Injuries INjuries of Evils present are to be neglected for hopes of things to come St. Cyprian You must saith St. Jerom be a Dove and a Serpent the one not to do hurt to others the other not to be hurt by others He knows not how to live that knoâ—â— not how to bear Wrongs David Chiterus The Mercies and Forgiveness that I find and hope for at the Lords hands engageth and disposeth me to forgive Injuries and Abuses done to me And I should not think it much that I who am so sinful should bear some Contumelies and Abuses from Men. Corbet The more Men Wrong thee the more watchfully maintain thy Love to them Ibid. When that another hath spoken to thy Disgrace beware of a transport of Anger that thou speak not harshly and unadvisedly against him or too Passionately or as too much concerned for self Ibid. Vid. Wrongs Incarnation TO believe the Incomprehensible Mistery of our Saviour's Incarnation that the omnipotent Divine Nature and the weak Nature of Man are united in one Person of Christ is sure a very hard thing of Belief and requires the express Word of God to submit to and captivate our Understandings in Obedience to it for the Union of the Divine Nature Vid. John 1.1 Idleness HE is a Sluggard that would raign with God and will not labor for God. In the promised Reward he takes delight but the Commanded Combats affright him Bead. Ingratitude ST Austin called Ingratitude the Devils Spunge whereby he wipes out all the favours of the Almighty Integrity SAint Cyprian says There can be no Integrity whereby they that should Condemn the Wicked are ever wanting and they only which should be Condemned are ever present Judgment SAint Jerom said Whatsoever he did he still thought that that Voice was still in his Ears Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment Interest THey who least consider Hazard in the doing of their Duty fare best still The surest way to Safety is to have one Interest espoused firmly as never to be changed KINGS IT is a Maxim that KINGS are like the Sun and Usurpers like Falling-Stars for the Sun tho' it be Effuscated or Eclipsed with Mists and Clouds yet at length becomes refulgent whereas the others are but Figures of Stars to the view and prove no more than Exhalations which suddainly dissolve and fall to the Earth where they are consumed First Jesus Christ is his Enemies King. Secondly His Saints King. Thirdly His Fathers King. The First he Rules Over the Second he Rules In and the Third he Rules For. Knowledge ST Basil said To know thy self is very difficult for as the Eye can see all things but it self so some can discern all Faults but their own There is a common Knowledge and there is a saving Knowledge common Knowledge is that which floats in the Head but doth not Influence and affect the Heart This Knowledge Reprobates may have Numb 23.10 but then the saving Knowledge of God and Christ which doth include the assent of the Mind and consent of the Will This is Knowledge which implies Faith Isa 5.8 By his Knowledge shall my Righteous Servant Justifie many For us to know but to know that 's Curiosity to know to be known that 's Vain-Glory but to know to Practise what we know that 's Gospel-Duty He only knows GOD aright that knows how to Obey him and Obeys according to his Knowledge of him Psal 111.10 a good Understanding have all they that keep his Commandments Law of GOD. EVsebius saith That Moses Wrote the Old Law in dead Tables of Stone but Christ did write the lively and perfect Documents of the New Law in Tables of the New-Testament in living Souls One Law Executed is worth Twenty Made No Laws so no good could be done by a Governor that was not Absolute without either restraint or a Competitor Machiavil Law and Equity have Two Courts but Law and Equity should dwell in one Breast Light Gold. THe Master of a Company affirmed That they had a pair of Scales that would turn with the Two hundredth part of a Grain I should be loath said Mr. Attorney General Noy standing by that all my Actions should be weighed by those Scales We are all but Light Gold. Liberty A People accustomed to live under a Prince if by accident they become free are like Beasts let loose and have much ado either to maintain their Government or their Liberty Machiavil Love. LOve is nothing but a disposition of the Will whereby it cleaves or makes forward to some good thing that is agreeable to it self Preston 216. St. Jerom used this excellent saying If my Father stood Weeping on his Knees before me and my Mother hanging on my Neck behind me and all my Brothers Sisters Children and Friends howling on every side to retain me in a sinful Life I would run over my Father fling my Mother to the Ground despise my Kindred and fling them under my Feet that I may run to CHRIST Here 's Love and Fortitude St. Austin saith Love is strong as Death as Death killeth the Body so Love of Eternal Life kills Worldly Desires and Affections The Love of Christ being predominant in the Soul deadens the Affections to any thing else Christ asked Peter Three Times Lovest thou me not for his own Information but that by his Threefold Profession he might help his Threefold Negation of him Nicephorus To Love God and to be conformable to him is that which I most of all desire should be in me Corbet's Enquiry God will never Damn in Hell any Soul that hath the habitual Predominance of the Love of God in his Soul tho' culpable or otherwise sinful whil'st remains such yea Hell and such Love are inconstant Ibid. 30. I Love to Love GOD says Mr. Corbet and desire this Love not only as an evidence of my Salvation but for it self I had much rather have an Heart to Love him perfectly than to have all the Honors Riches and Pleasures of this World. Ib. 17. Love to God is the Fountain and Spring of all true Obedience most of the Hypocrites Love empties it self in Vain-Glory Mat. 6.2 5. Hos 10.1 We know that we have passed from Death unto Life because we love the Brethren John 3.14 10. there we understand Brethren by Grace and not by Nature or otherwise to love God for Godliness sake the Saints for Saintships sake this is a sure Testimony of our Christianity A Sinner cannot Love a Saint Quatenus a Saint neither can a Saint love a Sinner Quatenus a Sinner John 15.19 Psal 57.4 It is a true Rule That Love is ever Rewarded either in the Recipoque or with an Inward or secret Contempt Watch against all secret Pleasure in the lessening of another for advancing of thy self Divine Love says Basil is a never failing Treasure he that hath it is Rich and he that wanteth it is Poor Chrisostom saith A Bulwark of Adamant is not more impregnable than the Love of Brethren
in the Blood of Christ whereby we are fully and throughly Purged and it gives a full Interest in the strength and power of Christ whereby we shall be perfectly preserved Mead. To quicken your Graces you must first quicken your Humility by considering your many Sins repeated Secondly you must quicken your Faith by Meditating on the Promises to all Penitent Sinners Thirdly by quickening your Love to God by considering his Mercies especially those remembred in the Sacrament his giving Christ to Die for us and your Love to your Neighbour nay to your very Enemies by considering that great Example of his Suffering for us when we were Enemies to him You must know that it is not gifts but Grace that makes a Man a Christian a Man may Preach like an Apostle and Pray like an Angel and yet have the Heart of a Devil It is Grace only that can change the heart a graceless Professor may have more gifts than the most sound Believer he may out-Pray out Preach and out-do them but they in Sincerity and Integrity out-do him Good and Wicked Men and Hypocrites THey are like True and Counterfeit Money the one seems to be good and is not the other both seems and is good Ignatius Goodness GOod things of this life if they be our only Portion we are in a sad Condition so Gregory the Great thought for he could never read those words Son remember thou in thy life time received thy good things without Horror and Astonishment least having such Dignities and Honours as he had he should be excluded from his Portion in Heaven The signs and parts of goodness are these If a man be Courteous to Strangers it shews he is a Citizen of the World and that his heart is no Island cut off from other Lands but a continent that joyns to them If he be Compassionate towards the Afflictions of others it shews his Heart is like the noble Tree that is Wounded it self when it gives the healing Balm If he easily pardons and remits Offences it shews his Mind is planted above Injuries so that it cannot be shot If he be thankful for small Benefits it shews he weighs mens Minds and not their Trash But above all if he have St. Pauls affection That he could wish himself Anathematized from Christ for the Salvation of his Brethren it shews much of a Divine Nature and a kind of Conformity to Christ himself Bacon's Essays 70. Grandees It is said that Great Men are the first that find their own Griefs and the last that find their own Faults The Lord Rich was quick in both and hath taught us this that certainly Men of great Fortunes are strangers to themselves and while they are in the puzzle of Business have no time to attend the Welfare either of Body or Soul and that they must withdraw from this World before they retire to another Happiness THe way to attain to it in short is by the constant and sincere endeavours of a holy Life in and through the Merits of Jesus Christ Christ indeed is the Author of Eternal Salvation but Obedience is the Condition of it so the Apostle tells us That Christ is the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that Obey him Heb. 5.1 I long to enjoy thee O Lord most inwardly but I cannot attain unto it my desire is that I may be given up to Heavenly things but unmortified Passions and Temporal things weigh down my Mind I would be above all things but with the Flesh I am forced to be subject against my will. Thus unhappy Man that I am I fight against my self and am grievous to my self Whilst my Spirit seeks to be above my Flesh seeks to be below Say not that we are unable to set our Hearts on Heaven this must be the Work of God and therefore all your Exhortations are in vain for I tell you though God be the chief disposer of your Hearts yet next under Him you have the greatest Command of them your selves and a great power of ordering your own thoughts and determining your own Wills in their choice tho' without Christ you can do nothing yet under him you may do much and must do much or else it must be undone and you undone thro' your own neglect Do your own Parts and you will have no cause to Distrust whether Christ will do his Do not your own Consciences tell you when your Thoughts are abroad that you may do more than you do in the restraining of them and when your Hearts be flat and neglect Eternity and seldom mind the Joys before you that is most wilful If you be to study a set Speech you can force your Thoughts to the intended Subject If a Minister be to Study a Sermon he can force his Thoughts to the most saving Truths and that without any special Grace Might not a true Christian then mind more the things of the Life to come if he did not neglect that Authority over his own Thoughts which God hath given him especially in such a work as this where he may more confidently expect the Assistance of Christ who useth not to forsake his People in the work he setteth them upon Mr. Baxter 's Rest Part the Fourth 53. Heavenly Sayings Robert Rollock saith I bless God I have all my Senses entire but my Heart is in Heaven and Lord Jesus why should'st not thou have it It hath been my Care all the Day long to Dedicate it unto thee I pray thee take it that it may live with thee for ever Hooper Martyr said Imprisonment is painful but Liberty upon Evil Conditions is worse The Prison stinks yet not so much as sweet Houses where the Fear of God is wanting I must be alone and Solitary it is better be so and have God with me than to be in the Company of the Wicked Loss of Goods is great but the loss of Grace and God 's favour is greater I cannot tell how to answer before Great and Learned Men yet it is better do that than stand Naked before God 's Tribunal I shall Die by the hands of Cruel Men He is Blessed that loseth his Life and finds Life Eternal There is neither Felicity nor Adversity in this World is great if it be compared with the Joys of the World to come Bilney the Martyr being going to be Burnt was by a Friend Exhorted to take his Death patiently to whom he said I am Sailing with the Mariner thro' a boisterous Sea but shortly shall be in Heaven help me with your Prayers Bishop Ridley Writing to Mr. Bradford said Blessed be God notwithstanding our hard restraint and the Evil Reports raised of us we are Merry in God and all our Care is and shall be by God 's Grace to please and serve him from whom we expect after these Temporary and Momentany Miseries to have Eternal Joy and Felicity with Abraham Isaac and Jacob c. And Writing to Mr. Latimer in Prison he said Good Father let me have
may be Just and Contented I may be Evil spoken of but still I can do Well I may be Sick but still I may be Patient I may be in Prison but there I may Pray and Sing Psalms as Paul and Silas did That which cannot hinder our Duty should not be so sadly lamented Baxt. Hearts Ease The World perhaps does not love us have we no reason to thank it if it make us place our Contentment and Comfort in God and a pure Conscience Ibid. 17. It is our grand Fault that we are affected presently according as every thing appears in the Face and we stay not till it turn the other side I saw not my Children when they were in the Womb yet there the Lord fed them without my knowledge I shall not see them when I go out of the Body yet they shall not want a Father Mr. Cooper Austin's usual Wish was That Christ when he came might find him either Praying or Preaching When the Donatists upbraided him unworthily with Impurity and Impiety of his former Life Look says he how much they blame my former faults by so much more I commend and praise my Physitian Belisarius having been the Thunderbolt of War made the East West and South to tremble the mighty Power of the Earth crawling in the Dust before him he that drew the whole World in throngs after him was forsaken and walked through the Streets of Constantinople with two or three Servants as a man that had out-lived his Funerals to serve as a Spectacle of pity and having his Eyes put out by the Emperour Justinians Widdow she being a Nestorian went up and down the Streets of Constantinople begging Date quaeso obelum Belisario This sad Example and others of the uncertainties of humane Affairs and the necessity of yielding to Religious Thoughts made Carolus Magnus at the Crowning of his Son utter these serious words My dear Son It is to day that I die in the Empires of the World and that Heaven makes me born again in your Person If you will Rule happily fear God who is the Force of Empires and Soveraign Father of all Dominions Keep his Commandments and cause them to be obeyed and observed with unviolable Fidelity Serve Him first of all for an Example of the World and lead an holy Life before God and Man Irreprovable A young Gallant that visited Saint Ambrose lying on his Death Bed said to his Comrade then with him O that I might live with thee and Die with St. Ambrose Danger is better then Safety a Storm more eligible than a perpetual Calm if before our fears we were the Worlds but after them became God's Nazianzen Sickness JVnius being Sick one asked him How he did said That he had quieted himself in God who would do for him that which was most for his Glory and his own good Serving of God. WHen Mr. Calvin was Banished he said Truly if I had served Men I should have had but an ill Reward but it 's well I have served God who doth always perform to his Servants that which he hath once promised See the Difference betwixt Him and Cardinal Wolsey who said Had I been as diligent to serve my God as I have been to please my King he would not have sorsaken me now in my Gray-hairs One of the Kings of Sweeden thought said That he should not live long because the people did over-value him for his many Victories Who was slain a little after in Battle but with a great Victory Superstition THe School-men have framed a Number of intricate and subtile Actions and Theorems to serve the Practice of their Superstitious Church Lord Bacon Suspition THere is nothing makes a Man more to suspect than to know little and therefore men would remedy that by procuring to know more and not to keep their Suspicion in smother Bacon's Essays Secrecy SIr John Cooke broke an Affair to a Partisan that kept him under all his days and he that entertains a dangerous design puts his Head into an Halter and the Halter into his Hand to whom he first imparts it The Habit of Secrecy is Policy and Virtue Speak no more than thou canst safely retreat from without danger or fairly go through without opposition Thoughts WHen a sensual Thought breaks in then excite and taste the Powers of the World to come and labour to recover the Divine Frame Abhor every Thought Word or Deed which is contrary and tends to the hurt of others Evil Thoughts are Natures Kisses Thoughts being neither free from God's Knowledge Judgments Punishments Laws nor from Christ's Government nor from the power of Conscience surely Thoughts are not then free to think what we please Reynard Thoughts are roving and restless till they come to their Center or proper place as a stone to the Earth so are our Thoughts till we pitch them upon God and acquiesce in Him and they will be unquiet till they rest in God Psal 119.7 So before a Prayer against Evil Thoughts De Kempis 201. Temptations Chrystome saith The Devils assault us violently resist the first and the cond will be weaker and That being resisted he becomes a Coward The Devil runs with open Mouth upon God's Children to devour them if they manfully resist him he thinks to weaken their Faith and they by his Assaults are made stronger he fights against them but they get Ground upon him and so what he intends for their Destruction full sore against his Will makes for their Advantage Cyril of Alexandria Time. SAys Aquinas Make much of Time especially in that matter of Salvation Oh! how much would they that now lies Frying in Hell rejoyce if they might have the least moment of Time whereby they might get God's favour Troubles and Afflictions VIctorinus was wont to say There is a time to say nothing there is a time to say something but there is never a time to say all things I have not Reigned to Day said the Emperor when he had done no good To day I have not lived said Judge Fineux and that we should not complain we have little time but that we spend much in doing evil or in doing nothing to purpose Secretary Walsingham would say My Lord stay a while and we shall have done the sooner Secretary Cecil said It shall never be said of me that I do defer till to morrow what I can do to day And Sir Richard Morrison used to say Give me this day and the next take your self The Martyr Mr. Bradford accounted that hour ill spent wherein he did not not some good either with his Pen Study or Exhortation of others Trust AT what time I am afraid I will put my Trust in thee let us be confident he will dispose of us there where it is most necessary for us to be either in this World or the other Mr. Patrick I trust God with my chiefest outward Concernments even that which I am most Solicitous in and therein to be satisfied is of great