him and lift up thy heart to him with reverence nor feel the fire kindle in thy heart and thy self willing to be offered up as a whole Burnt-offering in that fire To offer up Body and Soul with all their several faculties and actions as a living Sacrifice to him is but thy reasonable service Rom. 12.1 As it is his end why he made thee so it should be thy end to have his works continually in thine eye his Word ever in thine heart and his praises everlastingly in thy mouth This was the resolution of David and should be thine I will sing unto the Lord saith he as long as I live I will sing praises to my God whilst I have my being My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psal 104.33 34. Consider that he hath infinite wisdom and therefore is fit to rule thee and all the world he hath infinite power and therefore its stark madness for such a Worm to resist him one word of his mouth will undo the Body and Soul for ever one angry frown of his Countenance will make thee wither and turn that moving body of thine into a dead and lifeless Clod yea and send thy Soul into eternal misery Didst thou but consider the holiness of his Nature and how much he abhorreth all sin and wickedness wouldst thou dare to commit it with so much boldness Didst thou but consider what a piercing eye he hath to whom the darkness and the light are both alike Psal 139.12 wouldst thou think to cover and conceal thy Sins from him or use craft and subtilty to blind his eyes Thou dost not consider what he is whilst thou usest such silly shifts as these are they do but provoke a wise man that hath but a Beam of Gods infinite wisdom how much more are they like to provoke him There 's nothing like ingenuity and plain dealing and humble confessing of thy Sin when thou hast to do with him Consideration of the Divine Purity and Justice would be a very effectual defence against all unjust and unrighteous practices If thou dost but consider what antipathy there is in Sin to the Divine Nature and what an affront it is to the Majesty of Heaven and Earth it would not go down so easily nor be such a sweet morsel to thee When men begin to take off the eye of their Consideration from God then they begin to walk in darkness and know not at what they stumble What makes men so vain and wicked in their imaginations and practices but because God is not in all their thoughts by Consideration What makes the ungodly to prefer the pleasures of Sin which are but for a season but because they do not eye and consider the recompence of reward What makes men either to neglect to come to God by prayer or to put up faint and cold supplications to him but that they consider not that he is and that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him Thou wouldst not murmur and repine at any of Gods Providences towards thee if thou didst but consider what Equity Wisdom and Mercy there is in all his dealings towards thee thou wouldst endure the Cross and despise the shame if thou didst but seriously consider the joys that are set before thee thou wouldst be stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord if thou didst but consider thy labour cannot be in vain in the Lord. I advise thee therefore to consider and think more frequently what an impartial righteous Judge thou hast to do with in thy actions and how dear thou shalt pay for thy Sin one of these days if thou wilt commit it and this would spur thee forward to thy duty when thou wouldst neglect it and keep thee backward from Sinful practice when thou wouldst commit it Let my counsel therefore be acceptable to thee have God more frequently in thy Meditations consider that he seeth and knoweth thy ways that he abhorreth all wickedness both of heart and life that he is the Governour of the World to whom all these things are as nothing that commandeth the Beings of Heaven and Earth that hath the Winds and the Sea and Men and Devils in the Chain of his Providence that was from all Eternity and is the same for ever and ever but thou art of yesterday and knowest nothing Job 8.9 Thou mayst resist the will of his Command and Precept because it is to try thee but thou canst not withstand the will of his purpose what he doth will peremptorily shall come to pass The Counsel of the Lord standeth for ever the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Psa 33.11 If thou lovest thy own Soul let God be continually before thy eyes it is because thou knowest him not that thou art so unlike him it is because thou art not acquainted with him that thy heart is so void of love to him it is because thou understandest him not that thou dost so little fear and reverence him And why hast thou so little knowledge and understanding of him but because thou considerest him not Didst thou but well consider his Omnipotency thou wouldst fear him more than all the world beside Didst thou but consider his Veracity thou wouldst take his word for the greatest security and give more credit to it than if thou hadst the word and Oath of the most trusty and sufficient men thou wouldst certainly believe the threatnings thereof and foresee the accomplishment of the promises thereof as if they were already made good and steer thy life according to the most wise and excellent precepts thereof Consider but his faithfulness and thou wilt see no reason to distrust him They that know thy Name saith the Prophet David will trust in thee for thou Lord hast never forsaken those that trust in thee Psal 9.10 Thou wouldst venture thy life and all thy comforts upon his Word come what will thou wouldst trust in the Lord and do good Psal 37.3 And whilst thou art intent upon thy duty wouldst not fear though men and Devils should combine against thee and the more experience thou hast the more thou wouldst be confident and say It 's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man It 's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes Psal 118.8 9. Do but consider that he is a Spirit and thou wilt abhor a meer bodily service and tremble to let thy lips go when thy heart imagineth deceit and is not imployed in his worship and thou wouldest worship him in spirit and in truth John 4.23 24. Therefore men worship him they know not how nor care not in what manner because they worship they know not what Ver. 22. Men would not dare to offer up to him the Sacrifice of fools if they did but consider with whom they have to do Eccles 5.1 Neither would they come with dead hearts before the living God This is the
Chaff with unquenchable Fire and will this not surely be brought to pass Mat. 3.12 Heaven and Earth may sooner pass away than one jot or tittle of his Word shall pass Mat. 5.16 Things that will certainly come to pass if they concern us in this life only though they be not near yet they are not slighted by us But if they are near and certain and highly concerning the thoughts thereof will rush in upon us and prevail against the greatest necessity of nature they will disturb our Rest and make us forget to eat our Bread Could a Man that were to be tryed for his Life to morrow or a day or two hence eat his Meat quietly or lie down upon his Bed in peace and take his Rest Psal 4.8 And canst thou read the Threats or Promises in the Word of God that concern thee so unspeakably and may be made good within one day or hour for all thou knowest and yet be no more overwhelmed with Joy or Terror They that are not awakened with the serious affecting thoughts of the most certain and near accomplishment of all that is threatned or promised in the Word of God will certainly be condemned in the number of those that do forget it These are the second sort of those that forget God Those that think not upon his sacred venerable Word 3. Thirdly They forget God indeed that overlook his most observable Works and regard not his remarkable Providences The Works of the Lord are great both of Creation and Provivence sought out of all them that have pleasure in them Psal 3.2 And those that have no pleasure in them will be sure to forget them There be several ways by which the Works and Providence of God is overlooked or several persons guilty of this sin 1. First They are signally guilty that deny Gods Providence in the Rule and Dispose of all Affairs either directly or by plain consequence There are none that deny it in the first sense that is directly and expresly but plain Atheists of which I would there were none in this Nation that believe in their Hearts that all things come to pass by Fate or Chance But they deny Providence by Consequence and Interpretation that are so intent upon Means and Instruments whereby any effect is brought to pass or rather upon the Effect it self that they do not at all look up any higher Psal 10.4 The Wicked thorow the Pride of his Countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts thy Judgments are far above out of his sight These lie under a deep guilt of this sin 2. Secondly They are guilty of this Wickedness also that can find out nothing among all the works of Creation and Providence so worthy their Observation as to captivate their Souls to the highest Reverence of their Author Highest I mean not in respect of the degrees of Reverence but of the kinds that is though he hath a Reverence for this Object and another for that another for a third yet he hath Highest and most principal veneration for him who doth so incomparably manage all things And who hath impudence enough to plead for that man that hath an understanding and considering Faculty and such Wonders to behold both in Heaven and Earth such Providences towards the World in general and such towards the Church in special and yer God no higher in his Judgment and Affections in his Thoughts and Heart than a full Chest and a little painted Skin and an adored Lust What hast thou heard the Voice of the Lord so often in Thunder and Lightning and seen the dreadful effects of them Hast thou not heard of a little of his Breath shut up in the caverns of the Earth that hath made this stable Body of the Earth to shake and tremble and rent and torn the very bowels thereof and overturned whole Cities at once Hast thou heard of the Division of Jordan and the Red Sea how the Waters parted and left a path-way in the midst of them whilst the People passed over of whom God had taken on him the Care and Conduct And how Pharaoh and his mighty Host were afterward overwhelmed by the same Waters who were their professed Enemies Hast thou read and believed what he did for Hezekiah when the proud King of Assyria threatned to swallow him up How he accepted his Tears heard his Prayers and an Army of Two hundred thousand men almost all struck dead in one night What he did for wicked Manasseh though he had filled Jerusalem with Idols and Blood yet how mercifully he heard him when he cryed to him in Chains Look into the sacred History or read over any profane History or consult thine own Eyes and Ears what thou hast seen or heard what he hath done to and for his Enemies and what he hath done for his Church or any parts or members of it and if thou canst be a Sot or Block under all and have Mens Persons in admiration because of advantage to thee Jude 16. rather than reverence and adore the Lord and mighty Worker of all take that thine is and go thy way thou art one that does overlook the Works of God 3. Thirdly They overlook the Works and Providence of God whose lives are ordered in a course of crossness and contradiction to them As History reports of Sardanapalus that he lay in Bed all day and rose at night when others went to Bed and so turned the day into night and the night into day So when God calleth by his Providence I mean by some formidable signs of his displeasure to Fasting and Weeping and Mourning and to girding with Sack-cloth and Baldness and behold Joy and Gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep eating Flesh and drinking Wine Esay 22.12 13. that will not see when the hand of God is lifted up 26.11 When God is â—utting up and throwing down and disgracing all worldly Pride They are seeking great things for themselves and feeding themselves with proud thoughts of what they have or what they hope to have Jer. 45.4 5. When God is pulling down the proud they are delighting themselves in Pride and Oppression of those that cannot defend themselves When God is searching for Sin they are hiding of it and when he is shewing his dislike of it and would stop the poison that it should spread no further it 's sweet in their Mouths they hide it under their Tongue they spare it and forsake it not Job 20.12 13. What a proud contempt of his Providence is it to sit still and shut our Eyes and not consider them Psal 111.4 He hath made his wonderful workâ— to be remembred But what a Pride is that that when God is debasing Men we will exalt them when God is visiting Sin and Transgression they are incouraging it in themselves or others and will not be searched but instead of starving their Lusts and Corruptions are making Provision for them When God is telling Men plainly of their
Death doth not deprive the Soul of all gracious and vertuous Sense and Motion but renders it unfit for the Spirit of true Vertue Grace and Holiness to dwell in and so there must needs follow a Devorce and Separation between them And as in the Natural Life there is a Union between the Soul and Body so in the Moral there is a Union between the Soul and God Death Metaphorical is the privation of all the comfortable effects of Life whether it be Natural or Moral whilst bear Life doth still remain and the presence of all those evils that may afflict or imbitter it And all these are either 1. Temporal 2. Eternal From what hath been spoken for the explication of these two terms Life and Death you may perceive what a priviledge and unspeakable favour it is to be translated from Death to Life 1. If thou Remembrest God The sting of a Natural Death is pulled out and though thou art not 〈◊〉 from the part of the penalty of sin whereby the Body is deprived of all sense and separated from the Soul yet thou art delivered from that which is most terrible in Death 〈◊〉 the misery or Death that will follow after and it is a comfortable passage for them that Remember God to endless Joy and Happiness and sometimes a welcome Messenger to them They may truly say as Agag 1 Sam. 15.32 The bitterness of Death is past 2. They are translated from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace and Holiness and are united unto God and are disposed by Faith and Love to that Holiness which is the Divine Perfection and the way to the highest Happiness and Honour that the Heart of Man can wish or desire Though this Life will be imperfect whilst we stay here And if there be such pleasure in the Union between the Soul and Body then there is much more in the Union between the Soul and God 3. As Death is put for Misery and the bitter and uncomfortable effects of the endless Life to come so they are passed from Death to Life The Sentence of Death that God hath passed against sin is so far revers'd And as for the Miseries and Evils of this Life though materially they may have more than other Men yet as to the formal and most essential part of them they feel them not so much as other Men because they are allay'd and sweetned 1. By the inward Peace and Comfort that God gives to those that Remember him 2. By the benefit and advantage they get by those outward Sufferings For as their outward Man is afflicted so their inward man is renewed strengthened and confirmed day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 For their light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory even in the beginnings of it here ver 17.3 It lessens their short and momentary sufferings that by them they escape so much Temptation and all the â—aiâ—s of sin are become the less taking If thou art one in whose Remembrance God is advanced above all other things thou shalt not die but live and declare the works of the Lord Psal 118.17 And though the Lord may chasten and correct thee yet he will not give thee over unto Death ver 18. For God is the Fountain of Life and in his Light thou shalt see Life Psal 36.9 O what a Mercy is it to be delivered from the power of Death and Darkness and to be translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son where thou shalt grow up from one degree of Life to another till thou come to everlasting Life Col. 1.13 At thy first entrance into this Kingdom Death is sentenced and some execution is done upon every sort of Death which will be perfected as this remembrance of God grows up to perfection in thee O Death I will be thy Plague O Grave I will be thy Destruction Hos 13.14 Which as it was verified of Christ personally understood so it is of Christ mystically understood 1. As Christ overcame Death in his Person so every true Believer such are all and only they that have God in their Remembrance hath gotten some conquest over Death which shall grow up to a full Victory and therefore Paul in the Name of the whole Church doth acknowledge this mercy Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory thorough our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15 5 7. Whilst the wicked forgetters of God are dead in trespasses and sins and dead to all soul and solid Joy and Comfort and designed to an eternal death Thou that thinkest upon God and remembrest his Love in Christ art entred into a state of Life and hast such a Promise that contains more in it than all the rich Indian Mines Because â—e hath set his Love upon me With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my Salvation Psal 91.16 If thou didst but know what a treasure is hid in thâ—â— Remembrance thou wouldst throw out every thing of thy Memory and Heart that hinders this Remembrance of God This one priviledge of being translated from Death to Life is big with a number more 1. It implies that thou art reconciled to God and he is at peace with thee and thou needest no more to fear him as thine Enemy All his Attributes of Power Justice Holiness Vengeance Majesty that sound so terrible to the forgetters of God do but the better secure thee of thine Happiness 2. It implies also thy present Justification in title of Law God hath acquitted thee by the law of Grace and Act of the Gospel from the guilt of sin and dissolved the Obligation to condemnation Who can lay any thing to thy charge if God absolve thee Who can do thee any hurt when Christ is become thy Advocate Rom. 8.33 3. With this mercy doth concur the mercy of Adoption and Sonship It 's no small Honour to be one of his menial Servants but to be a Son yea a Heir is a priviledge not easily valued and understood 4. The gift of the Spirit to dwell within thee is here also implied to mortifie all sin and to work all gracious habits that may fit thee for a state of Glory In a word 5. All real and relative Grace so far as is necessary to Salvation is thine either in Title Possession 1. The Righteousness of Imputation is thine whereby thou art made fit for Pardon and the Righteousness of Implantation is thine whereby thou art made fit for his Love and Complacency and sweetest Communion with him Secondly If thou art one that Remembrest God all things shall co-operate and conspire for thy good Every Age every state and condition of Life every Place and Company every Change and Alteration in the World Prosperity and Adversity Friends and Enemies Health and Sickness Honour and Dishonour every Relation thou art plac'd in shall help forward thy Joy and Felicity and some Foundation God is laying in every one of these whereupon to
run upon the vengeance of Eternal Fire and take no care to get the Crown that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5.14 They are inconsiderate and will not suffer their Hearts to muse on these things O if these things were considered to any purpose your worldly business which you now pretend so much against these things would seem light and trivial and meer Childs-play in comparison or that work which is of Ten thousand times higher concernment You would not on the one hâ—nd neglect the opportunities of your Souls and of getting Grace and Peace with God thorough our Lord Jesus Christ and making your felt for ever If these thoughts did but dwell in your Minds and if Consideration did but open your Eye and shew you the worth and excellency the force and necessity of these big and most concerning Truths Neither would you on the other hand attend the means of Grace with such sleepy inattentive wandring Hearts Is not that Man a sot indeed that can sleep upon a Scaffold when he is going to Execution Is not that Man a careless stupid wretch indeed that will give no attention or heed what the Judge says when he is passing Sentence either of Life or Death upon him And yet it is the case of many a sinner that 's careless and inconsiderate when he is dying and going into another World and therefore he makes none or but foolish preparation Consideration if it were followed would bring home these Truths and give them a power to pierce and become sensible and make the Man that doth consider them to live answerably to them Physick worketh not in the Prescription or Doctors Bill no nor in the Apothecaries Shop where it is prepared till it be taken and let down into the Stomach or some way taken into the Body for it nourisheth not in the Dish or on the Table no nor though it be taken into the Mouth if it be not transmitted into the Stomach and there concocted Neither will the greatest Truths cure the Distempers of a sinful and perverted Heart or nourish up the Soul to any Spiritual Life and vigour in the Book nor in the Mouth of the Teacher nor yet if they be taken into the Brain till Meditation bring them to the Heart and the Soul by Consideration look frequently upon the worth and weight of them and enforce Subjection and Obedience thereto For want of this Consideration of these few plain and important Truths it is that Men forget God and never attain to a due Remembrance of him and for want of this they relapse and lose their first Love and Memory of him And therefore Consideration is the best way to beget this Remembrance at first and to restore it afterwards Secondly Such Consideration is very soveraign and powerful to bring a Man at first to Remember God or to recover his Thoughts and Affections again after a decay and relapse because in both these cases the Word of God calls to Consideration and insists perpetually upon this Duty When the Prophets of God are sent to call Men to their first or after Repentance they usually deliver their Message in terms that express or imply Consideration After the return of the Jews from the Babilonish Captivity from the which the Lord had brought them by such a mighty hand they forgat the Lord and grew presently careless and negligent of his House and Worship and the Prophet Haggai is sent 1. To censure and reprove the sin and 2. To prescribe the Remedy and Means to cure their sin and bring them to Repentance Their sin is taxed pretty sharply and is charged on them by a cutting Interrogation Hag. 1.4 Is it time for you O ye to dwell in your cieled Houses and Gods House lie waste and consequently his Service neglected which was then so much confined to the Temple In the next verse he proposeth the Remedy ver 5. Now therefure thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways Nay to shew the vertue and necessity of it he urgeth it the second time ver 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways And the Prophet Isaiah implieth the excellency of this Remedy in that he doth lay the blame of Israels Rebellion and Ingratitude upon the want of this They were grown to a strange pass of monstrous Wickedness and Ingratitude which the Prophet knew not how to express and therefore calls upon Heaven and Earth to take notice that God had nourished and brought up Children and yet they rebelled against him Esa 1.2 and fetcheth his proof from the Brutes and irrational Creatures to convince them of their sin The Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib 1. saith Vatablus the Master of his Crib But Israel doth not know and what 's the reason of such shameful miscarriage My People doth not consider And Moses intimateth that Death and Judgment which are the most powerful means to awaken Men to Repentance and the Remembrance of God will do no good without Consideration but if he could bring them to this Duty to consider of these things he did not doubt their Welfare and Happiness Deut. 32.29 O that my People were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end This act of Consideration applied to this Object is a most excellent means to bring Men to Wisdom and Understanding which are insolent with an Impenitency and Forgetfulness of God And without this leading act of the Soul there can be no beseeming Apprehensions of him nor Service rightly performed to him And where there is least of this there is most of Formality and slightness in his Worship and most of Irreligion and Athiesm in the Life And therefore Moses when he is Exhorting the Children of Israel to a due Remembrance of God and Veneration of him he gives them this Advice Know therefore this day and consider it in thine Heart that the Lord he is God in Heaven above and upon the Earth beneath and there is none else Deut. 4.39 When Men flee off from this and will not set themselves to consider and understand neither Correction nor Instruction nor Mercies will succeed but all will lose their designed end and leave a Man under Impenitency and Forgetfulness And therefore Moses adviseth Israel thus to consider Deut. 8.5 Thou shalt not consider it in thine Heart that as a Man chasteneth his Son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee The same word in the Hebrew signifieth to Consider and Vnderstand because the one so much dependeth upon the other And as 1 Correction will not prosper without it so neither will 2. Instruction which is another means to to produce this worthy Remembrance of God Hence it is that the Apostle urgeth to consider what he had taught them or else the Instructions he had given them were like to be as Water spilt upon the ground 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Consider what I say and the Lord give you understanding in all things 2 Tim. 2.7
of him may be our sweetest daily Exercise and Imployment But without Consideration you cannot approach him nor get any transforming reviving sight of him His Ways are in the Seas and his Paths are in the deep Waters and Foot-steps cannot be known nor track'd without frequent Exercise of your Considering Faculty Psal 77.19 Secondly As we have the matters of greatest importance and necessity to Consider so we have many special advantages to excite and awaken Consideration One would think the worth and weightiness of the Object should be spur enough to quicken us to this Work and command our thoughts if there were no other motive to prick us forward but we have many current helps many a loud call from the Word of God set on by his appointed Servants that are sent forth on purpose upon this Errand Many providential help both sweet and terrible and something besides the common course strange and unusual and therefore more fit to set the Mind a thinking from what cause they come and what they drive at The veryest Atheist is sometime blank'd at some strange and unheard of events and knows not what interpretation to make of them nor whether to refer them for having denied the true Author of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They become vain in their imanations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And their foolish Heart is darkned Rom. 1.21 Yea that arch Opposer of Providence Epicurus himself had not made such a progress in Forgetfulness of God and the denial of a Deity governing and over-ruling the Affairs of the Earth but that he was so startled by some effects that he observed that he could not utterly wipe the notion of a Providence out of his Mind When a Blasphemer is struck dead in the very Act of his Blasphemy and Vengeance lights upon another with a fearful imprecation in his Mouth and some effects are so anomalous and besides the course of Nature that it is no thanks to the most Atheistical to bring in their Witness and to confess the Wisdom and Power and Justice of God Let a Man that truly worshippeth and feareth God in such a time of dreadful and publick Calamity as this is applaud the Justice of God and freely confess his handy work and assign the notorious publick allowed and encouraged sins of the City and Nation for the meritorious and provoking Cause It may be a purblind thick sighted Beast whose God is his Belly and whose Glory is his Shame that is drunk with Sensual Pleasure Phil. 9.13 will tell you that such a mortality comes about in the revolution and circle of so many years and will rake the Kennel for the Cause and ascribe the effects to the naughtiness of the Streets rather than to the naughtiness of their Hearts or look up to the true efficient to whom these causes they usually fasten upon are but subservient and all that they might hide their shame and that they might perswade themselves and others that their sin hath no hand in bringing such a scourge upon us but yet for all that when the Judgment comes a little nearer to them and begins to find them out and awaken them to Consideration which they had no time for when they were running from one brutish pleasure to another then they begin to see and to be confounded with shame They cannot now laugh out of their Hearts all serious thoughts of a Life to come nor make a jest of a Holy Life as they did in the day of their delusion but would give a World if they had it to die the death of the Righteous No wonder that strange and extraordinary Providences whether they be of Mercy or Judgment jostle the most sottish and inconsiderate Mind and awaken it to think other thoughts of all things than they did before and enforce an Heathenish Earthly Mind that spent all its thoughts upon vanity before to say that all is but vanity and God's Favour is the only ground for true Contentment if this good fit would last which Consideration hath brought him to But alas â—o sooner is the Providence over that brought him to Consider but he grows careless again and sleeps into Atheism and whilst things run in a constant Channel and keep a constant course God is not in all his thoughts Psal 10.4 Now they think that Repentance and Faith and Self-denial are the work of Cowards yes and such as believe that God hath as great hand in the orderly course and motion of things as when they go out of order and Water that is a fluid body and should run stands still and Fire that should burn doth not Let but a Man consider and it 's as easie to believe that it s as great a power must enable the Sun to run it's race as to stand still or go backward to preserve the Societies of Men as destroy and waste them with a devouring Plague All the difference is Men now consider that would not before and conclude at least that it 's the safest course to live the Life of the Righteous though there were no God and oh that all would so conclude and hold fast such a conclusion and live accordingly then they would quickly see more and more evidence of God in the Word and the necessity of his Service and the excellency of his ways and rise up to a higher conclusion That when as before they could say it was the safest way to renounce worldly Pleasure and to mortifie their Lusts and to addict themselves to the Love and Service oâ— God now they would be able to say that it 's perfect madness not to take this course It 's a Wisdom to be laughed at to be wise for this Life and neglect the Life to come A little Consideration would shew the nakedness of such pretended Wisdom and among other helps this of Publick Calamity where Plague or Famine or any extraordinary Judgment sweeps away thousands calls the rest to come and behold the works of the Lord what Desolations he hath wrought among us Psal 46.10 Be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the People I will be acknowledged by these careless and Atheistical Sinners ver 11. And if the Lethargy of Mens Minds be not great they will consider those that were even lost before for want of attention to the Word and Works of God will awaken now or it 's too much to be feared never shall I call it therefore a Judgment or a Mercy which the compassionate God hath sent upon this Nation that gives us so much advantage to come to sober thoughts Doth it not give some check whether we will or not to the external acts of Pride Luxury and Uncleanness whereby the inward Acts are weakened and we have time to reason with our selves and are better disposed to consider when freed from the clog of worldly cares and from the fumes of a surfeited Body overcharged with Meat and Drink and from the flattering Friend that make us
of Earthly Prosperity but that 's but a meer negative and no positive Act whereas true Contentment is something positive And that Soul that hath it doth not only hold its peace and say nothing to the contrary but with deliberation speaketh Peace to a Man upon the surest and most infallible grounds The plain truth is the Soul of an ambitious and voluptuous Worldling may seem to be satisfied and acquiesce if he hath what the World can afford him because he doth not believe or consider The end of all things is at hand 1 Pet. 4.7 But sense hath a full mastery over him being gratified to the full and doth make the Mind drunk that it cannot make an impartial enquiry into the worth of what the Man for the present is so much pleased with O if such a one did consider and believe he would like his condition worse than that of the vilest Begger He could not look into the Word of God and see such dreadful passages against those that have their Affections set upon the World and Pleasures thereof nor read the terrible Description of those Men that have the Riches of this World and are not rich towards God Luke 12.21 and not tremble and even throw away such Earthly Luggage that is such an impediment in the way to Salvation if he could not be otherwise rid of it And as the inconsiderate Mans great and principal End is no higher so he is as foolish and void of Understanding in his choice of the means whereby he would attain his End Alas that ever Men that have such excellent parts and means for their Improvement that are bred up to more Understanding than other Men should so disparage their very Reason and Judgmenâ— as to think that Hawking and Hunting and Carding and Dicing and Courting and Feasting and such like Courses should bring a Man to Content and Happiness If they did but consider they could not possibly judge this unless their Reason were besotted and there were some considerable flaw in their understanding Faculty I deny not but in reference to their intended End they have made a wise and prudent choice and hit upon the fittest means Their end being the pleasing of the Flesh what can they do more wisely than to make provision for it to fulfil the Lusts and Desires thereof Rom. 13.14 and to live at Ease And so the Children of this World as our Saviour hath affirmed are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light Luke 16.8 Their end though by accident being to lose the Life which is to come what can they do more shrewdly than to save this present Life Since their end is to destroy their Souls can they take a more prudent course than to love the World and the things of the World and keep all thoughts of a future state out of their Minds as much as may be lest they should be converted and saved This their way is their folly Psal 49.13 But the Man that Considers will look higher and be sure to project for all Eternity and make nothing his chief End but what will never fail and therefore hath a wiser reach than the most applauded admired Wit that is Earthly Minded And he is as wise in the choice of the means whereby he makes towards his End they being no other than what God himself hath prescribed and therefore can never miscarry his End is to save his Life for ever and therefore he will venture to lose it here Matth. 10.39 His end is to get him Everlasting Honour and to embalm his Name to all Eternity and therefore he doth rejoyce when Men revile him and speak all evil of him falsly for Christs sake Thus you see that Consideration maketh a Man truly and solidly wise This is the first benefit of Consideration 2. Consideration is a work accompanied with the sweetest Pleasure and Contentment The meer agitation and exercise of the Intellectual is sweet to one that knows how to employ them But when moreover the Objects of the Mind are such as do enlighten purifie and rejoyce the Heart such a Man if he know how to manage the work must needs advance himself to a high degree of pleasure The reason why some Christians grow weary and faint in the Service of God and walk heavily in the bitterness of their Souls a great part of their Life if not all is because they do not more frequently approach the Fountain of Joy and Gladness in their Meditations of him and do not so well consider the evil of Sin to forsake it more heartily nor clear up their interest in Christ and Evidences for Heaven by daily Consideration Were these things better considered they would be better known and what a pleasure would it be to think upon God and Heaven and Christ if we had but 〈…〉 â—â—â—erest in them Thus you see some of the fruits of Consideration Fourthly As the benefits of Consideration are unspeakably great so the mischiefs of Inconsideracy are as sad 1. God threatens it heavily Psal 28.5 Because they consider or gard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his Hands he will destroy them and not build them up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because they did not understand in the Original for Consideration and Vnderstanding are so near a kin that they are both expressed by the same word and Esay 5.12 13. And the Harp and the Viol and the Tabret are in their Feasts but they regard not the Work of the Lord nor consider the operation of his Hands So Hos 7.2 They consider not in their Hearts that I remember all their Wickedness now their own doings have beset them about they are before my Face Neither doth he barely threaten some Execution is done Job 34.26 27. He striketh them as wicked Men in the open sight of others and the Reason follows because they turned back from him and would not consider any of his ways 2. It 's an Argument of Brutishness and Folly Psal 92.5 6. O Lord how great are thy Works and thy Thoughts very deep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Man that 's led by Lust and not by Reason we render it a Brutish Man knoweth not neither doth a Fool understand or consider this As it is Reason and Understanding that makes a Man differ from a Bruit and become more excellent than a Beast so Consideration is nothing else but the use of his Reason without which he must needs live like a Beast To speak plainly he that will not use his Reason and consider and so live like a Man that should be guided by this higher Principle he will be guided by a lower Principle and be led by Sense and Feeling as a Beast is And a little that is present and felt shall weigh more with such a one than one that 's to come though ten times greater Hence it is that though God threaten a wicked Man and one that lives by sense with Hell and Damnation it hath no
is among the Saints and such as excel in wisdom Psal 16.3 O what a blessing hath God bestowed upon the man or woman to whom he hath given a considering mind How quickly is such a man promoted and brought to unspeakable honour yea to find approbation with God! Such a man is quickly higher by head and shoulders as it s said of Saul than the rest of the inconsiderate doting World I have more understanding saith David than all my teachers for thy Testimonies are my meditation Psal 119.99 You that are yet captivated to the love of any thing here on Earth and like to perish in that state If you will but attentively consider what you dote upon and what you venture for it you would perceive your danger and certainly make your escape and feel the vertue of this excellent duty of Consideration And your present content would make you sick of your former delight And the Honourablest men on earth that had not feasted on this food would seem to you but vile and contemptible persons Methinks I see the man recovered by Consideration tâ—king up his parable like Balaam and saying Thus saith the man whose eyes consideration hath opened He saith who hath heard the words of God and seen the Vision of the Almighty How goodly are the Tents in which God dwelleth and the tabernacles of their hearts where God hath his habitation As the Valleys are they spread forth as Gardens by the Rivers side as the Trees of Ligh-Aloâ—s which the Lord hath planted and as Cedar Trees besides the waters Numb 24.3 4 5 6. And as Consideration would recover the dead and bring them out of the Grave of â—gnorance and Corruption and shew them the excellency of Divine wisdom and purity so that it would keep them in breath that are already translated from death to life and inspire fresh vigour and cheerfulness into all their services it would fill their hearts with a burning love to God and make their lives as a shining light before men It would strengthen their faith and fortify their hopes and put a fresh complexion upon their must withering and consumptive Graces and make their heart to abound and run over with joy and gladness By this time no doubt you see something of the worth and excellency of Consideration and what a gainful trade it is Will you therefore bend your minds to consider and spend more of your time in this work I know the corrupted heart of man is backward to this exercise though it be of such flat necessity and of such eternal advantage yea though it breed so much delight and pleasure after we have gotten some skill and made some progress in the work and have gotten some power over our own affections and can bespeak them in the most suitable moving way For cure therefore of this backwardness I have given you some quickning Considerations to stir you up to this duty and to gain the consent of your wills to this necessary duty In hopes therefore that you are convinced of the necessity of the duty and fully resolved on the performance and that you will not neglect such a duty any longer nor stand in the way of your own light and comfort I come next to give you some Help and Assistance for the more comfortable and successful management and performance of the work And First Endeavour to your power to shun all Impediments but especially those that are most likely to stupify and unfit your minds for Consideration they are obvious I need only to put you in remembrance First Take heed that you sin not maliciously 1. with Wilfulness and Presumption For Divines usually distinguish of Three sorts of Sins 1. Sins of Ignorance when through want of knowledge we transgress the Law of God and do that unwittingly which if we had known to be a violation of the Law of God we would not have done 2. Sins of Infirmity such as are committed through the unavoidableness unruliness of our Sense Phantasy or Passion which are not wholly under the power and command of Reason no not when it is truly enlightned and sanctified 3. Such as are committed with Knowledge and Deliberation when it is in our power to avoid them and will not what these are I need not inform you every one may be his own judge These last sort are called by some Sins of Malice and how much such sins as these will hinder all duty as well as Consideration there is no Christian of any experience but knows too well And therefore David prayeth especially against such sins as these Psal 19.13 Keep back thy servant from Presumptuous Sins let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and innocent from the great transgression If thou hast any good affection to this duty and art convinc'd that thy Soul will certainly perish without frequent serious consideration thou hast need to take heed of such sins as these Believe it these will wound thy Conscience break thy inward peace mightily provoke the Lord and draw away the Spirit from thee and fill thee with disturbing fears and besot thy mind that it shall not be fit for Consideration or if not such sins as these will dispose thee to hide thy self and get into thee dark and slie consideration as that which will discover thy shame and make thee odious to thy self Never think to bend thy mind to an impartial consideration of God and his Attributes and the Equity of Laws nor to think of thy latter end and the life to come to any purpose or to hear a right answer from thy Soul when thou puttest the question whether it be sanctified or unsanctified whilst thou givest thy consent and allowest thy self to live in any known sin I may say of Consideration as Mr. Bolton said of Prayer That it will make thee leave such presumptuous sinning Or else such sins will make thee to cast off Consideration you may as well hope to reconcile light and darkness as to bring these to any agreement Where Consideration is in any strength there will be no wilful sin or else Hell it self Art thou one that allowest thy self in the habitual neglect of any known duty Canst thou freely indulge thy self in any unjust or ungodly practice Are thy Thoughts at liberty to think vainly and wickedly without curb or controll Is thy Tongue at liberty to utter falshood and deceit to call evil good or good evil to plead any unrighteous causes or to disgrace any way that thou knowest in thy Conscience God approveth of Art thou wilfully proud or uncharitable and art thou intemperate in thy Appetite or Passions or commonly guilty of any such sin that thy own Conscience doth condemn No wonder then if Consideration be an unpleasant work to thee and if thy Thoughts turn away from him that abhorreth all iniquity but that especially which is wilful and allowed It is no marvel that Meditation is seldom or never in the word of the Lord
as these and to take this day into your sober consideration Though you should think on the greatest worldly matters and your thoughts be imployed in the management of the Affairs of a Kingdom yet if you think not upon the Affairs of this great and wonderful day you do but trifle and dream away your precious life They that have but a Cause to be tryed before a Judge of Nisi Prius that very much concerns their Estates cannot but remember it and consider how they may come off with success but those that are to be tryed for their Lives cannot sleep nor talk it out of their mind by Night the terrible Apparitions of it in their fancies interrupts their repose and sleep and the horrible thoughts of it in the day time strikes them mute and damps all their discourse And shall not a day far more remarkable where you must undergo a Tryal for your Eternal Estate and Life be considered And it is the more worth your consideration because the Judge before whom this Tryal must be made is He that made thy self and all the World clothed with his Robes of Majesty and Justice He that delivered into thy hands thy Reason Memory Judgment Freewill Senses Honours Estates as Talents to be now accounted for Did not all the Priviledges of thy Birth and Education Did not all the Mercies of thy Infancy Youth and Riper Age come from above Deny it now if thou canst And were not all thy choicest dearest comforts as Pearls begotten by the Dew of Heaven His Circuit is not confined to one Nation or piece of a Nation but the Circuit that he will ride in that great day shall be the Heaven of Heavens with a glorious Train and Retinue of Saints and Angels and the people that shall be gathered before him are are the whole Creation of Angels and Men the matters that must then be brought to Examination and Tryal are the secret and more publick actions of our whole lives the Witnesses that shall be produced shall be such as are beyond all Exception viz. mens own Consciences the Devil and his Angels that are continually watching our miscarriages and the Judge himself that can tell the time the place the persons with whom or the things about which the wickedness hath been committed and the Question that shall be then decided in the face of all the world shall be whether the persons thus tryed shall live or die for ever These are no fidling trifling matters to be slighted nor unworthy your serious forethought and consideration besides the Judge is inflexible and cannot be bended by force bribery or entreaty If you look into Psal 50.4 5 6. you shall see with what circumstances of Majesty and Terrour this Judg's Process is described and set forth a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him he shall call to the Heavens from above and to the Earth that he may judge his people and the Heavens shall declare his Righteousness for God is Judge himself Were this day well believed and considered men would not live in any fashion nor think and speak any thing that comes next nor do actions that they dare not call themselves to account for They would fear their own Consciences more than a thousand Witnesses which in despite of them will be privy to all their actions I warn thee to take heed of this Witness for it will betray thee If thou art wise when thou hast any wickedness to commit see that neither God nor the Devil nor thine own Conscience have any eye upon thee and then thou canst find no place nor time in which thou canst be secure As it is the great policy of Satan to hide this day from thine eyes and to keep it out of thy thoughts if he can that he may take thee Captive at his will so it should be thy chief care to have it continually before thine eyes that thou mayst escape his temptations The lively frequent thoughts of this day made Paul so unwearied in the work of the Lord and so importunate with his hearers Knowing the terrours of the Lord saith he we perswade men 2 Cor. 5.11 And it was the great Argument he used with Tim. to spur him up to the like diligence 2 Tim. 4.1 2. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine And when he did but cast a flash of this day into the eyes of Felix you know what effect it had on him Acts 〈◊〉 24.25 Though Paul was but a Prisoner at the Bar and Felix his Judge upon the Bench yet when Paul reasoned with him of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come the Text saith Felix trembled It 's madness to put this day out of thy mind which God hath put into his Word as the most powerful Curb to all Sin and the most irresistible motive to a sober righteous and a godly life Be not afraid to entertain this day into thy Meditations the consideration and forethought of this day doth not make it but make thee ready for it whether thou thinkest of it or not it cometh on apace and thine eyes shall shortly behold the Solemnity of it either to thy terrour or to thy unspeakable joy S. Hierom thought he heard the very Trumpet sound continually that must call all the world together whatsoever he was doing the Voice was never out of his ears All the Musick of Worldly Delights and Pleasures would be but as sounding Brass and a tinkling Cymbal to one that hath this Trumpet frequently in his hearing think but believingly of the terrible Pomp and glorious Solemnity of that day and then think of vanity and folly with delight if thou canst These thoughts would drown the petty thoughts of worldly matters as the Report of a Cannon doth a Whisper or as the Sun obscureth the smallest Glow-worm And if any thing would stop thee in a course of sinning these thoughts would do it Thou would'st think it a poor shift to fly to the dark to cover thee when thou committest any iniquity if thou didst but consider that what is done in secret shall then be proclaimed upon the house-top and God will find Evidence enough to convince thee that thus and thus thou didst when he kept silence◠yea thou shalt betray thy self by thy own confession This is another Object of thy thoughts and very worthy thine often Consideration Eighthly Another thing that you should frequently steep your thoughts in is the joys of Heaven and unexpressible happiness of the Saints in Light there the Fountain of all Bliss and pleasure shall stand open and the Face of glorious Majesty shall be revealed Here we behold him but in a glass and see but a glimpse of his back-parts but then we shall see him face to face
health and strength and friends may prove treacherous and unfaithful all thy worldly hopes may become like a Spiders Web Job 8.14 The Heavens over thy head may turn into darkness and the Sun and Stars may refuse to give their light the Earth may fail under thy feet and reel to and fro and stagger like a Drunken Man and the Inhabitants thereof may be at their wits end but the Word of God will never fail thee it shall be accomplished in despight of all opposing power and the threatnings and promises thereof shall stand when all other things shall fall to the ground and be like water that 's spilt on it that cannot be gathered up again Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not one jot nor tittle of the Word of God shall pass till all be fulfilled Mat. 5.18 And Mat. 24.35 God that hath established the Earth so firmly though it hang upon nothing and it abideth and shall abide till the great Earthquake shall come he that hath fixed the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth and setled the appointed times and seasons of Spring and Summer Winter and Harvest Day and Night and they continue to this daâ— without variation according to his Decree for all are his servants Psal 119.90 91. and Gen. 8.22 will make good the word that is gone out of his mouth and it shall not return till it hath accomplish'd that which he hath spoken Isa 55.11 And therefore David acknowledgeth that he had magnified his Word above all his Name So much for the matter of our Consideration or the things that we should frequently consider I conclude with that in Psal 107.43 Who so is wise will consider these things and they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. I come in the next place to speak to the manner or to shew how Consideration shold be exercised First after you have lift up your heart to God for the heavenly Light and Assistance set your self seriously to the duty as in his sight and presence Trifling with all matters of moment is inconsistent with the nature of such things and betrays our folly But it is the bane and poison of all Religion and a wicked disparagement both to that and our selves if whatsoever our hand findeth to do we should do it with our might Eccles 9.10 then much more should we rouze up our selves and put to all our strength when we have works of the greatest consequence in our hands we must not be slothful in such business as this is especially but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain is a precept that extends it self to all Religious Acts and strictly forbids a slight and customary performance of them Thou art guilty of Irreverence and contempt of such sacred things and consequently of God himself to whom they are nearly related when thou medlest in them with a careless and wandring spirit and mayest expect that the anger of the Lord should wax hot against thee when thou art so cold in his service If God threatned to spew the Church of Laodicea out of his mouth because she was but lukewarm in his service Rev. 3.16 He will certainly deal worse with them that are stone-cold in their approaches to him The heart and soul of Consideration and all other Religious Acts are wanting when the heart and soul and strength are not imployed in them For when earnestness and serious intention of the mind and heart are deficient it not only turns Religious Acts into meer form but makes them utterly unsuccessful You will miss of your intended purpose when you come to God and seek for mercy in a careless and customary manner you will never obtain wisdom at the hands of God if you know not how to be importunate for it when you are shut up in affliction and misery and cannot get out if you cannot cry aloud and knock at the door of grace it will never be opened to you The Lord will give you a praying spirit fervent in supplication if ever he intend to give you the thing prayed for He will give you a heart seriously to Consider if ever he work the saving truths into your heart if you are not serious in the service of God you cannot be sincere and how well God will accept that service in which sincerity is wanting look into the word of God and Judge The Consideration I am pressing you to is a principal part of Gods Worship I speak not of that which is occasional and ordinary for such Consideration must accompany all your Actions both toward God and men if ever they be prudently managed but of that Consideration which is set and solemn and that requires some time to be set apart for it as well as Prayer and other Duty during which time we must no more intermix our thoughts with worldly matters then we must in Prayer and Hearing and Reading the Word of God But our Meditations must be tied to the most weighty saving truths till we begin to feel the power of them upon our hearts that so they may command our Lives 'T is such serious Consideration as this about the greatest and uncontroverted truths for some set time together till suitable affections and resolutions be kindled in us which is such an excellent part of Gods Worship because it inspires the Soul with Life and Fitness for all other Worship and Service and if you do not awaken and call up the powers of your Soul and seriously imploy them in this work of Consideration you are never like to see the beauty and excellency of these saving truths nor to feel the mighty power of them Ignorance and prejudice have so fast closed the eyes of your understanding that unless you rub hard they will never be opened and the affections are so backward to the most weighty things that unless they be set upon in good earnest and enforced by the evidence and mighty power of these truths they will not stir to any purpose nor ripen your Soul for Practice Secondly You must narrowly watch over your heart and keep it close to the work and when it refuseth you must use the Authority God hath given you over it to compel it Though the Soul hath not that absolute command over its own thoughts and affections which once it had before it rebelled against God yet it hath not quite lost its Soveraignty and power Experience doth sufficiently assure us that we can command our thoughts to this or that subject keep them on it if we will take pains with them even those that want the special Grace of God and are unsanctified in heart can yet bend their thoughts to think on God his Attributes and his Word and Works the Life to come the vanity of Creatures and make very pertinent moving discourses on them else none can Preach but such as are endued with saving Light and Knowledge much more may they command
their Meditations to these heavenly Subjects that have some prevailing love to them which every Carnal man is deprived of I know the affections are not so easily compell'd as the thoughts It must be the clearness and importunity of the understanding that must excite and quicken the affections But yet serious Meditation on such weighty moving objects as these are on which your Meditations should be exercised will do much to stir the fire and make the heart feel what the mind doth so clearly understand It is the way that God hath prescribed for a man to prevail with his own heart to take it off from vanity and enamour it with those things that are Divine and Heavenly Objects and moving reasons kept much upon the mind by serious thoughts are the great Engine appointed both by Nature and by Grace to turn about the Soul of Man and they are to the Soul as Meat and Drink and taking in the Air to the Body Objects well considered do turn the Soul into their Nature saith a Reverend and a most skilful Divine when therefore your mind begins to be weary of these thoughts and to rove and wander fetch it in again and lay your charge and command upon it and if that will not do urge the Command Authority of God and be sure not to let it bafle thee Quicquid imperavit Animas obtinuit saith that Excellent Heathen Sen. de ira You are like to profit no further in the heavenly duty of Consideration at first than you force and compel your self Tantum proficies quantum tibi vim intuleris Claud Clem. Bib. But the success will make amends for all Think it not a tedious unpleasant task to attend the Affairs of your own Soul and to do a work so pleasing unto God What hast thou thy time and faculties for if not to imploy them in his service that gave thee both time and faculties Doest thou grudge to set them a work to thine own unspeakable advantage Had'st thou rather live like a Beast than like a Man in the best use and exercise of thy Reason Check thy self after this manner when thy Mind begins to be unruly and thy fleshly brutish part would call thee off from the most rational improvement of thy time in such wise and provident thoughts for thine Eternal happiness sometimes thy mind will loiter and then it will be thy duty to spur it up by the most perswasive quickning Arguments thou canst suggest to it and such thou shouldest have ready at hand to serve for that use sometimes it will divert and then thou should'st Rein it in with as much resolution as thou would'st an unruly Beast that would carry thee out of thy way and when thy heart is ready to frustrate all these helps intermix some short Ejaculations to God with thy Meditations and appeal to him for strength to Master thy own thoughts and affections If thou gainest the Victory thou hast done more than if thou hadst conquered a Kingdom Prov. 16.32 Thirdly Address thy self to this Duty with the confident expectations of a blessing Think there is more to be gained this way than by any other exercise of thy mind the stronger thy hopes are of a blessing that will answer all thy pains the more chearfully will the work go on If thou expectest nothing in this way of obedience to God and exercise of thy thoughts but art dragg'd to it meerly by the threats of thine own Conscience that telleth thee roundly it is thy duty it will be done with little pleasure and as little profit But if thou wouldest make a Vertue of Necessity and perform that willingly that must be done however then sweeten thy labour by the Harvest that will come in and take as much pains to gratifie thy Soul for ever and to sow in it the Seed of endless felicity as thou would'st to sow thy Land that thou mayest enjoy the Crop that it promiseth to bring thee forth Thou doest thy self wrong to leave out such thoughts as these when thou art setting about the work of Consideration they will infuse life into thy Meditations to think that they shall not be in vain in the Lord. The harder the Duty is that is enjoyned the greater is the gain after it is conscientiously perform'd It 's sinful despair and unbelief that weakneth our hands to Prayer and Meditation and cutteth the Nerves and Sinews of all Duty This bringeth a damp upon us and discourageth all our endeavours As ever therefore thou would'st perform this Duty with any life perform it in hope If thou hadst no other hope but to please God in the performance of a Duty so highly acceptable to him even this alone were well worth thy pains But when thou mayest be sure that this Duty of Consideration therefore pleaseth God because it is so fit a means to advance thy self in saving knowledge and vertue and to make the best improvement of thine intellectuals and affections and to lay the true and solid grounds of endless pleasure and felicity thou hast a Spur indeed to quicken thee But this is not all thou mayst also hope oft-times to find the sweetest content and pleasure in such exercise of thy thoughts So that whereas there are but three sorts of that which we call good or three Capitals to which all that is desirable may be referr'd viz. Bonum honestum utile jucundum For all that is good is either 1. Honest 2. Profitable 3. Pleasant Thou hast ground sure enough to hope that they will all concur in the Conscientious performance of this Duty To expect indeed to grow wise in any other way than God hath authorized and appointed would be a foolish confidence and presumption and such as would certainly end in disappointment and shame But to expect a blessing in such an unquestionable way of duty as Consideration is which both nature and Scripture do so plainly teach thee this is no rash but a well grounded hope Address your self to the duty of Consideration with such hopes as these and you shall find if other necessaries also do concur that the work will prosper in your hand and you also will prosper by it Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.5 Yea thou shalt understand Righteousness and Judgment and Equity and every good Path vers 9. Try this course and throw out all disturbing hindring thoughts out of thy mind and do but consider some of these weighty Truths which I have recommended to thee and assault thine own affections with the moving power of them and see whether thy time be miss-spent or thy labour lost Assuredly Wisdom will enter into thine heart and Knowledge will be pleasant unto thy Soul Discretion shall preserve thee and Understanding shall keep thee and deliver thee from the way of the evil man from the man that speaketh thinketh froward things who leaveth the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness
weakest and lowest measure of true or prevailing love to God Thirdly And as this Love encreaseth all troublesome slavish Fear and sad Expectations do scatter and fly away Who that hath the interest in God that such a love doth entitle to need to fear Sickness or Poverty or Crosses or Death it self considerably if he knows he is united to one so firmly that hath Life and Death in his hands and hath the Command of all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and Hell The Sleep of such a Man must needs be sweet His Food though never so course cannot but refresh and comfort him And all his Comforts are Comforts indeed because none of them are disturbed with those Raving Mad and disturbing Passions that every Man void of this love of God cannot be free from more or less How quietly doth such a Man lie down and rise up because the Lord when he thus loves maketh him to dwell continually in safety Psal 4.8 Fourthly As this Love encreaseth Temptation will lose its force and grow weaker and weaker How little will Riches and Honour and worldly Pleasures draw that Man to commit sin and displease God that feels the love of God and the sweet Consequences of it in his Soul and also knows that he hath or may have enough in him They may tempt a Fool and one that hath little or no experience of the love of God and that wants something to set his heart at rest and quiet But he that is rich already and truly happy will not easily catch at shadows but study to keep what he is possessed of and which he knows to be Treasure indeed He may in a short fit of inconsideracy perhaps forget God and his Soul and give some ease to Temptation in such an hour but he will quickly return again And then when he remembers God again he will be troubled Psal 77.3 And his folly will cost him dear And his Soul will cleave the faster afterwards to God when he hath been better taught by so bad experience Fifthly As this love encreaseth all base and sordid love will slink away and depart with confusion and shame Who will love a Harlot that is deformed when he may honestly enjoy sweeter and better love Sure none but a perverted distempered Mind Who will feed upon Husks when he may have the most pleasant wholsome and delicious Fare None but one that hath lost his Reason And who will dote upon a Trifle when he may have a Crown and Kingdom to be delighted with Certainly so far as a Man feels he loves God he disdains the love of other things that will not consist with him And he will abhor the Motion that 's back'd with the greatest worldly Preferment that would draw away his heart from God Had he not tasted how good and gracious the Lord is and how happy a thing it is to live in Unity with him He might perchance hearken to every deluding Pleasure that courts his Affections But after he hath received the love of God into his heart and felt what a reviving Cordial it is the Pleasures and Honours of the World come too late and seem but Dung and Dross when they are laid in the Scales with that No Man saith our Saviour having drunk old Wine straightway desireth new for he saith The old is better Luke 5.39 You know that famous Marquess Galeoc Carac was moved with indignation at such an offer as that Cursed are they saith he that think all the Gold and Silver in the World worth one day's Communion with Christ And thrice wicked are they that would wed Mens Affections to the World and divorce them from Christ When there is a plain Competition or Contradiction between God and any worldly happiness the presentment of such a happiness to a gracious heart and one that truly loves God looks like a motion from the Devil and provokes him to fly in the face of him that makes it and to abhor such a Sollicitor Let me live saith such a one in Poverty and Raggs rather than forgo what I now enjoy Let those that never felt the love of God in their hearts feed upon Trash if they please I have a better Dyet Better is a little with the fear of the Lord and his favour than the greatest treasure without it Prov. 15.16 Better is a dinner of Herbs where this love is than a stalled Ox and hatred therewith vers 17. It 's but a ridiculous foolish thought to think to draw an experienced Saint away from the love of God by Silver and Gold and a little gaudy Apparel and delicious Fare and two or three fair Words and some few more slight Courtesies the World can do for him when he sees the vast difference between an immovable Rock and a Reed shaken with every wind And that there is none in Heaven but God and none upon the Earth that his soul can desire in comparison of him Ps 73.25 The Law of thy Mouth saith David is dearer to me than thousands of Gold and Silver more to be desired than Gold Psal 119.14 yea than the most solid refined Gold sweeter also than the Honey and the dropping of the Honey-comb Psalm 19.10 And iâ— the Law was so lovely and excellent in his esteem much more the Law-giver I conclude therefore that the Love of God is the best Antidote against all base and poisonous love whatsoever and will not permit the World with any of its Pleasures to prevail where it is It will cast this Bond-woman with her Sons and not suffer them to be Co-heirs with God and his Son Gal. 4.30 Since therefore O my Soul it is so highly consonant to that Reason that is in thee and conduceth so much to the highest Honour and Perfection and brings in such incomparable Advantage Why art thou so backward and averse to this sweetest Imployment which is so sweet 1. In the very Exercise 2. And sweeter the more it is exercised 3. And makes all other Duty sweet easie and pleasant which for want of this Quickuer goes on but dully sometimes and is quickly tyred And so much as this warm Affection is wanting all thy Services will wax more and more chill and cold till at last if that spark go quite out I mean as to the exercise there will be a stop in all Duty and all will be frozen up And if the Pulse of this Affection cease to beat towards God all Devotion and Exercise of Piety towards him will suffer a Deliquium and be in a fainting Fit and Swone Why then is thy heart no more transported with this Love David felt so much pleasure and sweetness in this Work that he could not forbear to provoke others to partake with him in this noblest delight by a most Patherical Invitation O Love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserveth the Faithful Psalm 31.23 Thou canst love other things too sensibly that have not half the force and strength that this Object hath
they pass beyond our Imagination Fancy what thou wilt and Majesty Pomp and Beauty can present thee with it 's all but a poor faint Resemblance of the Glorious Life to come It 's easier for a Pencil to draw the Picture of Sound and Tast than for the Tongue to utter or the Heart to imagin The Joys of Heaven All that a curious Artist can do to describe the Content of a Soul at Rest with God and perfectly Happy is so far from what he would but cannot say as Heaven is from Earth We know There 's nothing of all this that we see hear or tast or imagin in the Heavenly Paradise But thou mayest be sure there 's more than all this Considerations to excite Shame and hearty Sorrow for all former Departure from God and present Strangeness to him THough God delighteth not in Sorrow and Contrition meerly as it is the Misery and Affliction of his Creature but rather is afflicted with them in all their Sorrows Isaiah 63.9 yet as it is an expression of any sincere hatred of former sin and willingness to forsake it and comes from any true Love to God who is dishonoured by it and Mens own Souls of which it is the death and destruction and leads directly to their future Reformation and Happiness so the Lord is delighted therewith And a sinner one that is yet under the guilt of his sins cannot present him with a better Sacrifice For The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and contrite heart O Lord thou wilt not despise Psalm 51.17 1. Thou wilt take pleasure in by a usual Figure called Litote or Mecoses And in the former Clause of the Verse The Sacrifices that is The Sacrifice of Sacrifices as the Heaven of Heavens is put for the Highest Heaven In which Forms of Speech it 's customary with the Hebrew Language to leave out the first Substantive * Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for the Elephant because she is the chief Saith Grot. of Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for God himself because he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most excellent wisdom Psal 49.3 So the Canticles is put for the Canticle of Canticles or the most excellent Song Instances there are many of this kind to shew that the Plural Number is sometime instead of the Comparative Degree Thus you see in what sense God is delighted in our Sorrow and taketh pleasure in a sighing and broken Heart even in the same sense that Paul was glad at the sadness of the Corinthians even as it was a sign of and step to their future Amendment and Happiness 2 Cor. 2.2 For if I make you sorry saith he who is he then that maketh me glad but the same which is made sorry by me And indeed it is no wonder that the merciful God that delighteth so much in the welfare and felicity of his Creatures should yet be so well pleased in the bitter Repentance and heart-breaking Sorrow of sinful Creatures since it is such a preparative to your future Joy and that so many excellent Texts of Scripture are dropt from the Holy Spirit to encourage Sinners to labour after such a wounding piercing Sorrow as this is So Isaiah 57.15 Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirit of the Humble and the Heart of the Contrite one So Isaiah 66.2 There he seemeth to despise and slight the most magnificent stately Structure which they could build him and to prefer the humble contrite Heart far before all that the Hands of Men could possibly make Thus saith the Lord The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool where is the House that ye build unto me And where is the place of my rest For all these things hath my Hand made But to this Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word And how frequently is he said to comfort those that Mourn and to bind up the broken in Heart to regard their Sighs and bottle up their Tears as if there were no Temper that God more delighteth in There are some though very few that need to be warned and admonished that they do not place the Principal Part of God's Worship and Service in Sighs and Tears and pricking Sorrow and shameful Confessions of their Sin Not that I disswade any from giving due Time and Measure to these humbling self-abasing Acts For it is the design and business of this present Labour to promote this Sorrow in the Heart so far as it is a fit Instrument to promote Reformation in the Heart and Life But yet some I say have need of this Caution that they lay not too much stress upon this part of our Duty we owe unto God much less that they confine the whole work and business of Religion to Acts of Contrition and Mortification For though the Lord delighteth in the penitent broken Heart that mourneth over all its former Sin and Folly and is ashamed of his odious hainous Transgressions and doth loath himself for his Iniquities and doth particularly search into his Sores and uncover them before God with the most distinct clear and open Confession yet this is but a lower and preparatory step to that Love of God constant delight in him praises of him chearful obedience to him in the which he is far more delighted so that Tears and Sorrow and heart-melting Repentance and afflicting our Souls are not absolutely pleasing to God and a part of the immutable unchangeable Worship we owe to him but only acceptable to him 1. Upon supposition of former Miscarriages 2. In preparation to future Obedience Had we never sinned Sorrow and Repentance had been no acceptable Service to God at all neither would it have pleased him to see us go heavily as those that mourn But now supposing that every one of us is born into the World with hereditary Corruption and a depraved Nature quite contrary to that which God gave Man at the first the very first acceptable Service that we can perform to God is to be sensible of and to bewail this perverse Disposition according to its desert and to weigh and consider all the sad and woful Consequences of such a poisoned corrupted Nature how hateful it is to God how disgraceful to our selves here and how destructive to our souls hereafter and how dangerous and infectious it is to others that we are firmly resolved to take any Course to recover our former Freedom and Priviledge we had in the state of Innocency that God shall suggest to us It is as preposterous to offer up any Service to God till this be done as it is to â—earn to Read before we are acquainted with
the Letters of which every Word we read is composed or as it is to give restorative Food to a distempered Body before the peccant Matter be purg'd out that is the cause of the Distemper But then though it be the first step in Religion and the first acceptable Service we can perfornâ—â—â— God It is not there that we must rest we are not there to sit down and advance no further as if we were gotten to Hercules Pillaâ—s and there were no higher Perfection to be attained in Religion And to mistake the subordinate and subservient part of God's Service for that which is more perfect and principal for hereby Sin and the Devil will get these Two great Advantages 1. God will be misrepresented both to our selves and others and he that is so full of Compassion and Mercy and all amicable and lovely Perfections will be thought by the Religion which he preserâ—bes to be cruel and unmerciful and to delight in the Torment and Affliction of his Creatures For Men will be drawing his Image by such a false Pencil And then 2. They that make it their whole endeavour to weep and mourn and afflict themselves for their sins will thereby disable both Body and Soul for any Service of God at all and both destroy their Bodily Health and overthrow their Reason And so whilst they are bewailing their Sin and as they think are conquering of it they do but entangle themselves the more and utterly waste that strength that should mortifie and subdue it And the reason why God doth speak so much in his Word in approbation of the sorrowful broken and contrite Heart which I doubt is the Reason of these Mens mistake is because such Persons have need of such Encouragement and might otherwise faint under the Anguish and Burthen of their Spirits and therefore because he would not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax till he hath brought forth Judgment unto Victory He gives these Cordials to such as are under the Pangs of the New Birth But he had much rather that Men would leave the Principles of the Doctrin of Christ and not stick always at the Foundation of Repentance from Dead Works and of Faith towards God Not that we are to shake hands with Repentance and sorrow for Sin after we are once heartily converted unless we could be sure to commit no more sin But then sin will need a more short and transient sorrow when we presently bewail it so soon as ever it is committed But our first Repentance and Sorrow will cost us hotter Water and put us to â—â—â—e trouble If a Man that hath a long Journey to go should set out a quite contrary way to the place whither he is to go and so travel on till he hath spent half or more of the time that is allotted for his Journey you must needs think that will cost him more vexation and trouble to get into his right way than after he is gotten in if he should chance to step out a Mile or two A small Errour is more speedily corrected than a great one of long continuance But yet it is always true That it 's better to prevent sin and keep out of it at the first than to get out of it by Repentance Though by Accident and through the Mercy of God it may sometimes prove better to the sinner that he did fall into sin if he doth afterwards heartily rerepent of it But absolutely and in it self it is not better And he that should presume to let loose the Reigns to Sin upon that account I believe would find it much worse But before I produce those Considerations which through the Blessing of God may stir up and strengthen this Affection which must prepare the way for Faith in Christ which lays the Foundation for all Joy and Peace I will first shew what this Godly Sorrow doth imply or what Acts are included in it if it be such as will work Repentance never to be repented of And here let me Note That Repentance is sometimes taken by a Synechdoche for the whole Work of Conversion and then it includes Faith in it so it 's taken Luke 15.7 There shall be joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance So Luke 13.3 5. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish where Faith also is implied So Acts 11.18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life where Repentance is named as the only condition of Life which without Faith also in Christ cannot be had and therefore it is included Sometime Repentance is taken only for Contrition and then usually Faith is joyned with it So Acts 20.21 Testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ And in this latter sense I here take the word Repentance when I make use of it And so Repentance or Godly Sorrow is a deliberate Act of the Soul performed upon the Motions or by the Assistance of the good Spirit of God whereby a Man being touched with unfeigned Sorrow and Remorse for all that he hath sinned whither in his Parents or in himself either inwardly and in secret or else openly and in the sight of Men is now resolved to close with Christ as his only Remedy against the Guilt and Power of it So that you may perceive by this Description that sincere Repentance and Sorrow for Sin must imply these following Acts or otherwise it can never be an advised and deliberate Act nor conclude in a firm resolution and purpose to take Christ as his only sufficient Saviour First It implys a deep Conviction of the Holiness of God and his sin-hating Nature And that you may as soon reconcile Light and Darkness as God and the least Sin whether you take it in its Material or Formal Consideration In its Material Consideration it 's nothing but Deformity and Absurdity and Contradiction to all Right and Reason And in its Formal Respect it 's a thwarting God's Will that 's supreme and governed with infinite wisdom and a breach of his righteous Law And in both these Respects it must needs be the Object of Divine Hatred and Abhorrence surely he must needs abhor to see a Creature cross his own Will and oppose his own Government and when he hath endued him with reason to see him act so absurdly Hence the Psalmist tells us That such as are foolish cannot stand in his sight he hateth all the workers of iniquity Psalm 5.5 And if an imperfect Saint such a one as David hath such an aversation to such Works and the doers of them that he can say depart from me all ye workers of Iniquity much more doth he that is of spotless purity hate all Filthiness and Pollution which every sinner hath some degree of If the Lord were not an utter Enemy to all Iniquity he had never turned so many Angels
unto God all ye lands Psal 5.11 But let those that put their trust in thoe rejoyce let them shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy Name rejoyce in thee Secondly Scriptures that command Praise Psal 35.28 My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long Psal 118.28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee Thou art my God and I will exalt thee Psal 34.1 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth Psal 66.2 Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious Psal 66.8 O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God in the Mountain of his Holiness Psal 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing praises unto his Name for it is pleasant Psal 147.1 Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Verse 12. Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Sion In the 148 Psalm all Creatures are called upon and excited to the praises of God which must be meant but objectively of all irrational Creatures And rational Creatures are implied when others that have not reason are spoken to Psal 148.13 Praise the Name of the Lord for his Name only is excellent and his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven Psal 149.1 Praise ye the Lord sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of the saints Psal 149.6 Let the high praises of God be in their Mouth 1 of the saints Psal 150.1 2 3. Praise ye the Lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power Thirdly Scriptures provoking to Thankfulness Psal 109.4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing we ought to give thanks Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him Psal 69.30 I will praise the name of God with a song and magnifie him with thanksgiving Psal 118.1 O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his Mercy endureth for ever Vers 29. The same Reason is insisted on 36 times Psal 136.1 2 3. And the Reasons largely insisted on in the rest of the Psalm Psal 26.6 7. I will wash mine hands in innocency and so will I compass thine altar O Lord that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wonderful works Psal 30.4 Sing unto the Lord ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness THere 's nothing that more becomes a Believer nor so well suits his Spiritual Heavenly Nature nor is a better Indication of a Child of God and one that hath attained to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ than to delight and be skilful in this Noble Work And without all dispute There 's nothing that a corrupt Heart is more averse and backward to and hath less skill in There is indeed a joyful merry Heart pre-requisite to this Exercise but such a one as the World intermedleth not with but is the greatest stranger to of all things you can imagine Though there 's none love Mirth and Joy so passionately as the worldling yet his Mirth is quite of another stamp It 's the meer distortion of the Countenance or at best but the dilatation of the Blood and Spirits It is not the delectation and contentment of the Mind and Spirit It 's the laughter of a Fool a meer brutish sensual delight that they are so fond of Not the solid serious pleasure of a Saint and one that is perfectly in his right mind And thus to be merry after their Fashion is no hard nor difficult Task 'T is but be Mad and let go the Reigns of all good Government of a Mans self It is but to gratifie every desire and live at Randome and prosper in Folly and this will screw up a Carnal Mind to very profuse Laughter and Merriment All the Town shall quickly hear of it and perceive it too plainly in the Vanity Pride and Insolency of their Carriage And there 's no surer way to damp and dead the Spirit of these Men and to drive them into a melancholy dumpish vein than to spring some Heavenly Discourse that savoureth of Heavenly Wisdom and tendeth to the Divine Praises It 's easie to vent a little Froth and Mirth at a Feast or in a Jovial Meeting or when the Spirits are cheared with Wine and Carnal Pleasure But to be glad in the Lord to rejoyce in the meditation of his Excellent Greatness and Perfection even when the Flocks are cut off from the Fold and there is no Herd in the Stall and the Vine yieldeth not her Encrease and the labour of the Olive doth fail and all Earthly Comforts are wanting Then to rejoyce in the most High and to vent forth freely in Thanks and Praises unto him is the Top and Perfection of Piety But this is a strain that the merriest Worldling can never reach while he continues to be such Other Mirth needs great Restraint but this hath need of all Encouragement and Promotion it being so much above the Sphaere of corrupted Nature to do it to purpose And as some slight Praise I doubt not may come from the Mouth of one not yet ingrafted into Christ by a lively Faith from the sense of Common Mercies and General Grace So on the other side even a Believer through the weakness of his Grace and the distemper of his Body and the want of Exercise in this Duty may make but little Musick and be a very Bungler in this Work And so lose the Comfort and Strength that a Heart fervent and frequent in this Duty would daily get But before I say any thing to stir up to this Exercise I will first shew what 's requisite to or implied in this Joy and Delight in God and true Gratitude and Praise I put them all together because there is much Affinity and Correspondence between them And therefore As to the Subject of these Acts or the Person that must exert them he must be thus qualified and prepared 1. He must be of an open cheerful Temper There 's none more unfit for this Duty than the lumpish sad and heavy Heart Though I deny not but sadness and heaviness of Spirit is sometimes a Duty after the Commission of sin especially great and wilful sin till by renewed Sorrow Confession and a more cautelous Heed to prevent it for the future and the application of Christ's Blood by Faith the Cause of such Sadness be removed But a constant habitual sadness and despondency that neither Faith nor
The Inundation of the Old World The Confusion of Languages The doing things against the Course of Nature such as are Raising the Dead to Life Restoring the Blind Or above Nature such as are most of the Plagues that befel Aegypt amply describe his Infinite Power And Rom. 1.20 His Eternal Power and Godhead are there said to be seen in the Creation of the World Seventhly The Measure of himself is Immensity And of all his Attributes is Infiniteness that is They have neither Bounds nor Measure 1. His Immensity is thus set forth by the Holy Ghost in Scripture 1 Kings 8.27 But will God indeed dwell on the Earth Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House that I have builded So 2 Chron. 2.6 to the same purport So Psalm 139.7 8 9 10. Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my Bed in Hell thou art there If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me So Amos 9.2 3 4. 2. The infinity of all his Attributes Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great power and his understanding is infinite And if one Attribute be infinite needs must all the rest be so and therefore Zophar may well propose it as a Query uncapable of solution Job 11.7 8 9. Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection It is as high as Heaven what canst thou do Deeper than Hell what canst thou understand The measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea See Job 37.23 Eighthly His Attributes that result from all these are 1. His Immutability which the Holy Ghost describes James 1.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights in whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning And Malach. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed Psal 102.27 2. His Greatness which the Scripture thus describeth Psal 145.36 The Lord is great and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable he is to be feared above all Gods And 1 Chron. 15.25 and Jerem. 10.6 There is none like unto the Lord great in might Dan. 9.4 He is the great and dreadful God keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him Psal 77.13 There is none so great as our God Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of his holiness 3. His Majesty is thus described O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with majesty and honour Psalm 104.1 Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty 1 Chron. 29.11 And Elihu tells us that with God is terrible majesty Job 37.22 and Psalm 96.6 Honour and majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary And Psal 145.10 11 12 13. All thy works shall praise thee O Lord c. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations 4. His Glory the Scripture thus expresseth Psalm 138.5 Great is the glory of the Lord. And Psal 148.13 Let them praise the Name of the Lord that is the forementioned Creatures for his Name only is excellent and his glory is about the Earth and the Heaven And Isa 6.3 Holy holys holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his glory Exod. 15.11 The Lord is there said to be glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders 5. His Lordship and Dominion over all is thus described Isa 33.22 The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King Psal 97.5 Thou art the Lord of the whole Earth And Dan. 2.47 He is there said to be a God of Gods a Lord of Kings a revealer of secrets Psal 47.2 The Lord most high is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all Psal 145.13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages And Rom. 31.1 The Apostle tells us there is no power but of God Prov. 8.15 16. By him Kings reign and Princes decree justice By him Princes rule the Nobles and Judges of the Earth Matth. 6.13 Thine is the kingdom the power and the glory Lastly His Eternity the Crown of all is thus described Exod. 15.18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever And Psal 45.6 Thy throne O Lord is for ever and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter Psal 90.2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World thou art God from everlasting to everlasting i. a parte ante and a parte post without beginning and without end Psal 93.2 Thy throne is established of old thou art from everlasting Psal 102.27 Thou art the same viz. in opposition to mutable Creatures and thy years shall have no end Psal 104.31 The glory of the Lord shall endure forever c. Dan. 4.9 His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom Psal 106.10 The Lord shall reign for ever even thy God O Sion throughout all generations Dan. 8.18 His dominion shall be for ever unto the end These glorious Attributes of God especially as they stand in conjunction and shine upon one another calmly considered will mount and elevate an ingenuous and understanding Heart and wing it to this high and honourable imployment Secondly It will help on this blessed heavenly Work and Temper of Joy and Delight in God honourable and thankful thoughts and mention of him to behold his Attributes as they are further displayed in his Works Particularly his Bounty Wisdom Power Towards the 1. Irrational Creatures 2. Rational Creatures 1st It will something advance the dullest heart and dispose it to rejoyce in God and lift it up in praise and thankfulness to him to steep it a little in the meditation of that incomparable wisdom that shineth forth in the Being of every irrational Creature especially in the whole frame and orderly connection of all such Creatures Every Creature in its single existence hath treasure enough to enrich the understanding of the wisest Man on earth if it search into the depth and bottom of it and to imprint admiring reverent and thankful Inclinations towards him in the Heart There 's not a Pile of Grass that shoots up but directs the Eye Heavenward towards which it pointeth up unless it be kept shut by ignorance and inconsideration What excellent skill and cunning is there in
the curious Fabrick and Composure of the basest and most contemptible Creature especially if we do not overlook the uses for which it serves Even a Toad hath far more in it to be admired by the Intellect than it hath to be abhorred by the Sense The sensless and inanimate Creatures are no idle Parts of the World but have enough in them to reproach and shame an idle Spectatour There 's not one of them but wears the Livery of their most wise and wonderful Creatour and carries the Badge and Cognizance of that infinite Wisdom that did at first contrive and make them and fitted them to their proper and peculiar uses Read over the History of Minerals and do but look into an Herbal where a little of the Nature and Vertue of Vegetables is described search a little into the Writers of Zoography where the Nature and Properties of Animals are somewhat though imperfectly represented and under each of these are infinite particulars which magnifie the Wisdom of their Glorious Maker and set it forth to the life to every intelligent Spectatour Since then the Brutish and Inanimate Creatures are not in a Capacity to do this Homage to their Creatour by direct and proper Acknowledgment and express Adoration and Thanksgiving it 's comely for us to pay that Debt for whose use and service they were made and intended and to whose Intellect and Senses they are objected for the perfecting of them It 's by our Tongues and Hearts that these Creatures must return him the Tribute of their Praises Can we be content to behold such rare pieces of Divine Skill and Artifice and not turn up a thankful Eye nor erect an adoring Thought nor send up a joyful Hallelujah to him Whether we look upon the World in the Gross or in the Retail in the several parts of it or as they are all joynted and set together in a curious Frame what stupendious wisdom what rare and admirable skill do they display and call us to behold and consider Had we but the Faculty to search into those rich Mines and dig out those Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge that are hid in them as every one may do in some degree if he set himself seriously to consider them what an Acknowledgment would the most contemptible Creature extort from us 1. The Matter of which they do consist 2. The curious Contexture of their Parts 3. The Manner of their Production And then 4. The Means of their Continuance and Preservation Then 5. Their Operations both Actual and Potential 6. And the Ends to which they are both immediately and remotely subservient are Heads which a little considered will advance the Heart and tune the Affections and Tongue to the Praises of him that liveth for ever and ever who hath brought all these things to pass and even compel him to say Psalm 104.14 How manifold are thy works O Lord in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches To look down upon this round Ball of Earth that hangs upon nothing that hath no other Pillars to prop it up than the immediate power of him that made it And to look up upon the vast Canopy of Heaven spread over it Or the abundance of Waters gathered together in a heap and placed in the depth as in a store-house Psal 33.7 Or to cast an eye upon any one Creature that dwelleth in any of these Mansions will draw forth a Song of Praise and Thanksgiving unless it be from one that 's far gone in the Disease of Atheism and Ungodliness But to consider them all in one united Frame their Order and Connection and the Beauty that results from that Order and how they meet together in one Common Center and are linked together in one great and ultimate End which all of them conspire to promote though their proximate and nearest Ends are so various and almost innumerable will raise a Soul not basely captivated to the Body yet higher If I should insist upon the Contrariety that is among the several Creatures and how one Contrary is ballanced by another If I should stand upon the Harmony that ariseth from the very discord of things of a very different nature this would not a little set forth the wisdom of God 2. It will very much quicken a Soul to the Praises of God and to joy and delight in him to consider his Bounty and Goodness to all his Creatures even the worst and vilest of them from whom they have their Being and Support together with their several Virtues and Perfections To him the lifeless and inanimate Creatures owe their Subsistence together with their several Adjuncts and Properties whereby they are variously modified and distinguished He hath imparted that Life to the order of Vegetables which they have and whereby they become serviceable to Man and Beast It 's from the same Hand that those Higher Perfections of Sense and Motion are bestowed upon the order of Sensitive Creatures which his Wisdom hath distinguished into such various and almost infinite kinds every one whereof hath a large share and portion of his Bounty The Lord doth good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Psal 145.9 The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord Psal 33.5 How liberal hath he been to the Heavens upon which he hath bestowed all the Glory that Sun and Moon and those glistering Cressets that shine therein contribute These he hath covered with Light as with a Garment and made of a more refined Matter than what 's seen here below and these he hath honoured to become his Footstool Yea and how bountiful hath he been to this inferiour Part of the Creation What a fertile Womb hath he bestowed upon the Earth which brings forth yearly such a plentiful Off-spring and Encrease What Minerals and Vegetables is she the Parent of Some whereof she perpetually bears in her Womb and there feedeth them Others she continually carries in her Bosom and there suckles them And what she doth not bring forth she bringeth up as the several Animals Rational and Irrational which she perpetually provideth for And as he hath dealt thus bountitifully with the Heavens and the Earth so the Ocean comes not much behind in the share he hath bestowed upon it And therefore when the Psalmist had copiously insisted upon God's Bounty and Munificence towards the Earth and eased himself in a pathetical Exclamation viz. O Lord how wonderful are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches Psal 104.24 He proceeds so is this great and wide sea also wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts there go the ships also vers 26. As he hath lodged innumerable sorts of Fishes in the Ocean so he hath made it a famous Boundary to divide the several Kingdoms of the World and a quick Passage for the Nations that inhabit the Earth to Traffick and Commerce with each other There be many
Earth move about and the Heavens to stand still which if it be supposed yet must be the effect of an infinite Power It 's the description that 's usually given of a wise Man That he is one that wonders at nothing because they suppose Ignorance to be the Cause of wonder And therefore the more we know and understand any thing the less we wonder at it But yet for all this I may take the boldness to say That he is a wise Man indeed that wonders not at every thing Especially if he be one that hath Wit enough to see the impregnable Difficulties that stand in the way and hinder a distinct and perfect understanding of any the least of God's Works And this is another Confideration that will do good service in provoking us to the Praises of the Lord if it be weighed with an undisturbed silence and attention 2. As it will advance a Heart in Praises and Thanksgiving to God and help on this noblest part of God's Worship to behold these Three great Attributes of his Wisdom Goodness and Power as they shine forth in the Works of Creation and Providence about the unreasonable Creatures So 2. It will elevate a Soul yet higher and make it more fit for the work of Thankfulness and Praise to ponder these Attributes as they are made glorious in and about the reasonable and intelligent Creatures And here I shall pass over the Angels the most noble Creatures which God hath made And because this is an Argument most likely to move us with the greatest force Let us more particularly insist upon his Goodness towards us 1. In giving us a Nobler Being than he hath done to any other visible Creature He hath stamped his Image upon Man more lively than he hath done upon any Creature if you look on him barely in his Natural Capacity as consisting of a Body and Soul The one Corruptible The other Incorruptible The first he hath in Common with other Creatures but the other is a peculiar Glory that God hath put upon no other Creature here below besides himself And yet in his very Body he far surpasseth all his Fellow-Creatures If you consider well the Comeliness and Propoâ—ition of Parts the well mixing of the Humours that give the Colour and the pure lively Spirit that gives Air and Motion to the several Parts his erect stature and the symmetry of the whole To say nothing of Speech that 's peculiar to Man alone all other Creatures must submit and bow before him But as to his Moral Capacity There 's no other Creature here below that hath any Lineament of his Maker's Image but Man only He alone was intended to represent his Maker in Righteousness and true Holiness and had a Capacity first to be honoured in his Service and to be made happy in his Eternal Enjoyment The rest of the Creatures as they have their Face downward so they have no disposition to look so high as to their Maker nor any tendency of love or desire towards him For God having made them uncapable of any such Acts or Habits expects no such Service at their Hands But God made Man for his own immediate Service and therefore gave him a Nature suited to that imployment He did not only bestow on him the Faculties of Understanding and Will but endued them with the knowledge and love of God that by the exercise of these Acts he might find out the Rest and Happiness that he doth so indefatigably seek after 2. He gave him Seigniory and Dominion over this lower World Psalm 8. As all things were made for his use and service so they were given into his hand to dispose of And they had no power to cross his Command or disobey till he had rebelled against his Maker They were all ready at his service to go and come at his beck and to execute his pleasure to their utmost strength and capacity Gen. 1.28 And God blessed them that is Adam and Eve and said to them Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth See also Gen. 2.19 20. And Man wanted not the Faculty to discern the Nature and Vertue of every Creature and for what uses they might serve Yea the Inferiour Heavens were made to accommodate him and every way God dealt with him as a Bountiful Lord and most Liberal Benefactour The Sun was made to enlighten him and the Heavens to chear him and make the Earth fruitful with their Influences which was to bring him forth it s various Productions for his several uses and occasions And who that hath the Heart of a Man and not of a Beast can think of such Munificence and Bounty which God hath exercised towards him and not abhor ingratitude And even feel himself delighted in the Praises of his so great Benefactour 3. When he had undone himself and had involved his Soul and Body in Misery unspeakable the Lord did not utterly forsake him as he deserved but he set his Wisdom a work to contrive a way how to salve the honour of his Justice and yet save the miserable Rebels from destruction When we were all fallen short of the Glory of God he found out a Method to recover us into Happiness again And when no Creature in Heaven or Earth could do such a Favour for us the Son of God became Man and dyed for us that he might satisfie offended Justice and vindicate the honour both of the Law and Law-giver and procure Terms of Peace and Favour for us O what a Remarkable Sentence is that which should be engraven upon the Heart of every sinner When we were without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly Rom. 5.6 This is a faithful saying indeed and worthy of all acceptation 1. highest and most thankful entertainment that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 4.9 10. We had been now bound hand and foot and shut up in outward darkness and had been Fuel to the Wrath of God and the Flames of Hell which are kindled thereby and had been tormenting our Souls with the bitter remembrance of our sin who are or may be comforted with the blessed Tydings of the Gospel What a comfortable Thought should it be to us when we lye down and when we rise up to remember that Christ is risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15.20 To understand which Text of Scripture it 's necessary that we be informed that sin having brought a Curse upon Man and upon the Earth for his sake and all the Fruit it brought forth the Sacrifice of the First-Fruits among the Jews to which the Apostle here alludes was appointed by God as a Means whereby the whole Harvest might be sanctified and secured and the Curse removed Which First-Fruits were a Type of Christ by