and therefore the Blessing is null and moreover what the meaning of this Providence is that my Brother should come forth against me in this hostile manner I knovv not Wherefore I humbly beg thy Blessing and the confirmation of that Title vvhich hath so great an error in it Thus God brought an old reckoning to his remembrance in an evil day and set it on his conscience and put him to repent and mourn for he wept and made supplication to the Angel Hos 12.4 He came not off so easily but was fain to vvrestle hard all night to lose his rest and to struggle and sweat and pray and vveep and shed many a tear and to go halting aftervvard upon his Thigh unto his dying day Take heed therefore of old Reckonings undischarged look back and consider hovv it hath been and omit not a day vvithout revievving your Actions and Repentings I say as duly as the day determineth let not the Sun go dovvn upon any guilt contracted that so your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and exercise your self to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and men and this vvill the better prepare you for the coming of Jesus Christ both by Death and Judgment Fifthly Be much in the exercise of Goodness Mercy and works of Liberality towards Christ in his needy Members according to your opportunity and power For though you shall be saved by your Faith yet you shall be judged according to your Works And it greatly concerneth us to be laborious in that Service upon vvhich the judgment shall pass at Christ's appearance Mat. 25.35 36. Call your self therefore to an account what you have done in this way for Christ as how you have fed cloathed visited relieved him in his Members here on earth And if this were more considered such as profess to Christ would be more active for him in ought wherein they might be more serviceable to him but when we see but little activity in the exercise of this Grace we may well fear there is but little Oil in the Vessel for rich anointings will make men agile and ready for every good work inasmuch as the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and they that hope for eternal Life when Christ shall come by Death and Judgment must seek for Glory Honour and Immortality not only in well-doing but in continuance in it Beware of Omissions and among others of this great duty The Judgment will reach unto all sins In the Narrative of his Life and Death and to omissions in a special manner Mat. 25.37 38. For which that learned and holy Vsher was humbled upon his death-bed The Nobleman hath put a Pound into your hand saying Occupy till I come yea he hath given you many Pounds in a literal sense with which you must trade as well as with the Talents of your Parts and Gifts of Grace And I know you would be glad to find Mercy with Onesiphorus in the day of Christ Remember therefore Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Mat. 5.7 But He shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy whereas mercy rejoyceth against judgment A merciful man is so far from fearing judgment at Christ's coming that he rather rejoyceth at the thoughts of it Sixthly Exercise diligence and faithfulness in your particular Calling For when Christ speaketh of his Coming saith he Be ye ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh What followeth Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made Ruler over his houshold to give them meat in due season Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24.44 45 46. When Christ was speaking to this Point saith Peter Lord speakest thou this Parable to us or even unto all Luke 12.41 Truly Christ spake it unto all though in a special manner to such as Peter for Christ will have an account how every one of us have managed our particular Callings But they that are Stewards in the House of God which is his Church have a very great account to give and it is required of them in a special manner that a man be found faithful and of all Christ's servants his Stewards have most to answer for that if a dispensation of the Gospel and the care of souls were not committed to them he that understandeth the weight of Stewardship would dread to undertake it but a necessity is laid upon them and wo unto them if they Preach not the Gospel It is said of Calvin that when Nature began to decline in him Melch. Adam in vit Calv. and the symptoms of a dying man appeared on him he would be diligent at his Studies from which his friends disswading him saith he Nunquid me Dominus inveniet otiosum Shall my Master find me idle Let such therefore and all be diligent and faithful in their respective place and employments And indeed every man is a Steward more or less You know what the Master saith of the slothful Servant Take him and cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Such slothful servants shall be under the tribute of eternal pains Prov. 12.24 when the good and faithful Servant shall be made ruler over many things and enter into the joy of his Lord Mat. 25.23 Would you stand before Christ at his coming Oh dread Idleness and unfaithfulness in your Callings as you desire to be sound of him in peace at his appearance Fill up your days with Duty and give your time to him who gave it to you Paul was a great lover of Christ and his Appearance and who more abundant in his Labours for him For he had the Conscience of his indefatigable industry and fidelity in his work for his Master Saith he I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith 2 Tim 4.7 8. He meaneth especially his military faith and oath in fighting a good fight for Christ And wherefore do we hear him groaning so earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with his house which is from Heaven It was because he laboured ambitiously that whether present or absent he might be accepted of him For saith he We must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one might receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5 2. with 9.10 Lastly That I might not multiply particulars let me add what Christ hath joined together Sobriety Watchfulness and Prayer Luk. 21 34.36 And therefore take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfetting and drunkenness and cares of this Life and that Day come upon you unawares Gird up therefore the loins of your minds be sober and hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought
the Institution of the two Sacraments of the New Testament But here as indeed in all Religious instruction remember that you are not to teach Parots but Christians persons though for the present ignorant yet capable of understanding both words and things Be not therefore satisfied in the Child 's bare repeating of the words Bowles Past Evang. l. 2. c 5. as a thick-skul'd Papist is taught to mumble over his Pater noster or Ave Maria which he no more understands than that sottish Priest did his Mumpsimus but first unlock the Cabinet that is open to the Child the true meaning of the words and then present him with the Jewels that is the Truths contained in those words Remember it as an undoubted Maxim It is impossible clearly to apprehend Truths unless we rightly understand those words in which Truths are wrapt up 2. For others that are of a larger capacity I shall not presume to dedicate among those more than scores of excellent Catechisms that are extant and may be of singular use both in Families and Churches which to pitch upon with the slighting of any of the rest I bless the Lord for the common Catechism of our Church and for Doctor Hills improvement of it in which I was initiated when a Child God hath signally own'd Mr. Perkins his Six Principles and no less Mr. Bali's Catechism Crook's Guide is highly esteemed by the Learned judicious and godly and I judge not unworthily if for nothing else than this its great harmony with the sum and substance of Christian Religion compos'd by that great Master in our English Israel These Catechisms I say to me with many many more sparkle like so many precious Diamonds in my eyes but it pleased the Lord in the beginning of my Ministry to direct me to the use of those Catechisms that were compos'd by the late Reverend Assembly of Divines at Westminster Catechisms which I then found greatly approved not only by the godly and judicious at home but also by several of the Reformed Churches abroad and such as have this peculiar Excellency beyond most that I have seen that every Answer in them is an entire Proposition of it self without relation to the Question preceding These Catechisms I have made use of both in my Congregation and Family now near thirty years and I desire to speak it with all humility and thankfulness if ever the Lord smiled on my poor Labours it hath been whilest I have been busied in this great useful necessary work of Catechizing and that out of these Catechisms How these Excellent Catechisms may be used to the best advantage by Parents and Governours of Families I have long since given directions which may be had at Mr. Parkhurst's at the Bible and three Crowns near Mercer's Chappel 2. Ecclesiastical Superiors And as to my dear and Reverend Brethren of the Ministry that would at the Great Day be publickly own'd as Pastors after God's own Heart such as have minded the Flock more than the Fleece and in that Flock the Lambs as well as the Sheep To these my Brethren though I dare not presume to give advice what can my Taper do to their Sun my dâop to their stream yet they will give me leave to be their Remembrancer Dear Brethren who are to me as my own Soul our great and good God hath been pleas'd to honour us so far as to set us up as Stewards in his house to give every one his proper portion in due seasân and of all others you know our Master's will is that young ones be especially provided for The Duty therefore that we ow to God the love we bear to Truth and to Souls that are not capable of being saved without the knowledg of Truth to the Souls of younger ones especially who if they be not taught the Truth in their greener years will more difficultly be brought to learn it when they are grown older Nay the love we owe to our own souls who must give a just account for every poor Soul committed to our charge we knowing how great a Price the least Lamb of our Flock hath cost how rich a Prey Satan hath ever reckon'd on in the poorest Soul how industrious he is in hunting how many nimble Beagles he hath that rejoice to do their best in the worst service he lists to imploy them how great advantages they have at this time by the many sad and fatal breaches made in all our hedges Surely in the serious consideration of these and many more particulars we shall in the strength of our God arise and be doing and revive that most necessary exercise of Catechizing in the midst of us But how 1. For advice at large and such as you vvill have cause to bless God for ever for if you please to follow it I refer you to that faithful and skilful Workman Mr. Baxter his Christian Directory fol. pag. 498. 509. 512. 515. 543. 582. and fourth Part. 44. 2. More particularly 1. Whatever you do in this work you will do it soundly and purely If ever a Pastor will in Doctrine shew incorruptness gravity sincerity let him do it in Catechizing Tit. 2.7 8. Sound speech that cannot be condemned that he that is of the contrary part may not be ashamed Give to Babes the sincere Milk 1 Pet. 2 2â not sophisticated Wine 2. Do it plainly so plainly that he that runs may read and understand so plainly that none may excuse themselves at the Day of Judgment and say Lord we would have learned thy saving truths but they were too high too hard too difficult for us Remember the generality of people are very dull of hearing and such as have need of Milk Heb. 5.11 12. and not of strong Meat Speak we therefore so as that our Discourse may rise to the Conviction of the wisest but yet at the same time sink and condescend to the capacity of the meanest I am apt to fear that even then Dr. Wilkins vvhen vve aim lowest vve yet at that very time shoot above not only the hearts but heads of our people Let our main care therefore be to open the understandings of our Catechumeni This is that vvhich the Lord had in his eye vvhen he did not only command the Levites to instruct the children of Israel in the meaning of all his Statutes Lev. 10.11 but he laid this charge also upon every Parent to teach the Children the meaning of every Law and Ordinance of God Exod. 12.26 27. and 13 14. Dent. 6.20 If God required this under the Law much more now under the Gospel Isa 11.9 Neh. 8.2 3 vvhen 't is promised that the Earth should be filled with the knowledg of God The only service that is now acceptable unto God is our reasonable service Rom. 12.1 i. e. such service as is done unto him with reason and understanding Act. 8.30 The Word read profits not unless understood Vnderstandest thou what thou readest said
consolations proper for that hour O! what refreshments do oft times issue and arise from those discoveries of God's image in us presence with and favour for us which are made by us when we are forced to retire within when all things round about us fail and lose their interest in and favour with us because our flesh decays and wasts through pains and rottenness to which the bewitching dotages of time could make their easiest and most successful applications And it oft-times happens that our fears exceed our pains and that the King of Terrors doth not gripe so hard nor stab so painfully as we are apt to think and look for but when the stroke is given indeed and the pains are gone how easily and quickly do the first openings of our eternal morning even swallow up all the remembrances of our dying sorrows Oh when the joys and visions of our God invade and exercise our departed Souls then comes the great prelusion and welcome pledge of our eternal conquest of this last enemy and after a short sleep of Bodies in the dust whilst Souls retire and go to God the Trump will found the Lord will come the World shall perish or be refined by the flames and the dead rise again and die no more 3. Is it because you fear a change of state to your great disadvantage when you are dead that you are loath and dread to die If so then it is because either 1. You credit not or question the certainty and excellency of the world to come Or 2. Because you do not understand and value it Or 3. You do suspect your interest in and fitness for it If it be the first concoct those Arguments and Intimations which God hath given you by diligent enquiries sober pauses faithful meditation reflect upon the first and second Propositions and those more cogent useful Treatises which are written on this Subject and wherewith the world abounds and let not the bribes and flatteries of a vain world divert you nor the malignant influences of a wanton Fancy corrupt and mortifie the Faculties which God hath given you for this end for here the light is ready for the prepared eye 2. If you do not understand its excellence and so have no value for it compare both states together that so your choice and value may result from wisdom and be the product of true and sober judgment Is it so good to dwell delight and perish in the flames of smart contention betwixt God and you or to have your breath and spirits expended in dreadful groans and ecchoes to the Apostle's deep complaints and cries in Rom 7.18 21 23 24. Is there no melody like heart-reproaches for practical despising and displeasing God Psal 51.3 4. Is there such harmony and advantage in the sluggish exercises motions of diseased souls Is there such pleasure in dark and difficult discoveries which are but one remove from the thick darkness of damning Ignorance and Blindness as that your aversation to be sent away unto that Element of clearer views and visions in the other world may well be fixed there Can you delightfully be exposed to temptations to injurious and unworthy thoughts of God and dwell where God is little discerned prized and served What! is an Hospital such a desirable habitation that you are loth to quit it Are the distractions pains and vanities of a forsaken world such Charms and Loadstones to your hearts as to set you on building Tabernacles and fixing there Who ever loved to be exposed to miseries or to build his Palace on the sands or hasty Streams and what is this state of Life but the true Theatre and Center of all these woes and miseries But of this see more in Prop. 2. But if you look above and pierce the Heavens there you will meet with clear discoveries and vehement flames of Love and all desirable unconceivable vigour liberty and satisfaction in an immortal state 4. Is it because you do suspect your interest in and fitness for the life to come If so then know the terms of Life and try your state thereby Do you not know what God is believe what he saith accept what he tenders and do what he commands Know you not who Christ is what he hath done what he expects what he promises and will do Are you an enemy to the Graces Truths and motions of the Spirit and to his directing quickning and comforting influences Are ye not dead to sin alive to God through Christ Is not another Life the exercise and object of your chief desire pursuit and satisfaction have you no prevalent inclinations affections and resolutions to renounce the World Flesh Devil and to discharge all your Duties to God yourselves and others with wisdom holiness activity and courage And to do all this as in the sight of God and with delight as in the hopes and prospect of a better world and to expect what God hath promised in the ways which he commands If these things be in you and abound your hearts are right condition safe and title good If you be wanting here this is your way of reparation and security Do these things and Death is yours and when these things are done all your discouraging doubts fears are answered and dispelled by being clearly understood For 1. It is one thing to be fit to die and another thing to know it 2. It is one thing to have your Title good another thing to be sinless and so fully ripe for Heaven immediately 3. It is one thing to have a serious fixed heart and will for God and another thing to have passionate affections which depend more upon the temper of the Body than the power and ripeness of the Grace of God upon the heart 4. It is one thing what we cannot be though we would be with strength and readiness of will another thing what we have little or no will to be 5. It is one thing to love and hate proportionably to what God and sin are and deserve and 't is another thing to love and hate as God requires in proportion to our strength and with reference to our Work and Joy And 6. It is one thing to have Corruption dwell in us and another thing to have it rule 7. It is one thing to be tempted of the Devil and another thing to yield thereto And 8. It is one thing to have ground of Hope and Joy and another to have the sense thereof 9. Joy is also considerable as our Duty and God's Gift And these 9 Distinctions well observed rightly applied and carefully improved will go exceeding far towards answering all those Doubts which animate unwarrantable Fears of Death in those whose hearts are right whilst their hopes are low their jealousies great their Spirits faint and so their Lives uncomfortable through their own ignorant and sad Mistakes Infer 1. Christian Religion at the worst is better than a course of wickedness at the best Inf. 2.
fear Death and 31. Grace thus in Exercise Sermon 31 is but one degree from Glory Now Christians though there are many particular Cases wherein you 'l need Direction yet let me close with this Request Try your utmost what the practical Transcript of these Directions into your Hearts and Lives will produce ere you complain for more That these may be useful to you whoever else censures them as useless shall be the hearty Prayer of June 19. 1674. Your worthless Servant Samuel Annesley The CONTENTS Dr. Annesley Serm. 1 HOw may we attain to love God with all our hearts souls and minds Mat. 22.37 38. Mr. Milward Serm. 2 How ought we to love our Neighbour as our selves Mat. 22.39 Mr. Gale Serm. 3 Wherein the love of the world is inconsistent with the love of God 1 Joh. 2.15 Mr. Jenkyn Serm. 4 How may we improve the present season of grace 2 Cor. 6.1 2. Mr. Veal Serm. 5 What spiritual knowledg they ought to seek for that desire to be saved c. Isa 27.11 Mr. Case Serm. 6 How ought the Sabbath to be sanctified Isa 58.13 14. Mr. Senior Serm. 7 How may we hear the Word with profit James 1.21 Mr. Watson Serm. 8 How may we read the Scriptures with most spiritual profit Deut. 17.19 Mr. Wells Serm. 9 How may we make melody in our hearts with singing of Psalms Eph. 5.19 Dr. Manton Serm. 10 How ought we to improve our Baptism Acts 2.38 Mr. Lye Serm. 11 By what spiritual rules may catechising be best manag'd Prov. 22.6 Mr. Wadsworth Serm. 12 How may it appear to be every Christian 's indispensable duty to partake of the Lord's Supper 1 Cor. 11.24 Mr. Barker Serm. 13 A Religious fast Mark 2.20 Mr. Lee Serm. 14 How to manage secret Prayer that it may be prevalent with God to the comfort and satisfaction of our Souls Mat. 6.6 Mr. Doolitle Serm. 15 How may the Duty of Family-prayer be best manag'd Josh 24.15 Mr. Steele Serm. 16 What are the Duties of Husbands and Wives towards each other Eph. 5.33 Mr. Adams Serm. 17 What are the Duties of Parents and Children Coloss 3.20 21. Mr. Janeway Serm. 18 What are the Duties of Masters and Servants Eph. 6.5 6 7 8 9. Mr. S. C. Serm. 19 The sinfulness and cure of thoughts Gen. 6.5 Mr. West Serm. 20 How must we govern our tongues Eph. 4.29 Mr. Poole Serm. 21 How may detraction be best prevented or cur'd Psal 15.3 Mr. Baxter Serm. 22 What is that light which must shine before men in the works of Christ's Disciples Matth. 5.16 Dr. Wilkinson Serm. 23 How must we do all in the Name of Christ Col. 3.17 Mr. Cole Serm. 24 How may we steer an even course between Presumption and Despair Luke 3.5 6. Mr. Fowler Serm. 25 How Christians may get such a faith as may not only be saving at last but comfortable and joyful at the present 2 Pet. 1.8 Dr. Jacomb Serm. 26 How Christians may learn in every state to be content Phil. 4.11 Dr. G. Serm. 27 How we may so bear afflictions as neither to despise them nor faint under them Heb. 12.5 Dr. Owen Serm. 28 How may we bring our Hearts to receive Reproofs Psal 141.5 Mr. T. Vincent Serm. 29 Wherein doth appear the blessedness of forgiveness and how it may be attained Psal 32.1 Mr. Silvester Serm. 30 How may we overcome the inordinate love of Life and fear of Death Acts 20.24 Mr. Hook Serm. 31 What gifts of Grace are chiefly to be exercis'd in order to an actual preparation for the coming of Christ by Death and Judgment Mat. 25.10 Quest How may we attain to love God with all our Hearts Souls and Minds Serm. I. Matth. 22.37 38. Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind This is the first and great Commandment IT is fit this Exercise should begin with a general Introduction that may indifferently serve every Sermon that shall be Preach'd I should be much mistaken and so would you too should we think this Text unsuitable let 's therefore not only in the fear but also in the love of God address our selves to the management of it This Command you have in Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might This Command is not found in Exodus nor in Leviticus but only in Deuteronomy i. e. the second Law of Moses which as some express it bore a Type of the second Law viz. the Evangelical to which this Command is proper for the Old Law was a Law of fear tending to bondage and therefore Moses mentions the incussion of terror in the giving of it which when he hath dispatch'd he begins the following Chapter with Love noting that the Holy Ghost will cause the Law of Love to succeed the Law of Fear And 't is observable that the Jews read this place with the highest observation and their Scribes write the first and last words of the Preface to it with greater Letters than ordinary to amplifie the sense and to note that this is the beginning and the end of the Divine Law and they read this Scripture morning and evening with great * Jansen Harmon The Occasion Religion The occasion of Christ's pressing this command upon them at this time was this when the Pharisees heard how he had baffled the Sadduces and stopped their mouths with so proper and fit an answer that they had no more to say they consult how they may shew their acumen and sharpness of wit to diminish Christ's credit concerning his Doctrine and Skill in Scripture and therefore they chuse out one of their most accomplish'd Interpreters of the Law captiously to propose an excellent question They call him Master whose Disciples they will not be they enquire after the Great Commandment who will not duely observe the least they thought Christ could not return such an answer but that they might very plausibly except against it * Cartw. Harm Auth. imperfect op If Christ should have named any one command to be the greatest their exception was ready why not another as great as that but Christ's wisdom shames their subtilty Christ doth not call any command Great with the lessening of the rest but he repeats the summe of the whole Law and distinguisheth it into two Great Commands according to the subordination of their Objects Thou shalt love c. Though the excellency of the subject calls for the enlargement of your hearts yet the copiousness of it requires the contracting of my discourse To save time therefore let me open my Text and Case both together The Case is this The Case What is it to love God with all the heart
the service of God m Idomne Deo obsequio mancipâtâe Chem. c. He that thus loves God need not trouble himself how to order and dispose the several words here used his Heart Soul Mind Will whatever he is hath knows understands obtains is all due to God neither is there any thing in the whole world to be valued before God and thus I have given you a lame account what it is to love God c. The Third thing I undertook was demonstratively to prove that it is our indispensible Duty thus to love God It is our indispensible duty thus to love God To love God is our great Natural duty Man would more Naturally love God than himself were it not for Sin Neither Angels nor Men were at first commanded to love God Nature wanted no spur to this Duty The Law of Love was implanted in Nature Thou hast made me O Lord saith Aug. and my heart is unquiet till it come to thee O my heart saith he every Creature expells thee from them and that not without shame that thou mayest goe to God they doe as it were say O miserable wretch why dost thou adhere to me I am not the good which thou requirest O my Soul why dost thou goe thirsting among the Creatures to beg some drops that will rather provoke than quench thy thirst why dost thou leave that everlasting Fountain where thou mayst be perfectly satisfied What canst thou desire that is not fully and perfectly to be had in God n Stella de amore âei I shall at present urge no other Demonstration than Christ's Reason in the following verse This is the first and the great Commandment This is the great Command not that any Command of God is small the Commands in Scripture are like the Stars in the Firmament which though to ignorant Persons they are but like twinkling Candles yet are greater than the whole Earth so these Commands that careless persons overlook as inconsiderable are such as without respect unto them there is no salvation I grant there is a difference in the Commands e. g. o Deut. 21.12 and 5.7 The Command about paring the Nayls is of lesser moment than that of having no other God nay in the same kind Christ threatens the Scribes and Pharisees for their Hypocrisie p Mat. 23.23 that they were so exact in tything their Gardens and so remiss in looking to their Hearts but among the Commands and the diversity of them Christ tells us this is the greatest The Jews some of them counted the Command about Sacrifice to be the greatest as is hinted in the Scribe's saying q Mark 12.33 this Command of loving God is more than all whole Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices others counted that of Circumcision to be the the greatest others that of the Sabbath r Engl. Annot. Origen observes 't is well that Christ decides the controversie though the truth is he that willingly breaks the least Commandment will not stick to break the greatest While onely one sin makes us to forbear another for mens lusts cross one another when occasion serves that sin will be ventur'd upon that is now forborn But this upon a manifold account is The great Command Ratione objâcti 1. In respect of the Object it is God the chiefest Being the first and chiefest Good What am I Lord saith Augustine that thou commandest me to love thee and threatnest me with misery if I do not love thee This is no small aggravation of the Devil's torments that he cannot love God God may require many things of us but he requires nothing like this of our Love because this is the onely thing wherein we can answer God s Et vicem licet non ex aequo reddere in other things we cannot or we may not render God like for like God created us and gave us our Being but we can do nothing like this for God God preserves us in safety and daily confers innumerable Benefits upon us God delivers from innumerable dangers both of Soul and Body there 's none of all this to be done for God God is infinitely above all such Returns and there are other things wherein we may not render God like for like If God be angry with us we may not be angry with him if he reprove us we must not quarrel with him if God judge us we must not censure him But now God loves us and through Grace we are able to love him again and he loves us and God commands us to love him again 'T is true there 's no equality between God's loving of us and our loving of God God's Love does infinitely overcome ours t Raymundus but yet our love to God speaks Interest and Union the thing loved gives the name to the love Love is but an indifferent Passion till it be united to the thing loved and then it gets a denomination e. g. If the Object be earthly it is an earthly love if sensual it is a brutish love if it be man 't is an humane love if God 't is a Divine love so that by our love we are changed and transformed into a thing more noble or more vile we therefore debase our selves in loving any thing but God there 's nothing else worthy of our love whatsoever we love we give it a kind of dominion over us so that the will loseth its dignity and excellency when it loves inferiour things we are as it were married to that we love Suppose saith Raymundus a poor man of mean stock and no reputation have six daughters they are all equal by birth as to reputation and esteem but they are all differenced by their marriage the eldest marries a Farmer the next a Citizen the third a Knight the fourth a Duke the fifth a King the sixth at Emperour by these marriages there 's a very great inequality So here by the Object of your love you are dignified or debased But there is more yet in God's being the Object of our Love thou shalt love the Lord thy God thy God and therefore thou must love him Give me leave to enlarge a little on this and I will be the briefer in the other Considerations how this is the great Command thou shalt love the Lord Thy God Those things that are ours though they are not alwayes lovely yet we love them our own Children whether of our Bodies or our Minds our own Estates we are more troubled at the loss of any thing wherein our own Propriety is concerned than in all the World besides a small thing of our own is a thousand times more to us than a thousand times as much of anothers we are more concern'd for the cutting off our own Finger than the cutting off another mans Head Propriety doth exceedingly heighten Love But then when there is a specialty upon the Propriety that it is impossible to have the want repair'd e. g. my Child and mine onely Child
conformity with the will of God which is the highest liberty where the x 2 Cor. 3.17 spirit of the Lord is there is liberty It is a poor liberty that consists in an indifferency Do not the Saints in heaven love God freely yet they cannot but love him As the only Efficient cause of our loving God is God himself so the only procuring cause of our loving God is Jesus Christ that Son of the Father's love who by his Spirit implants and actuates this grace of love which he hath merited for us Christ hath a Col. 1.20 made peace through the blood of his Cross Christ hath as well merited this grace of love for us as he hath merited the reward of glory for us Plead therefore Dear Christians the merit of Christ for the inflaming your hearts with the love of God that when I shall direct to rules and means how you may come to love God you may as well address your selves to Christ for the grace of love as for the pardon of your want of love hitherto Bespeak Christ in some such but far more pressing language Lord thou hast purchased the grace of love for those that want and crave it my love to God is chill do thou warm it my love is divided Lord do thou unite it I cannot love God as he deserves O that thou would'st help me to love him more than I can desire Lord make me sick of love and then cure me Lord make me in this as comfortable to thy self as 't is possible for an adopted Son to be like the Natural that I may be a Son of God's love both actively and passively and both as near as it is possible infinitely Let 's therefore address our selves to the use of all those means and helps whereby love to God is b Fovetur augetur excitatur exeritur nourished encreased excited and exerted I will begin with removing the impediments we must clear away the rubbish e're we can so much as lay the Foundation Impediment 1. Self-love Impediments of our love to God this the Apostle names as Captain general of the Devil's Army whereby titular Christians manage their enmity against God in the dregs of the last dayes this will make the times dangerous Men shall be lovers of their own c 2 Tim. 3.1 2. selves When men over-esteem themselves their own endowments of either body or mind when they have a secret reserve for self in all they do self-applause or self-profit this is like an errour in the first concoction get your hearts discharg'd of it or you can never be spiritually healthful the best of you are too prone to this I would therefore commend it to you to be jealous of your selves in this particular for as conjugal-jealousie is the bane of conjugal love so self-jealousie will be the bane of self-love Be suspicious of every thing that may steal away or divert your love from God Imped 2. Love of the world this is so great an obstruction that the most loving and best beloved Disciple that Christ had said (d) 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the world nor the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him and the Apostle James makes use of a Metaphor (e) Jam. 4.4 calling them Adulterers and Adulteresses that keep not their conjugal love to God tight from leaking out toward the world he chargeth them as if they knew nothing in Religion if they knew not this that the friendship with the world is enmity with God and 't is an universal truth without so much as one exception that whosoever will be a friend of the world must needs upon that very account be God's enemy the Apostle Paul adds more weight to those that are e'en press'd to Hell already (f) 1 Tim. 6.9 10 11. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves thorow with many sorrows but thou O man of God flee these things c. when men will be some-body in the world they will have Estates and they will have honours and they will have pleasures what variety of vexatious distractions do unavoidably hinder our love to God when our hearts are hurried with hopes and fears about worldly things and the world hath not wherewithall to satisfie us how doth the heart fret under its disappointments and how can it do otherwise we would have happiness here Sirs I 'le offer you fair name me but one man that ever found a compleat happiness in the world and I dare promise you shall be the second but if you will flatter your self with dreams of impossibilities this your way will be your folly though 't is like your posterity will approve your sayings (g) Psal 49.13 and try experiments while they live as you have done but where 's your love to God all this while 't is excluded by what Law by the Law of Sin and Death by the love of the world and destruction for Christ tells us all that hate him love death (h) Prov. 8.36 Imped 3. Spiritual sloath and carelessness of Spirit when men do not trouble themselves about Religion nor any thing that is serious Love is a busie passion a busie grace love among the passions is like Fire among the Elements Love among the Graces is like the Heart among the Members now that which is most contrary to the nature of love must needs most obstruct the highest actings of it the truth is a careless frame of Spirit is fit for nothing a sluggish lazy slothful careless person never attains to any excellency in any kind what is it you would intrust a lazy person about let me say this and pray think on 't twice e're you censure it once Spiritual sloath doth Christians more mischief than scandalous relapses I grant their grosser falls may be worse as to others the grieving of the Godly and the hardning of the wicked and the Reproach to Religion must needs be so great as may make a gracious heart tremble at the thought of falling but yet as to themselves a sloathful temper is far more prejudicial e. g. those gracious persons that fall into any open sin 't is but once or seldom in their whole life and their repentance is ordinarily as notorious as their sin and they walk more humbly and more watchfully ever after whereas Spiritual sloath runs through the whole course of our life to the marring of every duty to the strengthning of every sin and to the weakning of every grace Sloath I may rather call it unspiritual sloath is a soft moth in our spiritual wardrobe a corroding rust in our spiritual Armory an enfeebling consumption in the very vitals of Religion Sloath and
carelessness without an Epithete bare sloath without any thing to aggravate it ordinarily doth the Soul more hurt than all the Devils in hell yea than all its other sins Shake off this and then you will be more than Conquerors over all other difficulties shake off this and there is but one sin that I can think of at present that you 'l be in danger of and that 's spiritual pride You 'l thrive so fast in all grace you 'l grow up into so much communion with God that unless God sometimes withdraw to keep you humble you will have a very Heaven upon Earth Imped 4. The love of any sin whatsoever the love of God and the love of any Sin can no more mix together than Iron and Clay every Sin strikes at the being of God (i) Deicidium The very best of Saints may possibly fall into the very worst of pardonable Sins but the least of Saints get above the love of the least of Sins we are ready to question Gods love unto us as Dalilah did Sampson's love to her if he do not gratifie us in all we have a mind to but how could Dalilah pretend love to Sampson while she comply'd with his mortal enemy against him how can you pretend to love God while you hide Sin his enemy in your hearts as it was with the grand-child of Athaliah (k) 2 King 11.1 2 c. stoln from among those that were slain and hidden though unable at present to disturb her e're long procures her ruine so any Sin as it were stoln from the other Sins to be preserv'd from Mortification will certainly procure the ruine of that Soul that hides it can you hide your Sin from the search of the Word and forbear your Sin while under the smart of affliction and seem to fall out with Sin when under gripes of Conscience and return to Sin as soon as the storm is over never pretend to love God God sees through your pretences and abhors your hypocrisie (l) Job 34.21 22. His eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings there 's no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Come Sirs let me deal plainly with you you are shameful strangers to your own heart if you do not know which is your darling Sin or Sins and you are Traytors to your own Souls if you do not endeavour a through Mortification and you are wilful Rebels against God if you do in the least indulge it never boggle at the Psalmist's counsel (m) Psal 97.10 ye that love the Lord hate evil Imped 5. Inordinate love of things lawful and in some respect here 's our greatest danger here persons have Scripture to plead for their love to several persons and things that it is a duty to bestow some love upon them and the meer stones are not so plainly set as easily to discern the utmost bounds of what is lawful and the first step into what is sinful and here having some plausible pretences for the parcelling out of their love they plead not guilty though they love not God with all their hearts souls and minds whereas they should consider that the best of the world is not for enjoyment but use not our end but means conducing to our chief end Here 's our sin and our misery our foolish transplacing of end and means Men make it their end to eat and drink and get estates and injoy their delights and what respect they have to God I know not whether to call love or Service they shew it but as means to flatter God to gratifie them in their pitiful ends Having warned you of some of the chief Impediments I shall propose some means to engage your hearts in love to God which you may confidently expect to be effectual through the operation of the Holy Ghost and you may likewise expect the operation of the Spirit in the use of such means The means are either Directing Promoting or Conserving Means to attain love to God 1. Directing and that is Spiritual Knowledge this is beyond what can be spoken in its commendation A clear and distinct knowledge of the love and loveliness of God in the amazing yet ravishing methods of its manifestations and the clear understanding of the heavenly priviledge of having our hearts inflam'd with love to God this will do I would fain perswade you to try I am not able to say how much to direct you in this case plainly get and exercise this twofold knowledge 1. The knowledge of Spiritual things did we but perfectly know the Nature of the most contemptible insect nay did we but know the Nature of Atoms this would lead us to admire and love God but then to know those things that no graceless person in the world cares for the knowledge of e. g. the inward workings of Original Sin and how to undermine it the powerful workings of the Spirit of grace and how to improve it what are the joys of the Holy Ghost and how to obtain them would not such things insinuate the love of God into you add then 2. The knowledge of ordinary things in a Spiritual manner so as to make the knowledge of Natural things serve Heavenly designs Thus Christ in all the Metaphors in all the Parables he used To value no knowledge any further than it is reducible to such an use this would lead us into the loving of God Thus I name but one directing means promoting means are various not but that Spiritual knowledge doth singularly promote the love of God but it 's proper work lyes in directing The several things I shall name for inward means your way of managing must make them so 1. Self-denyal this is so necessary that no other grace can supply the want of it It is among the graces of the Soul as among the members of the Body one member may supply the want of another the defect of the Lungs may be supplied by other parts The want of prudence may be supplied with Gospel-simplicity which looks like quite another thing but nothing can supply our want of love to God nor can any thing supply our want of Self-denyal in order to our loving of God We can never have n Foâ fotidissimus suo ãâã horribilissimum stercus vermis nequis simus Bonavent stimul Amor. p 153. too low thoughts of ourselves provided we do not neglect our duty and let go our hold of Christ Those very things that not only we may love but we must love 't is our duty to love them and our sin not to love them yet all these must be denyed when they dare to stand in competition with our love to God o Luk. 14.26 If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Christ would have us count what Religion will cost us
doth God mean to give me such a command as never to any one else in this world He consults not his Wife Oh what will Sarah say He sticks not at what might expose Religion What will the Heathen say You may well suppose great struglings between Nature and Grace but God seemed to press upon him with this Question Whether dost thou love me or thy child most Abraham doth as it were answer Nay Lord if that be the question it shall soon be decided how and where thou pleasest Another instance we have in Moses (k) Exod. 3.13 and 33.15.18 if you will compare two or three Scriptures Moses at first he enquires of God as we do of a stranger what is his Name upon Gods further discovery he begs more of his special presence and upon God's granting of that his Love grows bold and he said I beseech thee shew me thy Glory upon his finding God propitious he begs that God would remove the cloud and shew him as much of his Glory as he was possibly able to bear the sight of Take one instance more and that is of Paul who thinking God might have more glory by saving of many than by saving of him was willing to quit the happiness of salvation for not the least Grace much less grace in the height of it could possibly choose a necessity of hating and blaspheming God which is the venom of Damnation but his Love to God is greater than his love to himself and so he 'l reckon himself happy without Glory provided God may be more glorified And thus I have produced three Examples of one before the Law one under the Law and one under the Gospel How will you receive it if I shall venture to say We have in some respect more cause to love God than any than all these Persons put together What singular gleams of warm Love from God they had more than we are in some respects exceeded by the noon-day light and heat of Gospel-love that we have more than they What love-visits God was pleased to give them are excelled by Christs as to them extraordinary presence among us What was to them a Banquet is to us our daily bread God opens the windowes of heaven to us God opens his very heart to us We may read more of the Love of God to us in one day than they could in their whole Life 2. Angels that unweariedly behold the face of God (l) Mat. 18.10 they refuse nothing that may evidence their love to God 'T is ordinarily the Devils work to be the Executioners of Gods wrath it is said (m) Psal 78.49 he cast upon them the fierceness of his anger wrath and indignation and trouble by sending evil Angels among them but the good Angels will not stick at it when God requires it (n) 2 King 19.35 The Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the Camp of the Assyrians 185000. But now we have more cause to love God than the Angels God hath expressed greater Love to us in Christ than he hath to them He took no hold of Angels c. (o) Heb. 2.16 not any one of them receiv'd so much as the pardon of any one sin God would not bear with them in so much as the least tittle So soon as they ceased to love God with a perfect love God hated them with a perfect hatred And for the blessed Angels (p) Heb. 1.14 are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation but none of the Saints are to minister to the Angels in any thing How should we love such a Master but I have a Pattern to commend to you above the Angels 3. Christ and oh that the mention of Christs Love to his Father might transport us though Christ did nothing but (q) Joh. 8.29 what pleased his Father Christ suffered every thing that might please him ( ) Phil. 2.8 Christ obeyed every Command endured every Threatning that it was possible to endure and that to the intensive extent of them yet God dealt more hardly with Christ than ever he doth with any of us (s) Isa 53.10 It pleased the Father to bruise him and to put him to grief whereas the Church in the midst of her Lamentations must acknowledge (t) Lam. 3.33 he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of men yet Christ pray'd (u) Joh 17.23 that the world may know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me Should not we then pray and strive to love God as near as it is possible as Christ loved him Christ had not one hard thought of Gods severe Justice no not when he endur'd what was equivalent to the eternal torments of the Damned and shall our love shrink at Gods fatherly Chastisements Christs love to God did not abate while God poured out his Wrath and shall ours abate under Medicinal Providences whatever our outward condition is in this World 't is better than Christ's Thus I have endeavoured to acquaint you what Abilities are requisite and how to attain them that you may love God c. How to improve and augment our love to God 4. How to improve and augment all our possible abilities to love God with all our Heart Soul Mind and Strength and for this I shall give you one general yet singular direction though I must inform direct and press several things under it and that is set your selves to love God Set upon it as you are able do for the engaging of your love to God as you would do for engaging your hearts in love to a person commended to you for marriage Here 's a person commended to you which you never saw nor before heard of All the report you can hear speaks a great suitableness in the person and consequently happiness in the match you thereupon entertain the motion and a treaty to see whether reports be true and affections feasible though at first you find no affection on either side yet if you meet with no discouragements you continue converse till by a more intimate acquaintance there ariseth a more endearedness of affection at length a non-such love becomes mutual Do something like this in spirituals I now solemnly bespeak your highest love for God Perhaps God and thy soul are yet strangers thou hast not yet met with him in his ordinances nor savingly heard of him by his spirit Don't slight the overture for from thy first entertainment of it thou wilt be infinitely happy Every thing of Religion is at first uncouth the work of mortification is harsh and the work of holâness difficult but practice will facilitate them and make thee in love with them so the more thou acquaintest thy self with God the more thou canst not but love him especially considering that God is as importunate with thee for thy love as if his own happiness was concern'd whereas he is infinitely above receiving benefit
I love nothing but for thy sake extensively when I compare thee Lord with all other great and good things and had rather they and my self also had no being than once to offend my good God But yet most loving Lord when I consider a proportion of love I am greatly troubled If love should be according to the worth of the Object by how much thou art better than I am and more profitable to me than I am to my self I should love thee more than thou lovest me but that I never can O Lord I beseech thee how much dost thou love me is it weakly and remisly according to my goodness that be far from thee Lord. Thou lovest thine incomparably more than thou art loved of them as thou art incomparably greater and better than they But O great and good God that fillest heaven and earth yea the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee Why dost thou not fill my poor little soul O my soul why dost thou not open all thy little doors why doest not thou extend thy utmost capacity that thou may'st be wholy possest wholy satiated wholy de-ebriated with the sweetness of so great love especially when though thou art so little yet thou canst not be satisfied with the love of any lesser good Many questions might be proposed to expostulate my soul into a flame of love But I see Lord 't is easie to speak and write these things but 't is hard to doe and perfect them in effect Thou therefore most good and Almighty Lord to whom nothing is difficult grant I pray thee that I may more easily doe these things with my heart than profess them with my mouth c. And thus having after my poor manner put you upon practice and pointed you the way from the lowest to the highest step of divine love I am sensible that both good and bad have their exceptions ready against what I have delivered The humble trembling Christian he fears that if the lowest degree of love to God hath such heights in it he shall never be able to reach it and he is grieved whom God would not have made sad On the other hand those that call themselves Christians though there 's no reason for their usurping that title without any consideration of either the duty or themselves will bear you down that they love God with all their hearts souls and minds and that they have always done so and they are unworthy to live that doe not love God and if you enquire into any particulars whatsoever about their love to God they 'l rather quarrel with you than give you any satisfying answer If I could therefore propose any thing that would apply it self i. e. by its own evidence work it self into the conscience I might hope to dissolve their self-flatteries I cannot at present think of a more compendious way of undeceiving both these and of further perswasively urging the love of God than by plainly naming the infallible Properties and constant Effects of this love hereby those that despondingly fear they want it will find they have it and those that groundlesly boast of it will find they want it and both be instructed what must be done to evidence and exert it I shall begin with the properties of our love to God Properties of love to God And here as in all the rest I must study contraction and therefore dare not particularly mention Gerson's fifty properties of Divine Love I shall rather follow Voetius's method who ranks the properties of Divine Love thus They are partly Negative and Privative partly Positive and Absolute partly Comparative and Transcendent I shall speak briefly of each of these your Consciences may manage it as if it were a Use of Examination Negative Properties or Adjuncts are such as these and these may prevent the mistakes of drooping Christians and alas a great part of Christ's Family are such upon one account or other 1. This Divine Love is not at all in the unregenerate unless onely in shew and imitation that Soul that is solicitous about loving of God that Soul loves him This is proper and peculiar to all those and onely those that are born of God that are the adopted Children of God Let it be considered whether the Devil can counterfeit Love to God as he can other Graces their Faith works by Fear not by Love (a) Jam. 2.19 The Devils believe and tremble 'T is true he doth not only suffer but (b) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã promote an hypocritical Divine Love in some and he may appear in a Love-mask (c) Luva amoris to others as to Adam in Paradise (d) Gen. 3.5 God doth know that in the day you eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods He pretends he hath more kindness for them than God himself and the like to Christ (e) Mat. 4.3 c. but did he himself ever pretend so much as to love God I grant wicked men pretend to love God but the ridiculousness of their Discourse plainly evidences they neither understand what they say nor whereof they affirm And whereas thou complainest that thou fearest thy Love is not sincere because 't is selfish be not discouraged while thou studyest to please God fearest to offend him prizest his presence mournest for his absence thy love to God is infallibly sincere though there be an ingredient of self in it nay let me say more it could not be sincere if thou didst not mind thy self as in the very quintessence of Conjugal Love 't is impossible to abstract it from self-love so the more we love God the more we cannot but love our selves yea even then when we most deny our selves out of love to God 2. This Divine Love is far from perfection 't is subject to more sensible languishments and infirmities than any other grace though it can never be totally and finally extinguisht What though sometimes to thy own Apprehension thou canst not tell whether thou lovest God at all and what though at all times thou complainest of fickleness and inconstancy what though the time of thy Fear be longer than the time of thy Love yet while thine heart can say 't is unquiet in this temper and it is thy restless desire to love God more perfectly These very complaints speak Love we never complain of want of Love to those persons whom we do not already love This as well as other graces is here but in part (f) 1 Cor. 13.10 while we are in this lower World our very Graces will have their Nepe as well as their Spring-Tides We cannot yet be so wise as to foresee all our hinderances nor so watchful as to avoid all Satan's Ambushes nor so perfect as to maintain a spiritual frame of heart Though this Grace is alwayes in motion yet it doth not alwayes nor equally go forward 3. Our love to God shall never be abolished g Non quoad formam nec
twelve years of age to dispute with the Doctors in such a manner as that all that heard him marvelled at his understanding and answers was not like at this time to go far to seek for an answer to such a question we have him therefore speaking roundly and directly to it ver 37.38.39 Jesus said unto him thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great Commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self The latter part of this answer falls under our present consideration thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self This is said to be like unto the first i. e. a great commandment because as that comprehends all the duty we owe to God immediately so this includes all that duty we owe to man The (c) Hillel Senex Lex nostra uno pede continetur Diliges proximum tuum tanquam teipsum Uno pede hoc est uno Capite quod vocant universale magnum Drus Apophtheg Ebrae lib. 1. John 15.14 Phil. 4.8 Jewish Doctors were wont to call it the Vniversal great precept sometimes again the Head sometimes the foot of the Law alluding possibly to the total sum in accounts For as in adding many particulars together if you begin below and go upward the total sum is set above and called the Head of the account if above and proceed downward it is set below and called the Foot of the account containing in it as much as all the rest so if you begin at Moses and go down to the Prophets or at the Prophets and go up to Moses of all that is spoken by any or all of them about our duty to man this is the sum Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self When Christ commanded his Disciples to love one another he charged them with many things in that one thing These things I command you that you love one another and who can tell how many things are required of us in this one thing whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report all these whatsoevers are required in it yea whatsoever else that is good and vertuous if there be any vertue any praise it is (d) Decalogus continet doctrinam tam copiosam sublimem ut nunquam satis perspici nunquam exhauriâi postit Melancthon Isa 40.12 Eph. 3.18.19 Psal 119.96 comprehended in this one command love one another and also in this saying Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self It cannot be expected that in so short a time as is allotted to this exercise we should speak of all things contained in these words we can but take up a few drops out of the Ocean or a handful of sand from the shoar It is only he that measures the waters in the hollow of his hand and comprehendeth the dust of the Earth in a measure that is able to give us the true dimensions of them as there is height and depth a length and a breadth in the Love so also in the Law of God which passeth knowledge This David acknowledged when he said I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandement is exceeding broad Neither is it our scope to speak of the words in the way of a treatise we shall therefore give ye the Doctrine and proceed with as much speed as well we may to the Query the resolution of which is our main business at this time Doct. It is the duty of every man to love his Neighbour as himself When God says Thou shalt he intends thee and me and every man else of what rank state or condition soever he be Before we propound the Quaery it will be requisite 1. That we shew who is our Neighbour 2. That we speak something of the lawfulness of a mans loving himself 3. That we lay down some conclusions which are to be taken along with us as a thread that must run through the whole contexture of our ensuing discourse 1. Who is our Neighbour Our Neighbour is not onely he who lives near to our habitation in the same street or City nor he only that is of the same Country or nation that we are of but every man of what place or nation soever he be whether he be one of our acquaintance or a stranger a friend or an enemy Luke 10.29 30. You find this question put somewhere to Christ himself by a certain Lawyer whether he were the same we have here in this Chapter it matters not and there you have Christ answering him by a parable to this effect A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among theives which stript him and wounded him and left him half dead there came a Priest that way and saw him and passed by on the other side after him a Levite in like manner but a Samaritan seeing him had compassion on him bound up his wounds and brought him to his Inne c. Now which of these three was Neighbour to him he answers he that shewed mercy on him What says Christ go thou and do likewise As if he should have said Thou art a Jew and as such hast little or no dealing with a Samaritan or indeed with any man of another nation there is a partition-wall between you and them so that you look on them as strangers if not enemies and none of your Neighbours (e) Ipse enim est proximus quem non solum conformis natura conjunxerit sed etiam misericordia copulaverit Ambâos de poenit lib 1. cap. 5. Levit. 19.33 and 34. Math. 5.43 but I tell thee a Samaritan or a man of any other nation whatever he be is one of thy Neighbours and therefore if he be in misery and come within thy reach be sure thou shew mercy to him This God required of the Jewish nation of old If a stranger sojourn with you in your land ye shall not vex him but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be as one born among you and thou shalt love him as thy self Yea although he be an enemy the case is the same for so Christ resolves it ye have heard that it hath been said thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine enemy but I say unto you love your enemies Ye have heard the Scribes and Pharisees might have taught them thus blotting the text with their false interpretation but Christ better informs them and wiping away their blots with his spunge restores the Law to its primitive beauty and perfection I say unto you love your enemies And doth not the Law say the same also we find a very fair text in the Law to this purpose If thou meet thine enemies Ox or his Asse going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again Exod. 23.4 5. If thou see the Asse of him that hateth thee lying
Love to the world is spiritual Adultery and thence incoherent with the Love of God The jealousie of God will not admit of any corrival in the bent of the heart but Oh! how doth love to this world run a whoring after other Lovers so Ezek. 16.17 18 38. and 23.5 11. and Aholah played the harlot when she mas mine c. The like James 4.4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendsh p of the world is enmity with God Which implies that love to and friendship with this whorish world is spiritual Adultery and so hatred against God O! how soon are those that love the world killed by its adulterous imbraces hence 6 Love to the world is a deliberate contrived lust and so habitual enmity and rebellion against God Acts of lust which arise from suddain passions though violent may consist with the love of God but a deliberate Bent of heart towards the world as our supreme interest cannot The single act of a gross sin arising from some prevalent Temptation speaketh not such an inveterate bitter root of enmity against God as predominant love to the world James 4.4 whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God Oh! how much of contempt rebellion and enmity against God is there in friendship and love to the world 7 Love to the world forms our profession into a subservience unto our worldly interest and so makes Religion to stoop unto yea truckle under lust Now what can be more inconsistent with the Love of God than this This was the case of the carnal Jews Ezech. 33.31 With their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness They shew much love in profession but O how little have they of sincere affection and why because their avaricious hearts made the whole of their profession to conform to their worldly interest Thus also it was with unbelieving Jews in our Lords time John 5.42 But I know you that ye have not the love of God in you I know you There lies a great emphase in that you you who profess so much and yet have so little love in you They had much love to God in their mouth but none in their heart this appeareth by v. 43 44. where our Lord tells them in plain terms that their worldly honour and interest was the only measure of their profession This also was the measure of Judas's Religion John 12.5 6. where he pretends much love to the poor but really intends nothing but the gratifying his avaricious humor The like Hos 10.11 Ephraim loveth to tread out the Corn c. because there was profit liberty and pleasure in that but Ephaim loved not plowing work because that brought her under a yoke and brought in no advantage to her Love to the world brings us under subjection to it and so takes us off from the service of God What we inordinately love and cleave unto we are soon overcome by Now subjection to the world and subjection to God are inconsistent Mat. 6.24 8 Love to the world is the root of all sin and therefore what more inconsistent with the love of God To love God is to hate evil Psal 97.10 therefore to love evil either in the cause or effect is to hate God Now love to the world has not only a love for but also a causal influence on all sin And that 1 As it exposeth men to the violent incursion and assaults of every tentation so 1 Tim. 6.9 But they that will be rich ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã they that have their wills biassed with a violent bent or vehement weight of carnal love towards riches This Solomon expresseth Prov. 28.22 By hasting to be rich What befalls such why saith Paul such fall into tentation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in perdition and destruction and then he gives the reason and cause of it v. 10. For the love of money is the root of all evil c. i. e. There is no sin but may call the love of money Father whence Philo calls it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Metropolis of evil 2 Love to the world is the cause of all sin in that it blinds and darkens the mind which opens the door to all sin It is an observation of the prudent moralist (t) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Plutarch that every lover is blind about that he loves which he himself interprets of love to lower goods And oh how true is this of those that love the world what a black veil of darkness is there on their minds as to what they love hence Paul calls such mens love 1 Tim. 6.9 foolish lusts They are indeed foolish not only eventually but causally as they make men fools and sots 3 Love to the world stifles all convictions breaks all chains and bars of restraining grace and so opens a more effectual door to all sin We find a prodigious example hereof in Balaam Numb 22.22 40. where you see at large how his predominant love to the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2.15 stifled all those powerful convictions of and resolutions against sin he lay under 4 Love to the world is the disease and death of the soul and therefore the life of sin 1 Tim. 5.6 she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth 5 Love to the world (u) Amor est quidam ingressus animi in rem amatam quae si fuerit ipso amante ignobilior polluit Dignitatem ejus Jansen August pollutes our whole Being Animal passions defile the soul inordinate lustings after things lawful pollute the most of professors more or less 6 Love to the world puts the whole soul yea world into Wars Confusion and Disorders so James 4.1 From whence come wars and fightings among you come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your Members ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of your pleasures i. e. by a Metonymie from your lusts after pleasures and superfluous things that war in your members Hence note that all extern wars and confusions come from the wars and confusions of intern lust in the heart Now all intern wars and disorders are inconsistent with the love of God which is peaceable and orderly In these regards love to the world impedes and hinders the love of God 9 Love to the world is inconsistent with the love of God in that it causeth Apostasie from God The Conversion of the heart to the Creature always implies its Aversion from God He that cannot part with the World will soon part with God The world draws Men from God at Pleasure because it doth engross your best Time Thoughts Affections and Strength in its service How many professors by being bewitched with love to the World have lost many hopeful blossomes and beginnings of love to God How little do Spiritual Suavities savour with Carnal Hearts Yea do not the Flesh-pleasing sweets of this World make all
accompany with most life and power As it is in other cases so it is for the most part here you are commonly more affected with what you hear Men speak than with what they write Ministers may write or print their Sermons but not their Affections not that Power and Spirit of the word which themselves feel and you perceive in them You are most like to be warmed by the word when you hear it coming out of a hot heart When you see your Teachers affected with the truths they deliver and speaking like those that feel what they speak you are most like to be affected too Though indeed the great reason of hearing is because it is God's Ordinance and he hath not only taken care that the word should be written that so all may read it but hath appointed Officers too purposely to Preach it that so all may hear it But withal be sure to be regular in your hearing Take heed how you hear Luke 8.18 and take heed what you hear Mark 4.28 and from both will follow that you must take heed who you hear too Hear those that are most knowing and best able to instruct you those that are most sound and least like to mislead you Do not choose to put your Souls under the conduct of blind-guides Seek for the Law at their mouths whose lips do best preserve knowledge And when you have found such keep close to them Settle your selves under the guidance of some faithful Pastor upon whose Ministry you may ordinarily attend That running to and from which is usual among us is quite another than what Daniel speaks of ch 12.4 and I am sure is not the way to encrease knowledge Rolling stones gather no moss Such rovers seldom hit upon the right way Such wandring Stars may be soonest bemisted They that thus run from one Minister to another may soon run from one opinion to another and from one errour to another I dare safely say you may get more sound knowledge of the things of God by constant attendance upon the Ministry of one of less abilities than by rambling up and down to hear many though of the greatest gifts It is a great advantage to your gaining knowledge to hear a Minister's whole discourse and be able to take up the full design of his work and not merely to hear in transitu by snatches to pick up here a notion and there a notion or hear one Man's Doctrine in the Morning and another's Application in the Afternoon It is no wonder if Men that run to and fro Eph. 4. be tossed to and fro They that are so light of hearing may easily be carried about with every wind of Doctrine the word of Christ seldom dwells in such vagabond hearers 1. Pray earnestly for knowledge We are to cry after wisdom and lift up our voice for understanding Prov. 2.3 Ask it of God Jam. 1.5 Especially address we our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle of our profession Heb. 3.1 The great Prophet and Doctor of the Church in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2.3 Who of God is made unto us Wisdom 1 Cor. 1.30 Who liveth in the bosom of the Father and declares him to us John 1.18 He that was his Father's Counsellor in making his Laws and his Messenger in publishing them is best able to make us understand them As it is our duty to Hear him so it is his business to instruct us Only beside the use of all other means we must look to him for his teaching He only can make all means effectual and none learn as they should but they that learn of him There is no learning like that we get upon our knees that is the only saving knowledge which we fetch from Heaven If you put your Children to a Trade you will have them learn it of such as are most skilful in it If you would your selves understand any art well you seek for the best Artist you can to instruct you Who can teach you all things like him that knows all things who can enlighten you like him who is the true light John 1.9 Men when they teach their Scholars oftentimes complain of their dulness they can but propound their notions to them not beget an understanding in them And Ministers complain of their hearers as the Apostle did of the Hebrews ch 5.11 that they are dull of hearing Quod âaev à in parte mamillae Nil a lit Arcadico juveni Juven They spend their strength upon them but cannot work the truth into them But the Lord Jesus Christ is such a Teacher as is beyond all Teachers He can give the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation as it is called Eph. 1.17 and promiseth to do it John 14.26 He can give inward light as well as outward eyes as well as objects understandings to receive the truth as vvell as truths to employ your understandings 7. Take sit time for the getting knowledge You have a great deal to learn you had need be early up that you may have the most time and the best time Begin young before your minds be corrupted with errors or possessed with prejudices before you have learned too much of those things which must be unlearned if ever you would learn the things of God It is a great advantage in this case when Men are instructed in the Scriptures from their childhood 2 Tim. 3.15 when the first thing they learn is to know God and Christ and themselves their own condition their duty their hopes The time of youth is the best time for getting knowledge as of other things so of Spiritual things Qui legem discit in puerit â similis est ei qui scribit in charâà novâ qui in senecture similis est ei qui scribit in charta vetere R. Eliaz. apud Drââ There is then least within to keep knowledg out and what is then received usually enters most deeply and proves to be most durable The more pliable the wax is the deeper the impression and the deeper the impression is the more like it is to last Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Prov. 22.6 It is I am sure a preposterous course to learn other things before you learn what is most necessary to get a Trade before you have a Religion to learn to know the World before you know God 8. If you say this concerns your Children rather than your selves I add be much in teaching others the things of God that is the way to learn them more fully your selves The communicating your knowledge is the way to encrease it You will get more than you give and while you impart it you will best retain it While you instruct others God will instruct you and you may come to see more in his truths when you teach them others than ever you did when you learned them first
come now to the Positive and Affirmative part There we saw what we are forbidden as that whereby the Sabbath is polluted Here we are informed what we are commanded as that whereby the Sabbath is sanctified i. e. kept holy to the Lord as we are enjoined keep the Sabbath-day tâ sanctifie it c. in these words following And shalt call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and shalt honour Him c. In this Positive model are contained four great comprehensive branches or Duties wherein the sanctification of the Sabbath doth consist sc 1. We must call it our delight 2. We must call it Holy or the Holy of the Lord. 3. We must call it Honourable or Glorious 4. We must not only call the day an honourable day but we must really and actually honour God or honour the day The Heads are few but they are very comprehensive and such as will afford us in the opening of them much matter for our use and direction in the sanctification of the Sabbath although I intend in this exercise but briefly to touch upon some few particular heads or rules reserving the more full and ample enlargement thereof to some other opportunity The first is we must call the Sabbath a Delight or the pronoun supplied thy Delight Call it so we are not to account the Sabbath as an ordinary and common thing but to put a very high and precious valuation upon it as delightful the holy of the Lord and of honourable renown A delight thy delight we must call it so account it so or make it so The Sabbath must be a delectable thing to us a nest of sweetnesses the delight of our eyes the joy and rejoicing of our hearts a day wherein all our comforts and pleasures do concentre all our fresh springs must be in it And this I humbly conceive the Holy Ghost doth most significantly oppose unto the pleasures forbidden before in this same verse If thou turn away thy foot from doing thy pleasure c. q.d. must we be excluded and shut out from all pleasures and delights upon the Sabbath No saith the Holy Ghost sanctifie the Sabbath of Jehovah and thou shalt not need to fear the want of pleasure neither shalt thou need to be beholden to the flesh or the world for delights The Sabbath it self will be incomparably more sweet and delectable to thee than all the sensual and luscious contentments and satisfactions which this whole sublunary world can afford Make the Sabbath thy delight and thou shalt need to knock at no other door for pleasurable entertainments If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee call my Sabbath thy Delight he would make his day unto thee a spring of sweetness that shall alwaies be flowing out to eternal life a day well spent with God will fill the soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory Qu. But what shall we do that we may make the Sabbath our Delight or When may we be said to call it so or make it so 1. We then call the Sabbath our delight Rules or signs of making the Sabbath a delight when we can rejoice in the approach of the Sabbath See how holy David doth solace his soul in the joyful expectation of Communion with God when his banishment from the Ordinances did approach Psal 43.4 Then shall I go unto the altar of God unto God my exceeding joy Heb. the gladness of my joy 2. Our early stirring up of our selves to bid the Sabbath welcom to our hearts and habitations Psal 63.1 So the holy Prophet O God thou art my God early will I seek thee The earliness of his devotions shews the delight that he took in them truly the great indulgence that most Christians allow themselves in their bed on the Lords day is an infallible argument how little delight they take in Gods day or in the Ordinances thereof 3. Then we may be said to call the Sabbath our delight when we are universally careful to sanctifie God in all the institutions of the day both publique private and secret And are sollicitous so to Methodize and time them that they may not justle out or interfere with one another that is to say to be so early in our closet-devotion that the closet may not exclude or streighten the duties of the Family and so to perform the Domestick Duties that they may not trespass upon our attendance on the more solemn publick worship of God An universal respect to all the institutions of a Sabbath is an evident demonstration that we call the Sabbath our delight Psal 119.6 As David evidenceth to his own soul the sincerity of his Obedience Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy commandments 4. When we are angry with or impatient of any diversions from or disturbance in any duty or services of the day To be glad of a diversion argueth little love to or delight in the Sabbath I esteemed saith Job the words of his mouth more than my necessary food Job 23.12 Heb. appointed food 5. And lastly Then we call the Sabbath a Delight when the bare having of a Sabbath without the presence of God in the Sabbath and the Ordinances thereof will not satisfie us Psal 16. ult Delight springs principally from the presence of God In thy presence is fulness of joy This delight is promised as a reward in the verse following Then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord. There is a Delight of Duty and there 's a Delight of dispensation and this is the reward of that that is Our work this is Gods work when a gracious heart sets it self to delight in a Sabbath and in the Ordinances thereof then often God is pleased graciously to come in and to fill the Ordinances and by it the soul with his own presence His Convincing presence Enlightning presence Converting presence Quickning presence Strengthning presence Comforting presence And when the soul cannot be satisfied unless it be in some measure sensible of Gods presence in some of these blessed respects or other then doth it really call the Sabbath a Delight Psal 63.1 Thus doth the holy Psalmist O God thou art my God early will I seek thee why what would he have it follows v. 2. to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary It is not the sanctuary of God only but Communion with God in the sanctuary which Davids soul thirsted after This is to call the Sabbath a delight I come to the second duty We must call the Sabbath the holy of Jehovah Sanctum Domini Lichdosh Jehovah This title is very significant We must not only count the Sabbath holy but the holy of the Lord. It is as it were one of the Titles ascribed to the Son of God for so he is called thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption Acts 2.27 3.14
over them And there are two things specified in order to their King His 1. Election 2. Religion 1. His Election v. 15. Thou shalt in any wise set him over thee whom the Lord thy God shall chuse Good reason God should have the choice of their King seeing by him Kings reign Prov. 8.15 2. His Religion v. 18. When he sitteth upon the Throne of his Kingdom he shall write him a Copy of this Law in a Book out of that which is before the Priests * Levitici Sacerdotes in atrio templi volumen legis quod erat primariae authoritatis custodiebant P. Fagius Here was a good beginning of a Kings reign the first thing he did after he sate upon the Throne was to Copy out the Word of God in a Book And in the Text It shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the Words of this Law and these Statutes to do them It shall be with him The Book of the Law shall be his Vade mecum or daily Companion Charles the Great used to set his Crown upon the Bible Indeed THE BIBLE is the best Supporter of the Crown And he shall read * Legere debuit sibi privatim in templo ut sciret populus neminem à lege excipi Grotius therein It is not below the Majesty of a Prince to peruse the Oracles of Heaven in them are comprized sacred Apothegms Prov. 8.6 I will speak of excellent things In the Septuagint it is (a) ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Grave things in the Hebrew Princely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã b things such as are fit for a God to speak and a King to read Nor must the King only read the Book of the Law at his first instalment into his Kingdom but he shall read in it all the days of his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã life He must not leave off reading till he lest off reigning And the reasons why he must be conversant in the Law of God are in the subsequent words 1. That he may learn to fear the Lord his God Reading of the Word is the best means to usher in the fear of the Lord. 2. That he may keep all the words of this Law to do them 3. That he may prolong his days in his Kingdom I shall now confine my self to these words He shall read in it i. e. the Book of the Law all the days of his life The holy Scripture is as Austin saith a (d) Qu d est sacra Scriptuâa nisi quaedâm episâola Omni potentis Dei ad creaturam iâ qua verba Dei sânant cor Dei discitur Aug. in Psal Golden Epistle sent to us from God This is to be read diligently ignorance of Scripture is the mother of errour not devotion Matth. 22.29 ye err not knowing the Scriptures We are commanded to search the Scriptures John 5.39 The Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies to search as for a Vein of Silver How diligently doth a Child read over his Fathers Will and Testament and a Citizen peruse his Charter with the like (e) Quaerit Scriptura lectârem vigilantem desidiâsum resiuit Rivet Isag âd scriptur c. 13. diligence should we read Gods Word which is our Magna Charta for Heaven 'T is a mercy the Bible is not prohibited Trajan the Emperour forbade the Jews to read in the Book of the Law Let us enquire at this sacred Oracle Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures Acts 18.24 Melancthon (f) Melch. Adam in vita Melancth when he was young suck'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the sincere Milk of the Word Alphonsus King of Arragon read over the Bible fourteen times That Roman Lady Cecilia had by much reading of the Word made her Breast Bibliothecam Christi the Library of Christ as (g) Si Alexander Homerum ita amplexus est Scipio Afric Zenophontis ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã vix è manibus d posuit quid nes in sicro codicâ agere oportet Quistorp vide Chytraei praelect in Jos Mornaeum Hierom speaks Were the Scriptures only in their Originâl Tongue many would plead excuse for not reading but when this sword of the spirit is unsheathed and the Word is made plain to us by being translated what should hinder us from a diligent search into these holy Mysteries Adam was forbid upon pain of death to taste of the Tree of Knowledge Gen. 3.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt sârely dye But there is no danger of touching this Tree of holy Scriptures if we do not eat of this Tree of Knowledge we shall surely dye What will become of them who are strangers to Scripture Hosea 8.12 I have written to him the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing Many lay aside Scripture as rusty Armor Jer. 8.9 they are better read in Romances than in St. Paul they spend many hours inter pectinem speculum between the Comb and the Glass but their eyes begin to be sore when they look upon a Bible The very Turks will rise up in judgment against these Christians they reverence the Books of Moses and if they find but a leaf wherein any thing of the Pentateuch is written they take it up and kiss it They who slight the Word written slight God himself whose stamp it bears To slight the Kings Edict is an affront offered to the Person of the King Scripture-vilifiers (h) Dei eloquia rejicientes multis se exiâialibus lâqu is involvunt Calvin are in a damnable state Prov. 13.13 Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed Nor is it enough to read the Word of God but it should be our care to get some spiritual emolument and profit by it that our Souls may be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nourished up in the words of faith 1 Tim. 4.6 Why else was the Scripture written but that it might profit us God did not give us his Word only as a Landskip to look upon but he delivered it to us as a Father delivers a stock of Money to his Son to improve 'T is sad not to profit by the Word Quest to be like a body in an atrophy that doth not thrive Men would be loath to trade and get no profit The grand Question I am to speak to is this How we may read the Scriptures with most spiritual profit Resp 'T is a momentous Question and of daily use R. For the resolution of this Question I shall lay down several Rules or Directions about reading of Scripture 1. If you would profit by reading remove those things which will hinder Direct 1 your profiting That the Body may thrive obstructions must be removed There are three obstructions must be removed if you would profit by Scripture 1. Remove the love of every (i) Plaâimi peccata radunt
God 3. Odes or spiritual Songs may belong to natural things what we ought to debate discuss viz. The Race Order Harmony and Continuance of the World and God's infinite Wisdom manifested in it 2. Some distinguish these according to the Authors of them 1. Psalms they are the Composures of holy David 2. Hymns they are the Songs of some other excellent men recorded in Scripture as Moses Heman Asaph c. 3. Spiritual Songs they are Odes of some other holy and good men not mentioned in Scripture as the Song of Ambrose Nepos and others 3. Some aver that these several speeches mentioned in the Text answer the Hebrew distinction of Psalms Among them there were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Mizmorim which treated of various and different Subjects 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which only mentioned the Praises of the most High 3. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which were Songs more artificially and musically composed and some Divines observe were sung with the help of a musical Instrument But I may add Are not all these several species mentioned to prefigure the Plenty and the Joy which is reserved for the Saints within the Vail when they shall join in consort with the glorious Angels in singing their perpetual Hallelujahs to their glorious Creator 3 The manner of Singing Our Text saith with Melody with inward joy and tripudlation of Soul If the Tongue make the Pause the Heart must make the Elevation The Apostle saith to the Colossians Colos 3.16 We must sing with grace which is as some expound it 1. Cum gratiarum actione with giving of thanks And indeed thankfulness is the very Selah of this duty that which puts an accent upon the Musick and sweetness of the Voice and then we sing melodiously when we warble out the Praises of the Lord. 2. With gracefulness with a becoming and graceful dexterity And this brings both profit and pleasure to the Hearers as Davenant observes Psalms are not the Comedies of Venus or the jocular Celebrations of a wanton Adonis but they are the Spiritual ebullitions of a composed Soul to the incomprehensible Jehovah with real grace God's Spirit must breathe in this service Et prodessâ veliat dâlectâre Dav. Cantemus cum gratia à Spiriâu Sâncto donata Chrysost Hoc quod praecinitur sine gratià Dâi impleri non potest Oecâm Sine corde nulla est modalatio Bod. here we must act our joy our confidence our delight Singing is the triumph of a gracious Soul the Child joying in the praises of his Father In singing of Psalms the gracious heart takes wings and mounts up to God to joyn with the Celestial Quire It is grace which sits the heart for and sweetens the heart in this duty And where this qualification is wanting this service is rather an hurry than a duty it is rather a disturbance than any obedience 4. The Master of the Chore the Preceptor that is the Heart We must look to the Heart in singing that it be purged by the Spirit and that it be replete with spiritual Affection He plays the Hypocrite who brings not the heart to this Duty One observes There is no Tune without the Heart Singing takes its proper rise from the Heart the Voice is only the further progress And indeed God is the Creator of the whole man and therefore he will be praised not only with our Tongues but with our Hearts The Apostle tells us He will sing with the spirit 1 Cor. 14.15 And David informs us his heart was ready to sing and give praise Nân vox sed votum non musica cerdula sed cor Aug. De modo benè vivendi Bern. Psal 57.7 8. 108.1 Augustine admonisheth us It is not a Musical-string but a Working-heart is harmonious The Virgin Mary sings her Magnificat with her heart Luke 14.47 And Bernard tells us in a Tract of his That when we sing Psalms let us take heed that we have the same thing in our Mind that we warble forth in our Tongue and that our Song and our Heart do not run several ways If we in singing only offer the Calves of our Lips it will too much resemble a Carnal and a Jewish service 5. The End of the Duty To the Lord. So saith the Text viz. To Jesus Christ who is here principally meant Our singing must not serve our Gain or our Luxury or our Fancy but our Christ our Lord and dear Redeemer In this Duty it is his Praises we must mainly and chiefly celebrate And most deservedly we magnifie the true God by Psalms and Singing when the Heathens celebrate their false and dung-hill-Gods Jupiter Neptune and Apollo with Songs and Hymns One well observes Singing of Psalms is part of Divine Worship Deus est canendi Vnicus Scopus Bod. and of our Homage and Service due to the great Jehovah Bodius takes notice that God is the true and only scope of all our singing And truly if the Spirit of God be in us he will be steddily aimed at by us Thus Deborah and Barak sang their Triumphal Song to the Lord Judges 5.3 The several parts of the Text being thus opened they may be set together again in this Divine and Excellent Truth Doct. Non franges vocem sed frange voluntatem non serves tantùm Consonantiam Vocum sed concordium Mo um Bern. Aug. In the Ordinance of Singing we must not make Noise but Musick and the Heart must make Melody to the Lord. So the Text. Augustine complained of some in his time That they minded more the Tune than the Truth more the Manner than the Matter more the Governing of the Voice than the Raisedness of the Mind And this was a great offence to him Singing of Psalms must only be the joyous breathing of a raised Soul and here the cleanness of the Heart is more considerable than the clearness of the Voice In this Service we must study more to act the Christian than the Musitian Many in singing of Psalms are like the Organs whose Pipes are filled only with Wind. The Apostle Col. 3.16 tells us we must sing with our Heart We must sing David's Psalms with David's Spirit One tells us God is a Spirit and he will be worshipped in Spirit even in this duty Now to traverse the Truth 1. We will shew the Divine Authority of this Ordinance 2. We will shew the Sweetness of it 3. The Universal Practice of it 4. We shall shew the Honours God hath put upon this Ordinance 5. And then come to the main Case 6. And make Application For the first We shall shew the Divine Authority of this Ordinance 1. By Scripture-Command 2. By Scripture-Argument 3. By Scripture-Pattern 4. By Scripture-Prophesie 1. From Scripture-Precept And here we have divers commands laid upon us both in the Old and New Testament David who among his honourable Titles obtains this to be called the Sweet Singer of Israel 2 Sam. 23.1 he frequently calls upon himself Psal 7.17 I
when he is old he will not depart from it i. e. not easily not ordinarily depart from it He will be the better for it as long as he lives Hildersham From the first of these viz. the Precept that enjoins the Duty I infer That it is the great and indispensable Duty and therefore ought to be the serious and constant care of Superiours prudently and piously to train up or Catechize to instruct and educate all such Inferiours as are committed to their care and conduct In the pursuing of this Momentous Truth I shall tread in this Method laying before you these five things 1. What it is to train up or Catechize 2. What is meant by That Way wherein persons are to be trained up 3. Who they are that are to be trained up or Catechized 4. Who they are that are to train up or Catechize and why 5. How the whole Affair may be so prudently piously spiritually managed as that it may be Crown'd with such a blessed success as to become most universally profitable ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã initia primum imbue institue instrue dedica Buxtorf ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã instructos expeditos incipientes suos pueros fidos initiatos quos domi nuâriverat quos arte bellied lege Divina instruxerat Whether by way of Question and Answer Vid pag. 7. 1. What it is to train up or Catechize Sol. The word in the Text is very pregnant and greatly significant Primum imbue give the first dip dy tincture seasoning Hence by a Metaphor the word is diversly translated Initia so Ar-Mout Begin or give the first instruction lay the ground-work foundation or first stone Deduc So Chald. Paraph. Vers Instrue Set in order or array arm train up instruct Thus Abraham armed or led forth his trained or instructed servants Gen. 14.14 The word is also translated Dedicavit Consecravit i. e. to set a person or thing apart and to devote it to the true God in a right manner for holy uses and ends with solemn prayer and praise Thus the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is used Deut. 20.5 Psal 30. title 1 Kings 9.7 2 Cbron. 7.5 1 Kings 13.13 1 Chron. 18.11 The Greeks render the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A word of a peculiar signification and imports a plain and familiar teaching and instructing of the ignorant by word of mouth in the first grounds and Fundamental Principles of the true and in the strictest sense the Christian Religion Thus the word is used Luke 1.4 Acts 18.25 1 Cor. 14.19 Gal. 6.6 Hence it may be suppos'd it was that our Translators in the Margent render the word Catechize as being prompted thereunto by the Jewish Rabbins who stile their form of Catechism ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Book of first instruction 2. What is meant by that way wherein persons are to be trained up or Catechized and initiated ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Juxta viam suam i. e. juxta vitae genu quod ipsum sequi velis Sol. In the way he should go In the way or manner of his life Gen. 43.7 in via sua in his way in his kind and according to his capacity and measure and suitably to the weakness and tenderness of his years in the sound knowledg and practice of those truths and principles which may fit him for the service of his God and Generation here and for the eternal enjoyment of his God hereafter Let Paul interpret Solomon in his way 1. In the nurture and admonition of the Lord Eph. 6.4 i. e. in all profitable instruction suitable to a Child's age and state ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for the framing and moulding of him by knowledg unto a commendable and vertuous carriage and for the doing of greater good in humane Society when he comes to write himself Man but especially in Religious instruction The first Principles of the Oracles of God and of the Doctrine of Christ Heb. 5.12 6.1 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in instruction in righteousness 2 Tim. 3.16 In the words of Faith and of good doctrine 1 Tim. 4.6 There is something more yet in the words ad os supra os Ar-Mont upon the mouth of his way A form of speaking frequently used in Scripture to note the suitableness or proportion of the thing Exod. 16.21 according to the mouth of his eating i. e. according to the measure of his eating So Num. 7.5 To every Levite according to the mouth i. e. the condition and degree of his service Thus here Train up a Child upon the mouth of his way i. e. in such a way as is not only good and honest in it self Pro captu ingenii ejus infirmioris ut non eum plus oneres quà m aetas fert but most proper and suitable to the spirit disposition end and capacity of the Child As Children are to be fed with such meat so they are to be taught in such a manner as they can most easily and profitably digest Teach them but thus upon the mouth and then out of their mouth shall come praise Psal 8.3 3. Who they are that are thus to be trained up or Catechized and why ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Excussit puerum puerulum infantem ex utero nuperrimè excussum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ità hodiè Rabbini puerum 5. annotum ad Biblia 10 ad mischna seu Textum Talmudium 13. ad Praecept 15. ad Talmud Jer. 1.6 2 Chr. 13.7 Isa 5.3 Sol. All younger ones and Inferiours that are committed by God or men to the care and conduct of Superiours all included in the name Child The Original word admits of several significations An Infant newly born Judg. 13.7 of three months old Exod. 26. A Child as soon as he begins to speak and exert his reason Thus it runs parallel with the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And so we find Timothy instructed from a Child a Babe a Suckling 2 Tim. 1.5 with 3.15 It takes in Boys also and Girls Sons and Daughters of somewhat riper age youths as Shechem Gen. 34.19 Damosels and those marriageable Deut. 22.19 The word is also applied to Abraham's Men-servants Gen. 22.3 and to Booz Maid-servants Ruth 2.22 Est 4.4 To such as though they may be men in years are children in understanding These all and every one of these come within the List of those that Solomon and his God would have train'd up and Catechiz'd Nay let me add there is not a younger Son of the Prophets not one that sits at the feet of those Learned Gamaliels those truly Reverend Elijahs that can justly plead exemption from this seeming task shall I say or real honour of being clearly taught in and firmly fixt upon those Everlasting Foundations the first principles of the Oracles of God Heb. 5.12 6.1 4. Who they are that are thus to train up or Catechize these Inferiours and younger ones Sol. All
attained so much knowledg in the Principles of the Christian Religion as that the Heathens might be admitted to Baptism and the Christian Children to the Lord's Supper To this custom some of the Learned judge that Peter alludes in 1 Pet. 3.21 not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the Answer of a good Conscience towards God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Pet. 3.15 Aâlusio factâ ad morâm veterem Catechistarum irâe rogantium Catecâumenos a daltos ante Bâptisâum ãâã qui ad Christianismum vel gentilitate vocati Credis Credo Abrenuntias Abrenuntio Cujus origo in exemplo Eunuchi Ac. 8.37 Spant dub Evang. Pars 3. p. 97. Trap. in Mat. 13.51 Bowles Pastor Evaag l. 2. c. 5. by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ True the main thing is the Answer of a good Conscience in a man 's own self yet there was a good Answer in his mouth to the Catechist who was to ask them a reason of the hope that was in them 3. The Primitive Fathers that trod on the Heels of the Apostles and were most likely to be best acquainted with the Apostles practice highly esteemed this way of teaching and constantly used it Cyprian saith Optatus used it at Carthage Origen at Alexandria Hence Clemens Alexander his paedagogus Cyril Mystagog Lactantius his Institutions Athanasius his Synopsis Augustine his Enchirid. Liber de Doct. Christianâ de Catechiz rudibus Fulgentius de fide 4. Many of the Antient Councils made Decrees and Canons for Catechising Concil Neocaes Can. 6.7 Concil Tolet. Can. 24. In this consent all the Reformed Churches uno ore Nay which is more the Papists themselves that were assembled in the Council of Trent observing that in the later Spring of the Gospel the use of Catechizing in the Reformed Churches was one of the special means of with-drawing People from the darkness of Popery to the light of the Gospel and of so firmly grounding professors in the true Religion as nothing could with-draw them from the same and so the Hereticks as they were pleased to stile them had got much ground strongly moved the Councel that there might be a Catechism compiled of the Principles of the Romish Religion as that that was most likely to give check to that deluge of Heresie which through the Hereticks Catechising was breaking in upon them 5. This manner of Teaching by way of Catechising viz. By propounding the Question and putting the child to Answer it as the Echo doth the Voice is a most ready way to make any Instruction to take Whence it is that in all Schools of Learning this course is taken viz. The Teacher propounds his Questions and requires Answers from those that are instructed whereas if you speak never so well or so long yea the longer the worse in a set and continued Speech it useth to vanish in the Air without any observable notice or after fruit 2. Superiors in the Family and these are Parents and Family Governors to whom we may adjoin School-masters and Tutors These all are concerned in this great duty of Training up and Catechizing those that are committed to their Charge and Conduct 1. How deeply Parents are obliged to this Duty is written as it were with a Sun-beam in the Scriptures where we find Precepts Presidents Arguments more than many to evince it Ex. 10.2 Ex. 12.24 26 27 with 13.8 14 15. Josh 4.6 7 21 22 24. Deut. 4.9 10. Ainsw in Deut. 6 6 7. 1. Precepts The Israelites are bound to tell in the ears of their sons and of their sons sons what things the Lord had wrought in Egypt that they also might know Jehovah to be the Lord. The Parents are bound to be Expositors of that great Rite of the Paschal Lamb and of the Stones set up in the midst of Jordan bound also to teach their Children the words which they heard from the Lord their God in Horeb even the Ten Commandments How doth this Duty sparkle with a Radiant Lustre in that great Text Deut. 6.6 7 These words which I Command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine House and when thou walkest by the way Ainsw in Deut. 6.6 7. and when thou liest down and when thou risest up It is the Eternal God that here gives forth his strict Command to Parents These words all these words Precepts Promises Threatnings shall be in thy heart not in thy head only so as to know but in thy Heart to affect An Heart inflamed with the Love of God and his Truth Joel 1.3 Deut. 11.19 God knew was one of the most effectual means to engage the Tongue to make known his Truth but not only in their Heart but Houses too Thou shalt teach them thy Children nor was this a Ceremonial Precept or a Command given peculiarly to the Jews for their assistance in their Remembrance of the Law of God as their Phylacteries and fringes c. Exod. 13.9 Deut. 6.8 9. but was and is a Moral perpetual standing Precept binding us in Gospel-times as well as them The same things we find in this Text we find also in the New Testament The word of Christ must dwell richly in us all one with this here Let it be in thine heart Col. 3.16 and in our Houses also we must teach and admonish others Eph. 6.4 we are to bring up our Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. 2. Branches in this Precept 1. Parents warned not to abuse their Authority by provoking their Children In the best of Parents there is not only Natural affection but also Natural corruption by reason whereof if they watch not well they will be very prone not only to be rash but furious with their Children that their Will may be fulfilled Therefore is this bridling Caution needful provoke not 2. Parents are here commanded not to neglect to lay out and improve their Authority in instructing their Children This also is necessary because Parents are too too apt to be fondly indulgent and on that account careless to bring up their Children in such courses as are necessary for knowing and doing the Will of God Both therefore are of special use Do not provoke but instruct Yea in instructing take care that you do not provoke and so instructing you will not at least you shall not have cause to provoke for a well instructed Child is in God's way to be an Obedient Child and very tractable to instructing Parents so that there will be no occasion of provocation from him or being provoked against him Bring them up therefore we must but in what In the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in all profitable knowledg Vid Zanch. Musc in Loc. suitable to a Child's Age and State for the composing and framing of him by this his knowledg unto a commendable and vertuous carriage for the
doing of greater good in humane Society for the time to come but more especially in Religious Nurture instruction in Righteousness 2 Tim. 3.16 and as it follows in the admonition of the Lord In the best and highest kind of Nurture that which is drawn and fetcht from the Word of the Lord and so will be most accepted of him and most profitable to Children Not only in Arts and Sciences to make them Worldly wise and Learned nor only in the Mysteries of Trading and Worldly employment to make them Rich nor only in matters of Morality and Civil honesty to make them Sober and vertuous but in the mysteries of true Religion in the nurture and admonition of the Lord 1 Tim. 4.6 in the words of Faith and good Doctrine to make them truly happy 2. Presidents It was the constant practice of the Saints of old carefully to instruct their children in the things of God And that 1. In the Truths and Worship of the true God Thus Divines conclude that Adam instructed his Sons Gen. 4.3 4. Cain and Abel to bring their Offerings to the Lord And from Adam down along to Moses for the space of two thousand years how was the true Religion communicated but by Oral Tradition from Parents to their Children Gen. 18.19 I know Abraham that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him In this Text we have Abraham's Testimonial subscribed by God himself Wherein God 1. Asserts what Abraham was for the present a man of integrity a man greatly beloved of God I know Abraham I know his judgment I know his heart I am well acquainted with the frame of his spirit the inclination of his Will the bent of his Affections and I know him so well that I cannot but highly approve and dearly love him and will trust him with an Arcanum make him as it were of my Privy Councel in imparting to him my great design concerning wicked Sodom 2. Foretells for the future 1. What Abraham would do for God viz. That he would endeavour to bring all that were under his Command to be at God's Command Abraham will not leave his children and servants to their own Genius counsels lusts ignorance idleness superstition idolatry but command them to keep the way of Jehovah Abraham will endeavour to set up God in his Family to instruct it in that way of Faith Worship and Obedience which God requireth 2. What God will do for Abraham viz. fulfil his Promise keep his Word Holy Job that Non pareil of the World none like him in the Earth Job 1.8 that perfect that upright man Job sends and sanctifies his children i. e. says that late burning and shining Light sent a Message to them to command them to prepare and fit themselves for the holy duty of Sacrificing This preparation to holy Duties is often call'd Sanctifying Exod. 19.20 1 Sam. 6.5 Job 11.55 Job 1.5 Josâph Caryl on Job 1.5 Job's main and special care was for the Souls of his children Job's Message to his children was not to ask them how they did after their Feasting whether they had surfeited how the reckoning was inflamed No his eye and heart mostly fixt on this that they might be sanctified His holy Soul struck a perfect light to Paul's desire before Agrippa Acts 26.29 I would to God that not only thou but all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am And to John's joy John Ep. 3.4 I have no greater joy than to hear that thy children walk in the truth Thus David that man after God's own heart Psal 34.11 Come ye children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. But more especially I would commend to your most accurate view that lovely Prospect presented to us in Prov. 4.3 4. Behold there a great and glorious King descending from his Imperial Throne laying aside his Golden Crown and Royal Scepter and sitting down on a lower seat with a Child a Solomon at his knee So that the King is now humbled into a Tutor the Prince into a Pupil A brief account of the Lecture the Text gives us I was my Father's Son i. e. I was so my Father's Son as that I was also his Jedidiah so beloved as if I had been his only Son He taught me also and said unto me Let thine heart retain my words keep my Commandments and live Thus we have seen the practice of godly Fathers but what have godly Mothers done have they been so cruelly forgetful of their children as not to have compassion on the Sons of their Womb What! worse than Sea-Monsters who draw out their breasts and give suck to their young ones No Lam. 4.3 no those true Daughters of Sarah have been more spiritually kind and benign 1. In the Front of these stands our Mother the Spouse of Christ Can. 8.2 Ass Annot in Cant. 8.2 I would lead thee and bring thee into my Mothers House i. e. into mine own House or Mansion as is usual with us to call our own Houses the Houses of our Fathers The Church in her Universal Latitude is the Mother of all her Members who would or doth instruct me The Church John 6.45 who is the Pillar and ground of truth in this respect that she presenteth and holdeth forth that truth outwardly which only Christ bringeth to the heart and makes effectual 2. Upon her right hand stands David's Royal Consort Queen Bathsheba whom we find laying the Law before King Lemuel i. e. her Son Solomon called Lemuel i. e. of God because God had ordained him to be King over Israel rather than any of his Elder Brethren 1 Kings 2.15 22. The words of King Lemuel the Prophesie Doctrine or Instruction that his Mother taught him 2. What my Son and what the Son of my Womb Prov. 31.1 2. and what the Son of my Vows 3. Upon her left hand let the hoary-headed holy Grand mother Lois and the tender discreet pious Mother Eunice be placed who even from the Dug as it were instructed their hopeful Timothy in the knowledg of the Holy Scriptures ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 2 Tim. 1.5 3.15 16 11. which were able to make him wise unto Salvation 2. In the ways and works of God's Providence Thus Gideon gives testimony to his Forefathers that they had told their Children of all the Miracles which the Lord had done saying did not the Lord bring us from Egypt Jud. 6.13 Thus the Psalmist Psal 44.1 2. We have heard with our ears O God Psal 44.1 c. our Fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days in the times of old And again Psal 78.3 4 5 6 7. Sayings of old which we have heard and known and our Fathers have told us 4. We will not hide
apt to credit and believe By pious Education the true Religion is kept up in the world and propagated from Age to Age. The care of the two Tribes and an half of propagating the true Religion to their Posterity is very notable in that famous Scripture Josh 22.24 25. They built an Altar of Testimony v. 10. At this their Brethren the Israelites are highly offended but received full satisfaction when they were assured that this was done for the sake of Posterity lest they should be made to cease from fearing the Lord. 6. Parents have many and great advantages above all others for the successful instructing and educating of their children 1. Children are more confident of their Parents love than any others Whether Ministers and strangers speak to them in love they are uncertain but of their Parents love they are well assured Now nothing takes so much with any one as that which is believed to proceed from love specially by one that loves This instruction saith the loving Child comes not only from my dear Father's lip or head but from his affectionate heart and therefore I will readily receive it and lodg it in my own 2. Parents have their children in hand betimes before they are fly-blown with any false Opinions or leven'd with bad impressions before they have any other sin than that which was born with them Parents therefore have an opportunity of making the first impressions on them even while they are most docile tender flexible and least apt to make resistance against instruction But now when they come to their Minister Instructer Tutor they are as a Paper Printed before and therefore unapt to receive another Impression They have much to be untaught before they can be taught fraught with self conceitedness and proud objections more apt to strive against and resist Instruction than humbly and readily to receive it 3. To wind up this Argument on the closest Bottom Children wholly depend on Parents for their present maintenance and their future Portions and they know 't is their interest to hearken and obey Parents Authority over their Children is most unquestionable They dare not open their mouths against it as they will adventure to do against Ministers Parents have the Power of the Rod to back Instruction Prov. 22.15 They best know the peculiar Diseases and temperatures of their Children and so best know how to chuse and apply the most proper Remedy Parents are nearest their Children and can best discern all their faults in time and have opportunity of speaking to them in the most familiar manner that may best be understood and after this to inculcate their Instructions and drive them home that what is not done at one time may be done at another By all these advantages it appears that God hath furnished Parents above all others to be Instruments of their Childrens good and the first and greatest promoters of their Salvation Object 1 But methinks I hear some Parents muttering To instruct Children is the grand Duty of our Ministers 'T is they that are to take the great charge of the Souls of these our Lambs 1. And do you indeed give up these your Lambs to be fed to be instructed by them 2. Suppose you did as Heaven knows thousands of Parents do not as they ought yet know That every Parent is as deeply charged with the souls of his Children as any Pastor is with the souls of his Flock and more deeply too 1. You are as oft and as expresly charged to use the means to save your Childrens souls and to breed Grace in them as any Minister is Read consider remember Exod. 13.18 Thou shalt shew thy Son the meaning end use of the Sacrament Deut. 6.6 7. Psal 78.5 Eph. 6.4 Shew me any Text of Scripture more express and peremptory for any Ministers Instructing of his Flock 2. Parents stand obliged to their Children by more and stronger Bonds than any Pastor can be to his Flock Bonds of Nature as well as Grace 3. Parents have more means and opportunities to prevail with their Children than any Pastor living can have to do good on his Flock What a surpassing Interest have Parents in the esteem love affection of their Children What Advantage may they take of their Childrens tender years What continual Converse with them What an awful Authority over them What strict Obligations upon them which no Minister can so much as pretend unto The truth is none upon Earth have such fair opportunities to instruct and bring others to goodness as Parents have This was that that holy Hezekiah meant in his Prayer Isa 38.18 19. The Living Deut. 4 10. the Living he shall praise thee and who among all the Living The Father he shall do it chiefly principally but how by making known Thy truth to their Children q. d. Parents by deriving Religion to their Posterity may greatly honour God above others Obj. 2. But to what end should we teach Children Alass they do not understand what they say They do but Act the Parot know not what it is they do repeat and so whilest we pretend to advance the fear and service we do but make our Children to profane the Name of God or to take it in vain Sol. 1. Our carnal Reasonings ought not to countermand Divine injunctions The Text is express Train up a Child Deut. 6.7 Thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children or whet and sharpen my Law upon them Timothy's Instruction and that from a little sucking Child is commended by the Apostle as a fair president to the whole Christian World 2 Tim. 3.15 We know not who are under God's Election nor the appointed time of his effectual Calling and therefore must use the means to all especially to Children that are under the federal stipulation such are commanded to Remember their Creator in the days of their Youth Eccl. 12.1 And who should endeavour to make deep impressions of God upon their Hearts Eph. 6.4 but those that are over them by Divine appointment who ought to bring them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. 2. If this fear and jealousie must hinder Catechising of Children who knows how long it will be hindered for even Children well grown up being not before Catechized are not likely at their first Teaching so to understand what is said to them as to repeat it with due reverence Do we not find Christ himself instructing Nicodemus in the great Mystery of Regeneration when he was able to return him no more than that childish Answer How can a Man be born again when he is old John 3.4 Can he enter the second time into his Mothers Womb We find our Saviour delivering a Divine Truth to those that were known to be his Disciples who still accompanied him and repeated themselves what he spake to them in the very same words wherein he delivered it and yet when all was done confessed they could not tell what he said Joh. 16.16
17 18. May we therefore say that by reason of their Ignorance they took that Name of God his Word in vain No this was not a vain business for in this way they understood the words of Christ at last the meaning whereof they knew not at first 3. Catechizing may be considered under a double notion 1. In regard of the present Action 2. As it is an Introduction and preparation to the future and further knowledg of God Now though little ones do not at first so understand as to use with due reverence the Name and things of God yet it follows not that they take God's Name in vain because they repeat good things in order to and for the gaining of such a knowledg of God and of those Holy things as whereby they afterwards come to use them more reverently And therein the first use of them though not so reverent hath a part as being preparatory to it and having an influence into it and working as a good means for the begetting of it Do not we teach little Ones their Letters by signs and certain petty devised sayings and resemblances which put them in mind of their Letters And this is not a vanity but a way suited to their narrow capacities to make them learn them the sooner So in this and the like cases the first Rudiments are still to be taken and judged of not in a way of disjunction from what follows after but as a preparation to it and being so taken they are not vain but material things because they serve to very considerable ends It is neither vanity nor Hypocrisie saith a reverend Author to help Children first to understand words and signs Baxter's Christian Directory p. 582. in order to their early understanding of the matter and signification Otherwise no Man may teach them any Language or to read any words that be good because they must first understand the words before the meaning If a Child learn to read in a Bible it is not taking God's Name or Word in vain though he understand it not for it is in order to his learning to understand it And it is not vain which is to so good a use Thus for Parents 2. Nor are Christian Ministers and Governors of Families together with School-Instructors and Tutors less obliged to take care of the Religious Instruction and Education of their respective Servants and Pupils which clearly appears from hence 1. The Lord commands it and expects it at the hands of Masters When others intrust Masters with the bodies of Servants God intrusts them with their Souls commands them to take care of them as for which they must and shall give a strict account Lo here saith God is a poor mean Servant but he hath a precious and an immortal Soul A Soul purchased with the same Blood of God-Man that his Master 's was and himself though never so vile in the eye of sense Col. 3.11 yet capable of being made a Co-heir with Christ in Heaven Take this Man and take care of him as thou wilt answer it at the great Day If this Soul perish through thy default thy Life shall go for his Look to it therefore Masters give to your Servants that which is just and equal knowing that ye also have a Master in Heaven Do not use them as Slaves as Beasts but rather as Fellow-servants of the same Lord Col. 4.1 In this Text we may observe a Divine Precept and a perswasive Argument to back that Precept 1. The Precept Ye Masters give unto your Servants 1. That which is just ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oecon. 15. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whatever is due to them by any positive contract legality or obligation Aristotle names three things as due to Servants Work Food Correction To which since our Servants are usually such as are not so by conquest but by compact we may add a fourth viz. Wages Moderate Work convenient Food due Correction proportionable Wages 2. Not only that which is just but that which is equal too ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dav. in Col. 4.1 And this refers not to the works themselves of Servants and Masters but to the mind and manner of doing which ought to bear a due proportion in both v. gr Col. 3.22 Servants are commanded to obey their Masters in all things not with eye-service but in singleness of heart fearing God and as serving the Lord Christ And Masters are required to return them that which is equal when they rule them piously and religiously That is just which the Law of Nature or Nations requires that is equal which true Christian Charity and meekness requires and which is due to servants by a moral obligation 2. The Argument Knowing i. e. holding this for an undoubted principle believing it and constantly remembring that Masters on Earth have a Superiour Master in Heaven As Servants if gracious are Gods Sons and thereby may be comforted so Masters are God's Servants and thereby may be caution'd Are Masters eyes on their servants to see whether they do their duties faithfully so God's eye watcheth them much more to observe whether they carry themselves in their Relation conscientiously Holy Job Job 31 13â stood in aw of this great Master and acted accordingly Eph. 6.5 to 8. Servants must be obedient unto their Masters as unto Christ as serving the Lord Christ and the Masters must instruct and command in Christ Mr. Dod that great Servant of our Lord Jesus Christ from Exod. 20.10 gravely observes from those words Thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter nor thy Man-servant nor thy Maid-servant c. That it belongs to all Family-Governours to see that their servants and all inferiours under their charge holily observe and keep the Lord's Day 2. I argue from those many and great benefits which accrue from the holy instruction of Servants and other Family inferiours 1. The Church is in an immediate capacity to receive benefit by it If Mistresses of Families did their parts and sent such polished materials to the Churches as they ought to do the work and life of the Pastors of the Church would unspeakably be more easie and delightful What a reviving of heart would it be to us to Preach to such an Auditory to Catechize instruct examine and watch over them who are so prepared by a wise and holy education and understand and love the Doctrine which they hear How teachable and tractable will such be How successfully the labours of their Pastors laid out upon them How comely and beautiful the Churches be which are composed of such persons and how pure and comfortable will their Communion be The Orchard is according to what the Nursery is So Churches are according to what Families are Good Families make good Churches and good Education makes good Families 2. Not only the Church but State would receive much good by this Towns Cities Counties Kingdoms would gain by it and it must needs be so for what are they
Sure I am they that have not learned their duty to God will never rightly perform their duty to men I heartily wish that proud saucy debaucht behaviour and lame quarrels be not too sad proofs of this unhappy Truth I have done with the fourth I now proceed to the fifth and last Enquiry viz. How the whole affair may be so prudently piously Scripturally managed as that it may become most Vniversally profitable And here I shall first address my self to my Superiours and then close all with directions to Inferiours 1. Then for Superiours and among these Oeconomical ones 1. Let Parents begin betimes with their children ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as soon as ever they find them to have any use of Reason as soon as ever their understandings begin to bud and blossom The discreet Gardiner begins to graff as soon as ever the Sap begins to arise and the Stock to swell In the Old Law we find more Lambs Kids young Turtles First-fruits and green Corn required than other Elder Sacrifices Levit. 2.14 Sow thy Seed in the Morn Eccl. 11.9 Begin I say betimes the sooner the better according to that of the Prophet Isa 28.9 To whom shall I teach knowledg and whom shall I make to understand Doctrine Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the Breasts Old men nay indeed and too many young men think themselves too wise as well as too old to learn Indeed Childhood and Youth are the fittest times to learn in Vdum molle lutum eâz nunc nunc prâpirandâs aâriâingendus sine sinc rota 'T is bâst drawing a fair Picture on a Rasa Tabula The most legible Characters are best written on the whitest Paper before it be soild and slur'd The Twig whilest young is most easily twisted The Ground best sown when soft and mollified Hence that of the Royal Preacher Eccl. 72.7 Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth Little ones have not as yet imbibed such false Principles and Nations nor are they drencht with such evil habits as Elder ones are too too frequently died with He hath a very difficult Province whose task it is to wash out the spots of a Leopard or to whiten an Aethiopian And little less work hath he that undertakes to teach the Truth to one that hath been brought up in and is now as it were Naturalized to Err For those false notions must first be wholly rooted up before Truth can profitably be implanted Such must be untaught much before they can well be taught though but a little 2. Labour as much as in you lies to entertain their tender attention with such âruths as mostly affect their senses and fancies and are most easily conveigh'd to their little understandings To wit 1. Such Truths the sparks whereof are most alive in their corrupt nature v.g. To know God that made the whole World and them in particular That this God is to be worshipped That their Parents are to be hânoured That no lye is to be told That they must love others as themselves That they must certainly dye and after Death be judged to an Eternal state Begin to season them with the sence of God's Majesty and Mercy 2. Deal as much in Similitudes and plain and easie Resemblances as you can taking your Rise from the Creatures they see and hear always greatly respecting their weak capacity Are you sitting in your Houses you may thus bespeak them Oh my dear Child is this an handsom dwelling this house made with Stones and Timber O how much desirable is that House above with God that House not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens When they awake out of sleep mind them of their Duty Psal 139. Eph. 5.14 of giving their first thoughts to God and of awaking out of sin unto righteousness and of their awaking the last day out of the Grave by the sound of the Trumpet 1 Thess 4.16 Do they see the light of the day shining into their eyes Ask them Is it indeâd a pleasant thing to behold the Sun O how excellent then is God's goodness in causing the Sun of Righteousness to arise upon us with healing in his wings Mal 4.2 Are you putting on their cloaths O my Child think on sin which was the cause of your Soul's nakedness and of your Bodies need of apparel Be not proud of your cloaths which are given to hide your shame Never rest satisfied till your Soul be arrayed with the Robes of Christ's Righteousness When at the fire tell them of that Lake of fire and brimstone that burneth for ever into which all those that live and dye in sin shall be cast At Table how easie is it how profitable how delightful will it be out of every Creature there to extract spiritual food for our Souls The Bread minds them of the Bread of Eternal Life their hunger of hungring after Christ's Righteousness By a Rivers side how easie is it to mind them of the Water of Life and of those Rivers of pleasure at God's right hand for evermore Thus may you Psal 16.11 Hos 12.10 Assimilavi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã properte ââenim multis rebus Deum compararunt Patri Pastori amâeâ leâniâ Pool's Synops without the least taedium or disgust teach those little Bees to such spiritual Honey out of every Flower By these similitudes as by so many golden Links you may draw Truths into their heads and memories Thus it pleased the Lord to teach his people of old by using Similitudes Isa 5.1 Ezek. 16.3 Hos 1.2 Thus the Great Bishop of our Souls taught his Disciples by Parables Mat. 13.38 3. Teach them the most useful delightful affectionate stories you can find in the Word of God v.gr. The Creation of Man Man's Fall The Deluge Isaac Sacrificed Lot and Sodom Joseph The Golden Calf David and Goliah Three Children in the Fiery Furnace Daniel in the Lyons Den. Jonah in the Whales Belly The Children devour'd by Bears 4. Betimes acquaint them with the practice of Religious Duties Read the Word Pray give Thanks sing Psalms in their presence 'T is conceived by the Learned that the little Children learnt to sing Hosanna to the praise of Christ by hearing their Parents sing the 118th Psalm out of which that Hosanna is taken 5. Endeavour to restrain them from all evil and to breed in them a Conscience of sin even from the very breast No playing no idle and vain chat on the Lord's Day Exod. 20.10 Ezek. 4.14 Ezekiel from his youth and infancy had not eaten any thing forbidden in the Law Made Conscience of meals when the Appetite was most unruly One fault amended by a Child out of Conscience that it is a sin is worth amending an hundred out of fear of the Rod or hope of reward only 6. Bring them to the publick Ordinances as soon as they can come to be there and kept there without the disturbance of the Church Exod. 20.9 10. The
Philip to the Noble Eunuch q. d. To what purpose readest thou if thou be not careful to understand what thou readest The Word Preached either by Pastor or Teacher the Truth deliver'd in a way of Catechizing will do us no good unless we hear with understanding Hearken unto me every one of you and understand Mark 7.14 saith the greatest Preacher and have ye understood all these things Matth. 13.51 Dear Brethren as I know you desire not to sow your seed on the high-way Mat. 13 19. so as that the Fowls of that Prince of the Air should come and pick it up so be careful to make poor Creatures to understand what they are taught Now for the opening of the Truths laid down in the Assemblies Catechism I cannot but commend those four Books which I have found so exceeding useful for the younger ones among our people viz. Dr. Wallis Mr. Jos Alleyn Mr. Tho. Vincent and Mr. Tho. Dolittle their excellent Explanations 3. You will be sure to act very wisely very discreetly You know in Catechizing you have to do with different Sexes Ages Tempers Capacities some are less capable and more bashful these must not be expos'd to the scorn and contempt of those that have it may be more glib tougues and brazen foreheads but worse hearts You know when and how to incourage the willing to praise the forward to check the presumptuous to admonish the unruly patiently to bear with all You know what it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to be Soul Nurses 1 Thess 2.7 8. how to impart with all dearness those Fundamental Truths which make for their spiritual and eternal good and growth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And shall I take leave in your names to assure younger ones that you will have a tender eye to the slowness of apprehension in some of them to the slipperiness of memory in others to the bashfulness of most to the reputation of them all That you will opportunely prevent their grosser mistakes and candidly palliate their lesser ones that you will give the best sense to the worst of their Answers and put some necessary words into their mouths the better to facilitate the expression of their thoughts that you will so wisely manage the whole business as that it may make for their reputation as well as instruction and that they may find favour both with God and men 4. What you do do it resolvedly and that in God's strength not in your own Expect opposition from within from without From within a proud heart apt to mutter 't is a low mean piece of drudgery No but rather the most Doctor-like part of our work and such as cannot accurately be perform'd without a clear insight into the greatest depths of Religion and a proportionable gift of ready Exposition The lowest Principles of Religion are the highest Mysteries Again the tender shoulder that shrugs and enters its Plea against the burthen as being too troublesom a weight to be added to the Load of our other Lords-day-labours Neither will this prevail with you Brethren we are confident you are not only able 2 Tim. 2.14 2 Cor. 12.15 but apt to teach 'T is your joy to spend your selves and be spent in the utmost service of your God and his Church You will not be much concern'd in the consuming of your Oyl so you may lend your Light To such gracious Souls as yours there is there can be no greater burthen than the sense you have of the heaviness of your people in hearing But from without the general averseness of young ones is pleaded as a grand obstruction As to that you are so well seen in spiritual Logick as to fetch meat out of this Eater and will easily conclude that this averseness in young ones from this exercise of Catechizing is not the least Argument of its singular usefulness The more unwilling the Patient is to have his Wound open'd searcht plaister'd and bound the more eager the compassionate Chirurgion is to give relief The more unwilling they are to present themselves to be Catechiz'd the more reason have we to press them to it by the greatest violence of perswasion .. Lastly let not want of success discourage Your Heavenly Master you know hath assured you that your labour is not 1 Cor. 15. last shall not be in vain in the Lord. God takes the measures of his servants not from their success which is his sole work but from their sedulous and faithful endeavors which is their duty Go you on to plant and water let the great Lord of the Vineyard alone to give the increase And know 2 Cor. 8.12 1 Cor. 3.6 7. 2 Cor. 2.15 you are a sweet savour unto God and though Israel be not gather'd but you seem to have spent your strength in vain yet surely your judgment is with the Lord and your work and wages with your God Isa 49.4 I have now done with the particular directions there remain yet some more general ones which being observed may with God's Blessing much promote the success of this whole work And so 1. To spiritual instruction add holy admonition exhortation good advice and counsel Do not only let them know by instruction what their duty is but press urge inforce this duty upon them by admonition and good counsel O my Child you see your Duty you know what you ought to do O do according to what you know What a strong powerful prevailing influence hath good counsel when duly applied Only see 1. That you back your counsel with the clearest Scripture and most convincing Arguments you can possibly Good advice without these is but a Bullet without Powder and Arrow without a Feather Argue with them about the Excellency of God Christ the Spirit Grace the vanity of the Creature the folly and sinfulness of sin See how Job handles the matter with his Wife about murmuring and impatience against God Job 2.10 What shall we receive good at the hand of God and not evil Hear what Bathsheba saith to Solomon Prov. 31.2 3 4. What my Son and what the Son of my Womb c. It is not for Kings O Lemuel it is not for Kings c. Shew them the beauty of Christ draw aside the Curtain let them behold the Image of that blessed Saviour pourtrayed in Scripture Do to them as the Spouse did to the Daughters of Jerusalem run over all the Excellencies of Christ to them and then conclude He is altogether lovely This is my Beloved and this is my Friend Can. 5.16 O Daughters of Jerusalem 2. Labour as much as possible to insinuate your selves into their affections Having clear'd your way into their heads labour to wind and scrue your selves into their hearts Let them know that you have no design upon them but to make them happy no private end only their everlasting good This done thou hast done all thy work when all jealousies of any sinister ends are blown away then Exhortations and
acceptance with God or in a condition of spiritual life that is the forerunner and earnest of a life of glory 2. But again if you consider the nature of the drink which he hath appointed it is wine and not water By it may be signified thus much that as there is no sort of drink so grateful to the palate so reviving and strengthning to the spirits so that spiritual life that the Soul is raised to by the Death of Christ is a life of the greatest pleasure and joy that is conceivable for as no liquor like Wine doth chear a sad drooping spirit so nothing doth so glad and chear the Soul as Faith in a Crucified Christ according to that of the Apostle Peter in whom though we have not seen 1 Pet. 1.8 yet believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory Thus much for the Duty this do 2. The end of the Duty and that is in remembrance of me Here are two things to be inquired into I. What reason was there for the instituting an Ordinance for his remembrance II. Why of all the acts and expressions of his love to sinners above all he would be remembred in his sufferings for us which is the special signification of this Supper 1 To the first I say you must call to mind that the time of instituting this supper was the night before that day he died Now the consequent of his Death was to be this that he should be taken from Earth to Heaven there to be personally present till the day of judgment Now that his Church on Earth might not forget him in this long absence he therefore appointed this supper for a frequent quickning them to the remembrance of him till he came again 2 To the other Question I Answer That the reasons why Jesus would have this act of his love to be especially remembred above all other may be these 1. Because his dying for his Church was the greatest act of love he ever shewed his Church Greater love saith Christ hath no man than this John 15.13 1 John 3.16 that a man lay down his life for his friends Again saith the Apostle Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us If a man should part with his liberty and suffer bonds or lay down his estate and become poor or leave his Country and become an exile for his friend these were all expressions of great love but none of them are comparable to laying down life and shedding ones blood for a friend This last is that wherein Christ hath eminently demonstrated his love to his Church this he glorieth in and this is that which he would never have his Church forget but frequently remember in this supper 2. Because that though he gave and still doth give very great testimonies of his love to us as in his Resurrection Ascension Intercession preparing Glory and lastly in his coming again to raise us justifie us and to take us to himself to behold and enjoy that Glory that he had with the Father before the World was yet this Ordinance is rather for the remembrance of his bloody Death for us than for the remembrance of any of the other blessings and why Because that all these other depend on this Christ could never have risen to our justification had he not died for the satisfaction of the Law and his Fathers Justice Nor would he have been admitted as an Intercessor nor have been allowed one mansion in Glory for any of us nor would his Father have suffered him to have returned again to take any one of us to himself if he had not by his death made our peace opened the new way into the Holy of Holies and purchased a glorious Resurrection and an Ascension to the Heavenly and eternal glory for us So that since all his other acts of love to his Church depend on this of his dying no wonder if he appointed this Supper for the remembrance of his death rather than any thing else he either did or promised to do for us The Conclusion is that since that the end of this Ordinance is so glorious and that is the remembrance of the greatest love that ever God the Father or Son shewed to us it cannot but cast a Lustre and Glory upon the duty of coming to this Supper and engage us to a chearful participation thereof 3. The Obligation to this duty and that is Christ's Command this is implied in the Text but exprest in the foregoing verse what saith the Apostle Paul I have received of the Lord that which also I declare unto you The Apostle doth but declare the Command is Christ's he is the Author of it It is Christ not Paul that said This do in remembrance of me Christ's Commands are the bonds by which we are tied up to Obedience if we break his bonds we are transgressors Remember who they were that conspired together saying Let us break his bonds asunder and cast away his cords from us they were such that the Lord hath in derision to whom he will one day speak in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure The commands of superiors set out all duty to inferiors and punish for neglect and the higher or greater the superior is the more authority hath the command and the greater punishment will be inflicted on the disobedient If disobedience to the word spoken by Angels received a just recompence of reward of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy that disobey the command of Jesus Christ If a Child's disobedience deserves the rod or a Servants the cudgel or a Subjects the axe or halter what doth disobedience to the Lord Jesus deserve that is greater than Father or Master or any earthly Soveraign whatever Take heed then my brethren of being found guilty of neglect of this duty that is bound upon you by the command of so great an authority as this of the Lord Jesus that hath said This do in remembrance of me 4. In the next place is to be considered the persons obliged and those are the Church of Christ so far as by Scriptural Qualifications they are capacitated to a participation thereof who are 1. Those that can discern the Lord's body in this supper the want of this the Apostle gives as the reason of unworthy receiving it 1 Cor. 10.29 and tells us they eat damnation to themselves Now there are two ways wherein the Lord's body may be said to be discerned in this supper 1. When the Understanding is spiritually enlightned to perceive the true nature and ends of this supper and thereby is enabled to see a greater difference between this and our ordinary meals for he that shall for want of knowledg therein come to this Table with no better preparations or to no other intents than when he goes to his own Table he doth certainly pervert the ends of the institution and prophanes the Ordinance and therefore cannot chuse
but incur the great displeasure of God for so doing 2. But there is another way of discerning the Lord's body in this supper and that is by a spiritual tast and relish for the palate hath not a greater ability of discerning the different relish in the variety of meats man feeds on than the soul of man that hath its spiritual senses exercised hath in tasting the things of God and of judging the different sweets thereof This is that spiritual faculty that Jesus Christ speaks of when he tells Peter that he savoured of the things of man Math. 16.43 but not of the things that be of God Now this you must well observe you that do partake of this Supper whether you do relish the love of the Lord Jesus in his dying for sinners and for you in particular is this great love of Christ sweet to your souls sweeter than honey or the honey comb can you admire the heights and depths of this love and wonder that the Son of God should take a body to be bruised wounded slain for the vilest of sinners among which you reckon your self as one do you find this love of his to you draw your hearts to a love of him and a delight in him and a readiness to part with all for him this is indeed to discern the Lord's body in this supper and by this you are enabled to see a vast difference betwixt this supper and all the feasts of fat things that ever you were at in all your lives If it be so with you then are you qualified for this supper and are by Christ's command obliged to partake thereof 2. Those that have fellowship with God in Christ they are those Christ hath obliged by his command to partake of this supper This is another qualification the Apostle gives us in 1 Cor. 10.18 20 21. where discoursing of the nature of Divine and likewise of Diabolical sacrifices of the reason of the Priests and Peoples eating some part thereof he also shews the reason of our partaking of the Lord's Table which though it is not properly a sacrifice that is there offered yet it holds some resemblance unto the sacrifices of the Law and to the Peoples eating thereof inasmuch as it is a Commemoration of that one sacrifice Christ offered up to the Father for our sins of the benefits of which one sacrifice those that communicate at the Lord's Table do as effectually partake as if Christ was offered up as often as you there do eat and drink Now saith the Apostle of the Legal sacrifices v. 18. they which eat thereof are partakers of the Altar that is are partakers of the blessings of that God to whom that altar is erected and to whom those sacrifices are offered And not only so but there is yet a further meaning which is that those that eat of the Altar do thereby declare that they take the God of that Altar to be their God from whom they expect all that good they are capable of in this life and that which is to come and likewise they thereby declare that him and him only will they worship and serve Now this engagement of themselves to God signified by eating of the sacrifice is that fellowship spoken of v. 20. where the Apostle further tells you that there is the very same intendment in those sacrifices that are offered to Devils and the peoples eating of those feasts that attended those sacrifices they thereby did signifie that they took those Devils to be their Gods and resolved for the future to worship and serve them as Gods which is the proper meaning of that 20 v. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to God and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils i.e. I would that you would not associate with devils or enter into a confederacy with them to serve and worship them as the Idol-feasts do signifie Now if the Idol-feasts signified the confederacy betwixt the Devils and their worshippers so also did the feast that attended the Jewish sacrifice signifie a fellowship betwixt the true God and his worshippers whereby the true God was acknowledged as their God and that they would worship and serve him only Thus the Apostle having illustrated the meaning of eating of the Jewish and also of the Gentile sacrifice he proceeds to accommodate those notions to that of the Lord's Table v. 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils ye cannot be partakes of the Lord's Table and of the table of devils The meaning is this you cannot serve two such contrary Masters as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus and devils also for if you eat of Idols feasts you thereby declare you own devils as Gods and then coming to the Lord's Table you thereby declare you only acknowledg the true God to be your God in and through Jesus Christ your Sacrifice and Mediator which practices are very absurd and contradictory The Conclusion is this that those that partake of the Lord's Table are such that from the heart do take the God of that Christ whose death is remembred in that Supper to be their God and that do believe that God is really reconciled to them by that sacrifice and they declare likewise hereby they will worship and serve this God in this Christ and him only now if any of you are thus engaged to God in Spirit you have fellowship with him and you are those that have right to partake of this Supper Having thus opened the words of the Text I shall now give you that chief point I would have you observe which is this Doct. That it is the indispensable duty of all such members of Jesus Christ that can discern the Lord's body in this Lord's Supper and have fellowship with the Father by this crucified Jesus to come to this Supper and to partake thereof There is not any thing in the Doctrine I shall insist on except this one which is to prove it is your duty to partake of it and that it is therefore indispensable because the neglect of it is a very great sin Which I prove by this one argument Jesus Christ who instituted it he hath commanded you to remember him in it and therefore if you do it not you break his command and what is that but to sin against him for what else is sin but either to do what your God and Saviour forbids or not to do what he commands this is so plain that it were but to waste time to use more words for the clearing thereof What I have therefore more to say is to shew you those many things that accompany this sin that tend to aggravate it that when you understand not only that the neglect of this duty is a sin but a very great one you may be deterred from continuing any longer in it 1. I beseech you consider whose command it is you break it
is the command of the Lord Jesus to remember him in this Supper is a debt you ow to him your Saviour Lord and head it is a command that bears the superscription of the most supreme Authority in Heaven or Earth and if by the sentence of Christ it was but just to pay the tribute-money to Caesar because it bore his superscription it is much more just for you to pay the tribute of obedience to this command that bears the superscription of an Authority greater than all the Caesars that ever were What 's the name of Caesar in compare to the name and title of the Son of God which is a title that speaks him greater than all Angels or Arch-Angels in Heaven for to which of his Angels said he at any time thou art my Son Heb. 1.5 this day have I begotten thee this is he whom the Prophet Isaiah calleth Wonderful Is 9.6 Counsellor the mighty God the Prince of peace on whose shoulders it hath pleased the Everlasting Father to lay the government this is he whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom Dan. 4.3 and of whose dominion there will be no end of whom David speaketh Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom Psal 45.6 all power my brethren God hath given into his hands and hath given him to bear this royal title King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19.16 and it is he only that is head of his Church it is this great Lord that hath said this do in remembrance of me how then dare you disobey him believe it if he hath so great authority to command he hath as great a power to punish if he find you presumptuously disobedient he that could strike some sick and others dead for profaning this Supper he can do as much to you for not observing it and that he doth not is not because he wants power but because he is gracious long suffering not willing you should perish for your neglect but that you may be drawn to repentance and so to obedience but if you be obstinate after you are told throughly of your fault take heed it will be a horrible thing for you to fall into the hands of consuming fire 2. Consider your neglect of this Ordinance is a sin against the command not only of the greatest but of the best Prince in Heaven and Earth he is not only Maximus but Optimus also this is a further aggravation of your sin Who ever thought but that Absalom's taking up arms against David was treason but he that shall consider that the rebellion was against David the man after God's own heart against David the holiest of men and the justest of Princes and besides all this against David his Father cannot but judge it an act of the highest treason imaginable My brethren in your disobeying this command you sin against Jesus the just and Jesus the gracious against him that is by place your head in love your Father in openness of heart your Friend against him that emptied himself that he might fill you that became poor that he might enrich you that became an exile from his Throne and Father's Kingdom that he might bring you home to your Father's house that became a curse that you might be blessed that hung on a tree for you that you might sit on Thrones with him who called you and washed you from your sins in his blood and after all this when he shall leave such a command as this to remember him in this Supper for all this his love how inexcusable must your neglect be let your Conscience be judge with whom I leave it 3. If you consider what relation you that are believers stand in to this Jesus that left this command with you ye are the Elect of the Father who committed you to his Son to Redeem and effectually call you that he might save you from sin wrath the grave Hell and to bring you to everlasting glory Why are you called believers but from that faith whereby you acknowledg this Jesus as your Lord and your God whereby you trust in him and in what he hath done and suffered for you for the making your peace procuring your pardon and opening a new and living way into your Father's Kingdom and glory it is by this faith that you love him cleave to him and are therefore called his friends his children his brethren his subjects servants followers witnesses and shall such as you be found disobedient to him shall you carelesly forget to remember him in a supper appointed by himself for the remembrance of the greatest act of his love that is his dying for you I tell you Christ will take it worse of you than of any others how hainously did David take a contempt from his friend Psal 41.9 Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me ye are those that he hath chosen out of the world brought into his Father's family and for you to turn the heel upon him and refuse to eat at his Table this is a contempt that cannot but grieve and anger him when Christ had been teaching that they who did not eat his flesh and drink his blood had no life in them at this multitudes were offended and forsook him but saith he to his Disciples will ye go also implying that if they should forsake him it would be matter of greater trouble than that of the multitudes leaving him John 6.53.67 That the profane world comes not nigh his Table that comes not so nigh his heart but that ye believers should withdraw this is that which he must needs take ill from you Oh do not as you tender the good pleasure of your Lord do not grieve him by absenting your selves from his table 4. If you consider the command it self as it is easie pleasant honourable your neglect must needs receive further aggravation What is more easie than to eat and drink or more pleasant than to come to a feast or more honourable than to feast with the King of Kings Christ puts you not upon the painful duty of circumcising your flesh nor on the troublesom duty of washing your selves every time you touch a dead carcase or what is ceremonially unclean nor on the costly duties of sacrificing your Lambs Goats or Oxen nor on the costly and toilsom duties of travelling scores of miles every year to feast before the Lord at Jerusalem to which the Church of the Jews were bound he hath eased you of all these burdens and made your task far easier instead of all these he hath instituted but two duties like them the one of Baptism the trouble of which you are to undergo but once in all your lives and the other of this Supper which you may have without travelling far for and which costs you next to nothing But further it is a duty not less
pleasant than easie what is more pleasant than a feast and this of all feasts is the sweetest if the perishing Manna in the wilderness were so delicious as that the tast of it was like wafers made with honey Exod. 16.31 how much more delicious must this celestial Manna this bread of eternal life be which is spread before you in this Supper it is a feast of love of the love of the Father and of the Son there is a voice in every morsel of bread you there eat and in every draught of wine you there drink saying behold O sinners how you are beloved of the Father and Son had not the Father loved you he would never have parted with his Son and if the Son had not loved you he would never have parted with his life for you Oh therefore come ye to this Supper come eat and drink ye beloved of the Lord and remembes his love more than wine let all the redeemed of the Lord come hither and praise him Nor is it a duty less honourable than pleasant it is a pleasant thing to feast but it is honorable to feast with a King most honorable with the King of Kings and Lord of the whole earth How did Haman glory that he was invited to the banquet with the King he reckoned not of it as his task but his priviledg not as his work but his reward And shall a feast with an earthly mortal King be more valued than a feast with the heavenly and immortal God this Supper is the Lord's Supper it is the great God hath made the provision and it is his eternal Son that hath made the invitation Oh take heed of excuses for though you make them God will not take them make therefore your selves ready put on your wedding-garments and come away let not a Table so well furnished want its guests least Christ lose the honour and you the comfort of the entertainment But if you will still draw back know this that you do not only sin but that your sin is great because against a command that is so easie sweet and honourable as I have shewn you this is 5. There is one circumstance more in the command which should quicken you to the observance and that is the time when this command was given It was the very night in which he was betrayed the very last night he lived on the earth the night before that day in which he offered up himself a sacrifice to justice for us Then it was he said do this in remembrance of me As if he had said my friends I am now to leave you and to be taken out of your sight but oh let me not be out of your mind to morrow you shall see how I love you when you see me scorned of men deserted of God praying groaning bleeding dying for you oh let not that love of mine be forgotten and least it should I therefore institute this supper charging you with my whole Church till I come again that so often as they eat this bread and drink this cup they remember me This is the charge of our dying Lord and surely if we have any love for him we should not dare but observe it When Jacob was dying he gave in charge as some of his last words that Joseph should forgive the unkindness of his brethren and when he was dead the brethren thought it a good argument to move Joseph to take pitty on them they therefore sent messengers to Joseph saying thy Father did command before he died Gen 50.16 17 18. saying forgive I pray thee the trespass of thy brethren this argument broke Josephs heart it is said he wept when they spake unto him and said fear not oh how did the words of his dying Father move and melt him methinks I hear him say was this the desire of my dying Father I cannot then but yield would my Father have me forgive I freely do it Now my brethren why should you not do as much for your dying Jesus as Joseph for his dying Jacob was Jacob his Father Jesus is our Saviour did Jacob love Joseph but he did not dye for him as Jesus did for us and shall we find a heart to deny our Lord in his dying request when Joseph could not find one to deny his Father oh then as Joseph forgave so let us This do in remembrance of him which will be an instance of that great love and honour we do keep for his memory 6. In the next place I desire you would think of the contempt you throw upon this Ordinance by your neglect What is it but that you have slight thoughts of the Authority of the Institutor and very mean thoughts of the institution it self and is not this to proclaim to the world that there is in your judgment a command of the Lord Christ and a duty in the Christian Religion that is frivolous and childish not worth the observance believe it the World will judg of it by your practice and not by your profession The Rechabites would drink no wine because Jonadab the son of Rechab did forbid them nor will the Turks drink wine because that Impostor Mahomet forbad them thus the one honoured their Father and the other their false Prophet and will you that are Christians let these men rise up in judgment against you shall error be more prevalent with them than truth with you and will you let the Turks outdo you in honouring a false prophet more than you do the true is Mahomet dearer and his institutions more sacred to his followers then Jesus Christ and his institution are to you Christ bids you drink of this cup in remembrance of him and you will not but Mahomet forbids them wine and they obey him judg you now who gives the greatest honor they to Mahomet or you to Christ methinks you should blush to think of it Oh Christians for shame amend and give no more occasion to Christ's Ministers to reprove you for so gross a sin 7. I have not yet done Think once more with what hypocrisie this neglect is accompanied What is hypocrisie but to endeavour to seem better than indeed we are to seem zealous for Christ and his Ordinances when in truth we are luke-warm and indifferent Ye are Protestants by profession your Fathers were so before you and ye seem ready to plead their Cause Oh that ye would look back and consider the Age past With what zeal was this Ordinance pleaded for in King Henry the 8th and Queen Mary's days The Papists would give you the bread only but you would have the Cup also they would have you adore the bread as a God ye would not commit so great Idolatry for which cause how many were exiled how many imprisoned racked hanged burned and after all these heats Oh gross Hypocrisie you will neither have bread nor wine nor will you take it in the Gospel-way without the incumbrances of Superstition and Idolatry Ye talk
any duty in that manner that is suitable and necessary thereunto ought to be laid aside but 5. To these I shall here add the external duties of religion and sacred ordinances to be used in the discharge of the work of the day 1. Is confession of sin a fast day is for atonement and therefore confession of sin is necessary As we read of Ezra when he heard of the sin of the Jews in their making affinity with the people of the Land he rent his garment and sat astonied till the evening sacrifice and made confession of their sin Ezra 9.7 8 9 10. So in Nehem. 9.1 2. we read the Children of Israel were assembled with fasting and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their Fathers And so Daniel in his solemn fast which he set himself to in the behalf of the Captivity now almost expired he makes an ample confession of sin as we read Dan 9.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. And as a fast is an extraordinary duty so confession of sin ought to be more than ordinary in such a day and what may suffice at another time may not be sufficient then It ought to be more extensive with respect to the several kinds and acts of sin with respect to the aggravations of sin and with respect to the persons that are under guilt and with respect to the inward principles of sin in the heart out of which all actual sins do spring As Daniels confession of sin extended to the kinds of it the several aggravations of it and to the persons that were concern'd in it as their Kings Princes Fathers people of the Land those that were near and those that were far off as we find in that chapter And this confession of sin is requisite to the deeper humiliation of the soul to the condemnation of our selves and to the justifying of God whereby he may have the greater glory 2. Is supplication which is the imploring mercy from God either with respect to the pardon of sin committed or the preventing those judgments that are impending or the removing such as are inflicted As we find Daniel in the time of his fasting after his confession made earnest supplications for forgivenesses of sin v. 9. for the turning away God's anger and fury v. 16. for the shining of his face upon his sanctuary v. 17. for the repairing the desolations of their City call'd by his name v. 18. and for the people in general ibid. And therefore fasting and prayer are frequently mentioned together in Scripture Luke 2.37 Acts 10.30 Acts 14.23 24. 1 Cor. 7.5 though prayer in general comprehends confession and thanksgiving in it as well as supplication yet in a stricter acceptation petition for mercy doth most properly express the import of the word and the main matter of the duty And this the King of Nineveh enjoined in the fast appointed by him Jonah 2.8 Let man and beat be covered with sackcloath and cry mightily to God So that supplication and crying to God is another great part of the duty of the day 3. Hearing the word for the word is necessary both for the discovery of sin for our present humiliation and for the discovery of our duty with respect to future reformation both which are necessary to an acceptable fast And the word of the Gospel sets before men a door of hope that their sin may be pardoned and judgment removed It presents God not only as reconcileable but delighting in mercy It sets before men many instances of God's hâaring prayer and the prevalency of repentance and humiliation with him And particularly what acceptance solemn fasting hath found with him in several ages And all this mightily tends to the furthering the great duties of the day And it is observed of the fast kept by the children of Israel Nehem. 9.3 that they read in the book of the Law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day and another fourth part they confessed and worshipped if repentance spiritual mourning and soul humiliation be necessary to the day as I shall shew presently then the hearing the word may be of great use thereunto As when Josiah heard the words of the Law he rent his cloaths and humbled himself 2 Chron. 34.27 and Ahab upon the like occasion humbled himself though not in the like manner and we read how God appointed Jeremiah and Jeremiah Baruch to read the roll that was written from the mouth of God in the ears of the people upon their fasting day Jer. 36.6 and what was the cause of Ninevehs repentance and humiliation was it not Jonah's preaching as our Saviour speaks of it Math. 12.41 They repented at the preaching of Jonah though his preaching was only this yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed The word is effectual through Christ to bring the impenitent to repentance and to renew the exercise of repentance in those that have already repented which is a proper work for a fast day 4. Renewing our Covenant with God which in private fasts is to be done betwixt God and a man 's own soul and in publick fasts by the mouth of the preacher and the peoples consent thereunto And this Covenant is either the general Covenant that we renew or else a particular Covenant with respect to some particular duties that we ingage our selves unto Or else both together As in the publick fast observed by the children of Israel in Nehem. 9. both Princes and Nobles and people renewed their general Covenant to walk in God's Law which was given by Moses the servant of the Lord and particularly they covenanted not to give their Daughters to the people of the Land nor take their Daughters for their Sons as we read Nehemiah Chap. 10. ver 19 20. and the Covenant being written their Princes Levites and Priests did seal to it So if a Church or people have contracted guilt upon themselves by the omitting of some duties or the committing of any sins for which the Lord may have a controversie with them It is a proper work upon a day of fasting to ingage themselves to a reformation by a solemn renewing their Covenant with God And though we have not a particular Instance of this in the New Testament yet the Law of saith that requires men now to take hold of God's Covenant and in all cases to make use of it so in some special cases to renew it also Not that it needs renewing as to the substance or sanction of it on God's part but we are on our part to renew it with God by laying new ingagements and obligations upon our selves to carry it in all things according to the Law of this covenant in the restipulating part of it 5. The next duty of the day is Thanksgiving Though this seems not the proper duty of the day yet is not to be omitted for the due consideration of God's mercy tends to the aggravation of sin and so to make mens confessions and
temptations to secure and advance his evidences and therefore is so much conversant in secret prayer The glory of the King's daughter shines within Psal 45.13 arrayed with clothes of gold but they are the spangled and glittering hangings of the closet of her heart when she entertains communion with her Lord. The more a Saint converses with his own heart the more he searches his spiritual wants and feels his spiritual joys 2. Because a sincere heart aims at the eye of God he knows that God being a spirit loves to converse with our spirits and to speak to the heart more than the outward ear Hos 2.14 He labours to walk before God as being always in his sight but especially when he presents himself at the footstool of mercy Because God is invisible ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã An invisible God is delighted with invisible prayers Chrysost when no eye sees but his he takes most pleasure in the secret glances of a holy heart Therefore a gracious soul prays in secret with the same diligence and care nay sometimes more when in a holy frame that he may reap the comfort of his sincerity before the eyes of God Job 31.33 But no more of this let 's descend to the question deducible from the words a question of no less importance than daily use and of peculiar concernment to the growth of every Christian Quest Quest How to manage secret prayer that it may be prevalent with God to the comfort and satisfaction of the soul For methods sake I shall divide it into two branches 1. How to manage secret prayer that it may prevail with God 2. How to discern and discover answers to secret prayer that the soul may acquiesce and be satisfied that it hath prevailed with God Before I handle these I would briefly prove the duty and its usefulness leaving some cases about its attendants and circumstances towards the close As to the duty it self the text is plain and distinct in the point yet further observe in Solomon's prayer that if any man besides the community of the people of Israel shall present his supplication to God 1 Kings 8 38 v. 39. 2 Chron. 6.29 30. 2 Chron. 7.1 he there prays for a gracious and particular answer and we know Solomon's prayer was answered by fire and therefore hence we may learn a promise given forth to personal prayer Besides the many special and particular injunctions unto individual persons in the case as Job 22.27 and 33.26 Psal 32.6 and 50.15 c. wives as well as husbands are to pray apart Zech. 12.14 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã solitary alone by themselves and Jam. 5.13 We may argue this point from the constant practice of the holy Saints of God in all ages but especially of our blessed Lord and 't is our wisdom to walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous Prov. 2.20 what should I speak of Abraham Eliezar Isaac Jacob Moses Hannah Hezekiah David and Daniel The time would fail me to bring in the cloud of Witnesses our Lord we find sometimes in a Desert in a Mountain in a Garden at prayer Cornelius in his house and Peter upon the house top in secret supplications to God The experience of God's gracious presence and answers sent in upon secret prayer as in the stories of Eliezer Jabez Nehemiah Zechariah 2 Chron. 4.10 Nehem. 2.4 Psal 32.6 Cornelius and Paul c. For this cause because David was heard shall every one that is godly pray unto him I might urge the usefulness nay in some cases the necessities of secret applications to God 1. Are we not guilty of secret sins in the light of God's countenance that cannot ought not to be confessed with or before others insomuch that near relations are exhorted to secret and solitary duties Zechariah 12.12 1 Cor. 7.4 2. Are there not personal wants that we would prefer to God alone 3. Are there not some special mercies and deliverances that concern our own persons more peculiarly which should engage to commune with our own hearts and offer the sacrifices of righteousness to God Psal 4.45 4. May there not be found some requests to be poured out more particularly in secret as to other persons and as to affairs of the Church of God which may not commodiously be insisted upon in common 5. Do not sometimes emergent and urgent passions spring out of the soul in secret that are not comely in society 6. To argue from the text may not the souls secret addresses about inward sorrows and joys Prov. 14.10 2 Sam. 18 3â be a sweet testimony of the sincerity and integrity of the heart when the heart knoweth its own bitterness and a stranger intermeddles not with his joy perhaps a man has an Ishmael an Absalom a Rehoboam to weep for Job 16.19 20. and therefore gets into an inward chamber where behold his witness is in heaven and his record on high and when others may scorn or pity his eye poureth out tears unto God To end this when a holy soul is close in secret what complacency does it take when it has bolted out the world and retired to a place that none knows of to be free from the disturbances and distractions that often violate family communion when 't is in the secret of the face of God in the hidden place of the most high Psal 31.20.91.1 Job 29.4 and in the shadow of the Almighty oh how safe how comfortable These and the like I pass by neither can I insist upon secret prayer under the variety of mental and vocal nor enlarge upon it as sudden occasional or ejaculatory referring somewhat of this toward the end Let 's address then to the first question in answer whereto I must preface that some things which aptly belong to secret prayer yet being in some measure coincident with all prayer publick private and secret it 's congruous to treat of such as are of great use as to the management of our present duty and therefore must refer to a double head 1. Quest How to manage secret prayer as 't is coincident with prayer in general so that it may prevail 1. Use some preparation before it rush not suddenly into the awful presence of God Sanctuary preparation is necessary to sanctuary communion Such suitable preparatory frames of the heart come down from God Thou wilt prepare the heart and cause thine ear to hear 'T was a good saying of one intime devotè nunquam mens orat quae se c. praemeditationibus priùs non excitat He never prays ardently Psal 10.17 Richard de S. Vict. de erud hom in t l. 1. c. 7. Dan. 9.3 2 Chron. 20.3 Isa 26.9 that does not premeditate savourly Daniel when he made that famous prayer it 's said he set his face to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat also set himself to seek the Lord. The Church in her soul desires the Lord in the
bring us into his prâsâ Tâke heed then of quenching the Spirit of God He that is ãâ¦ã knows the sound ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã John 3.8 the voice of the spirit When thâ ãâ¦ã word or softned by afflictions or feels some holy groans and sighs excited by the spirit that 's a warm time for prayer Rom. 8.27 then we enjoy the sense ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the intimations of the spirit of God or when prophesies are nigh to expire then there are great workings and searchings of heart in Daniel Zechary Simeon and Anna or when some promise comes with applying power Therefore hath thy Servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee 2 Sam. 7.27 28. Cant. 7.9 for thou hast promised this goodness unto thy Servant When we find promises dropt into the soul like wine it causes the lips of them that were asleep to speak 3. Keep Conscience tender of and clean from secret sins With what face can we go to a friend to whom we have given any secret affronts and will ye be so bold as to come before the God of heaven when he knows ye maintain some secret lust in your heart De Orat. p. 213. Prov. 28.9 Darest thou to bring a Dalilah with thee into this sacred closet True is that of Tertullian Quantum à praeceptis tantum ab auribus Dei longè sumus He that turns his ear from God's precepts must stop his mouth in the dust if God turn his holy ears from his cries When our secret sins are in the light of his countenance we may rather expect to be consumed by his anger and troubled by his wrath Psal 90.7 8. Object But then who may presume and venture into Secret Communion Ans True if God should strictly mark what we do amiss who can stand David was sensible of this objection Psal 130.3 4. but he answers it humbly There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared If we come with holy purposes to leave all sin he hath promised to pardon abundantly His thoughts and waies are not as ours Isa 55.7 guilt makes us fly his presence but proclamation of pardoning grace to a wounded soul that comes for strength from heaven to subdue its iniquities Mic. 7.19 sweetly draws the soul to lye at his foot for mercy Though we cannot as yet be so free as formerly while under the wounding sense of guilt Psal 51.12 Psal 69.5 yet when he restores to us the joy of his salvation he will again uphold us with his free spirit Yet take heed of Scars upon the soul God knows our foolishness and our guiltinesses are not hid from him yet we come for purging and cleansing mercy A godly man may be under the sense of divine displeasure for some iniquity that himself knoweth as the Lord spake of Eli yet the way to be cured 1 Sam. 3.13 Mark 5.23 is not to run from God but like the distressed woman come fearing and trembling and fall at his feet and tell him all the truth But if prayer have cured thee sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee For if we regard iniquity in our heart Psal 66.18 the Lord will not hear us but the guilt may stare conscience in the face with great amazement As 't is storied of one that secretly had stoln a sheep it ran before his eyes in prayer that he could have no rest How strangely will memory ring the bell in the ears of conscience If we have any secret sin in deliciis if we look but a squint with desires and secret thoughts after our peace-offerings to meet our beloved lusts again this is dangerous Prov. 7.14 God may justly give up such to cast off that which is good to cleave to their Idols and let them alone Hos 4 17. 6.3 Gerson T. 2. p. 76.6 But if the face of the heart be not knowingly and willingly spotted with any sin or lust bating infirmities which he mourns under then thy countenance through Christ will be comely in the eye of God and thy voice sweet in his ears and as he said Qui benè vivit semper orat a holy life vvill be a vvalking continual prayer his very life is a constant petition before God 4. Own thy personal interest with God and plead it humbly Consider whom thou goest to in secret pray to thy father who seeth in secret Canst thou prove thy self to be in Covenant vvhat thou canst prove thou mayest plead Psal 50.15 16. and have it successfully issued In prayer vve take God's Covenant into our mouths but without a real interest the Lord expostulates with such what have they to do with it God never graciously hears but 't is upon interest This argument Solomon presses in prayer for they be thy people and thine inheritance 1 Kings 8 51. Thus David pleads (a) Ps 140.6 Thou art my God hear the voice of my supplication (b) 119 94. I am thine Lord save me (c) 116.16 Truly I am thy servant I am thy servant Arias turns ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by obsecro quaeso I beseech thee O Lord I am thy servant God will avenge his elect when they cry unto him I was cast upon thee from the womb Luke 18.7 Psal 22.10 thou art my God from my mothers belly Therefore Asa turns the contest heavenward O Lord thou art our God let not mortal man prevail against thee 2 Chron. 14.11 Psal 119.176 Thou takest me for the sheep of thy fold and the servant of thy houshold therefore seek me When Israel shall be refined as silver and tried as gold they shall call on his name and he will hear them I will say it is my people my tried refined golden people and they shall say the Lord is my God Zech. 13.9 When thou canst discern the print of the broad seal of the Covenant upon thy heart and the privy seal of the spirit upon thy prayers and canst look upon the Son of God in a sacerdotal relation to thee thou may'st (a) Heb 5.16 come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need 5. Be very particular in secret prayer both as to sins wants and mercies (b) Psal 32.5.51.9 Hide none of thy transgressions if thou expect a pardon Be not ashamed to open all thy necessities David argues (c) Psal 40.17 70.5.86.1.109.22 because he is poor and needy four several times he presses his wants and exigences before God like an earnest but holy beggar and (d) Psal 142.2 Job 23.4 shewed before him his trouble from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Coram presents before him his ragged condition and spreads open his secret wounds as Job said he would order his cause before him from ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã disponerem instruerem marshal every case as a battel in rank and file There we may speak out our minds fully and name the persons that
afflict affront and troubles us and wo to them that a child of God upon a mature judgment names in prayer I find not that such a prayer in Scripture return'd empty Jacob in a great strait Deliver me from the hand of my brother Gen. 32.11 from the hand of Esau David in the ascent of Mount Olivet O Lord I pray thee turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness 2 Sam 15.31 2 Chron. 20.10 Prayer twisted the rope for him at Giloh Thus Jehoshaphat in his prayer names Ammon Moab and Edom conspiring against him Thus Hezekiah spreads the railing letter before the Lord Isa 37.14 Psal 83.6 c. Act 4 27. Joseph l. 18. c. 9. Euseb Chron. l. 2. p. 159. Eph. 3.14 Luke 17.5 2 Cor. 12.8 and the Psalmist takes them all in a round Catalogue that consulted against Israel Thus the Church in her prayer names Herod-Antipas and Pontius Pilate whereof the first was sent into perpetual banishment and the latter slew himself It 's of great use in prayer to attend to some special case or single request with arguments and affections suitable For this cause says Paul I bow the knee Suppose a grace deficient in its strength Lord increase our faith or a temptation urgent For this I pray'd to the Lord thrice A great reason why we reap so little benefit by prayer because we rest too much in generals and if we have success 't is but dark that often we cannot tell what to make of the issues of prayer Besides to be particular in our petitions would keep the spirit much from wandring when we are intent upon a weighty case and the progress of the soul in grace would manifest its gradual success in prayer 6. Holy and humble appeals before the Lord in secret when the soul can submissively and thankfully expose it self to divine searching about some measures of holiness and grace wrought in the heart Psal 139.23 Tertal de orat p. 213. The soul cannot bide by the presence of God under flashings of defilement neque agnosci poterit à spiritu sancto spiritus inquinatus neither will the holy spirit own a defiled soul But when a person can humbly modestly and reverently say search me and try my reins and if there be any way of wickedness in me lead me in the everlasting way it vvill be the means of the ebullitions and boilings up of joyful affections and meek confidence at the footstool of grace especially in pleas of deliverance from wicked and proud enemies When David can plead in comparison with and in the case stated between his enemies and himself For I am holy Psal 86.2 14 17. It shews him a token for good or when we plead against the assaults of Satan can we be conscious that we have watcht and prayed against entring into temptation When in the main we can wash our hands in Innocency Psal 26 6. Psal 18.20.7.3 we may then comfortably compass God's altar about In case of opposition and injustice He rewarded me says David in the point of Saul according to my righteousness and the cleanness of my hands before him Or about the truth of the love that is in the heart to God Thou that knowest all things John 21.17 Neh. 14.14 22 Isa 38.3 Isa 26.8 says Peter knowest that I love thee As to zeal for the Worship and Ordinances of God so did Nehemiah As to the integrity of a well-spent life so did Hezekiah or if we cannot rise so high yet as the Church did The desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee Or lastly when we can unfeignedly plead the usefulness of a mercy intreated in order to the divine glory As when a minister or the Church of Christ for him prays for such gifts and graces Eph. 6.19 Col. 4 3. such knowledg and utterance that he may win souls to Christ and can appeal that it is his principal aim this is glorious 7. Pray for the spirit that ye may pray in and by the spirit Awaken the North and the South to blow upon thy garden that the spices thereof may flow forth Cant 4.16 Then thou mayest invite Christ Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits that the soul may enjoy him and hold sweet communion with him All successful prayer is from the breathing of the spirit of God when he inspires and indites when he directs the heart as to matter and governs the tongue as to utteranee 1 Cor. 2.10 Rom. 8.27 Psal 147.18 Ezek. 47.1 Gerson T. 2. K. K. 4. 49. Zech. 12.10 God graciously hears the sighs of his own Spirit formed in us He sent forth his spirit and the waters flow That I may allude the waters of contrition flow upon the breathing of the spirit and the soul is as it were all afloat before the throne of grace when these living waters issue from under the threshold of the sanctuary Sequitur lachrymosa devotio flante spiritu sancto Devout tears drop down from the spirit's influences Melting supplications follow the infusions of grace by the spirit Then they shall mourn for piercing of Christ says the Prophet and be in bitterness as for a first-born like the mourning at the town of Hadadrimmon where Josiah was slain Then (a) 13.1 2 4 14.8 Isa 66.12 Rich. de Sâult p. 321. in that day what inundations of mercy shall refresh the Church when the Lord will extend her peace like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream great things to the Church and gracious things to the soul Inter orationem suspiria cognoscit holy sighs in prayer give intelligence of great mercies to follow Nay to withstand powerfully all the wiles of Satan one means is Eph. 6.18 to consecrate every part of the spiritual armour by prayer in the Spirit 8. Apply special promises to special cases in prayer For God hath and will magnifie his word of promise above all his name Psal 138.2 John 12.28 when we are under the word of command for a duty we must seek for a word of promise and unite them in prayer When a promise of aid suits to the precept it renders prayer victorious and obedience pleasant when we come with God's own words into his presence when we take his words with us that he would take away all iniquity he 'll receive us graciously Hos 14 2. Gen. 32.9 1 Kings 8.24 Jacob urged that God had bid him return from his Country and kinred Solomon urges the word of promise to David Jehoshaphat urges the a 2 Chron. 20.8 9. word of promise to Solomon Daniel fills his mouth (b) Dan. 9.2 3 with the promise given to Jeremiah he reads and then applies it in prayer First search the Bible and look for a promise and when found open it before the Lord. Paul teaches us to take the (c) Heb. 13.5 6. promise given to
then follows song and praise This streams from the sense of divine love and love is the fountain of thankfulness and of all spritely and vigorous services that prayer that does not end in chearful obedience is called by Cyprian âe Orat. p. â7 oratio sterilis and preces nudae barren and unfruitful naked and without ornament and so we may glance upon the expression of holy James the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Jam. 5.16 a working prayer within will be working without and demonstrate the labour of love 2. Obs The principal subject-matter of prayer the mark the white that the arrow of prayer is shot at the scope it aims at there 's usually some special sin unconquer'd some untamed corruption some defect some pressing strait that drives the soul to prayer and is the main burden of the spirit take notice how such a sin withers or such a grace flourishes or such a need supplied upon the opening our hearts in prayer Watch unto prayer Eph. 6.18 watch to perform it and then to expound the voice of the divine oracle and to know that ye are successful Cry to thy soul by vvay of holy soliloquy Watchman Isa 21.11 what of the night 3. Obs Ensuing providences Set a vigilant eye upon succeeding passages examine them as they pass before thee set a wakeful centinel at the posts of vvisdom His name is near his wondrous works declare His name of truth Psal 75 1. his glorious title of hearing prayers When prayer is gone up by the help of the spirit mark hovv all things work together for good Rom. 8.28 v. 27. Isa 58.9 11. and note the connexion there the working of things together follows the intercession of the Spirit for all Saints God is pleased often to speak so clearly by his vvorks as if he said here I am I will guide thee continually and thou shalt be like a watered garden whose waters fail not Secret promises animate prayer and open providences expound it Isa 45 4 11 19. Cyrus was promised to come against Babylon for the Churches sake But Israel must ask it of God and they had a vvord for it that they should not seek his face in vain Psal 107.19 20. and then follows Babylon's fall in the succeeding chapters When we cry unto the Lord in trouble he sends his vvord of command and heals us There 's a set time of mercy a time of life when Abraham had prayed for a son the Lord told him Gen. 15.2 18.10.14 Esth 4.16 6.1 Psal 3.4.5 Eliezer Gen. 24.15 at the time appointed I 'le return In a great extremity after the solemn fast of three days by the Jews in Shushan and the Queen in her Palace on the fourth day at night the King could not sleep and must hear the Chronicles of Persia read and then follows Haman's ruine Prayer has a strange vertue to give quiet sleep sometimes to a David and sometimes a waking pillow for the good of the Church When Jacob had done wrestling and the Angel gone at the springing of the morning then the good man saw the Angel of God's presence in the face of Esau Sometimes providence is not so quick Rev 6.11 the Martyr's prayer as to compleat answer is deferred for a season but long white robes are given to every one a triumphant frame of spirit and told they should wait but a little season till divine justice should work out the issue of prayer the thunder upon God's enemies comes out of the temple the judgments roar out of Zion Rev. 11.19 Joel 3.16 the place of divine audience but the means and methods and times of God's working are various such as we little forethink Submit all to his infinite wisdom prescribe not but observe the Embroidery of Providence its difficult to spell its characters sometimes but 't is rare employment (d) Isa 64.5 Psal 111 2â Eccl. 3.11 2 Sam. 23.4 His vvorks are searcht into by such as delight in his providences for all things are beautiful in his season 4. Mark thy following communion vvith God Inward answers make the soul veget and lively like plants after the shining of the Sun upon rain lift up their heads and shoot forth their flowers A Saint in favour does all with delight Isa 61.3 Answer of prayer is like oil to the spirits and beauty for ashes The sackcloth of mournful fasting is turned to a wedding garment He grows more free and yet humbly familiar vvith heaven This is one I vvould wish you to pick acquaintance vvith that can come and have what (h) Joh. 16 23. Gen. 20.7 he vvill at Court. As the Lord once told a King by night that Abraham was a Prophet and vvould pray for him he vvas acquainted vvith the King of heaven O blessed person I hope there 's many such among you vvhose life is a continued prayer Psal 109.4 As David that gave himself to prayer Heb. But I prayer he 's all over prayer prays at rising prays at lying down prays as he walks he 's always ready for prayer like a prime favourit at Court that has the golden key to the privy stairs and can vvake his Prince by night Christians there are such whatever the besotted profane world dreams vvho are ready for spiritual ascents at all seasons besides the frequency of set communions His wings never vveary his willing spirit is flying continually and makes God the rock of his dwelling ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã into which he may upon all assaults have holy retirements Psal 71.3 But so much for the main Question with its branches There be many particular queries of some weight that may attend the princ pal subject and such I shall briefly reply to as Qu 1. What 's the proper time for secret prayer Ans Various providences different temperaments and frames of spirit motions from heaven opportunities dictate variously Some find it best at even others in the night when all is silent others at morning when the spirits are freshest I think with respect to others that conscientious prudence must guide in such cases when others are retired and the spirit in the best frame for communion Qu. 2. How often should we pray in secret Ans If we consult Scripture-president we find David at prayer in the morning our blessed Lord early before day in the morning Psal 5.3 Mark 1.35 Chrys in Psal 5. p. 542 Etim Mat. 14 23. Gen. 24.63 Psal 55.17 Dân 6 10. Psal 119.164 Chrysostom advises ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. wash thy soul before thy body for as the face and hands are cleansed by water so is the soul by prayer At another time our Lord went to secret prayer in the even and Isaac went to prayer in the eventide David and Daniel pray'd three times a day and once 't is mentioned that David said seven times a day will I praise thee that is very often Such cases may happen that
such a prayer as this O that the Lord would lengthen this triumphant day and the (c) Jos 10.12 Lord heard his voice The tribes beyond Jordan in a (d) 2 Chr. 5 23. battel with the Hagarites Jehoshaphat in a sore strait (e) 18.31 at Ramoth Gilead Sampson ready to perish at Lehi (f) Judg. 15.18 16 28. with thirst and when blind exposed to contempt in the Temple of Dagon David near (g) 1 Sam. 30.6 stoning at Ziglag and when flying from Absalom in the ascent of (h) 2 Sam. 15.31 Mount Olivet Elisha at Dothan compast with a Syrian host (i) 2 King 6.17 Lord open the young man's eyes In the midst of lawful and laborious callings Boaz to the reapers (k) Ruth 2.4 the Lord be with you we may pray that our Oxen (l) Psal 129.8 may be strong to labour no breaking in or going out nor no complaining in our streets It sanctifies the plow as Jerom said of the fields of Bethlehem quocunque te verteris Psal 144.14 ad Marcellum p. 129 T. 1. arator stivam teneus Alleluja decantat c. The tillers of the field and the dressers of vineyards sang David's psalms it keeps the shop and inclines the hearts of customers it bars the doors it quenches fire it blesseth thy children (m) Psal 147.13 within thee it preserves thy going out and coming in (n) 128.1 Jacob found it to rest upon his children going a journey (a) Gen. 43.14 to Egypt it closes the eyes with (b) Psal 3.5.4 8. sweet sleep it (c) Job 3â 10 Psal 139.18 given Songs in the night and wakens the soul in the arms of mercy It sits at the helm when a (d) Psal 107.28 Jon. 1.6 storm rises at sea it gives strength to Anchors in roads and prosperous gales to the venturous Merchant When in the palace at dinner Nehemiah presents the cup to his prince he presents also a Michtam a golden (e) Neh 3.4 2 Chro. 34 27 Luke 17.5 Gen. 49.18 2 Chron. 2 4. Act. 7 60. prayer to the King of Heaven at the reading of the law Josiah was heard as to some secret cries to Heaven At a holy conference in a journey the Disciples occasionally pray Lord increase our faith Jacob on his dying pillow predicting future events to his children falls into a holy rapture I have wait ed for thy salvation O Lord. At sacred death in martyrdom Zechariah cries out the Lord look upon it and require it and Stephen under a showr of stones melts in prayers for the stony hearts that slung them Lord lay not this sin unto their chage and our blessed Saviour in his greatest agonies makes a tender hearted prayer Father forgive them they know not what they do Luke 23 34. 1 Sam. 1.17 and lastly in the distresses of others Eli puts a sudden petition for Hannah the God of Israel grant thee thy petition In these and many like cases the holy word stores us with patterns for ejaculation in all extremities which I cannot now digest and improve only in a few words lets take a view of the usefulness of such a sudden flight of the soul to Heaven 1. It helps us to a speedy preparative for all duties Lam. 3 4â with such an ejaculation le ts lift our hearts with our hands to God in the Heavens 2. It is a guard against secret sins in the first risings and the first assaults of temptation 3. It suffers not divine mercies to slip by unobserved in a wakeful Christian and proves a fruitful mother of gratitude and praise 4. It sanctifies all our worldly imployments 1 Tim 4. â 5. it fastens the stakes in the hedge of divine protection and turns every thing to a blessing 5. It s a Saints buckler against sudden accidents a present antidote against frights and evil tidings It s good at all occasions and consecrates to us not only our meals but every gasp of air c. 6. It s a sweet companion that the severest enemies can't abridge us of Outward ordinances and closet duties they may cut off the little (a) Ezr. 9 8. nail in the holy place they may pluck out But no labyrinth no prison not the worst of company can hinder this coelo restat iter in the very face of adversaries we may lift our souls to God No more of this le ts briefly conclude with some uses Vse Vse Cant. 4 12. To convince such of their dangerous state that neglect sacred duties that have no heart-communion that draw no water out of this sealed fountain But all they do is in publick only it 's a suspicious token of hypocrisie since the kernel and soul of religion lies so much in the heart and closet mark the phrase in the text how it varies thy Father that is in secret be sees in secret God's eye is open upon thee in the closet and if thy eye be open upon his thou mayst see a glorious beauty The excellency of grace lies in making conscience of secret sins and secret duties 2. To examine such as perform secret duty but not from a sincere principle like Amaziah 2 Chron. 25.2 that prays but not with a perfect heart like Ahab they mourn but with Crocodile tears such as do it only because they find precept or example for it and therefore to quiet conscience will into secret but converse only in the shell and trunk of a duty that rest in the naked performance but matter not whether they tast of the sweet streams that flow in from heaven in the golden pipe of an ordinance what account can such render that go into their closets but like Domitian to catch flies only Sueton. in Domit. c. 3. and when the doors are shut to the world their hearts are shut to heaven and communion with God He that sees in secret beholds the evil frame of such a heart and will one day openly punish it 3. To excite and awaken all to this excellent duty and to manage it in an excellent manner Would ye live delightfully would ye translate heaven to earth then keep up communion in secret prayer to know him to discern his face to behold the lustre of his eye that shines in secret Remember the glorious person that meets in your closets all the world yields not such a glittering beauty as a gracious person sees when he is in a happy frame at secret prayer Shut your eyes when ye come out for all other objects are but vile and fordid and not worth the glances of a noble soul O the sweetness the hidden manna that the soul tasts when in lively communion with God! Psal 31.19 Part of that which is laid up for Saints in glory let us a little relish our spirits with it 1. Consider what amorous agonies the soul delights to conflict with in serret fears that raise confidence humility that exalts tremblings that embolden bright clouds
the glory of heaven where all our prayers shall be turned into praises When every sigh below shall be an accent to the heavenly musick above and the tears of the valley shall be turned into orient gems in the diadem of glory Here we groan under wants and desires empty within and live on the craving hand But there palms in the hand white robes and everlasting joys upon the heads and hearts of Saints How may the duty of of daily Family Prayer be best managed for the spiritual benefit of every one in the Family Serm. XV. Joshua 24.15 latter part But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. JOshua being old and stricken in age and desirous before his departure out of the world solemnly to engage the people of Israel to adhere to God and his holy worship gathered all their Tribes to Shechem called for the chief of them that were Governours and Representatives of the whole body of the People (a) Quatuor crant in qualibet urbe gradus officioram 1. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Senes vel Sânatus 2 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã capira âatâum singularum tribuum primotes primi eminenâtoââ in urbe ãâã 3. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Judices ãâ¦ã veram ãâ¦ã 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Apparitores ãâã res judicates exequebantur ââculo lâro p pulum corebant ad observantiam praeceptorum Schind Lexic Pentag namely for the Elders of Israel or the Senate that did chiefly manage the affairs of Church and State for their Heads the most eminent of each Tribe and prime Rulers thereof for their Judges that sate in Courts to hear Causes and execute judgment betwixt man and man and such Magistrates that ruled over them for their peace and welfare and for their Officers who did see to the execution of the sentences and judgments of Superiour Magistrates All these being present Joshua makes a brief historical narrative of God's signal providences and singular benefits to them and their Fathers in this order First His calling of Abraham from Idolatry to the knowledg of the true God and profession of true Religion ver 2 3. Secondly His multiplying of his Seed ver 3 4. Thirdly His delivering them out of Egypt and making a way for them through the Red-sea which returning destroyed the Egyptians that did pursue them ver 5 6 7. Fourthly His preserving them in the Wilderness ver 7. Fifthly The Victories that he gave them over the Amorites when they fought against them ver 8. Sixthly His defending them against Balak the Son of Zippor King of Moab and restraining Balaam from cursing of them ver 9 10. Seventhly His miraculous providence in drying up the waters of Jordan that they might pass over ver 11. Eighthly His delivering the men of Jericho and their several enemies into their hands ver 11. Ninthly That it was not by their own Sword nor by their own Bow that they subdued the Nations but God by weak and contemptible Creatures as Hornets drove them out from before them ver 12. Tenth His giving them the possession of such Cities which they had not built and to eat of the Vine-yards and Olive-yards which they had not planted thus he brings to their remembrance the great and wonderful things that God had done for them A capite bona valeâudo inde omnia vâgeta sunt atque erecta aut languore demissa prout animus eorum viget aut marcet Et erunt Cives erunt Socii digni hac bonitate in totum orbem rectimores revertentur Seâec de Clement lib 2. cap. 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ego domus mea ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã usurpantur 1. Pro domicilio The mercies of God to man being strong enforcements of man's duty to God upon these moral grounds and reasons Joshua in the 14th verse earnestly exhorts them to fear the Lord and to serve him in sincerity with a pure heart without hypocrisie and in truth without false pretences and counterfeit shews of godliness as becometh such as worship the most Holy the most Wise and glorious God and declareth his own fixed resolution That he and his house would serve the Lord as if he should say I have given you a Catalogue of the great and many mercies of God vouchsafed to you and I have exhorted and charged you all in the Name of the Great and Eternal God to fear and serve him but if ye will not I do here declare profess and publish my purpose and resolution in the ears of all you the Elders Heads Judges and Officers and all others that I and my house will serve the Lord be it known unto you that I will not only serve and worship God my self but will also set up his worship in my house and both I and mine will serve the Lord. The original words in Old and New Testament translated House have various significations amongst the rest these 1. For an earthly habitation properly taken this house cannot serve the Lord but the Inhabitants in this house must serve the Lord. 2. Pro Sepulchro ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Dupert Eheu fugaces Labuntur anni nec pietas morum rugis instanti Senectae afferet indomitaeque morti Hor. lib. 2. Od. 14. Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas carpe diem quam minimum credula postero Idem l. 1. Od. xi 2. For the grave where we must all shortly take up our Lodgings and be carried on mens backs from our now dwelling houses to this sleeping house We that are now alive shall be in a little time housed in the earth while we live we dwell in several houses one house can contain or entertain but a few but what a large capacious house is the Grave that shall hold all the living Job 30.23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living There is no praying to or praising of God in this house in the houses where you now dwell you may you ought but in this you are going to and oh how quickly might you or I be in it you will be past praying and past hearing and calling upon God when death and dust have stopped your mouth 's and tyed your tongues Eccles 9.10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledg nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest Sirs you are going you are going every day every hour every moment to this house whether you are eating or drinking or sleeping whether you pray or not pray in your houses where now you dwell you are going to this house where you can never pray Therefore pray NOW or NEVER serve God and pray unto him now where you dwell or you must hold your peace for ever except you cry and roar and lament your negligence and folly in a Lake of burning brimstone because you did not pray
say I would my poor hungry child I would but I have it not Why then will you not come at me live together and eat together at my cost and care and charge and yet be whole months and never come at Me and that your children have reason raiment limbs not born blind nor of a monstrous birth which things Heathens have been affected with and a thousand ways besides have I done you good may God say Why then will you live whole years together and never together come at me Have you found one more able or more willing to do you good that you never can Why then are you so unthankful as not to come at me After the like manner the Lord expostulates with his People to whom he had been a bountiful Benefactor and yet they answered not his bounty nor served him their Benefactor for which he calls to the Heavens to be astonished and the Earth to be horribly afraid Jer. 2.5 Thus saith the Lord Mercies do engage to duties We should have him for our God for ever and serve him that always doth us good So the Poet. O Melibaec Deuo. nobis haec otia fecit Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus illius aram Saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus Virg. Eclog. 1. Officia etiam saerae sentiunt nec ullum tam immansuetum animal est quod non cura mitiget in amorem sui vertat Leonum ora à magistris impunè tractantur Eliphantorum feritatem usque in servile obsequium demeretur cibus adeo etiam quae extra intellectum atque aestimationem bemeficii sunt posita assiduitas tamen meriti pertinacis evincit Ingratus est adversus unum beneficium adversus alterum non erit Duorum obliru est tertium etiam corum quae excideruât memoriam reducet Qui instat onerat priora sequentibus etiam ex duto Immemori pectore gratiam extundat Nâo audebit adversus multa ocuâcâ allollere Senec. de benef c. 3. what iniquity have your Fathers found in me that they are gone far from me 6. Neither said they where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt Should such a people forsake such a God and go far from him that did them so much good yet they did ver 13. Be astonished at this oh ye heavens You see when God is a Benefactor to a People and there is the same reason for Families and they do not serve him what monstrous wickedness it is God hath kept you all safe in the night and yet in the morning you do not say Where is the Lord that did preserve us come ô come Let us give joint praises to him God hath done you and your Families good so many years and yet you do not say where is the Lord that hath done such great things for us come let us acknowledg his mercy together God hath carried you through affliction and sickness in the Family the Plague hath been in the house and yet you live the Small pox and burning Feavors have been in your houses and yet you are alive your conjugal companion hath been sick and recovered children nigh to death and yet restored and for all this you do not say Where is the Lord that kept us from the Grave and saved us from the Pit that we are not rotten among the dead and yet you do not pray to nor pra se this your wonderful Benefactor together Let the very walls within which these ungrateful wretches live be astonished at this Let the very beams and pillars of their houses tremble and let the very girders of the floors on which they tread and walk be horribly afraid that such as dwell in such an House together go to bed before they go to Prayer together Let the earth be amazed that the Families which the Lord doth nourish and maintain are rebellious and unthankful Being worse than the very Ox that knoweth his Owner and of less understanding than the very Ass Isa 1.2 3. There is such validity in the consequence from God's being our Benefactor to our duty to him in serving of him that Joshua builds his exhortation to the Heads and People of Israel to fear and worship God upon this very foundation as appeareth plainly to any that read the Chapter where the Text lieth From what hath been said I reason in this manner 3. Arg. If God be the Founder Owner Governour and Benefactor of Families as such then Families as such are jointly to worship God and pray unto him This cannot be denied But God is the Founder Owner Governour and Benefactor of Families as such Neither can this be denied ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Aristot Moral Nunc adhibe puro Pectore verba puer nunc te melioribus affer Quo semel est imbuta recensâ servabit odorem Testa diu Horat. Ep. l. 12. adeo in teneris consuescere mulâum est Virg Geor. l. 2. Therefore Families as such are jointly to worship God and pray unto him Argument 4. Masters of Families ought to read the Scripture to their Families teach and instruct their Children and Servants in the matters and doctrines of Salvation therefore they are to pray in and with their Families No man that will not deny the Scripture can deny the unquestionable duty of reading the Scripture in our houses Governours of Families teaching and instructing them out of the Word of God Amongst a multitude of express Scriptures look into these Exod. 12.26 And it shall come to pass when your Children shall say unto you what mean you by this service 27. Ye shall say it is the Sacrifice of the Lord 's Passeover who passed over the houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses And there is as much reason that Christian Parents should explain to their Children the Sacraments of the New Testament to instruct them in the nature use and ends of Baptism and the Lord's Supper Deut. 6.6 And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart 7. v. And thou shalt teach * Crebris admonitionum quasi ictibus haec mea praecepta infiges optabis sicut repetitis mallei ictibus fârram aptatur Lud. de Dieu Et dentabis ea i. e. inter dentes versabis assidue lo queris vel dentibus mandes praemansa in os ingeres filiis tuis Malvend ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whet or sharpen them diligently to thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest in the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up i. e. morning and evening Deut. 11.18 19. Ephes 6.4 And ye Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And God was pleased with this in Abraham Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him and they
shall keep the way of the Lord. This then is undeniable if the Word is to be believed received as our Rule and obedience to be yielded thereunto And the Heathens taught a necessity of instructing youth betimes The reason of this consequence from Family reading and instructions ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Justin dialog cum Tryph 173. Scriptura sacra est 1 DEI cathedra ex qua ad nos loquitur 2 Dei Schola in qua nos erudit informat 3 Dei ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã spiritualis rerum medicarum officina 4 Dei ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã armamentarium in quo âunit armat nos contra omnis generis hostes 5 Dei manus qua nos per semitas fidei justitiae ducit ad vitam aeternam Gerhar loc com Tom. 1. p. 141. to Family praying is evident we need to beg of God the illumination of his Spirit the opening of the eyes of every one in the Family the blessing of God upon our endeavours without which it will be to no saving benefit and vvill be more manifest if vve consider and lay together these things following First Whose Word it is that is to be read in the Family together the Word of the eternal blessed glorious God And doth this call for and require preceding Prayer no more than if you were to read the Book of some mortal man The Word of God is that out of which God speaketh to us it is that by which he doth instruct us and inform us in the highest and weightiest concernments of our Souls it is that from which we must fetch remedies for the cure of our spiritual maladies it is that from whence we must have weapons of defence against our spiritual enemies that do assault our Souls and be directed in the paths of life and is not Prayer together needful then that God would prepare all their hearts to receive and obey what shall be read to them of the mind of God Is all the Family so serious and so sensible of the Glory Holiness and Majesty of that God that speaketh to them in his Word that Prayer is not needful that they may be so And if it be needful should it not first be done And when it hath been read and the threatnings commands and promises of the glorious God been heard and your sins discovered and God's wrath against them and duties enjoined and precious priviledges opened and promises of a faithful God both great and precious promises made to such as do repent believe and turn to God with all their hearts unfeignedly have you not all need together to fall down upon your knees to beg and cry and call to God for pardon of those sins that by this Word you are convinced you are guilty of and to lament them before the Lord and that when your duty is discovered you might have all hearts to practise and obey and that you might unfeignedly repent and turn to God that so you may apply those promises to your selves and be partaker of those priviledges From this then there is great reason when you read together you should also pray together Scripturis sacris incumbat Christianus fidelis ibi inveniet condigna fidei spectacula spectabit mundum in delictis suis Piocum praemia Impiorum supplicia religione superatas feras in mansuetudinem cânversas intuâbitur animas ab ipsa morte revocatas in his omnibus jam majus videbit spectaculum diabolum illum qui totum triumpharet mundum sub pedibus Christi jacentem quà m hoc decorum spectaculum fratres quam jucundum quam necessarium Cyprian 416. Secondly Consider what great and deep mysterious things are contained in the Word of God which you are to read together and there vvill appear a necessity of praying together also Is there not in this Word the Doctrine concerning God how he might be known loved obeyed worshipped and delighted in concerning Christ God-man a mystery that the Angels wonder at and no man fully understands or can express and fully unfold concerning the Offices of Christ Prophet Priest and King the example and the life of Christ the miracles of Christ the temptations of Christ the sufferings of Christ his death the victories of Christ the Resurrection Ascension and Intercession of Christ and his coming to Judgment Is there not in the Scripture the Doctrine of the Trinity of the misery of man by sin and his remedy by Christ of the Covenant of Grace the Conditions of this Covenant and the Seals thereof the many precious glorious priviledges that we have by Christ reconciliation with God justification sanctification and adoption the several graces to be got and duties to be done and of mens everlasting state in Heaven or Hell are these and such like contained in the Word of God that you ought to read daily in your houses and yet do not you see the need of Prayer before and after your reading of it Weigh them well and you will Thirdly Consider how much all the Family are concerned to know and understand these things so necessary to Salvation If they are ignorant of them they are undone If they know not God how shall they love him Invisa possunt amari incognita nequaquam Things unseen may be loved but things unknown cannot We might love an unseen God and an unseen Christ 1 Pet. 1.8 But not an unknown God If they in your Family know not Christ how shall they believe on him and yet they must perish and be damned if they do not They must for ever lose God and Christ and Heaven and their Souls if they do not repent believe and be converted and yet when that Book is read Petit se doceri divinitus ut doctrinam rectè intelligat ex antithesi verò monet omnium hominum mentes esse coecas nec intelligere doctrinam quamdiu non illuminantur à Spiritu sancto monet igiâur quasi velamen esse obductum oculis nostrae mentis vel volumen legis seu doctrinae clausum convolutum esse ut legi intelligi non possit nisi spiritu detrahente velamen oculis nostris evolvente volumen ut oculis nostris subjiciatur ideóque assiduè petendum esse significat ut hic dâctor mittatur in corda nostra qui ea illuminet sapientia coelesti imbuat Moller in Psal 119.18 by which they should understand the nature of true saving Grace is not Prayer needful especially when many have the Bible and read it yet do not understand the things that do concern their peace Fourthly Consider further The blindness of their minds and their inability without the teachings of God's Spirit to know and understand these things and yet is not Prayer needful Fifthly Consider yet further The backwardness of their hearts to hearken to these weighty necessary truths of God and their unwillingness naturally to learn shews Prayer to be necessary that God would make them able
corde se tantopere praesumere oportet ut modum quo Deus religiosè coli debet ipsi sibi pro libitu arbitrio praescribant non enim Deus hominum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã delectatur aequum est non quo nos volumus ipsi sed quo ipse vult modo eum colamus veneremur Thes Salmur That Abel did Sacrifice and thereby pleased God Gen. 4.4 the Lord had respect unto Abel and his Offering i. e. God accepted Abel and his Offering It is not said what outward testimony it was whereby God did declare this respect and acceptance of Abel's Offering whereby Cain did perceive that Abel and his Offering was pleasing unto God when himself and his Offering were both rejected It is conceived that fire came down from Heaven and consumed Abel's Sacrifice but not Cain's Offering and by this sign God did discover his acceptance of the Sacrifices in following Ages Lev. 9.24 1 Kings 18.38 1 Chron. 21.26 2 Chron. 27.1 But if this had not been by God's own appointment it would not have pleased him for will-worship God is not delighted in if it had not been commanded by God it had not been obedience in Abel and if it had not been obedience it would not have been pleasing to God for hath the Lord as great delight in Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better than Sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams 1 Sam. 15.22 Abel did by faith what he did in sacrificing unto God Heb. 11.4 2. Fide oblata fuerunt sacrificiis ab initio sunt autem ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in religione fides ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Haec enim habet ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã illa autem nititur divinae revelatione voluntatis ut qui cultus Deo ex fide praestatur sit obedientia Cloppenburgh Sacrific Schol. But faith must be bottomed upon some signification of the Will of God and must be done by virtue of some command if done in faith else there is no ground nor reason to believe that what is done will be pleasing unto God That there was religious worship in Adam's Family 2. A non scripto ad non factum non valet consequentia Inter primam promissionem de ventura semine mulieris primum sacrificium non relinquimus ullum temporis intervallum Munit hanc sententiam nostram Apostolus docens vetus foedus absque sanguine dedicatum non fuisse absque sanguinis effusione non fieri remissionem Heb. 9.18 22. Hinc enim consequens est vel cum promissione illa de venturo semine mulieris nullam factam esse foederis Dei cum bomine spiritualis instaurationem qua peccato um remissionem speraret crederet vel non esse factum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã qui est sacrificiorum character Cloppenburgh Sacrif Schol. and so handed down from his to others appears in that Adam did yield obedience to the command of God given to him concerning Sacrifices and other duties belonging to it and did educate his children in the same Though we do not read that Adam did sacrifice and pray to God yet it doth not follow that he did not The great wickedness of Cain and the martyrdom of Abel gave occasion to this first mention of their offering but it is not likely that this was the first offering made to God for do you think that Adam and Eve had so many Sabbaths before Cain and Abel were born and brought up that they kept none of them No not one Or that they spent their time and days in the matters of the World in the total neglecting of God and their own Souls If any be so uncharitable let them consider these three things 1. Had not Adam and Eve sad experience of the difference of being under God's favour and his frowns of being filled with the sense of his love and fears of his wrath Were there ever any in the world that knew both these as our first Parents did the one in the state of Innocency the other after their Apostacy When God himself came to look after these transgressors of his Law and to arraign them at his Bar and convince them of the evil they had done and pronounce sentence upon them for the same and cursed the one and the other and the earth for their sakes and drove them out in anger from that delightful pleasant Paradise in which at first they were placed by God were they not terrified now by the anger of the Lord as they were before delighted in his love Adamus cum totius generis humani esset pater familias promissionem seminis victricis posteris omnibus praedicandam acceperit illius officii nexu naturae positivi praecepti juris virtute tenebatur Officio isti cum non de fuisse plurima sunt quae suadent Munere enim mandato ut sedulò fungeretur effecerunt sine dubio beneficum à Deo maximum recèns acceptum sui generis amor misericordia aâque in quem staâum per peccatum redegisset miseres posteros sensuââ tenerrimus Tota itaque illius familia ipso curante regente hoc est totum in universum humanum genus nemine excepto dei erat ecclesia in qua fides observantia cultus religiosus viguerunt Doct. Owen de nat ortu c. Theol. lib. 2. cap. 2. 2. Then add to this and consider Did not God after this out of his abundant grace and mercy towards them lying in this misery preach recovering grace by and through his own Son Gen. 3.15 q. d. Adam thou art a lost man Yes Lord I see I am Thou art exposed to my wrath and to the death that I did threaten if thou didst disobey Yes Lord so I am Adam and Eve you two have undone your selves and all the world and plunged your selves and them into the depth of misery and are exposed to my wrath and justice for ever Yes Lord so it is so it is wo unto us so it is Well but yet out of my meer mercy and free grace I will help you out of this condition I have a remedy for you I have kindness for you Sinners for you Rebels and such that all the Angels in Heaven could not have thought of for you poor Sinners and that is my own Son shall be your Surety shall become a man and suffer in your nature and bear the punishment of your sin he shall dye and you shall live he shall suffer and you shall be saved if you will yet consent to the terms of a new Covenant after you have violated the former and this shall come to pass at the time that I have appointed in the mean while you shall offer such Sacrifices to me and pray unto me for your pardon and my grace and these Sacrifices shall be Types of this promised Saviour and it shall be through him but not for these that I
esse non cogitans quia Deus ludibrio habetur rogando semper inopiam nostram verè sentiamus ac seriò cogitantes omnibus que petimus nos indigere Generalis quidem confusus necessitatis suae affectus illuc eos ducit sed non cos sollicitat quasi in re praesenti ut egestatis suae le vamen petant Calv. Inst 3. Direct Get and keep upon your hearts a true real lively sense of your sins and wants and mercies Hereby shall every part of prayer confession petition and thanksgiving be more profitably managed and you better disposed for the work you have to do upon your knees Know your sin in the intrinsecal malignity of it the vileness of it in its own nature as it is sin Know it also and understand it as to the dreadful consequents of it in its several kinds acts and aggravations of them Get also a sense of your wants and of the necessity of the things you are to pray for If you want grace know that you want it and are undone without it and pray accordingly Pray as persons that believe you must be damned if you are not sanctified that you must perish if you do not repent and pray as men that do believe it And if you have grace already in truth know how much you want of it in respect of growth that you love God but a little which is your shame and Oh what a blessed thing were it to love him more Pray as those that would get at least one degree of love to God more by every prayer you make Think seriously what a little grace you have 1. to what you may have 2. to what you might have had 3. to what you ought to have 4. to what others have 5. to what you need And that 1. to fight against such strong corruptions 2. to resist such strong temptations 3. to bear such afflictions that might befall you 4. to perform such duties as are required from you 5. that you dye at last with peace comfort and joy Know also your mercies personal to body to soul relative what mercy you have one in another by being made mercies one to another Mercies for this life and the life to come think how many how great how precious how suitable how durable how sufficient how satisfying good God hath given you himself Son Spirit promises priviledges much in hand and more in hope and all undeserved A real abiding sense of these things will make you think and say Why me Lord why me and will wind up your hearts to lively praises too much neglected in Family duties so that you shall find the benefit and sweetness of drawing near to God in prayer Direction 4. 4. Direct Realize invisible things to yourselves Istuc est sapere non quod ante pedes modò est videre sed etiam illa quae futura suât prospicere Ter. Adelph Act. 3. by believing of them as certainly as if you saw them with your eyes When you are going to pray look into the unseen world stand and take a view of departed souls and seriously think what is their state and what they are enjoying or suffering that are already gone into eternity and from thence fetch arguments to quicken your hearts when dull and to be laborious when slothful and lively and fervent in your duty O how would a believing view of souls in Heaven and Hell help you to pray in prayer Suppose then you saw the glorious Saints in Heaven and the happiness they there enjoy in that they shall sin no more and suffer no more and be tempted no more and sigh and sob nor weep nor sorrow any more for ever all sin is expelled from those glorious souls and all tears are wiped from their eyes and now are full of love to God solacing themselves in the perfect perpetual and immediate suition of the chiefest good and then think this is the state that I am hoping for and looking longing waiting for and that now I am going to beg and pray I may be fitted and prepared for and hereafter be possessed of and then pray as becometh such that unfeignedly desire to be partakers of their joy and felicity Again stand and take a view of poor damned Souls and suppose you saw them with your eyes rolling in a lake of burning Brimstone full of the fury of the Lord Suppose you heard their direful execrations their doleful outcries their hideous roarings and bitter lamentations ringing in your ears saying Wo and alas that ever we were born that are come to this place of torment to this place of torment Oh! it is it is a place of torment In scipsos furenter exordescent damnati assiduè sibi ipsis iugubrem hanc caâtilenam occinent O tempus rerum omnium preciâsissimum O dici O horae plusquam aurcae quò evanuistis aeterium non rediâurae nos coeci excordes obstructis oculis auribus libidine furebamus mutuis nosmet exemplis trahebamus ad enteritum post longissima annorum spatia nihil de poenis nostris accisum erit sed iterum quasi ab initio pati tormenta incipiemus aâque ilà sine interruptione sine fine sine mâdo volvetur assiduè nostrorum tormentârum rota ibi erit calor ignis rigor frigoris erunt ibi perpetuae tânebrae eâit ibi fumus perpetuae lachrymae erit ibi aspectus terrificus daemonum erit clamor in perpetuum O aeternitas interminabilis O aeternitas nullis temporum spatiis mensurablìs Quam grave est in mollissimo lectu per triginta annos immobilem ââcere quid erit in sulphureo isto lacu triginta millia millium annorum ardere O aeternitas aeternitas tu sola ultra omnem modum supplicia damnatorum exaggeras Mor erit sine morte finis erit sine fine defectus sine defectu quia mors semper vivit finis semper incipit defectus deficere nescit Quid gravius quam semper velle quod nunquam erit semper nâllo quod nunquam non erit In aeternum damnati non assequenâur quod volunt quod nolunt in aeternum pati cogentur Gerhard Meditat. sparsim Once we had praying time and hearing time but we did not improve it for our good else we had not been now in this extremity of pain no we had not no we had not We did pray but we did but triflle in our prayers and did but dally with that God whom now we find and feel to be to us consuming fire and yet we burn and are not consumed we were not in good earnest in those prayers we were at but now we suffer in good earnest and are damned in good earnest Oh! this place is hot it is hot it is exceeding hot Will not God pity us will not God have mercy on us we once thought he would but we did flatter and deceive our selves and thought it would be well because we lived
ordines Alsted Qualis est enjús quo domus talis est universa civitas 5. Consider that Family Reformation is a necessary means to publick Reformation and to hand down Religion from one generation to another Reformation begins with Persons thence is carried on to Families thence to Parishes thence to Towns and so to Cities and to Kingdoms but when these consist of Families how can there be a reformation of Cities and Kingdoms without a Reformation of Persons and Families You complain of the badness of the times and age in which you live and that no more care is taken to mend what is amiss why do you not reform your own houses Why do you not amend what is amiss in your own Families If you have not power to reform a Parish City or Kingdom yet you have a power to reform your own houses If Religion die in Families will it not die in Cities too and in Kingdoms too Will not you do your utmost to keep Religion alive to recover it when decaying or shall it be extinguished with this Generation God forbid Or do you see nothing amiss in your houses to be reformed what no praying there and yet nothing amiss there Certainly there is Let yours then have a pattern and example of Family-Prayer from you to do the same in their houses and their Children from them and so let it pass from one age to another An effectual way to keep the City clean will be for every house to sweep before their own door MOTIVE VI. 6. If Religious Duties are not set up in your Families Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris Horat. Sermo lib. 1. Satyr 3. there will be the more sinning there and wickedness abounding in them How much cursing is there in many Families where there is no praying The field that is not dressed and manured is full of weeds and thorns Where God is not served the Devil is If in your houses God hath not a Church the Devil will have a Chappel What hopes will the Devil have Da mihi quaeso animas caetera sume tibi that he shall have Souls out of those Families where there is much sinning and no praying And if he might have their Souls he will be content that you may have all the rest If your houses be not nurseries for Heaven they will be breeding places for Hell If Souls under your roof are not prepared for Salvation they will there be fitted for Damnation and is this nothing to you Awake arise you drousie Governers of Families to your work and duty MOTIVE VII 7. It would be an effectual way and means to make those in your Families more obedient and better towards you if you would call on them to serve the Lord and you were more in Prayer with them You cry out of stubborn ann disobedient Children They grieve and break my heart saith one I have a Child that is my daily wound and sorrow saith another and Servants never worse is your often complaint Who is all this long of do not you read your sin in your punishment If you had taught them better their duty towards God they would have made more Conscience of their duty towards you if you had prayed with them God might have bowed their hearts as a return to your Prayers to have walked more suitable to their relative duties I have read of a young man going to the Gallows desired to speak with his Mother in her ear who bit off her ear with his teeth crying out against her as the cause of his death by your negligence saith he I am come to this woful end If you are alike careless of your Families if you do not lose your ears by your own Children yet you might lose something that is better MOTIVE VIII 8. If you make profession of Religion Aliud in titulo aliud in ptxide Pelliculam veterem retines fronte politus Astutam rapido servas sub pectore vulpem Pers Sat. 5. and yet do not pray in your Families it is base and cursed hypocrisie When you hear with God's people and pray with them and receive with them and seem to be devout abroad and do not pray with your Families at home is not this to make others believe you are what you are not Do you not profess by your joynt duties with God's people in all Ordinances that you are devoted unto God and doth not he that sincerely devotes himself to God devote also all he hath to him but is your Family devoted to God when there is no worship there It would be well if you were found out that you were denyed the Supper of the Lord for want of a sufficient credibility of a sound Profession But is it your way to be zealous abroad and negligent at home Let your house speak for you Sed videt hunc omnis domus Introsum turpem speciosum pelle decorâ MOTIVE IX Plus valet humanis viribus ira Dei Ovid. Trist Anno 1584 terra motu mons quidam in ditione Bernatum ultra alios montes violenter latus pagum quândam nonaginta familias habentem contexit totum dimidia domo excepta in qua pater-familias cum uxore liberis in genua provolutus Deum invocabat Polan Syntagm de terrae mot 9. The neglect of calling upon God in your Families will bring the curse of God upon them Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy fury upon the Families that call not upon thy Name 1. The persons threatned are Families which if in this Text comprehendeth many housholds or yet more largely taken yet there is the same parity of reason to a proper Family 2. Their crime is not calling upon the name of God 3. The thing threatned the fury of the Lord fury is fervent anger anger in it's height and rage 4. The abundance of it it shall not fall drop by drop upon prayerless Families but pour down in great showrs upon them Whereas the way to have God's blessing and protection over you and your houshold is to set up the worship of God therein There is a passage in a worthy Divine of a remarkable Providence of God to this purpose concerning a Town consisting of ninety houses that was in the year 1584. destroyed by an Earthquake except the half of one house where the Master of the Family was earnestly praying with his Wife and Children upon their bended knees to God Obj. But we see no such thing we perceive not but those Families prosper that have no Prayer in them as much as those that do Answ God is often angry when he doth not strike and punish presently the Offender but his wrath hangs over your house and you are never safe in your greatest prosperity N n est quare cuiquam quem dignum poena putaveris optes ut infestos habeat Deos habet inquam etiamsi videtur eorum favore produci Senec. Epist An Heathen could say If a wicked man prosper you need not
pauper te divite quodque inter amicos contingere non potest quomodo in tanta amoris animorum copula contingeâ Lud. Vives de off mar sick in one anothers sickness The husband must improve all his skill and strength to procure a competence of estate and the wife all hers to help and further it The Reputation of the wife the husband must tender as the apple of his eye and the wife must every way advance the good name of her husband And in short the Holy Ghost hath determined that he that is married careth for the things of the world how he may please his wife and she that is married careth for the things of the world (f) Circa ejus lectum sunt sacra omnia ibi arae ibi Deus ubi pax concordia charitas Deum facilè tibi amicum reddes si hominem reddideris Lud. Viv. de Christ. foem p. 710. how she may please her husband 1 Cor. 7. 33 34. This will bring honour to Religion comfort to their lives and a blessing on all they have This will make them digest all the pains and troubles of that condition seeing they find two to be better than one and do never miss of a sweet and constant (g) Summus autem amicitiae gradus est foedus conjugale Melan. l. c. friend in their bosom Without this care the one will be a perpetual burden to the other and a daily torment When the one is unconcern'd in the others trials when the one gathers and the other scatters when the one blasts the others reputation when one perpetually crosseth and vexeth the other There follows a Hell of disquiet in the mind ordinarily a blast upon the estate besides guilt and shame unspeakable Think therefore often God hath made us One if my wife be sick I am not half well if my husband be poor I cannot be rich if he be discontent how can I be content we 'l laugh and weep together nothing but Death shall separate our Affections or Interests 9. Mutual Prayer Hence the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 3.7 advises that their Prayers be not hindred which implies that they should pray for and with one another Thus Isaac is said Gen. 25.21 to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã h Verba fudit magna copia ante è regione ante oculos multiply prayers with or before his wife and it follows how prevalent these prayers were This Common Debt we owe to all much more to them that are so nearly united to us The purest love is written in Prayer This Duty must constantly be done for and frequently with each other No better preservative of real love and peace than praying together There they must bewail their failings in their conjugal Relations the (i) Cum vero non amor procreandae sobolis sed voluâtas dominatur in opere commixtionis habeant conjuges etiam de commixione sua quod defleant Lombard l. 4. d. 31. pollutions that cleave to the marriagebed There they should beg the blessing of Children and blessings upon their Children a blessing upon their Estates and especially all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ upon their souls Who knows but that God may touch the heart of the Wife when the husband is pouring out prayers for her Certainly they are in the discharge of their duty to which God hath annexed a promise And it will be the wisdom of them both to espy Fit times for their joynt-Prayers if they cannot keep Pace with Holy Mr. Bolton who prayed twice daily alone twice with his Wife and twice with his Family And herein consider what particular grace or mercy your Relation wants what sin and temptation they are most liable to and press God with an humble importunity in the case till your prayer be answered You owe each other a spiritual as well as as a matrimonial love and if you only eat and drink together what do you more than others do not the Beasts of the field so If your love reach only to the body and the things of this life do not the Publicans the same but if you love one anothers souls and be restless after the salvation thereof you do more than others and your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And thus you have heard a plain Breviate of these Common Duties which Husbands and Wives should discharge towards each other I follow now the Order of my Text to declare in the Second place the special Duty of the Husband in this Position namely The great Duty of every Husband is to Love his own Wife This is the foundation of all the rest this must be mixed with all the rest this is the Epitome of all the rest of his Duty And hence this is expresly mentioned four times in this Chapter vers 25 28 33. as being the great wheel which by its motion carries about all the other wheels of the affections that are within us and the actions that are without us Fix but this blessed Habit in the heart and it will teach a man yea it will enforce a man to all that tenderness honour care and kindness that is required of him These are but the beams from that Sun they are but the fruits from that root of real Love that is within Love suffereth long and is kind it envies not is not puffed up seeks not her own is not easily provoked thinketh none evil beareth all things 1 Cor. 13.4 6. It is here as it is in Love to God which you know doth both instruct and thrust a man on to the utmost of his Duty excluding those wary fears wherewith hypocrites abound lest they should do too much Even so Love to a man's Wife suggests all fit expressions thereof and carries a man to perform the highest effects of it when as the want of this causes him to dispute every inch of God's command and to be jealous of every prescription I shall trace this comprehensive Grace or Duty 1. In its nature and property 2. In its Pattern 3. In its effects which done you will see that the greatest part if not all the Husbands Duty is contained in Loving his Wife as himself 1. For the First The Nature and Property of this Love It is Conjugal true aed genuine such as is peculiar to this Relation Not that fondness which is proper in Children nor the brutish lust which is peculiar to Beasts but that which is right and true 1. For the ground of it which is the near Relation which Gods Ordinance hath now brought him into and his will revealed in his Word Such was the Love of Isaac to Rebeka Gen. 24.67 She became his Wife and he loved her The Ordinance of God hath made her (k) Not only by original creation so she is part of his flesh but by nuptial coâjunction so she is one flesh Gatak Serm. p. 200. One Flesh with me and the Law of Nature obligeth me to love my own flesh
Manner of her subjection speaks her Reverence and that is free willing chearful Thus the Church yields up her self to the will of her husband insomuch as it is made a kind of proverbial pattern Eph. 6.7 with good will doing service as to the Lord implying that the subjection and service that we perform to the Lord is with a good will And such ought to be the subjection of the wife most free and willing so as if there were but (a) Nam quae ita vivit ut se ac maritum rem prorsus unam esse arbitretur haec absolvit numeros omnes sanctae uxoris Lu. Vives de Chr. foem pag. 678. one will in two breasts Thus Leah and Rachel Gen. 31.16 followed Jacob like his shadow when he makes a motion they consent if he 'l go they will follow him And was not Sarah's Reverence (b) This submission must not be for worldly respects or for fear of wrath but religious and for conscience sake Gatak Serm. p. 198. cordial when within her self in her heart she called her husband Lord Gen. 18.12 And therefore a contradicting or grudging spirit is very unsuitable to the religious wife and ever leaves a sting in his heart and guilt in hers For usually it is a sign of unmortified pride and self-conceit and entails the curse of unquietness upon the Family and writes a dangerous example to inferiors If the husband's government be too heavy yet it is better for you to leave him to answer for his severity than for you to answer for your (c) She ows her Duty not only or principally to her husband but to the Lord so that his neglect will not excuse hers Id. p. 199. contempt 2. The wife ought to Reverence her husband as the Members do the Head So vers 23. For the husband is the head of the wife He is an Head for influence and sympathy that 's her priviledg he is an Head for eminence and rule that is his And how should she expect benefit from her head if she do not honour her head To (d) 1 Cor. 11.4 dishonour a man's head is always rank'd among unnatural sins All the members are sensible of what use the Head is for their good There are continual cares and projects for the sustenance and comfort of the body and therefore they are willing to give the head its due honour The hand will submit to a wound to save the head If the head resolve to rise up to work or pray the whole body is up presently if the head design a journey never so long never so dangerous the body says not nay but obeys as long as possibly it can Why so should the wife shew honour to her head she ought to honour him next unto her Maker she must be afraid by her frowardness or sullenness to break her own head she must not cross the purposes of her head it is preposterous for the (e) Non secus ac miles suo imperato ri imperare si postulet aut luna soli praeesse aut brachium capiti L. Vives ubi supra head to go one way and the rib another She must readily follow the directions and counsels of her head for the members must not teach the head which way to go they support it but they do not direct it Indeed it is said that the vertuous woman is the crown of her husband but yet there is more (f) Vxor coruscat radiis mariti Justinian worth in the head than in the crown So that still except always cases wherein the head is (g) The man hath government in the house except he be verbum anomalum i. e. a fool Luther craz d or notoriously distempered it will be the wisdom and duty of the wife to be subject to the husband as unto her Head And this hath brought us to the Third thing by which the Reverence of the Wife is described and that is by the Effects thereof And they also are either 1. In word or 2. In deed 1. In word For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh And if there be that inward fear and respect in the heart which God requires it will be legible in the words of their mouths The same Law that binds the heart in this case doth also govern the tongue In her tongue is the law of kindness Prov. 31.26 And here certainly a wholsom tongue is a tree of life whereas perversness therein is a breach in the spirit Prov. 15.4 Now this Reverence in the Wife is shewed 1. In her words of her husband Which should always be compos'd of respect and honour Thus Sarah is brought in by the Apostle 1 Pet. 3.6 Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well And this was the language of her heart as you heard before out of Gen. 18.12 And no wife is too great or good to imitate her example in the main by giving respectful titles and expressions of her husband whereas on the contrary it is observed of the naughty woman Prov. 7.19 she only affords her husband in his absence the man for so it is in the Hebrew is not at home And it were well if this were the worst title and character which many wives do give their husbands behind their backs Whereas all the reproach and ignominy that they pour out on their husband doth infallibly redound to their own shame their (h) Nam vir uxoris majestatem amere benevolentia tuetur wulier viri cultu obedientia Nihil genus nihil opes nihil fortuna proderunt honore carebis si caruerit vir Lu. Vives ubi supâa honour and respect standing and falling together 2. The words of the wife to her husband ought to be full of Reverence And therefore she should beware 1. Of an Excess in the quantity not preposterously interrupting her husband while he is speaking nor answering ten words for one For (i) Vxorium est ornamântum aut cum mari o aut per maritum loqui Id. ibid. silence doth more commend the wisdom of a woman than speech and she that is wise spareth her words and though she seem to be religious yet if she do not bridle her tongue her religion is vain And 2. She must beware of a Defect in the quality of them viz. of meekness and respect For the great study of the wife should be to get a meek and quiet spirit which in the sight of God yea and of man too is of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 When the heart is once meekened by the grace of God then her words will savour of it and not till then And though they may think that this will invite and further the insolency of an unkind husband yet they may rest assured that that which is most pleasing to God shall not tend to their prejudice any way For hath not God said that a soft tongue breaketh the
humour them with those things that may gratifie their sensual appetitites though never so prejudicial in the consequence and in the present judgments of their Superiors who would have their children disciplin'd to self-denial and temperance which the Gospel (k) Mat. 16.24 Luke 21.34 1 Cor. 9.25 sets a great value upon I speak this from my own and others certain experience of what I have seen and heard both in Families of the Gentry and others in the Country and those of the best rank in the City Oh! what cause then have some of us with heartiest thankfulness to adore our Heavenly Father that our dear Parents have not only taught us the rudiments of goodness but call'd upon us to exercise self-denial and temperance and to enure our selves to hardship as good Souldiers of Jesus Christ (l) 2 Tim. 2.3 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Arist de Rep. l. 8. c. 17. So the Apostle enjoyned agreeable to the Philosopher who determin'd it best to accustom children in their tender years unto colds as most advantagious to good health and warlike actions And to bless God that they kept a watchful eye upon us in our minority giving check to our inordinate appetites that we can now in this luxurious and delicate age in the midst of fulness curb our selves and not hanker after every dainty and fine fashion we see or repine when it passeth by us whose Souls are made for better attainments But I forget my self in this business of Education being yet to speak to the remaining offices of Parents The next of which is 4. Disposal or elocation of children growing up or adult either into some particular employment or marriage 1 Into some fit way of employment or particular calling Christian Parents are concern'd not only to train up their children for business in the world but to do what they can to provide an honest fit and useful calling or profession wherein they may serve their own generation according to the will of God (m) Acts 13.36 and the abilities he hath bestow'd on them and the inclinations he hath implanted in them whereby they may mostly promote the Kingdom of Christ (o) Mat. 6.33 To find out natural capacities in the obsequious part of age requires the diligent consideration of a sagacious mind So that Parents herein have really need of the skill were it attainable of the boasting Spaniard who in his Tryal of wits pretended to know what complexion was fittest for every profession For all dispositions and inclinations are not equally fit for every affair â Equolibet ligno non fit Mercurius Some according to the temperament of the body and culture of the mind are for more ingenuous and liberal others more mechanick Arts some in a more publiik others more private station Upon discerning of which Parents should strain hard proportionable to their estates to choose such honest and advantagious Callings as their children are fittest for so nigh as they can judge Daniel and his companions were for liberal Sciences (p) Dan. 1.17 and so was Moses before them (q) Acts 7.22 and Paul after them (r) 22.3 These God made use of as eminent instruments of his honour in their generation one of them a Prophet another a Prophet and Magistrate the third an Apostle and all of them witnesses to the truth Paul doth gratefully commemorate his Parents love in educating him at the best School and Vniversity under the best Tutor living far from the City of his birth nor without reason for God's raising up Sons unto Parents for Prophets and placing them in the Ministry however despised in this decrepit age was accounted a singular priviledg (s) Amos. 2.9 10 11. with 1 Tim. 1.12 Ephes 4.8 11 c. 2 Cor. 5.20 Others in their circumstances were dispos'd into other Callings which their Parents thought them fit for In the morning of the world the two first children Cain and Abel were put into different employments (t) Gen. 4.2 so were Isaac's Sons into the like (u) 25.27 and Samuel's Sons into another (w) 1 Sam 8.3 though they very much misbehav'd themselves in it Jacob's Sons (x) Gen. 37.12 Laban's and Revel 's daughters were employ'd about cattel (y) 29.9 Exod. 2.16 None should be left to live idly but if not disabled all should be ordinarily in some stated employ wherein they have an Heavenly guard (z) Psal 91.12 for the publick good and the honour of God who where he gives most will not be content with the least but requires either corporeal or mental employment from all And therefore Parents having consulted their childrens inclinations and considered what breeding they have given them for the bettering of their parts and improvement of their gifts should not fail to dispose of their so that they may be able to maintain themselves (a) 2 Thes 3.6 10.12 or use what they have honestly provided for them to the doing of good in the Church and State and the training up of others in succeeding generations according as God hath distributed gifts to every one for his Calling wherein he is to abide till more clearly called to another (b) 1 Cor. 7.17 whether for husbandry (c) Gen. 47 6. or handy-crafts in more substantial (d) 1 Kings 5.6 or more curious works (e) Exod. 35.30 35. or yet more laudable employments (f) Jer. 17.16 whereunto they are not to be intruded but orderly called All which gives check to such Parents who are negligent herein after primaeve education and those who either put their children into unfit Callings or enter them not into fit ones in a fair way but by some indirect means There is another disposal and placing out of children wherein good Parents ought to be greatly concern'd and that is 2. Into the honourable estate of marriage (g) Heb. 13.4 when at a competent age considering the temper and inclinations of the children upon a due expence of circumstances in all Christian prudence sooner or later to avoid temptations on one hand and another by endeavouring to provide such matches as they may have a good ground to hope for God's blessing upon which they may then do when they are in the Lord (h) 1 Cor. 7.39 with 22. Because that 's the great Canon for the Regulation of Christian marriages and should be the principal ponderation in this greatest affair of Parents and Children that the persons marrying be not unequally yoked (i) 2 Cor. 6.13 14. and that they do it in the Lord as the obedience of wives and children is required to be (k) Eph. 6.1 with 5 8. and to please the Lord in my Text yea this of marriage is to be only in the Lord (l) Col. 3.18 For not to please him by marrying in him is by consequence to incur the displeasure of him in whom alone a blessing is to be had Wherefore professing Parents who are charg'd
by the Prophet in the name of the Lord (m) Jer. 29.6 1 Cor. 7.36 to take wives to their sons and give daughters to their husbands should with a good and serious conscience without carnal glosses study this prime Canon as they really design the promotion and spiritual advancement of their offspring Thus Abraham so famous in his parental government (n) Gen. 18.19 was very careful with respect to the Lord in covenant for the matching of his son Isaac that in a matter of so great importance lest he should be tempted to a failure in his trust he took a most solemn oath by the Lord God of Heaven and Earth from his faithful Steward Eleazer (o) 24.2 4 6 8. upon serious seeking of God by Prayer that he should take a wife for him out of a religious Family and by no means yield that Isaac should be brought into a relation communion and residence with any of those who might be an occasion to alienate his affections from the service of the true God in a true manner which had an excellent effect sith Isaac and Rebekah were the most chast pair of all those Patriarchal Worthies their affections being entirely united And Isaac at his wife Rebekah's motion when almost dead for fear of an ungodly wife (p) 27. ver followed his Father's example in the disposal of his son Jacob (q) 28.2 c. We indeed live in an age wherein there is much complaint by many wealthy Parents that though they like well of this grand rule yet they know not where to have suitable matches for their children especially of the female sex I confess there is too much ground for this lamentation The Lord remove it Yet I may with submission not being sollicitous to please man but my Lord and Master (r) Gal. 1.10 Eph. 6.6 Mr. White put these complainants in mind of what hath been observ'd by another before me That Persons of quality and estate likely have in one respect a greater advantage than others in that they have a greater latitude of choice amongst those who are in estate below them So that of religious prudent and suitable persons they may choose almost whom they please But the truth is many Parents who sit at the upper end of the world though they profess Religion they are too often so biassed with the love of this world that marrying to the very height of their estate hath the casting vote and so they bestow their pious hopeful children upon persons in whom they have no probable positive evidence of real godliness and sobriety or on such who are not comparably so vertuous as others they might have more religious prudent and desirable who upon conjuncture of Estates would be abundantly well accommodated for a comfortable and chearful livelyhood When alas some of them are so sway'd by carnal motives that as one saith â Mr. Baxter pol. p. 484. they marry their children to a swine for a golden trough they prefer temporals to spirituals and eternals riches and honour or comliness to vertue and godliness and take one that is at enmity with God (s) Rom. 8.7 8. into the nearest and strictest league of amity with those they are oblig'd to love best And thence it comes to pass that in succeeding generations by unequal mixture of the holy seed with the profane (t) Ezra 9 2 4. there is such a decay of piety as at this day amongst those sprung on one side from worthy Progenitors being much like those of the old world who defiled the face of the earth with an unblest generation which so grieved the Almighty that after he had given the inhabitants fair warning by the preacher of righteousness (u) Gen. 6.2 4. See more Gen. 26.34 35. 34 14. 38.2 7 8.9 10. he swept them all away but eight persons with an universal deluge I know upon the hearing of this some professing Parents of our Age will be touch'd to the quick though they do thereby a little shake their own title to the best inheritance but it concerns a watchman when call'd to give them warning from the Lord (w) Ezek. 3.17 to deal faithfully Upon the remembrance of which and an affecting apprhension of this growing epidemical distemper I do in the name of the Lord put all Christian Parents in mind not too vehemently to seek after great things to themselves (x) Jer. 45.5 in bestowing of their children richly but labour to link them with gracious and suitable persons where there may be mutual kindness and hearty liking of each other and with vvhom they may live religiously and contentedly For the truth is without this mutual complacency and loving contentment each in other vvhich the Scripture calls for (y) Prov. 5.19 with Gen. 20.16 Ezek. 24.16 18. upon a good foundation there cannot be an happy match Wherefore in this great office of Parents vvhich is a comfortable one for their Children if well done but most uncomfortable if otherwise they are mostly concern'd to look after the fear of the Lord. For the Wise man by the spirit of God hath so determin'd upon weighing of things saying (z) Prov. 31.30 with 19.23 Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised and so shall the man also If things be tryed at God's ballance Religion will weigh most Houses and riches are the inheritance of Fathers but a prudent wife is from the Lord (a) 19.14 and so is a prudent husband too Either is to be valued as a more blessed gift than any temporal portion left by Parents who may and ought to be provident but there is a more special finger of God who gives wisdom and unites hearts in every happy match Wherein good-nature or as we now speak good-humour doth much sweeten society in a humane way but I pray you what doth it in a Christian way wherein the married couple should live as being heirs together of the grace of life that their prayers he not hindred (b) 1 Pet. 3.7 Alas my Friends as to this a good nature as one saith * Mr. Thomas Couns l to married Couples is but like the white of an egg which as it offends not so it relisheth not There may be a tolerable conversation as to temporals on the week day but what is pleasant in it as to spirituals especially on the Lord's day and at other seasons when the Soul hath need of quickening direction and comfort or a companion in Heavenly joys Then real grace with all its faults will be better than refined nature (c) Eccles 2.13 as light than darkness Discretion will set a lustre on Religion and is to be look'd after else how troublesom will it be for wisdom to be subject to folly No one can live lovingly and comfortably with a Fool. Next an ungodly an unworthy yoke-fellow especially if in Husbands is to be feared And next to
or froward (w) Luke 2.51 1 Pet. 2 18. in all that is well-pleasing to God whose honour is the end ingenuous Children should aim at by just and honest means in the exercise of their duties keeping themselves from their iniquities (x) 1 Tim 5.22 i. e. those which their own turbulent passions are apt to hurry them into If we did more reverence our selves we should carry better towards our Superiours Pythagoras his advice is very wholsom * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Carmin Let a man be the greatest shame to himself keep his own heart in awe by a secret blush upon his own extravagancies in their first risings and so he will have his Keeper every where with him then as he saith further Let him follow that which is just not only in words but in deeds He that is duly affected with shame of himself will be careful to pay just respects in all due circumstances unto those he is mostly oblig'd to honour 4. Set about all your duties to your Parents willingly and readily not with grudging or disdain but with an holy warmth of heart lifting up your selves to and following hard after whatever God requires (y) Judges 5.39 in all affectionate expressions of a free and chearful spirit sith all is to be in the Lord who loves readiness (z) 2 Cor. 9.7 This manner of performance will be the more easie if Children timely learn the great lesson of self-denial and do really exercise that and love they will then without bogling go through the most unpleasant uneasie and mean imployments they are call'd unto and concern'd to manage for their Parents as Jacob's Sons did for their Father after as well as before their marriage (a) Gen. 30.35 37.13 14. 42.1 2 3. 43.15 47.1 2 3. and in his straits Judah express'd great readiness to comfort his Father (b) 44.33 34 with 30. Ruth as was noted before was very exemplary in this manner of obedience (c) Ruth 1.15 16. but Isaac's readiness was the most singular (d) Gen. 22.9 10. till Christ himself whom he typified came then saith he to his Father (e) Psal 40.8 Ad semper velle non ad semper agere I delight to do thy will O my God thy Law is within my heart Believe it Willingness puts a great acceptableness upon duties Children are bound always to will though not always to act they should readily embrace all opportunities 'T is said Amasiah the Son of Zichri willingly offer'd himself unto the Lord (f) 2 Chron. 17.16 and so should ingenuous Children be ever ready as Paul was in Christ (g) Acts 21.13 for their Parents service Somewhat of this was hinted before and I shall only add what Hierocles saith in this case * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. in Pythag. Carm. p. 54 57 mihi It is fit we should not withdraw our selves from performing with our own hands what our Parents require as occasion serves but by how much the more mean and servile the offices by so much should Children think them the more honest and laudable and not to he avoided because expensive but to be done with a ready and chearful mind for their use and with joy we are put to those pains and expences for their sakes 5. Persevere in all and be constant with diligence unto the end whatever temptations you meet with Let not the instructions you have received according to godliness depart from your heart all the days of your life (h) Deut. 4.9 Be not fickle or inconstant but hold out in all circumstances though your Parents be aged and decay'd (i) Prov. 23.22 Ru h 1.15 16. 4.15 so long as they and you coexist in this world and the Relation remains Be like constant Ruth and holy Joseph when advanc'd he continued his obedience to the very last moment of his dear Father's life and after (k) Gen. 46.29 47.31 48.12 a vertue wherein it seems Samuel's sons were defective (l) 1 Sam 8.5 but Jonadab's were praise-worthy (m) Jer. 35.56 as well as others after their Parents decease when tempted to the contrary yea though it was in a business unpleasing to flesh and blood They did as Physicians prescribe to their Patients receive their Father's documents cum debitâ custodiâ so as not to indulge their appetites in that he forbad them but persevere in observing his injunction This is praise-worthy Nay though our Parents should not submit to the yoke of Christ we should not withdraw our neck from their yoke nor desist from obedience to them so far as it hinders not our obedience to Christ but should hold out that none take our Crown As Antonius said â ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Lib. 8. Sect. 5. Remember well you ought to be a good man and that which the nature of man requires of you this do constantly So that which the Nature of your Relation calls for do it with all your might and never suffer your self to be diverted or recalled from it Having found the true way of obedience go on in it and be not turned back again remembring vvhat our blessed Lord and Master saith He that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved (n) Mat. 24 13. After these Particulars to Children I must crave leave before I shut up 2. To say somewhat in particular unto Parents to direct and help them likewise to manage their office in an evangelical manner 1. Be sure that you your selves do keep up the life and power of godliness in your own domestick practise that hereby your children may be kept from corruption in a bad air and encourag'd in an holy conversation I have already hinted something of this concerning the exemplariness of Parents and in the premis'd general duty of their good behaviour and therefore shall not need to enlarge much upon it here Only suggest this that you are to walk in your integrity as for your own so for your posteritie's comfort in the family exercise of Religion by behaving your self wisely in an upright way and walking within your house with an upright heart (o) Psal 101 2. 112.2 Prov. 20.7 shewing your selves in all things patterns of good works (p) Tit. 2.7 And putting persons and things into their proper places to prevent confusion which else will arise and much obstruct you in your most important offices This will gain a reputation to your Government and facilitate the management of particular duties When your children see what a gloss you put upon holiness by your sincere chearful and grave Christian deportment they begin to discern the pleasantness of the ways of wisdom the excellency of the life of faith and the odiousness of flesh-pleasing courses and so come to esteem your instructions which are very legible and easie to be understood by such a practical commentary The holy life of John the Baptist had some influence upon Herod's affections for
wisdom and Religion worth calling so in the world in that so few blessed be God some there are are good in their Relations Where are Magistrates to be found that are God's Vicegerents in their places Where are the Masters that command and direct in wisdom so as their service is rather a priviledg than a toil a pleasure than a vassalage Where are the Servants that obey in singleness of heart as unto Christ Isa 3.5 What a strange disorder and confusion is there in the world in Kingdoms Corporations Jam. 4.1 and Families and who may be thanked for it but mens lusts and their not faithfully filling up that Relation God hath set them in Most are governed by the Law of corrupt nature and hell but few too few have that respect to the Law of God which should be Ar. Epict. 1.13 How excellently doth that Imperial Philosopher declaim against those that are unfaithful in their places and do not willingly submit to and order their lives according to the direction of the most good wise and just Law-giver of the world Hear his words Antoninus â 4. n. 24. l. â n. 38. He is an Aposteme of the world who being unfaithful in his place doth as it were apostatize and separate himself from God's rational administration O that men were wise and understood their true interest and were faithful to it O that every one would labour to rectifie that ataxy and disorder that is in himself and then in his Family Then O then how happy would our Kingdom Cities Families be It was no small commendation of the Grecian Commander Plutarch in vita Them that he reckon'd it none of the best qualifications of a man to be able to play well upon a Harp but to be able to govern himself and others well and if a City were put into his hands poor dis-mantled un-disciplined to be able quickly to make it rich strong orderly To fill up our Relations with Religion is the divine precept our true wisdom our peace profit it 's honest I had almost said it 's one of the fairest fruits of real Christianity Would we could all as one man engage to do our best for the putting this in execution and then holiness to the Lord might quickly be written upon our Door our City might be called Jehovah Shammah the Lord dwells there and our Land Hephsibah and Beulah For this let every honest soul pray for this let Ministers preach And in the prosecution of this design I shall in my poor way give you advice by resolving of this Question which I have made way to by this Preface What are the Duties of Masters and Servants and how must both eye their great Master in Heaven In the answering of this Question the more fully I shall do these things First Show you what is meant by Master and Servant Secondly Show you how both are to eye their great Master in Heaven Thirdly I shall show you what is the Master's duty exhort him to it and give him helps for the performance of it Fourthly I shall show what is the duty of Servants press them to it and give them some helps for the performance of it First I shall show what is meant by Master and Servant By Master here is meant either Master or Mistress such a one as hath the power of himself and upon whose government and command another dependeth Now in an absolute and most proper sense there is none may be called Master but God he only hath an absolute independent unlimited power of himself and hath all others at his command and direction and he alone is fit for this despotick Monarchy being infinite in wisdom goodness and justice And this clears the meaning of those words of our Saviour Call no man Father Master Mat. 23.8 but God that is look upon none as absolute infallible Lords of the Conscience but him But in a more limited sense there are Masters to which respect and honour must be paid by their Servants and that with all readiness and chearfulness so far as they command nothing that is contrary to God's command By Servant I mean one that is not at his own disposal but at the command of another so far as his commands thwart not the commands of God Remember whatever is spoken of Servants is spoken to Maid-Servants as well as Men-Servants Now this Relation seems in a word to rise from Nature Law or Contract From Nature in that some are of a more strong body and weaker understanding others of weaker bodies but of more judgment and experience and so one is by nature fit to rule and the other to be ruled That Relation that riseth from Law is when any one by some flagitious act hath justly forfeited his liberty and is condemned to servility either for a time or during his life The last and usual foundation of this Relation is by Contract and that is where one that is by nature free subjects himself to another's command for a certain time upon such and such just considerations Now this is that Relation that I am principally concerned to shew you the Duties of Secondly I come now to shew you how both Master and Servants are to eye their great Master in Heaven First they are both to have an eye to the presence of their great Master which is in Heaven God in his Nature is a Spirit that is infinitely immense filling Heaven and Earth and yet not included in either If man did indeed lye under the lively impressions of God's omnisciency and omnipresence what an awe would it put upon their spirits how honest would it make them in the dark This this would make the Master reasonable just and merciful this would make the Servant faithful diligent and constant in his obedience to his Master What makes men to act like Devils but this a hope that God doth not see Gen 17.1 Psal 16.8 What made Abraham so upright but his walking before God What kept David so unmoved but his setting the Lord always before his eyes I am perswaded the greatest failures in either Master or Servant have their spring here a secret root of atheism and disbelief of God's eye and observation What truth in all the Bible more clear than this and yet what almost less believed O what do men make of God How do they rob him of his glory and themselves of the truest motives of fidelity activity and chearfulness Sirs Is the hundred thirty ninth Psalm canonical Scripture or no Can any hide any thing from God's eye Jer. 23.24 Prov. 15.3 Prov. 5.21 Psal 94.7 9. Ar. Epict. 2. c. 8. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ar. Ep. l. 1. c. 14. 1 Cor. 10.31 Rom. 6.16 Do not his eyes behold the good and evil Doth not he ponder the ways of men Do you indeed believe this What then is the meaning of falseness on all hands It was no unjust complaint of the Moralist when he said that
most just and righteous in all his dealings Isa 45.21 Psal 92.15 Jam. 6.3 Psâl 103.14 Mat. 3.17 Mic. 7.18 Exod. 34.6 Psal 25.4 Job 36.22 Isa 28.26 Rom. 8.26 Psal 32.8 Isa 43.2 Dan. 3.25 Psal 23.1 Psal 34.10 Psal 19.11 Psal 31.19 20 who can accuse him of the least unrighteousness who can say he hath done him wrong and that be is a hard Master Come let any testifie against God and make good their charge if they can Is not he full of pity and ready to forgive how ready to moderate his anger when he is highly provoked It is not without good reason that the Prophet saith Who is a God like unto our God and he is ready to teach his servants and to help their infirmities and if their work be hard he doth bear the heavier part of it He is ready to keep them company to succour and encourage and comfort them he provides all things needful for them he delights in the prosperity of his Servants and loves to see his Servants thrive he gives them many a token of his love here But O what great things hath he laid up for them eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive it Their reward is exceeding great sure and eternal O what harm would it do you to be like God do not your Servants deserve more kindness from you than you or any other doth from God Secondly Consider what need your Servants have of your utmost care in the fore-mentioned particulars They are young unexperienced heady nay naturally ignorant proud dead Children of wrath enemies to God every moment in danger of miscarrying and at whose hand will their blood be required think you if you do not your duty to warn reprove correct them Thirdly Consider how much it will be for your honour How high an esteem will all good men have for you how great a value must wise Magistrates set on you what reason hath the City and Corporation to rise up and call such blessed how great and how common a good such are is scarce to be expressed such shall have a good report in spite of wickedness your Servants can't but look upon you as their Counseller Master Father and give you suitable respect and honour Fourthly Consider how pleasing and acceptable this is to God Such the Lord is nigh to his eyes behold with delight It is not he that observes his great Sacrifices it is not he that makes many Prayers it is not he that makes the greatest show of Religion outwardly that is accepted Hierocles Josh 24.15 Psal 1.3 Mat. 25.34 but it is he that gives up his heart first to God as a warm Sacrifice full of love and then his house unto the Lord this this is the man that God will visit comfort bless this is he that ere long shall hear his great Master's commendation and have a welcome to Glory Fifthly Consider how much profit and pleasure you shall have here by your diligence and care you may be enriched there 's God's promise for your security By this your Trade is like to thrive your credit rise greatly Prov. 28.20 Prov. 10.6 your custome increase And when the careless Master makes hast to poverty a wise diligent and faithful is in the most likely way to get improve and keep an estate I might say what pleasure and comfort a man can't but take in his Family when every one acts regularly in their place Sixthly Consider how much good your faithfulness may do others Your Servants may for ought that I know call you their Spiritual Fathers and bless God for ever for your examples exhortations prayers and your Servants may instruct your Children and be frequently instilling one good thing or other into them and influence them more than you are aware of You are a mighty help to poor Ministers you help to plow up the ground and make it fit for the Divine seed you pull out the stones you weed up the roots of bitterness or at least keep them from thriving and growing up you harrow in the good seed you water it with your tears and God will make it fruitful you pluck up the darnel and the tares Of all the persons living we Ministers are most beholding to good Masters and good Parents we beseech you if you have any love for us or our Master either be faithful in this thing Epictâtus O make us glad when so many thousands are making us sad with their wickedness I might add your Examples draw others and make bad Citizens good Seventhly Consider the danger of your neglect if you be unfaithful you expose body soul estate wife children servants and all to sin ruine shame and the curse of God for ever you break the rules of equity and humanity you forfeit your reputation you go the likeliest way to work to bring upon you dismal calamities in your life worse at death and worst of all after death Mat. 25.26 Mat. 24.48 49.50 51. O consider this you that forget God and your duty and read that Scripture often you see quoted in the Margent I shall now crave leave to expostulate the case with Masters about their duty for I am loth to leave you till I have prevailed with you to set to your work like Christians Sirs you have heard your duty and what have you to object against it can you prove that that which I have desired of you is not required by God himself Have I not proved what I have said by plain Scriptures and doth not reason and humanity as well as Christianity oblige you to the putting these duties in practice have I not laid down many Motives to press you to your duty have I not told you what a Master God is to his Servants and put you upon being followers of him as dear children Would it be any disparagement to you to follow so perfect and unerring an example Doth not he teach direct help encourage and reward his Servants Is not he faithful to his promise tender pityful and easie to be reconciled and ready to forgive And are you not very well pleased with these properties in God And if this be amiable in God why should it not be lovely in you God humbleth himself to look upon what is done on earth and is it below you to look upon and take care of your Servants What great difference is there I pray between you and them Are they not of the same mould And shortly your bones and skuls will not be distinguished Why did you take them into your Family if you intended to take no more care of them than of a Dog Was it not a piece of base falshood in you to promise and engage what you never intended to perform Methinks I have a mind to debate this matter fairly with you so as to leave you resolved for your duty or without any reason or excuse for the neglect of it Sirs Is
go down the wind and neglect his duty it may be faithfulness in you humbly to advise him in some such language as this Sir I intreat you give me leave in a few words to express my true affection respect and faithfulness to you and for God's sake take it not unkindly at the hands of your poor Servant if I acquaint you with that which I have with regret of heart observed too long in you many a good Customer we lose for want of your presence in the Shop your frequent absence makes us have little to do your credit to my sorrow God knows I speak it begins to grow much lower than it was wont to be my Mistress takes on heavily we have but few choice wares and no cash and little credit to fetch more and we can't hold long at this rate I beseech you Sir leave off your company-keeping and look into your Books and consider how things be O how loth am I to see you or yours do otherwise than well Sir I beseech you be not angry I come not to teach you but to intreat you and humbly to desire your serious consideration of what I shall further crave leave to speak Sir I beseech you forget not us your poor Servants we want your help in your Family your instructions your prayers your holy examples would be no small comfort to us In thus doing I am perswaded God would bless you your trade and credit might soon be recovered we should serve you with joy and bless God for you and you and yours fare the better for ever Now who but a mad man or incarnate Devil could choose but relish such sweet counsel as this though from a Servant Then you must be faithful in your deeds give nothing away without your Master's leave if you will be giving give what is your own give where and when God commands you and spare not labour to preserve and increase your Master's estate all you can by good and lawful means For this is that which is commanded by Christ in the Parable hath his gracious approbation and plentiful reward Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a little enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Your faithfulness must be further expressed by indeavouring all you can the good of your Master's children labour to instil into them good principles incourage them in the learning their Books and Catechism and obedience to their Parents do what you can to prejudice them against sin and by your sweet examples to be in love with God and godliness betimes I might add also Zech. 5.2 3. Tit. 2.10 it is no small expression of faithfulness to do all the good you can for your fellow-Servants give them good counsel pray for them help them all you may and carry it so before them that they may easily discern an excellency in you and that you have a loving design upon them and mean no more harm by all you speak or do but God's glory your Master's profit and comfort and their souls salvation Fourthly Be very diligent in your Master's business dispatch what he sets you about with what speed and expedition you can A slothful Servant is a wicked Servant by idleness and carelessness you may do your Master more wrong in a day than you may make up in a twelve-moneth Besides you must remember your strength and time is your Master's and all of it must be improved for him except so much as God calls for or your Master giveth you I come now to exhort Servants to the performance of these duties and that I may if possible prevail I shall lay before them a few Motives to inforce this duty Consider if you do conscientiously perform the fore-mentioned duties you will bring no little honour to your great Master which is in heaven you will shew the power of his precepts the beauty and excellency of his laws and make Religion to be thought well of by this you will leave a strange conviction of the worth of Grace upon the conscience of your Master Whereas if you should be faulty in any of the fore-mentioned particulars if you make any kind of profession it is ten to one if God and Religion do not presently suffer for your fault Is this your Saintship and it may be all the people of God may be railed at and wounded for your sake for God's sake be faithful in the performance of your duty and in so doing you will put to silence those that may condemn you and cause them to glorifie your Father which is in heaven Consult your own interest here it will be more in your way than you it may be at first imagine I might tell you what respect and love it must needs beget in the heart of your Master and when he hath opportunity he cannot but speak well of you it will bring you in a more considerable revenue of peace and content by this you discharge your duty and your conscience may have peace in it you draw others eyes and love and make you a lasting interest which in time may signifie more than at present you are aware of Consider your time is but short Suppose you suffer a little hardship Seven years will not last always yet a little while and you must have your liberty and then you and your Master may be Companions Methinks the thoughts of your time being out should make you the more patient and faithful remember that the longest time is but short and ere long it must be furled together and then it will be nothing who is Master and who is Servant but who is faithful Consider that reason honesty and ingenuity do all call upon you to be faithful and perform your duty Why should your Master give you meat drink clothing wages or a calling for nothing doth not honesty and common justice require that there should be some proportion between what he gives you and you him did you not promise and ingage to be a faithful Servant do not your Indentures bind you to it doth not ingenuity oblige you to be faithful to him who hath been ready to take care of you in sickness and in health and to tender you next a child I might add the command of God requires it but because I hinted that in the beginning I shall not here repeat it Consider how great a reward you shall have in the other world your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord there shall be a sure reward to the righteous Suppose your Master give you not that incouragement that your fidelity doth deserve yet be not disheartned you have a Master who is more ready to take notice of a little good in you than a great deal of bad I mean the great God Therefore be of good chear Col. 3.24 knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ Yet a little while and he will right the
wronged recompence the diligent reward the faithful You shall ere long know you served a Master that was most kind generous and noble Shortly you shall not be called Servants but Friends not Friends only but children not children only but heirs joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what wages our great Master will give to all that make it their business to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man and that do faithfully fill up their relation to their earthly and heavenly Master with duty Consider the danger of not performing of your duty as a Servant by this you declare clearly that you have no true grace in your hearts As I said in the beginning I say again he that is not relatively good is not really good a bad Servant is never a good Christian by this you give us just reason to fear that you are Servants of the Devil I spare to speak of your reputation for I am ready to think that if all other arguments and motives have lost their cogency that can't have much power know this if you be not faithful to your Master God will judg you as unfaithful to himself and wo be to that Servant whom God himself shall call wicked and slothful what follows but take him bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth And now Sirs What will you do Are you resolved for your duty or no Have I been all this while beating the air Have I not shewed you what the Lord your God requireth of you Have I desired any thing of you but what I have given you Scripture-warrant for and is Scripture nothing with you Can you prove that I am mistaken and lay heavier burdens than God lays upon you why then be at the trouble to turn to the Scriptures you see quoted in the Margent I dare not charge any thing upon you but what I have received of the Lord and are you angry with God's commands Dare you impeach your Maker of unjustice What harm is there in any thing that he enjoyns you Could you mend his Laws and make them better Which of his prohibitions can you find fault with Are you displeased that God forbids pride and arrogance Would you indeed have leave to be like the Devil Do you desire liberty to damn your self and bring confusion into the house where you dwell What a sweet world should we have if every proud fool might have his will What should Masters do with Servants if their commands should have no power upon them Who but a mad man will judg idleness carelesness and prodigality commendable qualities in a Servant Is it so unreasonable a thing for a Master to expect something to be done when his back is turned as well as when he is present What commerce could be carried on between man and man without truth Are you desirous that God should give you leave to lie and are you willing to have it known that you are of this mind Is it a slavery to have your hands tied from picking and stealing Would you have a license to steal and a badg of your priviledg that every one might read Are wicked profligate wretches the best companions Can you desire their company in the other world Is back-biting threatned by God in his Word and shall it be excused in you How would you like one that were always grumbling and never content nor pleased Is this temper hateful in another and lovely in you Is there any wrong done you when God bids you have a care of hazarding your soul to get your Master a groat Which of all the Cautions that I have given you are really prejudicial to your true credit pleasure or profit Well Epictetus I perceive you have nothing nay I am sure you can have nothing justly to object against them And dare you now venture still to be proud disobedient idle Do Sinners venture on still in spite of Master Minister and the divine prohibitions but be it upon thy peril for as sure as God lives he will call you to judgment Will half an hours junketting make amends for the loss of a soul for ever What is there in all the duties that are commanded that you have any thing to object against Are you troubled that your Master must be honoured Should we not have sweet doings if Masters and Servants were fellows If you your self should ever live to be a Master tell me plainly how would you like it to be slighted by your Servant Is Obedience a word you mislike What is a Servant good for without obedience What is he but a burden to the earth worse than the dung it self Are faithfulness and diligence displeasing to you And I pray who is pleased with unfaithfulness and idleness but wicked ones fools and the Devil And are such as these to be pleased rather than God Parents Masters Well once more What have you to say against your duty why it may not be practised speedily Have you weightier Arguments against it than I have for it Come produce your strong reason and shew your self a man Are the precepts of the mighty God nothing Are his injunctions of no validity at all Are you not at all concerned for his honour Is the gratifying a cursed lust a matter of greater importance and necessity than God's glory So little he will take care of himself and raise him honour out of your shame and ruine if you regard not God Have you no respect to your self Will your peace reputation and profit prevail nothing with you Is the quiet of the Family the glory of a City the prosperity and safety of a Kingdom a small matter with you Why all this seems in some measure wrapped up in Servants fidelity Have the promises and rewards of the great Master little efficacy Is Heaven glory and eternal happiness worth nothing The truth of it is if all this be nothing I know not what is something But what do you think of judgment wrath and Hell If the former Motives signifie little doth this so too Then I must confâss I know not what to add more but you must take your course and take what follows but know this that you were warned and counsel'd and pleaded with till you had nothing to say or if you had I am sure nothing to purpose and that shortly you will be silenced But God forbid that all Servants should be of this mind some yea many I hope better of though I thus speak but the general complaint that sounds in our ears makes us judg such reasonings as these not altogether needless And now for the sakes of some that I hope resolve for duty I shall add a Help or two for the performance of their duty and so I shall conclude First If you would be good Servants labour to
confirm our holy profession In handling which I would proceed by these gradations shewing 1. That there is a great difficulty in governing the Tongue it is noted as a very unruly Member beyond other Members yea beyond every thing else he speaks even despairingly of our mastering it James 3.7 8. Every kind of Beasts and of Birds and of Serpents and things in the Sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind but the Tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evil We find this by too sad Experience persons that in their Actions are blameless are frequently in their words very faulty and scarce reckon themselves guilty The double Guard that Nature hath set over it of lips to secure and Imprison it of Teeth as it were to punish it suffices not to restrain it It breaks through all the bounds of God and Nature and hardly acknowledges any Master Now the Tongue is so ungovernable 1. In that it is a proud Member being with its endowments of rational Discourse peculiar to man whereas our other Members are generally common to Beasts hereon we pride our selves hugely in it David calls it his Glory Psal 57.8 and it is certainly an Organ of great Excellency and Use without which we were uncapable of Communion and Commerce the chief advantages of humane life all of us have on this Account a great Opinion of it are much pleased to hear our selves talk promise our selves great matters from our Tongue that shall get us favour that shall get us honour when we despair in every thing we have hope in that That can make evil good by its pleadings and that can make good evil by its reproaches that shall revenge us on our Enemy that is otherwise too hard for us and defend us at the Bar when ought is objected against us you cannot imagine what confidence men have in their Tongues and therefore no wonder they stand up so for the Liberty of them Psal 12.4 With our Tongues will we prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us Herein lyes the impotent man's great power and hereby he thinks to be even with every one the hands many times are bound and can do nothing it is a relief and pleasure that we can say what we list if not before the face yet behind the back truly or falsly The Tongue 's power lyes in its Liberty which makes us so loth to have it abridged When no way else Jeremiah's Enemies could hurt him by this Dart they thought to wound him Jer. 20.10 They therefore that are seeblest and most destitute of other weapons are lothest we should blunt or any way restrain them in the use of this 2. In that the Tongue is an Active Member much beyond any others opportunity must be waited for their Actings weariness is contracted by their Actings but the Tongue is alwayes ready and never weary that it must be continually watched Active this Member is in it self compared therefore to a fire James 3.6 The Tongue is a fire its volatility and Activity as also its impartiality in respect of Friend or Foe is hereby noted Actuated also it is by many strong Springs within that it is hard stopping its motion or finding out sometimes whence it has its Impression Pride Anger Envy Malice Hatred all the wickedness of the Heart seeks its vent by the Tongue and falls in upon it like streams on a Mill-wheel that of it self is disposed to perpetual motion how can it but move and how can it regularly move that is impelled by such various and vicious principles The Tongue says he James 3.8 is full of deadly poyson all the ill humours are gathered to it hence it is a great difficulty to cure or check the malignity of it And yet moreover it is acted and vehemently incited from without the Devil is still provoking of it without occasion and by presenting occasions to shew its tricks so that there is little hope of its lying still or acting according to God's will What can be expected from a Member that for its own Activity is a fire that is fed with such fewel that is enflamed by such an Incendiary For so the Apostle tells us that it is set on fire of Hell James 3.6 3. In that it is not aware of its iniquity what mischief it does how guilty it is whereon it is very hard either to prevent it or repent of it What words did they drop and yet how do they stand up in the defence of them as if nothing had been said amiss Mal. 3.13 14 15. Your words have been stout against me saith the Lord yet ye say what have we spoken so much against thee The Tongue is never in fault if we might be Judg and that its own Advocate even they that are severest in censuring others words have always something to say for their own And the insensibleness of Tongue-sins may arise 1. In regard of its sleight and nimbleness in its actings especially when it Acts in an accustomed way it vastly out-runs our Observation as in your ordinary Cursers and Swearers you may see Not one in ten of their horrible Execrations is so much as noted by them they patter them over as a Parrot doth his lesson without any present sense or after-reflection and are ready if hastily charged to swear they did not swear and curse themselves if they cursed 2. In regard of the imperceptible wound it makes it draws no blood it doth not immediately invade its Neighbour's Goods and it cannot see what hurt it does any wound it makes it thinks it can lick it well again straight but therein is a great deceit it may lick its own lips and think so and that ordinarily suffices Alas can they not bear one of its lashes We did but talk as we heard as we thought and that is nothing till it comes to be our own case 3. In regard of the pleasure it takes in all it doth that drowns all sense of evil in it it cannot be sin that tasts so sweet Whereas many other sins are not Acted without great pains men draw at them like Horses they proceed out of us as the Devils out of the poor men tormenting and tearing of us that we are sensible of the evil of them These sins of the Tongue are vented with ease we are not wasted nor any way wearied by them yea they ease us in their venting we were big to be delivered of them that some pleasure comes that way to us and several things in us are mainly tickled by them now Pride on a conceit of wit then profaneness in our very boldness Again Malice and Revenge that it hath wreak't it self with such easiness one Devil or other is still set on laughing in us and thus these sins go down merrily with us and are little suspected or censured by us they look too pleasantly to mean any harm to us Thus you find some tickled by those speeches through which others were damned 2
called my Neighbour with whom I have any business And the Scribe of whom we read Luke 10. knowing the mistakes of many of his Brethren asks our Saviour this Question Verse 29. Who is my Neighbour And our Saviour gives him an Answer the sum whereof is this that even the Samaritan was to be looked upon as his Neighbour 2. What is a Reproach I answer in general it is nothing else but an evil Report or an evil Speech unduly uttered concerning another Now a Report is evil two wayes 1. When it is evil in it self a false Report when a man belyes his Neighbour and bears false Witness against him either in judicial proceedings or in common Conversation These kind of evil Reports David was Exercised with Psal 35.11 False witness did rise up they laid to my charge things that I knew not 2. When it is evil to a man's Neighbour when your Speech tends to your Neighbour's disparagement and defamation And here I must inform you that a man may be guilty of Reproaching men by Commendations as David speaks of his Enemy Psal 55.21 His words were smoother than Oyl yet were they drawn Swords It is the usual Practice of some men to smooth the way to a reproach by a Commendation and to raise a man's reputation that he may tumble it down with more advantage 2. When a man publisheth a Neighbour's secret Infirmities or sins This all casuists allow to be a kind of Detraction and good Reason for though the matter may be true and good yet the principle from whence this proceeds is evil It proceeds from want of Love to my Neighbour and of the just care that I ought to have of his Credit And the Ends either of Speaker or of the Speech in its own Nature or of both are evil even to bring his Neighbour into contempt or disgrace 3. When a man aggravates the real or supposed faults of his Neighbour either in Opinion or in practice Certainly the Professors of this Age and this City are deeply guilty in both these respects 1. In aggravating other men's real or supposed Errours and mistakes Often-times men call that an Errour through their own Ignorance or prejudicate Opinion which in the judgment of far wiser and better men than themselves and in reality is a precious Truth of God And the pardonable mistakes of their Neighbour they decry as fundamental and damnable Errours or at least as Errours dangerous to Salvation I am far from pleading for Errours that are really damnable or highly dangerous such as those of the Papists Socinians Quakers and the like But there are other and lesser differences among Protestants who holding the Head as the Apostle speaks differ in Doctrines of less moment or in the methods and modes of Worship in Rites and Ceremonies which possibly one man thinks to be necessary another to be Lawful and indifferent another sinful and by these differing Opinions it is lamentable to consider and I confess I cannot think of it without horror and loathing how Protestants traduce and defame one another The one is Superstitious Idolatrous a Formalist a Profane Person and one that hath no sense of Religion The other is an Heretick a Schismatick a Fanatick a licentious lawless Person that follows his own sensuality and hath not the fear of God before his Eyes Thus they mutually rail at one another as if they had neither sense nor Conscience Nay the Disease is grown to that height that not content to censure men's Opinions they will also judg of their Consciences and secret intentions as if they maintained such Doctrines against the light of their own Consciences A Censure which proceeds from deep Ignorance of the merits of the Cause It were I confess a very desirable thing that all men were of one mind and Christians indeed are to labour for it and to pray for it 1 Cor. 1.10 I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same things that there be no Divisions among you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment But if a man consider the great weakness of most men's understandings the Infinite variety of their parts and apprehensions Educations Inclinations Interests or what the Scripture hath fore-told There must be Heresies that they that are approved may be made manifest I think he will conclude that he who shall expect this absolute harmony and uniformity in this World must either dream or dote And therefore the Holy Ghost hath directed us what to do in case of such differences of judgment to wit to talk charitably toward those that differ from us Rom. 14.15 If thy Brother be grieved with thy meat now walkest thou not charitably And to agree with others as far as we can Phil. 3.15 16. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus indeed and if in any thing you be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Notwithstanding whereto you have already attained let us walk by the same Rule let us mind the same things But for those mutual reproaches and censures one against another I must take the boldness to charge you all as you tender your Salvation to have a care of them for though these points wherein you differ be disputable yet this is out of all dispute that you ought to love your Neighbour as your self and that you ought not to take up a Reproach against your Neighbour And therefore take heed lest while you condemn another man for disputable and lesser Errors you do not run into an indisputable Crime and fundamental Miscarriage 2. Men are guilty of reproaching their Neighbours by aggravating their Errors in practice and conversation When men censure and reproach others for things indifferent and of small moment As for Example In their Habits and Garbs I am not Ignorant that there are great miscarriages in men's Habits and that the Bush that hangs at the door doth frequently discover what is within and tell the pride of men's hearts and there are certain bounds and limits to be observed that men's Habits be agreeable to their Quality Estate Calling and Condition in the World but yet there is a just Latitude in these things the Lawfulness of them doth not consist in a Mathematical point these are to be regulated by the Customs of times and places Now if a man see another that doth a little vary from his fancy or practice whose Garb is a little more Ornamental than his though not much extravagant if now he judgeth the state of this man and concludes him to be a profane or carnal Person this is a Reproach So again when a man commits some miscarriage towards his Neighbour through carelessness or forgetfulness or mistake it is a common thing for men to charge it as a malicious design intended for their hurt this is a Reproach And you may easily multiply Instances in your own thoughts 3. Question What is it
but for a sin when the greater should take place God hath made his Laws and our Duty to be the means of our own good It is no profaneness but duty to omit that which else would be a duty when a greater is to be preferred God calls it the Sacrifice of a Fool who knoweth not that he doth evil under the name of duty when Sacrifice is preferred before an obedient hearing of Gods Commands Eccl. 5.1 2 3. It was no want of holy zeal in Christ which made him bid the unreconciled leave thy Gift at the Altar and first go and be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Matth. 5.24 Some zealous Persecutors Censurers and Dividers now would think I spake like an ungodly person if I should say to them Let your Liturgy and your Prayers and your Worship stay till you have confessed and lamented your injuries to your Brethren and then come and offer your service to God and lift up pure hands to him without wrath and doubting yet is it no more than God often calls for to the hypocritical Jews Isa 1.11 c. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices when ye come and appear before me Who hath required this at your hands to tread in my Courts Bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an abomination to me When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes when ye make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of bloud Wash you make you clean Relieve the oppressed Isa 58.2.3 c. They seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a Nation that did righteousness and forsook not the Ordinances of their God they ask of me the Ordinances of Justice they take delight in approaching to God Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not Have we afflicted our Soul and thou takest no knowledge Ye fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness Ye shall not fast as this day to make your voice to be heard on high Is it such a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to afflict his Soul to bow down his head as a bull-rush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him Wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord Is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness and to let the oppressed go free and that ye break every yoke Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house When thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thy own flesh Then shall thy Light break forth as the Morning and thy health shall spring forth speedily and thy righteousness shall go before thee the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say Here I am It is a point that our Lord Jesus layeth a great stress upon He purposely healeth on the Sabbath day and tells the censorious Pharisees The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath that is the end which is man's good is to be preferred before the means nay it is no means and so no duty which is against it He defendeth his Disciples for getting themselves food as they passed in the Corn-fields and he teacheth them the lawfulness of the Priest's labour on the Sabbath and of David's eating of the Shew-bread and at two several times doth tell them that God will have Mercy and not Sacrifice and biddeth them go learn what that meaneth Mat. 4.13 and Mat. 12.7 And it is not only Pharisees but many better men who have need to go learn the meaning of that Sentence The meaning iâ this that caeteris paribus the great duties of the Law of Nature are to take place before the positive Institutions God's Institutions are for man's good whatever is a duty is also a means to the happiness of man and pleasing of God which is the end of all Love to God and ãâã greater than all the instituted means of them as such therefore ãâã no duty which is no means or is against the Instituter's end Preaching and Prayer must be omitted for some works of love and humane good Discipline is a duty when it is a means to the end for which it is ordained But when it would hinder or destroy that end the reputation of Religion and the glory of God's Holiness and the Churche's good it is no duty but a sin To omit a Sacrament to break the Rest of the Lord's day to forbear the Sacred Assemblies may be a duty when the good of men requireth them Ordination is a duty when it is a means to its proper end But if it were pleaded against those ends and order set against the thing ordered even the work of the Ministry the case would be altered When men mistake and mis-time and mis-place God's Institutions to the excluding of the great Moral duties which are their end and perswade men to that as a part of Religion which would certainly do more hurt than good they scandalously drive men away from Religion Thus imprudent scandalous Professors can backbite and reproach others and make them odious and destroy Christian Love and Peace and Concord on pretence of Zeal for Order Government Ceremonies Forms or for this or that Mode of Discipline or Worship not having learned what this meaneth I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice nor that Forms and External Institutions were made for man and not man for them And yet I know that this will not justifie the Familist or Hypocrite who thinks that he may do any thing to save his flesh Do you think it is not a scandal to Turks or other Infidels tempting them to deride or hate Christianity to find the Papists placing their Merits in hurtful Pilgrimages which waste that time which should be spent and in a multitude of unprofitable Ceremonies and in unwholesome food and injuries to health under the Names of Abstinence and Mortification By this Rule they may next perswade us that it will please God if men famish or hang themselves and consequently if they do so by others For we must love our Neighbour but as our selves God himself hath made all our Religion so suitable to our good that he expecteth not that we should take any thing for our duty but what he giveth us Evidence in the thing or security by his promise shall be our gain He that worketh upon self-love and winneth man by a Saviour and a glorious reward and proveth the goodness of all his Word and ways as to our happiness hath instituted none of his Ordinances to our hurt The Apostles had their power only to Edification and not the Destruction or hurt of Souls 2 Cor. 10.8 and 13.10 Let all things be done to Edifying 1 Cor. 14.26 is a word of greater comprehension
there is none so far below him but he is willing to hear and learn of but especially among his Equals he is readier to hear and learn than to teach because he is still conscious of his ignorance and honoureth the gifts of God in others which the proud despise Jam. 3.1 and 1.19 But the scandalous Christian is so wise in his own eyes that he is ever of a teaching humour and those please him best that will sit and hear and reverence him as an Oracle and magnifie every word that drops from his lips He is so full of himself that he hath scarce the patience to observe well what another speaks or writeth and so valueth his own Conceptions that he thinks they should be valued by the hearers And so scandalous is the teaching humour of some Learned men that they have not the common good manners or civility to suffer another to speak to the end but they must needs interrupt him that they may speak as being more worthy They take other mens speeches to be so tedious that their patience cannot hold out the length of them I mean not that a Wise man is bound to lose his time in hearing every self-conceited person talk but when men are engaged in Conference or Disputes for a man to have such list to speak that he cannot stay till another though long come to the end it is scandalous incivility yea some can scarce stay till two or three Sentences be uttered but their haste must tell you that they take themselves to be much the Wiser and to be fitter to teach than to hear and learn And they are so over-loaden with their own conceited wisdom that they can carry it no longer without some vent and so full of their own that they have no room to receive any more from others And being all Masters they receive from God and Man the greater Condemnation Jam. 3.1 Prov. 12.17 and 1.5 and 18.13 XIV The Genuine Christian hateth backbiting and disgraceful reports of others and yet can bear it from others to himself He hath learned to love all and to speak evil of no man nor to receive or vend ill reports of others He knoweth that this is the work of the Devil the mortal Enemy of Love He modestly rebuketh the backbiting tongue and with an angry countenance driveth it away Psal 15.3 Tit. 3.2 Prov. 25.23 Backbiters tell us that they are haters of men And the Apostle joyns them with haters of God Rom. 1.30 Debates backbitings whisperings envyings are the scandalous Christian's work 2 Cor. 12.20 He that heareth them will either distaste them or catch the disease and be as bad as they And he that heareth that he is calumniated or reproached by them behind his back is tempted to abhor both them and their Profession But to deal with men as faithful Friends and in plainness but with prudence and love to tell them secretly of their defects and faults this tendeth to good and to reconcile the minds of men at last and to the honour of the Christian way Matth. 18.15 16. Levit. 19.17 Prov. 9.8 and 24.25 and 27.5 Eccl. 7.5 Prov. 28.23 But yet when we are belyed and reproached our selves though by Christians or Teachers or Superiours it beseemeth us not to make too great a matter of it as being tender of our own Reputation but only to be sorry for the slanderer's or backbiter's sin and misery For mens corruption will have vent the angry and malicious and envious will speak from the abundance of their hearts and the guilty will be tender and Children will cry and quarrel and proud Contenders will be impatient And how small a matter is it as to us to be Judged of Man who must all be shortly Judged of the Lord XV. He is one that would keep open to the notice of all the great difference between the Godly and the Wicked and aspireth after the highest degrees of Holiness as knowing the corruptions and calamities of the weak and how much of Heaven is in Holiness it self and yet he loveth honoureth and cherisheth the least spark of Grace in the weakest Christian and is none of them that consoriously despise such nor that tyrannically tread them down or cast them injuriously out of the Church 1. To make men believe that there is little difference between the holy and the profane is to bring all Religion into contempt and is a wickedness which God's Laws throughout condemn and his Judgment shall publickly confute Matth. 3.18 2 Thes 1.6 to 11. Jude 15. Matth. 13.25 throughout 2. To take up with a little goodness which consisteth with scandalous corruptions is to be a scandal in the Church 3. And yet to be supercilious and to disdain the weak or shut out any as ungodly whom Christ hath not warranted us to shut out and to make stricter Rules of Tryal and Church-Communion than he hath made this is justly displeasing both to God and Man It tempteth men to abhor that Religion which tendeth more to mens reproach than to their cure and causeth Professors to set themselves higher above the weak and at a greater distance from their Neighbours than God would have them Christ is tender of little ones and would not have them scandalized His own Apostles were very low in knowledge all the time that he was with them on Earth It is not mere want of words that will warrant us to take men for ungodly even he that is weak in the Faith must be receiv'd but not to doubtful disputations Rom. 14.15 To Cull out a few that have learnt to speak better than the rest and shut out with the Dogs all the Infant-Christians who must be fed with Milk because they want expressions is one of Satan's wayes of over-doing by which he would banish Religion out of the World XVI He that will glorifie God by his good works must be zealous and diligent in them and make them the serious business of his life He must live so that men may see that indeed he doth believe and hope for Heaven That which a man coldly speaks of and coldly seeketh men will think he coldly desireth and therefore that he doth but doubtingly believe it A cold slothful Christian proclaims his unbelief to others and so inviteth them to the like When Christians bestir themselves as for their lives and ply God's work with greatest diligence and redeem their lives as knowing that all is short enough to prepare for an endless life this wakeneth others to life and thoughtfulness to enquire into the matter of our hopes XVII He that will glorifie God must be wise and watchful to see and take the opportunities of good before they are past by and to avoid temptations to errour and iniquity and especially Temerity in matters of great and publiek consequence 1. Good works have their season You lose them if you take them not in their time that may be done now which if you pass this time you can never do
larger opening of the Methods of Grace than we can now have leasure for and therefore must be donâ its proper season Those that honour God he will honour and therefore let us also give Vse 7 them that honour which is their due The barren Professors who honour themselves by over-valuing their poor knowledge gifts and grace and affecting too great a distance from their Brethren and censuring others as unworthy of their Communion without proof are not the men that honour God and can lay claim to no great honour from men But God hath among us a prudent holy humble laborious patient Ministry that glorifie him by their works and patience and he hath among us a meek and humble a blameless and a loving and fruitful sort of Christians who imitate the Purity Charity and Simplicity yea and Concord of the Primitive Church These tell the World to their sight and experience that Religion is better than Ignorance and Carnality These tell the World that Christ and his Holy Word are true while he doth that in renewing and sanctifying Souls which none else in the World can do These shew the World that Faith and Holiness and Self-denial and the hopes of Immortality are no deceits These glorifie God and are the great Benefactors of the World I must solemnly profess that did I not know such a people in the world who notwithstanding their infirmities do manifest a holy and heavenly disposition in their lives I should want my self so great a help to my Faith in Christ and the promise of Life Eternal that I fear without it my Faith would fail And had I never known a holier Ministry and People than those that live but a common life and excel Heathens in nothing but their Belief or Opinions and Church orders and Formalities I should find my Faith assaulted with so great temptations as I doubt I should not well withstand No talk will perswade men that he is the best Physitian that healeth no more nor worse diseases than others do Nor would Christ be taken for the Saviour of the World if he did not save men And he saveth them not if he make them not holier and better than other men O then how much do we owe to Christ for sending his Spirit into his Saints and for exemplifying his holy Word on holy Souls and for giving us as many visible proofs of his Holiness Power and Truth as there are Holy Christians in the world we must not flatter them nor excuse their faults nor puff them up But because the Righteous is more excellent than his Neighbour we must accordingly love and honour them and Christ in them For Christ telleth us that he is glorified in them here Joh. 17.10 And that what is done to them his Brethren even the least is taken as done to him Mat. 25. And he will be glorified and admired in them when he cometh in his Glory at the last 2 Thes 1.8 9 10. And he will glorifie their very works before all the world with a Well done good and faithful Servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. What is it to do all we do in the Name of Christ and how may we do so Serm. XXIII Colos 3.17 And whatsoever ye do in word and deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him THERE have been and still are many great and famous Names in the World into which men have been Baptized according to which they have been call'd and also walked in the world Rev. 11.13 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Men of great Name or men of Renown Gen. 6.4 What a Renowned Name had the Beast in the Earth Rev. 13.3 4. that the world wondered after the Beast and worshipped the Dragon that gave power to the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying Who is like to the Beast Pharaoh was a great Name amongst the Kings of Egypt which were so call'd from their famous Predecessors So the Kings of the Amalakites were called Agag and of Tyre Hyram and of Lycia Antiochus of Pontus Mithridates of the Emperours of Rome Caesars and in the Church Professors have affected to be call'd by the Name of some Eminent persons 1 Cor. 3.4 5. Some cryed up Paul others Peter and this was a growing evil in the Church 1 Cor. 1.12 13 14. They ambitiously affected to be denominated from some Eminent Persons among them As the Lutherans and Calvinists and many others at this day have been call'd and denominated from some great persons that have been famous in their Generation But here is a Name in my Text is above all Names in Heaven and Earth and all Christians are call'd by this Name and call on this Name Jer. 14.9 Amos 9.12 This Name you must trust in and boast in beyond and above all Names whatsoever Isa 45.24 25. Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength and in the Lord shall all the Seed of Israel be justified and shall glory See what a Name is given to Christ Isa 6.7 And bow to it his Name shall be call'd Wonderful Councellour and consider every Letter of his Name and adore it The Apostle according to his usual manner in this Epistle having spoken of the Doctrine of the Gospel and how they received it and the influence it had on them v. 12 13. And concerning Christ in whom they had Redemption v. 14 15 16 17 18 19. And of the Excellency of his Person and of the riches of the glory of his Grace revealed in it v. 27. Then Chap. 2. he stirs them up to live such lives as becometh the Gospel and to beware of Seducers v. 16. to the end Then Chap. 3. he puts them in mind of several duties throughout the Chap. He lays down some general Exhortations with reference to the Gospel and their living suitably to it from v. 1. to 17. Then he proceeds to particular duties in our place and Relations and in this v. 17. having laid down something he gathers up all into one sum how to carry themselves in the whole course of their lives in their thoughts words and works We may observe from the general Scope Doct. That the Doctrine of the Gospel carrieth the highest and strictest obligations upon all such to whom it reveal'd to duty and service in their places and relations to God and Man In the words we have 1. A Rule laid down 2. The things that are under the Rule words works and thoughts and secret motions of the heart which works also are well known to God and so they come under Rule 3. Here is the Universality of the Rule in its extent and full compass it fetcheth in all words and works without exception and all persons for this You takes in all persons of what rank or degree soever 4. Here is the manner how they must be done so as to answer the Mind of God in the Name of Christ 5. Here is a further
Rule or rather a part of the general Rule that we should give thanks c. 1. Here 's the duty it self Thanksgiving 2. The Object of it God c. 3. How it must be managed by Christ or through Christ 1. Obs All our actions thoughts words and works must be done in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ 2. Obs All Praises and Thanksgivings as they are only due to God so they must be performed by us to him by Jesus Christ that they may be accepted of him All thanks are due to God the Father who is the Father of Christ and in him our God and Father and therefore this work is to be done only in by and through Jesus Christ Ephes 5.20 giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ All glory be given by the Church to Christ Heb. 10.12 15. and Rom. 16.27 How this great Duty is to be performed to God through Christ Jesus 3. Praises and Thanksgivings are the great duty of our lives for if we do all things in the Name of Jesus Christ then whatever we do in his Name is special matter of Thanksgiving In every thing give thanks if we think a good thought or do a good work it is of God and therefore be thankful and it is a Sacrifice to be tendered to God every day Heb. 13.15 As to the first Doctrine consider 1. What it is to do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ 2. Why we must do all in that Name 3. How shall we come to do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ 4. Some Uses 1. What is it to do all in the Name of Christ 1. It is to go to him as a Mediator or to go to God by him For we must upon all occasions go to God in a way of prayer by Christ if we will be accepted Psal 65.2 God's Spirit tells us that he is a God hearing prayer therefore unto him shall all flesh come and appear Not come to God in prayer but by Christ as Mediator Beza sets it out Invocato Christi Nomine we must go to God quod autem addit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã diligenter notandum est ut sciamus Deum frustra coli nisi Christus Mediator interveniat We must go to God by him we must take special notice of that word for we do in vain make our Addresses to God but by the intercession of our Mediator All our Supplications are to be put in the Name of Christ as he bids us John 15.3 16. and John 16.23 26. he tells them whatsoever they should ask the Father in his Name at that day i. e. after his Ascension and giving the Spirit you shall ask in my Name and I say not unto you c. He speaks this by way of encouragement unto them that they should go in his Name and then they should certainly speed He gives as loving Friends sometimes do when they certainly intend to do some special good for a Friend they say I will not tell you what I 'l do for you intimating thereby they will do what they can for them 2. It is to do all by his Authority Power and Command Mat. 18.18 19 20. Christ tells them that whatever they did bind or loose on Earth in his Name i. e. by his Authority and Command should be bound in Heaven For when two or three are gathered together in his Name i. e. by vertue of his Command he would be in the midst of them All Power and Authority is given of the Father to Christ Mat. 28.18 19 20. and therefore go in the Name of the Father c. Laws and Proclamations which go forth in the Name of the King they go forth in his Authority All our actions come under his Command he is our King and our Law-giver Isa 33.22 Though other Lords besides Christ have had Dominion over us but by him only will we make mention of his Name Isa 26.13 By vertue of his Command and Authority we 'll make mention of thy Name we will admire and praise thee He is a Soveraign Lord who Commands and doth impose Laws on the Consciences of men his Laws reach the inward as well as the outward man else all that we do cannot be done in his Name and by vertue of some Authority from him who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19.16 and the only Potentate 1 Tim. 6.11 3. It is to do all in his strength and power this is to do all in his Name Thus Acts 4.6 7. Annas and Caiaphas c. asked Peter and John by what Power or by what Name they had done this v. 10. Peter told them that in the Name of Jesus Christ did that Man stand whole before them thus did they come in the Power of Christ To go about a work in the Name of Christ is to go about it and do it in his strength and Power 1 Sam. 17.45 David went against Goliah in the Name of the Lord of Hosts so David said Psal 108.10 11. that in the Name of the Lord he would destroy them i. e. in the strength and Power of the Lord. Paul can do all things through Christ who strengthens him Phil. 4.13 His Grace was sufficient for him 2 Cor. 12.9 No man in the strength of his own parts or gifts can do any thing so as to be accepted John 15.5 without me ye can do nothing he doth not say that you may do something or that you can do but little but you can do nothing without me He worketh all our works for us Isa 26.12 even the will and the deed Phil. 2.13 Paul laboured more abundantly than they all 1 Cor. 15.10 but he presently corrected himself Yet not I but the Grace of God which was with me 4. For his Glory 1 Cor. 10.31 So that as he is the Author so he is the end of all we do Rom. 11.36 All people must honour the Son as they honour the Father Joh. 5.23 Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all Rev. 1.8 All Glory and Honour is due to Christ as is due to the Father Rev. 4.9 11. they give glory to him that sits on the Throne and Rev. 5.12 13. there is all honour given to him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb they which do all for the glory of God do all their actions to the honour of God the Father Son and Holy Spirit so that when God doth any thing for us he doth it for his Name 's sake and therefore when David begged of God that for his Name 's sake he would lead him Psal 31.3 he means for his Glory we should have an eye at the Glory of Christ 5. To do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus is to live a life of Faith for a supply of all things for Life and Godliness as the Apostle speaks 2 Pet. 1.2 3. he tells us we have all things that is we
So 2 Pet. 2.2 He had spoken of some who by their Doctrines denyed the Lord Christ that bought them by reason of whom the way of truth was evil spoken of by the false Doctrines and flagitious lives of Professors the Name and Religion of Christ is rent and torn in pieces and brought into contempt among the worst of men And therefore we find that when Professors are pressed to walk as becometh the Gospel one great Argument is taken from the great reproach that else will follow 1 Tim. 6.1 he presseth servants to account their Masters worthy of double honour that the Name of God and his Doctrine be not blasphemed The like Argument we have upon Wives that they be discreet c. obedient to their own Husbands Tit. 2.4 that the Word of God be not blasphemed that the way of Religion in which they profess to serve God be not made vile and contemptible in the eyes of such as have little regard to any Religion at all Averroes was most taken with the Christians Sect as he called it but when he saw the Christians do what he thought was a great offence against the God whom they served or worshipped he said Moriatur anima mea cum Philosophis Let me die amongst the Philosophers and not among the Christians It is reported of one Hathway an Indian as blind as he was so possessed with prejudice against the Christian Religion by the cruelty of the Spaniards that he refused to be Baptized because of their vile carriage and said he would not go to the same Heaven with them Of all persons Christians have cause to walk most wisely and uprightly in reference to that honourable Name which they bear lest otherwise they expose it to contempt Let us do as the Primitive Saints did Acts 9.31 of whom it is said they walked in the fear of the Lord and the Churches had rest They were in the midst of persecuting bloudy Enemies who seeing them walk in the fear of the Lord and according to the Rules of the Christian Religion which did strike such an awe into them of the Majesty of their Religion which did shine forth in their holy heavenly Conversation as brought their Enemies under so great Convictions as they durst not at that present attempt them or hinder their peace A Saint sanctifies the Name of the Lord in the course of his life while he walks in the fear of the Lord Isa 8.13 This was a great Argument which prevailed with Nehemiah and he propounded it to the people to walk in the fear of the Lord because of the reproach of the Enemy Nehem. 8.9 It is not the Jew which denieth the Name of Christ or the Turk which defieth it or the Pagan Dragon Rev. 12.2 3. which persecuteth the Name of Christ that casts so soul a blot and reproach upon the Name of Christ as he which takes upon him the Name of Christ and under a form of godliness lives in the practice of those foul abominations spoken of 2 Tim. 3.1 2 5. from which turn away How we may steer an even Course between Presumption and Despair Serm. XXIV Luke 3.4 5. As it is written in the Book of the words of Isaiah the Prophet saying The voice of one crying in the Wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his Paths streight Every Valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low and the crooked shall be made streight and the rough wayes shall be made smooth THIS Chapter begins with the Ministry of John the Baptist the Forerunner of Christ In which you have 1. The Time of his Ministry when it began set down and ascertain'd by some particular and very memorable remarks upon it from the names of those who were then in Authority chief Governours and Rulers both in Church and State whose several Offices and Commands bore the same date with John's preaching ver 1 2. The reason of this I shall not now trouble you with 2. His Call unto this Office ver 2. The Word of God came unto John 3. The Subject matter of his preaching viz. The Baptism of Repentance for remission of Sins ver 3. 4. The occasion that prompted him to this subject and made him fix his thoughts upon it which was an ancient prophecy out of Isaiah ch 40.3 The Holy Ghost bringing this into his mind telling him it was now to be fulfilled by his preaching and therefore no doubt directed him to pitch upon such a subject as might tend most to the accomplishment of that Prophecy The Prophecy or Promise for it is both you have in the words of my Text and in the last Clause of the succeeding Verse I shall not insist upon the several Metaphors in the Text but in short give you the general sence of the whole By mountains and valleys I understand all sorts of Men high and low rich and poor who considered in their natural condition whether convinced or unconvinced do all stand in a direct opposition to Jesus Christ are exceeding averse from and unprepared for the Doctrine of the Gospel will not submit to the Law of Faith some upon one account and some upon another till God by a further work of the Spirit doth open their eyes and draw their hearts to Christ Now the words of the Text do contain this Preparatory Work of the Gospel upon poor Sinners in order to due reception of Christ and aright application of him by Faith unto the Soul It consists of two parts 1. Pulling down Mountains 2. Filling up Valleys both very difficult work John had to do with some who were puft up with a conceit of their own Righteousness and would be their own Saviours and not be beholding to Christ and free Grace for any thing thinking themselves to be something when indeed they were nothing Gal. 6.3 Revel 3.16 17. These were the proud Pharisees boasting of their own Righteousness and besides these there are also a company of Profane Atheistical Sadducees who gloried in their sins and denying the Resurrection of the Body and the Immortality of the Soul ran out into all licentiousness Others again were so convinc'd of Sin and of the dangerous consequence of it that they were ready to sink into Despair knew not what to do fearing their sins were greater than could be forgiven these are the Mountains and Valleys in the Text. Presumption on the one hand and Despair on the other that rises too high this sinks too low that inclines too much one way this too much the other and there is a crookedness and obliquity in both which must be rectified and straightened by the Preaching of Repentance in order to the Remission of Sins This John doth first urging the necessity of Repentance upon the proud Pharisees who thought they needed no Repentance Luke 15.7 Secondly urging the great Gospel Priviledge that Christ hath purchased for Believers upon their repentance viz. Remission of Sins upon poor dejected Sinners that both
faithless confidence a fond credulous presumption arising from a groundless over easie perswasion of the mercy of God towards us this kind of Presumption may be joyn'd vvith some sense and conviction of sin and the dangerous consequence of it but presently salves all vvith the general air and breath of a Promise misconstrued and misapplied The Mistakes are these 1. This is more Fancy than Faith or Hope 'T is a vain imagination that deludes men into a belief and expectation of that vvhich they are in no likelihood of in no capacity for they promise themselves vvhat God hath never promised cry peace peace vvhen God hath not spoken peace 2. Such an one doth not rightly distinguish between the vvorkings of natural affection towards any good propounded and the rational actings of Hope for the obtaining of it in a probable or certain vvay in the use of due and proper means Heaven glory and eternal Life are good vvords and better things at the first mention of them vve naturally desire them and vvish for them but shall vve be carried away vvith a meer sound of vvords must vve needs have all vve hear of vve shall quickly bring our selves into a fools Paradise this vvay dreaming vve eat and yet awake an hungry there is more ado than so to inherit the Promises vve must prove our title first the Promises give us an interest in Heaven but 't is Christ that gives us an interest in the Promises he opens the mouth of a Promise to speak comfort to us in him they are all Yea and Amen but out of him they all cry no no vve have nothing for you vvho are out of Christ they vvill deny all the vvorld that come not in his Name and never let out any thing of their treasure to such no vvringing out of one drop of solid comfort The bare History or outward Relation of the Mercy of God in the letter of the Word gives us no interest in the things promised the carnal Jews as Paul observes had the Promises and boasted of them but got little by them Christ is the door of every Promise let us not think to make a forceable entry to climb up at the vvindows like Theives to steal out mercy as if vve cared not how vve came by it you vvill find vvhat is so gotten vvill thrive accordingly and quickly come to nothing What I drive at is this 't is not the report of the vvorth or amiableness of a thing but an apprehension of the possibility of it as to us that causes hope till vve are clear in this our hope cannot act rationally if it have no other ground besides our own desires and natural inclinations raised and kindled in us by the specious appearance and ravishing beauty of some taking objects this argues rather vvhat vve vvould have than any likelyhood of obtaining of our vvishes vvhich is of the very essence of hope earnest desires are very apt to run out into a forward presuming hope vve know not vvell vvhy or vvherefore Quae volumus facile credimus 3. Another mistake in this fond credulous presumption is that it takes up promises in its own sense and not in the true sense and meaning of God So the Jews John 8.33 cryed they were Abrahams seed c. and the Promise run in these very words to Abraham and his seed therefore who but they must be included in it but it was the Spiritual seed that God meant not that after the flesh they are not all Israel which are of Israel Rom. 9.6 No sayes Christ you are the Children of the Devil of your Father the Devil John 8.44 and they took up stones and threw at him ver 59. being not able to bear any contradiction to their false hopes So when we read those Promises of salvation to those that come to Christ believe in him call upon his Name we must not understand them as if a bare form of Godliness and crying Lord have mercy upon us would bring us to heaven No My brethren the Mystery of Religion lies deeper than so 't is the labour of the heart that requires the greatest diligence intention and seriousness imaginable strong workings within great agonies and contentions of Spirit in our dealings with God in any duty The life of our Worship does consist in these inward spiritual motions of the Soul towards God This is that coming that believing that praying to which Salvation is promised The grace of Hope enquires after the Secrets of the Covenant the real intent and mind of God in every Promise prayes for a right understanding of all particulars Open my eyes that I may see the wonders of thy Law Psal 119.18 Besides the true meaning of a Promise a Child of God is very solicitous to know whether God do indeed mean him and speak to him and offer those pearls to him whether he be a person rightly qualified and under all those due circumstances that belong to persons entertaining such an hope 't is a great comfort and satisfaction to a Believer when God does own his hope and encourage him in it by some sensible demonstrations of his undoubted interest in such and such Promises he hears God saying to him take eat this is thy portion purchased by Christ for thee thou art my Child and this is childrens bread it belongeth to thee While we are musing and praying over a promise God does sometimes feed us out of that promise himself and with his own hand puts many a sweet morsel into our mouths O this is overcoming kindness this is a double a treble welcome to have such fare and the Master of the Feast standing by and looking on and carving to us himself and crying out as it is Cant. 5.1 Eat O my friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved When we have shut our Bibles and have done with a promise and are setting down the Cup of Salvation out of our hands God many times makes us to mend our draught and go deeper than ever we did drink yea drink abundantly O beloved But presumption is a bold guest thrusts in uninvited catches at this and that in a rude manner The word Presumption notes a taking before-hand before 't is offer'd before 't is due before he is called he runs away with a promise puts his own sense upon it and deludes himself with vain hopes from it and when the King comes to review his Guests shall be cast out into outer darkness Mat. 22.11 12 13. 4. Another errour or mistake in presumption is that it picks and chuses out some Promises and rejects others the priviledges of the Saints it catcheth at freedom from condemnation eternal life and glory but the Promises of Grace Sanctification and Holiness it minds not it hopes to see God without Holiness and to go to Heaven as well as the best it is more for the wages than for the work But the grace of Hope fastens upon every Promise gathers honey out of every flower
the more conspicuous and glorious Hence are those commendations of grace where it is in any eminency So great faith no not in Israel Mat. 8.10 O woman great is thy faith Mat. 15.28 The Scriptures do exhort us to grow in every grace Let these things be in you and abound 2 Pet. 1.8 1 Thess 4.1 More and more we can never have too much Paul prayes Rom. 15.13 that we may abound in hope Presumption does not lye in having too high thoughts of the mercy of God in Christ for that is infinite beyond all our conceptions but in a vain expectation of that from God which is inconsistent with his justice and holiness and contrary to his revealed will 't is not the Great hope but the Groundless hope that is presumption therefore tell the Devil to his face thou wilt hope more and more Psal 71.14 That thy hope is a growing hope so far from being too great that thou dost judge it yet too little daily praying for its further increase this is the way to quench those fiery darts We may observe that when temptations do work so contrary to the Devils intentions that instead of drawing us into evil they incite us to more watchfulness and prove occasions of good and provocations to duty they presently vanish and die the Devil would have it so and usually it is so unless God by a special hand do continue us under them for the further exercise of grace 2. If thy Hope be small and weak the Devil will call it Despair he would make thee believe a little grace is no grace he will argue from thy weakness in grace to thy total want of it If under such temptation thou findest thy spirit sinking ready to faint away rouze up thy self and bespeak thy Soul as David did Why art thou cast down O my soul and take these following directions 1. Consider it is not the degree of grace but the truth of grace to which Salvation is promised 2. Put a just value and estimate upon the lowest degree of grace that it may not seem contemptible and as nothing in thy sight 't is more worth than the whole world a pearl of great price 3. Labour to distinguish aright between the weakness of thy grace and the grace it self that is under that weakness and whilest thou art mourning under one be sure you rejoyce in the other do not throw away one corn with the chaff do not sweep up one groat with the dust behind the door but light thy candle and find it out don't bury thy talent because 't is a single one but be faithful over a little and thou shalt be made ruler over many things Mat. 15.21 4. Consider the many promises that are made to the lowest degree of grace if there be any good thing in thy heart towards the Lord thy God he accepts of the Will for the Deed of the day of small things he will not quench the smoaking flax nor break the bruised reed to whom little is given of them little is requir'd the widow's mite is a great deal in the account of God Therefore think and judg of thy self not according to any thing inherent in thee be it more or less but according to the measure of acceptance thou hast with God 't is his kindness that makes thee great 2 Sam. 22.36 his favour is better than life if he hath wrought that in thee which is beautiful in his fight why should you so much except against his workmanship as to blot all out again drawing the black lines of dismal despair upon the comely features of true and saving hope though weak and small for the present the high esteem God hath of the lowest degree of true grace in his Saints should make them not to droop so much under it but rather be better pleased with what God is so well pleased with 5. Consider how ill God takes it of his children when they suffer them selves to be perswaded by the Devil out of all good liking and esteem of those smaller measures of grace that God hath given them when they are brought out of conceit of themselves and of every thing that God hath done for them as if their case were now desperate Why saist thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God Isa 40.27 Let me speak my thoughts out My brethren to deny the least measure of grace in us or to us against plain demonstrations and evidences brought to convince us of it is a kind of denying Christ himself which we would be loath to be guilty of for a thousand worlds and yet may not Christ say I have sent in provision into such a soul and have often invited my self to come and sup with him I have come into my garden to gather my myrrh and to eat of my pleasant fruits which my own hand had planted there Cantic 5.1 But I had no entertainment no welcome they would be known of nothing that ever they had from me plead nothing but poverty and bare walls and did I not know it to be otherwise that I have laid in a sufficiency of grace and that there is that in the house which I love and could feed heartily upon I should not take it ill that they set nothing before me but 't is great unkindness not to give me of my own not to entertain me at my own cost but to tell me to my face that all my fruit is rotten fruit all my meat unsavoury meat all my wine adulterated wine nothing fit for them or me to feed upon all is stark nought they are never the better for any thing I have yet done for them to seek of every thing their faith is dead their hope is presumption or else quite vanished into despair their love is cold and false every grace is counterfeit Christ must needs take this very ill many of the Children of God are greatly guilty in this thing I would press this consideration upon those who do too too much indulge themselves in these despondencies still multiplying objections against themselves and meditating evasions how to put off Christ and the promises how to distinguish themselves out of the favour of God I know there is a great deal of pity and commiseration due to such but when other meanes will not prevail they must not take it ill if we endeavour to fright them out of their fears and doubts telling them plainly what an offence what an affront it is to Christ to have all his kindnesses overlook'd and slighted as nothing worth by a froward habitual querulous scrupulosity which is jealous of every thing but it self 6. When the Devil is urging thee to conclude thy weak hope to be down-right Despair instead of disputing with the Devil about the truth of any grace labour through the help of the Spirit to act it in that degree which thou hast attained then if it be as a
when he hath brought a sinner safe and sound to heaven and secur'd him there to all eternity I mention this to shew the great delight Christ takes in shewing mercy to poor sinners in opposition to those evil surmizes and hard thoughts which thou hast of him but yet it may be thou replyest Object 4 My case is not the case of common sinners none so great an offender as I no sins like mine capable of such high aggravations were there but one man in the whole world to be damned and to go to hell I have reason to believe that I am he and since things are so bad with me I cannot be comforted Answ This is a sad case indeed we see objections rise higher and higher and doubting souls out of our very answers to one objection will pick out matter for another but I am loth to leave thee behind me in the very bottom of the pit let me then reach down a helping hand to thee once more let me give thee one lift more and I hope in answering this objection I shall answer all and silence thy unbelief for ever Is it so that thou art the worst of men the greatest of sinners under matchless guilt be it so we will admit all this to be true and take thee under that black character which thou hast now given of thy self and yet I say there is hope my advice to thee in short is this come as the greatest sinner that ever was in the world to Christ and I dare undertake for thy welcome let that which hath been hitherto thy discouragement turn now to thy great encouragement Christ came not to the whole but to the sick not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance even the greatest of sinners and since thou takest thy self to be so obey this loud call and come immediately to Christ though thy sins be as scarlet and as crimson they shall be as white as snow and as wool Isa 1.18 therefore turn thee to thy God and wait continually on him Hosea 12.6 etiam cum ad culmen perveneris omnium peccatorum as Zanch. upon the place lib. 1. de relig when thou art come to the height of all sin and wickedness Thus whoever thou art O poor trembling doubting soul remember that God hath once more called thee to come to Christ this day to come as thou art in thy rags in thy poverty in thy emptiness and insufficiency that he may be all in all to thee though means and ordinances do not presently take off our doubts and overcome our fears and fully satisfie our souls but still we remain hopeless and heartless and unbelieving yet if they do so far prevail with us as to put us upon the tryal and use of those means we are directed to compelling us to comply with the counsel that God gives us by his Ministers this may be a sign for good that God hath taken a secret hold of thy heart and is drawing thee on in the way wherein he will be found Go home then and say though I am as cloudy and dark as ever unsatisfied as ever though I have no heart to come to Christ no expectation of any success in coming yet I will come however if it be but to satisfie the importunity of others of the Ministers of the Gospel who in Christ's name and in his stead do so earnestly beseech me once more to make tryal of the freeness of his grace Tell Jesus Christ who sent you we will own it at the last day and justifie our message to you tell him then what thou hast heard this day and that thou couldest not make away with thy self and throw thy self headlong into hell till thou hast once more expos'd thy self to his wonted pity and commiseration to such as thou art tell him thy soul is ready to break for the longing desire it hath after Christ cry out and say how long Lord holy and true when wilt thou shine out upon thy poor creature who is walking in the valley of the shadow of death and can see no light O make hast to help O arise and save me come Lord Jesus come quickly with relief and succour to my poor soul offer thy self in this manner to Christ present thy self thus before the Lord and if thou findest thy self pressed out of measure above strength insomuch as thou despairest even of life as 2 Cor. 1.8 9. O then cast thy self burthen and all upon Jesus Christ Mat. 11.28 and when thou canst not gather comfort from any present sensible impressions made upon thy heart then argue from promises made to thy coming take them as an answer from God to thee and make thy best of them as David did Psal 119.81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation but I hope in thy word hath not Christ said John 6.37 Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out if he should never speak one word more to thee all thy dayes here is enough said already to support thee we say omne praeteritum est necessarium that which is past can never be recall'd Christ will never unsay what is pass'd out of his lips keep thy hold here and thou art safe to eternity Nothing but raptures and particular revelations some strong sensible feelings of comfort will satisfie some whereas indeed God hath revealed his whole counsel to us in the Scriptures and has nothing more to say to sinners than what is already expressed in the Gospel the particular answers that God gives his people sometimes what are they but inward repetitions of Gospel-promises to the heart sealed up there by the Spirit How a Christian may get such a faith that is not only saving but comfortable and joyful at present Serm. XXV 1 Peter 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now ye see him not yet believing you rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory THE Question which this Text was chosen to resolve is How a Christian may get such a Faith as is not only saving at the last but comfortable and joyful at present This case hath two things in it one it takes for granted the other it doth suppose may and sometimes doth come to pass it takes first for granted that joy and comfort arise from Faith viz. Faith unfeigned as the Apostle speaks which purifies the heart and sets love a work to obey the Law and so the commandment hath the end for which it was made 1 Tim. 1.5 and this is very sure for all comfort must begin in God and be derived from him he is the father of mercies and the God of all comfort 2 Cor. 1.3 and he hath given us everlasting consolations through grace 2 Thess 2. last but it is not from God absolute or without a Mediator alas there is no comfort in that What comfort can a malefactor that hath myriads of inditements against him upon the file the least whereof must take away his life expect from a just
special comforting Faith then keep a good conscience in evil times chuse suffering before secular safety remember who did shrink from the truth and lost this Faith and comfort even to the gates almost of despair and self violence for twelve months together and never did recover till some hints of mercy to him he began to revive and have some quiet Spira said with tears running down his face that time was when he could have called God Father but now he could not 13. Direct You may and ought to get this special rejoycing Faith out of sanctified afflictions thus whom God doth correct and teach him he loves he is blessed Psal 94.12 Heb. 12. but God doth so to me ergo here are bills and prayers for mercies but who looks after the issue The teaching the holy use sanctified affections are very good evidences and so very comfortable There are that would not have lost their bussetings temptations various temptations afflictions for any good the blessed spirit hath taught thâm that way many a divine truth by heart out of the word they are sensible of it and from it conclude the love of God in Christ to them and thence they have joy and comfort that joy that Angels cannot give and Devils cannot take sanctified troubles are tokens of special love 14. Give diligent attendance upon the ordinances set thy self in the sight of God to hear what God will speak as Cornelius did Act. 10.33 and rejoyce to do it such shall walk in the ight of God's countenance Psal 89.15 Take heed of the common humor we begin to be very sqeamish and carnal one is of Paul another of Apollo we attend more the man and his artifice than God and his word Mr. Bolton in his florid but profane wit thought Perkins was a sneaking fellow But when God changed his heart he was of another mind Lastly Be more intent upon your duty then upon your comfort and comfort will follow Order your steps in the paths of Divine precepts walk in all relations according to the rule and be not so earnest after comfort so sollicitous in that behalf Walk uprightly and the face of God will behold the upright You pray for assurance be sure your ends be right let it be more for holiness that the name of Jesus Christ may be glorified by you than for comfort I think some good people are too carnal in their prayers for assurance they desire it not so much for holiness as for safety I have known such take heed look well to your aims I will conclude with Paul's prayer 2 Thess 2.16 17. Now our Lord Jesus and God our Father who hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace comfort your hearts and stablish you in every good word and work How Christians may learn in every State to be content Serm. XXVI Phil. 4.11 For I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content OUR Apostle makes this profession of his high attainments in the grace of Contentation upon a very weighty Reason The Occasion of the words or Motive viz. that he might obviate all misconstructions and bad interpretations which possibly some might put upon what he had said in the foregoing verse and should further say in the 14 15 and 16. Verses In every of which we have him expressing his great and affectionate resentment of the Philippians bounty and liberality to him I rejoyced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again ye have well done that you did communicate with my afflictions c. No Church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity Now he foresaw that this his just acknowledgment might have some base and ugly censures put upon it which therefore he makes it his business to prevent And he enters a double Caveat about them Not because I desire a gift v. 17. q. d. O Philippians I have received your Gifts and I am very thankful to you for them but do not think I do this out of any * Gratam sibi esse testatur eorum beneficentiam c. li à tamen orationem temperans ut ab omni sordium suspicione se purum esse testetur Beza base spirit as if I desired thereby to be enriched or advanced in worldly possessions No saith he it is not so with me all that my eye is upon in your kindness to me is this I desire fruit that may abound to your account Again Not that I speak in respect of want as if I were so exceeding low in the world that I could not live without your supply or as if I were a person so tender and delicate that I could not bear a little want or hardship No it is not so with me neither for let my outward condition be what it will never so low as to outward things yet I have one Reserve alwaies by me a contented Mind I cannot have so little but that little shall suffice So â Non quòd penuriam passus sim id dico didici enim ut Sufficiat mihi id quod habeo V. Syr. the text comes in Not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned c. In the words wherein I am concerned we have The Text divided 1. A Lesson to be learnt to be content A rare and excellent Lesson than which there is scarce any one higher and harder in the whole compass of Christianity 2. Paul's great proficiency in this lesson I have learned in whatsoever state I am or as 't is in the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In quibus sum i. e. qualiscunque sit meâ conditio c. Calvin 'T is more than if he had saâd In iis quae habeo Vide Muscul in loc Greek In whatsoever things I am therewith to be content He had in the course of his life passed through various states and some of them were bad enough according to the account which he himself gives of them 2 Cor. 4.8 9 10. 2 Cor. 6.4 5. 2 Cor. 11.23 But no condition came amiss to him his spirit was alwayes composed and calm he lived in the constant practice of divine Conrentment I have learnt saith he and we may believe him in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content What an apt Schollar what an admirable proficient was this blessed man in this high and difficult piece of practical knowledg Surely he that can master such a lesson as this may well be placed in the highest form of Christ's school Of the supernaturalness and Mysteriousness of contentment When he saith he had learned to be content two things are implied in that expression the Supernaturalness the mysteriousness of Contentment The Supernaturalness of it I have learnt it q. d. 't was not a thing known by me from the first I brought not this frame with me into the world 't was
consists 1. In self-sufficiency 2. In the bounding of the Desires 3. In the calmness and quietness of the spirit in every condition How it may be attained as it lies in self-sufficiency 1. As it lies in self-fulness or self-sufficiency So 't is opposed so emptiness want indigence and to that vexation and dissatisfaction of mind which ariseth from that emptiness Contentment is a blessed Autarchy or self-sufficiency When may a man be said to be contented why when his soul is full in his possessing of that good which is commensurate nd adequate to all his desires and wants This is one explication of Contentment and 't is that which the notatio nominis directs us unto for the Greek word by which it is set forth is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã rendred by sufficiency 2 Cor. 9.8 by contentment 1 Tim. 6.6 'T is the word used in my Text I have learned in whatsoever state I am ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therewith to be content So that Paul's being contented was his having a fulness and sufficiency in himself in so much that he wanted nothing And this is the happiness of every Believer he is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã self-sufficient and therein lies his Contentment if not formally yet fundamentally Prov. 14.14 A good man shall be satisfied from himself 'T is very emphatical that of the Apostle in 2 Cor. 9.8 that ye alwayes having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work he is speaking to the Corinthians of God's supplying of them in temporal blessings that they might alwayes have a stock by them and be thereby in a capacity to relieve the poor I take the expression more generally and bring it to the thing which I am upon A Godly man hath sufficiency in himself and that too ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in all things alwayes all sufficiency for so full it is in the Original It may be objected how can this be can any creature be self-sufficient is not that a thing peculiar to God himself are not all here in themselves indigent and necessitous I answer Original and inherent self-sufficiency belongs only to God but there is a dependent derived and borrowed self-sufficiency and that every gracious person hath He having God for his God and he possessing this God the Catholick and universal Good in and from him he hath all that ever he can desire or need and so in a borrowed sense he is self-sufficient Jacob told his Brother he had all for so 't is in the Hebr. Gen. 33.11 As having nothing and yet possessing all things 2 Cor. 6.10 I have all and abound I am full c. Phil. 4.18 Now let us bring the Question to Contentment in this notion How may men come up to this self-sufficiency Answ By their getting a Covenant-interest in God and then by their improving and living upon that God who is theirs by Covenant Till this be done there is no self-fulness nothing but want and emptiness and consequently no contentment or satisfaction Whatever good is in the creature it is a finite scanty defective good and therefore that can never fill up all the desires or answer all the wants of a soul We see even where there is much of that good yet the heart is restless and unsatisfied Job 20.22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits But God is a perfect compleat comprehensive good all goodness whatsoever concenters and concurrs in him and thereupon when a man is once brought to have and to possess God he is satisfied all his desires are answered in the having of God he hath all and this must needs content him This explication of Contentment is not so much taken notice of but it points to that which is the highest and most excellent part of it Oh to be self-sufficient for the poor Creature to have all in himself he having that God who is All how near doth this bring him to that which is the incommunicable glory and perfection of God himself As ever you desire to be partakers of this follow the Direction here given you We should be contented i. e. quiet and composed under the least of the Creature but men shall never contented i. e. fully satisfied under the all of the Creature The * Aug. Conf. L 1. c. 1. de Civit Dei L. 12. c. 1. Non nisi beatitudine animae indigentia expletur nec eidem explendae nisi Deus sufficit Solil c. 13. Omnis copia quae non est Deus meus mihi est egestas How as it lies in the b unding of the desires after earthly things Soul being made by God and for God nothing can fill it but God Let a man injoy never so much of the world yet if there be but some petty thing which his fancy is much set upon withheld from him this is the bane of his contentment as we see in Ahab and Haman On the other hand let a Child of God enjoy never so little of the world yet he having and knowing God to be his God and he by faith living upon this God his soul is at rest he hath full contentment and satisfaction 2. Contentment lies in the bounding and moderating of the desires after earthly possessions so that the heart is not still craving and desiring more and more but well contented with the present proportion allotted by God So it is opposed to Covetousness Heb. 13.5 Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have A covetous person never thinks he hath enough Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops Nec sitim pellit Horat. Carm. L. 2. Ode 2. like one that is hydropical the more he drinks the more he thirsts so it is with the man I am speaking of the more he hath the more he desires to have he is like the four things spoken of by Solomon Prov. 30.15 16. that are never satisfied that never say it is enough an insatiable greediness of wealth possesseth him so that his pounds must be Hundreds his Hundreds Thousands and so in infinitum Contentment now suppresseth these exorbitant and extravagant desires it makes a person to enjoy with chearfulness what he hath and not to be alwayes reaching after more O saith the Contented person the Lord hath very well provided for me I have enough for me and mine God gives me food and raiment 't is enough I have as much as I need a great deal more than what I deserve and had I more it would be but burdensome 't is very well God hath made a good choice for me Others may have more I have that which is sufficient here 's Contentment Let 's bring the Question to it as thus stated How may persons learn to be content with what they have so as not to be covetously greedy of having more I answer this must be attained 1. By the mortification of that imbred Lust or natural Corruption from which all these
sit down and seriously consider who it is that orders that condition let your thoughts dwell upon that and see if it be not to your advantage for the suppressing of all undue perturbations of mind Psal 39.3 David tells us while he was musing the fire burned that is the fire of passion as many do expound it There is indeed a musing which tends to heart-disquietment when all our thoughts are taken up in poring upon that which troubles us but that musing which I am now urging hath a quite other effect Vide Boeth de Cons Philos. l. 1 Prosa 6. it will quench the fire not kindle it Methinks that Christian should not easily be disturbed at what befalls him who considers let it be what it will it is all of God What believe and own a Providence as carving out every condition and yet be discontented that 's very sad Is it fit for the Creature to be angry with God as â Jon. 4.9 Is 43.9 Rom. 9.20 Jonas was shall man dispute with God the clay say to the Potter Why hast thou made me thus must Providence be arraigned at our tribunal and our Will clash with God's by no means There 's all the Reason in the world that whatsoever pleaseth God should please the Creature 'T is the Lord saith * 1 Sam. 3.18 Eli let him do what seems him good I was dumb saith â Psal 39.9 David and opened not my mouth because thou Lord didst it The Lord gave saith â Job 1.21 Job and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. I do not know a more effectual Help to stilness of Spirit than the consideration of this that all is ordered by God And certainly he that is quiet and composed upon this that frame demonstrates him to have not only a good but a great and a noble spirit 'T is an excellent passage that of Seneca â Magnus est animus qui se Deo tradidit pusillus degener qui ob lectatur de ordine murdi malè existimat Deos mavult emendare quà m se Ep. 107. 'T is a great soul which surrenders up it self to God but that 's a poor low soul which contends and thinks ill of the ordering of the world and which would rather mend the Gods than it self But here in our considering in order to the having of the heart smooth and calm 't is good to take in more viz. not only to employ our thoughts upon the thing but also upon the modification and circumstances thereof not only to think of this that all is ordered by God but how and in what manner all is ordered by him Oh this if duly weighed and digested would be of great efficacy to further Contentation Now take an account of this in four things 1. All is ordered by God irresistibly Is 43.13 I will work and who shall let 'T is applicable to God's providential dealings with every single person in the world these are carried on with such a mighty power that 't is a vain thing for any to go about to resist and hinder God in what he will do If Man will be cross and thwart and controll him what doth it signifie God's vvill shall be done for all that He will do all his pleasure there is no contending with him Job 34.33 Should it be according to thy mind he will recompense it whether thou refuse or whether thou choose c. Christian Thou passionately desirest such a mercy thou shalt have it never the sooner for that If God will bestow it thou shalt have it If he will withhold it all thy earnestness and striving will do no good Or thou wouldst fain have such an affliction removed that will not do thy work If God will take it off from thee there 's an end of it If he will continue it thou must bear it still Humble Contentment may do much but proud contending will do nothing God knows what he hath to do and he will not be hindred in what he sees fit to do Pray therefore whenever passion begins to rise in the soul think of this speedily If it be thus that the tide of Providence vvill have its course that there 's no hindring of the Almighty and Soveraign-acting God for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him Eccl. 8.3 and worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Eph. 1.11 then our Reason and judgment will tell us that 't is best to yield and submit to this God and to comply with that which we cannot alter 2. All is ordered by God righteously He is righteous and he doth nothing but what is righteous shall not the Judge of all the earth do right Gen 18.251 Psal 145.17 Rev. 15.3 Psal 97.2 Job 34.23 the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works Just and true are all thy wayes O thou King of Saints Clouds and darkness are round about him righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his Throne He will not lay upon man more than right that he should enter into judgment with God This is an excellent subject for our Thoughts to dwell upon when any thing troubles us Well may there be our contentment in every state when there is God's righteousness in every state Providence may sometimes be dark and mysterious yet 't is alwayes just and righteous God may sometimes cross us but he never wrongs us He doth not see it good in all our desires to gratifie us but 't is good for us in all his dispensations to Psal 51.4 Lam. 1.18 justifie him Doth he remove a mercy vvhich vve have not forfeited Doth he lay on an affliction vvhich vve by sin have not deserved and if so doth it not become us to be silent before him Lam. 3.39 Mic. 7.9 Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sin Oh saith the Church I will bear the indignation of the Lord for I have sinned against him 'T is a smart passage that in Prov. 19.3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the Lord we provoke God to afflict us and then we are angry with him whereas we have reason only to be angry with our our selves our own sins being the procuring cause of all our miseries We have often too just Grounds of being troubled with our own hearts because of their pride carnality unthankfulness unbelief c. this is good discontent but we never have any just Grounds of being disturbed at what God doth he being in all his actings holy and righteous Bring it to this in your consideration such a good I want such an evil I feel but is God unrighteous in either surely no For do I deserve the one and do I not deserve the other why then should I quarrel or fret against God Discontent is a bold impeachment of God's righteousness and is not that a thing of a very hainous nature grounded
and to shew how Consideration is to be managed to help on the practice of the Duty in each of them I have in vvhat hath gone before seldom made any particular mention of these Instances because I designed to speak particularly and apart to them under this Head To speak to all and that too according to the copiousness of the subject vvould be a vast work I shall only single out some few of the most usual Cases and be also but very brief upon them Heart-inquietude or Discontent doth too often arise from what is in and about the inner man and is of a spiritual nature as lowness of gifts weakness of grace the continuance and strength of sin temptations by Satan God's withdrawings want of Assurance and of the Comforts of the Spirit and the like But most commonly it ariseth from things of a worldly nature wherein the outward part is concerned for that is our tenderest part and therefore if we be troubled there we are most apt to complain such as lowness of Estate crosses in Relations bodily Infirmities badness of the Times injuries and bad usages of Men meanness of rank and Quality in the world c. These are the things which usually disturb and disquiet us But now for each of them there is that Consideration which is proper for the settling and composing of our minds I must speak only to the two first Lowness of Estate As to lowness of Estate how is the world filled with Discontent about that Poverty is an affliction which few do with patience undergo When the belly pines the backstarves 't is hard to keep the heart in a submissive frame 'T is an easie matter for them that are full to advise them that are in want to be content but if they themselves were in wants they would not find it so easie a matter to follow their own advice To live Faith and Patience under straits as to worldly things is sooner spoken of than done The several discântents of several men about worldly things But to take in more than what thâs Head in strictness leads me to because I would speak a little to the several discontents of men about their earthly Estates I will consider them as thus diversified Some are poor indeed having little or nothing of this world's goods some have a competency some have abundance but yet they are not satisfied and some lose what once they had Now all of these though in different circumstances are to endeavour after contentment how by Consideration How is that to be managed thus Such who are in poverty what they are to consider of in order to contentment 1. Is extreme poverty the case Consider then 1. The Lord maketh poor and he maketh rich 1 Sam. 2.7 God measures out to every person his proportion of these things He makes what Dividend and gives what Allowance he pleases to every man in the world Is this considered I wish we could see it in the calmness of their minds who are under a low estate The Father divides his estate among his children giving to every one of them his share more or less as he thinks meet and this being his act and will they all submit and acquiesce therein And shall your heavenly Father's allotting to you what he thinks meet signifie nothing to the making of you contentedly to rest in his will may not this great dispenser of Blessings do with his own what he pleaseth 2. None so poor but they have more than what they deserve Who can claim or challenge any thing at God's hands surely he that merits nothing must not murmur because he hath but little Thy apparel is very mean thy diet is very course thy habitation very uncomfortable be it so yet even in these there is mercy 't is from the wisdom of God that thou hast no better from the mercy of God that thou hast so good Mat. 20.15 3. As low as you are in these things hitherto the Lord hath provided for you and yours and assuredly you being his people walking in his fear trusting of him he will still provide You have in the promise what you want in the visible estate Discontent is in part founded in distrust take but this out of the heart and the other vanisheth Now why should God's poor I spâak only of such distrust his provision what abundant assurance hath he given thereof read Psal 73.3 Psal 39.10 Psal 111.5 Mat. 6.25 ad finem cap. Rom. 8.32 Heb. 13.5 with many other Scriptures 4. A little with God's blessing will go very far and do very well Psal 132. 15. I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfie her poor with bread Exod. 23.25 Ye shall serve the Lord your God and he shall bless thy bread and water Daniel and his companions fed upon nothing but pulse and water and yet their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the Kings meat Dan. 1.12.15 1 Kin. 17.12 The widow was reduced to a low âbb there was left but a little oyl in the cruise and a little meal in the barrel yet these held out and the more she spent of them the more they encreased what strange things are done with small pittances where the blessing of God is 5. The Saint's Little is better than the Sinner's All. Prov. 15.16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith Psal 37.16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked 6. No man can judge of God's love or hatred by these things for he often * Eccles 9.1 Et iratus dat propitius negat Aug. gives riches to those whom he hates and denies them to those whom he loves 'T is very usual for those who have most of his love to have least of worldly things Joseph and Mary themselves could bring but a pair of Turtle doves the poor man's offering Luke 2.24 Nay how poor was our Lord himself The foxes have holes c. Math. 8.20 2 Cor. 8.9 7. God keeps you low in earthly possessions but how is it with you in higher and better things You are poor without are you not rich â Intus dives foris Pauper Pauper in cella dives in conscientia arcam respicis auâo inanem conscientiam respice Deo plenam Aug. in Psal 36. In animo divitiae sunt non in patrimonio Senec. within Prov. 13.7 There is that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing there is that maketh himself poor yet hath great riches Rev. 2.9 I know thy poverty but thou art rich No riches like to Soul-riches To be rich in faith Jam. 2.5 in good works 1 Tim. 6.18 towards God Luk. 12.21 this is to be rich indeed Mountains of gold are nothing to one dram of true grace in the Soul 8. You think God is strait-handed towards you in temporal but is he not abundantly gracious in spiritual
and eternal blessings He denies the pebble but gives you the pearl withholds shadows and trifles but gives you what is solid and substantial you have not worldly wealth but you have the Pardon of sin the Love of God Adoption Vnion with Christ c. You have no inheritance here but you are heirs of the * Dejectae mentis est qui familiaris rei meminit cum vocatur ad regnum Chrysolog Serm. 22. Kingdom Jam. 2.5 the inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 1.4 is yours you have little in the stream but all in the fountain God is yours and in him â Semper est dives Christiana paupertas quia plus est quod habet quà ââ quod non habet nec pavet injusto mundo indigentiâ laborare cui donatum est in omnium rerum Don ino omnia possidere Leo. Serm. 4. de Quadrag Suâh who have better Estates what are they to consider in order to contentment all is yours And are these things true certainly then you have no reason to complain or to be discontented because of your poverty Pray under heart-risings because of this turn your thoughts upon what hath been hinted work these and such like Considerations home upon your hearts be intent upon them weigh them throughly and I hope this will very much settle and quiet your spirits under the lowness of your Estates 2. Secondly There are Some with whom it is much better they have a good Allowance from God a comfortable supply in these things so that they want nothing convenient or necessary Nay there are some who abound in wealth riches flow in upon them their coffers are full of silver and gold their in-comes vast and great and yet neither of these have learned to be content no not in their good state Discontentedness lodges not only in the breasts of them who have nothing but of some who have a competency yea of some who have abundance of these things both are dissatisfied with their Condition as thinking they have not enough and therefore are full of vexatious desires after more Now if this be your condition without and your frame within then 't is a most necessary Enquiry how and wherein you are to act Consideration so as thereby to arrive at contentment For answer to which I shall direct you to a few things Consider therefore 1. The greatness of the sin of discontent in you above what it is in the persons spoken of before 'T is in them who want what is necessary very sinful but in you to whom God is so good and bountiful 't is out of measure sinful We blame the beggar that is angry though we give him nothing but if we give him something be it never so little especially if we give liberally to him and yet he grumbles and repines this aggravates his crime exceedingly So here 't is a great sin in the poorest to murmur against the Lord but in you to vvhom he is so liberal at least to give you enough the sin is much greater This speaks you to be guilty of prodigious ingratitude to God and of very inordinate love to the world both of which are sins of a crimson tincture 2. How contented and thankful would many be if it was but with them as it is with you Had they but pence for your shillings shillings for your pounds Quà m multos esse conjectas qui sese caelo proximos arbitrentur si de fortunae tuae reliquiis pars iis contingat Boeth de Cons Phil. l. 2. pr. 4. and pounds for your hundreds they would think themselves well provided for and serve the Lord with joyfulness Nay you yourselves in your first entrance upon the vvorld when your beginnings were very low when Jacob like you had little more then a staff in your hands Gen. 32.10 did not you then think if you might but have that measure of worldly things which now you have you vvould look upon God as dealing very graciously with you And now he hath answered your expectations and desires and yet you are not contented 3. Christians are to bound their desires after things below not to seek great things for themselves here Jer. 45.5 If God vvill give them but what is necessary they are not to quarrel for the want of what is superfluous The Covenant-indenture goes no further than food and rayment therefore ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Isidor Nihil habet dives de divitiis nisi quod ab illo postulat pauper victum vestitum caetera omnia superflua sunt August de Verb. Dom. Cibus potus sunt divitiae Christianorum Hieron having food and raiment let us be therewith content 1 Tim. 6.8 Jacob went no higher than those Gen. 28.20 21. Christ directs us to go no further in our prayers than daily bread Math. 6.11 If vve may be supplied vvith these vve have no reason to be discontented for the vvithholding of vvhat is more A competency is all that we can or should expect The Israelites murmur if they have not Quails Manna would not content them they had their Quails but they had better have been without them 4. A little sufficeth Nature less sufficeth Grace Satis est populis fluviusque Ceresque Lucan Cito expletur naturae necessitas frigus fames simplici vestitu cibo expelli potest Hieron in Jovin Ad manum est quod sat est Senec. Parabile expositum quod natura desiderat Id. Quod naturae satis est homini non est Id. Ep. 119. Discite quà m parvo liceat producere vitam Lucan but Covetousness is never satisfied Was it not for this how happy might we be and alwayes say as to God's allowance 't is enough Nature is content Grace is thankful Corruption only is ravenous and querulous 5. A great and overgrown estate is not the best estate which if men did consider they would not be greedy to have it or discontented upon the not having of it As to the truth of this do but set Ambition and Avarice aside and let Reason Experience prudent Observation be consulted and the thing will be unquestionable Optimus pecuniae modus est qui nec in paupertatem cedit nec procol à paupertate discedit Sen. de Tranq animi There is a middle state both as to honour and riches which certainly is the best state Agur made a wise choice when he prayed Give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me Prov. 30.8 A full estate is not best for Duty for we often see through the naughtiness of mens hearts that they who have most in the way of Mercy do least in the way of Duty I deny not but that some who are very rich are also very good living in all due picty towards God and doing much good in their places towards men and 't is pity it should be otherwise but I fear this conjunction is somewhat rare
but thought of every state here would be good enough 9. The less any have the less they are to account for at the Great Day Every man is accountable to God for what he hath of this world 's good for that is but a Trust and he that is the Lord and owner of all will reckon with men how this trust is fulfilled and according to the proportion which they are entrusted with so will the account be taken They therefore who have great Estates and do but little good with them will have a sad account to make at the Great Day Now how little is this considered We are alwayes grasping at more not considering that the more we have the more we stand accountable for when we shall be judged Do we improve what we have if we do not 't is mercy that the Lord intrusts us with no more One Talent will be too much if that be not traded for God why then should we be angry if we have not five All would live in large houses but vvill they be able to pay the Rent that such houses are set at if not 't is better for them to content themselves with a meaner habitation and so 't is with the thing which I am upon Many at the Great Day will rejoyce they had no more whilst many will wish they had not had so much 10. To conclude this Head doth any man better his Estate by discontent Plutarch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Is that the way to improve it certainly No It often makes us to lose what we have but it never gets us vvhat vve want as was said before in the general In the distribution of his blessings God will not be dealt with in this way He that will eat or drink more than what is sufficient often vomits up all so he that will have more than what God sees convenient for him loseth all by this greediness I have been large upon this because of the Commonness of discontent in this Case and the exceeding great sinfulness of it You whom the Lord hath blessed with competent Estates especially You whom the Lord hath blessed with full Estates be sure you learn and live contentment and whenever the heart begins to be unquiet about the proportion allotted to you go over in your thoughts what hath been propounded for you to consider of and I trust you vvill find good by it 3. There is a third Case viz. Some have lost what once they had C nsideration to further Contentment under Lâsses or God pursues them in the way of their Callings with Loss upon Loss This is a trial under which means hearts are prone to be enflamed 't is no easie thing to bear it with patience and contentment Especially when losses come thick and go very deep Cogitaâdum est quanto levior dolor sit non habere quam perdere intelligemus paupertati eo minorem tormentorum quo minorem damnorum esse materiam Senec. de Tr-An Tolerabilius est faciliusque non acquirere quam amittere ideoque laetiores videbis quos nunquam fortuna respexit quam quos deseruit idem ibid. when a considerable part of the estate is taken away nay as it often falls out the whole Oh! this is greatly afflictive and wounds the spirits of men very much Of the two we find it by experience an easier matter to be contented under that poverty which a person hath alwayes been in than under that which he is brought into by some severe interposures of Providence Former plenty puts more bitterness into present penury 't is a greater affliction to common sense to have an estate and to lose it than to be without an estate where it was never had this fuisse foelicem is a great aggravation of misery But to the thing it self It pleased the Lord lately to lay this City in ashes and O how great how universal were the losses then sustained your houses were burnt down many of your goods consumed by the merciless flames the great supports of your livelyhood removed and many thousands of you had that Wound then given you that you must halt of all your daies Since that you feel the sad effects of War losses at Sea decay of Trade c. upon which it is not with you as formerly it was there 's a great diminution in your estates Now was and is all this undergone with contentment In these dispensations of Providences have you learnt contentment would to God it was so If it be not so as yet I would desire you to fall upon Consideration and I hope for the future it will be so How or wherein is Consideration to be acted so as that under worldly losses you may be contented why thus Consider God's hand is in them and they all issue out of his will Men may be the instruments but that 's all they do but accomplish that which God will have to be done Therefore whatever thy loss be for the matter and degree of it however it befalls thee eye God in it see it as ordained and ordered by him let thy thoughts fix upon this and thy heart will not dare to murmur What are thy losses to those which Job underwent all was swept away from him in a moment yet he considered the Supreme Agent in all this and this kept down all passion The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken Job 1.21 Abstulit sed dedit Sen. Ep. 64. Hos 2.9 blessed be the name of the Lord O saith he 't is the Lord and the Lord who gave I submit May not the great Soveraign of the world do with us and ours what he pleaseth may not he diminish and withdraw all our blessings as he he sees good he that gives may not he take hath not he a greater propriety in what we have than we our selves It being his corn his wine his wool and flax may not he dispose of it at his pleasure doth it not become us contentedly to * Quandocunque reddeâe jubebitur non queretur cum fortunâ sed dicet gratias ago pro eo quod possedi habuique Idem de Tranq An. return what he sees meet to lend us but for such a time Pray think of this or you 'l never learn in a losing state to be content 2. Possibly something is taken away but all is not more is left than what is taken He that might have stript thee to nakedness hath only cut off a skirt of thy garment hast thou any reason to fret against the Lord that would be highly base and dilingenuous He to whom all was forfeited takes but a part instead of the whole surely thou art not to impeach his justice but to admire his goodness 3. Whenever we meet with these rebukes 't would be well to consider whether we did not need them A full dyet is naught for distempered bodies 1 Pet. 1.6 therefore these Physician prescribes a more sparing dyet When we are full
fed with these comforts have no losses or crosses in the world we are apt to grow proud secure wanton to forget God to cast off Duty to dream of an earthly paradise to say it's good being here to neglect spiritual and divine things 't is high time therefore for God by these waies to cut us short thereby to reduce us to a little better temper of soul If the sap run out too much into the branches there 's no way to preserve the root but by the cutting off the luxuriant branches God will have a thousand Estates to be lost rather than that one soul should be lost the burning of Cities is nothing if that be necessary to the saving of souls 4. Suppose all be lost in that All we lost but little for the All of this world is but one remove from a mere Nothing Perdidit infoelix totum nil is applicable to the losses of the rich as well as of the poor Is there any thing in this but what might be expected from the nature of the thing therefore there should be no disturbance about it Who will be concern'd at the melting of snow what wise man will be moved for the breaking of a glass 'T is strange that a Jonah should be in such a pet for the withering of a gourd Prov. 27.24 Riches are not for ever and doth the Crown endure to every generation 1 Cor. 7.31 The fashion of this world passeth away All the estate here is made up of Moveables that usual distinction which is good in Law is not so in Divinity 5. Again thou sayest all is lost perdiderat omnia quae dederat Deus sed hahuit ipsem qui omnia dederat Deum August but if thou beest a child of God the best is yet secure God and Christ and Grace and Heaven are yet thine and no loss is very considerable so long as these are safe O believer in all thy losses be quiet and chearful God who is thy portion is the same for ever Job lost all he had from God but God himself he did not lose and in him he had all that he had lost Never complain till God be lost Fas tibi non est de fortunâ conqueri salvo Caesare said Seneca to Polybius Let the stars disappear if we may have the Sun who will be troubled let earthly things vanish so long as God abides 't is enough Had we the whole world to lose one God would abundantly recompense the loss of all of it Many are inward gainers by their outward losses by having the less of the Creature they have the more of God O happy exchange the worse their condition is without the better it is within in respect of grace and comfort 6. 'T is an excellent frame of spirit under losses to be patient and contented All the possessions of Job when he was in the height of them did not reflect so much glory upon him as his blessed submission when he was deprived of them then God blessed him now in another sense he blessed God All are convinced they should do this when God gives but 't is very rare for any to do it when God takes away Micah's mother had some shekels of silver taken from her and she falls a cursing Judg. 17.2 this precious Saint had all taken from him yet no cursing as Satan had belied him no nothing but blessing God 'T is an excellent temper comfortably to enjoy outward blessings whilst God shall continue them contentedly to part with them when God shall remove them Suave est si quid dás parvus dolor hoc ubi tollis When I see any carrying it thus I conclude that earthly things are not too fast rivetted in their hearts as 't is a sign the tooth is loose which is drawn out without much pain and that they are duly affected towards God heaven and heavenly things These are some of the things the due consideration whereof would much help on Contentment under Losses And so much for the using of this Means towards the furtherance of tranquillity of mind with respect to what may disturb it in and about the Estate How Consideration ought to be acted in order to Contentment under cr ssâs in Relations 2. Secondly I 'le instance in Relations In and about whom there is as much of mercy or affliction of comfort or discomfort and consequently of content or discontent as in any one thing whatsoever The Discontent usually is occasioned and vented in these three Cases The want of Relations much desired The death of Relations much beloved The uncomfortableness of Relations who are spared Now Consideration wisely and faithfully managed would be of great use to allay all storms and to keep the heart even and calm in all these Cases and therefore my next work is to shew what we are under each of them to consider in order to the promoting of this frame But I must of necessity be briefer under this Head than I was under the former that I may not draw out this Discourse to too great a length Wherefore I will but shortly set the Particulars before you that you are to consider of and leave the enlargement of them to your selves in your consideration 1. When Relations are much desired but denied and withheld there is too often discontent How as to the want of Relations desired As to instance only in Children what daily inquietudes of spirit are there in some because of the want of these they have many other Comforts but the not having of this imbitters all Abraham himself was much troubled about it Gen. 15.2 3. Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless Behold to me thou hast given no seed and lo one born in my house is mine heir But Rachel's passion rose very high Give me Children saith she to her husband or else I die Gen. 30.2 Children are very great blessings they are promised as such Psal 128.3 4. and in other places and indeed they are one of the sweetest flowers that grow in the garden of earthly comforts hence 't is hard for persons contentedly to bear the want of them But whoever you are upon whom this affliction lies pray labour after a contented mind under it and in order thereunto Consider 1. It is the Lord who withholds this mercy for he gives it or withholds it as seems good to him Providence is not more seen in any of the affairs and Concerns of men than in this of Children that there shall be many or few some or none Gen. 32. all falls under the good pleasure and dispose of God When Rachel was so passionate under the want of these Jacob rebuked her sharply am I in God's stead who hath withheld from thee the fruit of thy womb Psal 127.9 Lo children are an inheritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward Psal 113.9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful Mother of
children Now if this was duly thought of would it not quiet the heart when the thing is ordered by God shall we dislike and fret at what he doth may not he dispense his blessings where he pleaseth Oh if he will give we should be thankful in the owning of his Goodness if he will deny we must be patient in the owning of his Soveraignty 2. Sometimes this mercy is denyed but better are bestowed God doth not give Children but he gives himself and is not he better than ten Sons as Elkanah said of himself to Hannah 1 Sam. 1.8 There is a better name than that of Sons and Daughters promised Isa 56.3.4 they who have that better name have no reason to murmur because they have not that which is worse They who have God for their Father in heaven may well be content to go childless here on earth If God will not give me the lesser yet if he gives me the greater Good have I cause to be angry surely no more than he hath to be angry with me to whom I deny a brass farthing and give him a purse of Gold 3. Children sometimes are withheld a long time but they are given at last of which we have many Instances The case is never desperate so long as we can submit and wait 't is to be hoped God designs to give us that comfort under the want of which we can be contented 4. If Children be given after froward and irregular desires of them 't is to be questioned whether it be done in mercy and 't is to be feared this frame will very much spoil the mercy What we get by discontent we seldom enjoy with comfort How many Parents have experienced the truth of this they were not quiet till they had Children and less quiet after they had them they proved so undutiful stubborn naught that there was much more of vexation in the having than there was in the wanting of them 5. Many wanting the comfort of this Relation it pleaseth God to fill up the comfort of their other Relations The Husband or the Wife are the better because there are no childrn and so the Lord recompences what is denied in one Relation by doubling the comfort of another Relation 6. Children are great comforts but they are but mixt comforts The Rose hath its sweetness but it hath its pricks too and so 't is with Children Oh the cares fears distractions that Parents are filled with about them they are certain cares uncertain comforts as we usually express it We eye the sweet only of this Relation and that makes us fretful did we eye the bitter also we should be more still and calm 7. Had we this mercy in the height of it fill'd up in all respects according to our desires and expectations 't is a thousand to one but our hearts would be too much set upon it And that would be of fatal consequence to us upon many accounts and therefore God foreseeing this 't is out of kindness and love that he withholds it from us These things being considered as to this affliction methinks they should very much dispose the heart to contentation under it 2. Secondly when dear Relations are taken away by death then it 's a time of Discontent To lose a tender Husband an affectionate Wife an hopeful Child How as to the loss of Relations a faithful Friend oh this is a cutting tryal a very smarting rod under which 't is no easie thing to keep the spirit sedate free from all passion and discomposures Yet as hard as it is Consideration would much facilitate it Consider therefore 1. About the true stating of this affliction 'T is great to us because of the greatness of our affection but otherwise as to the thing in it self is it more than the breaking of a pitcher than the dying or withering of a flower than the nipping of a blossom and vvill any considerate person be much moved at such things as these The Heathen bore the death of his child very well upon this consideration vvhen news thereof was brought to him he was not disturbed for said he I knew I begot my child mortal We forget what these comforts are and then we fret at the loss of them 2. Think of the commonness of this affliction You think never was any sorrow like to yours never did any lose such a Husband or such a Wife or such a Child as you have done alas this is but the fondness and excess of love Many have lost as dear Relations as you have lost let them be what they will you are not the first nor will be the last who are thus exercised When a Mercy is common in our eye we set it too low when an Affliction is singular in our eye we set it too high 3. 'T is God himself who makes this rod If a sparrow doth not fall to the ground vvithout him Math. 10.29 certainly a dear Relation doth not shall we not be silent before him He that gave he hath taken he that hath a greater right to Husband Wife Child than any of the Possessors have he hath seen good to call back vvhat is his own shall any vex at this Dead Relations are not * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã lost but restored to their first Owner and though 't is our Affliction to lose them yet 't is â Sustulisti liberos quos ipse dederas non contri stor quod recepisti ago gratias quod dedisti Hierân ad Julian Non moeremus quod talem amisimus sed gratias agimus quod habuimus Idem mercy that ever vve had them both must be put together and then the heart vvill be quiet 4. Is all taken if not thou hast no reason to complain The child is taken but 't is but one of many but the Husband is yet spared thou must not be impatient for what is removed but thankful for vvhat is continued as Themistocles when Amyntas took away some of his dishes bore it contentedly saying he might have taken all And pray keep down all passion for this may make you lose vvhat you have though it vvill not regain you vvhat you have lost Oh but some will say my only child is dead Is it so thy affliction is the greater but thy contentation must be never the less He that gave an only son to thee may take an only child from thee Isaac vvas an only son and yet Abraham vvillingly offered him up to God 5. 'T was high time for God to make a breach upon you 'T is the vvisdom of God to his he vvill not let them have long what they over love had you loved less the child might have lived longer When these comforts are too much in our hearts they must not be long in our hands It 's infinite mercy that God will secure our love to himself and take that away from us which would take off our affections from him 6. 'T is that temper of soul which
unbelief that is within and so it prevents or puts a stop to inordinate sorrow for what is externally afflictive as bleeding at the arm stops bleeding at the nose Where 't is repenting there 't is not repining 4. Heavenly mindedness The more a man doth mind things above the less he is concerned about things below he who hath his heart and conversation in heaven will not be sollicitous or querulous about what befalls him here on earth Math. 6.21 Phil. 3.20 Nihil sentit crus in nervo cum animus est in coelo Tertul. 5. Self-denyal A grace that hath a great tendency to Contentment because it takes men off from their own wisdom will and affections and causeth them wholly to resign up themselves to the wise and gracious dispose of God Oh saith the self-denying Christian I am not fit to be my own chooser God shall choose for me I would not have my condition brought to my mind but my mind brought to my condition I would not have God give me what I desire ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Iambl in V. Pythag. L. 1. C. 28. but I would desire nothing but what God sees good to give me As that Philosopher when one wished for him that he might have from the gods whatever he would nay rather saith he wish for me that I may will nothing but what the gods will give me Surely when 't is once come to this it must needs be Contentment These are some of the wayes others there are but I must pass them over by which Godliness doth promote and work Contentment So that as you desire to learn it you must look to this that you be gracious and godly persons without Grace in the habit and exercise thereof it cannot be composedness and tranquillity of spirit in every state I do not affirm that he who hath grace is so constant and universal in this frame as that he is never under discontent for even such a one hath his infirmities and surprisals and pro hic nunc corruption may be too hard for grace but this I say he as to the general course and when he is himself is contented and that he is the person who is fitted and qualified to live contentment The Third and last Means is Prayer The third Help to contentment viz. Prayer without this the two former will be ineffectual Let a man be never so considerative yea never so Godly yet Prayer is necessary to his being contented Humility Faith Repentance Heavenly-mindedness self-denial are the heart-quieting Graces and Prayer is the heart-quieting Duty He that hath not learnt to pray will not learn to be content When God is seldom spoke to he will be often hardly thought of There must be good striving with God in prayer or else there will be bad striving with him in the way of Discontent O Sirs are you afflicted pray Jam. 5.13 do you meet with crosses pray doth the Estate decay the Relations die the Body consume by pain and sickness pray The best way to be content in every state is to pray in every state We study this hard lesson best upon our knees Prayer furthers contentment 1. As it gives a vent to the mind under trouble Vessels that are full if they have not some vent are apt to burst and so when the heart is full of grief if it hath not a vent it breaks Sorrow kept in overwhelms the spirit Strangulat inclusus dolor let it be vented a little and the spirit is much at ease Now prayer is the best vent the poor Christian goes to God tells him his case pours out his heart before him upon this his heart that was ready to break before is now greatly relieved When Hannah had prayed under her trouble she went away and did eat and her countenance was no moâe sad 1 Sam. 1.18 What sad work doth the wind make where 't is pent up whence come the dreadful shakings of the earth but from its being shut up in the cavities thereof And so here when we keep in our troubles do not open them first to the Lord in prayer and then to some experienced Christian what commotions and perturbations of mind is that the occasion of 2. As it obtains Grace and strength from God to enable the creature to be contented For 't is he and he only that can work up the heart to this excellent frame he that stills the sea when it rages doth also still the soul in all its passions and discontents When Paul had spoken thus high of his Contentment lest any should think he ascribed this * ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theophyl Quia de maximis âeâus gloriatus f erât âe superbiae id tribueretur vel nè aliis jactantiaâ occasionem daret suâjicit hââ fortitudine se à Christo instrui Calvin in loc to himself or had it from himself immediately he subjoyns I can do all things through Christ strengthning of me to note that the quietness of his mind was divine and supernatural We read of our Saviour how he being at sea and a great tempest arising he rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm And the men marvelled saying what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him Matth. 8.24 c. Truly the calming of the heart in its inward storms is a thing every way as marvellous as what Christ here did and that which requires as great a power to effect it If therefore you desire to arrive at this even temper of mind in every condition often go to God and beg it of him Say Lord I have a Peevish froward discontented heart that is ready upon every cross to vex and fret against thee this I hope is my burden I would fain have it otherwise but I cannot get victory over my passion I cannot bring my self to a calm and submissive frame wherefore I seek to thee to inable me thereunto Blessed God do thou help me through the power of thy grace let there be evermore a contented mind in me such and such crosses I meet with but Lord under all let me be patient here 's an hard lesson for me to learn but through the teachings of thy spirit let me learn it Oh do but thus pray and in due time God will give you what you pray for Thus I have answered this weighty Question What Christians are to do that they may learn in every state to be content Now to close all I leave it with your selves to enquire what your attainments are as to this Contentment 'T is a sad thing that even amongst Christians there is so little of it that many mere Heathens who had nothing but reason and the dim light of Nature seem herein to outstrip those who have far greater helps to it Nemo facile cum fortunae suae conditione concordat Boeth de Coâsol Phil. l. 2. prosâ 4. Quis est tam compositae foelicitatis ut non
aliqua ex Parte cum statús sui qualitate rixetur Idem ibid. Oh this is much to be lamented Let us bring it down to our selves Paul had learnt in every state to be content we have scarce learnt in any state to be content We are not well either full or fasting When it's Summer then 't is too hot when 't is winter then 't is too cold Every condition is more or less uneasie to us If it be Mercy we complain it is not enough if affliction we complain 't is too much and so we are alwayes in statu querulo moroso as he in Seneca expresseth it The great God is willing to be pleased with what we do but how hard are we to be pleased with what he doth He finds no fault with our duties though attended with many defects if done in sincerity we will be finding fault with his Providences though there be nothing in them but what speaks infinite Wisdom and Goodness The generality of men carry it as if the fretting leprosie was upon them yea many even of those who belong to God are too much sick of this disease Surely if he was not a long-suffering and compassionate Father he would not bear as he doth with such froward Children The most like their inward state too well and their outward state too ill Such who have the world are contented without God Such who have God are not contented without the world It being thus is it not highly necessary that we should for the time to come set our selves with our utmost diligence to get a Contented spirit May be we dare not let the fire of our passion break forth but it lies smothering and hid in the heart when shall it be quite extinguished oh that that might be wholly cast out and that instead thereof sedateness of mind submission to God contentation in every condition might come in into the soul My Brethren will you fall upon the studying of this excellent lesson of Contentment You have learnt nothing in Christianity till you have learnt this you are no better than Abcedarians in Religion if you have not mastered this great piece of practical knowledg You have heard much read much of contentment but have you learnt it so as to live in the daily practice of it pray take up with nothing short of that The design of this Sermon hath been to help you herein to direct you what you are to do in order to Contentment Now will you make use of the Directions that have been given viz. to be considerative godly praying persons These are the best remedies that I could think of against that Spiritual Choler that doth so much trouble you Use them and I hope you will find the vertue and efficacy of them to this end Look to your state and course that you be godly when any thing troubles you retire for Consideration and Prayer hold on in this way and in tim you also will be able to speak these great words as to your selves that you have learnt in every state to be content How to bear Afflictions Serm. XXVII HEB. 12.5 My Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him Prov. 3.12 THe words are an excellent passage from the Book of the Proverbs wherein the Supreme eternal Wisdom is represented giving instruction to the afflicted how to behave themselves under troubles so as they may prove beneficial to them the counsel is that they should preserve a temperament of Spirit between the excess and defect of patience and courage and neither despising the Chastenings of the Lord by a sinful neglect of them as a small unconcerning matter nor fainting under them as a burden so great and oppressing that no deliverance was to be expected To enforce the exhortation Wisdom useth the amiable and endearing title My Son to signifie that God in the quality of a Father afflicts his people the consideration whereof is very proper to conciliate reverence to his hand and to encourage their hopes of a blessed issue The Proposition that ariseth from the words is this 'T is the duty and best Wisdom of Afflicted Christians to preserve themselves from the vicious extreams of despising the chastenings of the Lord or fainting under them To illustrate this by a clear method I shall endeavour to shew 1. What it is to despise the chastenings of the Lord and the causes of it 2. What fainting under his rebukes signifies and what makes us incident to it 3. Prove that 't is the duty and best wisdom of the afflicted to avoid these extreams 4. Apply it 1. To despise the chastening of the Lord imports the making no account of them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as unworthy of serious regard and includes inconsiderateness of mind and an insensibleness of heart 1. Inconsiderateness of mind with respect to the Author or end of Chastenings Job 5.6 1. With respect to the Author when the afflicted looks only downwards as if the rod of affliction sprang out of the dust and there were no superior cause that sent it Thus many apprehend the evils that befall them either merely as the productions of natural causes or as casual events or the effects of the displeasure and injustice of men but never look on the other side of the veil of the second causes to that invisible providence that orders all If a disease strikes their bodies they attribute it to the extremity of heat or cold that distempers their humours if a loss comes in their estates 't is ascribed to chance to the carelessness and falseness of some upon whom they depended but God is concealed from their sight by the nearness of the immediate agent whereas the principal cause of all temporal evils is the over-ruling Providence of God Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3.6 They come not only with his knowledg and will but by his efficiency Exod. 10.13 19. The Locusts that infected Egypt were as real an effect of God's wrath as the most miraculous Plague although an East-wind brought them and a West-wind carried them away The arrow that was shot at a venture and pierc't between the joynts of Ahab's armour was directed by the hand of God for his destruction 1 King 22.34 Shimei's cursing of David though it was the overflowing of his Gall the effect of his malignity yet that holy King lookt higher 1 Sam. 16.11 and acknowledged the Lord hath bidden him As the Lord is a God of power and can inflict what judgments he pleaseth immediately so he is a God of Order and usually punisheth in this world by subordinate means Now where ever he strikes though his hand is wrapt up in a cloud yet if it be not observed especially if by habitual incogitancy men consider not with whom they have to do in their various troubles this profane neglect is no less than a despising the
chastenings of the Lord. 2. Inconsiderateness of the end of the Divine discipline is a great degree of contempt The evils that God inflicts are as real a part of his providence as the blessings he bestows as in the course of nature the darkness of the night is by his order as well as the light of the day therefore they are alwayes sent for some wise and holy design Sometime though more rarely they are only for tryal to exercise the Faith humility patience of eminent Saints for otherwise God would lose in a great measure the honour and renown and his favourites the reward of those graces afflictions being the sphere of their activity But for the most part they are castigatory to bring us to a sight and sense of our state to render sin more evident and odious to us They are fully exprest by pouring from vessel to vessel that dâscovers the dregs and sediment and makes it offensive that before was concealed The least affliction even to the godly is usually an application of the physician of spirits for some growing distemper every corrosive is for some proud flesh that must be taken away In short they are deliberate dispensations to cause men to reflect upon their works and wayes and break off their sins by sincere obedience Therefore we are commanded to bear the voice of the rod and who hath appointed it 'T is a preacher of repentance Micah 6.9 to lead us to the knowledg and consideration of our selves The distress of Joseph's brethren was to revive their memory of his sorrows caused by their cruelty now when men disregard the embassy of the rod are unconvincible notwithstanding its lively lessons when they neither look up to him that strikes nor within to the cause that provokes his displeasure when they are careless to reform their wayes and to comply with his only will as if afflictions were only common accidents of this mutable state the effects of rash fortune or blind fate without design and judgment and not sent for their amendment this is a prodigious despiseing of God's hand For this reason the Scripture compares men to the most inobservant creatures to the wild asse's colt Job 11.12 Psal 58.4 Hos 7.11 the deaf adder to the silly dove without heart and the advantage is on the beasts side for their inconsideration proceeds merely from the incapacity of matter of which they are wholly compos'd to perform reflex acts but man's incogitancy is in sole fault of his spirit that wilfully neglects his duty The Prophet charges this guilt upon the Jews Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see Isa 26.11 2. Insensibility of heart is an eminent degree of despising the Lord's chastenings A pensive feeling of judgments is very congruous whether we consider them in genere Physico or Morali either materially as afflictive to nature or as the signs of divine displeasure for the affections were planted in the humane nature by the hand of God himself and are duly exercised in proportion to the quality of their objects And when grace comes it softens the breast and gives a quick and tender sense of God's frown An eminent instance we have in David though of heroical courage yet in his sad ascent to mount Olivet 2 Sam. 15.30 he went up weeping with his head covered and his feet bare to testifie his humble and submissive sense of God's anger against him Now when men are insensible of judgments either considered as natural or penal evils if when they suffer the loss of relations or other troubles they presently fly to the comforts of the Heathens that we are all mortal and what can't be help't must be endured without the sense humanity requires that calm is like that of the dead sea a real curse or suppose natural affection works a little yet there is no apprehension and concernment for God's displeasure which should be infinitely more affecting than any outward trouble how sharp soever no serious deep humiliation under his hand no yielding up our selves to his management this most justly provokes him Of this temper were those described by Jeremiah Jer. 5 3â Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they refused to receive correction 2. The causes of this despiseing of God's chastenings are 1. A contracted stupidity of soul proceeding from a course in sin There is a natural stubborness and contumacy in the heart against God a vicious quality derived from rebellious Adam we are all hewn out of the rock and dig'd out of the quary and this is one of the worst effects of sin and a great part of its deceitfulness that by stealth it encreaseth the natural hardness Heb. 3.13 Zech. 7.12 by degrees it creeps on like a gangrene and causes an indolency The practice of sin makes the heart like an adamant the hardest of stones that exceeds that of rocks For hence proceeds such unteachableness of the mind that when God speaks and strikes yet sinners will not be convinc't that briars and thorns are only effectual to teach them and such untractableness in the will that when the sinner is stormed by affliction and some light breaks into the understanding yet it refuseth to obey God's call 2. Carnal diversions are another cause of slighting God's hand Luke 21.34 The pleasures and cares of the world as they render men inapprehensive of judgments to come so regardless of those that are present Some whenever they feel the smart of a cross use all the arts of oblivion to lose the sense of it The affliction instead of a leading them to repentance leads them to vain conversations to Comedies and other sinful delights to drive away sorrow Others although they do not venture upon forbidden things to relieve their melancholy yet when God by short and sensible admonitions calls upon them they have presently recourse to temporal comforts which although lawful and innocent in themselves yet are as unproper at that time as the taking of a cordial when a vomit begins to work for whereas chastisements are sent to awaken and affect us by considering our sins in their bitter fruits this unseasonable application of sensual comforts wholly defeats God's design For nothing so much hinders serious consideration as a voluptuous indulging the senses in things pleasing like opiate medicines they stupifie the conscience and benum the heart 'T is Solomon's expression I said of laughter it is mad for as distraction breaks the connexion of the thoughts so mirth shuffles our most serious thoughts into disorder and causes men to pass over their troubles without reflexion and remorse And as the pleasures so the business of the world causes a sâpine Security under judgments We have an amazing instance of it in Hiel the Bethelite 1 Kings 16. who laid the foundation of his city in the death of his first-born and set up the gates of it in his youngest son yet he was so
judgment of things we have not the least cause to suspect the love of God when he chastises us to take away sin the only abominable object of his hatred and deep detestation and to render us partakers of the divine nature And the present peaceable fruit of righteousness is the product in those who are duly exercised by their troubles It is an allusion to the reward of the conquerers in the Olympick games who had a crown of Olives the embleme and shadow of peace But true peace a divine calm in the conscience shall be the recompence of all that exercise the graces suitable to an afflicted state In short the Apostle assures Believers 1 Cor. 11.32 that they are chastened of the Lord to prevent their condemnation with the world 'T is this rod truely delivers them from hell 't is this consideration that changes thorns into roses and extracts honey out of worm-wood If the way be stony or flowry that leads to blessedness a Christian should willingly walk in it To conclude from the consideration of what the Scripture declares concerning temporal evils Let us lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for our feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be healed i. e. in our affliction let us take courage and resolution from the promises and live in a holy conformity to God's will that the weak or faint may be restored The first and last ââsson of Pagan Philosophy was to support men under the storms to which ãâã are liable in this open state to render the soul velut pelagi rupes imââââ âs a rock unshaken by the waves But all their directions were unsuccessful and so could not secure them from impatience or despair but the Gospel that assures us of the love of God in sending afflictions for our spiritual and eternal good is alone able to compose the mind And when ever we faint in troubles 't is either from infidelity or inconsideration 'T is impossible a person should be a Christian and be incapable of comfort in the most afflicted state for we are really so by the holy Spirit who is the Comforter When we speak sometimes to those we judge infirm we speak to Infidels who only receive remedy from time which they ought to receive from Faith they have the Name of God only in their mouths but the world is in their hearts their passions are strong and obstinate not subject to sanctified reason the difficulty they have of being comforted discovers the necessity of their being afflicted they need conversion more than consolation Others who are sincere in the Faith yet are apt to faint under troubles from an errour like that of the Apostles when their Lord came upon the waters in a stormy tempestuous night to their assistance they though he was a spirit so they look on God as an enemy when he comes to sanctifie and save them The soveraign remedy of our sorrows is to correct the judgment of sense by a serious belief of God's promise thus we shall reconcile the roughness of his hand with the sweetness of his voice He calls to us from heaven in the darkest night 't is I be not afraid he corrects us with the heart and hand of a Father A due consideration of these things will produce a glorified joy in the midst of our sufferings Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were written afore-time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope How we may bring our Hearts to bear Reproofs Serm. XXVIII Psal 141.5 Let the Righteous smite me it shall be a kindness and let him Reprove me it shall be an excellent Oyl which shall not break my Head for yet my Prayer also shall be in their Calamities IT is generally agreed by Expositors that this Psalm as that foregoing with two of those that follow were composed by David in the Time of his Banishment or slight from the Court of Saul The state wherein he describeth himself to have been the matter of his Pleas and Prayers contained in them with sundry express circumstances regarding that season and his condition therein do manifest that to have been the time of their composure That the Psalmist was now in some distress whereof he was deeply sensible is evident from that vehemency of his spirit which he expresseth in the reiteration of his request or Supplication v. 1. And by his desire that his Prayer might come before the Lord as Incense and the lifting up of his hands as the evening Sacrifice v. 2. The Jewish Expositors guess not improbably that in that Allusion he had regard unto his present exclusion from the Holy services of the Tabernacle which in other places he deeply complains of For the matter of his Prayer in this beginning of the Psalm for I shall not look beyond the Text it respecteth himself and his deportment under his present condition which he desireth may be harmless and holy becoming himself and useful unto others And whereas he was two wayes liable to miscarry First by too high an exasperation of spirit against his Oppressors and Persecutors and Secondly by a fraudulent and pufillanimous compliance with them in their wicked courses which are the two extremes that men are apt sinfully to run into in such conditions he prays earnestly to be delivered from them both The first he hath respect unto v. 3. Set a watch O Lord before my Mouth keep the door of my Lips namely that he might not under those great provocations which were given him break forth into an unseemly intemperance of speech against his unjust Oppressors which sometimes fierce and unreasonable Cruelties will wrest from very sedate and moderate spirits But it was the desire of this Holy Psalmist as in like cases it should be ours that his heart might be alwayes preserved in such a frame under the conduct of the Spirit of God as not to be surprized into an expression of Distempered passion in any of his words or sayings The other he regards in his earnest Supplication to be delivered from it v. 4. Incline not my Heart unto any evil thing to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity and let me not eat of their Dainties There are two parts of his request unto the purpose intended 1st That by the Power of God's grace influencing his mind and Soul his heart might not be inclined unto any Communion or Society with his wicked Adversaries in their wickedness 2ly That he might be preserved from a liking of or a longing after those things which are the baits and allurements whereby men are apt to be drawn into Societies and Conspiracies with the workers of iniquity And let me not eat of their Dainties See Prov. 1.10 11 12 13 14. For he here describeth the condition of men prospering for a season in a course of wickedness They first joyntly give up themselves
let him reprove me To give and take reproofs is a Dictate of the Law of Nature whereby every man is obliged to seek the Good of others and to promote it according to their ability and opportunity The former is directed by that love which is due unto others the latter by that which is due unto our selves which two are the great Rules and give measure to the Duties of all Societies whether Civil or Spiritual Wherefore it doth not evacuate a Reproof or Discharge him who is reproved from the duty of attending unto it that he by whom it is managed is not Righteous yea is openly wicked For the Duty it self being an effect of the Law of Nature it is the same for the substance of it by whomsoever it is performed Yea oft-times such Moral or rather immoral Qualifications as render not only the Reprover less considerable but also the Reproof it self until thoroughly weighed and examined obnoxious unto prejudicate Conceptions do occasion a greater and more signal Exercise of Grace and Wisdom in him that is reproved than would have been stirred up had all things concurred unto the exact Regularity of the Reproof However it is desirable on many accounts that he who Reproves us be himself a Righteous person and be of us esteemed so to be For as such a one alone will or can have a due sense of the evil reproved with a right Principle and End in the Discharge of his own Duty so the minds of them that are reproved are by their sense of his Integrity excluded from those insinuations of evasions which prejudices and Suggestions of just causes of Reflections on their Reprover will offer unto them especially without the exercise of singular Wisdom and humility will all the Advantages of a just Reproof be lost where the allowed practice of greater sins and evils than that Reproved is daily chargeable on the Reprover Hence is that Reflection of our Saviour on the useless Hypocritical Diligence of men in pulling the mote out of their Brother's eyes whilst they have beams in their own Mat. 7.3 4 5. The Rule in this Case is If the Reprover be a Righteous person consider the Reprover first and then the Reproof if he be otherwise consider the Reproof and the Reprover not at all II. The Nature of a Reproof is also to be considered and this is three-fold for every Reproof is either Authoritative or Fraternal or merely Friendly and occasional Authoritative Reproofs are either 1 Ministerial or 2 Parental or 3 Despotical 1. There is an especial Authority accompanying Ministerial Reproofs which we ought especially to consider and improve Now I understand not hereby those Doctrinal Reproofs when in the Dispensation of that Word of Grace and Truth which is profitable for Correction and Reproof 2 Tim. 3.16 they speak and exhort and rebuke the sins of men with all Authority Tit. 2.15 but the occasional Application of the Word unto individual persons upon their unanswerableness in any thing unto the Truth wherein they have been instructed For every Right Reproof is but the orderly Application of a Rule of Truth unto any Person under his miscarriage for his healing and recovery Where therefore a Minister of the Gospel in the Preaching of the Word doth declare and Teach the Rule of Holy obedience with Ministerial Authority if any of the Flock committed to his charge shall appear in any thing to walk contrary thereunto or to have transgressed it in any offensive Instance as it is his Duty the discharge whereof will be required of him at the great Day particularly to apply the Truth unto them in the way of private personal Reproof so he is still therein accompanied with his Ministerial Authority which makes his Reproof to be of a peculiar nature and as such to be accounted for For as he is thus commanded as a Minister to Exhort Rebuke Admonish and reprove every one of his charge as occasion shall require so in the doing of it he doth discharge and Exercise his Ministerial Office and Power And he that is wise will forego no considerations that may give efficacy unto a just and due Reproof especially not such a one as if it be neglected will not only be an aggravation of the evil for which he is reproved but will also accumulate his guilt with a contempt of the Authority of Jesus Christ Wherefore the Rule here is The more clear and evident the representation of the Authority of Christ is in the Reproof the more Diligent ought we to be in our Attendance unto it and compliance with it He is the great Reprover of his Church Rev. 3.19 All the use Power Authority and efficacy of Ecclesiastical Reproofs flow Originally and are derived from him In Ministerial reproofs there is the most express and immediate Application of his Authority made unto the minds of men which if it be carelesly slighted or proudly despised or evacuated by perverse cavillings as is the manner of some in such cases it is an open evidence of an Heart that never yet sincerely took upon it his Law and Yoke These things are spoken of the Personal Repoofs that are given by Ministers principally unto those of their respective Flocks as occasion doth require wherein I shall pray that our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep would yet make us all more Faithful and diligent as the season wherein we live doth abundantly require it But moreover Church-censures in Admonition and Excommunication have the nature and ends of Ministerial reproofs But the handling of their nature and use with the Duties of those persons who justly fall under them and the benefit which they may reap thereby is too long and large a subject to be here diverted unto 2. Authoritative reproof is Parental Reproof is indeed one of the greatest and most principal Duties of Parents towards Children and without which all others for the most part do but pamper them unto slaughter and Ruine Neglect hereof is that which hath filled us with so many Hophni's Phinease's and Absolom's whose outragious wickednesses are directly charged on the sinful lenity and neglect in this matter even of godly Parents And indeed whereas some Parents are openly vicious and debauched even in the sight of their Children in a sensual neglect and contempt of the Light of Nature whereby they lose all their Authority in reproving as well as all Care about it and whereas the most have so little regard unto sin as sin whilst things are tolerably well in outward concerns that they neglect the reproof of it as such and many through a foolish contemptible prevalency of fond Affection will take no notice of the sinful follies extravagancies and miscarriages of their Children until all things grow desperate with them but sooth up and applaud them in such effects of Pride Vanity and Wantonness as ought to be most severely reproved in them the woful and dreadful degeneracy of the Age wherein we live owes it self
repent of their sins and accept of God's Son to come into and to keep in God's vvays vvhen they see vvhither those vvays have brought them There they vvill meet vvith all the Holy Martyrs so famous in their generations for their courage and constancy vvith all the Holy Prophets and Apostles the Pen-men of the Scriptures so famous in their time for the large and plentiful effusion of the Spirit of God upon them vvith all the good Kings and Princes and all the righteous persons vvhatever that have lived in all ages and generations of all kinreds Nations and Languages they shall then be gathered all into one body under Christ their head and joyn together in blessing and praising and singing Hallelujah's unto the Lord for ever 2. In Heaven pardoned persons will have the company of all the glorious Angels here the Angels guard them and are ministring Spirits unto them Heb. 1.14 Hereafter they will be their companions and there will be mutual and most sweet converse between them Some delight in the company of Nobles and the great ones which belong to the Courts of great Princes they shall have the company and conversation of the glorious Angels who are the Nobles of Heaven and Courtiers of the King of Kings How the Angels and Saints will converse together and communicate their minds one to another is too high for us to conceive and too difficult for us to determine but surely the converse will be very sweet and full of love and delight 3. In Heaven pardoned persons will have the company and fellowship of the glorious Spirit the Holy Ghost here they have his presence and powerful operations they feel now especially at some times his sweet breathings and powerful operations which do wonderfully enlighten them greatly quicken and inflame their hearts with divine love yea and fill their hearts with spiritual and heavenly joy But in Heaven they shall have a fuller sweeter more powerful and constant presence of the glorious Spirit they shall there be filled with the Holy Ghost as full as they can hold yea beyond their present capacity they shall be under the sweet breathings of the Spirit whereby the flame of divine love will be kept alive in them perpetually in the greatest height and heat of it and this shall abide to Eternity 4. In Heaven pardoned persons shall have the company of the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory Here they have heard of him there they shall see him here they see him with the eye of Faith there they shall see him eye to eye and face to face Austin did wish to have seen three things above all other things that were to be seen in the World Rome in its Glory Paul in the Pulpit and Christ in the flesh The righteous in Heaven will see that which is far beyond Austin's wish they will see Zion in its Glory Paul in his Glory and Christ in his Glory They will see Zion in its glory which will far exceed Rome in its greatest splendour when it was most illustrious for wealth and riches through the spoyls of so many conquered Kingdoms which were brought into it when it was most illustrious for stately houses and sumptuous buildings for wise and learned Men famous and valiant Captains and Souldiers The new Jerusalem Mount Zion which is above will out-shine Rome in glory more than the Sun doth out-shine the smallest Star in Heaven or the faint light of a Candle here upon earth They shall see Paul in his glory they shall hear him praising God with triumphant acclamations of joy which will be far more than to hear him preach in a state of weakness and infirmity but chiefly they shall see Christ in his glory the sight of Christ in his humiliation was nothing in comparison of a sight of him in his state of exaltation They shall see him then as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 Behold now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Christ was never seen on earth as he is his glory was shadowed his Divinity was vailed and his humanity was most evident to the view which had its infirmities but hereafter his humanity will appear to be lifted up into such glory as doth exceed all created glory of Men or Angels and his Divinity will be most illustrious to the view of the Saints at the sight of which they will be astonished with admiration and love and O how will they gaze and wonder at his marvellous beauty and shining excellency when they see him come down from Heaven attended by all the holy Angels and when they shall not only see him but meet with him be owned and welcomed by him and be taken to live with him 1 Thes 4.16 17. The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It was a great priviledg which the Apostles had to live with Christ when he was humbled and vilified here on earth what a priviledg then will it be which all the righteous shall have to live with Christ when he is glorified in Heaven and that not for a few years but for ever What a happiness will it be to see the glory which Christ had with the Father before the World was and not only to see it but to share in it 5. In Heaven pardoned persons shall have the company of the Father they have his gracious presence here on earth they shall have his glorious presence in Heaven there they shall have the immediate Beatifical vision of him and the full most blessed fruition of him The sight of God's back-parts the glimpses and glances of his eye at a distance the mediate enjoyment of him in and by Ordinances doth sometimes even transport them and strangely fill them with wonder and delight but O what Soul-ravishing admirations what transports and extasies of joy will they have when in Heaven they shall behold God's face be alwayes under the beams of the light of his countenance and have continual close intimate full enjoyment of him fellowship and communion with him and this to abide for ever and ever In Heaven they shall dwell with God and God will dwell with them Rev. 21.3 I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with Men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God This this will be happiness indeed to have God himself to dwell with them and manifest himself not only in his grace but in his glory unto them therefore it followeth v. 4. And
Your sins are inexcusable your condemnation is unavoidable and your punishment hereafter in Hell will be most dreadful and intolerable Possibly now you are careless and secure sin is sweet and conscience is quiet you are at ease and conscience asleep but will this ease and sleep always continue Is there not a time coming when you shall be awakened If you are not awakened under God's Word may not God awaken you under his Rod If you are not awakened under God's threatnings will you not awake when he cometh to execution If you are secure in the midst of outward peace and prosperity can you be secure in the midst of trouble and adversity Think what you will do when death doth approach Think what a dreadful aspect unpardoned sin will have when you are brought down unto the sides of the pit to the brink and border of eternity and when you are summoned to make your appearance before the highest Majesty O the horrour that then will seize you O the fearfulness that then will surprise you To have the black guilt of drunkenness or swearing of uncleanness or deceiving or any other iniquity to stare you then in the face O how dismal will it be and affrighting And think with what rage and fury your consciences will then reflect upon your fore-past sins especially your neglect of a pardon then unattainable and how tormenting will this be unto you You may then cry out Lord have mercy on us Christ have mercy on us But will God then hear you who have refused to hearken unto him Will Christ regard you who have neglected refused and shut the door of your hearts against him all your days But sinners what will you do at the day of judgment when the Lord Jesus shall come in flaming fire to take vengeance upon you for unpardoned sins That great day will certainly come and it will quickly be here Time runs away swiftly and it will quickly be run out yet a little while and the Angel will lift up his hand and cry with a loud voice and swear by him that liveth for ever and ever that time shall be no longer Rev. 10.5 6. Then the mystery will be finished the prophesie accomplished and the whole frame of this visible world dissolved the Sun then and the Moon will be darkened and the Stars will fall unto the earth as the fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heavens themselves then shall be rolled together as a great scroll and so pass away with a great noise the earth and all the elements shall be on fire and consume away on that day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear from Heaven with Millions of mighty Angels in power and brightness of majesty and then you must come out of your graves and will stand trembling before Christ's great Tribunal and none of you will be able to hide your selves under any Rock or Mountain from his angry face Then then you will fully know what a priviledg it is to be pardoned when you see where pardoned persons are placed when you see them gathered to the right hand of the great Judg and there acquitted openly owned graciously and crowned by him with honour and glory and invited by him to take possession of those eternal habitations of rest and joy in his Kingdom prepared for them by his Father But O the tearings of spirit and heart-vexing tormenting grief which you will have that no place is found for you amongst them that through your neglect of pardoning mercy you have forfeited and eternally lost a share in eternal glory and not only so but have by sin also plunged your selves into a bottomless gulf of endless misery Think how dreadful the irreversible sentence of condemnation will be unto you Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Alas Alas sinners what will you do no thought can conceive what your horror will be when you come to reap the bitter fruit of all your unpardoned sins It is the punishment of Hell Sinners which the guilt of sin unremoved doth oblige you to undergo And therefore I am sent this day to forewarn you and in the name of my Master to foretel you that if you do not now sue out for and obtain this forgiveness of sin your sin hereafter will bring eternal ruine and destruction of soul and body in Hell Without a pardon profaneness will be your ruine Some of you it may be can swear and curse and blaspheme the Name of God hereafter God will swear in his wrath that you shall not enter into his rest and you shall be banished out of Christ's presence with a curse Depart from me ye cursed c. Those tongues which have been so liberal of oaths and blasphemies must be tormented in flames of fire without one drop of water to cool them Without a pardon drunkenness will be your ruine you that have so often enflamed your selves with wine and strong drink God will enflame you with the wine of his vengeance he will make you to drink the dregs of his wrath which is at the bottom of the cup of his indignation Without a pardon uncleanness will be your ruine your pleasures are empty and of short continuance but your pains will be full hereafter and they will abide for ever Without a pardon unrighteousness will be your ruine your unrighteous gains one day will prove your unspeakable loss and God will be the avenger of all such upon you as have been wronged and defrauded by you Without a pardon your neglect of Christ and Salvation will be your ruine and if you persevere in this neglect it is impossible that you should escape Sinners think seriously and think frequently of your unpardoned iniquities and withal think of the dreadful punishment they will bring upon you think of your eternal damnation unto the most exquisite torments of Hell and then drink on swear on and scoff your fill be unholy and profane unjust and unclean if you think good but know that for all these sins God will bring you to judgment know that these iniquities unpardoned will be your ruine Should I tell you of one that were condemned for some vile fact to be slay'd alive or burnt alive or sawn asunder or dragg'd to pieces with wild horses or starv'd with hunger and cold or any other ways cruelly tortured to death but that he might escape all this misery if he would accept of a pardon ready provided for him and withal leave off such vile facts for the future you would count him worse than mad should he neglect his pardon and expose himself to ruine and misery through his carelesness and obstinacy And yet though you are condemned for sin to far worse torment and misery that which is more dreadful than ten thousand painful deaths and all this mischief and punishment may be avoided and escaped if you will accept of the pardon
which Christ hath provided and in the Gospel is profered unto you and withal break off your sins by repentance yet no words or arguments will perswade you to use the means of prevention but still you live in the neglect of pardon and so great salvation and are secure however great your danger be O the folly and strange madness of unconverted sinners O the unspeakable sottishness and senslesness they are under Although we make it appear to their consciences that their condition is unutterably miserable they are not moved except it be with choler against the Minister that warns them of the sword of God's vengeance which hangeth over them and they champ at the Bridle that would hold them from running to their destruction But O that you would rather turn your anger against your sins and say this iniquity will be my ruine and that sin without pardon will be my damnation Vse 3. Therefore in the next place let me exhort all of you that lye under the guilt of sin that you would labour after this blessedness of forgiveness O that you would pity your own souls think what provision you have made for them think whither they are like to go upon their separation from your bodies and what you will do at the last day when Christ cometh to judg and punish unpardoned sinners think how you will be able to dwell with devouring fire to inhabit everlasting burnings Methinks you should take up such thoughts as these and argue thus with your selves What! Shall I undo my self for a filthy lust Shall I lose my Soul to gain a little uncertain earthly riches Shall I forfeit a Crown of Glory for the empty honour of this world Shall I cast my self into everlasting horrour and pain for a little vain fading carnal delight and pleasure Can I be contented to be tormented for ever in Hell to satisfie the desires of my flesh on earth and that when they will never be satisfied Shall I hugg a viper in my bosom that will kill me Harbour lusts in my heart that will slay me Shall I dishonour God and damn my own soul to gratifie the Devil my enemy and please my flesh which will soon be turned into dirt and rottenness and withal throw away the hopes of a glorious resurrection for my body hereby Away then ye foolish filthy lusts I 'le no more hearken to you or be entangled or enslaved by you Be gone thou deluding tempting Devil I 'le lend my ear no longer to thy lying suggestions nor yield any more to thy beguiling and bewitching temptations farewel thou glozing flattering world with all thy charmes and allurements thy gold is but dross thy wine mixt with water thy honour but wind and vanity thy delights are bitter-sweets such as will end in death and ruine I 'le choose another portion and look after a better blessedness than thou canst give me even the blessedness of forgiveness which will bring me unto eternal blessedness Methinks you should take no sleep nor rest and find no comfort in house or trade or friends or any thing until the anger of God be appeased your sins all pardoned and so your souls set in safety from all that ruine unto which they are exposed by unpardoned iniquity The absolute necessity of forgiveness should quicken you to look after it you have not so much need of food to remove your hunger as you have need of mercy to remove your guilt you have not so much need of clothes to cover your bodies as you have need of righteousness to cover your iniquities Better be starv'd than damn'd better be hang'd than burn'd better be exposed to the misery of the weather and any bodily distemper than to be exposed unto the storms and strokes of God's vengeance and the eternal ruine of body and soul in Hell which there is no possibility of escaping without a pardon And that which may encourage you to seek after forgiveness is the attainableness of it and that by the vilest and most guilty amongst you others have obtained pardoning mercy that have been found as guilty Manasseh was pardoned who was so hainous a transgressor Paul who was so Zealous a Persecutor Mary Magdalen who was possessed with seven Devils the Corinthians some of whom were Idolaters Adulterers effeminate abusers of themselves with mankind Theeves Covetous Extortioners Drunkards Revilers yet they were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus some of them who had imbrued their hands in Christ's Blood had the guilt of their sins washed away by it There is Mercy enough in God to give a pardon for the greatest Transgression there is merit enough in Christ to purchase a pardon and prevalency in his Intercession to procure it whatever your offences have been the invitation unto Christ for Remission and Salvation is General none are excluded but such as exclude themselves the promises are full Crimson sins such as are of the deepest dye God promiseth to make as Wool and the promises are free the acceptation of a pardon by Faith makes it yours without any price or merit on your part We Ministers have a commission to preach Remission of sins in the Name of Christ and to declare to you the glad tidings of Salvation yea we have instructions as Embassadors in the Name of God and Christ to beseech you that you would be reconciled that you would accept of forgiveness 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled unto God Give me leave to press this Argument upon you the great God of Heaven and Earth so glorious in Holiness and Righteousness is so infinitely Merciful and Gracious as to beseech you that you would be reconciled although you are so infinitely inferiour unto him He condescends to intreat you not that you would shew kindness unto him but that you would shew kindness to your selves and accept of the greatest kindness at his hands of Forgiveness and Reconciliation God might command and upon once the least refusal he might execute his vengeance upon you but although some of you have stopped your Ears so long refused his gracious prosfer so often though you have abused his kindness trampled upon his Patience slighted his invitations despised his threatnings disregarded his promises and turning all his rich Grace into wantonness do continue still in your disobedience yet the Lord doth again make suit unto you stretcheth forth his hands unto you however disobedient and gain-saying you have been and by me doth intreat you that you would be reconciled Need we use intreaties with condemned Malefactors to accept of a pardon if we had commission to preach pardoning Mercy unto Devils would they need intreaties to accept would they be fooled out of such a gracious prosfer by any as you hitherto have been by them Sinners I beseech you in the name of the great and glorious Jehovah and the Lord Jesus Christ your
What useful Instruments have holy Kings and Princes been for God upon their Thrones Plenty and fulness are desirable 'T is better to give than to receive Acts 20.35 Innocence and Independence steel the Countenance 'T is comfortable to be the poor man's staff and the rich man's pattern The like I may say of Liberty Gifts Parts c. And when God throws these things upon us to make us useful it would be our misery shame and sin to cast them from us with contempt and as both Life and Comforts stand in relation to Vsefulness and Glory Grace rather heightens than abates esteem and value of them and rather quickens and engages thankfulness and affections for and to them than sets the heart against them thus considered 3. It is the Apostasie of our state and hearts from God that sets our lives and comforts in their capacity of being snares to us Had it not been for sin God and our Lives and Comforts had not been reduced to such an inconsistency as now they are nor had our natural Lives and Comforts been our snares had not their end and ours been changed they had never been so insignificant as to our safety and delight had we not torn them from that their Figure God himself to whom their true subordinate relation gave them their whole worth and value Our snares and surfeits come from our own irregular appetites 1 Tim. 6.9 10. Luke 21.34 Life and its Consolations are God's and good Jam. 1.17 The Lust is ours 1 John 2.16 4. Life and all things must be disregarded as they are separate from God and set against him as they are separated from God so they must be neglected and as they are set against God so they must be opposed Our lives must never be a course of lusts Rom. 13.13 Nor must their Comforts and Continuance be entertained or indulged as God's Opponents or Corrivals nor be preserved possest or prosecuted to the prejudice of better things even holy works and joy while they and better things may keep together the elder must serve the younger Our present Life and Comforts must minister to the great Concernments of another better state and when Religion or our Lives must go we must disclaim the latter to secure the former Nothing must bound or circumvent Religion nor must it be subjected to the trifling ends and dotages of a transient Life Our Lives and Comforts are dispensed to us for usefulness not satisfaction We must secure obedience and submission to God's preceptive and disposing Will and a true constant practical relation and subserviency unto God's Glory and our own eternal Welfare and the full credit of Religion and its advancement in our selves and others And wherein soever the love of Life threatens or makes towards an equality with God and Life-to-come-concernments or makes us change our Lord to serve our Lusts or grow reluctant to that great Seal and Testimony which we owe to the full Interest and Claims of Christianity or makes us more remiss sluggish and fearful in our Christian Course of holy painful and resolved exercises than our Hopes and Circumstances can admit of therein must Life be wholly disregarded Query 3. Whence is it evident that this Design and Prospect will have such powerful influences upon concerned serious Christian as to make this regardlesness of Life and every thing to be a possible attainment 1. From personal Instances All that are gone to Heaven have reach'd this Frame Oh what a Cloud of Witnesses is afforded us Heb. 11.2 39. 10.32 The Apostle here himself stands like a Monument with this Superscription 'T is possible to be a Conqueror of Life and Death 2 Tim. 4.6.8 Acts 21.13 Phil. 1.20 23. Nor doth he want his Seconds as Barnabas Acts 15.26 Epaphroditus Phil. 2.30 Daniel also and the Three Children long before Dan. 3.16 18. 6.13 22. and those in Rev. 12.11 and many others 2. From Scriptural Injunctions and Comminations Luke 14.26 1 Pet. 4.12 16. It is no ways probable that such weighty Accents of Command Concernedness and Importunity and Caution should be laid upon Impossibilities or that God should urge and threaten man and press upon him both with promises and menaces and be at such expence of cost and patience grace and bounty and digest his Name and Treasures into such cogent arguments and make both Heaven and Earth yea Hell and Conscience minister to this Design of ripening and advancing him to such a p tâh of exâltation above all prejudicial love of Life and fear of Death if this were foreign to his own capacity and therefore unattainable for this would be the way even to distract the Hârmony of God's whole Name with such unaccountable and impossible Discords as that account which God hath given us thereof would not admit of nor is it consonant to that Analogy which his Image on the New Creature expresly beareth unto himself 3. From the Advantages which the Design and Prospect of the Text afford us We have something nobler to attempt than to preserve and cherish that Life and Interest which is separate from God and set against him and something better to expect and promise to our selves than such contracted transient Comforts as Death can strip us of namely the finishing of an honourable Course that is set before us and reaching of those matchless Consolations which are tendred to us and affixed to the end and termination of that costly painful Race which we have to run And such things have an exact sufficiency in their kind as Arguments and Motives to our Hopes and Diligence and Resolution to make us more than Conquerors both of and in Life and Death Rev. 2.10 Rom. 8.18 2 Tim. 1.8 12. 2.12 Acts 24.14 16. Rom. 8.32 39. 4. From the Assistance which God is ready to afford us 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Cor. 1.3 5. 12.7 10. John 14.18 Mat. 28.20 Jer. 1.8 Our Winter-work hath sutable furniture and provisions Jam. 1.2 6. We shall have Counsels Comforts Quicknings and sutable Relishes Views and Strength to all our Work and Exercises Query 4 and the Case in hand What must we therefore do to and how must we overcome the inordinate Love of Life and Fear of Death For no man can love or dare to dye that loves this Life inordinately and values it too dear to let it go or that prevailingly doubts or fears or undervalues a better Life hereafter Now in this instance in my Text Bonds and Afflictions seemed to minister to Death and Death is very terrible to Nature as its Dissolution and terrible to interested Souls in the Concernments of this Life as ending all the Pleasures Profits Honors that Sense Fancy can be courted with 't is terrible to those that are not satisfied of another state because it ends what they were sure of the existence of and had the greatest desires of and pleasures in and because it ushers them thither where their doubt will be resolved and that for ought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ for we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall we appear in Glory with him Mortifie therefore your earthly Members Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affections evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry You must not only deny all visible gross ungodliness which even the very Sons of Morality will decline and decay but also all worldly lusts and their secret operations living soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Take heed of slumbring in these secret lusts for ye are children of the light and of the day and therefore take heed that you sleep not as others do but watch and be sober for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that are drunk are drunk in the night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the Breast plate of Faith and Love and for an Helmet the hope of salvation watching and praying always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape those things which shall befall the foolish Virgins and that ye may stand before the Son of man who is coming with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and therefore be sober and watch unto Prayer seeing the end of all things is at hand and look well to your Lamps which are your Watch-lights that they burn brightly in this World's Midnight and pray particularly for daily supplies of Oil and sincerity in all your Actions and Duties both to God and man never omitting to beg for Death-bed-Grace that so you may live and die to the honour of your Bridegroom And as for this present World use it as if you used it not and have no more to do with it than bare need requireth And set your Hearts and Houses and all your civil secular Affairs in order having your conversations in Heaven whence you look for Christ the Saviour And thus walking with God in the exercise of these gifts of Grace when we come to dye we shall change our places only but not our company And let none of you behold Death at a distance nor have it seldom in your thoughts but daily in your eye that you may not fear it when it cometh A Lion is not terrible to his Keeper that seeth him every day You must frequently converse with God Christ Death and Judgment For when Christ speaketh of his coming to Judgment he so expresseth it as if he were to come in their time to whom he spake it Matth. 24 42. Mark 13.33.35 36 37. Luke 21.34 35 36. And so indeed he did for he comes to every man at the hour of his Dissolution And we are his Agents or Factors in a foreign Land and how soon he may remind us home and call us to an Account we know not Say not therefore My Lord delayeth his coming lest we are thereby rocked into a midnight sleep and scared with a midnight-cry of Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him I shall not detain you much longer You have heard what those Graces are which are chiefly to be exercised in order to an actual preparation for the coming of Christ by Death and Judgment I now commend them to your daily exercise and for your encouragement therein shall leave a few Considerations with you and conclude First That the Door of eternal Rest and Glory shall stand open for you at Christ's coming to you by Death Why 1. Because you are ready and they that are ready go in with the Bridegroom God hath made you meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the Saints in light Col. 1.12 and hath wrought you for the self same thing 2 Cor. 5.5 You are a Vessel of Mercy prepared for Glory Rom. 9.23 2. You admitted Christ into the door of your hearts when there he stood and knocked Rev. 3.20 3. You had your conversation in Heaven whilst you lived here on earth It was your Father's house where you used daily to converse the doors whereof shall open to you at your Death Secondly Consider the place into which you shall be admitted for the wise Virgins shall enter into the King's Palace Psal 45.14 15. into Paradise the third Heavens your Father's House a City that hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God Heb. 11.10 A magnificent Structure surely that hath such a Builder and Maker ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã one that hath built the City most artificially and curiously and for publick shew as the original words do import Such a City it is yea a Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Mat. 25 34. The first hansel of God's workmanship Gen. 1.1 This is the place whither you shall enter Thirdly You shall enter thither with the Bridegroom even our Lord Jesus Christ and this is heaven enough viz. to be where Christ is Luke 23.42 43. John 14.3 17.24 Phil. 1.23 1 Thess 4.17 Heaven is described by being with Christ And when Christ shall descend from heaven with a shout to judge the world if all the Saints suppose should not descend with him but any of them be left behind what an alteration would they find in heaven whereas all of them going with Christ it is all one as if they were still in heaven with him You know Paul was caught up into the third heavens and yet when he comes to describe heaven and the Saints everlasting happiness there he calls it being for ever with Christ for this is a comprehensive expression How so 1. If the Saints shall be with Christ then shall they be exempt from all troubles and trials these fall off from them like Elijah's Mantle when he went to heaven There is now a glorious door of partition between these and them they are all excluded viz. Sin Sorrow Afflictions Reproaches Necessities Persecutions Poverty Sickness Pain Death Curse wicked men and Devils you shall never be troubled with these any more 2. If they enter in with Christ they shall enjoy the Father in him John 20.17 and be filled with the Holy Ghost from them both and thereby with unspeakable consolations and the fulness of God and they shall live for ever in the immediate contemplation and vision and fruition of one God in three persons and be replenished to the brim with eternal love from them and to them 3. You shall enjoy the fellowship of an innumerable company of Angels and shall then know who they are and love them entirely and be as intimately beloved of them though now in your present state you cannot bear the presence of one of them 4. You shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and enjoy communion with the Spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 All this followeth from your entrance into Heaven with Christ Fourthly Consider that you shall enter into Heaven with Christ the Bridegroom and therefore to be married to him And hence again it will follow 1. That there will be the nearest relation possible between Christ and you for you shall be one conjugally for ever with him You are one with him mystically and matrimonially who is one with the Father essentially 2. You shall be invested with unutterable Glory seeing it is a Marriage-time wherein the Bridegroom and Bride shall shine in the richest Attire and Embroidery that is in all the Wardrobe of Heaven Christ and the Saints shall wear the very same Glory John 17.22 3. There shall be unconceivable Love Joy Delight and Complacency between the Bridegrom and the Bride and as the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride so shall the Lord Jesus rejoyce over his Spouse O there will be a most glorious delightful loving sweet familiarity and conjugal rejoycing between Christ Jesus and the Saints Marriage-joy upon earth is usually great what then will that be in heaven when shall be fulfilled thââ which Christ spake at his last Supper I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine until the day that I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom Mat. 26.29 Where by fruit of the Vine we understand Wine which maketh glad the heart of man Psal 104 15. and causeth it to rejoyce and shadoweth out the Love of Christ and Joys of Heaven to us Cant. 1.2 4. And by New we understand other Mark 16.17 with Acts 2.4 in the Original So that in this Marriage there shall be new i. e. other yea othergess wine viz. Love Joy and Rejoycing than there is in the Lord's Supper For Christ who kept the best wine to the last at the Marriage in Cana in Galilee will surely do so at his own Marriage at the last day 4. This Marriage is not on Earth but in Heaven and therefore it shall never dissolve as Marriages on Earth do but continue unto Eternity O how will the Holy Angels rejoice and sing at this Marriage For they that sang at the Birth of Christ when he lay in the Manger will sing to the purpose at his Marriage when he sitteth upon his Throne in the highest Glory Now the consideration of these things is greatly inducing to be very studious in actual preparations for the coming of Christ Be ye therefore much in the exercise of Faith Hope Love Repentance Goodness Mercy and works of Bounty Diligence and Faithfulness in your Callings Sobriety Watchfulness and Prayer that so at last you may have an entrance ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And now Brethren Abide in him that when he shall appear you may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming but lift up your heads with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Hear wisdom therefore and receive instruction that you may be wise in the latter end And God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ make you to encrease in all these Preparatory Graces to the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in Holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints And now Grace be with all them that love him in sincerity Amen FINIS
the adjective signifies Esau's insatiable and greedy appetite after Jacob's red potage The like also is implied in his omitting the word potage which notes the hast and greediness of his lust increased by the red colour whence he was called Edom. And what was it that Esau's insatiable lust thus longs for that follows v. 34. potage of Lentiles Which were a kind of pulse much like to Vetches or small Pease very course food such as men in their sorrow and mourning were wont to eat O! what a vile profane wretch was Esau to part with his celestial birth-right and dignity for a mess of such course potage well might Moses conclude thus Esau despised his birth-right An insatiable greedy thirst after any inferior good argues a predominant love to the world 3. Prop. To love the World is to have the heart bound up in and made one with the world All love tends to Union and to have the Heart planted in and incorporated with the World argues a predominant love thereto Thus in our text ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã love not the world i. e. Let not your hearts be implanted glued or nailed to the world let not your thoughts and affections run so deep into the world as to become one with it The more any love the world the more their hearts are united to and incorporated with it The Alligation and adherence of the heart to the Creature is the natural effect of predominant love thereto Love to the world is the nail or glue whereby the heart is fastened to it Thus Hos 4.17 Ephraim is joyned to Idols ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is fastened or glued so as to become one therewith Whereby the prophet teacheth us that Israel's heart was bound fast by indissoluble bonds to his Idols so that it could not be plucked thence 4. Prop. To have the heart under the Dominion of the World argues predominant love thereto Such is the nature of Love that it subjects the Lover to the thing beloved specially if it be loved for it self It s true love to God gives us a Dominion over all things beneath us but love to the world brings the heart into subjection to it O! what an imperious tyrannick Soveraignty has the world over those that love it what slaves are worldlings to the world through love to it whatever the heart inordinately cleaves unto it is under the dominion of so Hos 4.11 whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart There is a great emphase in the Hebrew ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã will take away which notes first a contest or conflict and then the conquest which these sensual objects make over the heart that adheres to them 5. Prop. To spend the best of our time thoughts studies care and endeavours for the procuring or conserving worldly goods denotes predominant love to the world This seems to be the case of some carnal Jews after the return from Babylon Hag. 1.4 Is it time for you O ye to dwell in your sieled houses and this house lye wast In your sieled houses or houses curiously wainscotted and adorned not only for use but luxury and pleasure Whence it is aptly rendred by the LXX ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã As if he had said is this time a time for you O ye sensualists to spend so much time study care cost and other expences in trimming and adorning your stately houses not only for use but delight and luxury whiles the house of the Lord lies wast this piece of Love to the world our Lord cautions professors of these last days against Luke 21.34 And take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to overcharge answers to ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to harden as it appears by the LXX on Exod. 8.15.32 which is also rendred by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Exod. 10.1 so that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here signifies such an overcharging of the heart with complacential thoughts and amusements about worldly things as takes away all sense of Divine concerns thence it follows with surfeiting and drunkenness These two denote all sensual pleasures Then follows and cares of this life hereby is signified all distracting distrustful anxious cares about provision for this life which are elsewhere stiled the cares of this world as Mat. 13.22 this part of predominant Love to the world is termed Rom. 8.5 minding the things of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to mind according to Paul's Phrascologie doth not so much regard the simple act of the mind as the complacential thoughts studious contrivements and sollicitous cares of the heart such as naturally follow a carnal constitution or frame of heart and bespeak the man to be under the Dominion of predominant love to the world For when all a mans thoughts inclinations affections studies and cares pay tribute to the flesh what is he but a slave to the flesh thence it follows ver 6. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the complacential amusement contrivement study and care of the flesh ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here is the same with ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gen. 6.5 the figment or contrivement of the heart These carnal world-minders are well described by Paul Phil. 3.19 who mind earthly things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i. e. They amuse themselves in the the complacential thoughts and study of terrene things they have no gust savour or relish but of such they are under the serpent's curse to lick the dust 6. Prop. Another branch of predominant love to the world is to make the Creature the object or matter not only of our use but also of our supreme fruition complacence and satisfaction So much is implied in our text ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã make not the world the object of your entire contentment acquiescence and satiâfaction draw not your choicest comforts and delights from terrene goods There is some kind of contentment and complacence in worldly goods which may consist with the love of God but when the heart makes any worldly good the entire or main object of its fruition and satisfaction this denotes predominant love to the world For Divine Wisdom hath put this Law or Order into things that all Creatures are to be the object of our Vse but God himself the supreme object of our fruition and satisfaction whence to make any Creature the chief matter of our fruition and satisfaction what is it but to violate and pervert the order of the Creation and set up the Creature in the place of the Creator and doth not this bespeak predominant love to the Creatures This our Lord elegantly describes in that parable of the rich glutton Luke 12.15.19 you have the scope of the parable v. 15. beware of Covetousness ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here as elsewhere signifies an avaricious greedy humor or desire of having abundance not only for use but to pamper lust The
Metaphor being taken from the plethora or excess of any humor in the body And our Lord adds the reason of this caution for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth The sense seems this all these lower things which man 's covetous heart doth so much lust after are not the matter of our fruition and satisfaction but Vse only therefore our life doth not consist in the abundance of them but in an ordinate love to and moderate use of them to use them in that measure and with that mediocrity as becomes them whence they who make them the chief matter of their fruition and satisfaction are possest with a predominant love unto them This is exemplified in the following parable of the rich man specially v. 18. all my fruit and my goods He calls them his goods as they were the main object of his complacence and delight so v. 19. I will say to my soul i. e. I will then recreate and satiate mine heart with mine acquired goods whence it follows take thine ease ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã recreate refresh thine heart acquiesce in them Poor man he had felt sufficient anxiety sollicitude and vexation in the acquirement of his Goods but now he hopes the fruition will crown all with sweet repose rest and satisfaction Thence he adds eat drink and be merry The last term ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be merry seems to refer to all manner of sensual pleasures in which voluptuous luxurious persons take so much complacence and delight this fruition of and complacence in worldly goods our Lord doth express in plain naked terms in the reddition of the Parable v. 21. so is he that layeth up treasure for himself i. e. in worldly goods which he makes the main object of his satisfaction and is not rich towards God i. e. and doth not make God his treasure and chief matter of fruition Complacence and satisfaction And what is this but rank predominant love to the world 7. Prop. To be afflicted and troubled for the loss of any Creature-comfort more than for the loss of God and things spiritual denotes predominant love to the world As our love is such is our sorrow for the loss of what we love Immoderate Affliction for the loss of any worldly thing argues Inordinate Affection to it when enjoyed and if the heart be more afflicted and troubled for the loss of the creature than for the loss of God it is a sure sign that the enjoyment of it did more affect and please the heart than the enjoyment of God This was Israel's case Isa 17.10 11. Where the prophet compares the state of Israel in her Apostasie to a curious Lady that delighteth in beautiful flowers choice fruits and pleasant plants But he concludeth the harvest should be an heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow Now this desperate sorrow or deadly pain as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã importeth for the loss of her pleasant Idols argues predominant love to them This also was the case of the young man Luk. 18.23 And when he heard this i. e. v. 22 that he must part with all his riches for a treasure in heaven he was very sorrowful ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he was sorrowful in a superlative degree for so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã here in Composition signifies which is not as some conceive a preposition but Adverb intending the sense And what filled him with this extreme desperate sorrow Why surely thoughts of parting with his goodly treasure which he valued and loved more than treasures in Heaven They that cannot support themselves under the privation of any temporal good God calls for but choose rather to part with Heaven than with their beloved Idol are under predominant love to the world But here to obviate mistakes we must distinguish 1 between a predominant Principle or Habit and a prevalent Act of love to the world as 2 between a Rational and Passionate love or Sorrow 1. One that loves God may under a fit of Temptation be under a prevalent Act though not under a predominant Principle or Habit of love to the world 2. Hence his passionate love to and sorrow for the loss of some temporal good may be greater under some distemper of heart when his rational love to and sorrow for the loss of God and things spiritual is greater at least in the root and habit if not in the Act. 3. Qu. What it is to love God Sect. 4. What it is to love God This Question receives much Evidence and Light from what precedes touching Love to the world For Contraries illustrate each other and love to God moves in the same manner as love to the world moves So that to love God is to transfer the Actions and Passions of our Love from the world to God as our last end and chiefest Good In short the love of God implies a superlative preference of God above all lower Goods Luke 14.26 A Divine Weight or Bent of heart towards God as our Centre Deut. 6.5 It s proper Acts are chiefly two 1 An amorous vehement direct motion towards God 2 a complacential fruition of and Repose in God as its Best Beloved Psal 116.7 As for the Adjuncts of this Divine Love it must be 1. Sincere and Cordial Eph. 6.24 2. Judicious and Rational Psal 16.7 3. Intimate and Passionate 4. Pure and Virgin Cant. 5.3 5. Regular and Uniform 6. Generous and noble 7. Permanent and Abiding 8. Vigorous and Active 9. Infinite and Boundless Divine Love thus qualified brings the soul into 1 An inviolable Adherence unto and amorous union with God Eph. 5 31 32. 2 It works the heart to an amorous Resignation of all concerns unto God 3 It commands the whole Soul into the Obedience of God John 14.21.23 4 It is exceeding submissive unto God's Providential afflictive will Lev. 10 3. 5 It is extreme vigilant chearful and diligent in the service of God Luk. 7.37 47. O how officious is love to God! 6 It useth all things in subordination to God Mat. 6.33.34 7 It winds up the soul to a Divine life It transforms the lover into the Image and imitation of God whom he loves Eph. 5.1 These particulars I intended to have handled more fully but understanding that this case touching the Love of God is the proper task of another I shall refer thee to the Resolution of that Reverend Divine's Case 4. Qu. Wherein the love of the world is inconsistent with the Love of God Sect. 5. Wherein the love of the world is inconsistent with the love of God Having explicated the sundry Parts of our Case we now come to the Connexion of the whole namely to demonstrate the Inconsistence of Love to the world with the Love of God What love it is that is inconsistent with the Love of God we have already fully opened in the second Question touching predominant love to the world Wherefore the only thing at present incumbent
Obedience he requires of them by the work of the Spirit upon their hearts changing them regenerating them and causing old things to pass away and all things in them to become new 2 Cor. 5.17 and further to increase that fitness for and readiness to Spiritual things by his guiding assisting and quickning them in those holy wayes into which he hath brought them and by those ordinary means the Word and Ordinances which he hath appointed for the working and improving of their Graces 9. With the reward God promiseth to their Faith and Obedience in the blessedness of their Souls at the end of this life and of their whole man after the Resurrection in their being for ever with the Lord 1 Thes 4.17 when the unbelief and disobedience of others will be punished with everlasting torments inflicted by him In a word whoever comes to God Heb. 11.6 must believe not only that he is but that he is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him Men ought in the beginning of Religion to look to the end of it have some sight of the goal when they enter upon their race know their wages when they set about their work The Doctrine of rewards furnisheth men with the greatest incentives to holiness ignorance or unbelief of future recompence must needs make men negligent of present service take away the knowledge of Heaven and Hell and ye take away all âare and thoughts of Religion These things I lay not down as an enumeration oâ Fundamentals or compleat scheme of Religion it is sufficient for ãâ¦ã that they are some of the most necessary and substantial truths wherein the generality of Christians are concerned which they are therefore especially and in the first place to acquaint themselves with and before those things which are less necessary to Salvation as being further from the Foundation And indeed this is the very method of Nature Men usually seek those things first which are most necessary and other things afterward they first lay their Foundation and then set up their Superstructures Principles must be known before Conclusions can be drawn from them Those Doctrines of Religion must be first known from whence others are to be deduced and without the knowledge of which others can be but confusedly and darkly known This seems to have been the Apostle's Method Heb. 6.1 where he speaks of some Truths which they are in paticular I stand not to dispute which were Principles and first learned ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost others as conducing to the perfection of the Saints unto the knowledge of which he would therefore have them go on He that knows not those things which must be known knows nothing yet to any purpose Prop. 3. Men should Labour after such a knowledge of the Truth as that they may be able to give a Reason of the hope that is in them 1 Pet. 3.15 To shew on what Ground they stand what is the Foundation of their Faith and Hope that the Religion they profess is indeed the true Religion and that the Doctrines they own are really Founded upon the Scripture of Truth Dan. 16.2 and in a word they should be able to give a Reason why they believe rather thus than otherwise and hold such Doctrines rather than the contrary They should Labour after such a Grounded knowledge of the Truths of the Gospel as that they may be able to say of them as well as of the Duties of it that they are fully perswaded in their own Minds and do not take up things upon trust Rom. 14.15 or believe the Truth upon the Credit of others It is a shame for Professors to be merely Believers upon Tradition to see with other Mens Eyes or be like the Heathen Idols that have Eyes and see not They are Men and have reasonable Powers and ought to make use of them even in the things of God so far as they are Revealed and Subjected to their Judgment The Spiritual Man Judgeth all things even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10.15 Though they are to submit their understandings to God yet they are not to resign them to Men. They that will judge for themselves in the things of this life should no less do in the things of the other That Man that will not trust another with his Estate or Purse should much less do it with his Conscience and Salvation Prop. 4. Men should especially give themselves to the study and labour after the knowledge of the present truths 2 Pet. 1.12 I mean those truths which are the special truths of the Times and Ages and Places in which Men live We shall find if we observe it that God who delivers hls Mind and Will to Men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by several parts and degrees doth in some Ages make more clear discoveries of some truths in others of other truths and though the whole will of God and all those truths which we are any way concerned to know in order to our Salvation be sufficiently laid down in the Scripture yet there is sometimes more knowledge of one truth stirring in the World sometimes of some other Sometimes God calls his Servants more especially to Preach up and bear Witness to such or such a particular Truth which either was less known and understood before or is more opposed at present Immediately after Christ's resurrection the great truth of that time the then present truth was that Jesus was the Christ that very Messiah whom God had promised to the Fathers and the Jews themselves did expect This the Apostles did first of all Preach confirming it especially by his Resurrection from the dead Thus Act. 2.36 God hath made the same Jesus both Lord and Christ Act. 5.31 Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour So Philip to the Eunuch Act. 8.35 And Paul so soon as he was converted and sent to Preach presently declares that Jesus was the Christ Acts 9.22 And Peter to Cornelius Acts 10.42.43 And Apollos in Achaia ch 18.28 And afterwards we find that the Jews and Judaizing Christians pertinaciously adhering to the Law of Moses gave occasion to the more full Preaching of the Doctrine of free Grace and Justification by Christ alone and the abolishing of the legal Ceremonies as we may see in the Epistle to the Romans Galatians Colossians and Hebrews And after towards the end of the Apostles times the Heresie of Cerinthus gave occasion to the more full vindicating the Doctrines of Christ's Godhead Hieronym in Catal. Script Ecclesiast as we see in the Gospel of John And some hundreds of years after that the Pelagian Heresie gave occasion for the renewed publication of the Doctrine of free Grace by Austin Prosper and others And in the beginning of the reformation of Religion in the last age the first truths God called those Worthies that then lived to the Preaching of were those especially which concern the Lord Jesus Christ in his Prophetical and Priestly offices
such as the Authority Perfection c. of the Scripture and the Sufficiency of Christ's satisfaction and intercession And to come nearer to our selves one great truth which hath been more clearly known and published in our age is the Doctrine of Chist's Kingly office and legislative power in relation to his Church in opposition to the usurpations and impositions of Men. Now then we say that Men are called at such times especially to study such truths because God doth then give them the best means and advantages for the knowing of them or they may then do him best service in maintaining them and bearing testimony to them vvhen the Devil and his instruments do most oppose them It is a shame for Professors not to see when the World is so full of light not to have the knowledge of those truths in the minds the talk of which is in every Man's mouth Prop. 5. Men should labour for such knowledge as may defend them from the errors of the times and places in which they live This I add to second the former Proposition from whence it follows Thus Paul labours to establish the Saints to whom he writes chiefly the Churches before mentioned against the then prevailing errors of those whether Jews or false Brethren among themselves vvho endeavoured to bring in the Ceremonial Law upon the Professors of the Gospel and therefore bids the Galatians ch 5.1 stand fast in their liberty c. Doctrinal error tends to the corruption of worship And the Apostle John in his Epistles gives caution against those seducing Spirits and Antichrists that vvere even then among the Churches 1 John 4. beginning We find by experience that as there be some Doctrines more especially known and published in their respective times and ages so likewise several ages and many times places have their peculiar errors either new ones first forged or old ones new burnished The Devil makes it his business and even sets his wits upon the tenters to furnish the World with variety of lies suitable to the various humours and Interests of Men and when one error is detected begins to smell rank and go out of date through the power and prevalency of the truth he carefully provides another to succeed it and if a new one be not at hand as if his invention failed him he many times conjures up some old dead one and makes it vvalk about in a new dress and pass for some new or newly revived truth vvhen indeed it is but the Apparition of a long since buried error As Merchants are vvont to observe what commodities please most in such and such places and at such and such times and accordingly take care to supply the markets So the Devil looks what wares vvill vend best in such a Country at such a season vvhat vvill be most grateful to the lusts and interests of Men and then will be sure to supply them with those most which he sees take most Diseases have their times and seasons and are then most dangerous vvhen they prevail most and spread farthest Errors have their times and seasons too Rev. 3.10 there is an hour of these as well as other temptations when they are most infectious and dangerous and therefore as vvhen diseases are epedemical every one almost will be taking Antidotes So vvhen Errors are Epidemical it is the vvisdom of every Christian to fence himself against them And though vve do not say that every private Believer is bound to be a School-divine to be exact in all the niceties and Controversies which may arise about matters of Religion a Man may be saved that never read Aquinas nor Scotus yet sure every one that is capable of it should labour so to understand the Doctrine of Religion as to be able to know what is Truth and what is Error and to be so established in the belief of the truth as that though he cannot answer all the Quirks and Captions of a wrangling Sophister yet he may see a reason as before for vvhat he believes and for his firmly adhering to it As if a subtle disputer should bring an Argument to prove that the Sun is not up at noon day though a Man were not able presently to discover the fallacy yet he would not lightly believe a thing so contrary to his very sense It is good I am sure for Christians to be so established against reigning errors as that though an Angel from Heaven should labour to propagate them yet to be pertinacious and graciously obstinate in rejecting them Prop. 6. Men should seek especially for such knowledge and study such truths as have the greatest influence upon practice and so may make them most useful in their places and may further them most in the universal exercise of powerful Godliness Indeed the whole Doctrine of the Gospel is called the truth which is according to Godliness 1 Tim. 6.3 There is no one truth revealed by God to us but may have it's use in our conversations and influence on our practice ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thââd But yet some truths more directly and immediately than others and such as those we should especially study We should labour to know not only what we must believe but what we must do not only what thoughts we are to have of God but what affections towards him that so not only our minds may be established but our conversations rightly ordered We must not rest in the bare knowledge even of the greatest truths nor labour to know merely that we may know or that we may talk but that we may act suitably to our knowledge Discamus non opinioni sed vitae We should learn not merely that we may be able to maintain an Opinion but that we may know how to guide our Lives and Govern our Actions The knowledge of the most excellent Truths may be unprofitable to us if we know not our duty too It is best for us to know those things which may make us best Such as may further our Graces rather than heighten our Reputation make us rather useful than Famous and serviceable to God rather than admired by Men. It is a vain thing to know what to hold and not know what to do to understand Controversie and be Ignorant of Duties Ne quaere saith one in scientiâ oblectamentum animae sed remedium We should not Labour to know these things merely which may delight our Minds but such as may heal our Souls to know our distemper and our Medicines our Wandrings and our Way our Defects and our Duties And not only those things neither which concern us as Christians in the General but in such Ranks Orders and Relations as God hath set us in and so that which is every Man 's special duty should be every Man 's special study As Ministers should know how to behave themselves in the House of God 1 Tim. 3.15 So should Magistrates how they are to behave themselves in the Commonwealth Masters in their