faln into hell if I had not faln into â—in Onesimus therefore departed saith St. Paul to Philemon that thou mightest receive him an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an eternall So it is in the Originall And thus if our sins were heavy Gods mercies would be weighty and worth the recounting Were our fins often in our eyes Gods praises would not be long out of our mouths We that see we have deserved nothing would be thankfull for every thing and rather then his mercies should be forgotten would keep some remembrances by us of Gods goodnesse to us who is every day mindfull of us 2. Remember oftne your low and poor condition It is little peradventure that yâ—â— haâ—â— but was it not lesse God commands his people this duty Remember that thou wast a serâ—ant in the land of Aegypt This they were enjoyned to do when they came yearly to offer up their basket of first-fruits to the Lord. Thus they must say A Syrian ready to perish was my Father and he went down into Aegypt and â—ojourned there with a few c. 〈◊〉 King of Sicily who was by birth but a Potters Son would alwayes be served at his Table with earthen vessels that he might ever be mindful of his low mean condition at first Jacob did so With my staff I came over this Jordan His condition was low when the earth was his bed a stone his pillow and the heaven his canopie over his head he is thankfull for this because he forgâ—t not his low estate He that well remembers what he once wanted will not forget to be thankful for what at present he enjoys Humility is a good spur to thankfulness I have read of two garments in Scripture of excellent use First the garment of humility Be 〈◊〉 with humility saith Peter and the garment of praise Christ is said to appoint to them that mourn in Zion the garment of praise for the spirit of heavynesse The under garment is commonly plain and of lesse worth but the upper is very costly Let humility be like the first It is no matter how vile we be in our own eyes but let praise be the upper garment Be ye rooted and built up in Christ faith the Apostle and established in the faith abounding therein with thanksgiving He that is rich in faith and low in humility will make his upper garment costly will be abundant in praises 3. Labour to understand a mercy aright Endevour to discern the height and breadth of a providence weigh every benefit bestowed skilfully The reason why the Israelites remembred not the multitude of Gods mercies was saith the Psalmist because they understood not his wonders in Aegypt Moses told them that they had seen all that the Lord had done before their eyes in the Land of Aegypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and unto all the land The great temptations which thine eyes have seen the signes and thâ—se great miracles And yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to bear unto this day It is true they had eyes and ears but they wanted an understanding heart to perceive and discern God in all Hence it comes to passe that as a proud man will not be mindfull so an ignorant man cannot remember God and be thankfull It is good therefore not onely to remember our low and sinfull estate that we may be humble but to understand the loving kindnesse of the Lord that we may record his favours The reason why the Disciples forgâ—t what Christ had done done and therefore mistook him when he had them take â—eed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadduces was they did not understand the miracles of the five loaves amongst the five thousand nor the seven loaves amongst the foure thousand nor how many baskets they took up They did not well understand nor seriously consider the mighty power of his divine nature by which he did all that You shall do well therefore to understand a mercy fully in all the causes circumstances manner and means of working Sometimes he works without means and then his works are miraculous sometimes by weak means and then his works are wonderfull sometimes by contrary means so that losses enrich us divisions unites us and our routing in battle makes us conquerors and then his works are glorious Hence the Lord commanded his people to understand why he gave them that good Land to possesse it not for their righteousnesse for they were a stiffe-necked people but for his Name sake and for the wickednesse of those Nations which were driven out before them It is not an easie matter for men to hit right oâ— the true reason of Gods dispensations of mercy or judgement Hence Samuel advised the people of Israel to consider that is to weigh ponder wel in their hearts what great things God had done for them Now we all know things that are not known and therefore lightly valued are soon forgotten when matters that are looked at as things of price and worth are laid up very carefully It is good therefore when our thoughts dwell upon mercies Omnis festinatio caca swift passengers cannot be serious observers a transient thought is too mean for a standing mercy one mercy enjoyed deserves more serious thoughts then a million of miseries do one hearty tear our mercies are from God our calamities from our selves Understand this well and consider this seriously you cannot be unmindful of the loving kindnesse of the Lord. 4. Would you write down the great things of God in a book that you might never forget them Take speciall notice of the actings of God in the wayes of his gracious providence whilest they are new and fresh in memory together with the workings of your hearts whilest they are so considered Oh! what vows covenants purposes resolutions are made and entertained then Omne novum valde mutat saith Scaliger New things fresh mercies make a wonderful change upon mens spirits for the present Omnia subita videntur majora saith Cicero All sudden and unexpected passages seem very great at first fight and work very much upon the heart Observe then what joy what thankfulnesse what meltings what resolutions And what you doe doe quickly strike while the iron is hot Qui tardâ— fecit diu noluit saith Seneca He that is slack in his performances was but unwilling in his resolutions Oh! remember your first love when you were newly converted and brought home to God how zealous lively active forward and savoury were you in the wayes of God So much the Lord tells his people by the Prophet Hosea that at their restitution and Gods reconciliation with them they should sing at in the dayes of their youth as they did when they came out of Aegypt Then sang Moses and Aaron A converted condition is a singing condition God takes special notice of this I remember thee saith the
Lord of Israel the kindnesse of thy youth the lose of thine espousals when thou wentest after me in the wildernesse in a land that was not sown Our first works and our last works are commonly our best works when we begin first to live the life of grace and when we are ready to die and are entring upon the life of glory how excellent is our marriage how savoury our words how heavenly our conversation Even so it is when we are delivered from any great danger when enlarged with any singular comforts how lively how zealous and how active are we Call to minde the fifth of November 1605. when we were delivered from that barbarous Gunpowder-treason how forward were we in making laws against Papists how severe in suppressing Jesuites how zealous in setling true Religion Iâ— Iâ— reported of the City of Berne when first delivered from Antichrist when that State cast off that Romane bondage and reformed Religion that they wrote the day of their Redemption upon pillars in letters of gold And it is observable that in all the ages of the Church God hath set out himself to his people by such names and titles as were most suitable to his present dispensations or such as were of the last edition And why so But that his late mercies might be the better considered and remembred Hence in the beginning he was called the most high God the possessour of heaven and earth who had made all by the word of his power Under those times Melchisedech blessed Abraham Blessed be Abraham saith he of the most high God possessor of heaven and earth And Abraham covenanted to take nothing from the King of Sodome and that under these terms I have lift up my hand unto the Lord the most high God possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take from a thread to a shoe-latchet and that I will not take any thing that is thine Afterwards when God entred into a covenant with Abraham and his seed he was called the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And under those titles God gave his charge to Moses when he sent him to bring his people out of the Land of Aegypt I am the God of thy Father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. After that he was called the God that brought them out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of bondage Such was the preface to his law I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of bondage And so it continued for many generations even until he brought them out of Babylon And then saith the Lord It shall be no more said The Lord liveth that brought them out of the land of Aegypt but The Lord liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of the North. And now under the Gospel he is known by this most excellent name The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ And why so But because our redemption by Christ is the last and the great work he hath done for his Church and most fresh in our memories Whilest therefore mercies are fresh and work most upon the heart doe something in remembrance of Gods goodness and why not then write them downe in a Journall A small matter I should think whilest the heart is warm and well affected with the present sense of some singular pledge of Gods loving kindnesse may easily perswade to this duty 5. And finally love the Lord for his goodnesse If any thing under heaven will constrain us and help forward this duty love will Oh! love the Lord all ye his Saints saith the Psalmist And indeed none but Saints can love him He knocks at every dore and as it were pulls every man by the sleeve and saith Oh! love you the Lord Let the drunkard love his cups and the adulterer his harlots and the covetous person his bags but do you that are Saints love the Lord. For the Lord preserveth the faithfull and pletifully rewardeth the proud doer When one bucket goes downe the other will come up When Pharaoh is drowned Israel is saved When Haman is hanged Mordecai is advanced When proud doers are plagued the faithful are delivered Oh! love the Lord therefore And indeed love is all that God looks at in us and expects from us and where there is love there is no lack After so large a repetition of the great things God hath done for Israel What saith Moses to them doth God now require for all this but that you would love him And indeed love is complementumlegis the fulfilling of the Law Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing saith the Apostle but faith that worketh by love Faith and Love are like a pair of Compasses Faith like one point fastens upon Christ as the center and Love like the other goes the round in all the works of holinesse and righteousnesse Now certainly Love hath a good memory or would have a good memory What we slight we soon forget but what we love we endevour to lay up sure in our memories Vbi amâ—r ibi animus Where our love is our minde is Where our treasure is there will our heart be It was the eye that made the match That which which the eyesees not the heart desires not And as love came in by the eye so it delights by the same dore to look after that beloved object Such a soul that hath seen God in all things and therefore loves God above all things delights still to look after God in all his wayes that he may love him more and more Such a soul loves God as Jonathan loved David 1. Amore unionis with a love of union the soul of Jonathan was knit to David for he loved him as his own soul 2. He loved him amore complacentiae with a love of delight for it is said that Jonathan delighted much in David 3. He loved him amore benevolentiae with a love of good will for Jonathan said to David Whatsoever thy souldesireth I will even do it for thee Even so doth a gracious heart love God not onely with a love of union and a love of delight but with a love of good will too who saith to God as Paul at his conversion Lord what wilt thou have me to do Such an one is ready to suffer what ever may be inflicted on him and to do what ever may be required of him especially whatsoever may testifie how well he remembers God and his loving kindnesse to him CHAP. VIII Severall arguments propounded by which Christians may be provoked to keep such a Journall or Diary as hath been commended THat such Christians as have any abilities for the keeping of such a Journal or Diary as hath been commended to them may be encouraged thereunto I shal in the second place propound these foure arguments First it is
Aegypt so we at the administration of the other might remember Christ by whom we are saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us This Supper is not onely a representing a sealing and a conveying signe but a commemorative signe Do this in remembrance of me saith Christ There is no Gospell-ordinance whether prayer reading or hearing of the Word but there is such mention made of Christ as we ought to remember him But this ordinance of the Supper hath this signall note of excellency stamped upon it above all a speciall charge from Christ to remember him when that is administred Do this in remembrance of me for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye shew that is ye make a commenoration of the Lords death till he come Sometimes that we may come to the subject matter intended God appointed Records and Registers of his mercies Histories and Journalls of the noble acts and loving kindnesses of the Lord to his people to be kept and conveyed to posterity that the generations to come might know them even the children that should be born who should arise and declare them to their children Thus the Lord commanded that the History of Amalek should be written in a Book their malice and Gods mercy their war and overthrow and it must be rehearsed to posterity that it might never be forgotten What this Book was we shall not much enquire Some say it was the Book of Jasher mentioned Josh chap. 10. which was a Chronicle of the acts of the people of the Lord which is lost Some say it was the Book of the Judges Some say it was a Book of the Battails of the Lord mentioned Numb 21. 14. Others and that most probably that it was no other but this Book of Exodus Junius and Calvin But why this History must be written in a Book is more worthy of our inquiry and more sutable to our purpose And the reasons may be these two 1. That a thankfull remembrance of so great a deliverance from so malicious an enemy might be continued in the generations following 2. That the people of God knowing what sentence was denounced against Amalek which should be executed in due time as it was in the Reign of Saul might be the better encouraged to fight against them and through faith expect the victory over them And thus in this Chapter God would have the Journals of the people of Israel from Aegypt to the Land of Canaan recorded that the great things God had done for them by the way might not be forgotten for so it is said in the Text. Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandement of the Lord. In this Chapter two parts are observable 1. An Israelitish Journall is recorded from vers 1 to v. 50. 2. A direction is given them concerning their proceedings in and with the Land of Canaan Which is threefold 1. That they should cast out the inhabitants v. 52 53. 2. That they should destroy their idols v. 52. 3. That they should divide the Land amongst them by lot v. 54. The two former whereof are seconded with a most sharp threatning that if they did not punctually observe Gods command therein 1. For the present that people should prove a continuall snare unto them 2. For the future what God had intended to these their enemies should fall upon their own heads all this to the end of the ch In the Israelitish Journall two things are to be considered 1. The duty is in generall propounded v. 1 2. 2. You have an Historicall enumeration of their severall Journeys in v. 2. In which three things are to be noted 1. The matter that stands upon record and that is their journeys according to their goings out 2. The Scribe that recorded them and that was Moses Moses wrote c. 3. The authority by which he did it and that was the commandement of the Lord he had very good warrant for what he did The first of these namely the matter that stands upon record their journeys is that which I shall principally take notice of In which Journall this is observable That there is not onely a particular relation of the place from which and the place to which they journeyed as from Rameses to Succoth c. but also a singular mention is made of all the great passages of Gods good hand of providence over them together with their murmurings and rebellions by which they provoked him All which are in this ch implyed and some particulars are expressed as you may finde v. 9 14 38 40. This ch being but a short Epitome or abridgement of the whole History So that in the Israelitish Journall you shall finde how here God gave them bread from heaven there water out of the rock in one place he delivered them from the violence of the mighty waters in another from the fury of their potent enemies Now he saved them from the cruelty of the Aegyptians at another time from the malice of the Amalekites and soon after from the sting of the fiery Serpents To day he gives them Manna and Quails good food for their hungry bodies to morrow he delivers them his Law with many divine ordinances and statutes for the good of their souls In all their goings out he afforded them plentifull pledges of his care of them bounty to them and patience towards them Who notwithstanding the many grievous sins by which they provoked him being full of compassion forgave their iniquities and destroyed them not yea many a time he turned away his anger and did not stir up all his wrath for he remembred that they were but flesh c. By this time we are come to the Observation that is intended and may hence be collected and that is this To keep a Journall or Diary by us especially of all Gods gracious dealings with us is a work for a Christian of singular use I say of Gods gracious dealings with us in a more especiall manner because it is good also to observe and keep a good account of the severall occurrences of the Times we meet with as they have reference to the Countrey and Nation we live in It is good to keep an History a Register a Diary an Annales not onely of the places in which we have lived but of the mercies that have been bestowed on us continued to us all our dayes This was the practice of David the Servant of the Lord who made a Psalm and Song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul Moses writes his Book called Deuteronomy which is nothing else but a repetition of the Journeys of the people of Israel and the great things God had done for them in their goings out to that day There was scarce any thing in Israel but was typicall their Meats their Drinks their Mannâ— their water out of
of his dear Son that he may be Governor amongst us that he may rule in us and reign over us even he that is the Prince of peace that came into the world with a song of peace that going out of the world left us a legacy of peace whose government is a government of peace whose Ministers are Embassadors of peace whose wayes are wayes of pleasantnesse and all whose paths are peace He unite our hearts together in the unity of the Spirit with the bond of peace That God that could find out a way to make peace betwixt himself and mankind He that can never come too late in any danger that can never be to seek in any straight heal our wounds that grow so deep repair our breaches that grow so wide He in his good time give us one heart and one way that we may fear him for ever for the good of us and our children after us Amen CHAP. III. What personall and private passages of Providence those are which ought to be recorded in our Journall or Diary THus far of our National and more publick concernments that are to be remembred I come now to shew what Personall and private occurences are to be recorded And they are these five that are most observable 1. Let every man keep a strict account of his effectuall calling and of his age in Christ and if it may be set down the time when the place where and the person by whom he was converted I know every one cannot relate it as Paul could in all the circumstances It came to passe as I made my journey and was nigh unto Damascus about noon suddenly there did shine from heaven a great light round about me and I fell to the ground and heard a voyce c. But yet some can with the same Apostle say I was a persecuter a blasphemer and injurious but I obtained mercy Or with the blinde man whom Jesus cured One thing I know that whereas I was blind now see I was an ignorant proud profane â—erson and without God in the world bue by his grace I am that I am There are some â—uestionlesse that can most punctually set down the severall circumstances of their â—onversion It was a prophesie of the times under the Gospel It shall be said of some â—n Babylon that they knew God and this and that man was born there and of Zion this man was born in her Yea The Lord himself shall count when he writeth up the people that this man was born there Onesimus could tell that Paul was his Father he could tell the time when and the place where he was converted for he begat him in his bonds Cyprian had wont to call Caecellius novae vitae parentem his spirituall Father St. Paul could say that Andronicus and Junia were in Christ before him There is a seniority amongst the Saints God hath his elder and his younger children It is good to know our age in Christ Polycarpus could say Thus many yeers have I served my Master Christ and hitherto hath he dealt well with me Remember this day saith Moses to the Israelites What day was that The day that they came out of Aegypt from the House of bondage So I say Remember the day wherein God took you not from toyling in brick and clay but from the slavery of sin and Satan not from following the sheep as he did David whom he made a King but from following the world and your own unruly lusts You keep an account of the day wherein you were born and why not of the day wherein you were born again You remember your Marriage-dayes and why not much more the day on which you were married to Christ You have your Register-books for the one and why not Diurnalls for the other Would you be perswaded to do thus it might provoke you to say as sometimes Sarah said when Isaac was born Who would have said that knew my age that Sarah should have given children sack Who that knew me in the dayes of my vanity and vilenesse that knew me in the School or at the University or when I was an Apprentice when my life was as full of disorder as a toad was of poyson who would have said that Christ should ever have been formed in me But by his grace I am that I am and God hath made me laugh Some acts of God are acts of common providence and so he feeds us and cloaths us he doth as much for the creatures for he feeds the Ravens and cloaths the Grasse Some acts of God are acts of speciall priviledge and thus he gave Abraham a childe in his old age and made David of a Shepherd a King Some acts of God are acts of pattern and thus he shewed mercy to Manasseh and Mary Magdalen Paul For this cause saith that Apostle I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering â—or a pattern to them that should hereafter believe â—n him to life everlasting Some acts of God are acts of wonder It â—s a wonder that any soul is saved I am sure it is a wonder that ever God should â—hink of me look after me strive with me wait upon me that he might be gracious to â—e nay it is not onely matter of wonder â—ow but will be cause of admiration unto â—ll eternity Who am I and what am I that God hath brought me hitherto It is the â—ords doing and it is wonderfull in mine â—yes Amongst many things that Beza in his last Will and Testament gave God thanks for â—his was the first and chief that he at the age of sixteen yeers had called him to the knowâ—edge of the Truth Let every one that can know his age in Christ set down this in his â—ournall 2. Take speciall notice of all divine assistance and that either in the performance of the duties that are required of us or in â—earing those evills that are inflicted upon us For the first we know that all our sufficiency is from God all our fresh springs â—re in him and therefore all our full streams of prayse should run to him It is our sin and should be our shame that though the â—xe knows his owner and the Asse his Masters â—â—th as the Prophet saith that is by a common instinct of Nature they acknowledge that as all their provision is from him 〈◊〉 all their strength to draw or bear is due tâ— him Yet we do not consider that is we do not so know God as to acknowledge thâ— as we have all from God so all is due tâ— God He it is that giveth power to the â—aiâ— and to them that have no might he encreasâ— strength But the youths shall faint and be weâ—â—â— and the young men shall utterly fall If Davâ— will go out in the Name of the Lord in thâ— strength and by the assistance of God 〈◊〉 shall return a victor over the
friend to the Mariners who was content to be thrown into the Sea that the waves might be stilled and their lives might be secured But Christ was the best friend of all who was willing to be cast into the Ocean of his Fathers fury that we might be â—et on shore and so passe from death to life Now certainly he that is joyned unto the Lord is one spirit Ask your owne 〈◊〉 therefore often this question What good do I for others for whom God hath done so much It is reported of Mr. Fox who wrote the Book of Martyrs that he never denyed any man that asked an alms for Jesus sake and that he never refused anything that was given him not that he might enrich himself but might relieve others for he gave it all away to the poor A Student that was in want asking Luther some money he bad his Wife give him some she pleading her owne necessities he took up a silver bowle and gave it him When you have an opportunity of doing good never plead you have many children Gyprian had wont to say The more children the more charity And our Savioure counsell was to sell what we have rather then neglect this duty of doing good Let him that stole steal no more saith the Apostle but rather let him labour with his hands the thing that is good But for what end That he may have to supply his own wants only No but rather that he may have to give to him that needeth So that there is no man under heaven from the highest Prince to the lowest Pesant that may plead an immunity from this duty of giving The omission whereof hath been as prejudiciall to some as the performance of it hath been profitable to others Mauritius the Emperor refusing to redeem a few captive slaves from Saladine the Aegyptian Sultan which he might have done for a small matter upon which they were all slain was afterward punished by Phocas who in a sedition being proclaimed Emperor by the Souldiers caused his wife and children to be put to death before his face himself all the while crying out Justus es Domine recta judicia tua But on the other side memorable is the story of Pyrhias a Merchant of Ithaca who at Sea espying an aged man a captive in a Pirates ship took compassion of him and redeemed him and with his person bought his commodities which the Pirate had taken from him which were certain barrels of pitch The old man perceiving that not for any good service he could do him nor for the gain of that commodity but meerly out of charity he had done this discovered a great masse of treasure hidden in the pitch Whereby the Merchant in a very short time became very rich At which time that Scripture was fulfilled He that giveth to the poor shall not lack And that other Scripture He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally Such giving is like the pouring of a pale of water into a dry pump that will fetch abundance Let us give that which we cannot keep that we may have that in a time of need that we cannot lose 3. Ask your own hearts often what good you your selves get by all that God hath done for you If thou be wise saith Soloâ—â—â— thou shalt be wise for thy self As a wicked fool hath no foe like himself so a wise Christian hath no friend like himselfe who will be a gainer by every losse and a saver by every comfort Physitians and Chirurgions make much of their probatum's and so should every Christian of his experiments Let every man therefore ask his owne heart upon a serious survey of his Journall thus much Am I bettered by all this health and wealth and good dayes this Gospel of peace and this peace of the Gospel that I have enjoyed so long It is with these things as with the physick or dyet of the body they will leave you better or worse then they finde you But by all these good dayes rich mercies or sharp afflictions do I grow into more acquaintance with God the world and mine own heart with God and his holinesse with the world and its vanity with mine owne heart and its deceitfulnesse that I may trust him more and the world and my heart lesse All grace in truth hath growth Vlterius was Charls the fifth his Motto by which he signified that greater periections more noble enterprises were yet daily to be endevoured after by Princes Christians must not stand at a stay but with the Apostle forgetting those things that are behind reach forth unto those things that are before This being a cleer difference betwixt the first Adam and the second The old creature in the beginning and the new under the Gospel The first Adam was made a man and a holy man all at once but the Lord Christ was conceived in the wombe and at the fulnesse of time was born of the Virgin Mary and increased in wisdome and in stature and in favour both with God and man In the beginning all the creatures were made in their full growth and strength which made some to be of opinion that Mundus condituâ— suit in Autumno That the creation of the world was in Harvest when all things are in their full beauty But now we must have an egge before a bird a seed before a plant a birth and then a growth So now every Christian must in time grow in grace and the knowledge of the Jesus Christ and proceed by degrees from saith to saith from babes to grown men in Christ and therefore where there is no growth we may fear there is no grace Ask your hearts then Do I grow At such a time I had a great affliction a long sicknesse Am I more humble since Where there is a rod of correction there should be a word of correction God teacheth by his rods as Gideon taught the men of Succoth with briars and thorns and blessed is that man whom God correcteth and teacheth out of his law Oh that I could hear the rod as well as feel it A man of wisdome shall see Gods Name hear the rod and who hath appointed it At such a time God vouchsafed me great prosperity much successe in my calling a long time of health with comfort in my relations Am I more holy more humble more heavenly more meek more mercifull more faithfull more fruitfull in my place Or am I not rather worse more rich and more covetous more honorable and more proud more healthfull and more wanton But if you finde that the house of David growes stronger and stronger and the house of Saul weaker and weaker that your corruptions are abated and your graces encreased happy are you And indeed the higher the Sun riseth the shorter are the shadows as in a Pyramide the higher you go the lesse compasse you finde like a flame of fire the higher it ascends the purer and thinner
congregation The Psalmist exhorteth to this duty very much Sing unto the Lord sing Psalms unto hi◠〈◊〉 ye of all his wondrous works It was the Psalmist his practice Come and hear all ye that 〈◊〉 God and I will declare unto you what God hath dâ—â—e for my soul Moses the servant of the Lord did so He told Jethro his Father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Aegyptians for Israels sake and all the travell that had come upon them by the way and how the Lord delivered them Which occasioned much prayse unto God from a Midianite who said Blessed be the Lord who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Aegyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh c. Christ himself commanded the man whom he delivered from the legion of Devils that he should goe home to his friends and tell them how great things the Lord had done for him and had compassion on him And indeed to return thanks unto God for all his mercies is so great a debt that we alone cannot pay unlesse God give us time and no lesse then eternity is enough And therefore we had need make collection of praises from friends that the summe may be made up the more full The Psalmist goes to all the creatures both in heaven and earth and makes a collection Heavens Angels saith he Sun Moon and Stars Kings and all people young men and maids old men and babes praise the name of the Lord. Comemmoration Sermons which are in use in Colledges and some other places are excellent And as there may be good use made of them divers wayes so this way especially that all may be provoked to blesse God for their Benefactors It is observable that to beg prayers is the common complement of friends at their pâ—â—ting and Ora pro nobis is the conclusion of all our Letters but we seldome beg praises When do we say I beseech you blesse God for me and with me for such a late deliverance for such successe in mine endevours for such comfort in my relations c. As if we served an hard Master as if God had been a barren heath or a wildernesse to our souls as if his service had no profit Whereas there is no Matter like the Lord no service like his whose very work is wages CHAP. VII An use of Exhortation wherein Christians are perswaded to keep such a Journall or Diary AND thus far shall suffice to have been spoken of the manner how such a Journall should be used For the application of all I shall onely 〈◊〉 such as have not been acquainted with this duty to set upon this work Indeed there is a latitude in Christianity and the wayes of God that all do not reach I have have an end of all perfection saith the Psalmist but thy commandement is exceeding large When things are come to their perfection to their flower they quickly fade 〈◊〉 a Lute string if wound up to the highest it breaks but the course of holinesse and way of righteousnesse have large limits and boundaries that many come not at There are sins that some seldome confesse as Sacramentall sins Sacramentall ignorance Sacramentall unbelief impenitency uncharitablenesse c. There are some things they seldome pray for Where is the man who with Agur prayes Lord give me no riches We often in prayer presse the promise but how few at any time presse the seal wherein God is come under the power of law under the power of his own law wherein all his wisdome power faithfulnesse goodnesse and mercy is under the power of his owne law yea so far engaged that he cannot go back And yet how few urge the seal and enter a suit with the Lord There are some duties we seldome or never perform Where is the man that makes conscience of private fasting and â—rayer that shuts himself up in his closet and wrâ—stles with God in secret that his Fatâ—â—r that seeth in secret may reward him openly To conclude how few are there that keep a Diary by them of all Gods gracious dealings with them Now that I may perswade such Christians at least as have any abilities and opportunities to enter upon this duty I shall doe these two things 1. Give some directions that may be as advantages to further this service 2. Give some arguments that may encourage and provoke thereunto and so conclude 1. Therefore often remember your sinfull estate when you were in a naturall estate and therefore in the 〈◊〉 of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity God commanded his people so to do Remember and forget not â—ow thâ—n provokedst the Lord thy God in the wildernesse c. This charge the Apostle lays upon the Ephestans Remember that you being in times past Gentilâ—s in the flesh that at that time ye were without Christ â—liens from the Common-wealth of Israel and stâ—angers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world God promised that his people should do so You shal remember your wayes and your doings wherewith you have been defiled and you shall loath your selves Paul did so he oftentimes makes mention of his sinfull condition before his conversion he is not ashamed to declare it before King Agrippa I thought verily with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth which thing I also did in Jerusalem for many of the Saints I shut up in â—â—ison and when they were put to death I gave my voyce against them and I punished them oft in every Synagogue c. So much he telleth the Corinthians I am not worthy to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God The like he declares to Timothy I was a blaspheâ—â—â— a persecuter and injurious Yea he was more then an ordinary sinner in his owne eyes Jesus Christ saith he came into the world to save sinner's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereof I am thiefâ— or primus the first as it is in the originall He was primus the first non ordine sed excellentia not in order of â—ime but in the excesse of wickednesse for 〈…〉 every sin hath his 〈◊〉 So did Joseph 's Brethren when he dealt roughly with them and God lookt so mercifully on them as to afflict them for their â—in They said one to another we are very guilty conâ—â—â—â—ing our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear And how have those old bruises and fins of youth being sadly and seriously remembred caused much brokennesse and tendernesse much care and watchfulnesse in some all their days Themâ—sâ—â—eles told his friends when being banished out of his Countrey and most honorably entertained by the King of Persia Perâ—eram nisâ— periissem I had been undone if I had not been thus distressed So may many a gracious soul say I had
they say and a book of remembrance shal be written of it before the Lord. Cornelius was a most devout benefactor and the Angel tell him that his prayers and alms were come up in remembrance before God It is a mercy that God will remember us though it be with a rod to correct us but it is a rich favour indeed if he remember us with a staffe to support and comfort us As our remembrance of God or men is the summe of all we do for them Remember me saith Joseph to Phaaroh's Butler that is speak a good word for me do me the favour as work out my deliverance But the chief Butler did not remember Joseph but forgat him that is he did nothing for him Even so Gods remembrance is the summa totalis of his goodnesse to us He remembers us indeed for he pities us and spares us and pardons us supplyes us in all our necessities and supports us in all our extremities he will not leave us in our straights nor leave us in our sins and if we do or suffer any thing for him he hath a book of remembrance and it shall be written down At the last day it is said the books shall be opened and is not this one of those books and the dead shall be judged out of those things which were written in those books according to their works Jesus Christ will read to all the world the good works of his people out of that book I was anhungry and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in â—â—ked and ye clothed me You never did anything for God but he hath put it down in his book it is very just and equall then that what he hath done for you should be written down in your book Thirdly it is very necessary you should keep such a Journall and that in three regards 1. In regard of the badnesse of your memory Memoriaprimùm senescit say Physicians The memory decayes first old men and dying men will tell you so but the memory of a benefit sooner the memory of divine favours soonest of all Some things we can hardly forget as our sorrows and our pleasures It was about 20 yeers ere Esau could forget the sorrow he conceived for the losse of the blessing and the injury Jacob did him in getting it away from him And he was so mindfull of his pleasures that he forgat his bread And there be some things we can hardly remember â—as our faults and our friends It was two full years saith the story ere Pharaoh's Butler could remember Joseph or call his faults to minde for which he suffered imprisonment Many O Lord my God saith David are thy wonderfull works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to 〈◊〉 ward they cannot be reckoned up in order to thee if I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred Then certainly many of these mercies that God hath vouchsafed to us would quite be forgotten did we not keep such a Diary by us 2. It is necessary that thereby we prevent the great fin of forgetfulnesse To forget God is a mother fin a root-fin What will not that man be what will not he doe that forgets God He is a very wicked man The wicked shall be turned into hell saith the Psalmist and all the nations that forget God He is a proud man and I am sure a proud man is a wicked man Through the pride of his countenance he will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts his thoughts are not of him or his thoughts are not of him or his thoughts are that there is no God He that forgets God forgets that God is He that forgets God is an hypocrite and an hypocrite is a very wicked man Consider this ye that forget God But who were they Such as took Gods name into their mouths and yet hated instruction and cast Gods words behinde them He that forgets God is a most unthankfull person and an unthankfull man is a most wicked man Dixeris ingratum dixeâ—is omnia Call a man an unthankfull man and call him any thing There was a little City saith Solomon besieged by a great King and a poor wise man delivered that City by his wisdome yet no man remembred that poor wise man It was a wicked part to forget that man but most wicked it is to forget God When Tamerlane that victorious Emperor had beaten Bajazet in battle and taken him prisoner he sent for him and amongst other questions asked him Whether ever he were thankfull to God for making him so great a King he answered that he never so much as thought of him which was a most wicked speech of a wicked man 3. It is necessary to prevent the great danger of forgetting God To forget God is a provoking sin He that forgets God sins not at an ordinary rate and therefore shal be punished not after an ordinary manner Consider this ye that forget God saith the Lord lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Eli forgat God and so did Saul and Jeroboam they forgat the great things God had done for them and did not God plague them and their posterity Forgetfulnesse of God makes him rage not onely against the work of his hands but the sheep of his pasture David forgat God and so did Solomon and how severely were they punished The one by his Son who rebelled against him the other by his Servant that pluckt the greatest part of the Kingdome from his posterity A Souldier of Philip King of Macedonia having begg'd the lands of one that had entertained him kindly was branded with Ingratus hospes on the forehead to his perpetual shame It is reported of Caesar and Alexander two of the most valiant Souldiers that ever the world had that the one would never give to and the other forgive an unthankful man Because saith the Lord Pharaoh King of Aegypt saith the river that is Nilus is mine owne I have made it for my self therefore will I dry up the river and cause the fish to stink What became of Herod the proud who after his oration and the peoples acclamation The voyce of a god and not of a man gave not the glory to God the Angel of the Lord â—mote him and he was eaten of worms and gave up the Ghost He that forgets God is unthankful to God and he that is unthankful forfeits all mercies as the not paying of Custome forfeits all a Merchants goods It is written of one Timotheus the Son of Conon a noble Citizen of Athens that after he had proudly said in a great assembly Haec ego feci non fortuna These things I have done and not Fortune which that people adored as God he never prospered but lost all the glory he had gotten A poor
all my life long unto this day The Angell which redeemed me from all evill blesse the lads Now is not faith a profitable grace Faith is the greatest gather-good in the world What need he care why should he fear what can he want that is rich in faith For rich in faith and rich in God and he that enjoyes God shall inherit all things By this faith strengthened and by so many experiments thus enlarged he may erect a monument and say Hitherto the Lord hath holpen me And thereupon look up into heaven and thus admire at the large allowance that is provided for him there with the Psalmist How great is thy goodnesse O Lord which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee If my friend will give me such entertainmentat an Inne by the way how welcome will he make me when I come to his house If earth be such what is heaven If my comfort in a cottage be so great what are the joys of those everlasting habitations not made with hands but eternall in the heavens where I shall have glory with a double hyberbole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an exceeding weight of glory Oh! that our treasure were laid up in heaven that our conversation were in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Heaven wil make us amends for all but Jesus Christ is better then heaven Jacob's Sons met with hard measure whilest they travelled into Aegypt for food but I am Joseph your Brother and Governour of all Aegypt did abundantly recompense them for all their trouble After all our sorrows and sufferings in this vale of tears Fear not it is I. All power is given unto me your Captain your Brother your Head will satisfie abundantly Paul had a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Riches are good but Learning is better Learning is good but Grace is better Grace is good but Glory in heaven is better Heaven is good but Christ is far better A picture of the globe of the whole earth set out with all the brave things that Sea and Land can afford with this sentence encircling it round To be with Christ is far better is a Christians embleme Indeed Jesus Christ is a Christians heaven in whose presence there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Whither he bring us who hath so dearly bought us to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be given by us and all his Saints all honor and glory now and for evermoâ—e Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christianus gratulabundus Thankfulnes A way to thriue Exod 28. 34. FINIS The Contents CHAP. I. The Preface wherein an entrance is made to the words and the duty of a Journall or Diary is propounded pag. 1 To forget Gods mercies a provoking sin 2 God is very gracious in affording means for the helping of our memories 5 CHAP. II. The matter whereof a Journall or Diary is compounded and first Nationall and publick 14 1. Take notice what Governours have ruled over us Ibid. 2. What Religion was by such countenanced 16 3. How variable the condition of the Times have been 19 4. What remarkable judgemints God hath inflicted upon notorious offenders 22 5. What the Nationall sin for the present generation may be It 's good to know that 25 Some times have been more notorious for Drunkennesse 26 Some for Swearing 27 Some for Pride and Ambition 28 Our generation as some think most guilty of Contention 30 Some think Hypotrisie 33 Some think Apostasie Ibid. Enâ—â—ity against the Kingly government of Christ in his Church is the sin of this age 39 CHAP. III. What personall and private passages of Providence those are which ought to be recorded in our Journall or Diary 48 1. Keep an account of our conversion Ib. 2. Of all divine assistance either for the doing of that which is required or the bearing of such evils as are inflicted 51 3. All deliverances from dangers 55 4. All the men and means God hath used for our good 58 5. All the returns of our prayers 62 CHAP. IV. The manner how a Journall or Diary is to be used and first what is to be done by way of observation 66 1. Labour to see and observe God in all things 66 2. Labour to see and observe all things in God 70 3. Observe the wayes and means by which all good things are conveyed to us 74 1. By Christ savingly 75 2. By the promise certainly 79 3. By the creatures sensibly 85 Wherein observe Gods wisdome in the choyce 1. Of the instruments that are used 86 2. Of the the time 89 3. Of the measure 93 In all which hold fast these three conclusions 1. Where God sees any fit to use more he can afford more 98 2. That it is a mercy when our mindes are conformable to our means 99 3. That God hath many wayes to throw these things in to us and as many to take them from us 100 CHAP. V. The manner how a Journall or Diary is to be used according to the rules of Practise 102 1. Look often upon the Journal and read it over Ibid. 2. Cast up all your wants 105 3. Reckon how many ways those wants are supplyed with other comforts 107 4. Take great notice of the peculiar excellency of all Gods dispensations towards you above the world 109 5. Take heed that the want of some comfort do not rob you of all other 114 6. Reckon much upon what you may want 115 7. Study much the vanity of all Creature-comforts 118 8. Be very moderate in the use of these things 122 9. Trust not too far depend not too much upon men 124 CHAP. VI. More rules of the same kinde that concern our practice 128 10. Ask your own hearts 3 Questions Ib. 1. What honor do I bring to God for all this Ibid. 2. What good do I to my neighbor 131 3. What good do I reap by all for my self 137 11. Labour to be thankfull for all 140 1. Especially for Jesus Christ 141 2. For afflictions 142 3. For preservation from scandals 144 4. For heaven 146 12. Declare to others what God hath done for you to provoke them to blesse God with you and for you 148 CHAP. VII An use of Exhortation wherein Christians are perswaded to keep such a Journall or Diary 150 Directions to further this work 151 1. Often remember your sinful estate 152 2. Remember your low poor estate 155 3. Labour to understand every mercy aright 156 4. Take notice of the actings of God whilest they are new 158 5. Love the Lord for his goodness 161 CHAP. VIII Arguments propounded that may provoke Christians to keep such a
a most excellent duty and practised by many whose example we may follow As 1. It hath been the practice even of the very Heathens even from a principle of common reason who made use of white and black stones for these two ends One was They gave them to persons at their arraignment before the Judges If any were condemned to death they gave him a black stone but if absolved and set free a white stone To which custome the holy Ghost seems to allude in that Epistle to the Angel of the Church of Pergamus in these words To him that overcometh wil I give a white stone c. A second use of those was That by them they might keep an account of all the good dayes or evill they had met withall in their lives Hence Persius advised his friend Macrinus to remember a good day so Hunc Macrine diem numer a meliore lapillo Count this day Macrine with a better stone 2. Persons of good quality have a long time practised this duty How many noble Theophilus's and Elect Ladies have such Diaries by them But if any men of worth be imployed in the service of the State either by Sea or Land it is their common practise They that go to Sea will tell you of their Journall book that on such a day they went aboard the Bonaventure and on such a day they weighed anchor and fell downe to Gravesend on such a day they met with the whole Fleet on another day they had stormy weather or fought with the enemy c. How exactly doth S. Luke set down S. Paul's shipping towards Rome how a perfect a Journall of that dangerous voyage even day by day If they be employed by Land and do either besiege a Town or are besieged not a a sally undertaken not a mine sprung not a breach made not a man of note slain not a tyre of Ordnance discharged but is is every day recorded as you may see in that famous siege of Ostende But in the 3. place God himself seems to keep a Journall by him of all the care he hath of us the cost he bestows upon us and the good things he gives to us He hath a book of remembrance of every passage of providence that concerns us And indeed the Scripture for a great part is little else but a history of his goodnesse to his people And that you may see that God is very punctuall in keeping accompt of his mercies bestowed on us you shall find that in the Gospel of St. John when Christ turned the water into wine it is said This is the beginning of miracles that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory And when he healed the noble mans Son This is again the second miracle that Jesus did when he came out of Judea into Galilee Thus God doth keep an account of his mercies bestowed on us This is the first Magistrate and this is the second Minister and this is the third affliction and that is the fourth deliverance you have had And if we remember them not to Gods glory he will remember them to our shame as he did to Eli I did plainly appear unto the house of thy Father when they were in Aegypt in Pharaohs house and I did choose him out of all the Tribes of Israel to be my Priest to offer upon mine Altar and to burn incense c. The like he said to Saul by Samuel When theu wast little in thine owne fight wast thou not made head of the Tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed thee King over Israel And how doth God reckon up the many 〈◊〉 fâ—vors vouchsafed to David especially in that great advancement of him to the throne and delivering him from the hand of Saul All these things are repeated to Eli Saul David for the greater aggravation of their sins nay Gods very judgements executed are particularly recorded by him as you may see in divers places especially that of Amos ch 4. â— 6. to the end of that ch his several judgements and their incorrigiblenesse Doth God keep a book of Remembrance and shall we â—e without our Journall God forbid Secondly it is very just and equall that we should thus remember God who remembers us daily and that not only for the supplying our wants or delivering us in our extremity but also in the accepting of our persons and our sincere performances 1. For the first God remembred Noah when he was in the Ark and sent him forth God remembred Abraham in that great overthrow of the Cities in the Plain and sent Lot to him to warn him to comfort him God remembred Rachel and gave her a Joseph God remembred Hannah and made her fruitfull God remembers our wants and supplyes them our friends and requites them our enemies and plagues them nay our very cattle and preserves them God did not only remember Noah in the Ark but he remembred every living thing and all the cattle God chides Jonah for being angry for the losse of his gourd upon this account Thou hadst pity on the gourd c. and should not I spare Nineveâ— that great City wherein there are so many children and also much cattle Doth God remember and take care for oxen and will he not much more remember his people No saith the Lord I cannot Can a woman forget her sucking childe that she should not have compassion on the Son of her wombe Yea they may forget Yet will not I forget thee saith the Lord of his people A Mother may break the bonds of Nature but I cannot break the bonds of my Covenant Why so Because I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands I may as soon forget my self as forget thee thy walls are ever before me Now that which is continually before us we well remember Will not God forget us And shall not we use all means that we may remember him Rather then fail chalk up his loving kindnesses 2. We never shewed any love to God in our lives but he remembers it I remember saith God to Israel the kindnesse of thy youth the love of thine espousals Sarah spake but one good word in that foolish fit of her unbelief when she laught and slighted the promise of a Son she call'd her Husband Lord After I am waxen old shall I have pleasure my Lord being old also This one good word is not forgotten but set down in a book by the hand of Peter Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him Lord. Not a prayer made nor a tear shed but he hath a book for the one and a bottle for the other rather then they should be lost Put thou my tears into thy bottle O Lord saith the Psalmist are they not in thy book If Gods people meet together and pray and speak often one to another he hearkens and hears that is he doth most diligently attend to all