World that Christ the Messias is come in the Flesh c. Or to Things present as That Almighty God knows all I do and knows all I think or That he is a reconciled Father unto me in Christ Jesus Or Things to come which principally excite those Two great movers of the Soul Hope and Fear in relation to the future Life of Rewards and Punishments Hale Faith worketh by Love consumeth our Corruptions and Sanctifieth the whole Man throughout I come to God by Jesus Christ and as I believe in God so I believe also in Jesus Christ and rejoyce and glory in Him acknowledging my own unworthiness and sinfulness I rest entirely on Him as the ground of my Justification to Life and of all favour and acceptance with God. I most heartily take Christ according to the offers of the Gospel not only to be Justified from my Sins and delivered from the Wrath to come by his Merits but also to be Sanctified by his Word and Spirit and to be Governed by his Law and to be brought by him unto Fellowship with GOD. Corbet 's Self-Imployment Tho' there be not a co-operation of Faith and other Graces to Justifie yet there is a co-existence of Faith and other Graces in the Persons Justified Faith cannot be the Hand to take Christ but Love will be the Warmth to heat our Affections to Christ they always go together like Mother and Daughter Gal. 5.6 Phil. 5. Faith is required as an Hand which we should put forth to receive Pardon for our Sins First At God's Hands as a Free-Gift for he blotteth out our Transgressions for his own sake Isa 43.25 Secondly At Christ's Hands as a purchased Commodity bought for us with his own precious Blood and given to you There is First an Heart mollifying Faith. Secondly An Heart purifying Faith. Thirdly A fruitful Faith. Fourthly An Heart Praying Faith. Fifthly A Victorious Faith. Tho' we are Justified by Faith yet it is by Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 And he that Loves God keeps his Commandments John 14. Bishop of Hereford 's Legacy 66 67. As to Faith Justifying and the Merit of Good-Works Bishop Cranmer concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merit of Christ Jesus and that those that are Justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification When ever we read of our Justification by Faith it is meant of our Justification in a Gospel way and that is by Christ alone Meritoriously and by what he hath done and Suffered Faith being but the conditional means Christ's Satisfaction contrived provided accepted and the Conditions performed then every Saved Person will appear Righteous before God and it will be very apparently a Righteous thing with God to bring such to Glory who have Christ's Righteousness by way of Satisfaction to answer for them in respect of the Law and their own Faith and sincere tho' imperpect Obedience to answer the terms of the Gospel Faith to Live by it IT is an Heavenly and Dutiful committing our whole Persons and of our whole Estates upon God with a Pious dependance on Christ for suitable and seasonable Supplies in all our Exigencies Occurrences and Changes whatsoever When the Soul is in any Exigence and comes to Christ and puts it self upon him and trusts to him for help This is to Live by Faith and this Faith extends it self both to our Spiritual and Temporal Estate The Just shall Live by his Faith Gal. 3.11 speaking of the Temporal State And Live by Faith of the Son of God says St. Paul Gal. 2.2 speaking of the Spiritual State. By reason of the Dignity of Christ's Person his Obedience and Sufferings being performed in our Nature and wholly upon our account God by an Infinite Gracious Statute in Heaven accepts them for us tho' not as done by us and reckons all the Effects and Advantages of them by way of Imputation to us Justification Evangelical We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith. Tertullian Chrysostom saith As a Rock tho' the Winds blow and the Waves beat against it is Immovable so Faith grounded on the Rock Christ holds out in all Temptations and Spiritual Combats Chrysologus saith Neither in the Steel alone nor in the Flint alone any Fire can be seen nor Extracted but by Conjunction and Collision so nor by Faith alone nor by Works alone is Salvation to be attained but by joyning both together Alexander of Hales saith What the Eye is to the Body Faith is to the Soul it 's good for direction if it be kept well And as Flies hurt the Eyes so little Sins and Ill-Thoughts do the Soul. Says Luther to Melancthon Who feared to Profess the Truth If the Cause be bad le ts revoke it and fly back but if it be good why do we make God a Lyar who hath made us such great Promises viz. Cast thy Care on the Lord and be of good Comfort I have Overcome the World. If Christ be the Conqueror of the World why should we fear it as tho' it would Overcome us therefore be not afraid but Couragious and Chearful solicitous for nothing the Lord is at hand to help us Calvin saith With all my Heart I embrace the Mercy which God hath used towards me for Jesus Christ 's sake recompencing my Faults with the Merits of his Death and Passion that Satisfaction may be made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I have not lived so that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to Die because I have a Merciful Lord in that a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy Will I say and not my own which is imperfect and depraved This Day let me see the Lord Jesus c. Jewel Fall of Man. Anselm saith O hard hap What did Man lose What did he find He lost the Blessedness to which he was made and found Death to which he was not made Fortune SIR William Saint James was wont to say That none Fought well but those that did it for a Fortune Fortune saith Sir Ralph Winwood may begin a Man's Greatness but Vertue must continue it Friendship Friendship saith my Lord Bacon easeth the Heart and cheareth the Vnderstanding making clear Day in both partly by giving the purest Council or partly from our Interest and Prepossessions and partly by allowing opportunity to Discourse and by that Discourse to clear the Mind to recollect the Thoughts to see how they look in Words whereby Men attain to the highest Wisdom which Dionisius Aeriopagitus saith is the Daughter of Reflection Forgiveness IF a Man saith Sir David Brooke wrongeth me once God forgive him If he wrong me the second time God forgive me O God Forgive me my Ten Thousand Talents I come to Jesus Christ who
thy Face Aquinas Set Death into your Minds and it will put Life into your Actions St. Austin saith There 's nothing more abateth Sin than the frequent Meditation of Death He cannot Die Ill that Lived Well and seldom doth he Die Well that Lived Ill. Ambrose saith Death is the Burial of all Vices To be willing to Die consider the harmlesness of Death to the People of God tho' it keeps its Dart yet it hath lost its Sting Thy Heart may be kept from shrinking back in time of Sickness by considering the necessity of Death in order to the Fruition of God 2 Cor. 5.6 Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. Another Argument to this unwillingness to Die is The immediate Succession of a more excellent and a more glorious Life it is but Wink and you shall see God Rom. 8.10 11. At Death you will be freed from Trouble here and have Communion with God and Communion of Saints Flavel Cardinal Richleu being Tempted to doubt and disbelieve a God another World and the Immortality of the Soul and by that Distrust to relieve his aking Heart but in vain So strong he said was the Notion of God on his Soul so clear the Impression of him upon the frame of the World so unanimous the Consent of Mankind so powerful the Conviction of his own Conscience that he could not but taste of the Powers of the World to come and so Live as one that must Die and so Die as one that must Live Eternally And being asked one day Why he was so sad he answered Monsieur Monsieur the Soul is a serious thing It must be either Sad here for a moment or Sad hereafter for ever Cardinal Mazarine when he came to Die said O my poor Soul Whither wilt thou go saying one Day to the Queen Mother Madam your Favors have undone me and were I to Live again I would rather be a Capuchine than a Courtier Sir Francis Walsingham towards the latter end of his Life grew very Melancholy and Writ to the Lord Burleigh to this purpose We have lived long enough to our Country to our Fortunes and to our Soveraign It is high time to live to our Selves and to our God. In the multitude of Affairs that pass through our Hands there must be some Miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot make our Peace Whereupon some Court Humorist being sent to Divert Sir Francis Ah! said he whil'st we Laugh all things are serious round about us God is serious when he Preserveth us and hath Patience towards us Christ is serious when he Dieth for us the Holy Ghost is serious when he striveth with us the Holy Scripture is serious when it is Read to us the Sacraments are serious when they are Administred unto us the whole Creation is serious in serving God and us they are serious in Heaven and Hell and shall a Man that hath one Foot in the Grave Jest and Laugh Dr. Dunn a Man of as great Parts and Spirit as any in this Nation being on his Death-Bed taking his solemn leave of all his most considerable Friends left this with them I Repent of all my Life but that part of it I spent in Communion with God and doing Good. That Person in a Dying hour shall wish himself not a Man that hath not been a good Christian When Queen Mary Died Mr. Fox that Writ the Book of Martyrs was Preaching Comfort to the English Exiles in Geneva at which time he did tell them That now was the time come for their return into England and that he brought them that News from God for which Words many of the Grave Divines Rebuked him greatly for the present but afterwards excused him by the Event for it appeared that Queen Mary Died but the Day before he so spake to them Judge Nichols used to say That he knew not what they called Puritan Preaching but he said that Preaching which went next his Heart and spake as Attorney General Noy used to say of Doctor Preston as if they knew the Mind of God. Mr. Selden that Universal Scholar being suspected by many to have too little Affection to Religion a little before he Died sent for the Bishop of Armagh and Dr. Langbane and told them to this effect That he had Surveyed most part of the Learning that was amongst the Sons of Men And that he had his Study full of Books and Papers of most Subjects in the World yet at that time could he not recollect any Passage out of those many Books and Manuscripts he was Master of whereon he could rest his Soul save of the Holy Scriptures wherein the most remarkable Passage that lay upon his Spirit was Titus the 2. ver 11 12 13 14 15. Grotius one of the greatest of Scholars concluded his Life with this Protestation That he would give all his Honor and Learning for the plain Integrity and harmless Innocency of Jean Urick who was a Devout Poor Man who spent Eight hours of his Time in Prayer Eight in Labor and but Eight in Sleep and other Necessaries And with this Complaint to another who admired his Astonishing Learning and Industry Ah Vitam perdedi opero se nihil Agendo And this Direction to a Third that desired in his great Learning and Wisdom in brief to shew him what to do who bade him Be Serious Count Gundomer was as great a Wit and Statesman as ever Europe knew and took as much Liberty in point of Religion till drawing towards his latter end he would say as they say of Ansalem I fear nothing more in the World than Sin often professing That if he saw Corporally the Horror of Sin on the one hand and the Pains of Hell on the other and must necessarily be plunged into the One he would choose Hell rather than Sin yea that what liberty soever he had taken he had rather be torn in pieces with Wild Horses than wittingly or willingly run into any Sin. Above all says Sir Philip Sidney at the time of his Death govern your Will and Affections by the Word and Will of your Creator and in me behold the end of this World. Damnation PEter Lumbard says GOD Condemns none before he Sins nor Crowns any before he Overcomes Disrespect IF any despise thee do not bear a grudge against him for it And be not offended with any meerly because they do not Honor thee If any neglect or slight thee care not for it yet observe it Distrust IT is Distrust of God to be troubled about that which is to come Impatience against God to be troubled for what is present and Anger at him to be troubled at what is past Vid. Afflictions and Sufferings Doubting ONe cause of uncomfortable Living is That Christians look more at their present Cause of Comfort or Discomfort than they do at their future Happiness and the way to attain it Another cause of Doubting is The weakness and small measure of your Graces
we say less than the least of God's Mercies Prayer THat Prayer that is pure and holy entereth into the Heavens and returneth not empty It is a shelter to the Soul a Sacrifice to God and a Scourge to the Devil Austin's Prayer was Lord first give me what thou requirest and then require what thou wilt And he that Prayeth well cannot choose but Live well Mr. Perkins upon his Death-Bed said to his Friends praying for the ease of his Pain Pray not for the ease of Torments but for the encrease of my Patience He that Prays for the good Things that he hath not doth not seek for that which is good but that which seems to be good Oh! what do I inwardly suffer when in my Mind I consider Heavenly Things and presently in my Prayers a multitude of Carnal Imaginations present themselves before me My God be not far from me depart not in thy Wrath from thy Servant cast forth thy Light and scatter them send forth thy Darts and break all the Imaginations which the Enemy casts in Gather in call home my Senses unto thee make me forget all the things of this World grant me to cast away speedily the imaginations of Wickedness Succour thou me thou everlasting Truth that no Vanity may move me come Heavenly Sweetness and let Impurity fly from before thee Pardon me also and mercifully forgive me as often as I think of any thing else besides thee in Prayer I do humbly confess I am wont to be subject to many Distractions for I confess I am not there where I do corporally stand or sit but there am I whither my Thoughts do carry me where my Thoughts are there am I. There are oftentimes my Thoughts where my Affections are that offer themselves quickly unto me which is naturally delightful and by custom pleasing Tho. de Kempis 268. If thou be in God Christ is thy Father and therefore in Prayer thy Applications are to thy Father Mat. 7.7 If we being evil know how to give good things whatsoever thou canst expect from thy Earthly Father so much and much more may'st thou expect from thy Heavenly Father patience to bear with thy Infirmities and Failings Psal 78.18 compassion to pity thy Sufferings Psal 103. Goodness to supply thy Wants Justice to revenge thy Injuries Psal 105.14 Those Prayers that are from the workings and sighings of God's Spirit in us from sincere Hearts lifted up to God through the sense of our own Emptiness and from God's infinite Fulness that are suited to God's Will and the great Rule of Prayer that are for Spiritual things more than Temporal that are accompanied with Faith and dependance these Prayers speak a Man altogether a Christian Mead. A Prayer for Purging the Heart and for obtaining Heavenly Wisdom STrengthen me O God by the Grace of thy holy Spirit give me to be strengthened in the inward Man and to empty my self of all unprofitable Care and Anguish not to be drawn away by sundry desires either mean or precious but looking upon all things as passing away together with them for nothing is permanent under the Sun where all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit Oh how wise is he that considereth of them Tho. de Kempis 112. A Powerful Letter IN a Letter to King Henry the VIII it is concluded thus Wherefore Gracious King have pity on your Soul and consider that the Day is even at hand when you shall give an Account of your Office and the Blood that hath been shed with your Sword. In which day that you Grace may stand stedfast and may have your Quietus est sealed with the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ which will only serve at that day is my daily Prayer c. Our Persecutors FRet Fume and Gnash the Teeth to hear that we under these grievous Afflictions can be so Merry let us Pray instantly that this Joy may never be taken from us for it passeth the Delights of this World This is the Peace which passeth all Vnderstanding This Peace the more it is chosen and possessed with the more they feel it and therefore cannot faint neither by Fire nor Water Prosperity HEre lies the danger of a pleasing Condition in regard of Pleasures Credit Delights Riches Friends Habitation Health or any inferiour thing the more of Good that seemeth to be in them as distinct from God the more Dangerous for they are more like to stand up in Competition with him and carry it with our partial and blinded Souls in the Competition Remember this if you love your selves when you would have all things about you more Pleasant and Lovely here lies the danger of a prosperous Condition and State. On the contrary here lies the blessed benefit of Adversity which if Men were not Brutish and Unbelieving they would heartily welcome it as the surest Condition Mr. Baxters Rest 3d Part 216. Papist MY Lord of Worcester being a Papist had this Maxim That he would not be Disordered within himself only because things were out of Order without him Queen Elizabeth was wont to say That my Lord of Worcester had Reconciled what she thought Inconsistent A stiff Papist to be a good Subject Punishment WHensoever God Punisheth he doth it for just Cause and the Godly never accuse him of Rigour as the Wicked do but acknowledge that in themselves is just cause why they should thus intreat them Dan. 9.7 Why should a Living Man complain for the Punishment of his Sins Hale 130. Reason IT 's Human to use Reason rather than Force and a Christian to seek Peace and ensue it Reformation IT would be an easie matter says Malvezzi for Favourites to Reform Kings Palaces if it were not an hard thing to Reform their own Houses Regiment of Health TO be chearfully disposed at Hours of Meat Sleep and Exercise is one of the best Exercises of long lasting As for the passions and studdies of the Mind avoid Envies Anxious Fears Anger fretting Inward subtile and knotty Inquisitions Joys and Exhilerations in Excess Sadness not Communicated entertain Hopes and Mirth rather than Joy variety of Delights rather than Surfeit on them Lord Bacon 's Essays 188. Rejoycing at Death MR. Edward Deering said As for my Death I bless God I feel and find so much inward Joy and Comfort in my Soul that if I were to make my Choice whether to Live or Die I would a Thousand times rather choose Death than Life if it may stand with the good Will of God And shortly after he Died in the Year of our Lord Christ 1576. Religion REligion and the Practice of its Vertues is the Natural state of the Soul the condition to which God designed it As God made Man a reasonable Creature so all the Acts of Religion are equal and suitable to our Natures and our Souls are then in Health when we are what the Laws of Religion require to be and to do what they Command us to do Dr. Tillotson The great Principals of Religion
taking off from the hardness of the Law given to Adam which was Never to commit the least Sin upon pain of Damnation and requiring of us only an honest and hearty Endeavor to do what we are able and where we fail accepting of sincere Repentance Secondly By sending his Holy Spirit into our Hearts to Rule and Govern us to give us strength to overcome Temptations to Sin and to do all that He requires of us And in this He is our King to Govern Rule and Subdue our Enemies Our Duty in this particular is To give up our selves Obedient Subjects of His to be Governed and Ruled by Him to Obey all his Laws not to take part with any Rebel that is not to cherrish any One Sin but diligently to Pray for his Grace to enable us to Subdue them all and then carefully to make use of it to that purpose Lastly He hath purchased for all that faithfully Obey Him and Eternal and Glorious Inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven whither He is gone before to take Possession for us Our Duty herein is First To be exceeding careful that we forfeit not our Parts which we shall certainly do if we continue Impenitent in any Sin. Secondly Not to fasten our Affections on this World but to raise them according to the Precept of the Apostle Col. 3.2 Set your Affections on things above and not on things below longing to come to the Possession of that Inheritance of ours in comparison of which all things here below should seem Vile and Mean. Whole Duty of Man. Christ indeed hath freed us from the Impossibilities of the Covenant of Works and from the Burthen and Yoke of the Legal Ceremonies but not from the Difficulties and Pains of Gospel Duties Baxter's Rest Comforts FEtch thy Comforts from Heaven and not from Pleasures or Hopes here below De Kempis What profit can it be for thee to bewail that Sin which thou wilt not forsake What Reward canst thou expect for that Obedience which so soon fainteth What Comfort in that Joy that is but Temporary How truly sweet says St. Austin is the loss of those Earthly Sweetnesses those Transitory Joys which I was formerly afraid to lose and rejoyce now to Banish It is Thou O Lord who arâ— entred in who art sweeter than aâ—â— Sweetness c. As thou hast raised me by thy Power so Rule me by thy Providence that thy Grace may be far sweeteâ— with my Sufferings than my Pleasures with my Sins Mr. Corbet When I walk in Darkness and see no Light in outward Comforts Human Helps and visible Means I will Trust in the Name of the Lord and stay my self upon my GOD. Ibid. Contentation BE not troubled if this Man lives in Tranquility and thou in Tribulation God will have it so He puts thee in the Combat thou therefore must Sweat before thou comest off with Victory whereas he that comes forward in the World goes back in Grace His Estate is miserable that goes Laughing to Destruction As the Fool in the Stocks for Correction Theophilact He that sets his entirest Love on God yet hath Liberty to Issue a Subordinate Portion of Love to other good things as Health Peace opportunity to do Good Wife Children Friends and in these he may be crossed and disappointed but the predominant Love of God delivers the Soul from Discontent and Impatience even under these Losses because the Soul is still assured of what it most values the Love of God returned to the Soul which compensates and drowns those other Losses and the Discontent that may arise upon it Trouble makes every sad Accident a double Evil Contentedness none at all When we lose our Estates let 's not lose our Constancy and Chearfulness If thou hast lost thy Health do not lose thy Patience also If thou Die a little sooner than thou expected'st do not Die unwillingly If thou have no Friend be not also thy own Enemy If others Vex thee do not withal Vex thy self If thou be Ill to Day be not solicitous for to Morrow sufficient to the Day is the Evil thereof Despair FRancis Spira about the Year 1548. saith this of himself I was excessively Covetous of Money and accordingly I applyed my self to get it by Injustice Corrupt Judgment Deceit Inventing Tricks to delude Justice Good Causes I either defended Deceitfully or Sold them the Adversaries perfidiously Ill Causes I maintained with all my Might I willingly opposed the known Truth and Trust committed to me either Betrayed or Perverted And for the Inordinate Love of the things of this World I wholly Wounded my Conscience by an Infamous Abjuration of the Blessed Truth which I formerly Professed upon the serious Consideration of what I had done in cold Blood acknowledging my self utterly undone for ever This poor Man became a Spectacle of such Spiritual Misery and Woe to the whole World that there is not any thing left to the Memory of Man more Remarkable his Spirit was suddenly smitten with the dreadful Sence of Divine Wrath for his Apostacy and splitting in pieces as it were by so grievous a bruise his Heart fainted fearfully and failed him quite and fell asunder in his Breast like drops of Water Hear some ruful Expressions out of his Desperate State from his own Mouth O that I were gone from hence that somebody would let out this weary Soul of mine I tell you there was never such a Monster as I am never was there a Man alive such a Spectacle of exceeding Misery I now feel God 's heavy Wrath that burneth like the Torments of Hell within me and afflicts my Soul with Pains unutterable Verily Desperation is Hell it self the gnawing Worm of unquenchable Fire Horror Confusion and which is worst of all Desparation continually Tormenting me And now I count my present State worse than if my Soul were separated from my Body with Judas The Truth of it is never had Mortal Man such experience of God 's Wrath and Hatred against him as I have The Damned in Hell I think endure not the like Misery If I could conceive the least spark of Hope in my Heart of a better State hereafter I would not refuse to endure the most heavy Wrath of the great God yea for Two Thousand Years so that at length I could get out of Misery O that God would loose his Hand from me and that it were with me as in times past I would scorn the Threats of most Wicked Tyrants bear Torments with Invincible Resolution and Glory in the outward Profession of Christ till I were choaked with the Flame and my Body turned into Ashes Discression IT 's more Discression to hold the Stile of Miserable which begets an Infamy without Hatred than to desire that of Liberal which being maintained by necessitous Courses procures an Infamy with Hatred Machiavil Death THe Young-Man hath Death at his Back the Old-Man before his Eyes That 's the more dangerous Enemy that Pursues thee than that which Marches before
hath made satisfaction and lay this heavy Reckoning to his Account Lord forgive me mine Iniquity for it is very great Vid. Pag. 70. Frugality Frugality is the Left-Hand of Fortune and Diligence the Right Fasting FAsting and other Holy Revenges upon our selves for our Sins are very acceptable to God yet we must not think that either those or any thing else we can do can make satisfaction for our Offences for that nothing else but the Blood of Christ can do And therefore upon that and not upon any of our Performances we must depend for Pardon yet since that Blood shall never be applied to any but Penitent Sinners we are as much concern'd to bring forth all the fruits of Repentance as if our Hope 's depended on them wholly Duty of Man 126. Fear THe Man that Fears GOD is the Wisest Man and he that upon that account departs from Evil is the Man of greatest Understanding Hales's Contemplations 15. When Trembling is the Fruit of a Spirit broken for Sin and the Law in its own Eyes there God will look Mead. 72. How great a Madness is it to Fear Man will soon appear if we do but compare what Man can do unto us and what God can do And First It is sure it is not in the Power of Man I may say Devils too to do us any hurt without God permit and suffer them to do it So that if we do but keep him to be our Friend we may say with the Psalmist The Lord is on my side I need not fear what Man can do unto me for let their Malice be never so great he can restrain and keep them from hurting us Nay He can change their Minds towards us according to that of the Wise-Man Prov. 16.7 When a Man's Ways please the Lord he can make his very Enemies to be at Peace with him A notable Example of this we have of Jacob Gen. 32. Who when his Brother Esau was coming against him as an Enemy God wonderfully turned his Heart so that he met him with all the loving Expressions of Brotherly kindness as you may read in the next Chapter But Secondly Suppose Men were left at liberty to do thee what Mischief they could alas their Power goeth but a little way they may perhaps rob thee of thy Goods it may be they may take away thy Liberty or thy Credit or perchance thy Life too but that thou knowest is the utmost they can do But now God can do all this when he pleases and that which is infinitely more his Vengeance reaches even beyond Death it self to the Eternal Misery both of Body and Soul in Hell in comparison of which Death is so inconsiderable that we are not to look upon it with any dread Fear not them that Kill the Body and after have no more that they can do saith Christ Luk. 12.4 and then immediately adds But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear him which after he hath Killed hath Power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him In which words the Comparison is set between the greatest Ill we can suffer from Man the loss of Life and those sadder Evils God can inflict on us And the latter are found to be the only dreadful things and therefore God only to be Feared Duty of Man. 20. Let your Fear of Men stir up an Holy Fear of GOD. Grace and Merits CArdinal Pool was wont to say tho' a Papist We cannot give too much to God 's Grace nor too little to our own Merits He said when he returned into England I came hither not to Condemn but to Reconcile not to Compel but to Desire God's People THey are a small part of lost Mankind whom God hath from Eternity Predestinated to the Glory of Heaven for the Glory of his Mercy and given to his Son to be by him in a Spiritual manner Redeemed from their lost Estate and advanced to this higher Glory all which Christ doth in due time accomplish accordingly for them and by his Spirit upon them But this is but a piece of their Description concerning God's Work for them and upon them Le ts see also what they are to do in regard of the working of their own Souls towards God and their Redeemer again viz. These People of God are that part of the Externally called who having been by the Spirit of Christ throughly tho imperfectly Regenerated and hereby Convinced and sensible of the Evil in Sin that Misery in themselves that Vanity in the Creature that Necessity Sufficiency and Excellency of Jesus Christ that they abhor that Evil bewail that Misery and turn their hearts from that Vanity and most affectionately accepting of Christ for their Saviour and Lord to bring them to God their chief Good and present them perfectly just before him Do accordingly enter into a Cordial Covenant with him and herein persevere to their lives end Baxter A Godly Man is one of those whose Conversation is in Heaven his Hopes and Heart are likewise there for his Riches his House and his Relations are in Heaven a Godly Man 's All is there ask him what he hath on Earth and he will tell you nothing or less than nothing Ask him then wherein are his Blessings he will tell you where his Father is there are my desired Blessings there are my hopes there is my All there I wish that I my self were with them Wadsworth on Phil. 12. I would not only have God hereafter but in this World for my chief good for as far as I am able to discerne my heart and ways I have chosen the Lord for my Portion I take my rest in him and not in the Creature to Love Fear Admire and Bless him and to have my Communion with him is my Joy an Eternal Vision and Fruition of God is my great hope he is even now better than the whole World. Mr. Corbet's Enquiry pag. 6. Lactantius says Godliness Enriches the owner Grace GRace flowing from the Spirit of God makes the Soul like a Fountain whose Waters are pure and wholesome for Grace Beautifyeth Cleanseth and Saveth the whole Man. Ignatius When a Man desires Grace from a right sence of his natural State when he sees the vileness of Sin and the woful defiled and loathsome condition he is in by reason of Sin and therefore desires the Grace of Christ with uncessant earnestness to renue and change him this is Grace Mead 68. Grace is a comprehensive Word and includes in it not only favour and acceptance with God but also those other accessaries of the Gifts of Bounty and Goodness which comes from the great Giver of every good and perfect Gift as Wisdom Righteousness Purity of Heart and the like Hales Grace is precious it suffereth not it self to be mingled with External things nor with Earthly Comforts thou oughtest therefore to cast away all hindrances of Grace if thou desire the Infusion thereof De Kempis The least Grace gives a full Interest
Faculty The Will against the Will Affection against Affection And this is that the Apostle calls The lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit That is the striving of one Unregenerate part against the Regenerate part and this ever in the same Faculty But striving against Sin may be in several Faculties as between the Will and Conscience as for fear of Hell which Wicked Men may have Acts 7.15 It is impossible for a Man to forsake Sin except he forsakes all that he knows to be Sin To hate Sin as it is an offence to God and wrong to his Majesty to hate Sin as it is a breach of his Commandments a wicked controuling of God's Will which is the only Rule of Goodness To hate Sin as being a disingenuous Transgression of that Law of Love established in the Blood and Death of Christ and so in a degree a Crucifying of Christ afresh to hate Sin as being a grieving and quenching of the Spirit of God as all Sin in its nature is Thus to hate Sin is Grace and thus every true Christian hates Sin and not for the Shame that attends it nor as it is contrary to some other Sin c. I do not cease to lament the more hainous Sins of my Life and cannot forbear continually to implore the Pardon of them I do not again return unto them and resolve never so to do I watch and pray against all Sin but especially against those Sins to which I especially am enclined my Conflicts are daily and I am hard put to it but I do not yield up my self to any Sin nor lie down in it Yea I do not suffer Sinful Thoughts or Cogitations to lodg in me howbeit I am much discomposed and damped in Spirit deadned in Duty distracted in my Studies and molested and hindered every way by Sin that dwelleth in me But I resolve that Sin shall never have rest in my Soul and that I will never enjoy it I cannot keep Sin out of my Heart yet it doth not raign in my Mortal Body nor do I yield my Members to the Service of it Mr. Corbet 's Enquiry It is a less Evil to do Sin and not to love it than to love Sin and not to do it for to do Sin may argue weakness of Grace but to love Sin argues strength of Lust What I hate that I do Rom. 7.14 A Man may forsake the Life of Sin and yet retain the Love of Sin. True Mourning for Sin is more for the Evil that is in Sin than the Evil that comes by Sin more because it dishonoureth God and Wounds Christ and grieves the Spirit and makes the Soul unlike God than because it Damns the Soul Mat. 7.11 O Lord when I confess Sin unto thee grant that I may feel the burthen and weight of it upon my Conscience that it may not be a customary Confession Where Confession is right it will be distinct especially of those which were our chief Sins Confession should come like Water out of a Spring which runs freely not like Water out of a Still which is forced by Fire Salvation by CHRIST's Blood. TAke it for granted there is no Man under Heaven whereby we can be saved but Jesus Christ all Grace for this Life and for that which is to come must come to you through the Channel of Christ's Blood. Acts 16.30 31. Sorrow I Could have born any Sorrow rather than this I am under this is a good sign GOD hath let me Blood in the right Vein he will have me part with all manner of Sin without exception It is doubtless our Sin to disable our selves by our Sorrow for our general or particular Callings Let us be heartily Sorrowful that we have so Carnally so Hypocritically so Covetously so Vain-gloriously Professed the Gospel Let the Plagues and Anger of GOD most justly fallen upon us be applyed to our Sins that from the bottom of our Hearts every one of us may say It is I Lord that have Sinned against Thee It is my Wickedness that causeth success and encrease of Authority to my Enemies M. Bradford Speech THERE is no Man that talks but I may gain by him and none that holds his Tongue but I may lose by him As Henry Wotton being bound for Rome asked his Host in Vienna a Man well versed in Men and Business What Rules he would give him for his Port Conduct and Carriage He answered There is one short Remembrance which will carry you Safe throughout the whole World and that is nothing but this Keep your Thoughts close and your Countenance loose He that knoweth to speak well knoweth also where he must hold his Peace Said that Old Grecian Think an Hour before thou speakest and a Day before thou Promisest Spirit SPirit in the un-erring Sense is nothing but Reason illuminated by Revelation out of the Written Word for when the Mind and Spirit humbly conform and submit to the Written Will of God then are you said to have the Spirit of God and to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the Flesh Mr. Hales of Eaton College There is an Having of the Spirit which is a sure Work of Saintship Where the Spirit is an effectual prevailing Principle of Grace and Sanctification renewing and regenerating the Heart Where the Spirit is as a potent Worker helping the Souls Infirmities Rom. 8.26 Where the Spirit is said to abide for ever John 14.16 The true Believer hath so much of the Spirit such a work of it in him that he cannot sin that Sin unto Death He that is born of God sinneth not to wit that Sin unto Death for that is meant 1 John 7.16 1. Mr. Smith in a Sermon said to this purpose If God be our Father in Christ he lays hold of us by his Spirit and we lay hold of Him by Faith. Now it is his Hold-fast of us that saves us so that tho our Faith be as it were a sleep yet the Fathers Hold-fast continues firm Many when they hear that Spiritual Comforts are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit presently conceive themselves to be meerly Passive therein and that they have nothing to do but wait when God will bestow them Notwithstanding tho these Comforts are Spiritual yet they are rationally raised up on the Understanding's Apprehension of the Excellency of God our Happiness and our Interest in Him and by the rolling of these blessed Objects in our frequent Meditations the Spirit doth advance and not destroy our Reason it doth ratifie and then use it as its ordinary Instrument for the Conveyance of such things to our Affections and Exciting them accordingly and not lay it aside and affect us without it Therefore our Joys are raised discoursively and the Spirit first revealeth the Cause of our Joy and then helps us to rejoice upon those revealed Grounds so that he rejoyceth groundedly who knoweth why he rejoiceth ordinarily Mr. Baxter's Rest 3d. part p. 159 160. Sufferings I May be Poor but still I