the Children get up and come into the house when they please We do indeed read of the hour of Prayer but it is hard to say which hour it was or if we could Where is the Divine Authority the stamp of God for the observation of it But the Lord's day is certain known commanded to be observed They that then ordinarily prefer the management of worldly business before the worship of God appear to be Lovers of the world I know we must allow here for the works of necessity and mercy these are to take place of the Sabbath The preservation of Life though it be but of a Beast is an act of mercy which God himself prefers before Sacrifice and so did the Lord of the Sabbath by his example teach us to do A Physician is excusable in travelling to relieve his Patient so that it be in the sight of God rather in merciful Care than worldly Covetousness But if the expectation and desire of a Fee be most predominant it is in vain to pretend necessity God shall find it out before him it will bear them out but badly to plead The Law allow'd it But who shall excuse the Lawyers and other men that travel Journies upon ordinary occasions and upon business of light moment and violate the Lord's day to save a little money or a little labor or for more convenient dispatch of worldly business To contrive to take a Sermon in their way to be at Church at such a place by such an hour I doubt will not salve the matter before a jealous God Christ says Ye cannot serve God and Mammon But these ingenious Worldlings have found out a way to do it They can travel a good days journey of 20 or 30 miles perhaps and yet contrive to be at some Church twice the same day Then they say to God Lo there is that which is thine the rest is my own Why may I not make the best use of it Thus they divide the day betwixt God and the world But whether he that requires a whole day for his service will accept such partnership viderint illi it is good to consider well of it MEDITAT XXXVIII Of Worldly Confidence AFter Injustice comes worldly Confidence to be condemn'd Trust and Confidence is a part of Worship Worldly Confidence therefore is Idolatry Yea it is Blasphemy to rest in and upon the Creature inasmuch as God alone is the Rest of Souls and the Confidence of the Ends of the Earth To confide in the duration of Riches is a piece of Foolery because they are winged and so uncertain Thou Fool this night c. But this is not the Folly that I mean To trust in Riches to râ—pose ones self upon them therefore to account our selves happy or safe because we have them to rejoice mainly in them crying Be merry Thou hast Goods laid up for many years This is the worldly Confidence that God has so often cursed baffled and forbidden God shall destroy thee for ever sayes the Psalmist Psal 52. The righteous shall laugh at him saying Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches Job reckons it amongst the highest of wickednesses to say to Gold Thou art my Hope or to the fine Gold Thou art my confidence Job 31. 24. They that trust in Riches Riches shall not profit them either to bribe the Enemy who shall despise their Silver and Gold as the Prophet speaks or to purchase health in time of sickness strength and swiftness shall not avail God will baffle these by making the Enemy swifter and stronger to pursue Ye said we will ride upon the swift therefore shall they that pursue you be swift Isa 30. 16. Charge them that are rich in this world that they do not trust in uncertain riches says the Apostle Lord what a strange thing is Man He must not only be admonish'd but charg'd Why what 's the matter That he do not trust in Riches uncertain Riches Why if they be uncertain there is no danger of trusting in them Yes they are uncertain and he knows it yet he must be charg'd not to trust in them It were endless to give an account of the disappointments of those that have rely'd upon and thought themselves safe in their temporal Prosperity and worldly Riches out of Sacred and Prophane History or of the Princes of the Earth that have been miserably befool'd with the number and strength of Men Horses and Ships wherein they have confided more than in the Lord of Hosts MEDITAT XXXIX Of Covetousness or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I Will now consider of Covetousness which is an undue desire of worldly wealth This desire is undue by the kind of the wealth or by the degree of the desire And so we are covetous either when we lust after that which is another mans or intemperately desire worldly wealth of our own though we use no indirect means to obtain it The first of these is that Covetousness directly aimed at in the Tenth Commandment called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is a sort of invading of another Mans Right There is a good Covetousness a coveting earnestly the best Gifts but this improperly called Covetousness For to speak properly we are not to covet the Gifts and Graces that are in other men although in themselves they are covetable yet as they are other mens they are not the object of our desires There may be a bad desire of a good thing Evil Covetousness is of earthly things and it supposes an impotent and worldly mind and an over-high valuation of earthly things it argues us to be led by our Senses and not by right Reason This Covetousness is a kind of spiritual Adultery Not only he that looks upon his Neighbors Wife but he that looks upon his Neighbors House or Land or Goods to covet them is guilty of worldly Love and that is spiritual Adultery A sin little regarded I doubt but certainly very dreadful The first unchaste glances of the Eye towards any thing that is our Neighbors is forbidden and it becomes us to be offended at them to make haste to suppress them to repent of them But if we allow them to grow up into wilful and steddy desires they are that predominant Love of the World that the Apostle tells us is so pernicious See what severe notice God takes of this kind of Covetousness how he visited it in Eve who coveted an evil Covetousness to her Posterity in Achan and Ahab who coveted an evil Covetousness to their own Houses There is no Man that is over-greedy of having but will sometimes desire to have what is none of his own If this be the standing Maxim Oportet habere We must have it will follow Unde habeat quaerit nemo It is no matter how he comes by it They deceive themselves that excuse their Covetousness by saying I covet nothing of yours I desire nothing but mine
In our hearts to love or esteem any vile person be he of what Civil Capacity he will before them that fear the Lord be their Civil Capacity never so mean is as good an Argument of an unsanctifi'd mind as the contrary is of a Citizen of Zion Psal 15. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned In this Courtly Age it would be lookt upon as an unmannerly behaviour in the Prophet who would not vouchsafe to look towards the King of Israel 2 Kings 3. 14. But certainly it is worse than unmannerly to have the greatest respect and kindness for them that are not at all of Israel MEDITAT LXXVIII Of Flattery THis brings me to think of the foul vice of Flattery which although it be not always an Estimation of men for men often flatter those whom in their hearts they disesteem and despise yet it would be thought so and is as worldly as the other An humble behaviour indeed is ornamental soft answers are good and useful To approve or commend a good man or a good action is so far from being simply evil that sometimes it is duty and may serve good ends But it requires a great deal of wisdom For First It easily mingles it self with something evil and is corrupted by Covetousness Slavish fear or Self-love Men may most set off themselves and study to endear themselves most when they commend other men Secondly It is easily perverted to ill ends and may as soon make me prouder as better Commendation therefore must be given Justly Seasonably Proportionably and should be mixt with the remembrance of God as Paul's was to Philemon ver 4 5. Flattery is sometimes gross in words commending evil and calling it by good names assenting to every thing at a venture or denying without reason Magnifying some little thing beyond its desert and extenuating some foul fault into a meer peccadillo or unavoidable infirmity Sometimes it is more fine and subtile in actions in a crouching truckling over-obsequious behaviour I need say no more of Flattery than that it is First an argument of a mean and slavish mind The truly generous mind that adores truth knows not how to give flattering Titles Secondly that it is of most mischievous consequence and very pernicious in its effects because it inâ—â—â—â—â— Princes Courts and Great Mens Houses Flatterers by blinding the Judgment of Princes do at once put out the eyes of a Nation For they lead â—hose out of the way who when they are misled cause the rest of the world to err We know how fatal it prov'd to Ahâ—â—â— when his Chaplains the Prophets and the Courâ—â—◠〈◊〉 together to deceive him Go up and prâ—sâ—â—◠〈◊〉 the Prophets Let thy word be as one of 〈◊〉 says the Courtier And with what indignation God does 〈◊〉 the daubing of these Prophets and their putting 〈◊〉 under mens heads and arms the Prophet Ezekiel does acquaint us Lord what is man or his power who can onely kill the body that I should fear and flatter him in any thing that is hateful to thee What Profit or Preferment can I expect from man that shall Countervail thy dishonour or the prejudice done to truth and holiness by sordid Flattery or sinful Complyance Oh that the interest of God and Religion be exalted in my soul far above all these petty carnal Considerations And oh that the Messengers of God would seriously examine whether they be not the servants of men of the worst part of men even their lusts by imprisoning the Truth lest it should fly in some honourable or worshipful face whether they do not tremble to speak of temperance before incestuous Felix or whether they can take such fair leave of their Patrons as Paul took of his Ephesians I have kept back nothing that was profitable to you MEDITAT LXXIX Of Worldly Business UNder this Phrase The World is comprehended also the Work Employment and Business of the World To prefer the Business of this World before God denominates a predominant Lover of the World God has indow'd Man with active Principles designing him for Business To be active is to be like God who is life it self He is not an idle Spectator enjoying himself and minding nothing else neither doing good nor evil as some prophane men in the Prophet imagin'd him but he is good and doth good An idle and unactive life is unmanly and infamous No station does exempt men from Business Gentlemen and Ladies have their Callings There is Business accommodated to all sorts of men Having already of Idleness I will say no more of it here but this A good man must needs love Business as it is a Vehicle of Grace For how can a man exercise Righteousness Mercy or Charity without Business The necessities of humane life are so many either our own own or other mens that it is impossible any man should be idle but who is of an idle sensual temper To prevent mistakes I will first consider what is not to prefer the business of the World before God To be diligent and industrous in our Callings with a good design is not it To be more in worldly Business than in heavenly is not it God himself has allow'd six dayes to one To employ our hands in working more than in lifting up to Heaven is not worldly If we speak properly To observe due measures and propound right ends in worldly Business is Conformity to the Will of God and heavenly God acted like himself in the Creation of the world as well as in the Redemption of it and so do godly men in employing themselves about worldly Objects as well as spiritual The Angels are as well in Heaven when they are employ'd upon Earth in preserving the goings of the Saints as in their most immediate Contemplations To give the Precedency to worldly Business as to Management and Action is not simply and always it A lesser Business and more ignoble may be prohic 〈◊〉 more necessary than a greater and preferrible to it The Necessities of the Body may take place of the Conveniences of the Soul To do every thing in its proper season is a point of high Wisdom and indeed Religion Let us always remember that Religion is in the due management of worldly Business as well as otherwise To do Works of Necessity or Charity on the Lord's day is not it To have a reverend esteem for that day is good and necessary Religion flourishes in a Kingdom or a Soul as that is observed But yet there may be a Superstition in it which our Saviour by his Example and Doctrine has endeavor'd to heal The Sabbath was made for man and must give place to him But let all take heed they do not create Necessities or pretend them as I doubt too many of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Physical and Chyrurgical Tribe do To put ones self upon Business to offer ones service for the good of a Neighbor to meddle in other mens matters uncall'd by
The True Christians Test OR A DISCOVERY Of the LOVE and LOVERS OF THE WORLD In Two Parts I. Of MAN Considered in his Moral Capacity in an Hundred Meditations Derived from 1 John 2. 15. II. Of MAN Considered in his Political Capacity in Forty nine Meditations Derived from 1 John 2. 15. Non dubium est quam illud magis amemus quod anteponimus Salv. In so saying thou reprovest us also By Samuel Shaw Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed by Thomas James for Samuel Tidmarsh at the Kings-head in Corn-hill MDCLXXXII To the Right Honourable THEOPHILUS Earl of Huntingdon Lord Hastings Hungerford Botreaux Molyns and Moyls RIGHT HONOURABLE WHen Men are once firmly perswaded of the certainty of another World and do verily believe the Doctrine of Eternal Life revealed in the Holy Scriptures of God there is all reason in the World methinks to conclude that the first Enquiry should be How they themselves shall become partakers of it For who can be imagin'd to be sincere in his belief of so Glorious and Blissful a State that takes no thoughts how he shall obtain it or not so many thoughts as what he shall eat and drink and put on that sits down contented having given himself that cold answer which was once given to the Mother of Zebedees Children It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared Therefore to justifie the sincerity of their belief most Men do fancy to themselves something or other that will entitle them to this happiness though not so much perhaps because they account it so blessed a thing to obtain as dangerous and shameful to miss of it Amongst the many particulars that men do imagine will give them a claim to Everlasting Life The Love of God is one of the greatest and as much pretended to as any It is so Universal a Plea that I scarce think there is any Man who calls himself a Christian but he will make it Not to love God sounds so ill that it makes the Ears of the most Profligate Christian to Tingle when it is charg'd upon him But notwithstanding all these pretences to the Love of God it is most Evident that a great part of the pretenders are indeed strangers to it inasmuch as they may be convicted of the Love of the World which is inconsistant with it To find out and cast out therefore the Love of the World must needs be the most important Enquiry and Endeavour of Man of every man in the World Your Lordship will easily believe me if I tell you that although Men be never so great and high in the World if the World be great and high in their Hearts the Love of God is not in them Although Men have never so much of this worlds Good if at the same time they be unmerciful and uncharitable the Love of God dwells not in them This is expresly the Apostle James his Doctrine But to speak a little the closer though a man be instructed in all Wisdome and furnisht with all Variety of Arts and Sciences that he can name all things as properly as Adam or discourse of their Natures as learnedly as Solomon if yet the Love of the World be Predominant in him he is but a vain pretender to the Kingdom of Heaven a great stranger to the Life of Angels Though a Man know and believe all the wonderful Doctrines deliver'd in the Holy Book if this Faith do not operate to the purifying of the Heart from the Love of the World he is at present as far from having a true title to the Kingdom of Heaven as they of whom the Apostle gives this Character That they Believe and Tremble In a word though a Man be a Member of the Purest and most Reformed Church be never so Orthodox in his Judgment never so constant and specious in External Acts of Worship never so even and blameless in his Conversation never so exact in Works of Righteousness and abundant in Works of Charity and Mercy if yet in his heart he prefer the World before God he will be interpreted a Lover of the World and consequently an Enemy of the Father I do verily believe my Lord that I do here present you with a Treatise written about the most Important Enquiry in the World They are Morning Meditations stollen from the ordinary Employment of my Life which I do present to the World meerly to advance the Love and Honour of God amongst Men and do Dedicate to your Lordship in a grateful acknowledgment of your kind Respects to me and in Testimony of the Honour that I bear to your Lordships good Design of promoting Piety and establishing Peace in this Nation I beseech your Lordship favourably to accept the Oblation and I heartily pray God that as his Providence hath made you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very Illustrious amongst the English Families so by his Grace you may ever approve your self Tam re quam nomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh how Blessed and Honourable a thing will it be found to be sooner or later to be a Sâ—ncere and Ardent Lover of God! To his good Grace and Guidance I heartily recommend your Lordship and rest My Lord Your Honours most humble Servant SAM SHAW The True Christians Test OR A DISCOVERY Of the LOVE and LOVERS OF THE WORLD In Forty nine Meditations Derived From 1 John 2. 15. The Second Part. Of MAN Considered in his Political Capacity By Sam. Shaw Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed by Tho. James for Samuel Tidmarsh at the Kings-head in Cornhill MDCLXXXII To the Right Honourable THOMAS Earl of Stamford Lord Gray of Grooby MY LORD I Have little more to recommend me to your Lordship than that I am your Countreyman and Neighbour which yet is a Relation that your singular Humility and Affability is not wont to despise though in a person otherwise despicable ethough But your Lordships Love of and great desâ—re to serve the Interest of your Countrey does recommend you abundantly to the World and does tempt me to speak of it in this Dedication My Lord I intend not a Panigyrick of your Lordship which they that are acted by a Worldly Spirit and design Worldly Advantages might think worth their while to contrive May your praise be of God and not of Men And of God I am sure your praise will be if you be a Predominant Lover of him I beseech your Lordship to strip your self of all your Worldly Quality bâ—t an hour or two whilst you peruse the black Characters of a Lover of the World and the just Motives to the Love of God and then whatever exceptions Learned or Witty or Worldly men may make against these Meditations which I believe will be many if you do not judiciously account the Love of God to be the highest Honour and purest Happiness of Man I will be content how loath soever to be accounted not to be what really I am Your Honours Most humble Servant SAM SHAW THE HEADS Of
I must meditate of Idolatry Under the second of Witchcraft And under the third more particularly of Self-Willedness and Ingratitude and in general of the Devilish Nature And so I will shut up this First Part which concerns Man consider'd in his Moral Capacity with a Cautionary Meditation lest any one should falsely judge another Man to be a Lover of the World who is not so and endeavor to prevent mis-judging In the Second Part I will first endeavor to undeceive the False Pretenders to the Love of God and here meditate of Monastick Persons of the Votaries of Virginity of the Votaries of Penance and of Quakers of Pretenders to Charity and Righteousness And having diseharg'd that Examination I will proceed to consider Men in their Civil Capacity and meditate of Conformists and Nonconformists of Parents Guardians Tutors of Persons marrying and giving in Marriage of Patrons of Chaplains of Judges and Magistrates Arbitrators Electors Jurors of Landlords and Tenants of Tradesmen of Inn-Keepers of Beggars of Wagerers of Gamesters of Debtors of Creditors particularly of Usurers And so conclude with some Dissuasives from the love of the World and Motives to the love of God MEDITAT III. Of the World THE World is taken either in a Physical Sense or in a Theological In a Physical Sense it signifies that vast Globe that make up Heaven and Earth and Sea and all things contained in them But in a Theological Sense it is put in opposition to God as it is here in this Text of the Apostle John and often elsewhere The World taken in a Physical Sense is lovely and the Strength Beauty Order and Variety thereof are to be Reverently regarded and admired as the workmanship of Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness It is very proud and prophane or very foolish to despise the World in this Sense and to disregard the Operation of God's Hands To despise the Workmanship reflects a Dishonour upon the Workman and those that see nothing excellent in the World may be justly suspected to see nothing above it The Psalmist says Psal 111. 2. The works of the Lord are sought out of all that have pleasure in them and I â—hink if we Translate it have pleasure in him the Divinity will be as good if the Grammar should not The best Men are the best Philosophers for they make the best Observations upon the admirable Structure and Furniture of the World they see most beauty in it who behold and admire the Divine Wisdom Power and Goodness shining forth in it He that converses in the World and beholds the many Demonstrations there given and the Lectures there read and does not from thence learn the Eternal Power and Godhead is a Notorious Dunce He that does understand and know them and does not love and admire them is prophane and proud and so for all his knowledge may be truly said to know nothing Of these prophane Philosophers I shall have occasion to meditate hereafter amongst the Lovers of the World At present I only conclude That Philosophy especially the Philosophy that discovers and comments upon the stately Fabrick the harmonious Order the magnificent Furniture and the admirable Variety of the World the proper Causes and Ends of Things is a very Laudable Study in its own Nature and may be a singular means for the advancement of the Name and Honour of the Blessed Creator It was an extraordinary Expression of a Person of great Quality amongst us when he was but about two and twenty years old That he could be content even then to quit this World and all the Pomps and Hopes thereof though it were for no higher Felicity than to be perfected in the knowledge of Natural Things I cannot tell precisely what degree of value we ought to set upon Philosophical Learning but this we know That no Man in the World and in all the Ages thereof were more famous and admirable than those two Princes of the Jews Moses and Solomon who excell'd in this kind of Learning And the great God himself has given fair encouragement to the study of it by those Philosophy-Lectures that he read out of the Whirlwind to the Eastern Prince which are contained in the 38 39 40 41 Chapters of the Book of Job MEDITAT IV. Of the World taken in a Theological Sense THE World taken in a Theological Sense is put in opposition to God and so it signifies all that which is contrary to the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ and Warreth against it and true Religion all that which doth not comply with the Will of God or withdraws the hearts of Men from him And consequently all that which besides the knowledge and love of God Men covet delight in or lament In this Sense it is said 1 John 5. 4. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the World And Gal. 6. 14. that the true Believer is crucify'd to the World and the World to him In this Sense The Friendship of the World is said by the Apostle James to be Enmity against God and by the Apostle John to be hatred of him This is sometimes called Mammon and is put in opposition to God sometimes it is call'd our own things in opposition to the things of Jesus Christ. And this appears to be the meaning of it in this Text which I meditate upon by the following Verse which explains the World by the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life which certainly if they be put together are of a large Extent In this Sense we read of Worldly Lusts Tit. 2. 12. of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Things of the World 1 John 4. 5. of the Fornicators of the World 1 Cor. 5. 10. of the Rulers of the darkness of this World Ephes 6. 12. of the Spirit of the World the Wisdom of the World the Nations of the World Luke 12. 30. the Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life Psal 17. 14. the Sorrow of the World 2 Cor. 7. 10. The World in a Theological Sense is in general whatever is not God and so even Life it self may be call'd the World The Apostle James puts the Theological Notion of the World out of dispute in that famous Text wherein he describes the pure Religion to be a keeping of ones self unspotted from the World Jam. 1. ult So then the Apostle St. John means If any Man love any created Being or cleaves to it more than God or prefers it before him he is a Lover of the World and consequently no Lover of the Father MEDITAT V. Of the Noble Affection of Love IF any Man love c. The Noblest Affection that God hath endu'd the Sons of Men yea or the Angels of Heaven with is Love For when that blessed Being was minded to copy out Himself upon the rational Creature He made it apt to love as He Himself is Love God is Love and the power of Loving is his Image However Liking and Lusting and Appetite
and Ambition they 〈◊〉 the Devil of Dissention by the Devil of Revenge like King Jehu casting out Baal to make room for the Golden Calves and shewing much zeal for the Lord as they would have it thought when indeed they are acted by the Satanical Spirit of Pride and Malice and their design is nothing but to Rule or be Reveng'd If a man had as good eyes as Jacob had he might see the Rams that leap upon these Cattle to be speckled and grizled the Spirit that impregnates them to be no other than the Spirit of Apostasie and a black Incubus ascending up out of the Bottomless Pit Neither let any one think that the spiritual Sins of Pride Malice and the like are only to be called the Devilish Nature For what though the person of the Devil do neither eat nor drink nor heap up Silver and Gold nor acquaint himself with strange Flesh Yet Drunkenness and Gluttony Covetousness and Lasciviousness are really Branches of the Devilish Nature and belong to the Spirit of Apostusie For so it is describ'd by our Saviour Mat. 16. 23. That is Satanical be it what it will that savoureth not the Things of God Get thee behind me Sathan And why Sathan Because he though ignorantly oppos'd the redemption of Mankind True but our Saviour puts it into a more general Phrase Thou savourest not the Things of God implying That whatsoever opposes the Will and Ways of God is Satanical Men fear Hell as a bad place rather than as an evil and wicked state and so they hate and bann the Devil as a Name or Person at most rather than as a sinful and apostate Nature We read indeed of the Devil possessing the Bodies of men which ordinarily occur'd in the days of the Son of man But though it be not so much observ'd nor does so much astonish the possession that he has of the Souls of men is much more common and far more dreadful Is it not much more lamentable that the Devil should possess the Souls of men than their Bodies And does he not really possess all unregenerate minds Is not that Spirit that apostate Nature which worketh in the Children of Disobedience he Is not Diabolical Impression a real Impregnation As good men are the Children of God and pleni Deo more than wicked men by a God-like Nature so are all unregenerate men all Lovers of the World Children of the Devil under his Dominion possest by him impregnated by him and indeed by Scripture-warrant they are so many Satans in the flesh and Devils incarnate Learned men think that in Zech. 3. 1. the word Satan is to be read Apostate as if the Spirit of Apostasie did denominate the Devil And the wicked and apostate Nature wherever it is found predominant denominates men devilish otherwise Judas was no more a Devil than any of us The Devilish Nature is mischievous and unrighteous and ever opposing and perverting the right ways of the Lord. And they that are acted by it are upon this very account by the Apostle call'd Children of the Devil Acts 13. 10. The War that the Captain of our Salvation manages is not so much against the damned Regiments the Apostate Spirits though he has plainly triumph'd over them and I suppose his bright Legions do still under his Banner oppose and rout them as manifest Hostility being kept up amongst them as we read of between the Troops of Joab and Abner as against that wicked nature and those wicked works which estrange the Souls of Men from God as the Apostle John compendiously tells us when he describes the design and errand of the Redeemer he says It was to destroy the works of the Devil So then all that work the works of darkness and wickedness are his Followers and each man of them in his measure a little Devil Or whether you call them his Subjects Servants Slaves Children Apprentices with relation to his work his inspired ones his Scholars the Scripture will warrant all these Lord How unpleasant and wearisome a Meditation is this What an universal Defection is here How strong is the Conspiracy What a numerous Issue hath the God of this world who although they are thy Creatures yet are his Children What no less than a world wondring after the Beast No less than a whole world lying in wickedness No fewer than all men seeking their own Things Sure there is something Tropical in these sad expressions Yes for besides the whole world that lies in wickedness there are a certain number there are a We that are of God 1 John 5. 19. The Apostasie is not so Epidemical but that there are Seven thousand knees that have not bowed themselves to Baal The whole rational Nature hath not so herded it self under the Beast but that there remains a little Flock The whole Field of the World is not so overspread with Tares but thou hast some handfuls of Wheat in it Blessed be thou O God who hast not quite thrown away the World out of thy hands who hast not utterly forsaken thy own Workmanship or rather hast not suffer'd them utterly and everlastingly to forsake thee Be comforted O my Soul in the great number of Glorious Angelical Loyal Natures who are yet Faithful and reign with their God And do not desperately conclude but that there may be abundance of other intellectual Beings pure and unspotted who still deserve to be called the Children of God Be comforted in what thou hast seen and dost see daily I mean the great Shepherd of Souls rescuing out of the mouth of the Liou two Legs and a piece of an Ear Amos 7. 12. The Lord of the Harvest gathering sâ—mâ— gleaning Grapes two or three Berries in the top of the uppermost Bough four or five in the outmost fruitful Branches 〈◊〉 17 6. The mighty Angel with the everlasting Gospel in his hand calling now and then one of a City and two of a Tribe out of darkness into his marvellous light And oh cease not to pray the Lord of the Hâ—â—vest the compassionate Father of Spirits that 〈◊〉 will mercifully look down upon the miserable apostate World rebuke the Power retrench the Dominious of the Wicked One and reap unto himself a more plentiful Harvest of Souls MEDITAT C. Cautionary AND now what Oedipus shall solve this Riddle What Divine Philosopher what Secretary of Heaven shall give us an account of this strange Phaenomenon Is there any greater wonder to man in the World than a worldly man What Decrees of Heaven what Providence of God what Fate of Providence what Temptations from without what Inclinations from within shall we run to to give an account of this fearful Apostasie of so great so noble a part of the Creation from his blessed Centre his pure Life his paradisic State Whether we think of the corruption of the humane Nature in Adam yet it is a marvellous Mystery how a Person of his purity and soundness came to sin and how persons of that
remoteness from him as we are should sin in him Though neither of which seem incredible yet both of them seem inexplicable If we lay the fault at the door of each pre-existent Soul it seems indeed to be just but still it is as strange as it was before For so every single Soul is an Adam for purity and soundness of Constitution and how shall we do to account for the Apostasie of so many Adams if we be puzled at the Fall of one But alas The mysterious Intricacy of this is not so great but that the manifest evidence of the matter of Fact is as great It is enough Ah Lord it is more than enough to know and see which indeed we cannot hide our eyes from that this noble Vine is turned into a degenerate Plant That the Native Friends and Favorites of God are become Lovers yea Servants yea Worshippers of the World And the greatness of their Number is too too evident in these Meditations which yet I am sensible have not described all Some possibly will think these too many I cannot help it but the Discovery is in order to their Recovery Others possibly in another Extreme will think these too few and will extend the predominant Love of the World further than I do or dare Some are so fierce that every Body must needs be carnal and corrupt and of a worldly mind who is not exactly of their mind but of some Way Persuasion or Opinion different from them These cry Get thee behind me Satan And why Satan Why because thou savourest not our Things our Doctrine our Discipline our Worship our Way Theycry to every one that does not please them Thou Child of the Devil And why Child of the Devil I pray Not because they pervert the right ways of the Lord but because they oppose their Ways and weaken their Party True indeed Heresie and Schism are works of the Flesh and symptoms of a worldly mind But they are very cunning close Things which are very hard to be discern'd and of so lubricous a consideration that it is very difficult to hit of them right So difficult that even the inspired Messengers of Heaven have been mistaken for Emissaries of Hell and the very Pillars of the Church cast out of the Church for Heresie I believe Perversness is a very Devilish Temper But it is very unreasonable without any more ado to judge every man perverse that does not perhaps he cannot in all things think as I do or whom my Arguments cannot convince Some are so conceited of their own extraordinary Purity that they look down with a disdainful pity upon all the rest of miserable Mortality as if they were all irrecoverably lost and themselves with Job's Messenger left alone to tell it A person of the Apostle John's Infallibility indeed may say We know that we are of God and the whole world lies in wickedness But for a Company of Pharisees impregnated with Self-conceit to conclude that all the world were born in sin but themselves and that all the vulgar sort of Mortals are ignorant and accursed This I say the Candor of Heaven it self could not endure Luke 16. 15. Ye are they that justifie your selves c. The Pseudocatharists in the Prophet Isa 65. 5. cry to their Neighbors Stand off come not near me for I am holier than thou Sanctificabo te I shall sanctifie thee that is defile thee as that word is often used As if he should say If thou touch me who am so holy thou shalt be defiled and guilty before God as those common persons were accounted who touch'd the Altar the blood of the Sacrifice or any holy thing which they ought not to touch Some are so severe as to determine flatly against the Salvation of all Rich men because Christ has declared it very difficult and to think not any of them are called because the Apostle says Not many And the Grandees for wit and wealth are meet with them crying These poor people are foolish Jer. 5. 4. they know not the way of the Lord nor the judgment of their God they know not the Law and are cursed Others pass hard Censures upon all Heathen Men yea and upon Christian Unbaptized Infants too whether true or false I know not but I could wish they were false and the Learning of some more charitable Divines has endeavor'd to prove them not true There are others besides all these who though perhaps out of no bad Principle are ready to judge many things to be Symptoms of a predominant Love of the World which are not It is true the Love of the World is so dangerous and pernicious that it ought to be the constant care of every awakened Soul to flie from it and one would almost pardon the scrupulosity and fear of those that run away from it though they should be suppos'd to run too far And the Love of God is so pure and divine a thing so great a perfection that the exercise of it admits of no Excess if the whole Soul were turn'd into a pure flame of Love it would not be a Sacrifice too costly or precious to be offer'd up to that ever blessed Being the Supreme Good neither would there be any room for the envy of Hell it self to put in a quorsum perditio haec But though it admits of no Excess yet I conceive it admits of Mistakes and though Men cannot outdo in it yet they may do amiss about it As I conceive they do how pardonable soever their mistake is who condemn them for Lovers of the World who do any works of Necessity Charity or common Civility upon the Lords day who think oftner of the world than they do of God or who in their practice sometimes prefer a worldly business that is important before a Sermon or a Prayer Devotion it self how excellent a thing it is may be irregular and there needs judgment as well as affections to denominate a Man a right Christian without which even the highest perfections of Love and Zeal do degenerate into something worse than the Notation of the words do import And although I do reckon that it is highly laudable and reasonable to live in continual weariness of this world and life and holy longings after the presence of God endeavouring to attain to the Resurrection of the dead yet I do not believe but there are many languishings and fainting Fits that befal the most devout Lovers of the Father here in the Body Neither dare â— condemn every man for a predominant Lover of the World who in some Passion some Temptation or other has almost lost his sight and taste of God and casts a fond eye upon this Life and World as wretched as it is It is best to wish with Paul to be dissolv'd It is next best to groan with Paul O wretched man that I am c. It is pious to keep up a predominant estimation of Heaven and to make the main business of
abound in this Work of the Lord as much as any that pretend to an imitation of him yet he made his own hands administer to his Necessities rather than be chargeable to the Churches though I suppose the Churches then were as free and as kind-hearted as they are now In short As a man may give away all his Goods to feed the Poor and yet have no Charity so we may cast away the World and yet not rightly contemn it and to a wise Observer shew himself to be more a Fool or a Fanatick than a Saint Good God Since the World is so manifest grant that I may be mortify'd to one Branch of it as well as another that I may not maintain the Worldly Life in one sense whilest I seem to destroy it in another that I may not cleave to the Golden Calves nor haunt the High Places whilest I seem to renounce Ashtaroth â—est in breaking one Commandment I be found guilty of all MEDITAT II. Of the False Despisers of Pleasures and of the Votaries of Virginity IF any one love the Pleasures of the World the Love of the Father is not in him Fleshly Pleasures are the Bane of the Soul they are deadly Enemies to it they do in an especial manner war against in says the Apostle yea and they kill it too For he or she that lives in them is dead whil'st they live He that Travels or Negotiates in a strange Countrey had need to take heed of Enemies especially the Natives of the place And so had this Pilgrim Soul that sojourns here in the Flesh need to beware of the Pleasures of the Flesh which are as it were the Indigence or Natives for they do most endanger and ensnare The Poet could tell us that the wise Wanderer stopt his ears against the inchanting Syrens And the holy Text tells us how ill the Pilgrim Sons of Jacob fared for not abstaining from the Wine and Women of Moab these did them more hurt than all the opposition they had met within all their March What if we reckon with our selves that we are so many Vlysses's wandring homeward in many Uncertainties like so many Israelites trying our Fortune to find the Canaan out of which sometimes we came so many younger Brethren that have taken our Journey into a far Countrey where now we are Should we not with ardent contention of Soul pant and breathe after our Home our own Countrey our Father's House and consequently beware of the inchanting Syrens and Circes the Cozbi's the Harlots I mean all the Fleshly Pleasures that obstruct our return and war against our Souls Agreed cry the Votaries of Virginity and Penance we are the onely Despisers of the World we have stopt our Ears and all our Senses against the Inchantments of it In comparison of us Samsâ—n was as weak as the new Cords that himself broke off his Arms and Solomon himself void of understanding We have made our selves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake We will pluck out our Right Eye if it look upon a Maid and cut off our Right Hand if it chance to suffer a Kiss of a Female We keep under our Bodies and chasten our Rebellious Flesh till we make it crouch as obsequiously as any Spaniel We persecute our own Flesh as severely as we would do an Heretick And though the Apostle will not allow us to hate it yet we we cannot but be asham'd of it We are true Followers of that holy Doctor of the Gentiles whose many Journeyings we match if not over-do in our long and frequent Pilgrimages and his Self-Castigations by our Penances These are high Pretensions indeed But its worth the while for the Pretenders to inquire Whether they be just and whether they be conclusive of a Contempt of the World For certainly all Single Life does not deserve the Honourable Name of Virginity One may allude to the Prophâ—â—'s Riddle and apply it here with a little pardonable Abâ—onancy The Children of the Barren are more than of her that bore The Scripture describes Marriage by the Coalition of two into one They two shall be one Flesh If this Metonymical Marriage must pass for currant I doubt the Votaries of Virginity will be diminish'd by this Test as much as the Soldiers of Gideon's Army who at the first Tryal shrunk from Thirty two Thousand to Ten Thousand But further Christ the first Discerner of Purity â—â—lls us That there may be many No-Virgins whose Bodies are yet untouch'd as if it were not so much the Conjunction of two Bodies as of two Minds that made a Marriage or worse It 's not enough not to have known a Man Virginity is a tender thing and may be spoil'd even by some kind of seeing a Man He that looks upon a Woman to lust after her defiles himself and She that looks upon a Man violates her Virginity And now I wish our Virgins both Males and Females be not shrunk again as much as the fore-named Captains Soldiers at the second Tryal who fell from Ten Thousand to Three Hundred Yea and it is further to be wisht that of this little Number that is left of those that have not known nor seen any one of the other Sex the rest have not at some time or other heard of them read of them or thought of them otherwise than becomes them and so be not like the Three Hundred Soldiers even now nam'd that carry'd Lamps within their Vessels I mean that burn though they marry not And now methinks I could find in my heart to grant that if the Claim to this pure perfect unspotted unsullied Virginity be just it is conclusive because I am very confident it 's not just But yet it will not be amiss to inquire Whether this unspotted Chastity be accompany'd with the profound Self-Examination and entire Self-Resignation and especially with that Divine Charity that it ought The true Virgin is the Soul that chastely adheres to God the blessed Being whose Name is Love And she is an Adulterous Soul that cherishes Wicked Hatred as well as she that allows Wanton Love What if I do not burn in unlawful Love if I burn in Hatred and be inflam'd with Revenge I have defiled my Soul and lost my Purity in the sight of God The High Priests would not defile themselves by the Judgment Hall but with Envy and Murder they would Or what if this pure Virgin flie from all Mortal Embraces yea and loath the sight and thoughts of any man if she settle into a Self-admiration fondly doting upon her own Beauty or Virginity or Wantonly dallying with her own Fortitude or Perfections she has play'd the Whore from God who alone ought to be Supreme in the Soul and is become unchaste in her Amours It may be very pertinent to examine Whether a great part of the Virginity that is found in the World be not meerly Constitutional it 's no thanks to them not to Burn who are not Combustible Another great part Political
and many of our Scholars think of themselves if ever they think of themselves and what opinion they have of their own temper and inclination who from Week to Week spend more than a moiety of their days in Sports and Recreations in needless Visits impertinent Confabulations and either in doing Ill or doing Nothing or doing that which is nothing to their purpose nothing serving to their general or special calling They cannot imagine sure that by saying a Prayer or reading a Chapter in the morning they have purchas'd all the rest of the day to their own use as the Jews got the remainder of the Fields and of the Flocks by offering up the First-fruits and the First-born or that by beginning in the Spirit they have obtained a Licence to go on and end in the Flesh One would think it that a Christian Preacher should make as much Conscience of his time as an Heathen Painter and allow Nulla Dies sine Linca No Day without a Line to be a good Motto It is certainly a weak Argument that because Men have good Estates and need not Work nor Trade to maintain themselves that therefore God does require no business at all of them but that their time is their own And as for those that are in a Clerical Capacity methinks the Children of this World who act at a more industrious rate should shame the Children of Light or the Lights of the World let them call themselves by what name they please out of that silly fancy that because they have got a little Learning therefore they need study no more or because they can make a Sermon in one day of a Week and preach it on another that therefore the other five are their own to play with Amongst the Worldly Gamesters the unseasonable make up as great a number as the unrightcous or intemperate I reckon those unseasonable Gamesters who purloin from the Lords-day to bestow in Sports and Recreations I will not enter into the Controversie about the Morality of the Sabbaths nor the certain Right of Succession that the Lords day hath to the Holy Rest of the Seventh day but I do believe that the Conscience of a good man is the best Casuist in this matter And that every such man in the World doth think it reasonable to appropriate some certain time to the more immediate and solemn Worship of God and that no such man will grudge a seventh part of his time to so good a matter who gives him all the rest and that there are many such men who are so far from grudging God one day in a Week that they had rather every day in the Week and every Week in the Year and every Year of their Lives could be directly spent in the service of that God to whom they owe all they have and in communion with whom and therein I place the true Celebration of a Sabbath their true and proper happiness doth consist And I am of opinion with Mr. Hales and many other good men That Religion doth prosper or decay in Church Family or single Soul proportionably as the Christian Sabbath is observed or neglected It seems that there are some Pleasures allow'd us in general which are therefore call'd our own Isa 58. 13. which yet we are required to refrain from on God's Holy-day And I see no reason he has to complain for want of Recreation on the Sabbath to whom the Sabbath it self is the greatest Recreation which I pray God it may be to all that pretend to a predominant love of the Father As for those Conscientious Sensualists who use Sports on the Lords-day to prove that they are no Jews the end may be good possibly but the method that they take will I doubt indifferently serve to prove that they are no good Christians neither Besides these there are other Worldly Gamesters who indulge themselves in Sports and Pleasures in a time of Publick Calamity or Danger whom the Prophet Amos describes Amos 16. in the beginning and God threatens above all sorts of men that I read of except those that blaspheme the Holy Ghost saying That their iniquity shall not be purged from them till they dye Isa 22. 14. In short It is the Character of true Israelites that they cannot make merry when Jerusalem is oppressed Psal 137. and by the Rule of Contraries it is a Symptom of a Sensualist to nourish himself in a day of slaughter MEDITAT XXVI Of Debters SIN is properly a Debt but to be in Debt is not properly a Sin If it were what Consolation could be administred to them that were born in Debt and continue therein sore against their Wills to them that are engaged therein meerly by the Providence of God or reduc'd thereunto by the Injustice or Oppression of men But yet to be much in Debt and that inextricable is a very great Calamity and especially burdensome to a just and ingenious mind and yet more especially if contracted by any fault or folly of his own For if to lose Estates and lay down Life it self upon a Publick or Charitable Account be accounted Generous and Virtuous to run into Debt upon such Account ought not sure to be esteemed scandalous Solomon somewhere tells us That the Borrower is Servant to the Lender And indeed if there were no more in it but this loss of Liberty it would make that condition troublesome and uneasie But alas it is attended with many other mischiefs and dangers which do still inhance the Calamity The Precept therefore of owing no man any thing Rom. 13. 8. is given us in much mercy and God does therein consult our ease safety and quiet as by commanding us to be chaste and temperate and righteous he does consult our health and credit There are two Commands in the Text To owe no man any thing and to love all men always The former seems a very hard Commandment to the Poor and it is almost impossible for them to perform it Juvet idem qui jubet The latter is seldom I doubt performed by the Rich whose Riches for the most part make them proud disdainful oppressive and covetous The performance of the former seems to depend upon the performance of the latter For how is it possible that the Poor should be out of Debt if the Rich be not kind and charitable But if all men did love their Neighbors as themselves then it were easie to conceive that no man need ow any thing to any What then Does God command men Impossibilities Does he with-hold Straw and yet command his Servants to make Brick Does he send men naked into the world and leave them destitute of all things even of strength it self and yet charge them neither to beg nor borrow but to starve No this cannot be we must therefore relax the seeming severity of this Command by some favourable interpretation and say We must not wilfully and needlesly contract Debts nor carelesly and unjustly continue in them It is
our Lives a doing of God's Will and a preparation for his Kingdom But yet I dare not conclude it to be a Symptom of predominant worldly Love when I hear David crying in some case O spare me a little c. For when we urge the predominant Love of God as absolutely necessary we do not mean by predominant that it should be in the strictest sense perfect The Love of the meanest Saint is predominant and the Love of the devoutest is imperfect There are many other mistakes about the predominant Love of the World which are occasionally met with and corrected in the aforegoing Meditations Lord Suffer not my inflamed heart to rest in the lowest evidences of a predominant Love to thee no nor to be at rest till it arrive at the highest Demonstrations Expressions and Exercise thereof Though the consideration of Sincerity and Predominancy may sustain and comfort me yet let nothing short of Perfection content and satisfie me Oh Almighty Love wrap up my amorous Soul in thy Self And Oh cast forth thy Cords of Love and draw the estranged Souls of men unto thy Self Pity the infinite numbers of prodigal Apostates that have forsaken the Bread of their Fathers house and like Swine feed upon empâ—y Husks those many Noble Souls all of them like so many Kings by their Câ—â—ation that â—s it were with their Thumbs cut off 〈◊〉 gathering Crâ—m for their sustenance Restore their maimâ—d Faculties and lift up their Heads out of Prison change their Prison Garments and let them eat Bread before thee 〈◊〉 And Oh grant that all the Lovers of the Father may be judicious and regular in their own Devotions and charitable towards the Devotions and Affections of their Brethren Amen Amen MAN Considered in his POLITICAL CAPACITY PART II. MEDITAT I. Of the False Despisers of Riches IT is too too evident that the many sorts of persons before nam'd are in the judgment of God Lovers of the World even all that prefer the Profits pleasures Honours Persons Business Fashions of the World before God that is before Righteousness Truth Peace Publick Good Holy Order Charity Purity and the Sacred Will of God But because there are really many of these that will not yet acknowledge themselves to be such let us examine a little more closely to find out if possibly who they are that lie under this black character and to whom it doth agree And now I will a little examine Man considered in his Political Capacity for in that he is more discernable than in his Moral And here methinks I hear a Generation of Monastical People whether Papists or Protestants it matters not blessing themselves and saying It is apparent that they of all People in the World are no Lovers of it They are so far from coveting the Riches of the World that they give away all they have and reject the kindness of those that would give them more They embrace Poverty as a great Perfection and Nakâ—dness as an Ornament It was a high Character of them That took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods But what Perfectionists are these that spoil themselves The Disciples of Jesus were mortified men who reckoned two Coats superfluous but these Evangelists are even weary of the Incumbrance of one Nay they seem to out-vie the Son of Man himself of whom it is said That he had not whereon to lay his Head As if he stood in need of some House or Artificial Conveniencies whereas the cold Earth everywhere affords these hardy Soldiers of his a sufficient Bed and the spangled Heavens a Canopy To all which great Pretensions I only suggest these two or three Inquiries 1. It is highly reasonable that these Pretenders to a Contempt of Worldly Riches do inquire into themselves Whether in Deed and in Truth they do what they seem to do Whether there be no Fallacy Hypocrisie or Juggle in this Matter For we have read of those that pretended to part with all to the Church who yet kept back for their own dear selves and by laying their money at the Apostles feet seem'd to trample it under their own who yet for all their seeming Faith and Contempt of the World did not so strip themselves of all but that they kept a Rag for a sore Finger Ananias and Sapphira are Examples 2. It may be proper to inquire Whether some of the Heathens themselves whom you so undervalue as the Refuse of men have not done as much as all this comes to This I take for granted according to the Logick of Divinity it self that it is but a sorry Perfection in a Christian that does not excel all that can be found in a Heathen Mat. 6. 32. If they seek after these and these things it becomes Christians to seek after higher if they do such and such things it behoves Christians to do greater Now I suppose it is an easie thing to find many men as perfectly and voluntarily poor amongst the Heathen Philosophers as amongst Christians amongst the Cynicks as well as the Hermits as much Contempt of the World to any mans thinking in a Tub as in a Cloyster But it will be said These men did not neglect the World out of a pure design therefore 3. It will not be amiss that these Christian Contemners of the World do examine their Principles and Ends for if this voluntary casting away of the World be only a Trick to draw and convert the eyes of the World to themselves and to procure an estimation of mortifi'd men or a piece of Bribery to merit or purchase the Rewards of Heaven or a design to get Riches by a pretended Contempt of them or a Cloak for Idleness that they may eat and drink of the Best without doing any thing for it chusing rather to eat their Bread in the sweat of other mens Brows than of their own If any such things as these I say happen all this Contempt of the World is spoiled and becomes contemptible in the eyes of God nay indeed it proves to be a Device for the more effectual maintaining of the Worldly Life And who knows but that it may so happen or rather who knows not that it does Contempt of the World must be impartial and regular or else it will not pass for Devotion And if a man predominantly love the World in any branch of it he 's justly denominated a Lover of the World however he may seem to despise it in many other branches of it It is a sorry shift to endeavor to be thought to despise the Riches of the World and in the mean time to be enslaved to worldly Ease and Idleness to some men it is the greatest sensual pleasure in the World to do nothing Has not the same God who commanded us not to covet nor love the World also commanded to work and get our Livings Oh but they have spiritual Work to do What Merchant so industrious as they that compass Sea and Land to make Proselytes And did not Paul