instantly Acts 26.7 stretched out upon the tenters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the word signifieth not so much in the length of the petitions as in the acting of holy affections Dost thou labour in prayer Coloss 4.12 i. e. wrastle with God as that word imports bending and straining every joynt of the new man in the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instant in prayer a Metâ—phor from hunting dogs which will not cease following the game till they have got it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 11.8 Nazian saith of his sister Gorgonia that â— prayer she was modestly impudent that they may all help to prevail with God Are all the heavenly forces within thee united when thou prayest that if possible thou mayst take the Kingdome of heaven by storm by violence Matth. 11.12 What sai'st thou Reader dost thou like the importunate Widow take no denial but use an humble impudency as the Word of Christ includeth when thou art intreating the Divine Majesty for spirituals Or dost thou pray but it is as if thou prayedst not so dully and coldly that thou canst hardly hear thy self only as it were between sleeping and waking thou mumblest over a few petitions either out of custome or to stop the mouth of conscience never regarding whether God answer thy requests or no. Didst thou but consider the dreadful Majesty of that God to whom thou prayest the unvaluable worth of the soul and endless state for which thou prayest and the poor pittance of time upon which thy eternity dependeth that thou hast to pray in it might rouse thee out of thy security Common beggery as it is the poorest so it is the easiest trade A whispering devotion is seldome answered with a loud eccho from heaven Dr. Arron Serm. on 1 Sam. 7.12 p. 15. but this special as it is the richest so it is the hardest The fervent prayer is the prevalent prayer Jam. 5.16 The bullet will flie no farther than the force of the powder will carry it That arrow of prayer that would hit the mark must be drawn with full strength He that in prayer for grace through an humble dependence on Christ will not be denied shall not be denied Lip-labour doth no more than a windie instrument makes a loud noise and that is all Prayer without the travail of the soul is but the cold carcass of a duty and no wonder if it be unsavory in Gods nostrils How many among us are there that pray every day for pardon and holinesse and yet shall die without them and perish eternally for want of them and all because they never begg'd them in good earnest but were alwayes indifferent whether God heard them or no No day passed wherein Luther spent not 3 hours in prayer once it fell out that I heard him saith Vitus Theodorus of him Good God what a spirit what a confidence was in his very expressions with such reverence he pray'd as to a God with such assurance as to a Father or friend The child hath escaped many a stripe by his loud cry Heartlesse motions do but bespeak a denial whereas fervent suits offer a sacred violence both to earth and heaven I would have such know that the blessed God valueth his special ware at an higher rate than to bestow it on such as will not esteem it something answerably to its worth It were easie to instance how fiery and fervent the children of God in whom was this spirit of God which is compared to fire have been in their supplications look Gen. 32.24 25. Psal 5. Ps 77. Ps 88. Jacob wrestled with God and would not let him go unlesse he blessed him Christ seemed willing to shake him off Let me go saith Christ I will not let thee go unlesse thou blesse me saith Jacob. My limbs may go my life may go but no going for thee without a pawn without a blessing Thus indeed doth the seed of Jacob seek the face of their God and thence are called Israelites for as Princes they have power with God and prevail Gen. 32.26 27. And this is the difference betwixt the prayer of a living and a dead Christian the prayer of the former is instant and fervent not discouraged but rather increasing by opposition as lime by water cast upon it burneth the hotter see Matth. 15.22 and 25.27 the latter is flat and indifferent easily put off though it be with a crum instead of a crown with a bubble a butterfly instead of the everlasting fruition of God Any temporal good is satisfying to them that have no true spiritual good in them Psal 4.5 And the reason is clear the breath of a pair of bellows is cold because it doth not proceed from a living principle within but the breath of a man is warm because it cometh from a principle of life within so the prayer the breath of an hypocrite is cold because it doth not flow from the spirit of God the onely inward principle of spiritual life but the prayer the breath of a sincere Saint is warm is fervent because it proceedeth from this living principle the spirit of Christ within Indeed the Christian knoweth not how to pray as he ought but the spirit helpeth his infirmities with sighs and groanings which cannot be uttered Rom. 8.26 Doest thou pray constantly that duty which is done out of conscience will be done with perseverance A godly man will seek Gods face evermore Psal 105.4 and Ps 116.2 He calleth upon God as long as he liveth Breathing heaven-ward in prayer is the beginning and ending of his spiritual life upon earth as we see in Paul Act. 9.6 and Stephen Act. 7. ult He never taketh his leave of prayer till he is entering into the place of praise Prayer is his element he cannot live without it and communion with God in it Prayer is the vessel by which he is continually trading into the Holy Land he sendeth it out fraught with precious graces faith hope desire love godly sorrow and the like and it commeth home many times richly laden with peace joy and increase of grace But now an hypocrite Job saith will not pray alwayes he will not alwayes call upon God Job 27.10 possibly he may sometimes cry out as a Scholar undet the rod or a Malefactor upon the Rack for deliverance out of some affliction but when God openeth his hand and bestoweth the mercy his mouth is shut and his heart too that you shall hear but little more of this duty If he pray on his sick bed and God raise him up he leaves his prayers sick a bed behind him His prayer was but a messenger sent about some particular errand when that is done the messenger returneth As that story of the Friar speaketh how when he was a poor Friar he went ever sadly casting his eyes upon the ground but being Abbot he went merrily looking upward one of his companions asked him the reason of that alteration
is the same man he was before only he hath a new endowment of the light of holinesse which he had not before Now thus the Spirit ever worketh where it dwelleth it is therefore called a river of living waters John 7.37 not a pond of dead but a river of living waters a pond will suffer dirt and mud to continue in it without opposition but a river of living waters purgeth out and casteth up its mire and dirt its foam and scum Isa 57.20 So the spirit of the world and flesh will let Atheism pride and unbelief to lodge and lurk in the soul without resistance unlesse it be a little from a natural conscience but the Spirit of God worketh out these gradually as generous wine worketh out lees and dregs The Spirit is also called fire Acts 2. Matth. 3.11 for as fire fighteth with the cold water that is over it and by degrees conquereth it and reduceth the water to its own likenesse of heat in some measure so the Spirit lusteth and fighteth against the flesh and by degrees overcometh the interest of it captivateth the soul to the obedience of Christ and conformeth the whole man in some measure to the Image of God Examine thy soul by this Doth the spirit within thee combat with and conquer thy corruptions Doth it enable thee to cast them away with shame and detestation Hath it turned the bent of thy heart and stream of thy affections after spiritual and heavenly things The waters of the sea as some write though by their naturall course they follow the center yet in obedience to the Moon are subject to her motion and so turn and return ebbe and flow So though thou by nature didst follow the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eye and the pride of life yet in obedience to the Spirit dost thou now follow its motions Hath the interest of the Spirit an actual predominancy in thy soul above the interest of the flesh Canst thou say that the interest of the spirit and the interest of the flesh do often meet together on a narrow bridge where both cannot go forward together and usually thou sufferest the Spirit to go forward and the flesh to go back When two Masters walk together and a servant followeth after it is not easie to know to which of the two the servant belongs but when the Masters part the servant is discovered whose he is When relgiion and the world have their interests together thou mayst be hid but when thy credit and Christ thy pleasure and the spirit come in competition as they will very often thou mayst discover thy self clearly whore servant thou art Speak friend and let thy conscience witness whether it be thus or no thou mast deceive and thereby undo thy self but thou canst not deceive God for if the Spirit do not sanctifie thee the Son will never save thee Pharao's Court admitted of Frogs and Lice and Noah's Ark received unclean Beasts into it but no such vermine can crawle into the heavenly Court Into it can in no wise enter observe Reader in no wise any thing that is defiled or unclean Revel 21.17 These are the words of the true and living God Canst thou think that thou hast the Spirit of God and shalt be a gainer by death who art a servant of unrighteousness who hast vain-glory covetousness hypocrisie carnal-mindedness within thee and never mournest under them as one heavy laden with them nor longest after Regeneratio gratuitam coram deo justificationem individuo nexu comitatur nec ab ea separari potest etiamsi distingui debeat Polan Syntag. lib 6. cap. 37. nor usest diligently the meanes for deliverance from them Dost thou live a spiritual life that instead of being dead to sin art dead in sin and shalt thou arrive at heaven who walkest in the road to hell I assure thee a King will sooner admit dunghill-rakers and privy-cleaners in their nastiest filthiest pickle into his bed then God will take thee if thou be such a one into heaven No Heaven is for the holy and for them only 2. The Spirit of God is a praying Spirit it is called the spirit of grace and supplication Zach. 12.10 the spirit of adoption Rom. 8.15 and of his Son whereby they that have it cry Abba Father Gal. 4.6 As Christ in Heaven makes intercession for them without them Heb. 7.25 so the Spirit of Christ on earth maketh intercession for them within them God never had any still-born children The fathers after the flesh sometimes have dumbe children but the Father of spirits never had any such Mans invocation of God presently followeth upon Gods effectual vocation of him One of the first signes of spiritual life in Paul was spiritual breathing Behold he prayeth Acts 9.6 and it is observable that prayer is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending almost of all his Epistles And David was three times a day Psal 55.17 nay seven times a day at this blessed duty Psal 119.164 yea he was so wholly employed in it that he speaketh as if he were altogether made up of it Psal 109 4. Et ego oratio Moller legit But I prayer give my self unto as it is read in our translations is added for explanation as the different character sheweth as if prayer had been his essential constitutive part Some write of Latimer that he would pray so many hours that he was not able to rise Nazianzen saith of his Sister Gorgonia that she prayed so much that her knees seemed to be grown to the very ground * Hierom. in rit Paul the Eremite was found dead kneeling upon his knees holding up his hands and lifting up his eyes * Euseb Constantine the Emperour would not have his effigies set up as other Princes had in his armour leaning but in a posture of prayer kneeling Thus all the Children of God are frequent at asking their heavenly Father blessing Quorum spiritus domiti sunt qui â—ese deo subjiciunt mendici spiritu â—unius in Mat. 5.3 Now ask thy soul Doth the Spirit of â—od bring thee often upon thy knees Art thou one of the generation of seekers Psal 24.6 Art thou one of Gods suppliants Zeph. 3.10 Dost thou know what it is to be poor in spirit It is the character of the worst of sinners they call not on God Psal 14.4 a man once speechless is nigh unto deâ—th to be a beggar and to live altogether upon the almes-basket of heavens bounty Is there a constant trade driven betwixt God and thy soul God sending down mercies and thou sending up prayers This is the daily Exchange Canst thou better live without thy daily bread then this daily duty When thy heart is big with grief whither dost thou go Is this thy greaâ— ease that thou mayst empty thy soul into Gods eares Are thy prayers fervent prayers Is this holy fire put to thy daily sacrifices Is thy prayer made without ceasing or
he answered that when he was a common Friar he went dejected by looking downward for the keys of the Abby which now he had found and therefore left that posture So when an hypocrite hath the temporal good thing he desireth for that usually is most desired by him he hath his ends and his prayer an end too Or if God do not hear him presently he will not submit patiently but often flingeth away in a rage with that wicked King Why should he wait upon the Lord any longer If there come not in present profit he will give over his trade as Tully said to his Brother That he would pray to the Gods but that they have given over to hear Whereas a godly man will cry in the day and not be silent in the night he will direct his prayer to God und look up Psal 5.3 He will pray and wait wait and pray as you see beggars in some places they will beg and knit knit and beg and continue still begging and knitting So a right beggar at Gods door he will pray and work work and pray he will believe and pray hope and pray read and pray wait and pray he knoweth that it is not good to limit the holy One of Israel but it is good that a soul should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God Lam 3.26 A Divine giveth me this Simile which doth excellently illustrate our present subject Take some draught horse Mr. Car. on Job 27. and he will draw when the load is coming Of Carolus Magnus it is said Carolus plus cum deo quam hominibus loquitur but if he feel it not coming he will trample and not draw but take a horse of a right breed and put his traces to a tree or a post he will strain and strain and die upon the place before he will give over though nothing comes So a rotten Christian if he find no present gain coming he gives over duty fearing all is lost but a right Christian will pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 whether God hear him presently or no he knoweth that both the command of God and his own wants call upon him never to give over Besides this spirit of prayer abides in him for ever John 4.14 and 16. Examine thy heart by these marks faithfully and do not by flattery or self-love or rather self-hatred deceive thy soul no deceit like soul-deceit but passe sentence upon thy self impartially and if thou findest thy condition good blesse God keep close to Jesus Christ and labour that thou mayst walk worthy of the Lord Col. 1.10 even unto all well-pleasing The great and extraordinary priviledges bestowed on thee do call aloud for gracious and extraordinary practices from thee How exemplary shouldst thou live among men who art to live eternally with God What singular things wilt thou do for that God for that Saviour that hath done such singular things for thy soul Can any love be too much Can any labour be too great Can any honor be too high Can any service be too holy for that God to whom thou art by millions of eternal obligations thus infinitely infinitely bound O let the fruitfulness of thy heart and life in holiness proclaim thine abundant thankfulness for such mercies as for weight and worth exceed the very thoughts of Men and Angels How abundant shouldst thou be in the work of the Lord when thou knowest that thy labour shall not be in vain in the Lord When thou art confessing thy sins meditate on the choosing calling love of that God against whom thy sins are committed and try whether the heat of that burning love will not thaw thy heart and dissolve it into tears when it is most hard and icie When thou art backward to a duty that hath some difficulty in it consider Jesus Christ was not backward to his bitter bloody sufferings for thy sins As the Souldier told Augustus when he denied his petition I did not serve you so at the battel of Actium So say to thy soul Jesus Christ did not serve thee so when he was to drink the cup of his Fathers fierce wrath for thee and see whether such melting perswasions will not prevail with thee to subject thy self to the hardest precept When thou art departing away from â—od by any sinister course or insincere carriage remember who thou art one that art called not to sin but sanctity not to uncleanness but holiness As Antigonus being invited to a place that might probably prove a temptation to sin asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do He bade him only remember he was a Kings Son So do thou remember thine high and heavenly calling and do nothing unworthy of the God that hath enrolled thy name in the Book of Life that hath ransomed thy soul with the precious blood of his Son and hath sanctified thee by the effectual operations of his Spirit but walk worthy of the vocation wherewith and whereunto thou art called Eph. 4.1 It is an excellent meditation of Eusebius Emissenus Though the Devil saith he should be damned for many sins and I but for one yet mine would exceed the Devils impiety they never sinned against a God that became an Angel for them they never sinned against a Mediator that was crucified for them but miserable and wretched I and it s wonderful that my heart melteth not when it thinketh on it I have sinned against a God that became a Man for me against a God that died an ignominious death for me against a God that hath left me an example of love and holinesse I am more unworthy then the Devils Consider it Friend no sins admit of higher aggravations nor are matter of deeper provocation then the sins of those that are interested in Gods special distinguishing affection In a word for I had not thought to have told thee so much it was for the sake of others principally that I penn'd this piece since it shall be thy reward to be like an Angel in happiness ever to behold the face of the Father let it be thy work and endeavour to be like an Angel in holiness to do the will of God readily heartily and universally But if thou find upon a thorough search that thou art a stranger to this spiritual life if conscience sent to enquire bring in its verdict that this purifying praying Spirit dwelleth not in thy soul Let me beseeth thee in the fear of the Lord to bethink thy self what is like to become of thee for ever One of the Martyrs put his finger into the candle to try how he could endure the fire in which he was afterwards to be burnt do thou but read over again the former use of information and consider whether thou art able to undergo that losse and that terrible intolerable eternal wrath of an omnipotent God which is therein declared and by Scripture proved to be the portion of all that live and dye in thy condition Suppose thou shouldst
birth without which it is impossible for thee to escape the second death I have in the third use of this Treatise endeavoured to awakeâ— thee to and to direct thee about this great work as in the first use I have discovered the unspeakable endless misery of them that dye before it be done Those which had the Sudor Anglicus or sweating sicknesâ— dyed assuredly if suffered to sleep those were their best friends that kept them waking though they possibly had little thank for it It may be thou mayst think I am too sharpe but truely the wound is deep dangerous yea deadly and therefore though I put thee to pain by lancing it I am forced to it otherwise thou wilt not be cured Sin and hell and holiness and sanctification are other manner of things then the sleepy world dreameth of The Lord give thee an heart to obey his counsel in order to thy conversion and then I am sure thou wilt have cause to give him thanks that I would not let thee sleep quietly on a bed that was in a flame nor in an condition that was next door to infinite misery and eternal desperation Thirdly exalt godliness in thy family If once Christ be chief in thy heart I am confident he will to thy utmost power be so in thy house that thou art really which thou art relatively Labor that thy children and servants may know and serve God Dwell with thy wife as a man of knowledge as heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindred 1 Pet. 3.7 Bring up thy children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Eph. 6 4. Teach thy servants their duty to God and their own souls Consider these are the laws of the righteous God and ere long when thou shalt leave all the dying and lying vanities of this world thou must give an account in the other world how thou hast obeyed them God hath committed a great trust to thee even the charge of the souls of all in thy family and doth not thine heart tremble to think of soul-blood of soul-murder I assure thee thou mayst be as truely and really guilty of their deaths and damnations by starving them as by poisoning them I mean by not instructing chatechizing and principling them in the things of God by not praying with them and over seeing that they mind the worship of God as in making them drunk and teaching them to steal and swear For thy children Dost thou not know that they are born children of wrath and heirs of hell and canst thou be quiet till thou seest in them some signs and hopes of regeneration an interest in Christ and thereby a right to heaven When thou readest of Herod how he murdered poor children thou condemnest him thou thinkest Ah hard-hearted Herod But dost not thou do ten thousand times worse in murdering the souls and bodies of thy dear children for ever Ah hard-hearted ah bloody father Herod was a man of bowels a merciful man to thee Is it any wonder to hear saith one of that ship sunk or dasht upon a rock that was put to sea without card of compass nor is it a wonder to hear of children sinking in perdition who are thrust into the world which is a sea of temptations without any knowledge of God and their duty One would think every time thou readest and hearest of the extremity and eternity of hells torments of the multitudes that must undergo them of the few even of those within the visible Church that shall be saved and of the difficulty of obtaining salvation that thy loyns should tremble and thy joynts smite together that thy head yea heart should ake for fear any of thy dear children should be among those many that must drink that cup of the Lords pure wrath that thou shouldst be restless night and day in wrastling with â—od and instructing them in using all means to prevent their endless ruine surely if thou hadst a spark of true love to thy children thus it would be with thee And for thy servants unless thou art careful that they serve the Lord they are but little beholden to thee for thy service thou givest them possibly food and outward things convenient but dost thou not do as much for thy cattel And is it thinkest thou enough to do no more for those souls which must live in unspeakable pain or pleasure for ever then for thy beasts If he that provideth not for the bodies of his family be worse then an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 surely he that provideth not for their souls is kin to a devil say not they are stubborn and will not be taught Hast not thou power in thy hands either to teach them or turn them out of doors Let none serve thee that will not serve God Thou wilt not keep a servant that knoweth not how to do thy work at least if he will not learn and then follow it with diligence Now let thy conscience be judge Is not Gods work the pleasing and glorifying his infinite majesty of far greater concernment than thy greatest and weightest work and darest thou keep one that neither knoweth how to do it nor will learn Follow the man after Gods own heart Ps 101.2.9 I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me It is said of Constantine that in this he was truely great that he would have his whole Court gathered together and cause the Scriptures to be read to them and instruction to be given them from the Word of God Besides if thou didst but regard thy own temporal good thou wouldst instruct thy servants and children in spiritual things for they that are unfaithful to their Master and father in heaven will be unfaithful to their master and father on earth They that make no conscience of their duty to God but rob him of his service and worship will never make conscience of their duty to thee but if they have opportunity will rob thee of thy time service and goods Be sure that thou performe family duties as praying reading and the like morning and evening do not serve the flesh and the world all day and then put God off with a few cold sleepy petitions at night the command is Pray continually 1 Thess 5.17 Daniel was at it three times a day Dan. 6.10 David seven times a day Psal 119.164 Gods mercies are renewed on thee every morning and should not thy prayers and praises be renewed every morning Doth not the preservation of thy family every night deserve family acknowledgement in the morning Wearisome nights are appointed to others the beds of others prove their graves thou and thine might have awaken in hell doth this distinguishing mercy deserve no thanks Is not thy family every day lyable to many dangers both bodily and spiritual doth it not need pitying sanctifying
if it were as good as the best so there is a great deal of counterfeit holinesse in the world a great deal of civility of morality of common grace which is taken or rather mistaken by men for true saving grace much fancy is taken for faith presumption for hope self-love for Saint love and worldly sighs for godly sorrow What can the Saint do but as to the outward appearance the sinner may do the same as the divel is Gods ape so is the self-deluding soul not seldom the Saints ape Doth the Saint abstain from grosse sins so doth he whose Religion consisted so much in Negatives Luke 18.11 Doth the Saint pray so do the Pharisees and make long prayers too Matth. 23.14 Do the Saints fast Nehem. 1.4 Dan. 9. So do they Matth. 6.16 9 14. and it may be twice in one week Luke 18.11 Do the Saints give alms Acts 10. so do they Matth. 6.1 2. Do the Saints confesse sin the sinner can do it in the very same words 1 Sam. 15.24 Doth Ephraim repent Jer. 31.18 so doth Judas Matth. 27.3 Doth Abram believe Rom. 4. so doth Simon Magus Act. 8.13 Doth Hezekiah humble himself 2 Chron. 32.26 so doth Ahab and walk softly into the bargain 1 Kings 22.15 Doth the man after Gods own heart fulfill all Gods will Act. 13.22 you shall hear that a Jehu shall do very much and that by a testimony from Gods own mouth 1 Kings 10.31 Thou hast done well in executing that which was right in mine eyes thou hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart What a great resemblance is there in all these outwardly but a vast difference inwardly The ungodly sometimes do attain to the outward actions but never to the inward sanctified affections of the godly As the painter may paint fire but he cannot paint heat that is beyond his skill Many titular Christians are like the Onyx-stone of which Naturalists write that it is clear and bright in the superficies but dark and muddy at the center men of civil conversation but not of sanctified affections Now all this calleth aloud to thee to try thy self whether thou goest beyond them that do all before-mentioned and yet come short of heaven Besides it is not seldome that a true Christian for want of a prudent trial judgeth himself unsound As the face of Moses so his heart shines with grace and he knoweth it not Christ is in him as he was with the two Disciples and he as they is ignorant of it Many Christians like Hagar weep and mourn that they must die for thirst when the water of life is by them yea within them There is that maketh himself rich full of peace and joy from assurance of Gods favour and his salvation yet hath nothing not one jot of grace or true ground of joy there is that maketh himself pooâ— perswadeth himself to be in a most wretched estate and yet hath great riches Pro. 13.7 is highly in Gods favour and hath great store of saving grace But most coÌ„monly the error is on the other side how doth every swaggering or at best civilized sinner presume that he is a Saint how often hath he blear-eyed Leah lying by him all night and he thinketh it is beautiful Rachel til the light of the morning discover the contrary how many have the Devil and the world lodging in their arms and embraces and think it is Christ the fairest of ten thousand till upon examination it be found otherwise Reader take heed this be not thy case that thou like Uriah carriest letters about thee importing thy own execution and yet thou not know of it it is ordinary for men to think they are spiritually rich and increased with good and to have need of nothing and not to know that they are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Revel 3.17 they cry like Agag Surely the bitternesse of death is past there is no fear of death of wrath of hell or damnation when they are liable every moment to be hewn in pieces before the Lord to be torn in pieces by the roaring lion O how many a precious vessel soul I mean hath been split upon this rock of presumption Doth it not therefore concern thee to be serious and faithful in searching thy heart lest thou shouldst as the most deceive thy self about a businesse of such unspeakable consequence Secondly consider the fewnesse of them that have Christ for their life or that live this spiritual life every one almost that liveth within the visible Church is ready to say that heaven is his inheritance and he shall escape the wrath to come when the Word of God and the works of men do clearly and fully speak the contrary The Devil hath his droves all the earth wandreth after the beast Rev. 17.8 The whole world lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 The enemies of God cover the earth like grasshoppers for multitude Judg. 7.12 they fill the Countrey when the Israeliter are like two little flocks of Kids 1 Kings 20.27 The good and the true shepherd calleth his flock a little flock Luke 12.32 nay a little little flock 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there being in the original two diminutives to shew ther fewnesse When four if not five Cities were destroyed one righteous Lot with his small family is delivered Gen. 19.15 When an whole world is drowned a few that is eight souls are saved 1 Pet. 3.20 Therefore the children of God are called a remnant Micah 7.18 two or three yards remaining of fourty or fifty and compared to the gleanings after the vintage Isa 17.6 one or two bunches may be left under some thick or outmost bough but what are they to the many baskets full that were gathered before The Saints are jewels now how few are there of such pearls in comparison of pebbles Mal. 3.17 and strangers Psal 119.19 how small is their number to natives which are the worlds own Joh. 15.19 The Church of Sardis hath a few names onely that have not defiled their garments Rev. 3.4 Some have divided the world into thirty parts and have affirmed nineteen of those to be without Christ in whose name alone is salvation and six of the remaining eleven to be â—apists which certainly are in no safe way to heaven and five parts of thirty only to be Protestants amongst whom they that read of their way of worship beyond the Seas will find many of these to be but mungrel-Protestants But to wave this and to come to England where it is generally by godly men believed that God hath as numerous an issue of new-born children as in any such quantity of ground in the world and Reader take the publick congregation thou dost joyn with in the solemn worship of the ever-blessed God upon his own day and suppose one should come and sweep out of it in the first place all notorious sinners drunkards swearers adulterers extortioners liars railers scoffers at
every messenger welcome for his sake that sendeth him thou needst not fear any servant can night or day knock at thy door with ill news how willingly wilt thou go to duty and with what alacrity perform them knowing the God whom thou drawest nigh to is thy loving Father the Christ in whose Name thou approachest is thy lovely Saviour nay how joyfully maiest thou think of death as the portal through which thou shalt go into thy Masters joy and endlesse life Believe it thy life will be an heaven upon earth And shouldst thou find thy estate lost will it not be an infinite mercy to thee that thou didst know it before it was too late how will it awaken thee out of thy security and affrighten thee upon the apprehension of thy misery how will it quicken thee to mind thy duty in loathing thy self in leaving thy sins and in flying to thy Saviour Sound conversion begins at self-examination First we search and try our wayes and then turn to the Lord Lament 3.39 The way to have our sores cured is first to have them throughly searched I considered my wayes and turned my feet to thy testimonies Psal 119.59 If thou wouldst have thy face clean look into the glasse of the Law and view thy spots He that knoweth not that he is in a wrong path will not turn back though the farther he goeth the greater is his deviation and danger Jer. 31.19 After I was instructed or after I was made known to my self I repented As Abigail said to David if thou hearken to thy servant it will be no grief of mind hereafter to my Lord that thou art kept from shedding of blood so say I to thee If thou wilt faithfully examine thy self it will be no cause of sorrow hereafter to thee that thou wert thereby kept from a further shedding the blood of thy soul Bish Halls Meditat. Vows Cent. 2. Meditat. 4. I will conclude this motive with the meditation of the learned and holy Bishop now with Christ That which is said of the Elephant that being guilty of his deformity he cannot abide to look on his face in the water but seeks for troubled and muddy channels we see well moralized in men of evil conscience who know their souls are so filthy that they dare not so much as view them but shift off all checks of their former iniquity with the excuses of good fellowship Whence it is that every small reprehension galls them because it calls the eye of the soul home â—o it self and makes them see a glimpse of what they would not So have I seen a foolish and timerous patient which knowing his wound very deep would not endure the Chirurgion to search it whereon what can ensue but a festering of the part and a danger of the whole body so have I seen many prodigal wasters run so far in books that they cannot abide to hear of a reckoning It hath been an old and true Proverb Oft and even reckonings make long friends I will oft summe my estate with God that I may know what I have to expect and answer for neither shall my score run on so long with God that I shal not know my debts or fear an audit or despair of pardon I come now to the touchstone by which thou must be tried whether thou art true gold or counterfeit it is likely thou presumest thy estate is good well art thou willing the Word of God that must whether thou wilt or no judge thee for thy eternal life or death at the last day Ad bunc librum ut judicem ad alias ut â— judex divenio saith Melancth of tâ— â—ble should try thee at this day If thy wares be right and good thou wilt not be afraid to bring them out of thy dark shop into the light If thy title be sound and good I know thou wilt be ready for a fair Trial at law even at the Law of God I shall try thee two wayes though both will lead to the same place I must first intreat thee to put those four particulars to thy soul which in the beginning I told thee were included in that expression To me to live is Christ 1. Ask thy soul what is the principle of thy Religious performances what is the spring of thy obedience men indeed judge of others principles by their practices because they cannot discern the heart whether it be right in a duty or no but God judgeth of mens practices by their principles as we may see by his speech of Paul Behold he prayeth Act. 9.11 Paul was a Pharisee one of the strictest of them and they were much in prayer but God who knew his heart was wrong in former duties takes not any notice of them now behold he prayeth he might say a prayer before but he never pray'd a prayer til now when he had a right principle being regenerated by the holy Ghost then and not till then he made a right prayer Til the Tree be good the fruit can never be good Matth. 7.17 Now Friend what is the principle of thy duties is it fear of men hope of honour desire of gain or mearly the stopping the mouth of conscience or custome are these the weights that make thy Clock to go and if these were taken off would thy devotion stand still then thy heart is not right in the sight of God intreat him for the Lords sake that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee Or do thy pious actions flow from a renewed will and renewed affections Doth the outward correspondency of thy life to the Law of God proceed from an inward conformity in thy heart to the nature and Law of God from the Law written within if it be thus thy condition is safe for the deeper the spring is from whence the water comes the sweeter the water is and thy services the more acceptable to God Speak thy self whether thou prayest readest hearest singest from the Divine nature within from love to the infinitely amiable God from the delight thou takest in communion with him in duties O how sweet is that hony that drops of its own accord from the comb and how pure is that Wine which floweth freely from the grape So grateful and acceptable is that sacrifice to God which is season'd with sincere love Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and delighteth greatly in his Commandments Psal 128.1 Or dost thou worship God from the same principle the Sadduces do who deny the Resurrection only from a desire it may go well with thee in this life or from the same principle from which the Persians do the divel only from fear least he should do thee hurt surely that service will be sowr which like verjuice is squeezed out of the crabs To serve God with a filial fear is commendable but to serve him from a servile fear is unacceptable The upright Christian worketh from an inward principle the new Creation within and