Successor Thus we daily see a greater disgust because of some petty differences in circumstantials where yet there is agreement in the vital part of fundamental truth and holy living then because of those notorious profanesses which unchristian a man and make him as an Heathen man and a Publican 191 A Crocodile out of the River Niger drew in with ihs tail nine slaves chained together and devoured them but the Chain not being digestible proved his destruction being found in him dead Lord at how great sins dare this heart of mine venture and at how long a train as the Ox drinketh down water in huge quantity and with great delight but there is a Chain of guilt with it surely deadly that can neither be vomited nor vented this makes me cry My bowels my bowels I am pained at my very heart but the comfort is there is Balm in Gilead and a Physitian there 192 At the siege of Rochel a certain Souldier from the walls observing the Duke of Anjou afterwards Henry the 3d. to stand viewing the Fortifications fired at him which one of the Esquires of his body perceiving in the very moment stept before him and saved the life of his Lord by the losse of his own Lord the arrows of thy vengeance are levelled at the Caul of my heart and it is justice that they should smite me under the fifth rib but let that Jesus who saves his people from their sins call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a middle person step between Let the chastisement of my peace be upon him and by his stripes let me be healed 193 Marcellus at the taking of Syracusa being greatly desirous to save the life of Archimedes gave strait charg through his army That every person should endeavour his safety but a Souldier breaking in upon him at his study not knowing him slew him How much better is it to be one of those marked out by him with the writers Ink-horn by his side how much greater security in being one of those who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst of the City how much more certain safety had Jeremiah Baruch and Ebedmelech when Jerusalem was stormed by Nebuchadnezzar being those to whom God had promised their lives for a prey 194 Fabius Maximus dying suddenly the day before the end of his Consulship Rebius sued to be Consull for the few hours of that year which remained Lord how short hast thou made our lives if compared with the Crow or Stag and how much shorter are they made by many crosse accidents and how much shorter doe we make them by our many intemperances and how much shorter yet are they made by thy just judgement when for our presumption and carelesness in thy worship we are sick and weak and some fall asleep and yet how fond are we of this little remnant that we often hazard an immortal soul for it But Oh do thou direct my aims to that which admits of no termination as to extent of time or enjoyment 195 Some Roman Souldiers flying from Amida when taken by the Persians wandred in the deserts almost choaked with thirst till they came to a deep well whence yet they had nothing to draw the water with till necessity found out this invention They pull'd off their shirts and cut them out into long slips which they tyed together making a bunch at the end by which through a manifold repetition squeezing the hunch they drew up water enough to quench their thirst When we come to the word to draw water out of the wells of salvation we are unfurnished of Pitchers for that purpose our ears are dull of hearing our hearts fat and hard to understand here a little and there a little a frequent repetition must be often applicatious for of much we carry away but a very little our judgements but a little informed our affections but a little rectified or elevated Alas alas they that think rare attendances wil serve the turn or that they shall be told but what they know manifest that they are not sensible of their own dullnesse nor consider that the Apostle Peter thought it meet to put those often in remembrance who knew those things and were established in the present truth 199 A certain person that had sold a street of houses and laid out the money in costly apparrel came to Court and being in a prease there cryed to them To make way for one that had an hundred Tenements on his back Lord thou hast said That thou art pressed under our sins as a Cart is pressed under sheaves and the burden of our iniquity brings down from thee a burden of punishment yet is the weight of sin fo far from being grievous that instead of lamenting the pressure we boast of the number but if we are not weary and heavy laden with the sense of our transgressions now they will at that day press us down into the lowest hell 200 Neer the Lake Agnano there is a Cave into which for the experience of Travellers the neighbouring Inhabitants are wont to put their Dogs which are no sooner in but they are as dead immediately with eyes set and tongues hanging out but taken thence presently and thrown into the Lake they recover for which cause those Dogs no sooner see a stranger coming but if not timely prevented away they get them packing to the adjoyning mountains not to be got again to make a new experiment Lord thou saidst In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death and we never descend into acts of iniquity but we are afresh dead in trespasses and sins and that irrecoverably if not washed by faith and repentance in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleannesse but if we have so escaped when temptation again presents it self shall we not get us packing by no means to be brought to another tryall 200 Cleopatra the wife of Cyricoenus having taken Sanctuary at Antioch after her husbands overthrow her Sister Gryphina the wife of Gryphus most importunately solicited her death and though Gryphus much perswaded her desivery yet she her self commanded the Souldiers in to dispatch her but a few dayes after the same Gryphina falling into the hands of Cyricoenus was by him made a sacrifice to his Wives Ghost They are not our times alone that by their mutability have taught men that great lesson of moderation all ages have witnessed That the Lord is at hand a just Judge to execute vengeance on those who have not by their miseration to others shewed their sense that they also are in the body even those whom God sent out to be his Executioners he hath afterward plagued because they did their work without pitty OCCASIONALL Observations 1 IN that emendation as 't is thought to be of the English Tongue by the addition of forreign words of divers Languages though possibly we may speak more finely yet not which is the end of speech more significantly but alwayes more laborioufly few
How many men have damned their souls that they might dye rich and to that end like overflowing Rivers have growne great by the ruins of their Countrey upon this account chiefly that they may go out of the world wealthy when Scypio's moderation and abstinence have reared him up a more glorious Monument then his Conquests 10 Philostratus being imployed by Ptolomy in building that famous Pharos neer Alexandria engraved in the solid and durable Marble his own name and in plaister over it the Kings that his in time being worne off his own might be seen to perpetuity Sin imprinteth in my fancy favourable and specious conceits of it but there are characters in my conscience of another tenour which will abide there when the other are vanisht and no more to be remembred 11 William Wickham being appoynted by King Edward in building a stately Church wrote in in the windows This work made William Wickham for which being charged by the King as assuming the honour of that work to himself as the author being onely overseet he answered that He meant not he made the work but that the worke made him being before but beggarly and then in great credit Lord when we read in thy Word that we must work out our own Salvation thy meaning is not that our Salvation should be the effect of our work but our work the evidence of thy Salvation 12 The Empresse Maud being closely beset by her enemies neere Winchester caused her selfe to be put into a Coffin and as one dead was safely conveighed through their Troupes Evill concupiscences beset my soul with an almost impossibility of escaping but the way to avoid them is by becoming dead to sin not to live any longer therein 13 They tell of a Tree in Japan that flourisheth and is fruitfull if kept in a dry earth but with moysture which causeth other trees to flourish withereth Such is the sincere Christian to whom the crosse is a crutch affliction raiseth up his affection and the heate of persecution makes his graces flourish and fruitfull but the gentle showers of prosperity decayeth his greennesse and usually makes his graces torpid if not livelesse 14 Among the Turks every one is of some Trade the Grand Seignior himself though Lord of so many Countries yet daily imployes himselfe in some chosen Occupation because even Adam in Paradise was by divine appointment not left idle An huge condemnation to those of our times who think it a disgrace to be ingaged in any profitable imployment whereby they may promote the common good and their own being almost all onely of the trade of that Assirian whose Motto was Ede bibe lude 15 Herbert in his travells tells of Fowle which if you shoote some the rest fly not away but render themselves an easie prey to him that will kill them How many such foolish men are there whom others harmes make not wary but are intangled in the same fetters of lust and misery wherein they have seen others and themselves have been formerly ensnared 16 The River Tigris passing through the Lake Arethusa mingleth not his waters with it but retaines its tast and colour different from that of the Lake Such should the Christian be though conversing in the world yet reserving the savour of Godlinesse and colour of religious profession unallayed 17 The Virgins of Miletus through an unkind Melancholy being their own executioners and that mischief much encreasing there was a Law made that those so dying should be carryed naked exposed to view through the City upon which that evill ceased modesty and the shame of being so laid open though after death prevailing more then all other considerations could How sad is it that among us professing Christianity there should be of the shamefacer sex straining healths through their Smocks c. and prostituting that vertue which by the heathen was estimated at so high a rate 18 The Hircanians do use to banquet under the falls of their Rivers as in the shade which are so steep that they shoote over their heads It often is that wretched sinners riot it under the guilt of those sinnes that a tender conscienced person would tremble to think of 19 They have Trunks in India called Sampatans through which they shoot arrows so invenomed that if they prick the skin it is very dangerous but if they draw bloud it is irrecoverably deadly The first motions to sin arising from that root of bitternesse appeare never without sad effects but Lord let them never draw bloud by consent from my will that their deadly venome should seize my vitalls 20 Demetrius King of Syria being taken prisoner by the King of Parthia and by him marryed to his own sister and with all desirable things entertained oft attempted and at laft effected an escape into his own Countrey Lord with what enjoyments soever I am derained from thee yet let the desire of my soule be to thy name and to the remembrance of thee and at last let me obtaine an happy escape to thee 21 Maud the Empresse being besieged by the forces of King Stephen in Oxford when the snow covered the ground made her escape thence by arraying her self and followers in white sheets Lord I am besieged by thy justice and the guilt of sin compasseth me about on every side but Oh cloath me with the white Robe of thy Sons Righteousnesse that I may escape the execution of thy vengeance 22 Sixtus Quintus being a great abettor of the Spanish Faction when a Cardinall was the greatest enemy of it when chosen Pope the Papall dignity not being compatible with the Spanish greatnesse in Italy Lord how far soever I abetted the reigne of sin in my heart before I received thy Spirit of adoption yet now let me ever be a zealous opposer of it the Kingdome of sin being so inconsistent with the dignity of a son 23 The Papists say that their pictures of the Virgin Mary are exactly like her being begun by Angels and finished by Saint Luke though 't is to be seen that in them the Painters have used their wonted liberty not two of them being in all things alike and one of them of no small fame representing a blackmore Nay there was a fellow of them that like Apelles with his Hellen from the beauties of severall courtisans before him drew the picture of this Virgine How safe and to our credit is it to continue in the truth for the children of the father of lyes at one time or other will shew their cloven feet and to our shame discover their breed 24 Though the Northern people have made many irresistible irruptions into the South like a torrent bearing all before them yet 't is observed that they never obtained any durable Empire the Southern wit being an overmatch for the Northern strength If concupiscence break forth and hurry into sin exercising some sudden acts of tyranny yet let it not get any stable dominion let the efficacy of thy grace
and edification by one hours private discourse than by multiplyed hours spent in publick Sermons and much were it to be wished that there were care had as to teach publickly so also from house to house 34 When the man asketh our Lord whether there were many that should be saved Luke 13.23 instead of answering his curiosity he replyeth by a profitable admonition he diverteth his thoughts from the uselesse speculation of an abstracted general into the useful consideration of his particular interest that instead of knowing the number of those that should be saved he should strive to be one of the number well were it if those little-edifying questions between Calvin and Arminius about Calling and Election were converted into serious endeavours to make our calling and election sure and there were more care to advance Christs Kingdome in our hearts then to dispute when and where his personal Reign shall be upon the earth 35 If that controversie had been proposed to one of our Rabbies which the woman of Samaria did to Jesus John 4.10 Whether Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem were the place where men ought to worship they would have told you a story out of antiquity wherein possibly they would have reached no higher than the age after Sanballat and so have mist of the true stream by not ascending to the true Primitive fountain but our Lord reduceth this controversie about worship to the proper consideration of the true object of worship not disputing how or where or when but what was to be worshipped and directing the mind to such worship as was sutable and therefore likely to be acceptable viz spiritual like the Spirit we worship and therefore we shall find God calling men off from Ceremony as he hath call'd them on to further discovery as he revealed himself more cleerly in Gospel light so the shaddows fled away and Ceremonies were reduced to be much more simple in furniture and fewer in number 36 The Apostle James layes a necessity upon us to make our faith publick by good works James 2. ult saying Faith without works is dead yet the Apostle Paul enjoyns us to keep our faith private saying Hast thou faith have it to thy self before God Rom 14. 22. Not that the Apostle Paul ho had so manifoldly evinced the excellency of faith and its efficacy to justification was unwilling it should be manifested by its fruits or were not as much for good works as the other but the difference between them is in the different faith spoken of St James speaking of that general faith St Paul of a particular the object of the first being all Gods will revealed the object of the latter being something concerning which Gods will hath not been particularly revealed the first is that for which there must be a contending by the Saints but no contending for the latter no imposing of that upon others no censuring no judging for not observance to be zealous in the first is faithfulness in the latter is factionsness of that there must be a publick profession of this such a private observation as may agree with the generals we allow and with our particular perswasion no dissolving of the golden Chain of Christian Charity for any difference of judgement in this wherein a thing and its contrary eating and not eating a day and not a day may be alike laudably observed 37 We find the reason why God brought variety of judgements upon the Jews till he had removed them out of his sight and destroyed their City by Nebuchadnezzar to be the sins of Manasseh and the innocent bloud which he shed which the Lord would not pardon 2 Kings 24.3 4. yet we read those sins were pardoned to Manesseh upon his faith and repentance and the present judgement under which he suffered removed yea Manasseh departed this life long before the destruction of Jerusalem so that the calamities then suffered little pertained unto him whom the grave had secured against such after-claps but though Manasseh were dead and his iniquities forgiven to him yet his posterity did approve his doings That reformation begun by himself and carried on to much perfection by his son Josiah was quickly interrupted by the wicked posterity that followed they by their assent subscribed to the long Bed-roll of those sins which the Father had disclaimed and added a new score of their own iniquities therefore it was just with God to reckon to them and make them pay that account which they themselves had approved and this is the way whereby a wicked generation may entail themselves heirs to the iniquities and consequently to the plagues of all precedent ages thus all the bloud from that of righteous Abel to that of Zacharias the son of Barachias is reckoned to the unbeleeving Jews and therefore wrath brought upon them to the uttermost Wherefore no wonder if we see estates gotten by bribery or oppression melting away like the untimely fruit of a woman while the succeeding heirs instead of making due restitution justifie the rapines of their progenitors and spend that by riot and prodigality which they got by extortion and cruelty 38 When our Lord commanded the Legion out of the possessed that haunted the Tombs Mark 5.10 we read That he besought him much that he would not send them out of the Countrey I began to think why the Devils should desire to abide in those parts but I found the people of the place came to Christ and desired him to depart out of their Countrey no wonder the Devils desire there to abide where the people pray the Lord to be gone 't is a sweet content to the Devils to have their Mansion there where the inhabitants love their Hogs more than their souls and give Christ not so much entertainment as they would do a Swineherd 'T is like these were Countrey-Farmers who knew no more Religion than a Collect for rain and fair weather in its season God hath promised his presence where two or three are gathered together about the affairs of his worship and the Lord saith His Father and He will come and sup and make their abode with him who loveth him keepeth his Commandements so contrarily the Devils delight to possesse those houses from whence all acts of Religion are banished and God is not named unlesse as by the damned in hell that he may be blasphemed But whereas one Evangelist sayes not out of the Countrey another sayes not into the deep though verily there be not much difference between Hell and some houses as to the sins and blasphemies committed there yet is there odds to the torments Hell is Gods house of Correction from whence those spirits are sometimes sent to be the Executioners of Gods displeasure and it is their terrour to be remitted thither therefore we hear them crying out to our Lord Not to torment them not to send them into the place of torment Till the consummation there is use of the Ministry of those evill Angels and till then