some that so walk and of professed Christians he speaketh that they are enemies to Christs Crosse and to Christ himselfe consequently If thou beest a Lazarus one that makest t God not the World thine aide and thy stay If thou beest an Abraham or u a childe at least of Abraham one that x walkest in the steps of the faith of Abraham y who is the father of all the faithfull But these things you will say are too generall We will descend therefore to some particular notes in our ensuing discourse And so passe we to the sixth and last Vse of this Point which shall be for Admonition to admonish us of the duties required of all those that professe or pretend to be in friendship and amity with Christ x He that hath a friend saith Solomon must carry himselfe friendly If thou wilt therefore have a friend of Christ thou must be Christs friend for friend and friend are Correlatives thou must carry thy selfe as a friend unto Christ How is that you will say First thou must be faithfull and loyall to Christ For y faithfulnesse is especially required of friends and regarded in friendship z Be thou faithfull saith he unto death Nor speaketh he of the faith that we * repose and put in him but of the faith that we * yeeld and performe unto him But when are we faithfull unto Christ I answer First when we keep our heart and affections loyall and true to him not suffering a this wicked world or any sinfull lust for these be the b Absoloms that filch our hearts from this our David to sway in our soules nor our affections to be so set upon any outward thing even such as we may lawfully love c father or mother husband or wife childe friend or acquaintance or ought else whatsoever that it should either d withdraw our affection from Christ or minish our love unto Christ or e that we should not be willing to relinquish it for Christ if either f it shall stand betweene Christ and us or he shall be pleased to require it from us Secondly then are we faithfull to Christ when we are affected as he is when we love what he loveth and hate what he hateth For g what is true friendship but when men will and nill the same things h Ye that love the Lord saith the Psalmist hate that that is evill Whereupon Augustine i Doest thou love the Lord thou must hate what he hateth So art thou or wouldest thou be Christs friend thou must love what he loveth and hate what he hateth And what loveth he k He loveth piety purity mercy charity humility sobriety upright dealing and the like And on the other side l he hateth prophanenesse uncleannesse unmercifulnesse uncharitablenesse haughtinesse drunkennesse intemperance falshood unjust dealing and the like If then thou m lovest affectest and labourest in the former not so much because they conduce and are consentaneous to humane society for so one may do that is no friend to Christ or Christianity as because Christ n liketh and loveth them and they make thee o like unto him and p hatest the latter not so much because they are contrary to civill society as because Christ q hateth them and they make unlike unto him r whom thou desirest to please and to approve thy selfe unto yea whom thou endeavourest s to imitate and strivest to be t like unto knowing that u likenesse breedeth further liking and love thou art then a true friend to Christ indeed But on the other side if thou canst not brook or abide but hatest the former which he loveth and lovest and delightest in the latter which he hateth and abhorreth it is certaine there is u no friendship betweene Christ and thee whatsoever thou maist professe or pretend to the contrary Secondly if thou wilt shew thy selfe a friend to Christ thou must diligently observe him Friends we see are carefull to observe either other Especially if a meaner person have some great man to friend how carefull and sedulous will he be to observe and attend upon such an one And it is expected he should so do So we finde in story that it was the manner of those among the Romans that enjoyed the favour of any great ones a to repaire to them every morning that was b the first work they did and c strived who should first do it attend upon them so soone as they came forth and tender themselves and their service unto them In like manner doest thou desire to maintaine friendship with Christ thou must diligently and constantly attend upon him in his ordinances in publick in private d repaire frequently to his house attend at his threshold e he is a blessed man that so doth f invite him oft to thine house g he is not dainty of repaire to the meanest of his h he is willing to be entertained of us and i delighteth in such invitements especially take heed how when k he knocks at the door of thine heart by the ministery of his Word or the motions of his Spirit thou either refuse or neglect to open unto him l Such an oversight the Spouse committed and she smarted for it it cost her full deere And m such unkindnesses oft make shrewd breaches betweene friends Yea take heed of intermitting and letting fall thine usuall and wonted resorts n Intermission of entercourse breedeth strangenesse betweene friends And such intermission of spirituall entercourse may though not cut off all amity yet breed no small strangenesse between Christ and thy soule Thirdly our friendship with Christ must appeare as by our diligent observance of him so by our constant obedience to him o If a man love me saith our Saviour hee will shew his love to mee by keeping my Commandements And p you are then my friends and manifest your selves so to be when you do what I enjoyne you Yea then indeed do we shew our selves to esteeme Christ our friend and carry our selves towards him as towards a friend q when his Commandements seeme not harsh and grievous unto us when r with heart and goodwill we serve the Lord Iesus either in that we do for him or for others at his request That which a man doth lumpishly and heavily for a meere stranger the same yet he doth readily and s cheerefully for a friend And that is it that maketh t Christs yoake seeme so easie and his loade so light to his that u seeme so unweldy and so unsupportable to others Lastly it must appeare as in matter of Obedience so in matter of Patience as in constant doing so in patient enduring any thing whatsoever for him even a to losse of liberty limme livelyhood and life
That every faithfull one is one of Christs friends 2. That every friend of Christ is a friend of those also that are Christs 3. That Christs friends dye as well as others 4. That death to such especially is but as a sâ—â—epe 5. That this their friendship never faileth it surceasâ—th not in death but surviveth their decease And of these in order as God shall enable and the streights of time permit First then * Every faithfull soule is a friend of Christ Every true Christian is one of Christs Favourites It is the usuall style of Abraham d the Father of the faithfull Gods friend e To Abraham thy friend saith Iehoshaphat to God And f ye seed of Abraham my friend saith God to his people And g Abraham saith S. Iames believed God and he was called Gods friend So here of Lazarus a Sonne of Abraham Christs friend Our friend Lazarus saith our Saviour And to his Disciples elsewhere in generall h I tell you my friends And i ye are my friends k No more servants but friends This will more cleerely appeare unto us if we shall consider what the common nature of friendship or amity is Friendship is defined l A mutuall love manifested or more largely A mutuall love and affection betweene party and party manifested by some means from either to other And such is there betweene Christ and the faithfull 1. There is m a mutuall love and affection required unto friendship And such there is betweene Christ and the faithfull For n Christ loveth them and they love him He loveth them o Christ loved his Church saith the Apostle S. Paul And p to him that loved us saith S. Iohn and they love him q My Father saith he loveth you because you love me and r we love him saith S. Iohn because he hath loved us And againe s I love them saith he that love me and t if any man love me the Father will love him and I will love him too So that u there is no love lost betweene Christ and his x He loveth them first and they love him because he loveth them and againe he loveth them the rather because they love him Sweetly therefore Bernard y Let no man whose heart can truly testifie for him that he loveth Christ make any doubt but that Christ loveth him For how can he choose but love thee when thou lovest him z who loved thee then when thou loved'st not him 2. Unto friendship is required that this mutuall love and affection betweene party and party be manifested from either to other And so is it also betweene Christ and the faithfull the love and affection they beare either to other is by them mutually made manifest from either to other a I know mine saith our Saviour and am knowne of mineâ— I know them and they know me I know their love to me b Lord saith Saint Peter to our Saviour thou knowest that I love thee And c they know my love to them d He loved me saith the Apostle and we know saith Saint Iohn the love that God beareth to us And e that with all the Saints ye may know the love of Christ saith S. Paul againe Yea he hath manifested his f matchlesse love to them by what he hath done and endured for them by giving himselfe for them g He loved me saith the Apostle and gave himselfe â—or me And h Christ loved his Church and gave himselfe for it and making a bath of his own heart-blood to bath their soules in for the curing and healing of them i He loved us saith S. Iohn and washed us from our sinnes in his blood Besides that hee hath given them his Spirit for this very end to k seale up his love to them and l to make them know what out of his love to them hee both hath done and will further do for them And they manifest and testifie their though farre meaner love to him by their diligent observance of him and dutifull obedience to him by m keeping his Commandements and n doing whatsoever he enjoyneth them Againe there is a solemne league of amity betweene Christ and the faithfull Just such as that betweene Ionathan and David For as they o to confirme that league of amity mutually betweene them changed apparell one with other Ionathan took Davids raiment and put it on him selfe he took his own garments and put them upon David So our blessed Saviour Christ hath changed apparell with us a p sorry change indeed to him selfe though advantagious to us hath taken and put on himselfe our garments not q our nature alone but even the sorry rags of it r our infirmities by participation and s our iniquities also by imputation and he hath taken his owne raiment and put it upon us t the rich roabe of his merits and the royall roabes of his holinesse and righteousnesse u by imputation unto justification the one and x by participation for our sanctification the other In a word y he hath bestowed himselfe upon them and z they have given up themselves unto him So that a he is not more his own now then he is theirs b nor are they now more their own then they are his And what neerer or more intimate amity can there be then this Now the Vse hereof may first be for information to informe us of the most high and honourable estate and condition of every faithfull soule of every true Christian he is a friend of God he is a favoâ—rite of Christ It is noted as a speciall yea a singular honour in Zabud the Sonne of Nathan the Prophet that he was the Kings to wit King Solomons friend But behold d a greater then Solomon here and a greater honour therefore then King Solomons favour was able to afford Every true hearted Christian be he never so meane be he never so contemptible in the eyes of the world for e this dignity of theirs worldly men cannot see the world is not aware of is f not a servant only and yet were that honour enough it is that the Apostle prefixeth before divers of his Epistles as a matter of no small credit to him g Paul a servant of Iesus Christ but a friend and favourite of him who is King of Kings and l Lord of Heaven and Earth then which what estate can be more high or more honourable A second Vse may be for exhortation to incite every one of us to labour to be of the number of those whom this dignity belongeth unto k Many yea l every one saith Solomon seeketh the face * that is the favour of the Prince of the Ruler And indeed what will not men
it selfe too For what would not a man do or endure for a deere friend Or what hath he not done and endured for us Yea appeare it must not in patient only and quiet but in willing and cheerefull enduring undergoing and going through with whatsoever we may be called to suffer and sustaine for his sake b Iacob though hee served for Rachel some tearme of yeares an c hard sâ—rvice under an harsh Master by day parcht with the heat and by night nipt with the frost yet he went cheerefully through with it and d those many yeares seemed unto him but as a few dayes because he loved her So of the Apostles Peter and Iohn two of Christs faithfull friends it is said that when they had been in the Iewish Consistory not rated and reviled nor threatned only but e beaten also f they went away rejoycing that they g were graced so much as to be disgraced for Christ And h we not rejoyce only but even i glory in our afflictions saith S. Paul another of Christs friends and that in the name of the rest k because the love of God l in Christ and so m of Christ is shed into our hearts by the Spirit that is n given unto us In a word what we do or endure for him must come freely from us o Friendship as love the ground of it is a free affection not a trade or traffick for lucre and gaine p That is done by a man â—reely that is done for his friend it is done as for q himselfe his friend r being to him as himselfe s We must not stand to demand or forecast with our selves as those prophane ones in t Iob What shall I get or gaine by what I do or endure What shalt thou gaine by it saist thou It is gaine sufficient and so art thou to esteeme it that thou maist do Christ any service A singular precedent have we of this freenesse of disposition in that * choice vessell S. Paul u I care not what become of me saith he so that Christ be magnified in me be it by life or by death For all the gaine that I aime at both in liâ—e and death is Christ that is to do service unto Christ to bring glory unto him as that x Reverend Doctor of ours rightly expoundeth it Yea as the Apostle I may well say expoundeth himselfe where he telleth those of Ephesus at his taking leave of them y that he was going to Jerusalem bound thither by the Spirit not knowing what might befall him when he should come thither and howsoever from the Holy Ghost he was every where told that bonds and afflictions there aboade him yet did none of these things trouble him nor was his life deere unto him he regarded not what became of him so he might joyfully finish his course and discharge the work of his Ministery committed to him by Christ That was all he deâ—ired and all that he aimed at to do service to his Saviour to finish cheerefully his task assigned him by him And the like disposition who so can finde in himselfe may assure himselfe that he is a true friend to Christ and may build upon it that he hath Christ to friend And thus much for the first Point that Every faithfull one is Christs friend The second followeth that Every friend of Christ is a friend also to those that be his Lazarus saith our Saviour not my friend but our friend mine and yours too as well mine as yours and yours as mine And a the communion or society saith S. Iohn which you have with God and Christ ye have also with us And so it must needs be For 1. b All the faithfull are one as in Christ so with Christ They are c all members of one and the same Christs mysticall body d the head and the whole body making up but one Christ Nor can a man be a friendâ—o the head that is an enemy to the heart or the hand yea to the heele or the toe to the lowest and meanest member of the body e Nor can he be in amity with Christ who is at enmity with any member of that body whereof Christ is the head 2. f He that hath a friend must be a friend not to him alone but to his friends also He therefore that is a friend to Christ must be a friend also to them that are Christs friends and such are all the faithfull as hath formerly been shewed The Vse whereof may be First to admonish uâ— of our duty Do we professe our selves to be of the number of Christs friends We must then be friends also to those that be his We must shew our love to him by our friendly disposition and cariage towards them and that 1. In affection We must have g a sympathie a fellow feeling and fellow like affection with them h Friends rejoyce in the good one of another i as in their own they * grieve for the evils one of another as for their own and k so must thou yea so wilt thou if thou beest a friend of Christ l rejoyce with his when they have occasion of joy m weepe with them when they have occasions of griefe Yea so it is with the members as of the naturall so of this sâ—irituall body n if any one be honoured all rejoyce â—â—â—h it o if any one be afflicted all sorrow and suffer with it But how can we rejoyce in the good of our Christian brethren when we p envie their welfare How can we grieve with them in their griefe when we our selves q grieve them or are r causes of griefe to them 2. In action we must shew our love unto Christ by doing good unto them s O Lord saith David thou art my God t thou hast no need of me all my goodnesse or well-doing cannot reach unto thee * But unto thy Saints that are here upon earth to such as excell in grace and vertue my desire and delight is to be doing good unto them What I would but cannot do unto thee that for thee I do to them So here u Christ indeed himselfe is in Heaven nor can ought we do reach to him nor hath he need of it himselfe But in his stead he commends unto us his poore limmes here on Earth x Me have you not alwayes with you but my poorâ— members you have and you may do them good when you will y Yea though he wanteth not himselfe yet he sufferâ—th want in them z I was saith he naked and a thirst and a hungry and sick and restrained and * whatsoever is done to them it is done to him and whatsoever is denied unto them it is denied unto him And hereby therefore we may well try
and examine our selves whether we be indeed as we professe true friends unto Christ if we shew our love to Christ by a our beneficence and well doing to those that be Christs Which if we faile in we faile in truth of affection to him whatsoever we may pretend For as the Apostle reasoneth b How can he love God whom he never saw that loveth not his neighbour whom he daily seeth So how can any man say he is a friend to Christ whom he never conversed with if he shew no friendship to such members of Christ his Christian brethren with whom hee daily converseth Besides that it may be a comfort to every sincerely faithfull soule that every true Christian is his friend and he hath interest therefore both in the c parts and in the d prayers of all the faithfull a great stay to a Christian soule when it cannot satisfie it selfe with its own suits Yea that it hath a stock going with them every where though it have little of its own But I hasten The next Point is that Christs friends dye as well as others e Abraham Gods friend and yet f Abraham is dead g The Prophets Gods favourites and yet h the Prophets are dead too Lazarus Christs friend and yet i Lazarus is dead The Apostles k Christs friends and yet l the Apostles are dead Yea m the beloved Disciple Christs n chiefe favourite is dead For o Christ did not say that he should not dye And no marvell For 1. They are made p of the same mould that others are though they be possessed of pretious treasure yet q is it but an earthen vessell that the same is contained in 2. They are subject to the like casualties that others are For r all things here come alike unto all to the good and the bad the pure and the impure to Christs friends and Christs foes 3. They are by their naturall condition and constitution as s the grasse which though it be not cut downe yet will wither of it selfe Yea but as the Iewes reasoned when they saw t Christ weepe at Lazarus his grave u Behold how he loved him say some of them And againe other some x Could not he that made the man borne blinde to see have caused that this man should not have dyed As if they had said If he y loved Lazarus so why did he suffer him to dye whom he could have saved from death So may some say If the faithfull be Christs friends why doth he suffer them to dye when as z he might if he pleased deliver them from death I answer 1. Because it is for their good For they dye a to rest from their labours to be b rid of sin to be c freed from death to d â—eceive the reward of their well doing to e go to God to f be with Christ 2. It is according to their own desire that they so do Their desire with g Simeon is to h be dismissed they desire to be i eased of that burdâ—n k released from that body of death that they beare here about them l which cannot be done but by death they desire to m leave this wicked and wretched world and to n go to their own home to their o Fathers house p to Heaven they desire to depaâ—t hence that they may q be with the Lord Iesus and r abide with him for ever 3. It is for Gods glory that they dye and that they regard too as much as their own good For s Christ is magnified in them as well by their death as by their life as well by their pious and patient end and conclusion as by their godly course of life and conversation And a man may thereby as well glorifie God though he dye in his bed as if he dyed at a stake or with t Saint Peter on the Crosse 4. They a dye not though they dye death is no death to them as they b hope even in death so they c live even in death d As others are e dead while they live so they f live when they dye As to the wordly their g life is but a passage unto death So to the godly their h death is but an entrance into life their i deaths-day is better to them then their birth-day it is the k birth-day of their immortality the l birth-day of their eternity Now it is so that even the faithfull though Chriâ—ts friends yet are as well as others subject to death are no more priviledged or exempt from it then others are This may then first serve to admonish us that have such friends to make use of them while we have them not to be like those fooles of which Solomon m why is there a price in the â—ands of a foole to get wisdome with when he hath no heart to make use of it Nor like those whom the Heathen man speaketh of that n cannot brook or abide such while they live and yet lament for tâ—em and wish them againe alive when they are dead but o to make the best use we can of them for our spirituall good while we have them not knowing how soone or suddenly they may be taken away from us Againe it may serve as to encourage us against the feare of death so to mitigate our griefe for the decease of such our friends since that nothing therein shall betide us or hath befallen them but p what all Gods friends and Christs favourites have undergone before us and doe daily undergoe Nor would he suffer the same to befall those that are his intimatest friends his best beloved his dearest darlings his neerest favourites were there any q evill in it yea or were it not for their r good And so passe we to the next Point to wit that Death to such especially is but as a sleepe So here Our friend Lazarus a sleepeth and b Steven when he had so said fell a sleepe and c David when he had served his time fell asleepe and d for this cause some among you are sicke and some sleepe and e whereof some are asleepe and some yet survive And indeed in divers respects is death to such as a sleepe For 1. sleepe giveth f ease of paines and of troubles for the time and so doth death to the faithfull for g they rest from their labours their troubles their travels But sleepe doth it only as those h palliating medicines that empiricks usually give that abate the paines for the present but work no sound cure so that the paine returneth after againe as fresh and fierce as before whereas death with
the faithfull worketh i a perfect cure of all evils either k corporall or l spirituall so as they never feele them or see them or heare of them any more 2. Those that sleepe are m not perished are not dead they are alive still there is with them only a n suspension and an intermission of some naturall actions and of o all worldly imployments p Lord if he sleepe say they he shall do well In like manner q those that sleepe in Christ are not perished though to the outward eye to carnall sense they may so seeme r The righteous saith he perisheth and no man considereth it yet in truth it is not so all s worldly imployments indeed are suspended and surceased with them but they t rest in their beds and they u live unto God 3. Sleepe is but for a time men are wont to a awake againe after a while and b death is but a sleepe somewhat longer then ordinary c Man saith Iob if he dye shall not be awakened againe untill d the Heavens be no more But then e he shall at the worlds end when he shall heare that voice of our Saviour f Awake ye that sleepe in the dust of the earth and g all hearing it shall arise 4. Men usually rise from sleepe h refreshed with it in better plight then they were when they layd them downe to rest So shall the i faithfull rise againe from death in farre better plight then ever they were while they lived here k When I awake saith David I shall behold thy face and shall be satisfied with thine image For l then shall we become perfectly like unto him not m in grace alone but n in glory too when we shall see him as he is Now is death then but as a sleepe to the faithfull then first o why should any faithfull any friend of Christ feare death It is a childish thing for a man to be afraid to put off his cloathes and go to bed and what is death more then a stripping of us that we may lay our selves down to rest It is true indeed that in some diseases even sleepe it selfe is so p restlesse and troublesome to the sick it was q Iobs case sometime and they are so ill after it that they are r afraid and loath to sleepe and so indeed * it is or may well be in this case with the wicked But it is not so with the godly they may well say with the Prophet s I slept and my sleepe was sweet unto me The sleepe of death is no dreadfull but t a sweet sleepe unto them Secondly is death as a sleepe and such a sleepe to the faithfull a there is no cause then to mourne and take on for such deceased We reade of a people that b used to houle and keepe an hideous coile every day at the setting of the Sunne as if they feared he would never rise againe Would wee not condemne such of extreame folly or would we not deeme him little better then a mad man that should stand weeping and wringing his hands over one that were falne asleepe as supposing he would never awake againe Yet the like doest thou when thou doest so over the dead since that they are but in a deepe sleep c They are fallen asleepe in Christ And d I would not therefore saith the Apostle that you should be grieved and sorrow for those that be e asleepe as men that have no hope as if you thought they would never awake againe For f those that be asleepe in Christ will God awake and bring againe together with Christ Thirdly this may helpe to strengthen g our faith in the assurance of the resurrection of the dead Augustine speaking of those words of our Saviour h The Damosell is not dead but sleepeth i she sleepeth indeed saith he but to him who is able to awake her So k Lazarus sleepeth here but to Christ who l was able to awake him and m to raise him up againe with a word He sleepeth saith he here but I go to awake him And indeed as easie a thing it is for Christ with a word to raise out of this sleepe not n Lazarus alone but o all those that shall be found deceased at the p last day as for any of us q by making a noise to awake any one that lyeth fast asleepe Lastly is death as a sleep We have that daily then before our eyes that may minde us of death r Our sleepe is a lively embleme of it s so oft saith he as thou layest thee downe to sleepe and awakest againe from sleepe so oft in a similitude as the Apostle t of Isaac thou dyest and risest againe from the dead And well were it for us could we take occasion thereby daily so to u minde our end that we might live x in a continuall expâ—ctation of it and a continuall y preparation for it The last point is that This friendship beweene Christ and the faithfull never faileth It surceaseth not in death but surviveth their decease So here a Lazarus is dead and yet our friend still saith Christ and of Abraham God when he had beene many hundreds of yeares deceased b Abraham my friend And no marvell For 1. Neither doth Christs love to them nor theirs to him surcease at their decease He ceaseth not then to love them still for c whom he loveth he loves for ever Nor do they cease then to love him nay they love him more then then ever before better then then ever they did or could do they never did or could love him so well as then when the grace of d love as e all other comes to be perfected in them 2. So far is it from this that death should breed any enmity or infringe that amity that is between Christ and them that it removeth utterly all the reliques and remainders of that f that at first bred an enmity betweene God and them and maketh some g breaches betweene them now and then while they live here to wit h sinne and corruption which sanctification indeed eateth out here by degrees but death utterly destroyeth 3. Christ and the faithfull they part not in death i The Lord do so to me more too saith Ruth to Naomi if ought but death do part thee and me and it is a solemne clause in our espousals till death us k do part But it is more then so betweene this loving couple betweene the faithfull soule and Christ As David saith of Saul and Ionathan l they are lovely and amiable either to other in their life nor are they divided and sundred in
his care to finde out wherein he might faile and to amend what he â—ound amisse But may some say you told us ere while among other things that those that are Christs friends must shew their love to Christ in loving those that he loves in being friendly and doing good unto those that are his Why this was one of the principall flowers in that Garland of graces wherewith it pleased God to crowne and adorne this our Brother In other things he excelled others a in this even himselfe What faithfull minister of Christ did he not entirely b love and affect What faithfull member of Christ though never so meane did he not c honour and respect Neither was this his love and respect d verball or e complementall but active and reall ready largely and liberally to manifest it selfe at all occasions upon the least intimation and signification made to him as my selfe at diverse times have had experience and that even there * where no motion at all hath beene made to him for them but he had come occaâ—ionally to understand of their wants and necessities At his first effectuall call among other things he then resolved upon this was one to set apart every yeare a tenth of his gaine for the reliefe of the poore and that besides his tithe to God And will you know the reasons that induced him thereunto you shall have them out of his own memorials and most in his own words First to shew his love and his thankefulnesse unto God as f for raising him from a meane condition having lesse then fifty pounds to begin withall at first to that wealth that then he had so more especially for g his spirituall goodnesse to him in electing him redeeming him reclaiming him h remitting his sinnes and receiving him to grace and favour in Christ Secondly because he conceived that this distribution of almes would be an excellent meanes of keeping him from being proud and high-minded i a vice that usually followeth wealth for when in the exercise of this gift he should behold so many lamentable creatures some blinde some lame some sore some diseased some hunger-starved having death in their faces either through famine or other wayes it would minister him occasion of these and the like thoughts k Why am not I as this lamentable creature Or why is not this lamentable creature as I am l What makes the difference betweene me and him but the mercy of God only more in this kinde to me then to him Thirdly it would m occasion many to blesse God and to pierce the Heavens with their prayers and indeed in giving to any his word was usually n Praise God or when he sent to others as to my selfe sometime any summe to be distributed among poore people his manner was to adde in his lines accompanying it will them to praise God for it Fourthly he conceived he should be no small gainer by such gift And shall I tell you from himselfe what the gaine he meant was He considered he saith what o comfort would accrue to such poore ones by his gift and what a joy must it needs then be unto him yea and no small p honour it is indeed if it be rightly conceived to be an instrument of such comfort to any member of Christ I might well adde and to q Christ in them This therefore r he constantly set apart and out of this treasury it was that upon the forenamed occasions he so liberally dispensed That which being cast up amounteth to many hundreds a greater summe then for some considerations I think meet to expresse and yet what beside he freely bestowed upon his kindred and allies is deemed to amount to as great yea a greater summe then it Nor do I reckon what over above all this also went out of his poores purse which he never carried out empty that he might s ever be doing good that which he much desired and most t delighted in blessing and praising God in his remembrances that had u given him ability and opportunity so to do it being one branch also of his daily prayer that as God increased him in wealth so he would be pleased withall to encrease in him wisdome humility and thankefulnesse together with a constant and comfortable perseverance in that lovely grace of charity Yea but what got he or gained he may some of you say by this his beneficence or what was the fruit and effect of it I answer He esteemed it a gaine enough to do any good and b Gods acceptance of this his service to be recompence sufficient But yet it pleased God abundantly to recompence this his beneficence unto him both with outward and inward blessings True it is indeed that for some space of time some three or foure yeares after that his resolution of setting a tenth apart for such purposes he thrived not he found no increase nor came forward in the world as formerly he had done Yet was he not thereby discouraged nor did he forbeare to be bountifull as opportunity was offered and the necessity of poore people required it but he gave still with cheerefulnesse and comfort out of love unto God I give you his own words freely leaving prosperity in temporall things to God his fathers good pleasure and conceiving so he saith that God in wisdome and goodnesse prospered him not thereby to try his sincerity to him and his charity to othersâ— yea and that c he himselfe might thereby have experience of his love unto God his faith patience and constancy nor would he forgoe those evidences hereof that thereby he gained for ten thousand times ten thousand times more then they cost him So that albeit he prospered not in his wordly estate yet even then also he thrived much in his spirituall estate and in the fruits and comforts of it But from that time forward God abundantly advanced his estate You heare him againe speaking to you in his own language so that he found experimentally those gracious promises of God true and he citeth the places of his blessing of him that disperseth and dispenseth to the poore of the repayment of that with interest that is so lent to the Lord of the finding againe after many dayes with increase the bread or a bread-corne that is cast upon the face of the waters or b on the land neare thereunto though it seeme cast away for the present But that which is above all and beyond all it pleased God withall to afford him such evidences and assurances of his favour love towards him as whoâ—oever would buy from him by offer of the whole world and all the soveraignty thereof he professeth he would refuse a thousand such worlds in exchange for them By meanes whereof as he led c an heavenly course of