bone vvhich is more than any virulent tongue can do Prov. 25.15 Let every godly woman therefore so frame the matter and manner of their words to their husbands as knowing that God stands by to whom they must give account of every idle word much more of every irreverent and contemptuous word at the day of Judgment Mat. 12.36 It will be an unspeakable comfort at Death and Judgment to reflect upon the Victories which their Patience hath gotten and how oft their quiet silence and mild answers have kept the peace In conjugal contests though each should be slow to passion and swift to peace yet where k one must yield it is most reasonably to be expected from the (l) Sin caeperit excandescere noli contra niti ex uno insano duos facere te illum L. Vives de Chr. f. p. 709. (l) The Wife is bound rather to seek reconcilement as is implied in that 1 Cor. 7.11 Let her be reconciled to her Husband Gatak Serm. p. 188. Inferior No woman gets honour by the last word Some will say Their tongue is their only weapon But the wise do know That their tongues are not their own That when they (m) Jam 3.6 are set on fire of hell they set on fire the course of nature and that by ones very words they may be condemned Look into the Scripture and dress your selves by that glass What did Rachel get by her passionate terms Gen. 30.1 Give me children or else I die and as soon as ever she had children lo she died chap. 34.19 Whereas on the contrary the discreet and mild behaviour of Abigail to her husband though he were a Churl gained her both quiet comfort and honour This is certain if meekness and respect will not prevail (n) as the Captains of Cyrus commanded their Souldiers to receive their shouting enemy with silence and when they had ended then to set up a shout so husband and wife must agree not to shout together Plutarch Col. 3.18 anger and passion never can if Duty vvork not our quiet how should sin 2. The Effects of a Wife's reverence to her Husband must be in Deed also And that 1. By Obedience to his Directions and Restraints If he be to rule over her Gen. 3.19 then she is to obey And the Apostle 1 Pet. 3.6 tells us that Sarah obeyed Abraham He bids her Gen. 18.6 make ready quickly three measures of meal c. and it vvas done presently though she knew not what guests her husband had brought And the Apostle Paul saith it must be in every thing Eph. 5.24 which he both urges and explains by this as it is fit in the Lord. So that the vvife is bound in conscience to obey her husband in every thing that is not contrary to the will of God Indeed if he command her to do any thing that is sinful by the Law of God as if he should bid her tell a lye bear false witness or the like she must modestly and resolvedly refuse it If he forbid her to do any thing that is by God's command made an undispensable (o) Sic placeat uxor voluntati conjugis ut non displiceat voluntati conditoris Daven ex Gregor duty unto her as if he should absolutely forbid her to pray to read the Scripture to sanctifie the Lord's day or the like then she must rather obey God than Man But in all other cases though she may respectfully perswade with him yet if he insist upon it her obedience will be her best sacrifice and her compliance will be the means to make her yoke the more easie If the husband will have her to stay at home she must not run abroad without his consent but as that good Shunamite 2 King 4.22 She called to her husband and said Send me I pray thee one of the young men and one of the Asses that I may run to the man of God and come again And indeed the house is her proper place for she is the (p) She that tarried at home Psal 68.8 Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 decus domus beauty of the house there her business lies there she is safe The Ancients painting them with a Snail under their feet and the Egyptians denying their women (q) Egyptiae mulieres majorum instituto calceis non uâ—ebantur ut domi meminissent tempus exigendum Plutarch praecept conjug Shoes and the Scythians burning the Brides Chariot axle-tree at her door when she was brought to her husband's house and the Angel's asking Abraham where Sarah was though he knew well enough that it might be observed (r) Ante tabernaculum Vir hospitum explorat adventus intra talernaculum Sara tuetur foeminae verecundiam opera muliebria tuto exercet pudore Foris maritus invitat intus Sara convivium adornat Ambros tom 4. p. 180. she was in the tent Gen. 18.9 do all intimate that by the Law of Nature and by the Rules of Religion the wife ought to keep at (s) The Apostle Tit. 2.5 joyneth chastity and home-keeping together Gatak Serm. p. 195. home unless urgent necessity do call her abroad When Sun and Moon both disappear the Sky is dark and when both husband and wife are abroad many disorders breed at home and you know whose Character it is Prov. 7.11 She is loud and stubborn her feet abide not in her house c. So also vvhere the husband judges most convenient to dwell there the wife must chearfully consent to dwell vvith him though it may be either in respect of her friends or of his more uncomfortable to her Thus when Jacob was resolved to carry his Wives from their friends to his Countrey they readily yielded Gen. 31.16 Thus when Ahasuerus sent for Vasthi though his command seemed inconvenient yet she had been truer to her Duty as well as to her Interest had she come to him for the husband is the Head of his wife and she must obey him He that appoints them to love their husbands Tit. 2.4 doth in the next verse enjoyn them to be discreet chast keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the Word of God be not blasphemed For though even good women be put to silence yet good works never can 2. Her Real Reverence is required and shewed in asking and hearkening to his Counsel and Reproofs The Husband hath been taught wisdom in his counsels and mildness in his reproofs and the Wife must be taught to express her Reverence in (t) Aequum autem ut deinceps uxor auscultet marito quia maritus periit auscultando uxori Daven in Col. p. 538. Hearkening to them In the Disposal of Children Rebecca would not send Jacob to her Brother Laban without consulting Isaac Gen. 27.46 So Hannah in the case of Samuel 1 Sam. 1.11 In the disposal of a Servant Sarah would not discard Hagar without consulting Abraham Gen. 21.10 In entertaining Strangers The Shunamite would not
Pet. 2.13 Spots they are and blemishes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sporting themselves with their own deceivings 4. In regard of the applause it ordinarily hath Whisperers and Tale-bearers how welcome are they to a great many for their story's sake They procure oftentimes favour to themselves while they are breaking the most entire Friendship The profanest Scoffers even at Religion it self for some spark of wit in that their greatest folly are entertained commonly by laughter one corruption or other in hearers cryes up every thing that is ill said and many things purely for being ill said and these prating Fools are hardned in their sin in that these laughing Fools make a mock of it Prov. 14.9 Upon these Accounts then it appears no small difficulty to govern the Tongue the more pains is to be took with it the severer watch is to be set over it 2. Secondly The Tongue is a very mischievous Out-Law no Member like it if it get loose what expressions has the Apostle of it Jam. 3.6 a world of iniquity he calls it knowing by nothing greater to set it out and intimating all sin to be gathered together in it Uncleanness Injustice Heresie Hard-heartedness and what not And yet as if he had not said enough he adds that it defiles the whole Body It begins its mischief at home like a recoyling Gun that lays its shooter in a shattered condition on his back while it wounds his Brother at the heart one cannot bespatter his Neighbour but he dirties and daubs himself the sin is his and the shame shall be his who ever may at present suffer by him Can he charge any further mischief on the Tongue it setteth on fire the course of Nature all the turbulent motions of these lower Spheres are from the petulancy and inordinacy of this little Member that lashes every thing out of its genuine pace it sows Jealousies it stirs up heats and Animosities it foments enmities provokes to Injuries it sets all the World together by the ears that we had better been without Tongues than that they should be without government Yet more particularly 1. It le ts fly at every one no body is secure from it Majesty and Innocency that are Fences against most evils set none beyond the reach of the Tongue The God of Heaven and the greatest and Holiest men on Earth do often suffer by it We are told of some that should curse their King and their God Isa 8.21 2 Pet. 2.10 And are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities It is a meddlesome Member that will let no body alone a very Wasp that is buzzing about in every corner if its wings be not clipped another Ishmael its hands are against every one very extensive it is then in its Offence 2. It le ts fly every way in a way of detracting reviling slattering lying c. No Member has so many and such contrary ways of offending that it never lacks opportunity of doing mischief be it in good humour or in bad either by its glozing it deceives us or by its roving it tires us or by its levity it deadens us or by its Ribaldry it daubs us or by its Insolency it affronts us 3. No such Wounds as those that are made by it it hits us e'ne where it lists in our Estates in our Lives in our Names by false witness or privy slander it may undo us in all that is dear to us at once especially in a credulous uncharitable day as this is hence you may observe that he which bore all the evils of the World without any flinching Psal 69 19 20 is something moved by what he suffered from the Tongue that commonly touches where we be most tender its Darts sink deepest and its wounds heal slowest of any other And in this respect the Tongue may be expressed not only by a Rod Psal 140.3 Psal 42.10 Prov. 14 3. by a Scourge by a Sword but by the sting and poyson of a Serpent to note the anguish of its biting and the difficulty of its Curing Can we infer nothing from all this Sure we may conclude 1. That in all Reason and Righteousness such a Member should be strictly kept in even as an Ox that is wont to goring Or 2. That if we keep it not in God will cut it out his Righteousness requires one if our Righteousness fail of the other If our Tongue must take its course and go uncontrolled it shall not go unpunished the first signal Judgments in the Primitive times were for the sins of the Tongue Ananias and Saphira for their lie are struck dead Acts 5.3 And Herod for his vanity and vain-glory in his speech is eaten up with Worms while alive Acts 12.23 And doth not the scorched Tongue of the Rich man in Hell tell us Luke 16.24 that Tongue-sins shall be severely required of us 3. That the Tongue when reduced into Order is an Excellent Subject no Member so able so Active as that it is the same for good as it was for evil when rightly set none is more useful or Ornamental to Religion than that You hear what a value God sets upon it the very hearts of others are not to be compared to it Prov. 10.20 The Tongue of the Just is as choice silver the Heart of the Wicked is little worth To shew particularly what a good Subject it is such as none like it Note 1. That it is a faithful Intelligencer to God and to that purpose holds a continual correspondence with him betraying its bosom Friends that it finds Enemies to him and discovering all plots that are against him not a sin shall stir in our own hearts but God shall hear of it that he may timely suppress it not a sinner shall tumultuate in the World but it shall notice him thereof with a sharp Zeal for his Honour and Interest Psal 119.126 It is time for thee Lord to work for they have made void thy Law Psal 74 22 23. Arise O Lord plead thine own Cause remember how the Foolish man reproacheth thee daily forget not the voice of thine Enemies the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually This Office advanceth the Tongue unto no small capacity in the Kingdom of God not that God needs it but he likes and requires it and with a communication of like Secrets that concern us he ordinarily requites it 2. It pays a continual and considerable Tribute to him of Praise and Thanksgiving yea it doth not only pay its own share but would willingly Collect it of others for its great and greatly beloved Prince Psal 145.21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy Name for ever and ever It s only grudging is that it hath so scanty an Offering that it can speak no louder and sing no sweeter when it hath such a Subject as God's praises whence is that Psal 51.15 O Lord open thou my Lips and my mouth
confirm our holy profession In handling which I would proceed by these gradations shewing 1. That there is a great difficulty in governing the Tongue it is noted as a very unruly Member beyond other Members yea beyond every thing else he speaks even despairingly of our mastering it James 3.7 8. Every kind of Beasts and of Birds and of Serpents and things in the Sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind but the Tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evil We find this by too sad Experience persons that in their Actions are blameless are frequently in their words very faulty and scarce reckon themselves guilty The double Guard that Nature hath set over it of lips to secure and Imprison it of Teeth as it were to punish it suffices not to restrain it It breaks through all the bounds of God and Nature and hardly acknowledges any Master Now the Tongue is so ungovernable 1. In that it is a proud Member being with its endowments of rational Discourse peculiar to man whereas our other Members are generally common to Beasts hereon we pride our selves hugely in it David calls it his Glory Psal 57.8 and it is certainly an Organ of great Excellency and Use without which we were uncapable of Communion and Commerce the chief advantages of humane life all of us have on this Account a great Opinion of it are much pleased to hear our selves talk promise our selves great matters from our Tongue that shall get us favour that shall get us honour when we despair in every thing we have hope in that That can make evil good by its pleadings and that can make good evil by its reproaches that shall revenge us on our Enemy that is otherwise too hard for us and defend us at the Bar when ought is objected against us you cannot imagine what confidence men have in their Tongues and therefore no wonder they stand up so for the Liberty of them Psal 12.4 With our Tongues will we prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us Herein lyes the impotent man's great power and hereby he thinks to be even with every one the hands many times are bound and can do nothing it is a relief and pleasure that we can say what we list if not before the face yet behind the back truly or falsly The Tongue 's power lyes in its Liberty which makes us so loth to have it abridged When no way else Jeremiah's Enemies could hurt him by this Dart they thought to wound him Jer. 20.10 They therefore that are seeblest and most destitute of other weapons are lothest we should blunt or any way restrain them in the use of this 2. In that the Tongue is an Active Member much beyond any others opportunity must be waited for their Actings weariness is contracted by their Actings but the Tongue is alwayes ready and never weary that it must be continually watched Active this Member is in it self compared therefore to a fire James 3.6 The Tongue is a fire its volatility and Activity as also its impartiality in respect of Friend or Foe is hereby noted Actuated also it is by many strong Springs within that it is hard stopping its motion or finding out sometimes whence it has its Impression Pride Anger Envy Malice Hatred all the wickedness of the Heart seeks its vent by the Tongue and falls in upon it like streams on a Mill-wheel that of it self is disposed to perpetual motion how can it but move and how can it regularly move that is impelled by such various and vicious principles The Tongue says he James 3.8 is full of deadly poyson all the ill humours are gathered to it hence it is a great difficulty to cure or check the malignity of it And yet moreover it is acted and vehemently incited from without the Devil is still provoking of it without occasion and by presenting occasions to shew its tricks so that there is little hope of its lying still or acting according to God's will What can be expected from a Member that for its own Activity is a fire that is fed with such fewel that is enflamed by such an Incendiary For so the Apostle tells us that it is set on fire of Hell James 3.6 3. In that it is not aware of its iniquity what mischief it does how guilty it is whereon it is very hard either to prevent it or repent of it What words did they drop and yet how do they stand up in the defence of them as if nothing had been said amiss Mal. 3.13 14 15. Your words have been stout against me saith the Lord yet ye say what have we spoken so much against thee The Tongue is never in fault if we might be Judg and that its own Advocate even they that are severest in censuring others words have always something to say for their own And the insensibleness of Tongue-sins may arise 1. In regard of its sleight and nimbleness in its actings especially when it Acts in an accustomed way it vastly out-runs our Observation as in your ordinary Cursers and Swearers you may see Not one in ten of their horrible Execrations is so much as noted by them they patter them over as a Parrot doth his lesson without any present sense or after-reflection and are ready if hastily charged to swear they did not swear and curse themselves if they cursed 2. In regard of the imperceptible wound it makes it draws no blood it doth not immediately invade its Neighbour's Goods and it cannot see what hurt it does any wound it makes it thinks it can lick it well again straight but therein is a great deceit it may lick its own lips and think so and that ordinarily suffices Alas can they not bear one of its lashes We did but talk as we heard as we thought and that is nothing till it comes to be our own case 3. In regard of the pleasure it takes in all it doth that drowns all sense of evil in it it cannot be sin that tasts so sweet Whereas many other sins are not Acted without great pains men draw at them like Horses they proceed out of us as the Devils out of the poor men tormenting and tearing of us that we are sensible of the evil of them These sins of the Tongue are vented with ease we are not wasted nor any way wearied by them yea they ease us in their venting we were big to be delivered of them that some pleasure comes that way to us and several things in us are mainly tickled by them now Pride on a conceit of wit then profaneness in our very boldness Again Malice and Revenge that it hath wreak't it self with such easiness one Devil or other is still set on laughing in us and thus these sins go down merrily with us and are little suspected or censured by us they look too pleasantly to mean any harm to us Thus you find some tickled by those speeches through which others were damned 2
conformity with the will of God which is the highest liberty where the x 2 Cor. 3.17 spirit of the Lord is there is liberty It is a poor liberty that consists in an indifferency Do not the Saints in heaven love God freely yet they cannot but love him As the only Efficient cause of our loving God is God himself so the only procuring cause of our loving God is Jesus Christ that Son of the Father's love who by his Spirit implants and actuates this grace of love which he hath merited for us Christ hath a Col. 1.20 made peace through the blood of his Cross Christ hath as well merited this grace of love for us as he hath merited the reward of glory for us Plead therefore Dear Christians the merit of Christ for the inflaming your hearts with the love of God that when I shall direct to rules and means how you may come to love God you may as well address your selves to Christ for the grace of love as for the pardon of your want of love hitherto Bespeak Christ in some such but far more pressing language Lord thou hast purchased the grace of love for those that want and crave it my love to God is chill do thou warm it my love is divided Lord do thou unite it I cannot love God as he deserves O that thou would'st help me to love him more than I can desire Lord make me sick of love and then cure me Lord make me in this as comfortable to thy self as 't is possible for an adopted Son to be like the Natural that I may be a Son of God's love both actively and passively and both as near as it is possible infinitely Let 's therefore address our selves to the use of all those means and helps whereby love to God is b Fovetur augetur excitatur exeritur nourished encreased excited and exerted I will begin with removing the impediments we must clear away the rubbish e're we can so much as lay the Foundation Impediment 1. Self-love Impediments of our love to God this the Apostle names as Captain general of the Devil's Army whereby titular Christians manage their enmity against God in the dregs of the last dayes this will make the times dangerous Men shall be lovers of their own c 2 Tim. 3.1 2. selves When men over-esteem themselves their own endowments of either body or mind when they have a secret reserve for self in all they do self-applause or self-profit this is like an errour in the first concoction get your hearts discharg'd of it or you can never be spiritually healthful the best of you are too prone to this I would therefore commend it to you to be jealous of your selves in this particular for as conjugal-jealousie is the bane of conjugal love so self-jealousie will be the bane of self-love Be suspicious of every thing that may steal away or divert your love from God Imped 2. Love of the world this is so great an obstruction that the most loving and best beloved Disciple that Christ had said (d) 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the world nor the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him and the Apostle James makes use of a Metaphor (e) Jam. 4.4 calling them Adulterers and Adulteresses that keep not their conjugal love to God tight from leaking out toward the world he chargeth them as if they knew nothing in Religion if they knew not this that the friendship with the world is enmity with God and 't is an universal truth without so much as one exception that whosoever will be a friend of the world must needs upon that very account be God's enemy the Apostle Paul adds more weight to those that are e'en press'd to Hell already (f) 1 Tim. 6.9 10 11. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves thorow with many sorrows but thou O man of God flee these things c. when men will be some-body in the world they will have Estates and they will have honours and they will have pleasures what variety of vexatious distractions do unavoidably hinder our love to God when our hearts are hurried with hopes and fears about worldly things and the world hath not wherewithall to satisfie us how doth the heart fret under its disappointments and how can it do otherwise we would have happiness here Sirs I 'le offer you fair name me but one man that ever found a compleat happiness in the world and I dare promise you shall be the second but if you will flatter your self with dreams of impossibilities this your way will be your folly though 't is like your posterity will approve your sayings (g) Psal 49.13 and try experiments while they live as you have done but where 's your love to God all this while 't is excluded by what Law by the Law of Sin and Death by the love of the world and destruction for Christ tells us all that hate him love death (h) Prov. 8.36 Imped 3. Spiritual sloath and carelessness of Spirit when men do not trouble themselves about Religion nor any thing that is serious Love is a busie passion a busie grace love among the passions is like Fire among the Elements Love among the Graces is like the Heart among the Members now that which is most contrary to the nature of love must needs most obstruct the highest actings of it the truth is a careless frame of Spirit is fit for nothing a sluggish lazy slothful careless person never attains to any excellency in any kind what is it you would intrust a lazy person about let me say this and pray think on 't twice e're you censure it once Spiritual sloath doth Christians more mischief than scandalous relapses I grant their grosser falls may be worse as to others the grieving of the Godly and the hardning of the wicked and the Reproach to Religion must needs be so great as may make a gracious heart tremble at the thought of falling but yet as to themselves a sloathful temper is far more prejudicial e. g. those gracious persons that fall into any open sin 't is but once or seldom in their whole life and their repentance is ordinarily as notorious as their sin and they walk more humbly and more watchfully ever after whereas Spiritual sloath runs through the whole course of our life to the marring of every duty to the strengthning of every sin and to the weakning of every grace Sloath I may rather call it unspiritual sloath is a soft moth in our spiritual wardrobe a corroding rust in our spiritual Armory an enfeebling consumption in the very vitals of Religion Sloath and
Charon's Boat whom they imagined was Ferry-man of Hell of Radamunthus the Judg of Tantalus thirsting in the midst of waters of the Stygian and other Infernal Lakes of Cerberus a Dog with three heads Porter in Hell and give descriptions of the place of torments Spelunca alta fuit vastóque immanis hiatu Scrupea tuta Lacu nigro nemorúmque tenebris Quam super haud ullae poteraut impunè volantes Tendere iter pennis talis sese halitus atris Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat Vnde locum Graij dixerunt nomine Avernum Virg. Aeneid 6 There was a deep Cave with a mighty Gulf With black Lakes moted and a horrid Grove O're which not safely swiftest wings could move Such were the vapours from these foul jaws came This place the Graecians did Avernus name And as they set forth the eternity of their hellish torments so they did acknowledg the variety of them to be more than could be expressed Non mihi si linguae centum sint oráque centum Ferrea vox omnes scelerum comprendere formas Omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possem Virg. Aeneid 6. Had I an hundred mouths as many tongues A voice of Iron to these add brazen Lungs Their crimes and tortures ne're could be displaid Take the Testimony of another that you may see what a common received opinion this was among the Heathen of misery of many in Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod Theogon The sense take thus God Mighty ones in chains of darkness bound And cast them down to Hell which under ground So deep and black so far remote doth lye As th' earth is distant from the Starry skie Yet bear with me once more Another of them brings in God threatning the disobedient with Hell torments where he useth the same vvord for Hell as the Apostle doth 2 Pet. 2.4 describing Hell to be a place far remote from Heaven a great gulf or deep pit whose gates are of Iron and whose pavement is of Brass a place of utter darkness in sense so near the former that I shall not need any further to translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Iliad 8. All these testimonies of the Heathens and there are many more do plainly manifest that the Light of Nature doth discover a place of punishment where wicked men after this life shall be sorely tormented I might bring as many of them also that by the Light of Nature did determine of a place of happiness for good men in another world but that I would not be too tedious in this point The use of these and how they make to our present business in hand will appear in the following Positions Position 3. Nemo sibi nascitur Non nobis solùm nati sumus sed ortus nostri partem patria paâ—tem parentes vindicant partem amici atque quae in terris gignuntur ad usum hominum omnia creantur homines autem hominum causa generantur ut ipsi inter se alii aliis prodesse possent In hoc naturam debemus ducem sequi communes utiliâ—ates in medium afferre mutatione officiorum dando accipiendo tum artibus tum opera tum facultatibus devincire hominum inter homines societatem Cicero de Offio lib. 1. Quae est melior in hominum genere natura quam eorum qui se natos ad homines juvandos tutandos conservandos arbitrantur Cicero Tuscul Quaest lib. 1. As the Light of Nature tells us all this so also it doth dictate to us that no man is born for himself to mind only his own good and to escape evil and punishment himself but to our utmost power in the places and societies of which we are heads or members to endeavour the good of that Society and every member thereof He that will help no other who should help him or with what reason can he expect it He that is so selfish is unprofitable to any Society and good for nothing Man being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nature hath inclined him to a sociable life not only for his own but also for the good of others which whoso doth neglect sins against that Society Come then you Parents and Masters of Families see now why I alledged before what the Light of Nature doth dictate concerning the Soul's immortality and the state of Souls in another world even that you may do your utmost to save the precious Souls in your houses from this place of torment and to help them to prepare for an everlasting state The Law of Charity firmly binds you to it If your children were fallen into a pit would not nature tell you you are to help them out If any of your house were falling into the fire would not nature tell you you should prevent it if you can or snatch them out with haste and speed Doth nature tell you as hath been shewed that there is a place of torment where sinful Souls must suffer and do you see any in your houses in danger of falling into it and will you sit still and do nothing to endeavour to prevent their everlasting misery If they were sick or had drunk down poyson doth not nature tell you you should use means for their recovery to prevent their death And doth not nature tell you that their Souls are more precious than their Bodies and more to be regarded It doth Certainly it doth Are not their Souls sick and diseased and poisoned with the venom of sin and doth not nature tell you there is charity to be shewn to their Souls as well as to their Bodies and much more Certainly these are the dictates of nature if I suppose you have not one spark of grace the light of reason will tell you all this Position 4. All these things being suggested by the Light of Nature let me add that Reason tells you that for you to pray with them in your Family rendeth to their good and the neglect there if to their detriment and damage Let reason be heard and it will dictate to you that conjunct Prayer with them is a likely means for the good of their souls Will it not tell thee that to pray to God for them and to bring them to pray with thee may be for their benefit to escape the misery of another world and obtain happiness in the life to come Enter into thine own heart and debate this with thy self and judg impartially as thou wouldst do if thou wast a dying man and then tell me if the light that is within thee doth not prompt thee to all this Prayer is a part of natural worship which is due to God from all and would it not tend to the profit of their Souls to give God his due And shouldst not thou that art a Parent or a Master whom nature hath set over them and committed them to
same word Tectum ab irae vel ultionis Dei faâ—te Pol. ex Gei Peccatum comparatur serdibus quae tegi solent ne oculos offendant Piscator Vt operculo illo lex tegehatur per quam cognitio pecâ—ati Sic Christus peccata tegit remittit expiat ne lex ultra accuset condemnet placatum Dei Patris irae per Filium tectum est seu opertum peccatum per Christum scilicet prepitiatorium nostrum Merc. in Pasco which signifieth a covering doth signifie also an expiation and the covering of the Mercy-Seat which here may be alluded unto which was called the Propitiatory comes from the same Root which Propitiatory or Covering did cover the Tables of the Law the Hand-writing against us and this was a Type of Christ our Propitiation who having appeased his Fathers anger doth cover our sins that the Law shall not accuse or condemn us Sin is covered by God when he hides his Face from it Psal 51.9 when he casts it behind his Back Isa 38.17 when he throws it into the depth of the Sea Mic. 7.19 So that this covering of sin is of the same import as the former expression namely the forgiving of it Quest 1. Wherein doth appear Blessedness of forgiveness Quest 2. How forgiveness may be obtained Quest 1. Wherein the Blessedness of forgiveness doth appear To evidence this I shall give the Reasons why such must needs be Blessed whose transgressions are forgiven Reas 1. Such must needs be Blessed whose transgressions are forgiven because God doth pronounce them Blessed as in the Text Blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven whose sins are covered David wrote these words not from himself but as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost and if any saying in the whole Book of the Scriptures be the Word of God as all of them are this is his Word and this is his Sentence which is confirmed in the New Testament Rom. 4.7 the Apostle Paul quoting these very vvords to prove the Doctrine of justification by Faith vvithout vvorks God pronounceth such to be Blessed vvhose Iniquities are forgiven and therefore they must needs be Blessed because God speaketh of things as they are never did a lye falshood or mistake proceed out of his Mouth God vvho alone giveth the Blessing pronounceth pardoned Persons Blessed and therefore they are Blessed When Isaac gave his Fatherly Blessing unto Jacob though it vvere upon a mistake he supposing him to have been Esau his first-born Son yet afterward did not he vvould not retract it but telleth Esau vvho too late sought for it Gen. 27.33 I have Blessed him and he shall be Blessed Surely then vvhere God vvho never mistaketh doth pronounce the Blessing upon any he doth not he vvill not retract it but they are Blessed and shall be Blessed Reas 2. Such must needs be Blessed vvhose iniquities are forgiven because they are delivered from the greatest evil and that vvhich doth expose them to the greatest misery and vvhich alone can deprive them of eternal happiness Pardoned persons are delivered from the greatest evil and that is sin vvhich is the greatest evil in it self because most opposite to the chiefest good and forasmuch as it is the cause of all other evils that either do or can befal mankind Besides the miseries of this life it is sin and only sin vvhich exposes unto future miseries and the vengeance of eternal fire in Hell The curse of the Law is for sin vvhereby the Law is broken Gal. 13.10 Cursed if every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them The threatnings of eternal destruction are for sin especially for sins against the Gospel 2 Thess 1.7 8 9. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his power Guilt for sin in the Nature of it is Obligatio ad paenam an Obligation to punishment not Temporal only but such as may bear Proportion to the demands of God's infinite justice which therefore must be eternal Such whose iniquities are forgiven are delivered from the guilt of sin they are free from Obligation to punishment and so are no longer exposed thereunto through Christ they have remission being by Faith interested in his merit and satisfaction and God's justice cannot require the satisfaction again of them which he hath already received of Christ and accepted for them Christ is their surety who hath payed their Debts in forgiveness they are discharged and God will not require the Debt any more of them Therefore there is no Condemnation to them Rom. 8.1 Jesus having delivered them from the wrath to come 1 Thess 1.8 It is sin also which can alone deprive any of eternal happiness In the first Covenant God promised life and everlasting felicity upon the condition of perfect obedience it is only disobedience which doth hinder the fulfilling of this promise It was sin which threw man at the first out of Paradise and which still doth keep men out of Heaven nothing doth hinder men's happiness here nothing can deprive them of happiness in the other world but this evil of evils Sin hence then it will undeniably follow that pardoned Persons who are delivered from sin must needs be Blessed there being nothing which can procure their misery or prevent their Blessedness because in the forgiveness of sin their sin is removed with the evil consequences and effects thereof Psal 103.12 As far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our transgressions from us Reas 3. Such men must needs be Blessed whose iniquities are forgiven because they are taken into Covenant with God God is their God and they are his People The promise of the New Covenant I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more is coupled with the other promises I will be their God and they shall be my People Jer. 31.33 34. Where ever God fulfils the one promise he doth fulfil the other too God forgiveth iniquity to none but at the same time he becometh their God and brings them into the Blessed relation of his Covenant-people They are Blessed that have the Lord for their God Psal 144.15 Happy is that People that is in such a case yea happy is that People whâ—se God is the Lord. Psal 33.12 Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord and the People whom he hath chosen for his own Inheritance Such as are taken into Covenant with God are Blessed because 1. They are taken into God's favour 2. They are taken into God's family 3. They are under God's providence 4. They have free access unto God in Prayer 5. They have Communion with God in all his Ordinances and thus it is with all pardoned Persons and therefore they are Blessed
all his â—houghts How little is God in any of our thoughts according to His excellency No our shops our rents our backs and bellies usurp God's room If any thoughts of God do start up in us how many covetous ambitious wanton revengeful thoughts are jumbled together with them Is it not a monstrous absurdity to place our friend with a crue of vipers to lodge a King in a sty and entertain him with the fumes of a jakes and dunghil A wicked man's heart is little worth Prov. 10.20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver c. Apud nos cogitare peccare est Minucius Foelix all the pedling wares and works in his inward shop are not valuable with one silver drop from a gracious man's lips It was an invincible argument of the primitive Christians for the purity of the Christian Religion above all others in the world that it did prohibit evil thoughts And is it not as unanswerable an argument that we are no Christians if we give liberty to them What is our moral conversation outwardly but only a bare abstinence from sin not a disaffection Were we really and altogether Christians would not that which is the chiefest purity of Christianity be our pleasure And would we any more wrong God in our secret hearts than in the open streets Is not thought a beam of the mind and shall it be enamour'd only on a dunghil Is not the understanding the eye of the soul and shall it behold only guilded nothings 'T is the flower of the spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. Shall we let every Caterpillar suck it 'T is the Queen in us Shall every ruffian deflore it 'T is as the Sun in our heaven and shall we besmear it with misty phancies It vvas created surely for better purposes Lampridius than to catch a thousand weight of spiders as Heliogabalus employ'd his Servants It was not intended to be made the common fewer of filthiness or ranked among those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Histor animal lib. 8. which eat not only fruit and flesh but flies worms dung and all sorts of lothsome materials Let not therefore our minds wallow in a sink of phantastical follies whereby to rob God of his due and our souls of their happiness 2. Exhortation We must take care for the suppression of them All vice doth arise from imagination Upon what stock doth ambition and revenge grow Mirandul de Imaginat c 7. Isay 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way the unrighteous man his thoughts c. but upon a false conceit of the nature of honour What engenders covetousness but a mistaken fancy of the excellency of wealth Thoughts must be forsaken as well as our way we cannot else have an evidence of a true conversion and if we do not discard them we are not like to have an abundant pardon and what will the issue of that be but an abundant punishment Mortification must extend to these Affections must be crucified Gal. 5.24 and all the little brats of thoughts which beget them or are begotten by them Shall we nourish that which brought down the wrath of God upon the old world as though there had not been already sufficient experiments of the mischief they have done Is it not our highest excellency to be conform'd to God in holiness in as full a measure as our finite natures are capable And is not God holy in his counsels and inward operations as well as in his works Hath God any thoughts but what are righteous and just Therefore the more foolish and vain our imaginations are Eph. 4 17 18. the more are we alienated from the life of God The Gentiles were so because they walked in the vanity of their mind and we shall be so if vanity walk and dwell in ours As the tenth Commandment forbids all unlawful thoughts and desires so it obligeth us to all thoughts and desires that may make us agreeable to the divine Will and like to God himself We shall find great advantage by suppressing them We can more easily resist temptations without if we conquer motions within Thoughts are the mutineers in the soul which set open the gates for Satan He hath held a secret intelligence with them so far as he knows them ever since the fall and they are his spies to assist him in the execution of his devices They prepare the tinder and the next fiery dart sets all on a flame Can we cherish these if we consider that Christ dyed for them He shed his blood for that which put the world out of order which was accomplished by the sinful imagination of the first man and continued by those imaginations mention'd in the Text. He dyed to restore God to his right and man to his happiness neither of which can be perfectly attained till those be thrown out of the possession of the heart That we may do this Let us consider these following directions which may be branched into these heads 1. For the raising good thoughts 2. Preventing bad 3. Ordering bad when they do intrude 4. Ordering good when they appear in us 1. For raising good thoughts 1. Get renewed hearts The fountain must be cleansed which breeds the vermine 2 Cor. 5 17. Jer. 4.14 Wash thy heart from wickedness c. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee Pure vapors can never ascend from a filthy quagmire What issue can there be of a vain heart but vain imaginations Thoughts will not become new till a man is in Christ We must be holy before we can think holily Sanctification is necessary for the dislodging of vain thoughts and the introducing of good A sanctified reason would both discover and shame our natural follies As all animal operations so all the spiritual motions of our heads depend upon the life of our hearts * Prov. 4.23 as the principium originis As there is a law in our members to bring us into Captivity to the law of sin Rom. 7.23 so there must be a law in our minds to bring our thoughts to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds Ephes 4.23 in our reasonings and thoughts which are the spirits whereby the understanding acts as the animal spirits are the instruments of corporeal motion Till the understanding be born of the spirit †John 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit it will delight in and think of nothing but things suitable to its fleshly original but when 't is spiritual it receives new impressions new reasonings and motions suitable to the Holy Ghost of whom it is born A stone if thrown upwards a thousand times will fall backward because 't is a forced motion but if the nature of this stone were changed into that of fire it would mount as naturally upward as before it sunk downward You
may force some thoughts toward heaven sometimes but they will not be natural till nature be changed Grace only gives stability †Heb. 13.9 It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace and prevents fluctuation by fixing the soul upon God as its chief end and what is our end will not only be first in our intentions but most frequent in our considerations Hence a sanctified heart is called in Scripture a stedfast heart There must be an enmity against Satan put into our hearts according to the first promise before we can have an enmity against his imps or any thing that is like him 2. Study Scripture Original corruption stuffs us with bad thoughts and Scripture-knowledg would stock us with good ones for it proposeth things in such terms as exceedingly suit our imaginative faculty as well as strengthen our understanding Phil. 1.9 1â— Judicious knowledg would make us approve things that are excellent and where such things are approved toyes cannot be welcome Fulness is the cause of stedfastness The cause of an intent and piercing eye is the multitude of animal spirits Without this skill in the word we shall have as foolish conceits of divine things as ignorant men without the rules of art have of the Sun and Stars or things in other countries which they never saw The word is call'd a lamp to our feet i. e. the affections a light to our eyes Psal 119.105 Psal 19.8 enlightens the eyes i. e the understanding It will direct the glances of our minds and the motions of our affections It enlightens the eyes and makes us have a new prospect of things as a Scholar newly entred into Logick and studied the predicaments c. looks upon every thing with a new eye and more rational thoughts and is mightily delighted with every thing he sees because he eyes them as clothed with those notions he hath newly studied The Devil had not his engins so ready to assault Christ as Christ from his knowledg had Scripture-precepts to oppose him As our Saviourby this means stifled thoughts offered so by the same we may be able to smother thoughts arising in us Lectiâ—ne assidua meditatione diuturna pectus suum bibliothecam Christi fecerat Hierom. Ep 3. Converse therefore often with the Scripture transcribe it in your heart and turn it in succum sanguinem whereby a vigor will be derived into every part of your soul as there is by what you eat to every member of your body Thus you will make your mind Christ's library as Hierom speaks of Nepotianus 3. Reflect often upon the frame of your mind at your first conversion None have more settled and more pleasant thoughts of divine things than new converts when they first clasp about Christ partly because of the novelty of their state and partly because God puts a full stock into them and diligent trades-men at their first setting up have their minds intent upon improving their stock Endeavour to put your mind in the same posture it was then Or if you cannot tell the time when you did first close with Christ recollect those seasons wherein you have found your affections most fervent your thoughts most united and your mind most elevated as when you renewed repentance upon any fall or had some notable chearings from God and consider what matter it was which carried your heart upward what employment you were engaged in when good thoughts did fill your soul and try the same experiment again Asaph would oppose God's ancient works to his murmuring thoughts he would remember his song in the night i. e. the matter of his song and read over the records of God's kindness * Psal 77.6 7 8 9 10 11 12. David too would never forget i. e. frequently renew the remembrance of those precepts whereby God had particularly quicken'd him †Psal 119.93 Yea he would reflect upon the places too where he had formerly conversed with God to rescue himself from dejecting thoughts therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the hill Missar ‖ Psal 42.6 Some elevations surely David had felt in those places the remembrance whereof would sweeten the sharpness of his present grief When our former sins visit our minds pleading to be speculatively reacted let us remember the holy dispositions we had in our repentance for them and the thankful frames Luke 24.32 Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures when God pardoned them The Disciples at Christ's second appearance reflected upon their own warm temper at his first discourse with them in a disguise to confirm their faith and expel their unbelieving conceits Strive to recollect truths precepts promises with the same affection which possest your Souls when they first appeared in their glory and sweetness to you 4. Ballast your heart with a Love to God David thought all the day of God's Law as other men do of their lusts because he unexpressibly loved it * Psal 119.97 113. Oh how I love thy Law It is my meditation all the day v. 113. I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love Aeneas oculis semper vigilantis inhaeret Aeneam animo nóxque diésque refert Ovid. Ep. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lucian Dialog 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost This was the succesful means he used to stifle vain thoughts and excite his hatred of them 'T is the property of love to think no evil 2 Cor. 13.5 It thinks good and delightful thoughts of God friendly and useful thoughts of others It fixeth the Image of our beloved object in our minds that 't is not in the power of other phancies to displace it The beauty of an object will fasten a rolling eye 'T is difficult to divorce our hearts and thoughts from that which appears lovely and glorious in our minds whether it be God or the world Love will by a pleasing violence bind down our thoughts and hunt away other affections If it doth not establish our minds they will be like a Cork which with a light breath and a short curl of water shall be tossed up and down from its station Scholars that love learning will be continually hammering upon some notion or other which may further their progress and as greedily clasp it as the Iron will its beloved Loadstone He that is wing'd with a divine love to Christ will have frequent glances and flights towards him and will start out from his worldly business several times in a day to give him a visit Love in the very working is a settling grace it encreaseth our delight in God partly by the sight of his amiableness which is clear'd to us in the very act of loving and partly by the recompences he gives to the affectionate carriage of his creature both which will stake down the heart from vagaries or giving