into Hell before that Hereafter came Well but some at last have seem'd very penitent and How shall the truth of Repentance be discerned Unto this I answer 1. Such who repent truely at last are very ready to accuse and very severe in judging of themselves they give glory to God and take shame to themselves they justifie the Lord in putting a period to their days and acknowledge that he might justly laugh at their calamity and mock at their fear and distress and anguish and refuse to pitty and pardon and kill the Body and damn the Soul together This judging of themselves is a very good sign and there is a promise of escaping judgment that is condemnation annexed thereunto 1 Cor. 11. 31. For if we should judge our selves we should not be judged 2. Such who repent truely at last are very jealous over their own Spirits lest the distress they are in and the nearness unto death be the only motive unto Repentance therefore their cries are the more earnest to be sincere Converts They prize new hearts and beg that God would deliver them from their natural guile and wickedness and make them indeed new creatures Oh how do they long not only for a pardon but that they may feel the power of the renewing and sanctifying Spirit of Christ Heal me and I shall be healed turn me and I shall be turned save me and I shall be saved Jer. 17. 14. are their strong cryes and oh with what vehement desires are they accompanied 3. Such who repent at last truely are filled with an holy indignation that all their time and strength has been wasted in serving Sin and Satan and dishonouring that God that made them to whom they owe themselves How angry are they and displeased at themselves that when they should have been labouring in the Lords Vineyard they either were standing idle in the Market or wrought iniquity with both hands earnestly Now this holy indignation is by the Apostle made an argument of sorrowing after a godly manner of repentance unto salvation 2 Cor. 7. 11. 4. Such who repent truely at last do look unto Jesus Thus did the Thief upon the Cross Lord remember me Luk. 23. 42. Christ is their hope and the grace of God in him which does superabound though Sin has never so much abounded They look upon his Blood as the Blood of God and able to do away the greatest guilt the foulest spot and stain the most monstrous defilements They perceive that the Blood of Jesus speaks better things than the Blood of Abel Heb. 12. 24. Cryes louder for Mercy and Salvation than Abels did for Vengeance Hereupon they are encouraged and enabled to act the faith of reliance and believing on Jesus they shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2. 6. Oh how is this Saviour now prized How are they grieved at their former and so long continued neglect of him And though the Lord forgets their Sins they cannot but remember them though he justifies them they cannot cease condemning themselves the truth is they are ashamed and confounded and open not their mouths because of their shame though the Lord is pacified towards them for all that they have done Ezek. 16. 3. 5. They who repent truely at last have a care of Gods honour and are willing to prevent others delaying their repentance Their mouths therefore are full of cautions they blame their own folly and exhort others to grow wiser and while 't is called to day to harden their hearts no longer The Earl of Rochesters dying care was to have his prophane and lewd Writings burnt as being only fit to promote Vice and immorality by which he had so highly offended God and shamed and blasphemed that holy Religion into which he was baptized and all his obscene and filthy pictures which were so notoriously scandalous He wisht his Son might never be one of those wretched creatures who pride themselves in abusing God and Religion adding That no Fortunes or Honours were comparable to the love and favour of God To a Friend of some Note that came to see him he thus expressed himself Oh remember that you contemn God no more We have been all mistaken in our conceits and opinions our persuasions have been false and groundless therefore God grant you repentance And in his dying Remonstrance signed before Witness having bewailed his pernicious opinions and vile practices he thus speaks to all whom he had drawn into Sin I warn them in the name of God and as they regard the welfare of their immortal Souls no more to deny his Being or his Providence or despise his goodness no more to make a mock of Sin or contemn the pure and excellent Religion of my ever blessed Redeemer though whose merits alone I one of the greatest of Sinners do yet hope for mercy and forgiveness Case 11. The eleventh Case follows which is this How may Grace be discovered in Saints that are fallen When I speak of the falls of Saints I mean not their Sins quotidianae incursionis of daily incursion for there is not a day nor a duty wherein the best do not in some respect offend but faults that are more gross and offensive that approach nearer unto the nature of presumptuous transgressions That Saints do sometimes thus fall is evident from Scripture and Experience therefore all of them should be the more watchful humble and cry to be upheld living by faith on that God who is of power to establish them Rom. 16. 25. Rom. 11. 20. Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith be not highminded but fear But when they do fall there is a difference between the manner of theirs and others transgressing 't is said of such as are born of God that they cannot sin because they are born of God 1 Joh. 3. 9. i. e. they cannot sin in such a manner as the unregenerate do I am to present to you a Child of Light under an Eclipse and yet even now there is a great difference between him and them that are under the power of darkness 1. A Saint when he falls sins not with the full consent of his will not only his Conscience does declare against Sin but even his Will so far as sanctified and renewed is also against it His purpose is to take heed to his ways that he may not offend Psal 39. 1. therefore when he falls he is surprized and in the hurry of a temptation and though in this hurry Conscience is not heard and corruption like a torrent carries him away yet there is a secret dislike of Sin which arises from the Spirits lusting against the Flesh Hence it is that Saints cannot take that delight in Sin which others do because their wills do not fully close with the temptation Though in Davids transgression there was too much of deliberation and contrivance especially in his carriage towards Vriah yet if you consider the matter you may find he was
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE True TOVCHSTONE Which shows both GRACE and NATVRE OR A Discourse concerning Self-Examination by which both Saints and Sinners may come to know themselves WHEREUNTO Are added sundry MEDITATIONS relating to the LORDS SUPPER By Nathanael Vincent M. A. Minister of the Gospel Psal 26. 2. Examine me O Lord prove me try my Reins and my Heart E coelo descendit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 London Printed by J. Richardson for Tho. Parkhurâ—â— at the Bible and 3 Crowns in Cheapside 1681. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL Sir THOMAS PLAYER Knight and Chamberlain of the City of LONDON Much Honoured Sir GReatness and Goodness though more rarely joyned are not inconsistent God himself is Optimus Maximus the Highest and the Best of Beings Magistrates that are good do best deserve the Name of Gods on Earth Psal 82. 6. I said ye are Gods but ye shall dye like Men. And when Death seizes on them their Greatness is buried with them but their goodness accompanies them into another World and in this World perpetuates their Names and makes their Memory Blessed Rich men ought not to be High minded nor trust in uncertain Riches Wealth is but as it were a Castle in the Air and a High Wall in the conceit and fancy of him that has it The Rich man therefore is to rejoyce that he is made low because as the flower of the Grass he shall pass away Jam. 1. 10. Good Sir Weigh this World but in the right Scales and it will be found a Drop a Small Dust as the Prophets phrase is Goodness is the most real Grandeur Holiness the highest Honour Godliness the greatest Gain and Purity has the most solid and exquisite Delight and Pleasure for its concomitant In this degenerate Age wherein Sin is so much in fashion and become the Mode of the Times it is matter of rejoycing to see some Great men striving against the stream and manifesting to all that they are not afraid or ashamed of being Religious I wish more Great Men were good and that all good men were a great deal better Times would quickly alter with Manners and if more would lead good Lives more would see good days Go on I beseech you Sir To stand up for God and for your Country God and your Country will stand by you It is your Glory that you are a firm Protestant against Popery and against Atheism also and Prophaneness and that both in Word and Conversation Go on to be Faithful in that great Trust which most deservedly is reposed in you and to be a greater Treasure to your beloved City then that you are keeper of Go on to a Father to Orphans a Patron to Apprentices a Friend to Masters and one of the Darlings of London May you live long to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a publick Good and may your Name outlive you many Ages Stapleton the Jesuit put forth a Book Entitled Tres Thomae the Three Thomas's St. Thomas the Apostle Thomas of Becket and Sir Thomas More Every Christian will readily grant the preeminence to an Apostle but for the other two the Arch-Bishop and the Statesman The Thomas I addresse to does much outvy them and in saying this I cannot justly be charged with Flattery The proud Prelate Becket and the Unhappy Wit Sir Thomas More were for the Pope against their Kings But Sir Thomas Player is and will be for the King against the Pope and all his Adherents Many Trials of the Papists have of late been Printed in this Treatise is the greatest Trial of all and that is the Trial of our selves May your Conscience upon the perusal of it acquit you at present and pronounce you upright and may you be absolved and crowned at the great approaching day of Trial this is the Prayer of Sir Your most Humble Servant Nathanael Vincent TO THE READER Reader T IS an Argument of sufficient strength to prove that Man has lost his understanding by his sin that he is so unconcern'd about Himself so fearlesse of Eternal Ruine so negligent of Everlasting Salvation though prudent in secular and smaller matters yet he is perfectly phrantick in the greatest and most weighty concerns of another World If a man have a trial at Law is he thoughtful of the issue The Malefactour who is to be tried for his Life is sollicitous about the Judges sentence But though All must be tried and judged at the great Tribunal of the Lord of Heaven and Earth yet few very few regard it or think before hand what is like to be their unalterable Doom How truly lamentable is it that Souls should be thus drown'd in flesh and sensuallity So blinded by the Prince of Darkness as not to consider what is likely to become of themselves What must be their next Home when once they leave their present Tabernacle which is continually decaying and must fall down quickly may fall down suddenly To prove thy self is certainly thy Wisedom Ignorance of sins evil makes sin damnable ignorance of Satans wiles and devices makes them successful to destruction ignorance of a bad estate makes it so much the worse because 't is not probable it should be changed and not discerning the Grace that is in us keeps the Conscience and Heart upon the Rack Satan is gratified and the Comfort of the Spirit is refused Reader Converse with thy self will be very advantagious Why should Thou and thy self be perfect Strangers any longer Commune often with thy own Heart and reflect more upon thy Life this would be an excellent means to make both better I did not think when first I began to Preach upon this subject to have been so large upon it much less had I thoughts to make the discourse publick but the concurrent desire of a considerable number made me hope it had been already profitable unto many and might be useful unto more Reader Whether thou art to be reckoned among the Righteous or the Wicked be not unwilling to examine thy felf For if thou art serious in this matter the effect will be either a profitable fear and sorrow or good Hope and Peace and Joy Nathanael Vincent The CONTENTS THE Text Opened Page2 The Doctrine raised It highly concerns all to examine and prove themselves p. 3 self-Examination opened Six propositions premised p. 4 Seven things implied in Self-Examination p. 7. What of our selves is to be proved shewed in eleven particulars p. 12 Eight signs of our being in the Faith p. 19 Eight Evidences of Christ his being in us p. 27 The right manner of proving our selves in nine particulars p. 33 By what Rule and Touchstone this proof of our selves is to be made seven cautionary rules laid down to prevent mistaking p. 40 The right rule of judging p. 45 Nine signs of being in a state of Nature p. 46 Nine signs of being in a state of Grace p. 53 The special seasons when we are to prove our selves p. 62 Arguments perswading to Self-Examination p.
70 Several Cases propounded Some Cases relating to sin and a state of Nature 1 Case Is it not better for sinners to continue ignorant of themselves then by searching to fill themselves with horrour Answered p. 78 2 Case Is it not time enough hereafter to look into themselves Answered p. 81 3 Case How shall utter strangers to themselves begin this work of self-proving Answered p. 83 4 Case When sinners have found out the badness of their state is there any reason to despair Answered p. 85 5 Case What course must they take to have their state bettered p. 87 6 Case How far may sinners go and yet fall short of grace and Heaven answered p. 92 Several Cases relating to a state of Grace 1 Case How shall we know whether we are savingly enlightned Answered p. 103 2 Case When may Humiliation be said to be True Answered p. 108 3 Case How may we be sure our desires after God and grace are sincere answered p. 113 4 Case How may we be able to discern whether in Religion we are acted meerly by slavish fear Answered p. 117 5 Case How may we know that we have indeed accepted Christ Answered p. 125 6 Case When may conversion be said to be sincere and true Answered p. 130 7 Case What are the lower degrees of true grace Answered several particulars premised p. 133 Which are the lower degrees of grace that is true p. 138 8 Case How may Grace be discovered under spiritual desertion Answered p. 144 9 Case How grace may be discerned under the prevalency of MELANCHOLY Answered p. 148 10 Case How may repentance be known to be true when 't is a death-bed repentance or just before a Malefactors execution Answered p. 154 11 Case How may grace be discovered in Saints that are fallen Answered p. 158 12 Case How may we know whether we grow in grace Answered p. 164 13 Case How may we know when our joys are true and well grounded Answered p. 171 Application Several inferences drawn from the Doctrine p. 174 The errour of the Romish Church in reference to assurance p. 179 A lamentation that this duty of self-examination is so much neglected p. 181 The fatal consequence of this neglect p. 182 Directions how to prove our selves so as to attain assurance of the love of God p. 186 Nine arguments to perswade Saints to labour after assurance p. 187 Nine directions to attain it p. 194 The right course to keep assurance p. 202 Directions how to prove your selves before you engage in that Ordinance of the LORDS SUPPER p. 205 Ten Principles of Religion that the Communicant must be acquainted with p. 208 What besides he must examine himself about p. 214 Directions how to prove your selves every day so as to walk with greater circumspection p. 234 Let Wicked men prove themselves p. 253 Directed what to do p. 254 Let meerly moral men prove themselves p. 257 Meerly moral men discovered p. 258 Counsel given unto such p. 261 Let unsound professors prove themselves p. 263 Such discovered ibid. And being convicted advised p. 265 Sincere Saints counselled in four particulars p. 267 The Conclusion of the discourse p. 269 MEDITATIONS on the LORDS SVPPER p. 273 A DISCOURSE Concerning Self-Examination by which both Saints and Sinners may come to know themselves 2 Cor. 13. 5. Prove your own selves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THe sum of true Wisdom as One observes does consist in two things Dei cognitione nostri in the knowledge of God and of our selves now to make us wise in both these respects is one great design of the holy Scriptures He that is a stranger unto God must needs be a stranger unto Rest and Satisfaction and is ignorant of Him who is the Highest and Chiefest good of all He that is a stranger to Himself must needs remain both sinful and miserable and yet both sin and misery are unperceived and ignorance how Bad he is fixes him in a state that is not good and makes it the more unlikely that ever it should be better'd No wonder therefore that the Apostle does put all upon the Examination and proving of themselves Which Counsel is very proper both to Sinners and to Saints First 't is proper to Sinners for if they come to understand aright their own deplorable and wretched case this would be one large step from sin to Grace Secondly 't is proper also to Saints for proving of themselves will be the way to evidence the saving change that hath been wrought in them and will be a large step from Grace to Comfort In the words we have 1. A duty and that is to prove the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used by Authors for the proving of Gold in the fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocrat Now Gold is proved in the fire in order to its discovery that 't is true Gold and that the dross may be separated from it So the proving in the Text must be in order unto a discovery and in order unto greater sanctification and purity 2. Whom is it our duty to prove Our own selves In reference to others we are to hope and believe all things as far as is consistent with the apparent fruits they bring forth and the faithfulness which we owe them But in reference to our selves the greater severity commonly the greater sincerity We must watch and be jealous over our selves lest we be mistaken and deceived in and by our selves And if you ask me What we are to prove our selves about The context informs us Whether we are in the Faith Whether Christ be in us yea or no Doct. The Doctrine I raise from the words is this It highly concerns all to examine and prove themselves this duty is very much urged in the verse where the Text lies Examine your selves says the Apostle Prove your own selves the Counsel is doubled which shews the great concernment of it together with the difficulty and backwardness in us all to follow it therefore he adds as if he did half chide What! Know you not your own selves q. d. To be ignorant of your selves your actions and your state for want of self-trial is your Sin and shame and argues prodigious carlesness to be in you and you to be in unexpressible danger In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First tell you what is implied in this proving of our selves Secondly what of our selves is to be proved Thirdly concerning what we are to prove our selves Fourthly the Manner how we are to do it Fifthly by what Rule and Touchstone this proof of our selves is to be made Sixthly the special times and seasons when this duty is to be done Seventhly lay down the reasons persuading to the practice of it Eighthly resolve several Cases of Conscience relating to this subject Lastly close with the Application In the first place I am to tell you What is implied in this proving of our selves and here several propositions are to be
of their hearts they call judicial hardness and when the black vapours ascend and seize upon their spirits and torment and affright them as if Nature were just ready to be dissolved this they are apt to think the hellish agonies of Cain and Judas and to conclude them the foretastes and certain forerunners of eternal Wrath and Vengeance Satan represents the grace they have as no grace that he may discourage them from duty if he does not persuade them to act desperately against their own lives Then a thought comes in that God is an hard Lord who will not give grace though they desire it above all the World but is resolved to destroy them Again Satan represents the Truth they have embraced and which the generality of the Generation of the Righteous do embrace as no truth and violently hurries them and bears it in upon their spirits especially in duty to distract and dead their hearts that they ought to turn to this or that or t'other erroneous way else they will never know peace Whatever comforts and encouragements the Gospel hands forth to them they with a strange obstinacy reject as too good for them and not belonging at all to them And though the hand and hatred of Satan be in all this yet he is so subtle as to hide himself under the dark shades of Melancholy so that he is unperceived Now for the relief of such I shall shew how the truth of Grace may be discerned under the prevalency of Melancholy 1. Melancholick ones that are gracious have usually very low thoughts of themselves they have not confidence in the flesh but are convinced that their own righteousness is rags their wisdom folly their strength weakness they see that no flesh has reason to glory in the Lords presence and being thus humble God has promised to have respect to them Psal 138. 6. Though the Lord be high yet hath he respect unto the lowly And Psal 10. 17. Lord thou hast heard the desire of the humble thou wilt prepare their heart an heart prepared to pray they desire thou wilt cause thine ear to hear 2. Melancholick ones who have grace though they are full of fears yet their fears are without Scripture ground they are apt to conclude themselves Hypocrites but not from Scripture premises Satan in a violent way does inject such thoughts that God hates them never was indeed near them or has quite left them and never any Saints were in the like condition and hereupon follows a stinging perplexity but not one word of God is produced to prove all this Though Satans injections are direful and doleful yet the Word speaks hopefully concerning them because they are weary of Sin willing to close with Christ and hunger after righteousness and true holiness and had rather have an assurance of the love of God and the light of his countenance than Corn and Wine and all the things of the World in the greatest plenty and abundance 3. Melancholick ones who have grace though they are filled with a great many fancies and fears yet the fear of God is predominant and they are afraid of Sin as the greatest evil The favour of God is most desirable his anger most formidable in their esteem therefore they dare not use sinful or suspected means for their relief and help They are not like Saul who in his distress and sadness ran to the Witch of Endor they dare not turn Gluttons and Drunkards nor attempt to drown their sorrows in sensuality but had rather remain Melancholick Saints than become boon Companions and jolly Sinners They do indeed imagine and fear a thousand things without reason but truely with a great deal of reason the fear of God rules in their hearts and they eschew what is evil in his sight 4. Melancholick ones who have grace endeavour to improve their melancholy after a gracious manner Now the World appears vain Creatures are miserable comforters delights have lost their relish and are become undelightful They take hold of the advantage to get more loose from the World and more above it If one perplexing fume turns all the World into an empty bubble into an insignificant cypher Why says the gracious Soul should I ever dote upon this World more Under Melancholy Death seems very near and as they are going to bed or at other times they have very strong and startling impressions of Eternity Gracious Souls take hold of this advantage the more seriously to prepare for Death and to provide for Eternity and this argues they are indeed the Children of Wisdom Psal 90. 12. 5. Melancholick ones who have grace have a great care of the Gospels credit nay truely sometimes this lies nearer their hearts than their own lives They are afraid of madness and frenzy lest Religion which they are professors of should suffer by it they resist temptations to self-Murther because if they who have heard and talkt so much of the Gospel should lay violent hands upon themselves prophane Sinners would speak evil of the way of Truth and be more strongly prejudiced and hardned against the Gospel as a Doctrine that has but a bad tendency this shews that they love the Gospel in truth and consequently are of God Joh. 8. 47. This care of the Gospel farther appears in that when their melancholy abates their seriousness remains Indeed the better their heads are their hearts are in a better frame because then their Souls and their Grace can act with greater freedom They long for clean hearts and desire clear heads that with heads and hearts they may be more serviceable unto God 6. Melancholick ones who have grace in all their distress and trouble desire to look unto God though they fear he is an enemy yet they cannot but look to him for help though they do but chatter as a Crane and mourn as a Dove yet they cannot refrain speaking Hezekiahs and Jobs language O Lord I am oppressed undertake for me Esa 38. 14. I am full of confusion see thou my affliction Job 10. 15. Case 10. The tenth Case is this How may Repentance be known to be true when 't is a Death-bed Repentance Or just before a Malefactors Execution It must needs be granted that Repentance at last is possible and that 's all probable or usual 't is not One instance we have in Scripture to hinder despair and but one to hinder presumption To dally and to delay in Religion how dangerous is it 'T is perfect madness willingly to lie under the wrath of God under the Devils power under the guilt and dominion of Sin and upon the brink of Hell one minute longer The longer you delay Sin grows stronger evil habits are more rooted Satan entangles you faster in his snare the heart grows harder the Spirit of the Lord is more grieved and Repentance becomes more difficult and unlikely We have cause to fear that many thousands who talked of Repentance hereafter have been surprized by Death and have suddenly dropt
in a hurry all along first he was hurried by a sinful and inordinate affection and afterwards by fear of shame in case what he had done should be discover'd 2. A Saint though he may fall yet does not ordinarily allow himself in Sin neither does he make use of the falls of Believers which the Scripture records as a plea for such an allowance as wicked men commonly do He looks upon the works of darkness as unfruitful and desires to have no fellowship with them because these will hinder his fellowship and communion with God He cannot be called a Worker of iniquity because he prays with David and that sincerely Deliver me from all my transgressions Ps 39. 8. and Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes Ps 119. 5. 3. A Saint never falls so far as to chuse a new Lord and Master he never wholly casts off the yoke of Christ nor resolves to be willingly subject to the law of sin Acts of disobedience indeed he may be guilty of but when Satan propounds it to him and persuades him to renounce the Lords service and to give up himself to the service of diverse lusts and pleasures he cannot bear the thought of it for he knows the wages of sin is death and Christ is incomparably the best Master He never consents to be wholly under the bondage of corruption as once he was but often prays that no iniquity may have the dominion over him Psal 119. 133. and especially that he may be kept back from presumptuous sins which are such great transgressions Psal 19. 13. 4. A Saint never falls so far as to take up with any portion beneath God himself His Soul hath said The Lord is my portion Lam. 3. 24. and he will never go back from it or change his mind so as to become contented without God and to have all his portion here in this life Oh no though he may go away from his Fathers house a while and feed upon the husks that are abroad yet he cannot be satisfied with these for they are not bread and as he is unsafe so truely he is restless till he return to his Father again His Soul remains empty till the Lord fills it weary till the Lord satiates it sorrowful till God himself replenish it 5. A Saint when he falls is quickly brought to himself and to his God by affliction his heart shews its tenderness in yielding to the stroke and impression of the Rod. Before I was afflicted says the Psalmist I went astray but now have I kept thy Word Ps 119. 67. And truely though there may be great fears of death when affliction overtakes a Saint in his falls yet the new nature is secretly glad of affliction whereby the flesh may be tamed and corruption purged away The backsliding Saint when he is stricken does not like those Esa 1. 5. Revolt more and more but accepts the punishment of his iniquity and desires to be throughly turned unto God who smites him and with his Soul he wishes the sanctification of what he feels and that the affliction may yield the peaceable and lasting fruits of righteousness Heb. 12. 11. 6. A Saint after he has fallen is very much afraid of Spiritual Judgments he is afraid lest the Lord should utterly leave him and say concerning him He is proud let him be proud still he is filthy let him be filthy still he is fallen let him alone David after his Sin dreaded being cast away and left to himself and being given up to his own hearts lusts Psal 51. 11. Cast me not away from thy presence take not thy holy Spirit from me The holy Spirit had been exceedingly resisted and grieved and had been highly and justly provoked to depart and that for ever But David could not bear the thoughts of being deprived of the quickning sanctifying comforting Spirit of God therefore with such concernedness he deprecates his departure 7. If the Saints falls have been foul he is troubled at Gods dishonour and that he has caused his blessed name to be blasphemed 't is his trouble that he hath wounded his own Conscience and this very much adds to his trouble that he hath wounded Religion and caused the way of Truth to be evil spoken of To see fellow Saints grieving for his miscarriages is the grief of his Soul to hear prophane ones scoffing at Religion is his shame and confusion and to perceive them hardned and strengthned in their wickedness by the Sins he has fallen into this makes his Repentance to be the greater This was laid before David as the aggravation of his Sin and certainly it made a deep wound in his Spirit that by the deed he had done he had given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12. 14. 8. The Saint after his fall rises again and begs that he may stand faster The Sun sometimes is Eclipsed a greater part sometimes half and suppose it should be a total Eclipse yet tarry a while till the Moon that interposed between the Sun and the Earth be gone and the Sun will shine as it did before the Saints will recover after their backslidings and shine as light again though Sin may darken them for a season And when they do recover Oh how do they cry not only for pardon but also for cleansing and establishment Hark unto David Psal 51. 10. Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right or a constant Spirit within me And vers 12. Vphold me with thy free Spirit They are importunate with God to keep them from falling any more and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Jude v. 24. To be upheld will be their joy their exceeding joy as their fall was their grief and trouble Case 12. The twelfth Case is this How may we know whether we grow in grace The Saints in Scripture are compared to Trees because of their growth and fruitfulness to the Cedar because they are so firmly rooted to the Palm-tree because depressi resurgunt the weights of affliction upon them make them grow the higher to the Vine because the fruits of righteousness which they bring forth are so exceeding pleasant to the Willows by the water courses because there is an aptness in the new creature to grow apace if there be not some impediment But alass these impediments are too common and where there is life yet there may be a languishing and withering Growing Christians are more rare especially in this degenerate age Now growth in Grace may thus be known 1. Then we grow in Grace when our belief of the Gospel has a stronger impression when things invisible are lookt upon as the greatest realities in the World and we are affected and swayed by the view of them When we can say with the Apostle that we walk by faith and not by sight 2 Cor. 5. 7. If things sensible do less work upon us if we are less
was once a Child of Wrath and Disobedience I am become an Heir of God and a Joint-Heir with Christ unto that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and which fadeth not away Nay my Lord who has loved me and washed me from my sins in his own blood hath made me a King and a Priest unto God and his Father and I must reign for ever for of this Kingdom which I have now a Title to and a sure promise of there shall be no end Oh rich Oh free Oh glorious Grace I am at a loss for an expression high enough to set forth the thousandth part 〈◊〉 my Lords incomparable kindness my shallow Conceptions cannot reach what is incomprehensible Therefore I must be silent in a joyful admiration MEDITATION LIII What shall I render unto the Lord My All is due my All is too little and by rendring my All I secure my All and so am still more benefited and I become more my Lords debter I find my self most happily puzzled with my Lords goodness He gives himself to me and requires that I should give my self to him but in so doing not He but I receive the benefit All the retributions thou requirest O my God and Father are but to do my self more kindnesses Duties are my priviledges All thy precepts are for my profit and my peace and pleasure to obey them Thou art beyond all compare the very best Master Oh let my ear be boared for I will serve thee for ever let my Heart be circumcised that I may love thee Eternally There is a sweetness in the acting of every Grace There is great peace in keeping of thy law there is an amiableness in thy Tabernacles thy power and thy glory are seen in thy sanctuary and though that word Suffering may sound harsh yet upon experience suffering will be found the most delightful paâ—â— of Christian obedience MEDITATION LIV. My Lord did not stick at suffering and why should I Why should the Cross daunt me If I will be indeed Godly Persecution is to be expected The old Serpent is full of hatred and so are his seed and their hatred is implacable But when I consider my Lords love and power and presence Hells Malice and the Worlds Rage become contemptible times of suffering are times of the sweetest solace Those are not unreasonable injunctions Count it all joy when ye fall into divers Temptations and Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven The Spirit of glory and of God does rest upon his suffering Saints so that they glory in tribulation they rejoyce in it as a dignity when they suffer shame for the name of Jesus they are gainers by their losses they gain an hundred fold in this World besides the Kingdom in the other World MEDITATION LV. O my soul follow thy Lord though he lead thee in rough ways and paths of great affliction If sufferings abound consolation shall abound and grace shall be sufficient The Cross of Christ though the outside of it be affrighting yet it is lined with love and easily born And if it should come to pass that Life must be taken away What better use can Life be put to then to lay it down for the Testimony of Jesus The painfullest deaths have proved many times most pleasant What raptures of joy have the Martyrs had at the stake and in the flames Prudentius of old observed Mors Christianis ludus est That Death was but a sport unto the Christians Remarkable is that passage of Bainham the Martyr when his arms and legs were half consumed by the fire he spake these words O ye Papists you look for miracles and here now you may see a miracle for in this fire I feel no more pain then if I were in a bed of Down it is to me a bed of Roses Resolve therefore O my soul undauntedly to undergo whatever tribulaon thou meetest for the sake of Righteousness Rely upon thy faithful God who will not suffer thee to be tempted above what his Grace shall enable thee to bear with joy as well as patience MEDITATION LVI Thy death O Lord is to be shewn forth till thou comest 't is proper for me to think of thy coming and to rejoyce at the thoughts of it My Lord and Redeemer will certainly appear the second time without sin to Salvation And when he shall appear I shall be like him and appear with him in glory Time and days do fly away apace and the comming of my Lord draweth nigh That will be the day of my open absolution of my full and compleat Redemption of my joyful and triumphant Coronation How full of glory and of love will be the face of Jesus then Ah! where shall the ungodly and sinners then appear How will the greatest and the stoutest of them even the Kings and Cheif Captains and mighty men tremble and call to the Rocks and Mountains to fall on them and cover them from the face of him that sits upon the Throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb But though most of mankind be full of horror I if I am a true Believer shall be full of joy and after I have been openly acquitted own'd and crown'd before Men and Angels Whither Oh whither will my Lord carry me Into those Mansions he is gone to prepare into the presence Chamber of the King of Glory Where God himself will be All in All. MEDITATION LVII I find some sweetness in the way and means of grace what shall I find in the end if in vale of Tears such joy be found what will be enjoyed in a paradise of delight if in the midst of labours and fightings and temptations I find so much satisfaction what contentment will an Everlasting rest afford me Augustine speaks excellently Soliloq cap. 35. Intra in gaudium sine tristitia ubi erit omne bonum et non erit aliquod malum ubi erit quicquid voles et non erit quicquid noles O gaudium vincens omne gaudium laetitia sine dolore lux sine tenebris vita sine morte ubi juventus nunquam senescit ubi decor nunquam pallescit ubi amor nunquam tepescit gaudium nunquam decrescit ubi dolor nunquam sentitur gemitus nunquam auditur ubi triste nihil videtur ubi malum nullum timetur quia summum bonum possidetur Enter O my soul into joy without sadness Where there shall be a presence of all good an absence of all evil where there shall be every thing which thou desirest nothing at all that thou dislikest O joy surpassing all other joys Gladness without Grief Light without Darkness Life without Death There Youth shall never grow old Beauty shall never fade Love shall never wax cold and Joy shall never be diminished there sorrow shall never be felt one sigh shall never be heard
Discourse of Excommunication The middle way of Predetermination Popery an Enemy to Truth by Mr. Sheldreck Dr. Dumoulins conformity of Independent Government to the Antient Primitive Christians Excommunication Excommunicated in a Dialogue between a Doctor of both Laws The Case of the Protestants in England under a Popish Prince A rebuke to Informers A modest Inquiry into Dr. Stilling fleet Historical mistakes The State of Blessedness An Answer to Dr. Stilling fleets Book by J. H. Liberty of Conscience in order to universal peace The Lords voice crying to England Life of Herod the Great A Manifesto or an Account of the State and differences between the King of Denmark and Norway and the Duke of Slesmick Phelps Innocencies reward Materials for Union A sheet of Union Rosses Mestogogus Poaeticus Phelps on the Revelations Gilaspys Ark of the Covenant Present State of New England Dr. Collings of Providence Froysells Sermons of Grace and Temptations Yarringtons Englands Improvement First part Idem second part Meaning of the Revelation by John Hayter The Morning-Lecture against Popery or the principal errors of the Church of Rome detected and confuted in a Morning-Lecture preached by several Ministers of the Gospel in or near London Four useful discourses 1 The art of improving a full and prosperous condition for the glory of God being an appendix to the art of Contentment in three Sermons on Philip. 4. 12. 2 Christian submission on 1 Sam. 3. 18. Philip. 1. 21. 4 The Gospel of peace sent to the sons of peace in six Sermons on Luke 10. 5 6. by Jeremiah Burroughts Dr. Wilds Letter of Thanks and Poems A new Copy-Book of all sorts of useful hands The new World or new-reformed Church by Doctor Homes The Vertuous Daughter a Funeral Sermon by Mr. Brian The Miracle of Miracles or Christ in our Nature by Dr. Rich. Sibbs The unity and essence of the Catholick Church visible by Mr. Hudson Brightman on Revelations Canticles and Daniel Canaans Calamity The intercourse of Divine Love between Christ and the Church or the particular Beleiving soul in several Lectures on the whole second Chap. of Cant. by John Collins D. D. Large 8 vo The sure mercies of David by Nath. Heywood Heaven or Hell here in a Good or Bad Conscience by Nath. Vincent Closet-Prayer a Christians duty all three by O. Heywood A Practical discourse of Prayer wherein is handled the nature and duty of Prayer by Tho. Cobbet Of quenching the Sprit the evil of it in respect both of its causes and effects discovered by Theophilus Polwheile The sure way to Salvation or a Treatise of the Saints mystical Union with Christ by Richard Stedman M. A. Sober Singularity by the same Author Heaven taken by Storm by Tho. Watson The Childs Delight together with an English Grammar Reading and Spelling made easie both by Tho. Lye Aesops Fables with morals thereupon in English Verse The Young-mans Instructor and the Old-mans remembrancer being an Explanation of the Assemblies Catechism Captives bound in Chains made free by Christ their Surety both by Tho. Doolittle Eighteen Sermons preached upon several Texts of Scripture by William Whitaker The Saints care for Church Communion declared in sundry Sermons preached at St. James Dukes-place by Zech. Crofton The life and death of Edmund Stanton D. D. To which is added a Treatise of Christian-conference and a Dialogue between a Minister and a Stranger Sin the Plague of plagues or sinful sin the worst of Evils by Ralph Venning M. A. Cases of Conscience practically resolved by J. Norman The faithfulness of God considered and cleared in the great Events of his Word or a second part of the fulfilling of the Scripture The immortality of the Soul explained and proved by Scripture and Reason to which is added Faiths-triumph over the fears of death by Tho. Wedsworth A Treatise of the incomparableness of God in his Being Attributes Works and Word by George Swinnock M. A. A discourse of the original c. of the Cossacks The generation of Seekers or the right manner of the Saints addresses to the throne of Grace with an Exposition on the Lords-Prayer The administration of Cardinal Ximones An Essay to facilitate the Education of Youth by bringing down the rudiments of Grammar to the sense of seeing which ought to be improved by Syncrisis by Lewis of Totenham An Artificial Vestibulum wherein the sense of Janua Linguarum is contained compiled into plain and short sentences in English for the great ease of Masters and Expeditious progress of Scholars by M. Lewis Speculum Sherlockianum or a Looking glass in which the admirers of Mr. Sherlock may behold the man as to his Acuracy Judgment Orthodoxy A discourse of Sins of Omission wherein is discovered their Nature Causes and Cure by George Swinnock His Majesties Propriety in the British Seas vindicated Quakerism no Christianity or a through-Quaker no Christian proved by their Principles and confirmed by Scripture by J. Faldo Differences about Water-baptism no bar to Communion by Jo. Bunian The Dutch-dispensatory shewing the virtues qualities and properties of Simples the vertue and use of Compounds whereto is added the Compleat Herbalist Judg Dodaridge's laws of Nobility and Peerage Dinglys Spiritual Feast Solitude improved by Divine Meditation by Matth. Ranew A Murderer punished and pardoned or Tho. Savage his life and death with his Funeral sermon Hurst Revival Grace Buryes Husbandmans Companion help to holy walking Hanmers view of Antiquity Nomenclaturas Wases Grammar Vincent of Conscience Gouges Principles of Christian Religion Christian Direction Word to Saints and Sinners Young mans guide Christian Housholder Perrots Englands duty The Nonconformists vindicated Wadsworths remains Shepherdy Spiritualized Calamys Art of divine Meditation Faldos Quakerism no Christianity vindication of 21 Divines Small 8vo A defence against the fear of death by Zach. Crofton Gods Soveraignty displayed by William Gearing The Godly mans Ark or a City of Refuge in the day of his distress in five Sermons with Mrs. Moors evidences for Heaven by Edmund Calamy The Almost-Christian discovered or the false-Professor tried and cast by M. Mead. The true bounds of Christian-freedom or a discourse shewing the extent and restraints of Christian-liberty by S. Bolton D. D. The sinfulness of Sin and fulness of Christ in two Sermons by Will. Bridg. A Plea for the godly or the Righteous mans Excellency The holy Eucharist or the Sacrament of the Lords Supper A Treatise of self-denial All three by Tho. Watson The life and death of Tho. Wilson of Maidstone in Kent The Life and Death of Dr. Samuel VVinter A Covert from the Storm or the fearful encouraged in the day of Trouble Worthy-walking press'd upon all that have heard the Call of the Gospel The Spirit of Prayer All three by Nath. Vincent The inseparable union between Christ and a Believer by Tho. Peck A discourse of Excuses setting forth the variety and vanity of them the sin and misery brought in by them by John Sheffield Invisible reality demonstrated in