Men commit the parts of Life their Lands their Goods their Children their Credit and some particular Affairs but to such as they make their Counsellors they commit the whole by how much the more they are obliged to Faithfulness and Integrity There is no such Flattery as of a Mans self and there is no such Remedy against that Flattery as the Liberty of a Friend Counsel is of Two sorts The one concerning Manners the other concerning Business For the first The best Preparative to keep the Mind in Health is the faithful Admonition of a Friend The calling of a Man's self to a strict Account is sometimes too piercing and corroding Reading good Books of Morality is a little Flat and Dead Observing our Faults in others is sometimes improper for our Case but the best Receipt best I say to work and best to take is the Admonition of a Friend Conviction IF you be troubled for Sin observe whether your trouble for it be inward as well as outward and reaches not only to open Sins but to secret Lusts to Inward and Spiritual Sins such as Hypocrisie Formality Lukewarmness Deadness and Hardness of Heart and if so this is a sure sign of the Work of the Spirit because the Trouble occasioned by these Sins bears a more immediate Relation to the Holiness of God who only is offended by them they being such that none else can see or know Covetousness HE that is Covetous when he is Old is as a Thief that Steals when he is going to the Gallows Bags of Gold to us when Saints will be but as a Bag of Pebbles when Men. Alexander of Hales says That Covetousness deserves the Hate of all for these Reasons First It is a Sin against Nature making the Soul Terrestrial which should be Heavenly Secondly For the many Curses against it in the Scripture Wo to them that joyn House to House c. Thirdly For the many Evils it subjects them unto It is the Root of all Evil. Fourthly It makes a Man a Fool O Fool this Night c. Fifthly It canses Strifes from whom are Strifes Sixthly It
a little Faith and Love in and to Christ is next to none at all and therefore not easily diserned as they will be when they are strong labor therefore by Prayer for more What thou Doubtest do not Duties INternal Acts of Duty put a Goodness into Externals It is our Faith Fear and Love of God that makes our Duties good The Almost-Christian can Pray but cannot Love God can Teach or Hear but he cannot take delight in God Job 17.10 for Delight arises from a suitableness between the Faculty and the Object Now none more unsuitable than God and a Carnal Heart Also Delight arises from having what we desire and from enjoying what we have How then can he delight in God that neither enjoyeth nor hath nor desireth Good. Delight in God is one of the highest Exercises of Grace and therefore how can he delight in God that hath no Grace Would you be a Christian indeed then be much in the use and exercises of Religious Ordinances but much more on Faith and dependance on Christ and his Righteousness The Profeffor rests in Duties and so is but almost a Christian but ye must be sure to rest upon the Lord Christ This is the way to be altogether a Christian if you believe that you are Abraham's Seed and Heirs according to the Promise Let me Pray now as if I should never have Time to Pray more Hear now as if this were the last opportunity to of Hearing Leave nothing to do till to Morrow that may possibly be done to Day What true Christians should we be if we did not reckon of a Morrow but see what a grand Deceit lies here by putting it off till to Morrow we gratifie our Conscience in this That we intend to do it hereafter but most of all please Corruptions in this That we do it not to day If thou would'st keep thy Heart from vain Excursions realize to thy self by Faith the Holy and Awful Presence of God in Duties Flavel Delays THe Ripeness of the Occasion must ever be well weighed there is surely no greater Wisdom than well to Time the first onset of things If a Man watch too long for Dangers it is ods but he will fall asleep On the other hand to be deceived with too large Shaddow as some have been when the Moon was low and shone on their Enemies Back and so to shoot before the time To teach Dangers to come on by too early buckling to them as another extream Bacon's Essays 195. Disparagement CErtainly he that Disparages another by a Satyrical Wit as he makes others afraid of his Wit so he hath need to be afraid of others Memories Ibid. Dissimulation THe best Disposition and Temper is to have openess in Fame and Opinion secresie in Habit Dissimulation in seasonable use and a Power to feign if there be no Remedy Ibid. 31. Doctrine CHRIST came down from Heaven for this very end namely To teach us the way to Eternal Life and therefore saith of himself I am the Way the Truth and the Life I come to Teach all these things unto you and all the World. B. of Hereford Dignities SOme that lived commendably before they attained to Dignity being set on the Candlestick of the Church turn their Light into Darkness It had been better for such Lights still to have been under a Bushel Drunkenness AS the Clouds darken Heaven so Intemperate Banqueting the Mind As the Violence of Winds and Waves sinks a Ship so Drunkenness and Gluttony sinks our Souls and Bodies into Hell. Chrisologus Qui peccat ebrius luat sobrias If thou Offend when thou art Drunk thou must be Punished when thou art Sober Delights THeodoret says The Delights of the Soul are to know her Maker and to know her own State. Devils Power THe Devils without Christ's leave had no Power over the Gaderan's Swine much less have they Power over GOD's Sheep Tertullian Equity EQUITY without Goodness is Severity and Justice without Piety Cruelty Earthly Things COnsidering the Vanity of Earthly Things Iraeneus saith What is that Honor that is so short lived as that perhaps it was not of Yesterday neither will be to Morrow And such Men that labor so much for it are but like Froth which tho' it be uppermost yet is unprofitable Evidences WHen thou hast Evidences of thy Sincerity which cannot in reason be gain-said hold to them and take Comfort in them yet still endeavor by reviews and diligent searchings to clear it more and more We keep our Evidences by keeping our Graces in lively Exercise Election GOD by his Word calleth all but his Secret Election appointeth who shall hear with Fruit. GOD hath according to the Tenor of his Covenant procured Salvation for all if they will Believe but he hath procured for his Chosen even this condition of Believing Envy OF all other Affections it is most Importune and continual for of all other Affections there is an occasion given but now and then but Envy is ever working on some or other And it is also noted that Love and Envy make a Man Pine which other Affections do not because they are so continual It is also the vilest Affection and most depraved for which cause it is the proper Attribute of the Devil who is called the Envious Man that soweth Tares among the Wheat by Night as it always cometh to pass that Envy worketh Subtilty and in the Dark and to the prejudice of good things such as Wheat Bacon's Essays 49. Prosper saith The Envious Man hath so many Tortures as the Envied hath Praises It is the Justice of Envy to Torment and Kill the Envious Examination THe end of Examination is to bring a Man to such a sight of his Sins as might truly humble him and make him sensible of his own danger that hath provoked so great a Majesty who is able so sadly to revenge himself upon him and that will surely even to the most Carnal Heart appear a most reasonable ground of Sorrow But that is not all It must likewise bring him to a sence and Abhorrency of his Baseness and Ingratitude that hath thus offended so good and Gracious a God that hath made such unkind and unworthy Returns to those tender Mercies of his Whole Duty of Man. Vide herein Humility It 's said of Sir Thomas More That the Government of his Family was exact enjoyning all his Children to take Vertue for their Meat and Play for their Sawce Encouragement ONe Writ to the Duke of Buckingham That Disincouragements would deter Men of Parts whom Encouragements might make Servicable Elegancy SIR Francis Bacon's Axiom was Words should wait on Things and not Things on Words And his Resolution was That all affected Elegance was below the Gravity and Majesty of a publick Discourse FAITH I Have One Definition of Faith which is the best Faith saith Lord Chief Justice Hales is a firm assent to the Sacred Truths whether the Truths relate to things past as that God made the
World that Christ the Messias is come in the Flesh c. Or to Things present as That Almighty God knows all I do and knows all I think or That he is a reconciled Father unto me in Christ Jesus Or Things to come which principally excite those Two great movers of the Soul Hope and Fear in relation to the future Life of Rewards and Punishments Hale Faith worketh by Love consumeth our Corruptions and Sanctifieth the whole Man throughout I come to God by Jesus Christ and as I believe in God so I believe also in Jesus Christ and rejoyce and glory in Him acknowledging my own unworthiness and sinfulness I rest entirely on Him as the ground of my Justification to Life and of all favour and acceptance with God. I most heartily take Christ according to the offers of the Gospel not only to be Justified from my Sins and delivered from the Wrath to come by his Merits but also to be Sanctified by his Word and Spirit and to be Governed by his Law and to be brought by him unto Fellowship with GOD. Corbet 's Self-Imployment Tho' there be not a co-operation of Faith and other Graces to Justifie yet there is a co-existence of Faith and other Graces in the Persons Justified Faith cannot be the Hand to take Christ but Love will be the Warmth to heat our Affections to Christ they always go together like Mother and Daughter Gal. 5.6 Phil. 5. Faith is required as an Hand which we should put forth to receive Pardon for our Sins First At God's Hands as a Free-Gift for he blotteth out our Transgressions for his own sake Isa 43.25 Secondly At Christ's Hands as a purchased Commodity bought for us with his own precious Blood and given to you There is First an Heart mollifying Faith. Secondly An Heart purifying Faith. Thirdly A fruitful Faith. Fourthly An Heart Praying Faith. Fifthly A Victorious Faith. Tho' we are Justified by Faith yet it is by Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 And he that Loves God keeps his Commandments John 14. Bishop of Hereford 's Legacy 66 67. As to Faith Justifying and the Merit of Good-Works Bishop Cranmer concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merit of Christ Jesus and that those that are Justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification When ever we read of our Justification by Faith it is meant of our Justification in a Gospel way and that is by Christ alone Meritoriously and by what he hath done and Suffered Faith being but the conditional means Christ's Satisfaction contrived provided accepted and the Conditions performed then every Saved Person will appear Righteous before God and it will be very apparently a Righteous thing with God to bring such to Glory who have Christ's Righteousness by way of Satisfaction to answer for them in respect of the Law and their own Faith and sincere tho' imperpect Obedience to answer the terms of the Gospel Faith to Live by it IT is an Heavenly and Dutiful committing our whole Persons and of our whole Estates upon God with a Pious dependance on Christ for suitable and seasonable Supplies in all our Exigencies Occurrences and Changes whatsoever When the Soul is in any Exigence and comes to Christ and puts it self upon him and trusts to him for help This is to Live by Faith and this Faith extends it self both to our Spiritual and Temporal Estate The Just shall Live by his Faith Gal. 3.11 speaking of the Temporal State And Live by Faith of the Son of God says St. Paul Gal. 2.2 speaking of the Spiritual State. By reason of the Dignity of Christ's Person his Obedience and Sufferings being performed in our Nature and wholly upon our account God by an Infinite Gracious Statute in Heaven accepts them for us tho' not as done by us and reckons all the Effects and Advantages of them by way of Imputation to us Justification Evangelical We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith. Tertullian Chrysostom saith As a Rock tho' the Winds blow and the Waves beat against it is Immovable so Faith grounded on the Rock Christ holds out in all Temptations and Spiritual Combats Chrysologus saith Neither in the Steel alone nor in the Flint alone any Fire can be seen nor Extracted but by Conjunction and Collision so nor by Faith alone nor by Works alone is Salvation to be attained but by joyning both together Alexander of Hales saith What the Eye is to the Body Faith is to the Soul it 's good for direction if it be kept well And as Flies hurt the Eyes so little Sins and Ill-Thoughts do the Soul. Says Luther to Melancthon Who feared to Profess the Truth If the Cause be bad le ts revoke it and fly back but if it be good why do we make God a Lyar who hath made us such great Promises viz. Cast thy Care on the Lord and be of good Comfort I have Overcome the World. If Christ be the Conqueror of the World why should we fear it as tho' it would Overcome us therefore be not afraid but Couragious and Chearful solicitous for nothing the Lord is at hand to help us Calvin saith With all my Heart I embrace the Mercy which God hath used towards me for Jesus Christ 's sake recompencing my Faults with the Merits of his Death and Passion that Satisfaction may be made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I have not lived so that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to Die because I have a Merciful Lord in that a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy Will I say and not my own which is imperfect and depraved This Day let me see the Lord Jesus c. Jewel Fall of Man. Anselm saith O hard hap What did Man lose What did he find He lost the Blessedness to which he was made and found Death to which he was not made Fortune SIR William Saint James was wont to say That none Fought well but those that did it for a Fortune Fortune saith Sir Ralph Winwood may begin a Man's Greatness but Vertue must continue it Friendship Friendship saith my Lord Bacon easeth the Heart and cheareth the Vnderstanding making clear Day in both partly by giving the purest Council or partly from our Interest and Prepossessions and partly by allowing opportunity to Discourse and by that Discourse to clear the Mind to recollect the Thoughts to see how they look in Words whereby Men attain to the highest Wisdom which Dionisius Aeriopagitus saith is the Daughter of Reflection Forgiveness IF a Man saith Sir David Brooke wrongeth me once God forgive him If he wrong me the second time God forgive me O God Forgive me my Ten Thousand Talents I come to Jesus Christ who
in the Blood of Christ whereby we are fully and throughly Purged and it gives a full Interest in the strength and power of Christ whereby we shall be perfectly preserved Mead. To quicken your Graces you must first quicken your Humility by considering your many Sins repeated Secondly you must quicken your Faith by Meditating on the Promises to all Penitent Sinners Thirdly by quickening your Love to God by considering his Mercies especially those remembred in the Sacrament his giving Christ to Die for us and your Love to your Neighbour nay to your very Enemies by considering that great Example of his Suffering for us when we were Enemies to him You must know that it is not gifts but Grace that makes a Man a Christian a Man may Preach like an Apostle and Pray like an Angel and yet have the Heart of a Devil It is Grace only that can change the heart a graceless Professor may have more gifts than the most sound Believer he may out-Pray out Preach and out-do them but they in Sincerity and Integrity out-do him Good and Wicked Men and Hypocrites THey are like True and Counterfeit Money the one seems to be good and is not the other both seems and is good Ignatius Goodness GOod things of this life if they be our only Portion we are in a sad Condition so Gregory the Great thought for he could never read those words Son remember thou in thy life time received thy good things without Horror and Astonishment least having such Dignities and Honours as he had he should be excluded from his Portion in Heaven The signs and parts of goodness are these If a man be Courteous to Strangers it shews he is a Citizen of the World and that his heart is no Island cut off from other Lands but a continent that joyns to them If he be Compassionate towards the Afflictions of others it shews his Heart is like the noble Tree that is Wounded it self when it gives the healing Balm If he easily pardons and remits Offences it shews his Mind is planted above Injuries so that it cannot be shot If he be thankful for small Benefits it shews he weighs mens Minds and not their Trash But above all if he have St. Pauls affection That he could wish himself Anathematized from Christ for the Salvation of his Brethren it shews much of a Divine Nature and a kind of Conformity to Christ himself Bacon's Essays 70. Grandees It is said that Great Men are the first that find their own Griefs and the last that find their own Faults The Lord Rich was quick in both and hath taught us this that certainly Men of great Fortunes are strangers to themselves and while they are in the puzzle of Business have no time to attend the Welfare either of Body or Soul and that they must withdraw from this World before they retire to another Happiness THe way to attain to it in short is by the constant and sincere endeavours of a holy Life in and through the Merits of Jesus Christ Christ indeed is the Author of Eternal Salvation but Obedience is the Condition of it so the Apostle tells us That Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that Obey him Heb. 5.1 I long to enjoy thee O Lord most inwardly but I cannot attain unto it my desire is that I may be given up to Heavenly things but unmortified Passions and Temporal things weigh down my Mind I would be above all things but with the Flesh I am forced to be subject against my will. Thus unhappy Man that I am I fight against my self and am grievous to my self Whilst my Spirit seeks to be above my Flesh seeks to be below Say not that we are unable to set our Hearts on Heaven this must be the Work of God and therefore all your Exhortations are in vain for I tell you though God be the chief disposer of your Hearts yet next under Him you have the greatest Command of them your selves and a great power of ordering your own thoughts and determining your own Wills in their choice tho' without Christ you can do nothing yet under him you may do much and must do much or else it must be undone and you undone thro' your own neglect Do your own Parts and you will have no cause to Distrust whether Christ will do his Do not your own Consciences tell you when your Thoughts are abroad that you may do more than you do in the restraining of them and when your Hearts be flat and neglect Eternity and seldom mind the Joys before you that is most wilful If you be to study a set Speech you can force your Thoughts to the intended Subject If a Minister be to Study a Sermon he can force his Thoughts to the most saving Truths and that without any special Grace Might not a true Christian then mind more the things of the Life to come if he did not neglect that Authority over his own Thoughts which God hath given him especially in such a work as this where he may more confidently expect the Assistance of Christ who useth not to forsake his People in the work he setteth them upon Mr. Baxter 's Rest Part the Fourth 53. Heavenly Sayings Robert Rollock saith I bless God I have all my Senses entire but my Heart is in Heaven and Lord Jesus why should'st not thou have it It hath been my Care all the Day long to Dedicate it unto thee I pray thee take it that it may live with thee for ever Hooper Martyr said Imprisonment is painful but Liberty upon Evil Conditions is worse The Prison stinks yet not so much as sweet Houses where the Fear of God is wanting I must be alone and Solitary it is better be so and have God with me than to be in the Company of the Wicked Loss of Goods is great but the loss of Grace and God 's favour is greater I cannot tell how to answer before Great and Learned Men yet it is better do that than stand Naked before God 's Tribunal I shall Die by the hands of Cruel Men He is Blessed that loseth his Life and finds Life Eternal There is neither Felicity nor Adversity in this World is great if it be compared with the Joys of the World to come Bilney the Martyr being going to be Burnt was by a Friend Exhorted to take his Death patiently to whom he said I am Sailing with the Mariner thro' a boisterous Sea but shortly shall be in Heaven help me with your Prayers Bishop Ridley Writing to Mr. Bradford said Blessed be God notwithstanding our hard restraint and the Evil Reports raised of us we are Merry in God and all our Care is and shall be by God 's Grace to please and serve him from whom we expect after these Temporary and Momentany Miseries to have Eternal Joy and Felicity with Abraham Isaac and Jacob c. And Writing to Mr. Latimer in Prison he said Good Father let me have
we say less than the least of God's Mercies Prayer THat Prayer that is pure and holy entereth into the Heavens and returneth not empty It is a shelter to the Soul a Sacrifice to God and a Scourge to the Devil Austin's Prayer was Lord first give me what thou requirest and then require what thou wilt And he that Prayeth well cannot choose but Live well Mr. Perkins upon his Death-Bed said to his Friends praying for the ease of his Pain Pray not for the ease of Torments but for the encrease of my Patience He that Prays for the good Things that he hath not doth not seek for that which is good but that which seems to be good Oh! what do I inwardly suffer when in my Mind I consider Heavenly Things and presently in my Prayers a multitude of Carnal Imaginations present themselves before me My God be not far from me depart not in thy Wrath from thy Servant cast forth thy Light and scatter them send forth thy Darts and break all the Imaginations which the Enemy casts in Gather in call home my Senses unto thee make me forget all the things of this World grant me to cast away speedily the imaginations of Wickedness Succour thou me thou everlasting Truth that no Vanity may move me come Heavenly Sweetness and let Impurity fly from before thee Pardon me also and mercifully forgive me as often as I think of any thing else besides thee in Prayer I do humbly confess I am wont to be subject to many Distractions for I confess I am not there where I do corporally stand or sit but there am I whither my Thoughts do carry me where my Thoughts are there am I. There are oftentimes my Thoughts where my Affections are that offer themselves quickly unto me which is naturally delightful and by custom pleasing Tho. de Kempis 268. If thou be in God Christ is thy Father and therefore in Prayer thy Applications are to thy Father Mat. 7.7 If we being evil know how to give good things whatsoever thou canst expect from thy Earthly Father so much and much more may'st thou expect from thy Heavenly Father patience to bear with thy Infirmities and Failings Psal 78.18 compassion to pity thy Sufferings Psal 103. Goodness to supply thy Wants Justice to revenge thy Injuries Psal 105.14 Those Prayers that are from the workings and sighings of God's Spirit in us from sincere Hearts lifted up to God through the sense of our own Emptiness and from God's infinite Fulness that are suited to God's Will and the great Rule of Prayer that are for Spiritual things more than Temporal that are accompanied with Faith and dependance these Prayers speak a Man altogether a Christian Mead. A Prayer for Purging the Heart and for obtaining Heavenly Wisdom STrengthen me O God by the Grace of thy holy Spirit give me to be strengthened in the inward Man and to empty my self of all unprofitable Care and Anguish not to be drawn away by sundry desires either mean or precious but looking upon all things as passing away together with them for nothing is permanent under the Sun where all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit Oh how wise is he that considereth of them Tho. de Kempis 112. A Powerful Letter IN a Letter to King Henry the VIII it is concluded thus Wherefore Gracious King have pity on your Soul and consider that the Day is even at hand when you shall give an Account of your Office and the Blood that hath been shed with your Sword. In which day that you Grace may stand stedfast and may have your Quietus est sealed with the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ which will only serve at that day is my daily Prayer c. Our Persecutors FRet Fume and Gnash the Teeth to hear that we under these grievous Afflictions can be so Merry let us Pray instantly that this Joy may never be taken from us for it passeth the Delights of this World This is the Peace which passeth all Vnderstanding This Peace the more it is chosen and possessed with the more they feel it and therefore cannot faint neither by Fire nor Water Prosperity HEre lies the danger of a pleasing Condition in regard of Pleasures Credit Delights Riches Friends Habitation Health or any inferiour thing the more of Good that seemeth to be in them as distinct from God the more Dangerous for they are more like to stand up in Competition with him and carry it with our partial and blinded Souls in the Competition Remember this if you love your selves when you would have all things about you more Pleasant and Lovely here lies the danger of a prosperous Condition and State. On the contrary here lies the blessed benefit of Adversity which if Men were not Brutish and Unbelieving they would heartily welcome it as the surest Condition Mr. Baxters Rest 3d Part 216. Papist MY Lord of Worcester being a Papist had this Maxim That he would not be Disordered within himself only because things were out of Order without him Queen Elizabeth was wont to say That my Lord of Worcester had Reconciled what she thought Inconsistent A stiff Papist to be a good Subject Punishment WHensoever God Punisheth he doth it for just Cause and the Godly never accuse him of Rigour as the Wicked do but acknowledge that in themselves is just cause why they should thus intreat them Dan. 9.7 Why should a Living Man complain for the Punishment of his Sins Hale 130. Reason IT 's Human to use Reason rather than Force and a Christian to seek Peace and ensue it Reformation IT would be an easie matter says Malvezzi for Favourites to Reform Kings Palaces if it were not an hard thing to Reform their own Houses Regiment of Health TO be chearfully disposed at Hours of Meat Sleep and Exercise is one of the best Exercises of long lasting As for the passions and studdies of the Mind avoid Envies Anxious Fears Anger fretting Inward subtile and knotty Inquisitions Joys and Exhilerations in Excess Sadness not Communicated entertain Hopes and Mirth rather than Joy variety of Delights rather than Surfeit on them Lord Bacon 's Essays 188. Rejoycing at Death MR. Edward Deering said As for my Death I bless God I feel and find so much inward Joy and Comfort in my Soul that if I were to make my Choice whether to Live or Die I would a Thousand times rather choose Death than Life if it may stand with the good Will of God And shortly after he Died in the Year of our Lord Christ 1576. Religion REligion and the Practice of its Vertues is the Natural state of the Soul the condition to which God designed it As God made Man a reasonable Creature so all the Acts of Religion are equal and suitable to our Natures and our Souls are then in Health when we are what the Laws of Religion require to be and to do what they Command us to do Dr. Tillotson The great Principals of Religion
may be Just and Contented I may be Evil spoken of but still I can do Well I may be Sick but still I may be Patient I may be in Prison but there I may Pray and Sing Psalms as Paul and Silas did That which cannot hinder our Duty should not be so sadly lamented Baxt. Hearts Ease The World perhaps does not love us have we no reason to thank it if it make us place our Contentment and Comfort in God and a pure Conscience Ibid. 17. It is our grand Fault that we are affected presently according as every thing appears in the Face and we stay not till it turn the other side I saw not my Children when they were in the Womb yet there the Lord fed them without my knowledge I shall not see them when I go out of the Body yet they shall not want a Father Mr. Cooper Austin's usual Wish was That Christ when he came might find him either Praying or Preaching When the Donatists upbraided him unworthily with Impurity and Impiety of his former Life Look says he how much they blame my former faults by so much more I commend and praise my Physitian Belisarius having been the Thunderbolt of War made the East West and South to tremble the mighty Power of the Earth crawling in the Dust before him he that drew the whole World in throngs after him was forsaken and walked through the Streets of Constantinople with two or three Servants as a man that had out-lived his Funerals to serve as a Spectacle of pity and having his Eyes put out by the Emperour Justinians Widdow she being a Nestorian went up and down the Streets of Constantinople begging Date quaeso obelum Belisario This sad Example and others of the uncertainties of humane Affairs and the necessity of yielding to Religious Thoughts made Carolus Magnus at the Crowning of his Son utter these serious words My dear Son It is to day that I die in the Empires of the World and that Heaven makes me born again in your Person If you will Rule happily fear God who is the Force of Empires and Soveraign Father of all Dominions Keep his Commandments and cause them to be obeyed and observed with unviolable Fidelity Serve Him first of all for an Example of the World and lead an holy Life before God and Man Irreprovable A young Gallant that visited Saint Ambrose lying on his Death Bed said to his Comrade then with him O that I might live with thee and Die with St. Ambrose Danger is better then Safety a Storm more eligible than a perpetual Calm if before our fears we were the Worlds but after them became God's Nazianzen Sickness JVnius being Sick one asked him How he did said That he had quieted himself in God who would do for him that which was most for his Glory and his own good Serving of God. WHen Mr. Calvin was Banished he said Truly if I had served Men I should have had but an ill Reward but it 's well I have served God who doth always perform to his Servants that which he hath once promised See the Difference betwixt Him and Cardinal Wolsey who said Had I been as diligent to serve my God as I have been to please my King he would not have sorsaken me now in my Gray-hairs One of the Kings of Sweeden thought said That he should not live long because the people did over-value him for his many Victories Who was slain a little after in Battle but with a great Victory Superstition THe School-men have framed a Number of intricate and subtile Actions and Theorems to serve the Practice of their Superstitious Church Lord Bacon Suspition THere is nothing makes a Man more to suspect than to know little and therefore men would remedy that by procuring to know more and not to keep their Suspicion in smother Bacon's Essays Secrecy SIr John Cooke broke an Affair to a Partisan that kept him under all his days and he that entertains a dangerous design puts his Head into an Halter and the Halter into his Hand to whom he first imparts it The Habit of Secrecy is Policy and Virtue Speak no more than thou canst safely retreat from without danger or fairly go through without opposition Thoughts WHen a sensual Thought breaks in then excite and taste the Powers of the World to come and labour to recover the Divine Frame Abhor every Thought Word or Deed which is contrary and tends to the hurt of others Evil Thoughts are Natures Kisses Thoughts being neither free from God's Knowledge Judgments Punishments Laws nor from Christ's Government nor from the power of Conscience surely Thoughts are not then free to think what we please Reynard Thoughts are roving and restless till they come to their Center or proper place as a stone to the Earth so are our Thoughts till we pitch them upon God and acquiesce in Him and they will be unquiet till they rest in God Psal 119.7 So before a Prayer against Evil Thoughts De Kempis 201. Temptations Chrystome saith The Devils assault us violently resist the first and the cond will be weaker and That being resisted he becomes a Coward The Devil runs with open Mouth upon God's Children to devour them if they manfully resist him he thinks to weaken their Faith and they by his Assaults are made stronger he fights against them but they get Ground upon him and so what he intends for their Destruction full sore against his Will makes for their Advantage Cyril of Alexandria Time. SAys Aquinas Make much of Time especially in that matter of Salvation Oh! how much would they that now lies Frying in Hell rejoyce if they might have the least moment of Time whereby they might get God's favour Troubles and Afflictions VIctorinus was wont to say There is a time to say nothing there is a time to say something but there is never a time to say all things I have not Reigned to Day said the Emperor when he had done no good To day I have not lived said Judge Fineux and that we should not complain we have little time but that we spend much in doing evil or in doing nothing to purpose Secretary Walsingham would say My Lord stay a while and we shall have done the sooner Secretary Cecil said It shall never be said of me that I do defer till to morrow what I can do to day And Sir Richard Morrison used to say Give me this day and the next take your self The Martyr Mr. Bradford accounted that hour ill spent wherein he did not not some good either with his Pen Study or Exhortation of others Trust AT what time I am afraid I will put my Trust in thee let us be confident he will dispose of us there where it is most necessary for us to be either in this World or the other Mr. Patrick I trust God with my chiefest outward Concernments even that which I am most Solicitous in and therein to be satisfied is of great
Instinctive flight Whose weary Wings may on thy Hands still light Teach me to soar aloft yet so When near the Sun to stop again below Thus shall my humble Feathers safely hover And tho' ne'er Earth more than the Heavens discover And then at last when homeward I shall drive Rich with the Spoils of Nature to my Hive There will I sit like that Industrious Flie Buzzing thy praises which shall never Dye Till Death abridge them of exceeding Glory Bid me go on in a more lasting Story Will of God. SOME have satisfied themselves with this single Thought that 't is in vain to be troubled since things must not be as we will but as the Almighty Being pleases Cold comfort But God be thanked we have much better to Comfort us viz. That the World is not governed meerly by God's Will but by his Wisdom he disposeth of all things according to his good Pleasure but it pleaseth him to dispose of all things to the best He ruleth the World not only as an absolute Lord but as a loving Father It is a poor center of a Man's Actions Himself it is Earth for that only stands fast upon its own Center where all things that have Affinity with the Heavens move upon the Center of another which they benefit L. Bacon Seeming wise Men may make shift to get Opinion but let no Man chose them for Employment for certainly you had better take for Business a Man somewhat absurd than over formal Bacon 148. A Noble Lord at the time of his Death told his Son That he would leave him a Legacy out of David's Psalms Lord lead me into a plain Path for said he I would have you a plain Honest Man. To which I may add that excellent saying of the same Noble Lord The Wisdom of those young Men is most Excellent who by Providence and Discourse of Reason do so Order their Affairs that they stay not till Necessity and Experience force them to that Order which fore-sight would much sooner have taken Wrongs WRongs many times make way for better Fortune If Men slight us and despise us and speak evil and unjustly against us and take away our good Name yea if they take away our Estates c. if we be not angry nor fill'd with Despight nor retaliate their wrongs then it is not we but they that ought to be troubled The Word HE that Delights in the Word because it is Spiritual he is a Christian indeed the more Spiritual the Ordinances the more Spiritual they are the more doth a gracious Soul delight in them when the word comes close to the Conscience rips up the Heart and discovers Sin and yet delights in it notwithstanding this is a sign of Grace Also when Delight arises from that Communion that is to be had with God there this is from a Principle of Grace in the Soul. Mead 73. The Word was made Flesh to teach Patience and to perswade to Vertue Vide Scripture Mr. Knox was tempted by Satan to think that he merited for his great Service until God brought into his mind that of St. Paul What hast thou that thou hast not received Not I but the Grace of God that is in me Vnless says Luther My Adversaries can convince me by sound Arguments taken out of the Word of God I cannot satisfy my Conscience for I can plainly prove that both Pope and Councel have often erred grievously and therefore it would be an ungodly thing in me to assent unto them and to depart from the Holy Word of God which is plain and cannot err Cromwel from K. Henry the Eighth advises the Covocation That they conclude all Differences by the Word of God neither will his Majesty suffer the Scriptures to be wrested by false Glosses Papistical Laws or by any Authority of Doctors or Councels much less will he suffer any Articles not contained in Scripture but only founded on a Continuance of Time and Custom or by unwritten Verities as you were wont to do But the only way to Unity is to determine Acts and Things by the Rule of Gods Word as himself requireth In thy Zeal against others be mindful of thy own exceeding Sinfulness call to mind thy great Offences which when they are unfeignedly repented of give thee to understand what Cause thou hast to be Meek Humble and Patient towards all Men for Right Zeal is a Coelestial Fire the true temper and heat of all the Affections to God and Christ Qui non Zelat non Amat It is a Zeal kindled in the Soul by the Spirit of God who first knows it and then sets it on work It is a Zeal that hath the Word of God for its Guide directing it in its workings both in regard of its Object and End in Manner and Measure It is a Zeal that checks Sin and furthers an Heavenly Life It is a Zeal that makes God and the Glory of God its chief end and swallows up all by-ends The Zeal of thine House hath eaten me up The Emperor Valence sent a Message to St. Basil promising him great Preferment if he would turn Nessorian but he replied i.e. These Speeches are fit to catch little Children that look after such things but we that are nourisht by the Holy Scriptures are readier to die a thousand Deaths rather than to suffer one Syllable or Tittle of the Scriptures to be altered Theodosius was wont to say That he accounted it a greater Honour that he was a Member of the Church than that he was the Head of the Empire It is reported That a Minister having reproved a Gentleman's Tennant for many Disorders yet would not forgo them for which he complained of him to his Landlord who advised him to admonish him once more and that if he did not then amend That he should then sanctify his Hand and give him a Box on the Ear. Full quickly waxeth cold Religious Fame Unless by Zeal we do uphold the same FINIS