live is Christ but to dye is gain The children of this World may be cast out but the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven shall be as Olive-plants about the Table of the Lord. To commit sin is the part of an humane Nature to lament for sins committed is Christian-like but to continue in sin bidding defiance to the Divine powers is Diabolical There are three sorts of Faith the Faith of Sence which is seeing the Faith of Reason which is knowing and the Faith of Revelation which is believing And this last is properly called the Gospel-Faith Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established believe his Prophets so shall ye prosper We ought seriously to consider two things the sin of our Nature and the Nature of our sin The Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neican he know them because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man Let us follow after Christ he is our guide and will not shake us off but if we do not follow him we despise him and our own salvation Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children If the heart of man be hard and stony it makes the softer cushion for the Devil to sit on To day if ye will hear the voice of the Lord harden not your hearts as in the provocation Since the days of mans life are as a shadow our suffering will be sudden and our sinning short We are but of yesterday and know nothing because our days upon earth are a shadow If man be for us God may be against us but if God be for us who can be against us If we are among our friends without God we are in continual danger but with God a man is safe though in the midst of enemies Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell The Saints ought to do more for God than others because as they are expected to be the best servants they are like to have the better wages The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. A modest behaviour and a portion of Morality without Holiness is but a golden Incredulity But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear Let young Women put on Piety instead of Paints Sanctity instead of Sattin Modesty for their Morning and dayly dress so shall God and every good man love them more and more Let Women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame fac'dness and sobriety not with broidred hair or gold or pearls or costly array But which becometh Women professing godliness with good works As God made man without the help of man so will he likewise save them that come unto him by his own Almighty power Hear how familiarly he invites them Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest And ye shall finde rest unto your Souls If we endeavour for Salvation it is God must give it but if we do not endeavour he will shorten his own hand though we cannot do it For thus saith the Psalmist with thee is the Fountain of Life in thy light we shall see light How lovely is God in all his Creatures how much more lovely in his Ordinances but most lovely in Christ who is the God of love Brethren be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you The Christian hopeth for the world to come but the sinner feareth it For every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour Not to be chastened is an ill signe but not to bear a chastening is a worse Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law He that hath a tender Conscience will not be prodigal of his Credit for a good Conscience is a continual Feast to a chearful heart So likewise he that hath a good name hath the savour of a pretious Oyntment which gives a chearfulness to his countenance He that detaineth a penny from the poor puts a Plague into his own purse He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker but he that honoureth him hath mercie on the poor Let the precepts of God be neer to our hearts lest he stop his ears to our Prayers Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard In prosperity we forget the threatnings of God and in adversity we are apt to forget his promises The prosperity of fools shall destroy them If we intend to suffer evil for God's sake in the day of Adversity let us do good for God's sake in the day of Prosperity Here lies the true point of Gentility to fear God scorn the World and conquer Sin Nay in all these things we are more than conquerours through him that loved us Doth any man fear to dye it's an easie thing to live slaves and beasts do so but it ought to be every mans study to live and dye well Man's life is more full of grief than glory and it is a seasonable time to dye in when to live is rather a burthen than a blessing Be obedient and do good they are the works and the wages of a Christian and he will delight in doing good though he doth it only for his delight Gathering of Riches is a pleasant torment the trouble of getting the charging of the conscience the care of keeping and the watching over them when gotten takes away a great part of the expected enjoyment Wherefore if Riches increase set not your heart upon them A gratious person is usually as apt to desire to understand what he is to do as what he is to enjoy The work of a Christian while he lives in the body is to crucifie the body of death Man is God's creature God formed man of the dust of the ground Sin is man's creature Man is like to vanity his days are as a shadow which passeth away Misery is sins creature The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. God made man in his own likeness man hath made sin in his likeness and sin hath made misery in his own likeness Adam who was the Father of mankind was of earth and therefore earthy Our Saviour who was the Redeemer of mankind and the second Adam was from Heaven and therefore Heavenly As is the earthy such are they
well applied Ye are troubled with many things but one thing is necessary Oh that men would consider this Vnum necessarium that they might shun and forsake the immoderate trifles of a Transitory world and that they would e're the time be far spent find out those paths that will lead them to their Souls rest which Lesson is taught them in the Holy Scriptures and not onely there but by a Heathen who said Tempus est de illa perpetua Iam non de hac exigua vita cogitare It is now high time not to think of this Life but of Life Eternal In this present world we can study how to provide for our Temporal Estates contriving a settlement for our maintenance and preservation and shall we be so stupid as to neglect the Eternal happiness of our Souls in that other world Where there are pleasures for evermore To do which we should begin betimes we should like wise builders lay a good Foundation and seek the Lord while he may be found We should day and night meditate upon the Lord. We should love honour obey him and devote our selves wholly to his service And this our duty bindes us to for these respects For the excellence of his Divine perfection Being defective not in any thing He is perfect in Knowledge He is past finding out Be perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect And although no Heart can comprehend or Tongue fully can express this perfection yet we may esteem it by his Attributes of some whereof take this following account It appears how admirable it is since no Tongue can express it nor any Heart conceive it The Transcendencie of the God-head exceeds not onely the usual strength of Eloquence but of Understanding likewise He is Absolute He is all Eye and seeth All things He is all Ear and heareth All things He is all Hand and worketh All things He is Infinite Whither saith the Psalmist shall I go from thy presence Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord He is Immortal I live for ever He only hath Immortality Solus Deus est Immortalis quia non est per Gratiam sed per Naturam God alone is Immortal being so by Nature not by Grace He is Eternal Without beginning Thou art God from everlasting Without end Thou art the same and thy years shall not fail He is called the Ancient of days He is Immutable God is not to be changed 1. In his Nature Thou shalt endure I am the Lord I change not Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of changing 2. In his promises and decrees The Counsel of the Lord shall stand My Counsel shall stand God hath promised who cannot lie He is Wise. Nothing is hid from him The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man His Wisdom is Infinite Loe thou knowest all things O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! He is Holy In him is no Iniquity Who is like unto thee O Lord Glorious in Holiness None Holy as the Lord. He is True 1. In himself Whatsoever is in him is Truth It is Life Eternal to know thee the true God Let God be true and every man a Lyar. 2. In his works Righteous in all his works 3. In his words The Words of the Lord are pure The Truth of the Lord endureth for ever Good Absolutely Without the help of any 1. In himself There is none good but God 2. He is the Author of all Good to others Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of Lights The Earth is full of his goodness He is Glorious Ye shall see the Glory of the Lord. The sight of his Glory was like consuming fire The whole earth is full of his Glory His Glory is above the Heavens He is Powerful I am the Almighty God saith the Lord. In the Creation of the World In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth The Heavens are beautified with Stars The Earth is spacious and splendid plentifully stored with its Fruits Beasts of the field and Fowls of the Air. The Sea abounds with variety of Fish for the use of man And all were made of nothing but by his word 1. Wherefore Rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous for praise is comely for the upright 2. Praise the Lord with harp sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings 3. Sing unto him a new song play skilfully with a loud voice 4. For the word of the Lord is right and all his works are done in truth 5. He loveth righteousness and judgement the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap he layeth up the depth in store-houses 8. Let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him DIVINE SENTENCES COLLECTED From the VVorks of Mr. EDMVND CALAMY Lately deceased GOd requires we should mortifie our lufts for prayer without that is the service of a Hypocrite Let not any one despair and cry out I am undone but let him trust in God and use his just endeavours For any man may be happy if he please Sin is a Christians greatest Sore and Repentance his surest Salve Who then would want the rare Jewel of Repentance since if ye seek ye shall find Sin bringeth shame and sorrow and Piety a portion of everlasting Joys Miserable is that man whose heart is too hard to pray He that truly repents of his sin shall never repent of his repentance for repentance is as the Hammer of the heart knocking at the Gate of Heaven and to him that knocketh it shall be opened Let us cloath our selves with Righteousness it is the safest Armour against the Darts of Satan If troubles or afflictions shall befall thee say as a late Reverend Divine said I will go and bless God for I believe this will be for my good There are two Gospel-Graces which require your special heed viz. Faith and Repentance for though many go to Hell by despair more go thither by presumption It was the saying of the Learned Sir Thomas Moore I will never pin my Faith upon the sleeve of another man for he may carry it where I would be unwilling to follow You must serve God for his sake as well as Heaven 's A faithful servant of God may have an eye to the recompence of reward as Moses had but he must have but one eye and that the left for our chief and last aim must be at the Glory of God The true way of serving God
though to your familiar Friend Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envyeth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up Keep your Vertues secret rather than your Vices and be ever ready to hear another man praised rather than discommended Let your Discourse be of few words and those compounded of Truth and Piety If any person discoursing with you proposeth impertinent Questions cut off his discourse as soon as you can and divert your speech to other matters Shun prophane and vain Bablings for they will increase unto more ungodliness Whatsoever doth happen to your friend or to your self be neither grieved nor over-joyed but praise God and be content for godliness with contentment is great gain When you see any thing in another which misliketh you mark whether the same be in your self and amend it But if you observe any thing which pleaseth you mark whether that be in you if so retain it if not assume it By this means you shall make all things as a mirrour or a looking-glass to your self Prove all things hold fast that which is good Never affirm or deny any thing with over-much eagerness but let your assertions and denials be always seasoned with the salt of doubtfulness Abstain from immoderate laughter Sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better When sloath or idleness doth surprize you stir up your Spirits with reading some part of Scripture or some other book of Devotions When you are in Tribulation consider that they that are in Heaven feel no such things for there are pleasures for evermore Choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season When you are merry and joyful remember those which are in Hell feel no comfort at all Consider the words of Solomon I said in my heart Go to now I will prove thee with mirth therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity I said of laughter It is mad and of mirth What doth it Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Iudgment Death doth daily threaten us the Devil waits to seize our Souls as soon as they depart our bodies but the Lord is above them both He is faithful to those that hope in him neither doth he forsake them unless they forsake him O love the Lord all his ye Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer Be faithful unto death saith the Lord and I will give you a Crown of Life Have God often in your mouth but more often in your heart and manners Lest the Lord should say of you as of the Jews For as much as this people draw neer me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me but have removed their hearts far from me and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men Therefore behold I will do a marvellous thing among this people for the wisdome of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid If with your Tongue you speak and with your Heart you meditate on the Law of God all the day long and your works do contrary to the same your zeal is counterfeit and blind The days of man are as a shadow upon the earth and there is no abiding and when he seemeth to be most firm then he is properly nothing Why then doth man heap up Treasures upon earth since that which is gathered and he that gathereth passeth away and perisheth Therefore labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth to everlasting life What profit hath man in his labour whose fruit is Ruine and whose end is death O that men were wise and that they understood this and would prudently provide for their latter end Know ye not that to day you are at the brink of danger then let not your Repentance be deferred that you may be preserved by the hand of your Mediator To day you are in the way to Hell Repent that you may finde the way to Heaven Repentance and Conversion are the Fabricks of Salvation Bring forth therefore fruits meet for Repentance But what do these admonitions avail unless you blot out of your Conscience the spots of sin and iniquity Apply your heart therefore to an inward reading of your Conscience that so you may come to understand your self Study the practice of that great Apostle of the Gentiles Paul To exercise your self to have a Conscience voyd of offence towards God and towards man Study to say as Simon Peter said to Jesus Behold we have left all things and followed thee So shall you eat and drink at the Table of the Lord Iesus and sit on a Throne of Glory judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Obedience certainly is a most faithful and familiar help to Salvation To obey is better than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams It is a Vertue which our Saviour himself preferred before his life choosing rather to yield that than not to fulfil his obedience The great opposer of Obedience is Pride and that is not onely the Original of all Vices but the Ruine of all Vertues It is the worst of sins for it captivateth the minde of man Other Vices assault those Vertues only by which they are destroyed as Lasciviousness Chastity Anger Patience c. but Pride like a contagious Plague corrupts every Vertue of the mind Pride goeth before Destruction and an haughty Spirit before a Fall He that feareth the Lord must hate Pride and Arrogancy And those that walk in Pride he is able to abase Pride is never found in a noble nature nor Humility in an unworthy mind It is a sin that our Saviour abhor'd for in his Birth Life Death he was all Humility nothing of Pride The fear of the Lord is the instruction of Wisdome and before honour is Humility Wherefore O Lord teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom LONDONS LOSS OR An ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF THAT Reverend Servant of God AND Minister of Christ's Gospel Mr. IOSEPH CARYL Late Minister at Magnes London-bridge ROom for our Tears for here are thousands come To vent our Founts at his commanding Tomb. But oh what Mortals Genius can devise A decent Flood for such a Sacrifice His Pious worth must in our Hearts be writ For 't is above the reach of Head or Wit Happy 's that earthly Closet keeps in trust The Reliques of a Saint now turn'd to dust 'T is one whom flatt'ry knows not how to paint Londons Divine and Londons Magnes Saint
God let him consider the value of that mercie before it comes and when it is present let him seriously value its worth before it be past When David's condition was low and mean in the world we finde to come from him many sweet breathings of his Soul and strong actings of his Faith and love I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercie for thou hast considered my trouble thou hast known my soul in Adversitie Let me not be ashamed O Lord for I have called upon thee let the wicked be ashamed and let them be silent in the grave It is the key of Knowledge that openeth the door of Heaven it is the knowledge of the Truth that leadeth to Salvation Behold thou desirest the inward parts and in the inward part thou shalt make me to know wisdom The ill which proceeds from man must not be attributed unto God neither must the good which proceeds from God be attributed unto man There is none good but one that is God The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vain Sin hath dominion over us before conversion but being converted we have dominion over sin and whereas before we were captives unto sin we now lead sin into captivity He that is born of God overcometh the world When we have done for God all that we can our all is so little and our good deeds so ill that we are at best but unprofitable servants When ye have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do What greater act of impiety or ignorance can there be than for a man to do ill and yet pretend or think he doeth well Who can understand his errours cleanse thou me from secret sins He that will not deny himself and his own ends for Christ will deny Christ for his own ends and will to his sorrow be denied by Christ in the end Whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven In God there is no darkness at all for God is light in man there is no light at all for he is darkness our very light is darkness God is light and in him there is no darkness at all If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness How great is that darkness We may profess Christ but when we possess Christ then is our hope of Glory Christ is made known to us two ways by Relation and by Revelation which latter knowledge is the best If we can be of the number of Christ's little ones the mercie will be great It was our Saviour's saying Verily I say unto you Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven A Saint's heart is in the Law of God and the Law of God is likewise in his heart The Law of God is in the heart of the righteous none of his steps shall slide O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day If any man would have his child be a man of God he must teach him betimes first to become a child of God Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it He is Natures fair Picture drawn in Oyl Which time and handling oft doth spoil Let the wicked laugh at the godly for being godly rather than God should laugh at them for being wicked Ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh What a choice mercie had Solomon who had the choice of mercies The reputation of a good man is to be rich in goodness not in goods Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might nor the rich man glory in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. He is the only wise and rich man that can learn to be content Godliness with contentment is great gain The expectation of a Saint is Eternity and the whole world is not able to answer his single expectation We may be instructed by a Prophet but it is the Spirit of God by which we profit Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh The death of Christ giveth life to them that repent and giveth them a repentance unto life not to be repented of it giveth salvation to them that believe and enables them to believe unto salvation Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Whether God give or take it is our duty to be thankful Shall we rejoyce at Sweets and shall we lowre When God is pleas'd by his Almighty power To season them with some few grains of sour Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things Our God is free to give and free to forgive his hand and his heart are both open to them that serve him When we draw neer to Christ he is ready to receive us nay when we fly from him he is ready to invite us Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give ye rest Many men in their doings purchase their undoings There are many devices in a mans heart nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand He that receiveth a mercie and doth not use it doth abuse it Christ dyed that we might live But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept Live Iesus live and let it be My life to dye for love of thee If we finde not some time to serve God he will not finde any time to save us If any man serve me saith Christ let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be If any man serve me him will my Father honour He that hath Christ hath all things and he that hath not Christ hath nothing at all Wherefore Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you There 's nothing in this vast Terrestrial Ball Compar'd to Christ for he is all in all Study to be altogether a Christian for if a man be but almost a Christian he is like to be but almost saved though he may think he is not far from the Kingdom of Heaven yet he will finde the Kingdom of Heaven is far from him Agrippa said unto Paul Almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian There is nothing among us more rife than the name Christian or the Christian name and nothing among us more rare than the Christian man They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Though Christ was crucified to deliver us from death yet we must
Saints Memorials OR Words fitly spoken Like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Being A COLLECTION OF Divine SENTENCES Written and Delivered By those late Reverend and Eminent Ministers of the Gospel Mr. EDMUND CALAMY Mr. JOSEPH CARYL Mr. RALPH VENNING Mr. JAMES JANEWAY Heb. 11.4 Who being dead yet speak Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their works do follow them LONDON Printed in the Year 1674. To all the SAINTS BELOVED OF GOD And Sanctified through OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Grace and Peace be Multiplied THe dispensations of God though never so seemingly strange towards his people have always been propitious and favourable according to that of the Apostle he maketh all things work together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose How great love should we then have for them who love God and are so beloved of him To the Reader My Friends many there are whose beginning is better than their latter end but blessed are they who dye in the Lord who have an Interest in the Everlasting Covenant and in the sure mercies of David though God may visit their Iniquities with a Rod and their Transgressions with Stripes yet he will never suffer his loving kindness to depart Who would then depart from that God who sticks so close to his If we leave him whither shall we go surely to broken Cisterns that hold no water Oh then as you love your pretious and immortal Souls endeavour close Vnion and strict Communion with him As you are chosen by him so let him be your choyce Since he first loved you let it not be lost He cast his eye upon us when we were in our Blood and no eye pittied us and he spread his Skirt over us and then was the time of love Ah then if he loved us so unlovely what estimation should we have of him who is love it self Consider what he hath done for you in giving life health and above all his beloved Son to dye for you a most ignominious death that you through him migh have everlasting life That you may know how to value this transcendent love of God weigh well the condition you were at that time in lamentably helpless Dead in Trespasses and Sins without God and without Christ in the world strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel and to the Promises This we were in the general but what were we as to our best our Righteousness so bad that nothing could be worse no better than menstruous Cloaths and filthy Rags What Humiliation what Lamentation doth our condition call for Little reason to walk so haughtily as we do and with the Pharisee to say Stand farther off I am holier than thou For shame then come with humble Job in his prostrate State Abhor your selves and repent in dust and ashes or with the Prophet cry out Wo is me I am undone a man of unclean lips mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts A dreadful sight undoubtedly that should be so astonishing to one whom God honoured in making use of his blood for a Testimony of his truth how much more must it needs be to us whose lives are so unclean that there is no soundness in us What necessity is there then of finding out a way to look God in the face there is but one and Blessed and for ever Blessed be his gratious Name for the Revelation of it and that is Jesus Christ the onely Mediator betwixt God and Man What had become of us had he not interposed betwixt the wrath of an incensed Majesty and sinful Creatures Vengeance had been speedily Executed and all that long-suffering and patience which is now exercised to us-ward had been prevented we should not have had line upon line precept upon precept here a little and there a little his faithful Ministers instructing exhorting and dehorting if hereby the torrent of his Ire had not been stopt How highly then ought we to prize this Talent and to let no day nor time of it pass without doing him some service who hath been so benigne and merciful to us If men do kindnesses to ingenuous minds what thoughtfulness is there of recompence in so much that they declare it to all their friends and enquire and advise what returns will best suit the nature of their received friendships How much more should we with David declare what God hath done for us and always walk in thankfulness towards him For this the grace of God teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously and soberly in this present evil world Not to turn wanton Libertines saying God is good and merciful and hath sent his Son to dye in our stead nothing remaining for us to do but like the children of the old world to eat and to drink and to rise up to play This bespeaks men to be of that number of whom Jude in his general Epistle makes mention ordained of old to this condemnation denying the onely Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. How indeed can we more disown him than by casting his laws behinde our backs and saying as those wicked wretches did We will not have this man to reign over us although he was Lord of all and told them his yoak was easie and his burthen light and that his ways were ways of pleasantness and his paths were peace Think not that these things were written for their instruction onely but ours also on whom the ends of the world are come But lest I should burden you with too tedious an Epistle I will rather invite you to feed on those wholesome remains which you will finde collected from the Writings of those Eminent and Renowned men prefixt in the Title of this Miscelany whose worth should I undertake to display it would prove an Eclipse coming short of your Estimations and those choice and elaborate Works which will eternize their Memories to all gratious hearts The best use we can make of their loss is to study diligently what they once designed for our benefit and to be provoked by their good conversation to emulation I beseech you therefore let not their nor my poor Labours in gathering these crums from their Tables be lost but that we may have cause to rejoyce in this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity we have had our conversations in the World as wisheth Your Fellow-Servant in the Kingdom of Grace Mr. EDMVND CALAMY HIS EXHORTATIONS TO The Service of the Lord. SUch are the minds of most men whom either the cares of this world hath distracted or the false pleasures thereof deluded that the meditations of Heaven are far from them and they rarely think of those dangers that attend them or what damage they are like to suffer by despising or slighting those pretious Opportunities that might lead to their Salvation to whom our Saviours saying when speaking to Martha may be
of Gospel-worship I confess it is a sad sight to see a bad man do that which is bad or a wicked man do that which is wicked yet I say it is a sadder sight to see a bad man continuing in his state having no spiritual principles to go on doing good God often declares himself very highly against such as do good themselves continuing evil The good that you do will not profit you 't will not advantage you 't will be no plea at the Great Day You may have Iehu's Penny a deliverance from an outward Judgment but there is no deliverance from Wrath and Eternal Judgment Thus those that are not far from Heaven shall never come there yet I would exhort the worst of men to do good though they please not God in doing it yet they displease him in not doing it And thus faln man if he neglect to do good sins If he doth good he spoils it in the doing of it Hence we see the necessity of regeneration we are not born with a pure Heart A pure Heart a good Conscience Faith unfeigned are the Issues of the new birth Education cannot make the Heart pure it must be Revelation which makes the Heart pure Education may change a mans Course but it cannot change his Nature that 's only done by Regeneration He must be good before he can do good spiritually God works us before we can work for him he makes us good before we can do good We by Union to Jesus Christ come to have a spiritual Principle to carry us out in the doing of all good works Here 's your way you must be Gods workmanship before you can do Gods works As we are grafted into Christ he changes the Branch Then all your Fruits are sweet Fruits and pleasant Fruits they are well-tasted Why It is done first from a Principle of life in Christ. And secondly It is done from a Principle of love unto Christ. The Heart of man is the greatest cheat in the world The Heart of man received such a crack in the fall that there is no mending of it It must be new made The Heart is made wholly new by the power of God Meritoriously by the Blood of Christ that cleansing Blood it is made pure by the Spirit of Christ the Spirit is a purifier The Word of God is a purifier Instrumentally Applicatorily the Heart is made pure by Faith When the command of every sin When the custom and practice of every sin And when the love of every sin is gone such a Heart is free from these powers that Soul is Evangelically pure He that indeed hath this pure Heart is really sensible that once his Heart was very impure And also is as sensible that to this day there remains much impurity in his Heart He also that hath a pure Heart loves every thing that is pure and the more pure it is the more he loves it A pure Heart will be full of pure thoughts a pure Heart converses with God in purity of thoughts Whereas the wicked they have not the Pure God nor the Holy God in all their thoughts A pure Heart is full of pure desires he desires to be more good to be better he desires to know more of God and to honour God more he desires to enjoy God more he hungers and thirsts after God A pure Heart hath pure purposes and pure resolves and by resolves the Heart is more settled and fixt Resolution is the establishment of the Soul He resolves let the Winds blow high or low to cleave to Christ. There is a purpose in a pure Heart against all that 's evil He will neither defile his Heart nor his Life and these purposes he carries quite thorough all unto the end A pure Heart hath pure ends in all it doth a holy aim a single eye not self-profit not self-applause not pleasure but he purposes the profit of many that they may be saved Weigh it well whether you have this pure Heart The hardest thing that we have to do and the greatest kindness which God can do to us is to cleanse our Hearts Our hearts are the filthiest part of us If there be impurity in the hand there 's much more in the Heart Till the Heart be made pure nothing can be pure God is a friend indeed to those who have a pure Heart Keep pure Hearts with all diligence for the Devil comes a Heart-stealing continually unless you wash it weed it sweep it Cobwebs will grow Spiders will creep in they will be weaving their Webs To the impure Heart there is nothing pure Holy Ordinances honest Callings great Possessions all these to an impure Heart are not pure The pure in Heart are onely fit for Communion with God they onely are fit to call upon God who have a pure Heart Onely the pure in Heart shall see and enjoy God Impure eyes cannot behold God they cannot bear the Glory the excellence of his Presence THE HEART ANATOMIZED THe wicked search out Iniquities they accomplish a diligent search the inward thoughts of their Hearts are deep The Heart is commonly hard Harden not your Hearts as in the provocation in the day of Temptation in the Wilderness The heart of a godly man may be said to be perfect for David saith of himself I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way Oh when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my house with a perfect heart The heart is said to be sound A sound heart is the life of the flesh but envy the rottenness of the bones The heart is sometimes merry sometimes melancholy A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken The heart hath many devices Nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand The heart of an Holy man may be said to be pure He that loveth pureness of heart or hath grace in his lips the King shall be his friend The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Who can know it The heart is said to be stony I will give them one heart saith the Lord and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and I will give them an heart of flesh The heart is the chiefest Jewel which the Lord requires of a Christian My Son give me thine heart and let thine eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Laws He that keepeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord shall be 〈…〉 Law of his God is in his 〈…〉 none of his steps shall side Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart Mr. Caryl's DIVINE SENTENCES OR A GUIDE TO An HOLY LIFE HE prepareth a fit Habitation for the Lord whose Reason is neither deceived nor Will perverted nor Memory defiled Happy is that Soul
that cleanseth his heart from the filth of sin and so stores it with Pious works as that it may delight the Almighty God to dwell therein Lay aside the cares of this world and take into your minds the Joys of heaven Empty your heads of all other things and prepare that upper Room to entertain your Lord. Consider ye are framed according to the Image of the Lord adorned with his Similitude espoused unto him by Faith endowed with the Holy Ghost redeemed with the pretious Blood of a dear Saviour assigned to be Fellow-Citizens with the Holy Angels capable of Eternal Happiness Heirs of Goodness stock't with Sence and Reason What have ye to do with the flesh then slight not those opportunities and advantages that are set before ye but Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all other things shall be added to ye Keep your Souls in a flying posture towards your Inheritance above For where can ye finde more Riches to invite ye The Lord is called The faithful God and will take an account of each ones faith Without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Adam was a sinner and begot sinners and they must work out their Salvation with fear and trembling What am I A man that had my beginning from a thing unseemly in the moment of my conception I was conceived of Humane seed afterwards that froth changed into curds and by encreasing became flesh With weeping I was exposed to the miseries of a wretched world and behold I am full of sin and shall suddenly be presented before the strict Judge to render an account of all my works Wo be to me wretch when that day shall come and those Books shall be opened wherein are Registred all my thoughts words and works and shall be read before the Lord Then with a trembling Conscience I stand before the Tribunal-Seat of Christ full of fear and anguish calling to remembrance my manifold offences And when it shall be said Behold the man and his works then Oh then shall I see all my sins and abominations presented before mine eyes To prevent which Misery observe these Directions Since your whole life is a Race and a Battel a Merchandise and a Journey prepare against night a Rosary of good works to present unto the Lord. Let your sleep be no more than Nature and Necessity requires and remember as he that starts first is most like to win the Race so he that first offers his petition to Almighty God hath the more early title to a blessing Change not day into night and night into day be not addicted to idelness and sleep for that is the way to turn your blessing to a dream Let not that imagination seize you that you may lie in bed having no business immediately to do for he that hath a Soul and would save that Soul hath enough to do to make his calling and election sure Meditate Pray and Read Repent and do acts of Charity to others If you have little to do you have the more time to provide for a Crown of Glory When you open your eyes think upon some act of Piety Thank God for your last good rest and preservation Give thanks to the Lord for your creation and the many mercies you have received from his hands When you arise pay your devotion to the holy Trinity Be silent when you dress your self and fix your thoughts upon some act of Piety If you speak let it be in the praise of God of his Goodness his Mercies or his Greatness Always let the first-fruits of thy Reason be presented to the Lord that so the whole harvest of thy conversation may be Sanctified Let your habit be neither careless nor curious though men may respect you for your outward habit God doth expect that your inward garment should be Righteousness Let your ejaculations suit with your actions in the morning as when you clean your hands Pray to God to cleanse your Soul from sin or when you cloath your body Pray to him to cloath you with the Armour of Faith and a good Conscience This done betake your self to your Closet-Devotions or to Family-Duties as your condition is capacitated Having finished your Prayers consult with your self about your Occasions that day and resolve against any thing that may seem opposite to the Service of God or the Rules of Good manners If you have Children or Servants it is your Duty to Pray with them and for them or especially to be careful that they shall Pray for themselves After this betake your self to your Affairs avoid idleness and take heed of being too earnest after wordly goods be Prudent Temperate Diligent Humble and Charitable Harbour no idle Persons in your Family let your Servants have moderate Work and Meat if they deserve Reproof let it be without Passion advice with some Natures may do more than Correction Be not busie to inquire after the Concerns of your Neighbour but carry your self with this Caution that in all your Actions you mix the ingredients of Justice and Charity Be in Charity with all men Avoid Backbiting and Slandering he that delights in either of them shall never be beloved or innocent When you dine lift up your heart in an holy Ejaculation to the Lord thank him for your Temporal Food and crave for Spiritual After dinner return thanks for Mercies received He doth not deserve to eat that doth not desire to thank In your Recreations be moderate and be sure to secure your heart for God left your affections settle upon a false Basis Let not your Recreations be tedious lest if you dwell with them long you may be inticed to sin When you enter into Discourse be pithy and as often as you can devout but if your occasions shall be so urgent that you cannot conveniently discourse of God however be sure to think of him When you Read let it not be much at once let your Reading be little and your Meditation large for little Reading and much thinking little Speaking and much Hearing brief Prayer and firm Devotion is the surest way to be Wise and to be Devout In the Evening let your Meditations be on the hours of the day past how they have been spent if your Conscience be clear it is the sooner examined but if any thing extraordinary hath happned then take time to recollect your self with diligence Thank the Lord for his benefits of the day and crave a pardon for your errours and if any duty hath been omitted endeavour to redeem that fault the next day Let your last Prayers be applied to the concerns of your Conscience and forget not to thank the Lord for all his mercies to you and your relations that day When you enter into your Bed fix your Meditations upon Death and the Grave In the whole course of your life
thy Saviour is willing to save thee but it is thy sin and Satan that studieth to destroy thee When Satan's malice had produced mischief in our first Parents mischief brought forth misery and misery cried to heaven for mercie The God of mercie promised mercie unto mankind The seed of the woman shall break the Serpent's head When the fulness of Grace was come he that was covered in the Law became discovered in the Gospel When the fulness of time was come God sent his Son made of a woman made under the law that we might receive the adoption of Sons The Son of man had sinned against God and the Son of God satisfies for the sin of man Let admiration produce amazement that God should send his Son to suffer death for sinners that rebelled against him But man must dye unto Eternity unless the Son of Eternity would dye for him Therefore Christ the Messiah was slain but not for himself He was delivered to death for our offences He was delivered by his Father in Mercie by himself in Compassion by Iudas for Covetousness and by the Jews in Malice And all this to the end that God might effect what the Jews could not conjecture The Redemption of his people Israel He that was typified by the brazen Serpent is exalted on the Cross between two Thieves with this Title superscribed Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iews Thus Christ the immaculate Lamb refused no shame that he might purchase Glory to his faithful ones He that was the God of Glory becomes the Son of shame He that is the Righteous Redeemer was counted an Unjust Usurper He that is the Lord of Life was condemned to Death He that is honoured with the Acclamations of Angels was dishonoured with the Exclamations of Jews Pilate disgracefully shewed him to the people with an Ecce Homo Behold the man Stand O my Soul and with admiration bless the Author of all Blessedness Christ who to prevent thy shame suffered himself to be numbred among the wicked He was accounted sinful to purchase thy Salvation Adam by eating of the forbidden Tree made thee accursed had not Christ by dying on the cursed Tree restored thee to blessedness Christ's Cross is thy Comfort his dishonour is thy honour Christ's Cross is to the Iews a stumbling-block to the Gentiles foolishness But to thee O my Soul it is the power and the wisdome of God Then if Christ hath done this for thee follow thy Redeemer with a Cross at thy back and say with Paul God forbid that I should glory in any thing but in the Cross of Christ. But wo unto us sinners we run on in a course of pride though he humbled himself unto death even the death of the Cross. Pilate could not add to our Saviour's honour or dishonour in calling him Iesus for it was a name given him from Heaven for the Angel said unto Ioseph Thou shalt call his name Iesus for he shall save his people from their sins It was a sweet saying of an Antient Father The name of Jesus is Mel in Ore Melos in Aure Iubilus in Corde Honey in the Mouth Melody in the Ear and a Jubily or Joy in the Heart Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved This name is light unto the Soul Ye were darkness saith the Apostle but now ye are light in the Lord. This name is health to the Body In the name of Iesus of Nazareth rise up and walk All spiritual food is dry saith the aforesaid Father if this Oyl be not poured into it if it be not seasoned with this Salt There are several Titles that proclaim Christ's Glory but the name of Iesus imports our Redemption By others we know him to be God by this we know him to be our Mediator It is great misery to see man so proud and greater mercie to see God so humble God was the Creditor man was the Debtor but he that was both God and man the Pay-Master Wherefore Let Israel hope in the Lord for with him there is plenteous Redemption There is no sinner so great but after conversion he makes as great a Saint Though his sins be red as Scarlet Grace makes them white as Snow Come let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll There is more pleasure in suffering than in sinning for a Saint of God may suffer and not sin but he cannot sin and not suffer If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God on this behalf To walk as a Heathen walks only by the light of the Rush-candle of Nature is no better than to walk in darkness If a man walk in the day he stumbleth not but if he walk in the night he stumbleth because there is no light in him God never made a good promise but he made good that promise For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen We should prize mercie if we knew its price Thy mercie O Lord is great unto the Heavens and thy truth unto the Clouds 'T is true that Christ is every where Then Hell 's no Hell if Christ be there In his presence is fulness of joy at his right hand are pleasures for evermore A Righteous man hates sin because it is opposite to God and Goodness Fools make a mock at sin but among the Righteous there is favour That Saint that grows in grace grows more a man and more than a man For with him Where sin aboundeth grace doth much more abound A rich man is poor without God but with him a poor man is rich Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you Ye have condemned and killed the just and he doth not resist you The pride of self-love is a folly in ones self For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted If a man would be ever good he should believe he was never good There is none good but one that is God God takes care of his Saints and they take care to be be cared for by him Cast your care upon him for he careth for you He that hath God hath all things for God is all in all A grain of Grace is of more value than many pounds of Gold God Created us and left us to our selves afterwards he Redeemed us and left himself to us Take heed of being self-conceited For the way of a fool is right in his own eyes True Christians are all for Christ and Christ is all-sufficient for them and their salvation It is the saying of holy Paul For me to
that are earthy and as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly What God gives us for our good we ought to employ for his glory He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. When our Saviour was buried it was the Body of the Lord not the Lord of the Body was laid in the Sepulchre If we set our affections on what we have when we have it not it adds the more to our affliction But the peace of Heaven surpasses the troubles of this world A Saint may be sad that he is no better but will inwardly rejoyce that he is no worse That man that deserves nothing ought to be content with any thing God is pleased with the free offerings of his Saints and they are pleased with the free gifts of God To be sorrowful for sin is good but that sorrow must continue or else the sorrow will be sin it self What is all this world but a world of nothing at all Whosoever can withstand the corruptions of gain gains by the corruptions Is it pleasure to the Almighty that thou art Righteous or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect The men of this world pray to one another but the children of God pray to none but to the God of men The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light But the sorrow of this world worketh death Man is no sooner born but he begins to dye so uncertain is the life of man that none knows whether he that is born to day shall live till to morrow If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Trust not in endeavours lest you neglect God but use endeavours lest you despise God But work out your salvation with fear and trembling Christ is the Physitian of our Souls his comforts are cordial but miserable comforts are the Physitians of the Body So said Iob to his friends Ye are all Physitians of no value Let us beware of the evil of sin for it leads us to the evil of suffering Wherefore Follow not that which is evil but that which is good He that doth good is of God but he that doth evil hath not seen God We may do those things which please God and yet displease him in the doing But Blessed are the poor in heart for they shall see God We perform our duties in a right measure when in seeking for mercies we study to please God rather than our selves God so loves his own that he will not depart from them and they that truly fear and love him have not the power to depart from him It was holy Ioshua's resolution As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. It is at present heaven with us to enjoy God and Christ What will it then be when we worship him with his innumerable company of Angels When we pay our devotions to God we should lay aside all worldly affairs lest they distract us in our duty It is a great offence against the Almighty to be interrupted when we walk with him See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil A Christian hath but two things to fear God and Sin As it is writ of Ioseph How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God! The three Divine Vertues are Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity The three humane Vertues are Friendship Credit and Conscience but the greatest of these is Conscience Conscience was Paul's glory when he said Herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience voyd of offence toward God and toward Men. When thou sinnest repent betimes lest thou plunge into a custom of sinning and always remember God hath a certain custom to punish sinners Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Turn ye unto me and I will turn unto you But except ye repent ye shall all perish God is the way and the life if we walk after his way we shall finde life if not we erre from the way of life Jesus saith I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Serve God in secret as well as in publike worship and he that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly What deceitful pleasures are those that require either Repentance or Damnation As the Jews did by our Saviour so should we do by the world the flesh and sin that is crucifie them They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts The disingenuity of others towards us is a scourge to us for our disingenuity towards God If God denies the desires of thy heart learn to want with patience it will teach thee when God is pleased to bestow his blessings to receive them with chearfulness We ask the Lord for our dayly bread but he knoweth our wants before we ask We desire Health Wealth c. but the measure of those blessings is in God's hand and he knows how to carve for us better than we could for our selves Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him It is the duty of a Christian to wait God's leasure there is no mercie worth the praying for but it is certainly worth the waiting for We are all born to dye let us so dye that we may be born again Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin If thou canst hear and bear the Rod of affliction which God shall lay upon thee remember this Lesson Thou art beaten that thou mayst be better There is no better defence against our own Infirmities and the scandalous reproaches of others than the Sincerity of our own hearts Grace be with all them that love our Lord Iesus Christ in sincerity God is love and we ought to serve him in fear and love No service can be better done than that which is done in love God dwelleth in that servant and that servant in him Why doth a wicked man envy the welfare of a man more righteous than himself because it is a terrour to his Conscience to see the Image of Vertue in another man he having defaced it in himself Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work All the Pomps and Gayeties of this world are not to be compared to a grain of distressed Vertue Wherefore adde to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge Though I give my body to be burnt and have not charity it profitteth me nothing but to mortifie my sins and to deny my self submitting to the will of God is more than Martyrdom Let not the world overcome you but fight under the Banner of that great Captain the Lord Jesus Christ so shall you with him overcome the world Who is he that overcometh the world but he that
he hath sent empty away When God sends mercie we should not onely thank the donor but welcome the messenger for they both come from God How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of Peace and bring glad tidings of good things The proud man exalts himself against all that is good therefore the Lord thinks good to take down his pride Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. The world cannot exalt a proud man so high but God will bring him low neither can all the world so debase an humble man but God will exalt him The world may strive to pull him down But God will raise him to a Crown In the seed-time of your life let your Holiness be sown that so you may reap Blessedness in the Harvest of Eternity He that will put Piety in practice must set his heart to practice Piety The Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart My Son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways Ungodly men grow rich yet godliness with contentment is great gain There is a kind of Divine husbandry saving grace is a heavenly thirft and doth so improve that it makes us Burgesses of the Holy City Wherefore Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ. A friend may commit an errour in love but he is an enemy that loves his errour The covetous man cannot enjoy what he hath got through the greediness of his desire to get more He coveteth greedily all the day long but the righteous giveth and spareth not To have faith in Christ is well-pleasing to the faithful God for he is the Father of the Faithful The Lord is God the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercie with them that love him and keep his Commandments to a thousand generations The Righteous man hath grace beyond expression the Hypocrite hath expression beyond grace The tongue of the just is as choice silver the heart of the wicked is of little worth God doth sometimes deliver men up to Satan that they may be delivered from Satan Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Iesus Can a man be an empty Vine and yet bring forth Fruit Israel is an empty vine bringing forth fruit unto himself Christ is the Son of God and yet he is called the Son of man The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth The Almighty's permission of sin is no warrant for the sinners commission of sin Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin Our Saviour had a Father and a Mother and yet he was from the beginning In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God This is Solomon's advice Be not righteous overmuch However it is the duty of a Christian to cloath him with Righteousness as with a Garment The Saints have no greater joy than to enjoy God and to rejoyce in him He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. As it is hard to bend a well-grown Stick so is it difficult to work upon the heart of a desperate season'd sinner for he runs on in his wickedness and is deaf to all good instructions They have ears to hear and hear not for they are a rebellious house Onwards they run a ready pace Plainer's the way than that to grace A Saint will not sin though he knows that sin may work for his advantage All things work together for the good of them that love God We are commanded to love Peace and follow after Righteousness and yet the Saints themselves are in continual War fighting the good fight of Faith Above all things take the sheild of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked The Salvation of a Saint may be sure yet may not he be sure of his Salvation Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if ye do these things ye shall never fall Blessings if abused may be turned into curses and curses are oftentimes turned into blessings Saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you I will curse your blessings If any man would be rich he must be diligent but notwithstanding that let him remember Paul may Plant and Apollo may Water but it is God that giveth the blessing He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich The blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it The Righteous man makes godliness his gain the Wicked man makes gain his godliness He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house but he that hateth gifts shall live The Soul is above the reach of any weapon but sin and that pierces like a sting Sin is a raging torment in the Conscience A wounded Spirit who can bear Let not the best of men think they were ever good lest their Conscience shall tell them they were never good Be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil Some men will pretend to abhor such a sin yet hug it in their bosom such sinners sting their Consciences to magnifie their Credits If by suffering for Christ we loose all that we have in this world we are sufficient gainers when we save our own Souls Paul that Pious Apostle saith Doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellencie of the knowledge of Iesus Christ my Lord for which I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. A repenting Penitent though formerly as bad as the worst of men may by grace become as good as the best God who is rich in mercie for his great love wherewith he loved us Even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace ye are saved The Devil is indifferent whether we go to Hell in the frequented road of Profaness or in the smooth way of Hypocrisie It is the power of godliness not the form that directs the way to Heaven as the power of ungodliness leads to Hell Lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away Beware of impenitence and of late repentance true repentance cannot be too late but a late repentance is rarely true Wherefore the real Christian should say betimes with holy Iob I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes It is one thing to hold the truth and another thing to hold it in sincerity we
either crucifie our sins or we shall dye in them Our hope of glory is not only Christ without but Christ within us What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory Many men are at one and the same time both alive and dead for they that wallow in the deceitful pleasures of sin are dead though they live You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins When man is most idle then is the Devil most busie It was Latimer's saying that one holy day produced more service to Satan than many working days This was the Iniquity of Sodom Pride fulness of Bread and abundance of Idleness was in her and in her daughters neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy The Righteous man saith What is lawful that will I but the unrighteous man saith What I will is lawful or to me all things are lawful All the wayes of man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirit It is the pleasure of Almighty God to bless us without any cause given him How much then are we to bless him who hath given us the cause so to do Praise waiteth for thee O God in Zion Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious The devout Soul should so live as that the Gospel should not be ashamed of him nor he of that As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation Where no assurance is there may be grace but no assurance can be where there is no grace Let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water The godly man sets a greater value by far upon the motions than the notions of grace All the blessings that a Saint receives are the more dear welcom because they savour of a Saviour Christ is our treasure as David saith With thee is the Fountain of Life and in thy light we shall see light He that denies himself shall be saved but he that denies his Saviour shall be damned It is Christ himself that saith He that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me He that findeth his life shall loose it and he that looseth his life for my sake shall finde it When God sends us an evil visitation even then God is good to us for he sends that evil for our good The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works When a sinner repenteth of his sin his sorrow speaks it self to be great when he cannot speak for sorrow A Saint will keep to the Doctrine of his life that he may keep life in his Doctrine God loves us not for what we have but for what we are and we are bound to love God were it for no other reason but because he loveth us The wicked man mindeth not the God that made him but sets his affections upon the God of his own making But your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last days It is more honourable to purchase fame from a low degree than to become contemptible and infamous though sprang from an honourable Family The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honour is humility Most men are naturally lovers of Gold yet that came but from the earth from the Gold comes Dross yet few men mind that so is it with good and bad men the Vertuous though they come from a mean stock are honoured and the Vicious though of splendid families are despised Wherefore Adde to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge Why should we rejoyce in the pleasures of this world for we no sooner set our affections on them but of a sudden they are blasted or we are taken from them or by sickness disabled to enjoy them Wherefore seek ye the Lord Jesus Christ in whom is hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And the Lord give thee understanding in all things THE SINNER'S Character Arraignment and Punishment BY Mr. RALPH VENNING IN Divers Sentential and Experimental DIVINE SAYINGS SIn is contrary to God Sinners are called enemies to God And sin is called enmity it self as being contrary to God It makes men walk contrary to God revelling rising up against and contending with God Hence men hate God resist God sight and blasphame God And Atheistically say there is no God Sin would ungod God Sin is by some of the Antients called God-murther or God-killing All these are in the nature of every sin more or less but are all of them in the heart of all sinners in their Seed and Root c. Hence sin is not onely High-Treason against the Majesty of God but it scorns to confess its Crime God is glorious in Holinessâ— Sin on the contrary is all sinful only sinful altogether sinful As in God there is no evil so in sin there is no good God is the chiefest of goods and sin is the chiefest of evils As no good can be compared with God for goodness so no evil can be compared with sin for evil Sin opposes all Gods Names and Attributes It deposeth God's Soveraignty it will not that the King of Kings should be in the Throne Pharaoh spake the Language of sin I know no Lord above me Sin denies God's all-sufficiencie as if there were more in sinful pleasures than in him Sin dares God's justice and challenges God to do his worst it provokes the Lord to jealousie and tempts him to wrath Sin disowns God's omniscience Tush say sinners God sees not Sin despises the Riches of God's goodness Sin turns all God's Grace into wantonness sin is the dare of God's Justice the rape of his Mercie the jear of his Patience the slight of his Power and the contempt of his Love Sin is the upbraid of his Providence the scoff of his Promise and the reproach of his Wisdom Sin is contrary to God's works and is called the Devil's work God's works were good and exceedingly beautiful But the works of sin are deformed and monstrous ugly Sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world 'T is the Master of Mis-Rule the Author of Sedition the Builder of Babel the Troubler of Israel and all mankind Sin is contrary to God's Law and Will to all the Rules and Orders of his appointment Sin is not only a transgression of but a contradiction also of the Will of God Sin is an Anti-Will to God's Will David in fulfilling of God's Will was said to be a man after God's own heart and they that obey the will of sin are said to
God Christianity is a clear Demonstration of invisibles witness the many earnests of their Profession What warm refreshing Rays of Divine love break in upon their Souls what Joy what Experiments and blessed Intercourses have past betwixt God and such Souls the fire hath burnt and of a sudden the Soul hath e're it was aware been carried above the world The Spirit of Truth will not witness to a lye neither will Goodness it self put a cheat upon poor creatures Balaam's wish may throughly convince sinners that Holiness is no Madness Piety no Fancie and Religion no Delusion I am perswaded that all the Reprobates in Hell will one day justifie the Children of God for their seriousness and wish a thousand times that they had had their Scorns Losses and Torments Well then our Enemies themselves being Judges an Israelite indeed is a person of true worth and without controversie his Estate is and shall be comfortable blessed and glorious O Christian as long as God is true you shall not be deceived as long as he is happy you shall not be miserable you are well enough go on resolutely 't is but a little while and you shall see all this and more than this a thousand times Death will shortly tear off Ioshua's rags and present him before the Lord without spot or wrinkle Sin indeed accompanies the wicked to another world he rests from his pleasures and his wicked works follow him But it is far otherwise with the godly sin was his burden and death shall unload him Sin shall be confin'd to Hell Heaven entertains no such deformity This Tyrant shall no more inslave any of Christ's Subjects The house of Saul and the house of David shall no longer contend that sad conflict between the Flesh and the Spirit shall then be determined by a full Victory Death sets the Soul out of the Devils reach This Angel hath nothing to do in Heaven this Serpent shall not come into the higher Paradise nor Satan creep into this Eden O happy day when will it come when the Devil shall be as unlike to tempt as our hearts to close When we are got once safe to rest the Devil shall as easily shake God's Throne as our Happiness Death turns the key and bolts and bars this Enemy out then O then thou shalt see this Pharaoh cast dead on the shore Christian expect not as long as any of that Cainish Generation breath that thou shouldest be long secure What though the world speak great words thou shalt e're long ride in state to Glory and then let them do their worst When thou art in Heaven they may curse and encrease their own misery but they shall not in the least diminish thy tranquillity The beauty of this inferiour world will be darkned by the brightness of that light which Death leads thee into Death blows the dust out of our eyes it plucks off the vail and shews us quickly the glory of both worlds What Pen can describe the Honour and Dignities of the Sons of God! A Lazarus in stead of Beggers Cripples and Dogs had a guard of Angels waiting upon him These Chariots and Horse-men of Israel shall carry up Ioseph to his Fathers house The Souls of Believers are made perfect in Holiness at Death O then how glorious shall the Kings Daughter be when her beauty is made perfect O my Soul when will the shadows flee away when will days and nights be all at an end When will time be spent and the curtain drawn How should we think our selves if our hearts were always as God would have them Well be of good chear in Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and holiness Who that understands this would not bid death welcom That good Old Saint Simeon thought it a heaven upon earth to see Christ when his Majesty was vail'd This was but a small thing compared to the sight which they shall see when their graces shall be compleat How will the Heavens eccho of joy when the Bride the Lambs Wife shall come to dwell with her Husband for ever Christ is the desire of Nations the joy of Angels the delight of the Father What solace then must that Soul be filled with that hath the Possession of him to all Eternity Is not his Love better than Wine and a look of his Countenance to be preferred above Corn and Oyl Is not all the Glory of Heaven wrapt up in him I see now it is not for nothing that the Virgins did love him What mean the world sure they are dead blinde or mad Saints blessedness lies in this that they shall meet with all the Children of God and have communion with just men made perfect Death will bring you acquainted with all those famous Worthies of whom the world was not worthy This Porter opens the door and lets the Saints Soul into that Palace where all the favorites of that great Prince reside What would I give to see Enoch that walked with God How glad should I be to be acquainted with Elias How joyful if I might have some discourse with Paul Would it not make one couragious in the cause of God if one could hear Daniel or the three Children tell the Story of their deliverance How should one be pleased to have it from the mouth of Moses Ioshuah and Caleb what God did for Israel in the fields of Ham the Red-Sea and the Wilderness and how he brought them into the Land of Canaan Why as formidable as death looks it 's he that brings us to the speech of all these How loth are we now to part when a knot of us have got together to talk about the things of another world Heaven hath in it none but Saints and Angels and the blessed God O what acclamations of joy will there be when all the children of God shall meet together without fear of being disturbed by the Antichristian and Cainish Brood Is there not a time coming when the godly may ask the wicked What profit they have in their pleasures what comfort in their greatness and what fruit of all their labour They shall shortly know that nothing was lost which was spent for their Souls and Heaven If you would be better satisfied what the Beatifical Vision means my request is That you would live holily and go and see A further Addition is that there is no fear of loosing of it his Enemies can't rob him If the Grave were but lookt on as a chamber to rest in And if Faith could but take death to be but an undressing to put on better Raiment how contentedly then should we be uncloath'd that we might be cloathed with Immortality And if the case be so what a good condition is the dead Saint in Lazarus his Resurrection was no cheat many of the Saints arose and Christ is risen O what kinde of Greeting will these two old Companions have when they see one another in another world Never let any grutch to serve God chearfully They which
to another Sin will not suffer Husband and Wife Parents and Children to live quietly but sets them at variance they of a mans own house and bosom that eat the bread at his Table are the worst Enemies Sin is against the very being of man Sins aim is not onely that man should not be well but that man should not be How many doth it strangle in the Womb How many doth it send from the Cradle to the Grave that they have run their race before they can go Others dye in their full strength besides the havock that is made by War Man no sooner lives but begins to dye sin lays all in the dust the Prince and the Begger sin hath reduc't man's age to a very little pittance not only to seventy but to seven for among men no mans life is valued more In a moral sense sin hath degraded man by defiling him Sin hath rob'd man of his primitive Excellencie of a Lord he is become a servant yea a slave to Devils and lusts of all sorts His body is defiled their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness with their tongues they use deceit the poyson of Asps is under their Lips their Throat is an open Sepulchre Eyes full of Adultery the Eye-lids Haughty Ears dull of Hearing yea deaf as the Adder the Forehead as impudent as a Brow of brass both Hands are imployed to work Iniquity the Belly an Idol-God the Feet are swift to shed Blood Within the Gall is a Gall of Bitterness the Spleen is infected with Envy and Malice Sin hath defil'd the Soul so that man is faln short of the Glory of God and the Glory of being Gods It must be new created or renewed till God will own it for his because till then his Image is not legible Yea the Flood which washt away so many sinners could not wash away sin the same heart remain'd after the Flood as before Sin hath made the heart of man deceitful obstinate out of the heart come vain and villanous words Sin hath defiled and spoiled mans Memory and Conscience and almost put out that leading faculty the Understanding Sin hath darkened the Understanding poor man is wise to do evil but to do good hath no knowledge Poor man is covered with Egyptian thick darkness Man now like the blinde Sodomites gropes to finde the door Man hath lost his way since he lost his eyes Poor man catches at every straw and grasps every trifle Man cannot comprehend the light though it shine In the innocent golden Age man could have comprehended the least light that came from God and have seen day at a little hole he could have looked on the Sun and his eye not twinkle But now the wisdom of God the Gospel continues an hidden thing to this blinded world Man's darkness appears by his walking in all manner of wickedness who but blinde men would walk in dirt up to the ears yea over head and ears It appears that sin hath blinded man for he knows not whither he goes Men are busie in this world like a company of Ants creeping up and down from one Mole-hill to another but are not so wise for the Ants know but poor blinde men know not whither they go whether forward or backward from home or to home DEATHS Triumph Dash'd OR An ELEGIE On that Faithful Servant of God Mr. IAMES IANEWAY Minister of the Gospel VVho Resting from his most ZEALOUS and PROFITABLE Labours fell asleep in the LORD The 12th of this Instant March 1673 4. How Janeway dead spare Lord Oh spare thy Rod 'T will else too soon compleat our Icabod If thus thou snatch the Pastors who shall keep From Romish Wolves thy pretious trembling sheep If Night be coming whither may they stray When such sure Watchmen are remov'd away We lost alas one Janeway before Oh! when shall we have two such Janeways more Men whom Heav'n fram'd and sent on purpose hither To win and bring whole crouds of Converts thither Death's now grown Rigid and intends 't should seem To make our Teachers all conform to him E're we can dry our big-swell'd eyes for one Tidings surprize us that another's gone Hush then Elegiacks 'T is in vain you come Slight Sorrows Roar but mighty Griefs are Dumb. Behold our troubled Hemispere has lost Another Star whose brightness might almost Vie Lustre with the Sun whose Heav'n-bred Rays Shot forth such Flames at Darkness that our days Vnsoil'd with shades might hope to overthrow Hells Gates and make another Heav'n below But now our Skie is darkned this bright Star Being Ravisht hence our fainting Israels Car Hath lost its nimblest Wheels we change our Light For gloomy Clouds and loose our day in night That Star's remov'd whose clear enlightned Head Gilt every Eye with Flame and often led The wandring Wise men of the world to see The Sacred Object of a bended Knee For by his zealous conduct we addrest To view a CHRIST new born in every Breast This was both his imployment and delight Oh! how like Son of Thunder would he fright A stubborn sinner and an Earth-quake raise In guilty minds reflecting on their ways But then not for to break the bruised Reed Like Son of Consolation he 'd proceed With Soveraign Remedies of Gospel-Balm To heal the wounds and such Soul-Tempests calm Thus would he wooe and plead for God and then Prove no less Orator to him for men As in the early morn a sprightly Lark Springs from some Turf making the Heav'ns her mark Shoots up her self through Clouds higher and higher As if she 'd bear a part i th' Angels Quire So would he rise in Pray'r till in a trice His Soul became a Bird of Paradise If our dull faint Devotions Prayers be We must acknowledge his an Extasie Knowledge the depth of whose unbounded main Hath been the wrack of many a curious brain And from her yet unreconciled Schools Hath fill'd us with so many Learned Fools Had tutor'd him with rules that could not erre And taught him how to know himself her Furnishing his large Soul in height of measure Like a rich Store-house of Divinest Treasure From whence as from a Sacred Spring did flow Fresh Oracles to let his Hearers know A way to Glory and to let them see That way to Glory was to walk as he Thus lab'ring as Heav'ns Agent here below For others good his wasted Spirits flow His Mortal Life be freely spent that we Might gain a Life of Immortality Still Preaching Writing every way he tryes To court the World from endless miseries Admonishes the Old instructs the Young And teaches Children to speak Sions Tongue But now his painful labours all are o're Methinks I see him welcom'd at Heaven's door By crouds of Saints sent there by him before Hush then you Sighs forbear you flowing Tears You storms and showrs of nature stop your ears Let us no more with broken grov'ling numbers Disturb his Rest now rock'd in sacred slumbers Complaints are