that cleanseth his heart from the filth of sin and so stores it with Pious works as that it may delight the Almighty God to dwell therein Lay aside the cares of this world and take into your minds the Joys of heaven Empty your heads of all other things and prepare that upper Room to entertain your Lord. Consider ye are framed according to the Image of the Lord adorned with his Similitude espoused unto him by Faith endowed with the Holy Ghost redeemed with the pretious Blood of a dear Saviour assigned to be Fellow-Citizens with the Holy Angels capable of Eternal Happiness Heirs of Goodness stock't with Sence and Reason What have ye to do with the flesh then slight not those opportunities and advantages that are set before ye but Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all other things shall be added to ye Keep your Souls in a flying posture towards your Inheritance above For where can ye finde more Riches to invite ye The Lord is called The faithful God and will take an account of each ones faith Without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Adam was a sinner and begot sinners and they must work out their Salvation with fear and trembling What am I A man that had my beginning from a thing unseemly in the moment of my conception I was conceived of Humane seed afterwards that froth changed into curds and by encreasing became flesh With weeping I was exposed to the miseries of a wretched world and behold I am full of sin and shall suddenly be presented before the strict Judge to render an account of all my works Wo be to me wretch when that day shall come and those Books shall be opened wherein are Registred all my thoughts words and works and shall be read before the Lord Then with a trembling Conscience I stand before the Tribunal-Seat of Christ full of fear and anguish calling to remembrance my manifold offences And when it shall be said Behold the man and his works then Oh then shall I see all my sins and abominations presented before mine eyes To prevent which Misery observe these Directions Since your whole life is a Race and a Battel a Merchandise and a Journey prepare against night a Rosary of good works to present unto the Lord. Let your sleep be no more than Nature and Necessity requires and remember as he that starts first is most like to win the Race so he that first offers his petition to Almighty God hath the more early title to a blessing Change not day into night and night into day be not addicted to idelness and sleep for that is the way to turn your blessing to a dream Let not that imagination seize you that you may lie in bed having no business immediately to do for he that hath a Soul and would save that Soul hath enough to do to make his calling and election sure Meditate Pray and Read Repent and do acts of Charity to others If you have little to do you have the more time to provide for a Crown of Glory When you open your eyes think upon some act of Piety Thank God for your last good rest and preservation Give thanks to the Lord for your creation and the many mercies you have received from his hands When you arise pay your devotion to the holy Trinity Be silent when you dress your self and fix your thoughts upon some act of Piety If you speak let it be in the praise of God of his Goodness his Mercies or his Greatness Always let the first-fruits of thy Reason be presented to the Lord that so the whole harvest of thy conversation may be Sanctified Let your habit be neither careless nor curious though men may respect you for your outward habit God doth expect that your inward garment should be Righteousness Let your ejaculations suit with your actions in the morning as when you clean your hands Pray to God to cleanse your Soul from sin or when you cloath your body Pray to him to cloath you with the Armour of Faith and a good Conscience This done betake your self to your Closet-Devotions or to Family-Duties as your condition is capacitated Having finished your Prayers consult with your self about your Occasions that day and resolve against any thing that may seem opposite to the Service of God or the Rules of Good manners If you have Children or Servants it is your Duty to Pray with them and for them or especially to be careful that they shall Pray for themselves After this betake your self to your Affairs avoid idleness and take heed of being too earnest after wordly goods be Prudent Temperate Diligent Humble and Charitable Harbour no idle Persons in your Family let your Servants have moderate Work and Meat if they deserve Reproof let it be without Passion advice with some Natures may do more than Correction Be not busie to inquire after the Concerns of your Neighbour but carry your self with this Caution that in all your Actions you mix the ingredients of Justice and Charity Be in Charity with all men Avoid Backbiting and Slandering he that delights in either of them shall never be beloved or innocent When you dine lift up your heart in an holy Ejaculation to the Lord thank him for your Temporal Food and crave for Spiritual After dinner return thanks for Mercies received He doth not deserve to eat that doth not desire to thank In your Recreations be moderate and be sure to secure your heart for God left your affections settle upon a false Basis Let not your Recreations be tedious lest if you dwell with them long you may be inticed to sin When you enter into Discourse be pithy and as often as you can devout but if your occasions shall be so urgent that you cannot conveniently discourse of God however be sure to think of him When you Read let it not be much at once let your Reading be little and your Meditation large for little Reading and much thinking little Speaking and much Hearing brief Prayer and firm Devotion is the surest way to be Wise and to be Devout In the Evening let your Meditations be on the hours of the day past how they have been spent if your Conscience be clear it is the sooner examined but if any thing extraordinary hath happned then take time to recollect your self with diligence Thank the Lord for his benefits of the day and crave a pardon for your errours and if any duty hath been omitted endeavour to redeem that fault the next day Let your last Prayers be applied to the concerns of your Conscience and forget not to thank the Lord for all his mercies to you and your relations that day When you enter into your Bed fix your Meditations upon Death and the Grave In the whole course of your life
that are earthy and as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly What God gives us for our good we ought to employ for his glory He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. When our Saviour was buried it was the Body of the Lord not the Lord of the Body was laid in the Sepulchre If we set our affections on what we have when we have it not it adds the more to our affliction But the peace of Heaven surpasses the troubles of this world A Saint may be sad that he is no better but will inwardly rejoyce that he is no worse That man that deserves nothing ought to be content with any thing God is pleased with the free offerings of his Saints and they are pleased with the free gifts of God To be sorrowful for sin is good but that sorrow must continue or else the sorrow will be sin it self What is all this world but a world of nothing at all Whosoever can withstand the corruptions of gain gains by the corruptions Is it pleasure to the Almighty that thou art Righteous or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect The men of this world pray to one another but the children of God pray to none but to the God of men The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light But the sorrow of this world worketh death Man is no sooner born but he begins to dye so uncertain is the life of man that none knows whether he that is born to day shall live till to morrow If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Trust not in endeavours lest you neglect God but use endeavours lest you despise God But work out your salvation with fear and trembling Christ is the Physitian of our Souls his comforts are cordial but miserable comforts are the Physitians of the Body So said Iob to his friends Ye are all Physitians of no value Let us beware of the evil of sin for it leads us to the evil of suffering Wherefore Follow not that which is evil but that which is good He that doth good is of God but he that doth evil hath not seen God We may do those things which please God and yet displease him in the doing But Blessed are the poor in heart for they shall see God We perform our duties in a right measure when in seeking for mercies we study to please God rather than our selves God so loves his own that he will not depart from them and they that truly fear and love him have not the power to depart from him It was holy Ioshua's resolution As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. It is at present heaven with us to enjoy God and Christ What will it then be when we worship him with his innumerable company of Angels When we pay our devotions to God we should lay aside all worldly affairs lest they distract us in our duty It is a great offence against the Almighty to be interrupted when we walk with him See then that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil A Christian hath but two things to fear God and Sin As it is writ of Ioseph How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God! The three Divine Vertues are Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity The three humane Vertues are Friendship Credit and Conscience but the greatest of these is Conscience Conscience was Paul's glory when he said Herein do I exercise my self to have always a Conscience voyd of offence toward God and toward Men. When thou sinnest repent betimes lest thou plunge into a custom of sinning and always remember God hath a certain custom to punish sinners Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Turn ye unto me and I will turn unto you But except ye repent ye shall all perish God is the way and the life if we walk after his way we shall finde life if not we erre from the way of life Jesus saith I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Serve God in secret as well as in publike worship and he that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly What deceitful pleasures are those that require either Repentance or Damnation As the Jews did by our Saviour so should we do by the world the flesh and sin that is crucifie them They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts The disingenuity of others towards us is a scourge to us for our disingenuity towards God If God denies the desires of thy heart learn to want with patience it will teach thee when God is pleased to bestow his blessings to receive them with chearfulness We ask the Lord for our dayly bread but he knoweth our wants before we ask We desire Health Wealth c. but the measure of those blessings is in God's hand and he knows how to carve for us better than we could for our selves Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him It is the duty of a Christian to wait God's leasure there is no mercie worth the praying for but it is certainly worth the waiting for We are all born to dye let us so dye that we may be born again Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin If thou canst hear and bear the Rod of affliction which God shall lay upon thee remember this Lesson Thou art beaten that thou mayst be better There is no better defence against our own Infirmities and the scandalous reproaches of others than the Sincerity of our own hearts Grace be with all them that love our Lord Iesus Christ in sincerity God is love and we ought to serve him in fear and love No service can be better done than that which is done in love God dwelleth in that servant and that servant in him Why doth a wicked man envy the welfare of a man more righteous than himself because it is a terrour to his Conscience to see the Image of Vertue in another man he having defaced it in himself Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work All the Pomps and Gayeties of this world are not to be compared to a grain of distressed Vertue Wherefore adde to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge Though I give my body to be burnt and have not charity it profitteth me nothing but to mortifie my sins and to deny my self submitting to the will of God is more than Martyrdom Let not the world overcome you but fight under the Banner of that great Captain the Lord Jesus Christ so shall you with him overcome the world Who is he that overcometh the world but he that
Saints Memorials OR Words fitly spoken Like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Being A COLLECTION OF Divine SENTENCES Written and Delivered By those late Reverend and Eminent Ministers of the Gospel Mr. EDMUND CALAMY Mr. JOSEPH CARYL Mr. RALPH VENNING Mr. JAMES JANEWAY Heb. 11.4 Who being dead yet speak Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their works do follow them LONDON Printed in the Year 1674. To all the SAINTS BELOVED OF GOD And Sanctified through OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Grace and Peace be Multiplied THe dispensations of God though never so seemingly strange towards his people have always been propitious and favourable according to that of the Apostle he maketh all things work together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose How great love should we then have for them who love God and are so beloved of him To the Reader My Friends many there are whose beginning is better than their latter end but blessed are they who dye in the Lord who have an Interest in the Everlasting Covenant and in the sure mercies of David though God may visit their Iniquities with a Rod and their Transgressions with Stripes yet he will never suffer his loving kindness to depart Who would then depart from that God who sticks so close to his If we leave him whither shall we go surely to broken Cisterns that hold no water Oh then as you love your pretious and immortal Souls endeavour close Vnion and strict Communion with him As you are chosen by him so let him be your choyce Since he first loved you let it not be lost He cast his eye upon us when we were in our Blood and no eye pittied us and he spread his Skirt over us and then was the time of love Ah then if he loved us so unlovely what estimation should we have of him who is love it self Consider what he hath done for you in giving life health and above all his beloved Son to dye for you a most ignominious death that you through him migh have everlasting life That you may know how to value this transcendent love of God weigh well the condition you were at that time in lamentably helpless Dead in Trespasses and Sins without God and without Christ in the world strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel and to the Promises This we were in the general but what were we as to our best our Righteousness so bad that nothing could be worse no better than menstruous Cloaths and filthy Rags What Humiliation what Lamentation doth our condition call for Little reason to walk so haughtily as we do and with the Pharisee to say Stand farther off I am holier than thou For shame then come with humble Job in his prostrate State Abhor your selves and repent in dust and ashes or with the Prophet cry out Wo is me I am undone a man of unclean lips mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts A dreadful sight undoubtedly that should be so astonishing to one whom God honoured in making use of his blood for a Testimony of his truth how much more must it needs be to us whose lives are so unclean that there is no soundness in us What necessity is there then of finding out a way to look God in the face there is but one and Blessed and for ever Blessed be his gratious Name for the Revelation of it and that is Jesus Christ the onely Mediator betwixt God and Man What had become of us had he not interposed betwixt the wrath of an incensed Majesty and sinful Creatures Vengeance had been speedily Executed and all that long-suffering and patience which is now exercised to us-ward had been prevented we should not have had line upon line precept upon precept here a little and there a little his faithful Ministers instructing exhorting and dehorting if hereby the torrent of his Ire had not been stopt How highly then ought we to prize this Talent and to let no day nor time of it pass without doing him some service who hath been so benigne and merciful to us If men do kindnesses to ingenuous minds what thoughtfulness is there of recompence in so much that they declare it to all their friends and enquire and advise what returns will best suit the nature of their received friendships How much more should we with David declare what God hath done for us and always walk in thankfulness towards him For this the grace of God teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously and soberly in this present evil world Not to turn wanton Libertines saying God is good and merciful and hath sent his Son to dye in our stead nothing remaining for us to do but like the children of the old world to eat and to drink and to rise up to play This bespeaks men to be of that number of whom Jude in his general Epistle makes mention ordained of old to this condemnation denying the onely Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. How indeed can we more disown him than by casting his laws behinde our backs and saying as those wicked wretches did We will not have this man to reign over us although he was Lord of all and told them his yoak was easie and his burthen light and that his ways were ways of pleasantness and his paths were peace Think not that these things were written for their instruction onely but ours also on whom the ends of the world are come But lest I should burden you with too tedious an Epistle I will rather invite you to feed on those wholesome remains which you will finde collected from the Writings of those Eminent and Renowned men prefixt in the Title of this Miscelany whose worth should I undertake to display it would prove an Eclipse coming short of your Estimations and those choice and elaborate Works which will eternize their Memories to all gratious hearts The best use we can make of their loss is to study diligently what they once designed for our benefit and to be provoked by their good conversation to emulation I beseech you therefore let not their nor my poor Labours in gathering these crums from their Tables be lost but that we may have cause to rejoyce in this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity we have had our conversations in the World as wisheth Your Fellow-Servant in the Kingdom of Grace Mr. EDMVND CALAMY HIS EXHORTATIONS TO The Service of the Lord. SUch are the minds of most men whom either the cares of this world hath distracted or the false pleasures thereof deluded that the meditations of Heaven are far from them and they rarely think of those dangers that attend them or what damage they are like to suffer by despising or slighting those pretious Opportunities that might lead to their Salvation to whom our Saviours saying when speaking to Martha may be
well applied Ye are troubled with many things but one thing is necessary Oh that men would consider this Vnum necessarium that they might shun and forsake the immoderate trifles of a Transitory world and that they would e're the time be far spent find out those paths that will lead them to their Souls rest which Lesson is taught them in the Holy Scriptures and not onely there but by a Heathen who said Tempus est de illa perpetua Iam non de hac exigua vita cogitare It is now high time not to think of this Life but of Life Eternal In this present world we can study how to provide for our Temporal Estates contriving a settlement for our maintenance and preservation and shall we be so stupid as to neglect the Eternal happiness of our Souls in that other world Where there are pleasures for evermore To do which we should begin betimes we should like wise builders lay a good Foundation and seek the Lord while he may be found We should day and night meditate upon the Lord. We should love honour obey him and devote our selves wholly to his service And this our duty bindes us to for these respects For the excellence of his Divine perfection Being defective not in any thing He is perfect in Knowledge He is past finding out Be perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect And although no Heart can comprehend or Tongue fully can express this perfection yet we may esteem it by his Attributes of some whereof take this following account It appears how admirable it is since no Tongue can express it nor any Heart conceive it The Transcendencie of the God-head exceeds not onely the usual strength of Eloquence but of Understanding likewise He is Absolute He is all Eye and seeth All things He is all Ear and heareth All things He is all Hand and worketh All things He is Infinite Whither saith the Psalmist shall I go from thy presence Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord He is Immortal I live for ever He only hath Immortality Solus Deus est Immortalis quia non est per Gratiam sed per Naturam God alone is Immortal being so by Nature not by Grace He is Eternal Without beginning Thou art God from everlasting Without end Thou art the same and thy years shall not fail He is called the Ancient of days He is Immutable God is not to be changed 1. In his Nature Thou shalt endure I am the Lord I change not Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of changing 2. In his promises and decrees The Counsel of the Lord shall stand My Counsel shall stand God hath promised who cannot lie He is Wise. Nothing is hid from him The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man His Wisdom is Infinite Loe thou knowest all things O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! He is Holy In him is no Iniquity Who is like unto thee O Lord Glorious in Holiness None Holy as the Lord. He is True 1. In himself Whatsoever is in him is Truth It is Life Eternal to know thee the true God Let God be true and every man a Lyar. 2. In his works Righteous in all his works 3. In his words The Words of the Lord are pure The Truth of the Lord endureth for ever Good Absolutely Without the help of any 1. In himself There is none good but God 2. He is the Author of all Good to others Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of Lights The Earth is full of his goodness He is Glorious Ye shall see the Glory of the Lord. The sight of his Glory was like consuming fire The whole earth is full of his Glory His Glory is above the Heavens He is Powerful I am the Almighty God saith the Lord. In the Creation of the World In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth The Heavens are beautified with Stars The Earth is spacious and splendid plentifully stored with its Fruits Beasts of the field and Fowls of the Air. The Sea abounds with variety of Fish for the use of man And all were made of nothing but by his word 1. Wherefore Rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous for praise is comely for the upright 2. Praise the Lord with harp sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings 3. Sing unto him a new song play skilfully with a loud voice 4. For the word of the Lord is right and all his works are done in truth 5. He loveth righteousness and judgement the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap he layeth up the depth in store-houses 8. Let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him DIVINE SENTENCES COLLECTED From the VVorks of Mr. EDMVND CALAMY Lately deceased GOd requires we should mortifie our lufts for prayer without that is the service of a Hypocrite Let not any one despair and cry out I am undone but let him trust in God and use his just endeavours For any man may be happy if he please Sin is a Christians greatest Sore and Repentance his surest Salve Who then would want the rare Jewel of Repentance since if ye seek ye shall find Sin bringeth shame and sorrow and Piety a portion of everlasting Joys Miserable is that man whose heart is too hard to pray He that truly repents of his sin shall never repent of his repentance for repentance is as the Hammer of the heart knocking at the Gate of Heaven and to him that knocketh it shall be opened Let us cloath our selves with Righteousness it is the safest Armour against the Darts of Satan If troubles or afflictions shall befall thee say as a late Reverend Divine said I will go and bless God for I believe this will be for my good There are two Gospel-Graces which require your special heed viz. Faith and Repentance for though many go to Hell by despair more go thither by presumption It was the saying of the Learned Sir Thomas Moore I will never pin my Faith upon the sleeve of another man for he may carry it where I would be unwilling to follow You must serve God for his sake as well as Heaven 's A faithful servant of God may have an eye to the recompence of reward as Moses had but he must have but one eye and that the left for our chief and last aim must be at the Glory of God The true way of serving God
let Religion be your business for he is most capable of rejoycing in the evening that watcheth his words thoughts and deeds in the day To despise the world is the way to enjoy heaven and blessed are they who delight to converse with God by Prayer What folly can be greater than to labour for the meat that perisheth and to neglect the food of Eternal Life God or the World must be neglected at the parting-time for then is the time of Tryal then shall the Righteous continue Righteous and be Blessed To seek your self in this world is to be lost and to be humble is to be exalted First study to believe there is a life of Blessedness hereafter then will you be the better strengthned to hunger and thirst after Righteousness If you would have the Lord receive you into Heaven you must give your self unto Prayer Prayer is defined by Gregory Nyssen to be a Discourse between the Soul and God it is of two sorts Vocal and Mental that is outward expressions of the Voice and an inward lifting up of the Mind to the Throne of Grace Before you enter into Prayer ask your Conscience these Questions with a resolution to return an Answer 1. To what end O my Soul art thou retired into this place 2. Art thou not come to discourse with the Lord in Prayer 3. Is he present will he hear thee 4. Is he merciful will he help thee 5. Is thy business slight is it not concerning the welfare of thy Soul 6. What words and reverence wilt thou use to move him to Compassion Let these Interrogatories be considered Discoursing with thy self will prepare thee the better to discourse with God To make thy preparation compleat consider thy condition thou art but dust and ashes and he the great God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that cloatheth himself with Light as with a Garment Remember these or such like devout expressions O let my Prayer enter into thy presence Let my Prayer be set before thee as Incense and the lifting up of my hands as the Evening Sacrifice As the clay is in the Potters hand to fashion it at his pleasure so man is in the hand of him that made him to render to them as liketh him best I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart I will shew forth thy marvellous works The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise Let us search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord. If your hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things Such Expressions as these from a devout Soul open the windows of Heaven and prevail with God to hear its Prayers In your Prayers or Meditations beware of Satan's devices of which these are some He endeavours to intice sinners to presumption by lessening a sin and making it seem to be slight On the other side he studies to betray some to the sin of despair insinuating such a crime is Haynous and beyond pardon But thus saith the Lord Though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow Though they be red as Crimson they shall be as Wooll He shewed to our Parents a golden Cup but discovered not the Poyson hid therein when he said God doth know in the day that ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Thus he attempted to betray Christ when he tempted him with the glories of the World saying All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me He hath likewise the art to put false glosses on particular sins as Pride that he pretends is Neatness Covetousness is good husbandry Drunkenness he calls good fellowship and Extravagancies the effects of a liberal Spirit He extenuates sins by whispering to the credulous wretch To be Drunk to Swear c. are but little sins and repentance is no hard task it is but to ask pardon and cry Lord have mercie upon me He insinuates these delusions into the sinner You may walk by the Harlots yet not enter you may drink with the Drunkard yet not be drunk you may handle a bag of Gold yet not steal it He assures the Soul that the wicked man is happier than the devout Soul for the former enjoys all the delights of the world whilst the others are Persecuted Imprisoned and oftentimes undone One chief designe of Satan to delude the Soul is to conduct him into evil company Beware of false Teachers that lead your Judgment astray They reproach the Embassadors of Christ so did Korah Dathan and Abiram to Moses and Aaron Good Michaiah was likewise aspersed by Ahabs false Prophets They are devisers of false Prophesies The Lord said The Prophets prophesie lies in my name I sent them not neither have I commanded them neither spake I unto them they prophesie unto you a false Vision and Divination a thing of nought and the deceit of the heart They are stiled blind guides That strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel They are counterfeit and unclean Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites that make clean the outside of the cup and platter but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness They endeavour to delude men to their opinions rather to carry on their own Interests than to better their Conversations Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites for ye compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is made ye make him twofold more the Child of Hell than your selves Wo unto you blind guides which say Whosoever shall swear by the Temple it is nothing but whosoever shall swear by the Gold of the Temple he is a debtor Ye fools and blind whether is better the Gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the Gold He that sweareth by the Temple sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth therein False Prophets privily bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction Since then Satan is so busie what remains but that we Arm our selves with spiritual Weapons Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day For the Weapons of our Warfare are not Carnal but Mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds David said to the Philistin Thou comest to me with a Sword and with a Spear and with a Sheild but I come unto thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts the God of the Armies of Israel whom thou hast defied Let a Christian keep his Faith firm for that will carry his Heart through many difficulties Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God prepareth for them that love him The
must be just as well as orthodox Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath go not to bed in anger lest you have a tempter to your bedfellow Wrath is cruel and anger is outragious but who is able to stand before envy One of the blessings of the Old Testament was Prosperity and one of the blessings of the new Testament is Affliction Let not sin intice you to forsake God lest it urge God to forsake you It is Solomon's advice My Son if sinners intice thee consent thou not Conversion is a fit application for the wounds of a wicked man and strengthening likewise is very apt for the converted Saith David In the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my Soul A devout Soul should not think himself secure when he is safe nor should he fear when in the greatest danger but distrust himself and always trust in God Say with Iob Though he slay me yet will I trust in him Act not against the light of Conscience lest your Light be darkned and your Conscience shipwrack't Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil Vertue and Vice that is Charity and Lust divide the whole life of man they are the two Trees of the Gospel that produceth fruits good and evil Study not to live long but to live well for an hour mis-spent is not liv'd but lost No man is perfect for there is none so good but he may mend Iesus said unto the young man If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt receive treasure in heaven and come and follow me The sins of a mans life are innumerable Who can understand his errours saith David cleanse thou me from secret faults The changes of a Saints condition are but so many exchanges of mercie if he thrives God is bountiful to him if he hath troubles in this world God is careful of him and provides him a portion in a better world When David was in the Cave all his comfort was in Prayer unto God I cryed unto thee O Lord I said Thou art my refuge and portion in the land of the living Troubles or Sickness when sanctified is much better than unsanctified Prosperity It is not talking of God but walking with God that makes a Christian compleat See that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise Redeeming the time because the days are evil Beware of superstition for that will not teach a man to fear God but to be afraid of him Study to have Christ rather in your heart than your house for with such Habitations he is best pleased Rent your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness The being of the Soul is rather where it loves than where it lives Let us study to love God though we do not see him rather than to see him and not love him All the pleasure of our days is grief when there is not an inward peace in the Conscience and with that all the griefs imaginable are turn'd into delight for a good Conscience is a continual feast It is good to be Learned but it is better to be Religious for Learning is but an Ornament to Religion but Religion is a Blessing to Learning One may be ever learning yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth A man may have knowledge and no grace but he cannot have grace and no knowledge Jesus answered the Sadduces saying Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God He that is truly Religious delights in the service of God and had rather be shortned in the comforts of his life than neglect the performance of his duty towards him Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart To profess Religion is good but to practice Religion is better to profess and not to practice is to dissemble with God and Man and a cunning course it is for man to destroy his own Soul The godly man may apply the promises to himself but the wicked man may apply himself to the promises Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God If we would have God hear our Prayers we must have the sence of feeling them our selves Sin brought death into the world and death carried sin out of the world He that would not have Time pass swiftly away should not use much Pastime The way to understand the sweetness of God's mercie is to get a sence of the bitterness of our own misery In all concerns let God be concerned the work will be the better done and the blessing will be the larger No man can do an evil action well but a good action may be spoiled in the management The tongue is an evil member for he that hath no reputation himself is master of another man's Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile The delight which a gracious Soul hath in mercies is not in the hearing of them or talking of them but in the possessing and enjoying of them God is a God that pardoneth Iniquity and retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercie The delight of a gracious Soul is to long to be dissolved and to go to his long'd-for home that he may be with Christ. A day in thy Courts O God is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tent of wickedness It is God's appearing gracious to our Souls that makes him appeaâ— so glorious to our eyes To the praise of the glory of hiâ— Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved It is not in our power to imagine the power of God it converteth Souls and raiseth dead Bodies The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple Iesus cryed with a loud voice Lazarus come forth And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a napkin Iesus saith unto them Loose him and let him go The Soul cannot be converted by the word that man speaks nor by the man that speaks the word For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God By the Scriptures we learn what God hath done for us and what we are to do for God All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness When a gracious Soul desireth a mercie of
either crucifie our sins or we shall dye in them Our hope of glory is not only Christ without but Christ within us What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory Many men are at one and the same time both alive and dead for they that wallow in the deceitful pleasures of sin are dead though they live You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins When man is most idle then is the Devil most busie It was Latimer's saying that one holy day produced more service to Satan than many working days This was the Iniquity of Sodom Pride fulness of Bread and abundance of Idleness was in her and in her daughters neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy The Righteous man saith What is lawful that will I but the unrighteous man saith What I will is lawful or to me all things are lawful All the wayes of man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirit It is the pleasure of Almighty God to bless us without any cause given him How much then are we to bless him who hath given us the cause so to do Praise waiteth for thee O God in Zion Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious The devout Soul should so live as that the Gospel should not be ashamed of him nor he of that As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation Where no assurance is there may be grace but no assurance can be where there is no grace Let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water The godly man sets a greater value by far upon the motions than the notions of grace All the blessings that a Saint receives are the more dear welcom because they savour of a Saviour Christ is our treasure as David saith With thee is the Fountain of Life and in thy light we shall see light He that denies himself shall be saved but he that denies his Saviour shall be damned It is Christ himself that saith He that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me He that findeth his life shall loose it and he that looseth his life for my sake shall finde it When God sends us an evil visitation even then God is good to us for he sends that evil for our good The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works When a sinner repenteth of his sin his sorrow speaks it self to be great when he cannot speak for sorrow A Saint will keep to the Doctrine of his life that he may keep life in his Doctrine God loves us not for what we have but for what we are and we are bound to love God were it for no other reason but because he loveth us The wicked man mindeth not the God that made him but sets his affections upon the God of his own making But your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last days It is more honourable to purchase fame from a low degree than to become contemptible and infamous though sprang from an honourable Family The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honour is humility Most men are naturally lovers of Gold yet that came but from the earth from the Gold comes Dross yet few men mind that so is it with good and bad men the Vertuous though they come from a mean stock are honoured and the Vicious though of splendid families are despised Wherefore Adde to your Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge Why should we rejoyce in the pleasures of this world for we no sooner set our affections on them but of a sudden they are blasted or we are taken from them or by sickness disabled to enjoy them Wherefore seek ye the Lord Jesus Christ in whom is hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And the Lord give thee understanding in all things THE SINNER'S Character Arraignment and Punishment BY Mr. RALPH VENNING IN Divers Sentential and Experimental DIVINE SAYINGS SIn is contrary to God Sinners are called enemies to God And sin is called enmity it self as being contrary to God It makes men walk contrary to God revelling rising up against and contending with God Hence men hate God resist God sight and blasphame God And Atheistically say there is no God Sin would ungod God Sin is by some of the Antients called God-murther or God-killing All these are in the nature of every sin more or less but are all of them in the heart of all sinners in their Seed and Root c. Hence sin is not onely High-Treason against the Majesty of God but it scorns to confess its Crime God is glorious in Holinessâ— Sin on the contrary is all sinful only sinful altogether sinful As in God there is no evil so in sin there is no good God is the chiefest of goods and sin is the chiefest of evils As no good can be compared with God for goodness so no evil can be compared with sin for evil Sin opposes all Gods Names and Attributes It deposeth God's Soveraignty it will not that the King of Kings should be in the Throne Pharaoh spake the Language of sin I know no Lord above me Sin denies God's all-sufficiencie as if there were more in sinful pleasures than in him Sin dares God's justice and challenges God to do his worst it provokes the Lord to jealousie and tempts him to wrath Sin disowns God's omniscience Tush say sinners God sees not Sin despises the Riches of God's goodness Sin turns all God's Grace into wantonness sin is the dare of God's Justice the rape of his Mercie the jear of his Patience the slight of his Power and the contempt of his Love Sin is the upbraid of his Providence the scoff of his Promise and the reproach of his Wisdom Sin is contrary to God's works and is called the Devil's work God's works were good and exceedingly beautiful But the works of sin are deformed and monstrous ugly Sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world 'T is the Master of Mis-Rule the Author of Sedition the Builder of Babel the Troubler of Israel and all mankind Sin is contrary to God's Law and Will to all the Rules and Orders of his appointment Sin is not only a transgression of but a contradiction also of the Will of God Sin is an Anti-Will to God's Will David in fulfilling of God's Will was said to be a man after God's own heart and they that obey the will of sin are said to
have received their wages will say that the service of God is not unprofitable But heaven is not got with a wet finger few run so as to obtain few fight so as to conquer Lazie wishes and a hazard will not do for Heaven They that dye in sin must be buried in Hell Who would be afraid of everlasting rest It is our trifling with God that makes the thoughts of our appearing before him to be so dreadful How can you live within a few inches of Death and look the King of Terrour in the face every day without some well-grounded evidence of your Interest in God's love What will become of the careless ones of the world that think little of Death and less of Eternity Mr. RYTHER's SAYINGS Concerning Mr. IANEWAY MY dear and reverend Brother deceast was delightful to me and to all that knew him when living and so desirable when dying O how often have we taken sweet counsel together his thoughts his time his study was how he should get sinners bands broken off and themselves brought into the liberty of the Sons of God Under a bodily Consumption he laboured to build up Saints that they might be kept from soul-consumption It 's high time for the world to awake out of sleep and to minde the state of their Souls God is now gathering in his labourers then who shall gather in his harvest He is putting out the lights and who shall guide them to Emanuel's land Two famous lights in one week not put under a Bushel but under a Grave-stone This present life we enjoy here is but a Voyage all Christians are homeward bound Believers when their Voyage is finisht and compleated they are with Christ. Believers are venturers their immortal pretious Souls are their ventures Onely poor sinners so living and dying make lost Voyages Alas for that Gain where estates are got and souls lost you will weep and mourn over these Gains to all Eternity In this present Voyage poor Souls meet with seas of Troubles Satan's storms of Temptation as well as storms of Affliction Do not we sail through many a Red-Sea before we arrive at our port In this Voyage you must steer by your Compass the Rule of the Word is your Compass to sail by to live by and must be your Compass to dye by and to put into your Port by In this Voyage you are accountable at your returns wicked persons must account for every idle word and for every evil action You carry necessary Provision for a Voyage O how many of us are but poorly laid in for our Voyage who knows what the latter part of our Voyage may be fill'd up withal Do we know what storms and tempests may attend our very putting in to Port Was it not so with him that is now safely arrived had not he his storms before he harboured O poor Souls you see how fast you sail down the River of Time to put into the Ocean of Eternity Paul desired to ankor and finish his Voyage Where Christ is there is no sin Saints are hous'd when they are once got to Heaven To be with Christ is to be in safe harbour When God hath in this life filled the Water-pots of his people with affliction he takes that time to take them to Heaven and turn it into the wine of Consolations Consider God hath taken away a Shepherd from his Flock that gently led the Burthened that faithfully fed the Hungry heal'd the Diseased and diligently lookt to the state of his Flock He was a faithful Watchman God's Gardens take a great deal of dressing When Dressers are taken away what danger are Vineyards in of becoming like the field of the sluggard How did this Labourer spend himself in his Masters Harvest He was a Guide in the way to Heaven And is this a small loss Is not house breaking up when a Father goes O what a stroak is this for many poor Souls to lose a Spiritual Father You have lost a Minister we who knew him have lost a fellow-labourer in the Gospel You have lost a faithful Shepherd that are his Flock we a faithful Brother that are in the Ministry the Nation a faithful Wrestler with God God pulls out stakes in Zions hedge but few are put in God did renew the Bow in his hand day by day and it abode in strength He was no dauber with untempered Morter nor sower of Pillows under Christians or Sinners Elbows He Preached to you as one in an heavenly Extasie of Love to win Souls to Christ. He lived and shone out of the Pulpit as well as in it He was not only a burning zealous light in his Doctrine but also a shining light in his Conversation SIN the Plague of PLAGUES AND The worst of EVILS But sin that it might appear sin worketh death THe Doctrine of Repentance supposeth that man hath done amiss The Doctrine of Faith is another for Righteousness and Hope concludes man to be without Righteousness and Hope in himself 'T is not the Law but Sin that works man's death and ruine Sin is contrary to God Carnal men are Enemies to God rebels and despisers of God resisters fighters blasphemers and atheists against God Sinners are actors of High-Treason against the Majesty of God and will not that he shall reign over them More particularly Sin is contrary to God's Nature he is Holy he is so and cannot but be so he is all Holy and always Holy altogether Holy And sin is sinful all sinful onely sinful altogether sinful Sin is contrary to God's Attributes it will not that the King of Kings should be in the Throne and govern this World which he hath made sin attempts to dethrone God Sin denies God's all-sufficiencie Every Prodigal that leaves the Fathers house doth practically say so Sin dares the Justice of God and challengeth God to do his worst it provokes the Lord to jealousie and tempts his wrath Sin disowns God's Omniscience Tush cry sinners God sees not Sin despises the riches of God's goodness Sin turns God's grace into wantonness Sin is the dare of God's justice the rape of his mercie the jeer of his patience the slight of his power and the contempt of his love And further 't is the upbraid of his providence the scoff of his promise the reproach of his wisdom and opposeth and exalts it self above all that is called God Sin is contrary to the works of God sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world 't is the Master of Mis-rule the Author of Sedition the Builder of Babel the Troubler of Israel and all Mankinde Sin is contrary to God's Law to all his Orders and Rules to his Appointment 'T is not onely a Transgression of but a Contradiction also to the Will of God 'T is an Anti-Will to God's Will David in fulfilling the will of God was said to be a man after God's own heart And they that obey the will of