the means and so go to heaven with hell about us And indeed Wickedness could never so fill the hearts of men if they did not entertain this conceit that the Gospel and the Law are at as great a distance as Liberty and Captivity And by this the Gospel declineth and groweth weak and unprofitable not able to make a new creature which is made up in righteousness and holiness and obedience to those Laws which had not the Prince of this vvorld blinded us we might easily see and take notice of even in the Gospel it self For Christ did neither dissolve the Law of Nature nor abrogate the Moral Law of Moses but improved and perfected them both He left the Moral Law as a Rule but not as a Covenant pressed it further then formerly it had been understood and shewed us yet a more excellent way And as God gave to Adam a Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as matter for the freedom of his will to see which way it would bend and to try his obedience So did Christ in this new Creation even when he came to heal the broken-hearted and set at liberty those that were in prison publish his precepts which are not Counsels but Laws as matter of that obedience which will keep our heart from polluting again and strengthen our feet that we may standfast in that liberty wherewith he hath made us free For without obedience to these Laws the plague is still at our heart and our fetters cleave close to us He is come and hath finished all and for all this we are yet in our sins I will not say with Tertullian Quisquis rationem jubet legislator est Whosoever commandeth that which Reason suggesteth is a Law-giver For every man that can speak Reason hath not authority to make Laws But Christ was not onely the Wisdom of his Father but had Legislative power committed to him being the supreme Head over all men that by his Laws as well as his Bloud he might bind them to that obedience which may make them fit citizens of his new Jerusalem And as he is CHRIST anointed by his Father anointed to his office to teach and command so he distilleth his ointment on every member of his And the same anointing teacheth us of all things and is truth and is no lie and maketh us Christians that we may be obedient to the Christian Law Christ saith This new Commandment I give you and his Apostle calleth it a Law and we need not be afraid of the name We will but draw it down to our selves by way of use and application and so conclude And first we should not be afraid of the word Law if we were not afraid of our Duty nor look up upon God's decree which is hidden from us but fulfill the royal Law which is put into our mouth and into our hearts For his Decree and his Command are not at such opposition but the command may be a decree also And he decreed to save us by Faith and Obedience to his Evangelical Laws and he decreed to crown us but by those means which are fit to set the crown upon our heads Therefore we cannot but condemn that conceit which hath stained the papers of many who call themselves Gospellers and polluted the lives of more That Christ came into the world to do his Father's will that is to redeem us but not to do his Father's will that is to teach and command us Which is in effect to redeem us and yet leave us in chains That Christ is a Saviour and not a Law-giver That the Gospel consisteth rather in certain Articles to be believed then in certain Precepts to be observed That to speak properly there is no precept at all delivered in the Gospel That it belongeth to the Law to command That the breath of the Gospel is mild and gentle and smelleth of nothing but frankincense and myrrhe those precious promises which we gaze upon till our eyes dazle that we can see nothing we have to do no thought to stifle no word to silence no lust to beat down no temptation to struggle with but we let loose our phansie and our thoughts flie after and embrace every vanity we set no watch to the door of our lips we prove not our works but do whatsoever the flesh suggesteth because we have nothing to do we tempt even Temptation it self and will be captives because we have a Saviour for we are taught and are willing to believe it That the will of God is laid down in the form and manner of a Law but not so to be understood by the Elect which every man can make himself when he please but as a Promise which God will work in those his chosen ones but will not work in others who from all eternity are cast away That Faith it self which is the chief and primary precept of the Gospel is rather promised then left as a command Qui amant sibi somnia fingunt With such ease do men swallow the most gross and dangerous falshoods and then sit down and delight themselves in those phansies which could find no room but in the sick and distempered brain of a man sold under sin and bound up in carnality For if we would but look upon Christ or upon our selves and consider what is most proper to unite us to him if we would but hear him when he speaketh You cannot love me unless you keep my commandments we should not thus smooth and plain our way to run upon the pricks we should easily with one cast of our eye see what distance there is between a Promise and a Law and distinguish them by the very sound which flesh and bloud and our weariness in the paths of righteousness do so easily joyn together and make one Caelum mari unitur ubi visio absumitur quae quamdiu viget tam diu dividit saith Tertullian At some distance the heavens seem to close with the sea not so much by reason of the beams which are cast upon it but because the sight and visive power is weary and faint which whilest it remaineth quick and active is able to divide objects one from the other In like manner we may conceive that a Promise and a Precept which are in their own nature diverse and sâ—veral things for a Promise waiteth upon a Precept to urge and promote it and obedience to the Precept sealeth the Promise and maketh it good unto us yet may sometimes be taken for the very same For the Promises are glorious and cast a lustre upon the Precepts that they are less observable and so our duty is lost in the reward that looketh towards us Besides this it could not be that men should so mistake but that their eyes are dull and heavy by gazing too long upon the absolute decree of Predestination in which though they be never so far asunder the Precept and the Promise may well meet they think and be concentred Certainly a dangerous
be a sanctuary to such as dwell not in Christ 320. How much it concerneth us to try whether we dwell in Christ and Christ in us 321. By this mutual union all His become ours and all ours his 321 322. ¶ Christ must be looked upon and considered not in part but wholly 394. What it is to consider Him as our Priest Prophet King 492 493. What it is for a Christian to remember Christ aright 463 c. The mistake of the world in the manner of receiving Christs Person 523. as great in respect of his Doctrine 524. ¶ Christ was wont to draw his discourse from some present occasion 309. The Scope of his Sermon on the mount 560. He cured mens bodies and purged their souls 572. The end of his Miracles 572 c We must by no means defeat him of his end but cooperate with him 575. Many talk of Christ and profess to follow him but few walk as he did 518. 520. His Example is to be followed by us 510. v. Servant This is the principal standard Rule by which all are to be examined and according to which all are to be squared 1026 1027. Wherein Christ is not to be imitated by us 1026. wherein he is 1027. ¶ We ought to think of Christ's second coming 235. He shall though most put it out of their Creed certainly come to judge all 237. He knoweth mens hearts and all things 277 573. He was despised of old by most forgotten now 237. Why he delayeth his coming 238 239. Christ's second coming is an object for our Faith to look on 240. 735. for our Hope to reach at 242. 736. and for our charity to embrace 242. 736. It will be not for carnal but spiritual and heavenly ends 243. 954. It will be for the Advantage of Angels Men and other Creatures 245 246 His judgment will not be like ours but according to truth 247. The precise time of his coming not to be enquired after nor to be known 248 c. 737. What use we ought to make of the uncertainty thereof 250. 738. It is enough to know Christ will come it concerneth us not to know when 251 252. 737. It is better for us not to know it 252. No reason why either good or bad should know it 252. If the wicked knâ—w the very hour they would be never the better 253. Christ's coming will be sudden 254. When-ever he cometh let him not find us ill employed 254 255. What inferences Flesh and Bloud draw from the doctrine of Christ's coming 256. The belief of Christ's second coming affordeth unspeakable comfort to the godly but the contrary to the wicked 952. Why he foretold the signs of his second coming 1042. How the sight of such signs should work upon us 1045. v. Signs How to prepare our selves to meet our Lord at his second coming 1049. Though Christ deliver-up his Kingdome and be subject to the Father yet his Dominion is everlasting 235. 240. ¶ The doctrine of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness grosly mis-interpreted and misapplyed 870 c. 993 994. He came to make us happy which neither Nature nor the Law could do for us 716 717. He hath freed us from the guilt and power of Sin 1097 1098. from the rigour of the Moral and the servitude of the Ceremonial Law 1098. Many have a bare speculative knowledge of Christ which availeth nothing at all 723 c. What it is for us to be crucified with CHRIST and to rise again with him 725. Christendome v. View Christian and Christianity A good Christian who 68 69. 78. Every man may be a Christian 661. v. Truth Many would go for Christians that are nothing less 319. The end of Christianity is to draw our hearts from earth to heaven 645 c. 649. v. Religion Popery But alas how many Christians walk quite contrary 652. How Christian Religion is degenerated 915. 1071. The bare name of Christian will do us no good 291. v. Formality Hypocrisy Profession Sin in a Christian is far worse then in a Turk or a Jew 417 418. The sins of Christians cause Christianity to be evil spoken of 913 914. 1071. Christians who live unchristianly are guilty of the bloud of Jews and Pagans 914. 1071. It is not the name of Christian or of Christ that will save us if we dishonour it 915. How strangely most Christians mock God and contradict themselves 921. Christianity maketh a man not morose and sowre but sweet and tractable 504. It doth not discharge us from subjection to our Superiours 639 1102 1103. It is both the most delightsome and the most troublesome calling 1011. A Christian is both the freest and the most subject creature in the world 638. 1101. A true Christian is firm and constant 1111 1112. A strong Christian and a weak one described 458. Christmass-day the great metropolitane feast of the year 1. The antiquity of this anniversary solemnity 2. Church a word much abused 149. Many fruitless disputes about the Ch. 10â—8 Church magnified unreasonably by the Papists 680 601. Prosperity not a mark of the true Ch. 191. 295-298 It is always one and the same how 175. 696. never exempted from persecution 175 c. 709. subject to change 190. What alterations we have had in our Engl. Ch. 191. Of how different constitution Christ's C. is from the Kingdoms of the earth 188 710. It is not our joyning to this or that particular C. or faction rather but our dwelling in C. that can make us Christians 320 321. v. Congregation No discipline so essential to the Church as Piety 320. We must not make the World a platform of the Ch. 191. How the Ch. is to deal with her enemies 194. Of the povver God hath left in his Ch. 225. v. Common-wealth Church vvhy called Catholick 233. v. View How the Church is the pillar and ground of truth since the Truth is the pillar of the Church 600. Even Three make a Church 837. Yea One 836. Churches antiently used 847. how far necessary 581. 846 847. how holy 581 582. 847 c. They should not be abused but used to the right end 582. How vve ought to honour them 849 850. It is an horrible shame that our houses should be trim and Churches ruinous and sordid 850. How the Devotion of the antient Christians in building and adorning of Ch. shameth the neglect of our age 850. Though it be pious to build and beautifie Churches yet in case of necessity Churches may be stripped to relieve the poor 851. Against such as vvould have no Churches 847. Against them that vvill not come to Church 581 c. We must go to Church not for fashion or formality but out of love 853. How devout persons behave themselves in the Ch. 854 855. 857. 864. Reverence is due in the Ch. upon several accounts 857 858. None quarrel at Churches but the proud and Covetous 856. City v. View Col. i. 24. 638. iii. 12. 279. Comely Our first thought
and leave the rod of the stubborn Impenitent to fall upon him The death of Christ is not applyed to all say some It is not for all say others The virtue of Christ's meritorious passion is not made use of by all say some It was never intended that it should say others And the event is the same for if it be not made use of and applyed it is as if it were not as if it had never been obtained Only the unbeliever is left under the greater condemnation who turned away from Christ who spake unto him not only from heaven but from his cross and refused that grace which was offered him Which could not befall him if there had never been any such overture made For how can one refuse that which never concerned him how can he forfeit that pardon which was never sealed how can he despise that Spirit of grace which never breathed towards him They who are so tender and jealous of Christ's blood that no drop must fall but where they direct it do but veritatem veritate concutere undermine and shake one truth with another set up the particular love of God to Believers to overthrow his general love to Mankind confound the virtue of Christs passion with its effect and draw them together within the same narrow compass bring it under a Decree that it can save no more then it doth because it hath its bounds set Hitherto it shall go and no further and was ordained to quicken some but to withdraw it self from others as shut out and hid from the light and force of it from having any title to it long before ever they saw the sun Thus they shorten the hand of God when it is stretched out to all bound his love which is profered to all stint the blood of Christ which gusheth out upon all and circumcise his mercy which is a large cloak saith Bernard large enough to cover all And the reason is no better then the position Quod vis esse charum effice ut sit rarum To make salvation more precious and estimable it must be rare Then it is most glorious when it is a peculiar and entailed on a few Why should the Love of God be a common thing I answer Why should it not be common since he is pleased to have it so Why should he cast away so many to endear a few Can there be any glory in that Priviledge which is writ with the blood of so many millions Why should not Gods Love be common since he would have it not only common but communicated to all and expresseth himself as one grieved and troubled and angry because it is not so Why should we fear God's love should be cast away by being profered to many His love of Friendship and Complacency to those whom he calleth his Friends cannot be lost but is as eternal as himself it assisteth and upholdeth them and will crown them everlastingly Nor is his general love of Good will and Affection lost though it be lost for it is ever with him even when the wicked are in hell Plus est bonitas Dei quà m beneficentia Christs blood is ever in the flow though there be but few that take the tide and are carried along with it Gods Goodness is larger then his Beneficence He doth not do what good he can or rather he doth not do what good he would because we fall back and will not receive it We will not suffer him to be good we will not suffer him to be merciful we will not suffer him to save us John 3.19 This is the condemnation of the world that light came into the world and men loved darkness more then light Apul. Flor. 1. The Philosopher will tell us that the Indians ad nascentem solem siti sunt tamen in corpore color noctis est they live at the very rising of the sun yet their bodies are black and swarthy and resemble the night So many there be who live in the very region of light where the beams fall upon them hot and pure and are darted at their very eyes and yet they remain the children of darkness Facit infidelitas multorum ut Christus non pro omnibus moriatur qui pro omnibus mortuus est saith S. Ambrose Christ was delivered for all is a true proposition it is Infidelity alone that can make it Heretical And yet it is true still though to him that believeth not it is of no more use then if it were false He was delivered for thee but thou wilt not receive him His passion is absolute but thou art impenitent He dyed for Judas who betrayed him but will not save Judas that despaired and hanged himself Infidelity and Impenitency are the worst Restrictives that limit and draw down to particulars a proposition so profitably general and bound so saving an Universal that contract and sink all into a few To conclude this Christ hanging on the cross looketh upon all but all do not cast an eye and look up in faith upon him He was delivered to deliver all but all will not be delivered Omnis natura nostra in Christi hypostasi Our whole nature is united in Christ's person not the persons of a few but our whole nature And our whole nature is of compass large enough to take in all And in that common nature of man he offered up himself on the cross for the sin of all John 1.29 that he might take away the sin of the world destroy the very species and being of it Which though it be not done cannot be imputed to any scantness or deficiency of virtue in his bloud which is of power to purge out sin wheresoere it is if the heart that fostereth sin be ready and willing to receive and apply it And in this common nature of Man not from Abraham or David onely as S. Matthew but even from the first man Adam himself as S. Luke carryeth up his Genealogy did Christ offer up himself upon the cross And in this common nature he presenteth himself before his Father And now God looketh upon Christ and Mankind as our eye doth upon Light and Colours which cannot be seen without light Before this Light came into the world we were covered over with darkness and deformity and God could not look upon us but in anger but through this common Light we may be seen and be beloved we may be seen with pleasure For as God is delighted in his Son so in him he is well pleased in those Sons which he shall bring with him to glory But if we will fully withdraw our selves from this Light then doth his soul hate us Hebr. 1.3 Christ is the brightness of his glory light enough for God to look through upon a thousand worlds multiplyed a thousand times And if we do not hide our selves from it hide our selves in the caverns of the earth in the world if we do not drown our selves in the bottome of
on those actions which in themselves are lawful Nay multa mandata vitiat it may make that unlawful which is commanded Hebr. 10.31 Oh it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! but how fearful is it to have his hand fall upon us when we stand at his Altar to see him frown and hear him thunder when we worship in anger to question us when we are doing our duty What a dart would it be to pierce our souls through and through if God should now send a Prophet to us to tell us that our frequenting the Church and coming to his Table are distastful to him that our fasts are not such as he hath chosen and that he hateth them as much as he doth our Oppression and Cruelty to which they may be the prologue that he will have none of the one because he will have none of the other And yet if we terminate Religion in these outward formalities make them wait upon our lusts to bring them with more smoothness and with more state and pomp and applause to their end to that which they look so earnestly upon if we thus appear before God he that shall tell us as much of our Hearing and Fasting and Frequenting the Church shall be as true a Prophet as Micah the Morasthite was And now to conclude if you ask me wherewith ye shall come before the Lord and bow your selves before the most High look further into the Text and there you have a full and complete Directory Do justly love mercy and walk humbly with your God With these you may approch his courts and appear at his altar In aram Dei justitia imponitur saith Lactantius De vero cultu l. 6. c. 24. Justice and Mercy and Sincerity are the best and fittest sacrifices for the Altar of God which is the Heart of man an Altar that must not be polluted with blood Hoc qui exhibet toties sacrificat quoties bonum aliquid aut pium facit The man that is just and merciful doth sacrifice as oft as he doth any just and merciful act Come then and appear before God and offer up these Nor need you fear that ridiculous and ungodly imputation which presenteth you to the world under the name of mere moral men Bear it as your crown of rejoycing It is stigma Jesu Christi a mark of Christ Jesus And none will lay it upon you as a defect but they who are not patient of any loss but of their honesty who have learnt an art to joyn together in one the Saint and the Deceiver who can draw down heaven to them with a thought and yet supplant and overreach their brother as cunningly as the Devil doth them Bonus vir Caius Seius Caius Seius is a good man Tertull. Apolog. his only fault is that he is a Christian would the Heathen say He is a good moral man but he is not of the Elect that is one of our faction saith one Christian of another I much wonder how long a good moral man hath been such a monster What is the Decalogue but an abbridgment of Morality What is Christs Sermon on the mount but an improvement of that and shall Civil and honest conversation then be the mark of a Reprobate Shall Nature bring forth a Regulus a Cato a Fabricius Just and Honest men and shall Grace and the Gospel of Christ bring forth nothing but Zanies but Players and Actours of Religion but Pharisees and Hypocrites Or was the New creature the Christian raised up to thrust the Moral man out of the world Must all be Election and Regeneration Must all Religion be carried along in phrases and words and noise and must Justice and Mercy be exposed as monsters and flung out into the land of oblivion Or how can they be elect and regenerate who are not just and merciful No The Moral man that keepeth the commandments is not far from the kingdome of God Mark 12.34 and he that is a Christian and buildeth up his Morality and Justice and Mercy upon his Faith in Christ and keepeth a good conscience and doth to others what he would that others should do unto him Matth. 7.12 shall enter in and have a mansion there when speculative and Seraphick Hypocrites who decree for God and preordain there a place for themselves shall be shut out of doors Come then and appear before God with these with Innocence and Integrity and Mercifulness Wash your hands in innocency Psal 26.6 Rev. 1.6 and compass his altar For Christ hath made us Priests unto his Father there is our Ordination To offer up spiritual sacrifice 1 Pet. 2.5 there is our duty and performance By Jesus Christ there is our seal to make good and sure our acceptance Chrysostom besides that great Sacrifice of the Cross In Psal 59. hath found out many more Martyrdome Prayer Justice Almes Praise Compunction and Humility and he bringeth in too the Preaching of the Word Epist. 87. Which all make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil a most magnificent and pretious sacrifice We need not cull out any more then these in the Text for in offering up these we shall find the true nature and reason of a Sacrifice observed For to make any thing a true Sacrifice there must be a plain and express change of the thing that is offered It was a Bull or a Ram but it is set apart and consecrate to God And it is a Sacrifice and must be slain And this is remarkable in all these in which though no Death befall us as in the Beast offered in Sacrifice but that Death which is our Life our Death to sin yet a change there is which being made to the honour of Gods Majesty is very pleasing and acceptable in his sight When we do justly we have slain the Beast the worst part of us our Love of the world our filthy Lusts our Covetousness and Ambition which are the life and soul of Fraud and Violence and Oppression by which they live and move and have their being When we offer up our Goods there is a change For how strong is our affection to them how do we adore them as Gods are they not in common esteem as our life and blood and do we not as willingly part with our breath as with our wealth Hebr. 13.16 Now who so doth good and distributeth and scattereth his wealth he poureth forth his very blood bindeth the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar letteth out all worldly desires with his wealth and hath slain that sacrifice saith S. Paul with which God is well pleased And last of all Humility wasteth and consumeth us to nothing maketh us an Holocaust a whole-burnt-offering nothing in our selves nothing in respect of God and by this our exinanition it exalteth all the Graces of God in us filleth us with life and glory with high apprehensions with lively anticipations of that which
setled and fixed and not called aside by every vain object which interveneth Certainly blessed are those dumps which unrivet us from the world blessed are those afflictions which lift us to heaven blessed is that sigh whose echo is a pious conversation and that wormwood is an antidote which maketh the world distastful But to leave this as a sight we do not love to look upon we will yet shew you a more particular and fuller sight of Blessedness in the valley of Tears and land of Mourning And we may easily observe how Mourning worketh 1. upon the Understanding 2. upon the Will 3. upon the Memory and how it ordereth and composeth rotam nativitatis the whole wheel and compass of our Nature 1. We see not onely the seeds of moral conversation those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common notions which are born with us but also those seeds of saving knowledge which we gather from Scripture and improve by instruction and practice never so darkned and obscured as when pleasures and delights have taken full possession of our souls As we see in some sick men that the light of their reason is dimmed and their minds disturbed which proceedeth from those vicious vapours that their corrupt humours exhale So is it in the Soul and Understanding which could not but apprehend things aright if it were not dazled and amazed with intervenient and impertinent objects and phantasms but being blinded by the God of this world it seeth truth indeed but through the vanities of the world which as coloured glasses present the objects like unto themselves In our ruff and jollity how little do we see of our selves At what a distance do we see our sins even as we do the stars which appear to us not much bigger then an ordinary candle when indeed they are greater then the whole earth If sin prosper it is an heroick act a glorious virtue which had it failed had nailed us to the cross Sin hath now the face of Virtue Envy is Emulation Covetousness Thirst Prodigality Bounty Faction Faith Rebellion Religion the Gospel Liberty All things appear unto us as upon a stage in masques and vizards and strange apparel Quis sibi verum discere audet Who is he in this case that will tell himself the truth and impartially censure his own actions but when the hand of Justice or rather of Mercy shall lead us into the house of mourning when calamity shall cut off our hopes of enjoying such pleasing objects as had taken us up and bound us to themselves then the Understanding hath more liberty then before to retire into it self then it beginneth evigilare to awake as a man out of sleep to enjoy a kind of heaven and serenity which did before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Platonick speaketh sleep in a hell of confusion and darkness Now the seeds of Goodness being freed from the attrâ—ctive force of allurements begin to recover life and strength and sprout forth into those apprehensions which bring with them a loathing of that evil which we made our delight Now every sin appeareth in its own shape now Envy is Murther and Covetousness Idolatry and Prodigality Folly and the Gospel not a Sanctuary for Libertines but Mourners Psal 30.6 In my prosperity saith David I said I shall never be moved but what followeth Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled And what followeth that I cried to thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication It is strange saith Calvine that God should enlighten David's eyes by hiding his face without the light of whose countenance knowledge it self is no better then darkness but we find it most true that prosperity doth most times infatuate us but afflictions which make us mourn do make us wise 2. The Will of man as it is a free so is it a perverse and froward faculty and Planet-wise moveth in its own way contrary to the strong circumvolution of the first mover And though it cannot be compelled or forced to determine thus or thus yet is it attemptable and may be wrought upon by allurements and threatnings Folly may be bound up in it but the rod of discipline may scatter it And to this end are all the exhortations and beseechings and menaces in the Gospel If Pleasure be powerful now to sway her to forbidden objects Adversity may be as powerful to withdraw her and settle her irregular motion Now Esau will kill his brother Jacob within a while he blesseth him Now David longeth for the water of the well of Bethlehem anon he loatheth it as the bloud of men and will not drink of it but poureth it out unto the Lord All the blessings and curses under the Law were levelled at the Will And though Prosperity be fair-spoken and too persuasive yet Affliction is the more vehement Oratour and bringeth with her vineas pluteos eloquentiae her engines of battery which make a forcible impression and shake the soul For shall a smile have power upon the Will and shall thunder be repelled If lust deceive me rottenness in my bones may make me wise What I will in my jollity in the dayes of my mourning I will not For having followed the deceitful allurements of the world and finding gall and bitterness upon every seeming delight having found death on the harlots lips and misery in every way she wandereth having fed on husks in a strange countrey and been almost famished the same Will that set me on my journey and brought me thither will change and turn me back again to my Father's house 3. Afflictions revive those decayed characters in the Memory whether of God's blessings or our own sins How soon in our dayes of pleasure do we forget God how soon do we forget our selves How many benefits how many sins are torn out of our memory Who remembreth his own Soul in his lust or can think he hath a Soul Who thinketh of Reason in Intemperance who thinketh of Sin in Jollity Did Zimri ever think of Treason and Murder in those seven dayes he wore his Master's Crown and sate upon his Throne We may observe that those things which slip glibly and smoothly down our throats in the dayes of our mirth in time of adversity are like gravel in our mouths The Patriarchs made no scruple of the sale of their brother Joseph for fourteen years together but at last being cast into prison they call their sin to mind Gen. 42.21 and that upon no apparent reason We are verily guilty concerning our brother therefore is this distress come upon us Sorrow is to us à memoria and proveth like Joseph to his brethren a remembrancer unto us It removeth the callum the hardness from our consciences and maketh them quick of sense Ab ipso morbo remedium sumit it worketh treacle out of the Viper remedy from the disease light out of darkness and maketh Sin it self beneficial and advantageous to us For it draweth it out of the Affection
down before Him 642 643. But his Mercy is of most force to humble us 643. ¶ God is uncapable of defilement 166. That which cometh from God is to be received with all reverence 285. 847 c. what God once saith shall infallibly be done 288. His Decrees cause not our wickedness 290. His Promises are conditional and oblige us to duty 290. Godly A Godly man will be a godly man in any place whether alone or in company 1089. v. Religion How meek under sufferings 176. The Godly not onely submit to but favour and applaud whatsoever God doth 307. They are not exempted from poverty and common casualties 901. But in general calamities God taketh extraordinary care of them 901. The different condition of the Godly and ungodly here and hereafter 561. Good is ex causa integra but any one point amiss is enough to make a thing evil 444. That which is good in it self is good alwayes and every where 73. and cannot be used to an evil end 85. Worldly things how good 85 86. v. World Nothing Good without God every thing Good with him 784. ¶ Good men may be full of doubts and suffer fits of despair 344 c. Comforts for such 347. Good partake with the bad in common calamities and why 291 c. ¶ A Good name carefully to be preserved 1054. ¶ Good works how far esteemed by God and how far advantageous to us 812. They cannot justifie the worker 812 813. Doing Good and Eschewing Evil must be inseparably joyned 281 282. Many do Good works by halves 160. Goodness is God's chief property 404 405. If it were essential to Man there would have been neither Law nor Gospel 410. 586. It is not necessary but voluntary 587. 628 629. It forceth approbation even from bad-men 500 551. 518. 1125. v. Necessity Piety Gospel far more excellent then either Philosophy or the Law 201 202. Though all its rules are not juris naturalis yet some are 224. The G. is much talked of much mistook and abused 1062. 1105 1106. The G. is a Law 1063 c. yea the strictest Law 1065. How we are to look upon it 1072. Of the Perfection of the Gospel 1073 c. 1094. It is perfect in respect of the End and of the Means 1073. It alone can fill and fit a man in any condition 1074. It ordereth every part faculty act motion inclination 1076. It reacheth all cases that be necessary 1077. It forbiddeth all sins great and small 1094. It is not onely perfect it self but far more perfect then the Law of Moses 1078 1079. It requireth more of us then the Law did 1078. The Papists and Libertines censured for arguing the G. of imperfection 1079 c. The G. carrieth us much higher then the Moral Heathen could sore or ken 1084. There is neither defect nor obscurity in it 1084. Since the G. is perfect we must square out our actions by it 1085. 1098. Though it be plain and easie yet we must carefully read and hear and pray that we may understand it 1094 1095. The G. not onely restraineth gross offenses but idle words wanton looks and thoughts 1095 1096. Why called by St. James a perfect law of liberty 648. Before we were captives under Sin and Satan 1097. but by it we are freed from the Guilt of Sin 1097. from the Power of Sin 1098. from the Rigour of the Moral and the Servitude of the Ceremonial Law 1098. VVhat it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to look into the Gospel 1105 c. The singular use of looking into it aright 1108. How few do so 1108. We must not onely look upon the G. consider it but continue it 1110 c. VVe must not forget but remember it 1116. VVe must turn the words into works 1117 c. God hath fitted the G. to us and us unto it 1124. Being looked into and persevered in it filleth the soul with light and joy 1125 c. Goths VVhen they sacked Rome they spared those who fled into Churches 501. Grace much talked of little understood 433. VVhat it is 433. God will not leave us destitute of it 433 434. Though infused into us it is not infused without us 667 c. It is an errour to think every man hath a certain measure of saving Grace 1024. 1096. Saving Gr. hath its degrees 458. 1086. It encreaseth by exercise 1117 Grace onely bringeth to God and to Glory 106. Many lay all the stress upon the power of God's Grace and do nothing themselves 434 435. 588. 628 629. 667. 722. 1001. Gr. doth not force a man to be good 435 436. 584. 1022. 1115. Our duty is to use Gr. aright and by no means to abuse it 435. 629. 1022. Some pretending to magnifie the Gr. of God turn it into wantonness 1001. 1022. Gr. worketh in us by means 1022. Graces must be tried 38. Gr. never appeareth so bright as in time of trial 698 699. Riches but trash if compared with Gr. 619. Many phansie they have Graces which they have not 668 669. Some hold that Grace can neither be resisted at first nor lost afterwards 683. Of total and final falling from Grace 1112 1113. Grief v. Joy Mourning Repentance Sorrow Grief a heavy burden 936. One cannot properly be bid to grieve 331. Grief at the death of friends is lawful but it must be moderate 543. Grief wholesome for the soul 563 c. What Grief is godly and what not 331 332. Grow in grace 578. 606. H HAbits of virtue how acquired 205. 667. Habits of grace though infused into us are not infused without us 667. Hannibal 1066. Happiness to be attained neither by the light of Reason nor by the Law but by Christ alone 716 717. v. Heathen Harden How God is said to harden hearts 412. Hast is not good in a wrong way 855. Hatred transformeth men yea and the Truth it self 670 671. We must not hate any man much less the Truth for the man's sake 672 673. Health how excellent a blessing 591. It is the fittest time to serve God in 592. If it be not employed in the service of God it will be of the devil 594. Hearing of Sermons without doing far from Religion 221. 277. 303. 304. 522. 790 701. 990. 1060. It is a sin and flat mockery of God 877. What God meaneth when he biddeth us hear 876. How th◠Word is to be heard 512. v. Prayer Heart As the H. is affected so the Tongue speaketh 976 977. Heathen How far they went in the doctrine of Repentance 324. and in moral Righteousness 868. Many of them have outgone most Christians in the way of righteousness 128. 663. What was the happiness they could teach and reach unto 324 325. 716 717. They reteined some seeds of Truth 371. By the light of Nature they hated hypocrisie 372. Whether their virtuous actions were sins 375. Their moral virtues advantaged them but little because they were destitute of saving truth 663 868. Heaven
538. Moses how excellent a person 4. Mourning and Grief how they differ 560. How behooffull 563 c. How it worketh upon the Understanding 566. the Will 567. and the Memorie 567. It worketh comfort 568 569. How the primitive Christians gave themselves to it 567. Why and how we should mourn 570 571. The usuall expressions of Mourning 560. Mouth The M. must confess Christ 764. and the Heart must believe what the M. saith 765. Multitude of professours no sure note of the true Church 837. 855. 971 972. Yet a M. of professours is a glorious sight 837. The prayers and service of one single person are acceptable to God how much more then of a multitude 838. Our care should therefore be to provoke and gather Multitudes if we can to God's service 852. For foolish or wicked ends Multitudes are soon gathered 852. Multitude therefore is rather a bad sign then a good one 971 972. Murderers of Mothers gentlyer dealt withall then Murderers of Wives why 292. Murmuring v. Complaint Mysteries not to be sounded to the depth 5 11. 53. The knowledge of them can be no other but Faith 734. N. NAked Why God made Adam first naked 888. and clothed him with skins afterward 538. Nature one and the same in all 123. v. Law She runneth her course constantly and chearfully 844. She teacheth to forsake sin 325. v. Heathen Nazianzene A strange wish of his 66. His Mother Nonna's charity to the poor 144. Her reverent behaviour in God's house 758. Necessarie points easy to be known 95. 599. 664 665. 866. 1084 1085. Nothing necessarie but what is in our power 581. No man necessarily either good or evil 585 586. 666 667. Necessity and Convenience in civil acts one 3. Every thing hath its necessity from us not from it self except one 17. Of the Necessity and Contingencie of events 408. Others Necessities are a glass to behold our selves in 140. Nero 79. 621. 1055. v. Philosophie Nestorius 8. Newfangledness in Religion whence 98 99. Newness of life v. Resurrection Nonna v. Nazianzene Novations how far from that purity they boasted of 344. how harsh and unmercifull 344. Of their Errour about Penance after Baptism 349. Novatus 848. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometime signifieth the Will 336. NOW is the accepted time 363 c. 793 c. v. Opportunity Repentance Time Numbers some find mysteries in 249 971. No efficacie in Number to prove a cause or a man good 837. 971 972. O. OBedience Of the blind Obedience of the Papists 1091. Obedience to Superiours is not against Christian Liberty 639 c. 1102. It never faileth where Charity faileth not 59 60. What kind of Ob. God looketh for from us 111. 606 607. It must be universal 316. 373. 378. 831. 1000. even and constant 316. 380 c. 880. 1111 c. sincere and real 317. speedy without delay 361. 730 731. 879. ready without reasoning and disputing 451. exact 609 610. like that of the Angels 993. v. Angels Some take-up and content themselves with a parcell curtailed slight Ob. 373. 787 788. But that will not serve God's turn nor ours 374 c. 378. Many are wont to alledge want of power to excuse their want of Ob. 111. 117. But perfect Ob. is not absolutely impossible 109 c. 119. v. Impossibilities Obedience is easy to such as are not unwilling 112. and not onely easy but also pleasant 113. Though our Ob. cannot merit yet we must obey 993. 1126 1127. Motives to Ob. 116. Our Ob. is our Liberty 1100. 1118. God often mentioneth his favours to move us to Ob. 590. Evangelical Ob. is the onely way to blessedness 991 c. Christ's Death is a singular motive 471 472. Of all the motives to Ob. God's Glory is the first 1008. v. Omniscience Obligation There be several sorts of Obligations 816. Our Obligation to God 806 807. Occasions of sin not to be dallied with 261. Offenders v. Thieves Offense not to be given to weak brethren 638. Old mens Temperance and Repentance what to be thought of 592 593. Many Old men though vveak in body yet are strong and active in sin 593. How old sinners act their sins over again even when they are past acting 357. Omnipotence incongruous for a mortal 789. Omniscience Belief of God's Omniscience the strongest motive to obedience 164. 167 c. One We are all one 840 938 c. Nature maketh all one 938 939. Christianity and Charity make us more one 939. Every Christian duty tendeth to preserve Unity 841 c. Love especially knitteth the knot 843. Envy Covetousness Pride dissolve it 842 843. Saints are at one with God and one amongst themselves 939. Opinion onely setteth an esteem on outward matters 85. v. World Opinion prevaileth more vvith most then the Truth 526 527. We must not be wedded to our own Opinion so as to be averse when better is offered 677. Opportunity its etymologie 355. Opportunity of doing good by no means to be let slip 355. 363 c. 793 c. Nothing more advantageous 355 356. To neglect it the greatest folly 356 366. 793. v. Repentance Time Oppression and Deceit arguments not of Power and Wisdome but of the contrary 136. v. Injustice Order v. Method How beautifull and necessary in Nature in the Common-wealth in the Church in an Army in every thing 419. 640 641. in Arts in Studies in Christianity 885. Ordinances if abused by us may justly be taken from us 303 c. Original vveakness and corruption commonly alledged for an excuse of actual sins 427 428. 446. Few understand what it is 429. Several opinions about it 430. Be it what it will we are bound to crucifie it 430. Be it what it will we are now sanctified and washed from it 431. Origen's kindness reached to the very Devils 339. Outward worship v. Worship P. PApists They are wont to demand of us a catalogue of Fundamentalls 1084. How unreasonably they declaim against Marriage 1090. Of their vows of Monkery Poverty Virginity and blind Obedience 1089 c. Why the Antients gave these so large elogiums 1091. How they even idolize the B. Virgin 986. Upon what pretense they keep the Scripture from the Layety 1094. Vain boasting of the Popish Church 420. How the P. are blinded and enslaved by Prejudice 680 c. There are who condemn some truths because the P. teach them 671. We must not out of opposition to Popish errours run into worse 374. 1127. We must not so fly Popery as to become Libertines 993. 1127. The best way to confute the P. 401. Papists and Libertines compared 1079 1080. Both enemies to the Gospel 1079. both alike dangerous 1080. v. Popery Parables Why our Saviour spake so often in Parables 1017. Pardon of sin the greatest engagement to duty 612 c. 872 c. 1100. Begging of Pardon is a promise of repentance 614. v. Mercy Passions are good or bad as they are placed 387. Passions swallow up one another 554. v. Affections Paul