Being thus infatuated they wilfully runne into all kind of wickednesse and so falling into the Devils snares are taken captive by him at his will 2 Timothy 2.26 A second Symptome indicating an inclination to security is spirituall drowsinesse saintnesse and wearinesse in Gods service Spontanea lassitudo indicat morbum This is ordinarily seene in the Vulgar sort of Christians who are meere Nominals and professe Christianity only for fashion Sundry of these as they do no hurt their exterior conversation being faire and unexceptionable so they doe no good They can say prayers but cannot pray as wanting the Spirit * See Zech 12 10 of Grace and Praier They honour GOD with their lips but their hearts * Such learn Religion by Roto not by Heart having no regard of their owne soules as appeared by their lewd lives are farre from him They goe to Church to sleepe there and heare Sermons but with no attention to the Doctrine nor intention to doe thereafter These Carnall Gospellers may see themselves in the ordinary Pictures of Cain and Abel the smoke of Cains sacrifice being painted descending to the earth but that of Abels mounting towards Heaven intimating that Cain serv'd God dully heavily and perfunctorily and Abel with Zeale Fervour and spirituall devotion If we be thus qualified wee may boldly approach the Throne of Grace for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Thirdly we must observe whether we bee compleatly armd against our spirituall enemies and well provided of Antidotes against spirituall Diseases For if wee have laid by our Armes t is an argument that we feare nothing and a shrewd signe that securitie begins to rocke us If we have cast away our preservatives it argues a strong presumption of a sound Constitution wherin yet we may deceave our selves as the Church of Laodicea did who thought her selfe rich and to want nothing when shee was poore blinde and naked Apoc. 3.17 Physitians say Athletica constitutio parum distat a morbo and therefore let him that thinkes himselfe so strong that he needs no Antidote know that he is neere falling into some desperate disease Our Spirituall Armes are the Shield of Faith the Helmet of Hope the Sword of the Spirit Eph. 6. The Christians Aâ—mour of proofe and the Brest plate of Charitie 1 Thes 5. ver 8. which if we lay aside and unharnesse our selves as he that returnes from Warfare wee lye open to our enemies who sometime make a Truce with us but never firme Peace in this world and therefore are in danger of a Surprize Our preservatives are Prayer and Repentance which first is a Catholicon an Ingredient that enters into all spirituall Medicines if wee bee slacke therein and pray not alwayes with all manner of prayer and supplication of the spirit it is a signe this Lethargik disease is growing upon us Fourthly it is expedient to make a Synchronisme or comparison of the Times in which we have been in Adversity and Prosperity and to observe how wee have been affected therein In time of danger we look up to God wee bemone our selves confesse our sinnes professe our penitence acknowledge Gods Iustice implore his Mercy prostrating our selves before him in fasting and weeping Wee then are diligent in hearing Gods word and meditating therin frequent in works of Mercy to the poore and needy willing to communicate ready to distribute as seeming desirous thereby to lay up in store for our selves a good foundation of happie eternitie 1 Tim. 6.19 Now let us examine our selves whether in time of prosperity we have not cooled or relented in any of these spirituall duties in which we were formerly so fervent and diligent whether our Zeale be not lukewarme A memento for backsliding Hypocrites our Charitie frezen our Devotion faint our Prayers perfunctory our service of God onely formall and superficiall and lastly whether we say not in our hearts O that Ismael might live in thy sight that so we might entertaine our old Concubine Hagar the lusts of the Flesh after Isaac the childe of Promise is borne If we find in our selves any such Alteration or disinclination from pious duties we may assure our selves that Satan seeks to lull us asleepe in securitie Lastly we must exactly observe whether after deliverance from danger wee have not omitted to glorifie our Deliverer in imitation of that thankfull Samaritan Luk. 17.15 16. who being cured of his Leprosie by our Saviour with a loud * Compare Luk. 19.37 voyce glorified God and fell downe on his face at Christs feet giving him thanks When God spar'd Ierusalem from the Plague at the instance and intercession of David * 2 Sam. 24 17 18. the Prophet Gad commanded him to erect an Altar in the threshing floore of Araunah and to sacrifice to the Lord whence it appeares that when we have receaved any blessings or deliverance from God he expects yea * See Psal 50.14 15. commands that we offer to him the Eucharisticall sacrifices of Praise and Thankes Which if with the nine Lepers Luk. 17.17 wee faile to performe it is a signe that the Enemy of our Soules hath so stupified us with securitie that we dare not be so brutish as to put in practise that damnable Italian Proverbe Fatto il voto gabbato il santo and consequently that he intends our eternall ruine by perswading us to thinke that the bitternesse of Death is past and that God hath but one Arrow in his Quiver which he hath shot over our heads only to affright us Having declar'd the symptomes of this sinfull Lethargy Remedies against security we shall now prescribe some Remedies therof In healing whereof I will passe over those that have the Grand Vertigo formerly specified and send them all to the Hospitall of incurable mad men as being given over to a reprobate minde for of such desperate sinners the Psalms 10. and 59. are principally to bee understood yet the wilfull sinner that hath a lesse degree of the Vertigo must not be given over pro deplorato for though he be farre gone * Vertigo est diminuta Epilepsia Fernel and dangerously infected yet he may be recovered as the Prodigall being well pincht with Hunger returnd home to his Father They are bad Natures that will not returne when they are out of their way till they smart soundlie for their Errours Such must have a Boanerges to thunder into their deafe eares all the Iudgements threatned in the book of God against obstinat sinners Tophet must be painted out unto them flaming with fire and brimston God must bee represented to them as a revenging Iudge and consuming fire They must not heare a word of Peace so long as the whordomes of Iezebel and her sorceries are so many They must bee threatned with Excommunication and exterminion out of the Assembly and society of the faithfull and lastly they must bee recommended in the Prayers of the Church to Almighty God who must bee earnestly
and doe them no hurt In this Visitation the Angell of God the executioner of His Iustice is abroad they therefore that desire to be spared must by Faith apprehend the merits of Iesus Christ and have their soules sprinkled with His Bloud else how can they hope or trust in God or have confidence in His Protection being not reconcil'd to Him by His Sonne Nor having by a true and lively Faith apprehended the merits of His Passion and applied them to themselves It is true our Saviour hath promised to ease those that labour and are heavie laden but conditionally if they come unto Him which is done by Faith and Repentance Wherefore in so dangerous a Visitation when the Defence of the most High is so necessary and our Trust in Him so comfortable let us be sure that our Hope be well grounded on Faith and pray without ceasing for Faith Hope and Penitence which are Graces that we cannot attaine of our selves but are gratis datae and cannot be obtained but by fervent Prayer Hee then that by Prayer and Repentance often renewed hath got sensible Encrease of the saving Graces of Faith and Hope may safely and sincerely trust in God for deliverance from the Plague either by taking it away from him or him from it Faith with out Repeutance a meere mock Faith which latter Saint Paul accounts farre better desiring to depart * Phil. 1.23 and to be with Christ Death being to the Godly a Rest to the body and happinesse to the soule which is freed from falling into sinne and admitted to the blissefull Vnion of her Creator and Redeemer Howbeit in time of Visitation and Vengeance when the destroying Angell is abroad with his Sword drawne it is no small comfort to a Christian man when Thousands fall beside him and tenne thousands at his right hand to be preserved from Infection His comfort may well be encreased and doubled in contemplation of Gods mercy * See this excellently exprest â—â—â— 30.18 and goodnesse to him Yet must we take heed of passing rash Iudgement on those that are visited by Gods hand concluding our selves to bee more righteous then they Our Saviour taught His Disciples another Lesson Luk. 13 upon occasion of the Galilaeans whose Bloud Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices and of those on whom the Tower of Siloe fell telling them that they were not greater sinners then other men and except they repented they likewise should perish Saint Paul's Counsell is seasonable Let him that stands take heed least he fall and his example is worthy our Imitation professing himselfe to bee the Greatest sinner though hee were an elect Vessell When therefore wee see Gods Iudgements powred upon * What then â— are we better then they â— No in no wise Rom. 39. others let us not fondly and rashly condemne them as more ungodly then we are but confesse that we have deserved as much as they and thanke him for having spared us and given us a longer Time of repentance Give glory to God for shewing mercy to thee which thou deservedst not when his wrath was powred on others which perhaps deserved it lesse than thou Improve the Time lent thee to Humiliation Contrition and Amendment of Life Be frequent and fervent in praier Let the Lord be thy Hope * Ioel. 3.16 let thy faith be operative by works of Piety and Charity Gal. Vers 9.10 11 12 13. 5.6 and then shall no evill happen unto thee for Hee shall give His Angells charge over thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes c. These Angels being Spirits are not to be seene by the eye of Faith but when by Gods order they assume Bodies and therefore we must looke up with an eye of Faith to Him who rules and commands them and hath made them all ministring spirits sent forth for the behoofe of them who are heires of Salvation Heb. 1.14 and therefore when the Angell executioner of Gods justice is abroad we may hope and trust in God that His Angells encampe about us that feare and worship Him in sinceritie of heart In the eighteenth of Genesis we reade of three Angels that appeared to Abraham in the shape of men and from him they went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah yet in the nineteenth wee finde mention but of two Angels that were entertained by Lot and did execute the vengeance of God on those sinfull Cities Some have observed that God Almighty who was one of the three that appeared to Abraham and ministred occasion to him to pray for Lots deliverance did afterward retire and leave to his Angels the execution of His justice and that throughout the Scripture God Himselfe is never recorded to shew Himselfe visibly but when Hee glorifies Himselfe in Mercy ever committing the executing of Iudgements to His ministers This Conceipt is strengthened by our Saviours Interpretation of the Parable of the Teares Mat. 13. where Hee saies that the Officers which are to burne the Teares are the Angels Psal 39.41 42. which in the end of the world Hee will send forth to gather out of His Kingdome all things which offend and them which doe Iniquity and to cast them into a Furnace of fire When the Devill tempting our Saviour had set Him on the Pinacle of the Temple he perverted part of this Psalme to perswade Him to shew Himselfe to be the Sonne of God by casting Himselfe downe for saith he it is writen He will give his Angels charge over thee that thou hurt not thy foote against a stone Matth. 4. Pope Alexander the third is observed to have followed the Devill very close applying to Himselfe the words following abusing them likewise when he set his foote on the neck of the Emperor Fredericke saying Thou shalt goe upon the Lion and Adder the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under thy feete This had no conformity with the Doctrine of our Saviour nor with the practise of Himselfe and His Apostles He paid Tribute to Caesar not trode on his necke But I will not amplifie this Exorbitancy Transeat inter caeteros errores Canonistarum and let that Pope passe among them that detort Scripture to their owne Damnation Let us beware we stumble not at the same stone by misinterpreting * See a learned Sermon preached at Oxford by Master Iohn Hales the rare Ornament of Eton College or misapplying Scripture carelesly and negligently as Satan did subtilly and maliciously God hath given His Angels charge over us that they beare us in their hands c. but they are bound to keepe thee but in all thy wayes which words the Devill omitted because they made not for his purpose This point is clearely demonstrated in the History of the Iewes from their Exit or comming out of Egypt till their Entrance into Canaan For as long as they were in their way and were obedient to the word of the Lord nothing could hurt them as appeares by their miraculous Deliverances
from dangers and frequent victories over all their enemies But when they went out of their way by murmuring disobedience and Idolatry then were they stung * Num. 21.6 with fiery serpents and sould into the hands of their Enemies or smitten with the Plague none of Gods Angels comming in to helpe them till they returnd into the way againe by Repentance The Royall Prophet oft harpes on this stringe in the Booke of Psalmes which Saint Hilary truly calles The Key of Scripture If we peruse the Psalmes 44.18.80.106 we shall see the Iewes prospering and flourishing under Gods Protection while they walkt in their way and dejected and abandoned when they started aside like a broken Bow While Samsons haire was uncut which was his Vow of a Nazarite his strength was unresistable but when he went out of his way to Timnah Iud. 14.1 and Delilah had cut his Lockes though he went out against the Philistins as at other times God having left him they prevailed against him When Saul sinned the Spirit of God departed from him 1 Sam. 16.14 Iosiah the best King that ever raigned in Ierusalem never went out of his way for ought We read but once when he would needs fight with Pharoah-Necho King of Egypt who had no quarrell to him and then as if God had watched him to take him in his first fault he miscarried and was slaine 2 Chro. 35. Let us then take heede how wee goe with Ionas to Tharsis when we are commanded to goe to Nineveh least we draw a bitter storme on our selves and those that are in our company The wayes we are to walke in if we expect the protection of God and Assistance of His holy Angels are traced out unto us in the Decalogue where we are taught what to doe and what not to doe The Old and New Testament are Commentaries on these tenne Commandements and therefore we must study read and meditate Gods word if we desire to know His Will and to doe it David askes the question Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way and instantly resolves it Even by ruling himselfe by thy word This word is a Lanterne to our way and a Light to our Paths Psalm 119 in which Psalme almost in every Line there is mention made of the word Law Statutes and Commandements of God wherein the Prophet desires to be instructed and professes to be singularly delighted Since then our way is chalked out in Gods word let us pray with the Prophet Order my steps in thy word so shall no wickednesse have dominion over me Psal 143. Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes make me to goe in the Paths of thy Precepts Psalm 119. If we can thus pray with a pure heart God will answer us as Psalm 32.9 I will informe and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt goe and I will guide thee with mine Eye If by prayer and Repentance we can purchase this Grace from God to be guided and directed in our wayes and if we looke to our steps and be carefull not to goe out of the way when he hath set us in we may rest assured of His gracious providence and angelicall protection in our severall vocations But O Lord What is man that thou art mindfull of him and the son of man that thou visitest him Psal 8.4 Thou madest him lower than the Angels and yet thou commandest thy blessed Angels to attend him to have charge over him and to beare him * As Nurâ—es be are young children in their arms So the Originall imports in their hands What moveth thee O Lord to be so gracious and so good to this poore creature of thine 14. Because he hath set his love upon me therefore shall I deliver him I shall set him up because he hath known my Name 15. He shall call upon mee and I will heare him Yea I am with him in trouble I will deliver him and being him to honour 16. With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation The causall Particle here Because iterated Vers 14. is not to be understood as if it implied any Merit in us or as if God were obliged in regard of our knowledg of him to protect us from the Pestilence or to make Lions and Dragons subject to us as he did to David Daniel and others of his children but hath reference simply and purely to his mercy and goodnesse who hath a speciall care of his Elect whom he covers under his wings in all times of danger and to his promise which he hath made to reward freely and not for any desert those that entirely love him and faithfully invocate him If we desire the honour to be called his Sonnes are we not bound to love and honour him whom we call Father Can we doe lesse than love God the Father for creating us after his owne Image God the Sonne for redeeming us when we were lost God the Holy Ghost for alwayes comforting and assisting us And when we have done our best * Deus magis delectatur affectu quam effectu Amb. are we not unprofitable servants Herein is love saith Saint Iohn not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Sonne to be a propitiation for our sinnes 1 Ioh. 4.10 And indeed how could we possibly love him if he had not given us the grace to know him and consequently to love him Ignoti nulla cupido Now although we can claime no merit by our loving of God because it is our bounden Duty yet are we well encouraged thereto by the Reward which accompanies it in vertue of Gods Promise and of his pure Mercy and Goodnesse In the second Commandement he promises to shew mercy to Thousands in them that love him and keepe his Commandements And Psal 31. O love the Lord all ye his Saints for the Lord preserves them that are faithfull c. As therefore it is our duty to expresse our gratitude for graces or benefits received by loving God who conferres them so is it an Act of Gods meere goodnesse to love us for loving him and to make us see and feele the effects of his love by his preservation and protection David Psal 130.4 saith There is mercy with thee therfore thou shalt be feared which may seeme to have some repugnancy with the love formerly spoken of in that ordinarily men hate those whom they feare Oderint dum metuant This is true among Barbarians and those that are opprest by Tyrants But we must distinguish betwixt a servile and filiall feare The former is proper to the reprobate the latter to the elect There is no childe of God that will not feare to offend and displease his heavenly Father that hath beene so indulgent and gracious unto him as he must needs acknowledge and confesse if he have any sense of God or godlinesse or any understanding of his stupendious creation redemption and preservation Yea the more graces or benefits he hath received of