had faith they should not doubt of their iustification nor of Gods love to them in Christ But many doubt that they have no faith or if they have any it is so little that it cannot be sufficient to carry them through all oppositions to the end unto salvation First if you have any faith though no more then as a graine of Mustard-seed you should not feare your finall estate nor yet doubt of Gods love for it is not the great quantitie and measure of faith that saveth but the excellent property and use of faith if it be true though never so small For a man is not saved by the worth of his faith by which he beleeveth but by the worth of Christ the person on whom hee beleeveth Now the least true faith doth apprehend whole Christ as a little hand may hold a Iewel of infinite worth as well though not so strongly as a bigger The least infant is as truly a man as soone as ever it is endued with a reasonable soule as afterward when it is able to shew forth the operations of it though not so strong a man even so it is in the state of Regeneration Now you should consider that God hath Babes in Christ as well as â—ld men feeble minded as well as strong sicke children as well as whole in his familie And those that have least strength and are weakest of whom the holy Ghost saith they have a little strength in comparison yet they have so much as through God will enable them in the time of greatest trials to keepe Gods Word and that they shall not deny Christs Name Also know God like a tender father doth not cast off such as are little feeble and weake but hath given speciall charge concerning the cherishing supporting and comforting of these rather than others And Christ Iesus hee will blow up and not quench the least sparke of faith This which I have said in commendation of little faith is onely to keepe him that hath no more from despaire Let none herby please or content himselfe with his little faith not striving to grow and be strong in faith If he do it is to be feared that he hath none at all or if he have yet he must know that hee will have much to doe to live when he hath no more than can keepe life and soule together and his life will be very unprofitable and uncomfortable in comparison of him that hath a strong faith But you will say you are 1 so full of feares and doubtings 2 you are so fearefull to dye and to heare of our comming to iudgement and 3 you cannot feele that you have faith you cannot feele joy and comfort in beleeving wherefore you feare you have no faith First if you having so sure a word and promise doe yet doubt and feare so much as you say it is your great sinne and I must blame you now in our Saviours name as he did his Disciples then saying Why are you fearefull why are yee doubtfull O yee of little faith But to your reformation and comfort observe it he doth not argue them to be of no faith but onely of little faith saying O yee of little faith Thus you see that some feares and doubtings doe not argue no faith Secondly Touching feare of death and judgement some feare doth not exclude all faith Many out of their naturall constitution are more fearefull of death than others Yea pure nature will startle and shrink to think of the separation of two so neare and so ancient and such deare friends as the soule and body have been Good men such as David and Hezekiah have shewed their unwillingnesse to die And many upon a mistaking conceiving the pangs and paines of death in the parting of the soule out of the body to be most torterous and unsufferable are afraid to dye Whereas unto many the neerer they are to their end the lesse is their extremitie of paine and very many goe away in a quiet swoone without paine And as for being moved with some feare at the thought of the day of Iudgement who can thinke of that great appearance before so glorious a Maiesty such as Christ shall appeare in to answer for all the things he hath done in his body without trembling The Apostle calleth the thoughts thereof the terror of the Lord. Indeede to bee perplexed with the thoughts of the one or other argueth imperfection of faith and hope but not an utter absence of either You have other and better things to doe in this case than to make such dangerous conclusions viz. that you have no faith c. upon such weake grounds You should rather when you feele this over-fearefulnesse to die and come to Iudgement labour to finde out the ground of your error and study and indevour to reforme it Vnwillingnesse to dye may come from these causes First From too high an estimation and from too great a love to earthly things of some kinde or other which maketh you afraid and too loath to part with them Secondly You may bee unwilling to die because of ignorance of the super abundant and inconceivable excellencies of the happinesse of Saints departed which if you knew you would bee willing Thirdly Feare of death and comming to Iudgement doth for the most part rise from a conscience guilty of the sentence of condemnation being without assurance that when you dye you shall goe to heaven Wherefore if you would be free from troublesome feare of death and Iudgement Learne 1 to thinke meanely and basely of the world in comparison of those better things provided for them that love God and use all things of the world accordingly without setting your heart upon them as if you used them not 2 While you live here on earth take your selves aside oft times in your thoughts and enter into heaven and contemplate deeply the ioyes thereof 3 Give all diligence to make your calling and election and right unto heaven sure unto your selves But let me give you this needfull Item that you be willing and ready to judge it to be sure when it is sure and when you have cause so to judge Let your care bee onely to live well joyning unto faith vertue c. and you cannot but dye well Death at first appearance like a Serpent seemeth terrible but by faith you may see this Serpents sting taken out which when you consider you may for your refreshing receive it into your bosome The sting of death is sinne the strength of sinne is the Law but the Law of the spirit of life in Christ hath freed you from the law of sinne and of death I confesse that when you see this pale horse death approaching it may cause nature to shrinke but when you consider that his errant is to carry you with speede unto your desired home unto a state of glory how can you
THE CHRISTIANS DAILY WALKE in holy SECVRITIE and PEACE Being an Answer to these Questions 1. How a man may doe each present dayes work with Christian Chearefulnesse 2. How to beare each present dayes crosse with Christian Patience Containing familiar Directions Shewing 1. How to walke with God in the whole course of a mans life 2. How to be upright in the said walking 3. How to live without taking care or thought any thing 4. How to get and keepe true peace with GOD wherein are manifold helpes to prevent and remove damnable Presumption also to quiet and to ease distressed Consciences First intended for private use now though importunity published for the common good By HENRY SCVDDER Preacher of the Word The fourth Edition corrected and amended by the Author Thine eares shall heare a voyce behind thee saying This is the way walke ye in it Isa 30. 31. LONDON Printed by I. B. for Henry Overton and are to be sold at his Shop at the entring in of Popes-head Alley out of Lumbard-street 1631. The Epistle to the READER THE searching out of Mans true happinesse hath exercised the wits and Pens of many Philosophers and Divines with a different successe 1. Some by a mistake of the end â—ave erred about the meanes All their enterprises have ended in Vaâ—itie and Vexation whilest they have caught at the shadow of fruit 〈…〉 a hedge of thornes and have neglected the trâ—e it selfe whence the â—uit might have bin gathered with â—re certaintie and lesse trouble I maruaile not at Varroes report of 288. severall opinions about this subiect when I consider Mans naturall corruption whose understanding is so darkned that as those Sodomites were weary in seeking the doore of Lâ—ts house so in vaine have the wisest Heathen sought the happinesse which though like blind men they groped after it they could never find And his spirituall appetite and taste is so distempered that hee car iuage of the chiefe good no better then a sick-man can doe of the 〈…〉 meates 2. Others having the eyes oâ— their understanding lightned and their senses exercised to discerne both good and evill have concluded that mans true happiness consists in the soules enioyment 〈…〉 God by an holy conformity and 〈…〉 communion with him For What else is true happinesse then the enioyment of 〈…〉 chiefe good And that God the chiefe good appeares in this that all the properties which raise up goodnesse to the highest top of perfections are in God onely For he is the most pure perfect uniuersall primary unchangeable communicative desirable and delightfull good the efficient patterne and utmost end of all good without whom there is neither naturall morall nor spirituall good in any creature Our conformitie to him the Apostle Peter expresseth when hee saith that the Saints are made partakers of the Divine nature That is they are renewed in the Spirit of their minde and have put on the new man which after God is created â—n righteousnesse and true holinesse So that they have 1. A new 〈…〉 in their understanding faculâ—e that they know God not oneâ— as Creatour but as Redeemer 〈…〉 of the world and whilest they beâ—â—ld as in a mirrour the glory 〈…〉 the Lord with open face they are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord. This knowledge is begun in this life in the knowledge of Faith and shall be perfected in the life to come in the knowledge of sense this is in a glasse that shall be face to face Secondly they have a new life in their will and affections that is they have disposition and inclinations in their hearts sutable and conformable to the directions of the Word This the Apostle Paul intended when he said of the Romans that they had obeyed from the heart the forme of doctrine whereunto they were delivered He saith not which was delivered unto you but whereunto you were delivered that is the Word is as a mould whereinto being cast you are fashioned according to it Hence it is that the Saints are said to be Sealed with the holy Spirit because as the Seale leaves its print upon the Waxe so the Spirit makes holy impressions in the soule this is called the writing of the Law in our hearts in allusion whereunto the Apostle compares the hearts of beleevers to Tables the Ministers to Pennes the Spirit to Inke without which the Penne can write nothing and the affections or Conversation of these beleevers to an Epistle and this is said to be read and understood of all men when they walke as examples of the Rule 2 Cor. 3. 2. 3. Hence it is that godlinesse hath a selfe-sufficiency ioyned with it 1 Tim 6. 6. Because a man is now in Communion with GOD whose face when a man beholds in righteousnesse hee shall be satisfied with his image Ps 17. 15. Hence comes that peace of Conscience joy unspeakeable and glorious and that holy triumph and exultation of Spirit which you may obserue in the Apostle Paul Having briefly shewed what this conformitie and communion with God is I will adde one or two words more to make it manifest that onely those are truely happy which are in this estate I may spare quotations of Writers who concurre in this opinion None of sound iudgement have denyed it the best Schoole-men have determined and concluded it and there is good reason for it For 1. mans utmost end is that it may be perfectly well with him which hee can never attaine unto without communion with God who is the chiefe of Spirits and the best of goods Other things are desired as subordinate to this The body is for the Soule as the matter for its forme or the instrument for its agent Humane wisedome and morall vertues are desired not for themselues but for the fruite that is expected by them as glory pleasure and riches Fame or glory is desired not so much for it selfe as for the opinion of others whence it s called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wordly and bodily pleasures are excessively desired as drinke in a Feaver or Dropsie better it is to be without the malady then to enioy that remedie Riches are desired not for themselves but for the sustenance of life Life is not so much desired for it selfe as for the enioyment of happinesse which when a man hath sought in the labyrinth of earthly vanities after much vexation and disquietment of spirit hee must conclude that it is onely in that truest and chiefest good which is the fountaine whence true delight first floweth and the obiect wherein at last it resteth Secondly That is mans happinesse in the possession and enioyment whereof his heart resteth best satisfied So farre a man is from true happinesse as hee is from full contentment in that which hee enioyes The Bee would not sit upon so manyflowers if shee could gather
your selfe to sleep at night you must as Christ foreshadowed David did have thoughts on â—…d and set him alwayes before 〈…〉 When I awake I am still with 〈…〉 saith David in the night remembred God and his hope 〈…〉 meditation was on Gods word â—…iah in the person of all the â—…hful saith With my soule have â—…sired thee in the night yea with 〈…〉 spirit within me will I seeke â—…e early 〈…〉 In the Instant of awaking let our hart be lift up to God with â— thankfull acknowledgement â—f his mercy to you For it is he â—…at giveth his beloved sleepe â—ho keepeth you both in soule and body while you sleepe Who â—…enueth his mercies every morning for while you sleepe you â—…e as it were out of actuall posâ—â—ssion of your selfe all things â—…se Now it was God that kept â—ou and all that you had restoâ—ing them againe with many â—ew mercies when you wake 2. Arise early in the morning if you be not necessarily hindred following the example of our Savior Christ and of the good housewife in the Proverbs For this ordinarily wil make much for the health of your body and for the thrift both of your temporall and spirituall state for hereby you shall have the day before you and shall gaine the most and the fittest times for exercises of Religion and for the workes of your calling 3. In the time betwixt your awaking and arising if other pertinent profitable thoughts offer not theÌ„selves it will be useful to think upon some of these I must awake from the sleepe of Sinne to Righteousnesse as well as out of bodily sleepe unto labour in my calling The night is far spent the day is at hand I must therefore east off the works of darknesse and put on the armour of light I must walke honestly as in the day I am by the light of grace and kowledge to arise and walke in it 〈…〉 well as by the light of the Sun 〈…〉 walke by it Think also of your waking out of the sleepe of death â—…d out of the graue at the â—…und of the last Trumpet even 〈…〉 your blessed resurrection unto â—…ory at the last day It was one 〈…〉 Davids sweet thoughts speaâ—…ing to God When I awake I â—…ll be satisfied with thy likenesse When you arise and apparell â—our selfe lose not that prime â—ime when your wit is freshest with uncertaine impertiâ—ent boundlesse and fruitlesse â—houghts as it is the fashion of most men and women for to â—oe This is a fit time to thinke upon the cause why you have need of apparell namely the fall and sinne of your first Paâ—ents which from them is derived to you For before their fall their nakednesse was their comelinesse and seeing it they were not ashamed It will likewise be to good purpose to consider what base stuffe thâ— wise providence of God hath appointed to bee the matter oâ— apparell The riâ—ds of plants thâ— skinnes haire or wooll of bruiâ— beasts and the Spittle of thâ— Silkworm very excrements and cast apparell of vnreasonable creatures Which as it doth magnifie the wisdome power and goodnes of God in chusing and turning such meane things to such excellent use so it should humble and keepe downe the pride of man For what man who is in his wits will bee proud of the badge of his shame even of that arparell for which under God he is beholding to very plants and beasts Now also is a good time to cal to mind what rules â—reto be observed that you may apparell your selfe so as becommeth one that professeth godlines namely That your apparell for matter and fashion doc suite with your enerall and speciall calling and â—ith your â—sstate sex and age That your wearing your appaâ—ell be for health honostic and â—comelinesse 3 That you rather goe with 〈…〉 lowest than with the highest of your state and place 4. That the fashion be neither strange immodest singular or â—idiculous 5. That you be not over curions or overlong taking up too much time in putting it on 6 Neither the making nor wearing of your apparell must savour of pride lightnes curiositie lasciâ—iousnesse prodigalitiâ— or base covetousnesse But it must be such as becommeth holinesse wisedome thrift and honesty and such as is well reported of 7 Follow the example of those of your ranke and meanes which are most soâ—er most frugall and most discreet While you apparel your selfe it wil be seasonable and profitable also by this occasion to raise your thoughts and to fixe them upon that your apparell which doth cloath and adorne your inward man which is spirituall and of a divine matter which never is cut of fashion which never weareth out but is alwaies better for the wearing Thinke thus If I goe naked without bodily apparell it will be to the shame of my person and to the hazard of my health and life But how much more will the filthy nakednesse of my soule appeare to the eyes of men of Angels and of God himselfe whose pure eyes cannot abide filthinesse whereby my soule will be exposed to most deadly temptations and my selfe to Gods most severe Iudgements except I have put on and doe keepe on mee the white linnen of Christs Spouse the righteousnesses of the Saints that is Iustification by faith in â—…st and sanctification of every 〈…〉 by the Spirit of Christ â—…nd because every day you â—…be assaulted with the world â—…esh and the devill you shall â—…veli to consider whether you â—…e put on and doe improve 〈…〉 coat of male that complete arâ—… prescribed â—…hen it shall happen that you 〈…〉 use your looking-glasse and â—xperience find that it serveth â—iscover and to direct you â—…w to reforme whatsoever is â—…omely and out of order in â—…r body you may hereby reâ—…mber your selfe of the necessiâ—… and admirable use of the mirâ—…r and glasse of Gods Word and â—…spell of Christ both read and â—…ached for the good of your â—…le For this being understood 〈…〉 beleeved doth not onely â—…w what is amisle in the soule 〈…〉 how it may bee amended 〈…〉 insome measure will enable you to amend for it doth noâ— onely shew you your owne face but the very face and glory 〈…〉 God in Christ â—esus which bâ— reflexe upon you will through the Spirit worke on you a moâ—â— excellent effect than on Mos face in the Mount which yet wâ—… so glorious that the people couâ—… not endure to behold it For 〈…〉 this Gods glory which by faitâ— you behold in the Word yoâ— shall be changed into the same 〈…〉 mage from glory to glory even 〈…〉 by the Spirit of the Lord. Touching these things whicâ— I have prescribed to be though upon when you arise and pâ—… on your apparell in the morning and those other which I shâ—… prescribe when you put off yoâ—… apparel at
Civill observed for the good of the Common-weale For choise hath beene oft made of Wednesdayes and Fridayes both in and out of Lent for to be kept for Religious Fasts which needed not to haue been if the Fasts kept before upon those daies had beene judged to be Religious Yet they have their lawfull use so farre forth as they conduce to their civill end and are freed from Popish abuse and superstition And I doe advise you and all good Subjects according as it will stand with your health for to observe them The Fast which I mentioned in the end of the former Chapt. of which I am to treat in this is a Religious Fast Which is A sanctifying a day to the Lord by a willing abstinence from me atâ— and drinke and from delights worldly labours that the whole man may be more thorowly humbled before God and more feruent in prayer This Fast hath two parts the one outward the chastening the body the other inward the afflicting of the soule under which are contained all those Religious acts which concerne the setting of the hart straight to Godward and the seeking helpe of God for those things for which the Fast is intended Take Fasting strictly for bodily abstinence so it is an indifferent thing and is no part of Gods worship But take it as it is joyned with the inward part and is referred to a religious end being a profession of an extraordinary humiliation and a great furtherance to a mans spirituall reasonable service of God giving a stronger and speedier wing to prayer which must alwaies goe with it so it is more then an ordinary worship It hath the name from the outward part it being most sensible But hath its excellency and efficacy from the inward it being that for which the outward is observed It is called Publicke when a whole State or when any one publike Congregation doth fast Private when one alone one family or some few together do fast God commanded a set Fast to be observed yearely of the Iewes By which they forbearing onely the Sacrifices and publike Solemnities did learn to keepe the private according as they had cause Publike and private haue their warrant from the new Testament as well as from the Old Which sheweth that religious Fasts were not peculiar to the Iewes but are a Christian dutie belonging to all fitly qualified for them In the times of the government of Iudges and Kings before the Captivitie and of the Rulers of the Iewes after the Captiuitie we have manifold examples of private Fasts and examples commandement for publike Our Lord and Saviour said that his Disciples after his departure from them should fast giveth direction unto all touching priuate fasts The Apostle speaketh of the husbands and wiues abstaining from the marriage bed that they might giue themselvs to fasting and prayer And wee haue the practise of the Apostles againe and again for publike fasts All which prove fasting to be a Christian duty The case of a mans selfe of others yea of the Church and Common-wealth may be such that ordinary humiliation and prayer will not suffice For as there were some Divels that could not be cast out but by fasting and prayer so it may be that such hardnesse of heart may be grown upon a man or some sinfull lusts â—ay have gotten so much streÌ„gth â—at they will not be subdued â—ome evils private and publike â—hich cannot be prevented or â—â—moved some speciall graces â—â—d blessings which shall not be â—â—tained or continued but by â—â—e most importunate seeking of â—od by Fasting and Prayer Fasting is contrary to that fulâ—…sse of bread which maketh â—…th body and soule more prone â—…vice and indisposed to religiâ—…s duties through drowsinesse â—…head heavinesse of heart dulâ—…sse and deadnesse of spirit â—…ow these being removed and â—…e pamprednesse and pride of 〈…〉 flesh taken down by fasting 〈…〉 body will be brought into â—…jection to the soule and both â—…dy and soule to the will of â—…d more readily then otherâ—…e they would be A day of Fast is a great furâ—…rance to the soule for the better performing of holy duties such as Meditation Reading and Hearing the Word Prayer Examining Iudging and Reforming a mans selfe both because his spirits are better disposed when he is fasting to serious and sad devotion by reason of so large a time wherein the minde is taken wholly off froÌ„ the thoughts cares and pleasures of this life he may be more intent more wholly taken vp in seeking of God Fasting is an open profession of guiltinesse before God and an expression of sorrow and humiliation it being a reall acknowledgement of mans unworthinesse even of the common necessaries of this present life But it is not enough that the body be chastned if that the souls be not withall afflicted because 1 it is else but a meere bodily exercise which profiteth little nay it is but an by pocriticall fast abhorred condemned of God frustrating a chiefe end of the outward fast which is that the soule may be afflicted Afflicting the soule worketh Repentance another chiefe end and companion of Fasting For godly sorrow causeth repentance never to be repented of When the soule is afflicted and heavie laden with sinne then a man will readily and earnestly seeke after God even as the sick will to the Physitian for Physicke and as a condemned man to the King for a Pardon In their affliction saith God they will seeke me diligently If this be true of the outward then much more of inward affliction The afflicted soule is a fit obiect of Gods mercy to him doth God looke that is poore and of a contrite spirit that trembleth at his word yea the bowels of his fatherly compassion are troubled for him that is troubled and ashamed for his sin Moreover upon a day of humiliation if a man deale sincerely this affliction of his soule driveth him quite out of himselfe to seeke helpe of God in Christ and maketh him endevour to bring his soule into such good frame that hee may truely say that he doth noâ— regard iniquity in his heart and haâ— his unfained purpose is and endevour shall be to keep a good â—onscience toward God and man 〈…〉 Whence followeth boldnesse and assurance that God will be found of him and that in Gods owne time and in the best manner he shall have all his holy desires fulfilled All whom lawfull Authority enjoyneth are to keepe a publik Fast so farre as health will permit These onely may keepe a private Fast Such as are of understanding els how can they search out their wayes judge theÌ„selves or pray In publike Fasts if Authoritie thinke fit little children may be caused to fast that the Parents and others of understanding may as by objects of misery be stirred up to a
more thorow humiliation but in private Children and Ideots are to be exempted Secondly Novices and unexperienced Christians are not to fast in private such were Christs Disciples then when exception was taken at our Saviour because they fasted not whom he excuseth not onely for that it was unseasonable to fast in a time of joy while he the Bridegroom was with thē but because they were not able to beare so strong an exercise they being like old vessels and old garments which would be made worse rather than better by the new wine or new cloath of fasting Strong physick is good but not for babes There is not the same reason why they may fast in private as in publike because the Minister by teaching them by praying with them and for them taketh from them the greatest part of the burden of the fast in publike Thirdly all such as are not in their owne power are not to keepe a private fast when those under whose power they are shall expresly contradict it For the husband might disallow the vow of his wife even that wherewith she had bound her selfe to afflict her soule by fasting Wherefore none may fast against the will of those which have full power to command their service and attendance Publike Fasts are to be kept as oft as Authoritie shall see cause Private as oft as a man shall have more then ordinary cause of seeking unto God either for others or himself for removing or preventing imminent judgements from the Church and Common-weale or for the procuring their necessary good for subduing some head-strong lust for obtaining some necessary grace or speciall blessing for preparing himselfe for some speciall service of God or the like Though I cannot but justly complain of Christians seldome fasting yet I dare not allow you to make this extraordinary exercise of Religion to be ordinary and common for then it will soone degenerate into meere Forme or Superstition but wish you to observe it as you shall have speciall occasion and when ordinary seeking of God is not likely to prevaile It is indifferent which of the six daies you set apart for fasting according as shall best sute with your occasions As for the Lords day though it cannot be denyed but that if the present necessitie require you may fast upon that day neither can I utterly denie servants and such as are under the power of others if they can have no other time sometimes to make choyce of that day yet because the Sabbath is a day of Christian Chearefulnesse And for that Heretikes have heretofore made the Sabbath their Fasting day and so it may be a scandall to Religion and because Fasting is somewhat of the nature of a free-will-offering I thinke you shall doe best to set such a day apart to your selfe for Fasting which is more your owne and not the Lords day The Scripture hath not determined how long a continued fast should be kept We have examples that some have fasted a longer time as Three dayes some a shorter but none lesse than one day In hotter Countryes they could without impeachment of health abstain from food longer then wee can who live in a colder but the body cannot be sufficiently afflicted through want of food in lesse time than one day Thus I have proved Religious Fasting to bee a Christian dutie And have shewed what it is also the parts and kindes of it Who should and may fast when and how long It remaineth that I shew you how you may keepe a Fast acceptably to God and profitably for your selfe which is the principall thing to be regarded in a fast And this I doe the rather because many wel-affected Christians have importuned mee thereunto who have professed that they would gladly set about the dutie but ingeniously confessed that they knew not how to doe it and in particular how to bee intentive and spiritually imployed for want of matter for a whole day together But of this in the next Section SECTION 2. BY way of preparation to a religious Fast doe thus Take but a moderate supper the night before for if a man glut himselfe over night hee will be more unfit for the duty of humiliation the next day and it differeth in effect little from breaking of fast next morning When you commend your selfe to God alone by praier that night as every good Christian usually doth then set the time alloted apart for that holy work setting your selfe in a special sort to seek the Lord as the Saints of God in the beginning of their fasts have done propounding to your selfe the end of your intended Fast Remembring this that if the chiefe occasion and end be your owne private good that you forget not others nor the publike or if it be the publike yet minde also your owne private For untill you have made your owne peace with GOD your fasting and praying will prevaile little for the publike And God having joyned the publike with our private good in prayer we must not disjoyne them in our fasting Resolve with your selfe to the utmost of your power to keepe a religious fast unto God according to his will For this cause in those your prayers adde serious petitions to God in that behalfe When you awake that night let not your thoughts bee upon worldly businesse much lesse upon any wicked thing but let them be holy such as may tend to the furtherance of the holy actions to be done the next day Fourthly if necessitie hinder not Arise early the day of your fast It agreeth wel with a fasting day whereon your flesh is to be tamed that you give not your selfe to so much sleep as at other times It is probable that for this cause some lay on the ground others in sackcloth in the nights of their fasts not onely to expresse but to further their humiliation by keeping them from sleeping over-much or oversweetly Your body being emptie if withal your soule continue earnestly bent upon afflicting it selfe these will keepe you from drowsinesse that day When the day is come Be you strict in observing the outward Fast To this end First forbeare all meat and drinke untill the set time of the Fast be ended which usually is about Supper time A generall Councell in the Primitive Church decreed that totall abstinence should be observed untill Evening prayer was ended In case of necessitie that is when totall abstinence shall indeed disable you from doing the maine duties of that day you may eat or drinke for in such cases GOD will have mercy rather than sacrifice but then it must bee a small refection onely such and so much as may remove the impediment to the spirituall performance of the duties of that day Secondly Abstaine from all other worldly delights as so farre as will stand with comelinesse from fine and best apparell also from all sports and pleasant musicke
licentious in company keeping daliance and the like or by reserving that day for journeyes idle visits and for dispatch of bychares Have I not beene carelesse of the Service of God frequenting it no oftener then Law or very shame did compell me Have I not beene carelesse whether my servants or children did keepe the Sabbath or no And when I was at Church did I not idle out the time by gazing about or by sleeping or by worldly thoughts Have I not bought sold let hyred spoken of or done other works forbidden to be done spoken or plodded upon that day Have I not under the name of Recreation sought mine owne pleasre using sports and games which cause the minde to be more indisposed to the due performance of holy duties then honest labours doe to which they are subordinate and with them forbidden to be done that day Hath not the strict observance of the Sabbath beene at least tedious unto me so that I could have wished that it had beene gone long before that it was ended The second Table concerneth duties of love and righteousnesse towards man the performance whereof tendeth immediately to the good of man but mediately to the proofe of his being truely religious to the glory of God God made man not to be alone nor to be all for himselfe Therefore for the greater good of mankind he hath endued men with variety of gifts and degrees of place some excelling other both in Family Church and Common-wealth yet so as each is excellent in his gift and place even the meanest made worthy of respect from the greatest because of his usefulnes for the common good even as the least member of the natural body is truely useful and to be respected as well though not so much as the most honourable Now when each member in the body politike do acknowledge the severall gifts and mutuall use one of another according to their place then is there a sweet harmony in the society of man and there is a sure foundation laid of all good Offices of love betweene man and man Wherefore in the first place God in this fift Commandement provideth that the order which he had set amongst men should inviolably be observed Requiring all Inferiors under the name of Children to honour their superiours that is to acknowledge that dignity and excellency which is in another shewing it in giving due respect unto his person and name Implying that all Superiours should walke worthy of honour and that they should mutually show good respect to their Inferiours tendring their good as well as their owne Touching this fift Commandement thinke thus Doe I live in a lawfull Calling and have I walked worthy my General Calling of Christianity and discharged my particular Calling and imployed the gifts which GOD gave me for the good of the society of man in Family Church or Common-wealth Have I honoured all men for that they were made after the Image of God and have yet some remaines thereof are capable of having it renewed if it be not renued already and because they are or may be useful for the common good of man using them with all curtesie and kinde respect excepting when and wherein they have made themselves vile by open wickednesse so that it will not stand with the glory of God good of others or of thēselves or with the discharg◠of my place to shew them countenance Have I shewed my due respect to others in praying to God and as there hath beene cause in giving him thankes for them Have I conceived the best that in charity I might of others And by love have indevoured according to my place to cure their grosser evils and to cover their infirmities And have I to my power furthered my neighbors good name and reputation and have beene contented nay desirous that he should be esteemed as well nay better then my selfe And have I both in his life time and after his death given him the honour of common humanity as in common curtesies at least and in comely buriall so far as any way it did belong to me and in maintaining his wronged reputation c. Have I being before others in gifts in any kinde as learning wit wealth strength c. imployed those gifts to the honor of God and the good of man more than others As I am before others in yeares am I before them in grauitie good counsell and good example As I am above others in Authority doe I acknowledge that it is not originally in me but derived to me from God and have I held it and used it for him keeping within the due limits thereof gouerning with wisedome and moderation procuring the good of their bodies and soules so far as lay in me commanding onely things lawfull conuenient encouraging them in well-doing by commendation and rewards preventing evill as much as I could and restraining it in them by seasonable and due reproofes according to the quality of the offence and of the person when fairer means would not prevaile As I am an equall Have I esteemed others better then my selfe and striven in honor to preferre them As I am behind others in gifts and age have I in word and gesture done them due reverence and thankfully made vse of their good parts and experiences As I am under Authoritie whether in Family Church or Common-wealth haue I submitted my selfe to all my Gouernors reverencing their persons obeying readily all those their lawfull Commandements which are within the compasse of their Authoritie to command Have I received their instructions and borne patiently and fruitfully their reproofes and corrections Or do I not live without a lawfull Calling Or Idlely or unprofitably in it Have I not buried or abused my Talent and place to the hurt rather than the good of my selfe and others Have I not beene high minded esteeming better of myselfe then there was cause hunting after the vaine applause of men Have I not despised others yea those which were good yea my superiours shewing it by my unreverent gestures and by my speeches to them and of them Have I not some way or other detracted from and diminished the credit of others or at least envyed their due estimation As I am a Superiour have I not carried my selfe insolently lightly or dissolutely As I am under Authority have I not carried my selfe stubbornly and undutifully God having set an order in humane societie doth next provide for the life and safetie of the person of man who must keepe this order and make this societie by forbidding in the sixt Commandement whatsoever may take it away or impaire it Have I had a care of mine own health in a sober use of meate drinke labour sleepe recreation physicke weapons or whatsoeuer esse is apt to procure health and to prevent disease Have I beene or am I meeke patient long-suffering easie to be appeased apt to forgive full of compassion kinde mercifull shewing al these in soft speeches gentle answers
goodnesse and shal continue in your sinne thereby provoking the eyes of his glory is a terrible and revengefull God who if you still erre in heart and will not walke in his waies hath sworne in his wrath that you shall not enter into his Rest who in his wrath is a consuming fire and is ready and able to destroy body and soule in the eternall vengeance of Hell fire Fistly Consider sinne in the evill effects of it namely it brought a curse upon the whole Creation for mans sake whereby the â—…reatures are become defective â—nd unserviceable nay hurtfull 〈…〉 you from your sinnes come 〈…〉 manner of diseases and crosses â—â—at ever befell you This your â—…ne untill it be repented and â—…rdoned maketh you hatefull 〈…〉 God separateth between you â—…d God causing him to withâ—â—ld good things from you and 〈…〉 inflict evill upon you even in â—is life It defileth the whole â—…an and every renewed act of â—…ne doth strengthen the body 〈…〉 sinne and worketh a decay of â—…ace in you though you be reâ—â—nerate And if it be grosse if it 〈…〉 not benumme and feare your â—â—nscience yet it will wound it â—â—d break the peace thereof if it â—…ender vexing it as motes do â—…ur eye or thornes your feet â—…sing terrors and doubtings of â—…vation God withdrawing his â—our and loving countenance â—…m you And if you be nor in Christ it will in the end bring upon you everlasting damnation Sixtly Consider the ransome 〈…〉 sinne who paid it and what waâ— paid consider Christ Iesus who he was and what he did and suffered to take away your sinne He the onely sonne of God very God did lay downe and veile 〈…〉 glory for â—rime yea came dowâ— and left heaven to dwell in the Tabernacle of humane flesh taking upon him the estate of servant was poore despised 〈…〉 men persecuted from the cratâ— to the crosse made to shed teaâ— abundantly yea so tormenteâ— with the sense of Gods wrath foâ— your sinne that for very anguiâ— he did sweat as it were dropâ— bloud He was accused condemned spit upon mockt buffetteâ— and scourged by wicked meâ— made to beare his owne crosse till oh oppressed and afflicted soule for very faintnes he could beaâ— it no longer Then he was hanged amongst theeves dying the most accursed death And which to him was more then all the rest hee in his humane apprehension was forsaken of God crying out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Now you may be assured that if the iustice of God could have beene satisfied and your sinne expiated and done away by a lesser price Iesus Christ his onely Son should never have beene caused â—o poure out his soule a sacrifice for your sinne This looking by the eyes of your faith upon Christ whom you have pierced will at once shew you the greatnes and hatefulnes of your sin which required such â—n infinite ransome and the infinite love of God and Christ to you-ward euen when you were his enemie in providing for you a sure remedie which will free you from both guilt and power of this sinne The thoughts hereof will if any thing will even melt the heart into godly sorrow for sinne and withall give hope in the use of the means of mercy and forgiuenesse That the former Aggravations may bee more pressing observe these directions You must consider sinne in the particulars one after another for generalls leave no impressions Therefore David cryeth out of his bloudy sinne in particular You must iudge the least sinne to be damnable untill it bee pardoned and repented in particular if knowne unto you at least in generall if not knowne The greater any sinne is the greater you must judge the guilt and punishment to be Sinnes committed long since unrepented and the punishments deserved but deferred are to bee judged to bee as neare lying at the doore dogging you at the heeles as if committed at the present so that you may looke for Gods hand to be upon you this present moment they like the bloud of Abell or sinnes of Sodom cry as loud to God for vengeance now as the first day they were committed nay louder because they are aggravated by * impenitencie and by the abuse of Gods long suffering Your humiliation must in your endevour proportion your guilt of sinne the greater guilt the greater humiliation Know therefore that sinnes against God of the first Table considered in equal comparison are greater than those of the second The more grace hath beene offered by the Gospell and the more meanes any have had to know God and his will the greater is their sinne if they be ignorant and disobedient The number of sinnes according as they are multiplied doe increase the guilt and punishment The more bonds are broken in sinning as committing it against the Law of God of Nature and Nations against Conscience promises and vowes the greater the sinne and punishment All these things knowne and considered now iudge your selfe passe a condemnatorie sentence against your selfe whence will through the grace of God follow affliction of soule Now you will see that you are base and vile and that you may justly feare Gods iudgements Now you will see cause to be grieved ashamed yea even confounded in your selfe and to conceive an holy indignation against your selfe You will now thinke thus Ah that I should be so foolish so brutish so mad to coÌ„mit this to commit these sinnes think of particulars to breake so holy a Law to offend grieve and provoke so good and so great a Maiestie so ill to requite him so little to feare him vile wretch that I am that I should commit not onely sinnes of common frailty but grosse sinnes many and oft against knowledge conscience c. but still minde particulars Iesus Christ my Sauiour shed his precious bloud for me to redeeme mee from my vaine conversation and doe I yet againe and againe transgresse oh miserable man that I am What am I in my selfe at best but a lumpe of sinne and durt not worthy to be loved worthy to be destroyed one that may justly look to have mine heart hardned or my coÌ„science terrified and that if God be not infinitely merciful he should powre upon me all his plagues Wherfore remembring my doings that they are not good but abhominably evill I doe loath my selfe for mine abhominations and doe abhorre my selfe and repent as in sackcloth and ashes Now set upon the worke of Reformation and of Reconciliation Generall if you finde there be neede Particular as you finde there is neede It is not enough to search out and consider your wayes nor yet to lament them if withall you doe not turne againe unto the Lord and turne your feet unto his Testimonies and withall seeke grace and forgivenesse The Gospell openeth a
their Covenant with God Now unlesse wee doe joyne the inward with the outward we may fast but the Lord seeth it not wee may afflict our selves but hee taketh no notice wee may cry and boule but cannot make our voyce be heard on high But when God seeth the workes of them that fast that they turne from their evill way yea that they strive to turn and seek him with all their heart then hee will turne to them his bowels of compassion doth yerne towards them and I will have mercy on them saith the Lord. After the time of the Fast is ended eat and drinke but moderately For if you then shall glut your selfe it will put your body and soule much out of order Secondly your Fast being ended hold the strength which you not that day as much as you can keepe your interest and holy acquaintance which you have gotten with God and with the holy exercises of Religion Though you have giveÌ„ over the exercises â—â— the day yet unloose not the â—ent of your care and affections against sinne and for God It is a corruption of our nature and it â—â— a policie of Satan to helpe it forward that like some unwise â—arriours when they have got the day of their enemies wee â—ow full of presumption and severity by which the enemy taketh advantage to recollect his forces and comming upon us â—â— looked for giveth us the fosse not the overthrow we are too apt after a day of humiliation to fall into a kinde of remissenesse as if then we had gotten the mastry whereas if Satan fly from us if sinne be weakned in us it is but for a season and but in part and especially if we stand not upon our watch Satan will take occasion to returne and sin will revive in us I 〈…〉 few Cautions â—ouâ—… excellent but neglected duty â—â— Fasting 〈…〉 body although it must be 〈…〉 downe yet it must not buâ— destroyed with Fasting It musâ— not be so weakened as to be disabled to performe the workes 〈…〉 your ordinary Calling In private Fasts you must 〈…〉 be open but as private as conveniently you may â—ever not the inward from 〈…〉 outward Thinke not to merit by yoâ—… Fasting aâ— Papists doe Presume not that presently up on the worke done God must grant your asking as Hypocrites doe that say to him we have fasted and thou dost not regard it You may and must expect a gracious hearing upon your unfained humiliation but as for when and how you must wait patiently faith secureth you of good successe but neither prescribeth unto God how nor yet doth it make hast but waiteth his leisure when in his wisedome hee shall judge it most seasonable CHAP. VI. Of the Sabbath IF it bee the Sabbath or Lords day you must remember to keep it holy according to the Commandement For this cause First put a difference betweene this and the other six dayes even as you put difference betweene the bread and wine in the Sacrament and that which is for common use And that because it is set apart for holy use by divine institution For as the Seventh day from the beginning of the Creation untill the day of Christs blessed Resurrection so our Lords Day which is the day of the Resurrection iâ— morall and by divine institution The Commandement to keepe an holy rest upon the Seventh day after six worke dayes which is the â—…stance of the fourth Commandement remâ—â—neth the same And Adam â—o doubt by the instinct of incorrupted nature which yeeldethâ— time for Gods honour and â—o lemne worship he knowing thaâ— God finished the Creation in six daâ—es and rested on the seventh might by discourse of his reason have judged one day in seven the fittest time to bee dedicated to his service But certaine hee could not bee either that God would have one day in Seven or which of those dayes he would have set apart for rest and for holy use Wherefore it pleased the Lord of the Sabbath by a positive institution to determine that the Sabbath should bee one day in Seven and that from the beginning of the world unto the Resurrection of Christ it should be the Seventh from the Creation but as it shall appeare by the change of the day under the Gospell after the Resurrection hee appointed it to be kept the Seventh from thence by vertue whereof wee now keepe the Lords day a holy Sabbath to the Lord So that to keepe a day holy to the Lord and to keepe that day which the Lord should appoint is absolutely morall as all the other Commandements are according to the light and Law of nature And in particular the keeping the Seventh from the Creation till the Resurrection and the Seventh from the Resurrection ever since to the end of the world was to them and is to us a morall duty immediately binding the conscience and is no way alterable by man because it is set apart by Diuine institution That there was such an Institution I shall evidently prove For the Sabbath was sanctified by God and was to be observed by his people from the beginning of the world when there was no distinction of Iew and Gentile untill the writing of the morall Law I know some deny this but without good ground For wee haue reason to thinke that ever since the Creation Time hath beene divided by weeks whereof the seventh day is the boundary as well as by Moneths and Yeares And this reason of the Commandement He blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it importing the prime institution did concerne Adam and all before the Law as well as since This was a received opinion amongst the ancient Iewes that this Feast did belong to all Nations from the beginning of the world And the Fathers observed it before Moses And though there be no mention of the Saints observing of it before Israels going out of Aegypt yet where there is an Institution there it must in charitie be presupposed that it was observed of the godly except the Scripture deny it which it doth not but doth imply the contrary For the Sabbath day is spoken of before the re-delivering of it in the Mount as of a solemne day ordained before and wel known to the Iewes Tomorrow saith Moses is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. And againe he saith The seventh day which is the Sabbath Moreover the Apostle doth intimate that the rest of the Sabbath was kept from the beginning of the world This be said of the Sabbath before the pronouncing and writing of the Law And when it was written God wrote and placed it in the heart of the ten Commandements as that which by the holy exercise thereof and keeping it holy should give life to the keeping of all the rest The reasons of the fourth Commandement doe as well urge the observing of it to all men at
drawne and quartered for an offence against the King if the King will be so mercifull that he shall escape only with a severe whipping to remember him of his disloyaltie though he smart terribly with those lashes yet in his mind he can beare them patiently and gladly If you can thinke thus I deserve more punishment in this kinde nay in any other together with this inal other with this one or with these few my punishment is lesse than mine iniquities deserve for I might have beene frying in Hell long since and have beene past all meanes and hope of salvation but I live and have time and meanes to make a good use of my afflictions These thoughts will cause you to say Why am I Why is living man sorrowfull that is impatiently sorrowfull or why doth he complaine saith the Prophet what shall man who is punished for his sinne but not fully to his desert yet complaine for he yet liveth to search his wayes and turne to the Lord and seeke mercy Say with the Church in all your distresses Its Gods mercy it is not worse It is Gods mercy I am not utterly consumed Thirdly When your soule beginneth to bussle and bee out of quiet under afflictions whether inward in soule or outward in body or state consider the nature use of them to you-ward To the eye and touch of sense they are evill and as poyson things hurtfull and dangerous but to the eye and touch of faith they are good as good physicke most healthful to the soule and saving God the skilfull Physician hath quite altered the nature of crosses to his children he that bringeth light out of darknesse so tempers afflictions that they become good antidotes and preservatives against sinne and good purgatives of sinne The core sting and curse of the crosse which remaineth to a wicked man is by Christs patient suffering and Gods mercy taken quite away out of the afflictions of beleevers Afflictions to the godly are not properly punishments serving to pacifie GODS wrath for sinne but are onely chastisements to remove sinne and are exercises of graces and meanes of holinesse For they serve either to prevent evil or to reforme it either to make way for grace or to quicken and increase grace or to discover and give proofe of it God is as a wise and skilful Gold-smith he knowes how to purge his Gold by casting it into the fire of affliction which fire is not the same to the drosse which it is to the gold it consumes the drosse but refineth the gold that it may be fit to be made a vessell of Honour Fire serveth to trie gold as Well as to purge it for pure gold though it remain in the fire manie daies the fire cannot waste it when it is once pure it will hold its waight still for all the burning Hence it is that the Psalmist saith It is good for me that I have beene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes and the Apostle saith All things worke together for good to them that love God He is a froward foolish person who being sicke of a deadly disease doth not patiently and gladly endure the gripings extreame sicknes of stomacke and bowels when he knoweth that this his sicknesse caused by bitter physicke is for his health You will say If you could finde that your afflictions did you any good you should not onely be patient but glad under any afflictions I answer Whatsoever you feele faith in Gods Word will tell you that they both now doe you good and hereafter you shall feele the benefit of it The benefit of Physicke is not alwaies felt the day you take it but chiefly when the Physicke hath done working The chiefe end why GOD tryeth and purgeth you by afflictions is that he may humble you and prove you to doe you good at your latter end Reade Deut. 8. 15 16. You should therefore be patient in the meane time Fourthly If yet your heart begin to be disquieted because of such or such an affliction Consider with your selfe what harme impatience will doe you compared with the good that will follow a patient enduring of it For besides that it depriveth you of your right understanding and maketh you to forget your selfe as I have said even to forget your dutie both to God and man it is the readiest meanes to double and lengthen the affliction not to abate it and take it off That parent which intended to give a childe but light correction if this childe be impatient and catch at the rod and struggleth to get the rod or to get away by force from him is hereby more incensed and doth punish him more severely But if in any affliction you doe patiently submit your selfe under GODS mightie hand besides that ease and quiet it giveth to the soule and experience and hope which it worketh in you it is the readiest meanes of seasonable deliverance out of it for then GOD will exalt you in due time GOD is wise and too strong to be overcome by any meanes but by strong prayer and humble yeeldance to his will Fifthly If yet your soule be disquieted within you at anie crosses that you may quiet your soule you must not as most doe take onely into the one skale of your consideration the waight and number of your crosses together with such and such aggravations but withall put into the other skale the manifold mercies and favours of God both in the evils you have escaped and in the benefits which heretofore you have received and doe now enjoy and which you beleeving have cause to hope to receive hereafter But amongst all his mercies forget not this one which you have alreadie GOD hath given Christ unto you whereby he himselfe is yours is your portion Now if you have Christ you have with him all things also which are worth the having When you have thus weighed unpartially blessings mercies against crosses you will tell me that for one crosse you have an hundred blessings yea a blessing in your crosses and you will say that this one mercie of being in Christ it alone weigheth up all crosses and maketh them as light as nothing giving you so much matter of joy thankes even in the midst of affliction that you can neither have cause not time to be impatient or to repine at anie affliction but to reioyce even in your tribulations And as for the time to come when you thinke thereof you wil with the Apostle Paul when you have cast up all your crosses and sufferings of this presēt time yet reckon that they are not worthy to be compared with the Glorie that shall be revealed in you For they are but short for time and light for weight being compared with the everlasting weight of glorie which they will cause to you if you endure them patiently I will say nothing of
fruit and from love and feare of God and from conscience of the Commandement to doe the will of GOD. Not onely feare of wrath and hope of reward causeth him to abstaine from evill and doe good but chiefly love of God and conscience of duty Now if you would know when you obey out of conscience of the Commandement and from love of Christ consider 1. whether your heart and minde stand ready prest to obey every of Gods Cōmandements which you know as well as any and that because the same God which hath given one hath given all If yea then you obey out of Conscience 2. Consider what you doe or would doe when Christ and his true Religion and his Commandements goe alone and are severed from all outward credit pleasure and profit Doe you or will you then cleave to Christ and to the Commandement Then love of Christ feare of God and conscience of the commandement was and is the true cause of your wel-doing especially if you will and indev our all this when that all these are by the world cloathed with perill contempt 3. Consider whether you can goe on in the strict course of godlinesse alone and whether you resolve todoe it though you shall have no company but all or most goe in the way of sinne and withall perswade thereunto When you wil walke with God alone without ether company this sheweth that your walking with God is for his sake So walked Noah and Eliah as he thought But the cause of an hypocrites well-doing is onely goodnesse of nature or good education or meere civility or some common gifts of the spirit also selfe-love slavish feare onely or the like See this in Ahabs repentance in Iehu his zeale and Ioash his goodnesse Ahabs humiliation was only from a slavish feare of punishment The zeale of Iehu was only from earthly ioy and carnall policy for had it beene in zeale for God he would as well have put downe the Calves at Dan and Bethel as to stay the Priests of Baal And the goodnes of Ioash it was chiefly for Iehoiada's sake whom he reverenced and to whom he held himselfe beholding for his kingdome and not for Gods sake For the Scripture saith that after Iehoiadans death his Princes sollicited him and hee yeelded and fell to Idolatry and added this also he commanded Zechariah the High Priest Iehoiada's sonne to be slaine because hee in the name of the Lord reproved him for his sinne Secondly the upright mans actions as they come from a good beginning so they are directed to a good end he propoundeth the pleasing of God and the glory of his Name as the direct chiefe and utmost end not as if a man might not have respect to himselfe and to his neighbour also propounding to himselfe his owne and his neighbours good as one end of his actions somtimes but these must not bee propounded either onely or chiefly or as the farthest and utmost marke but onely as they are subordinate to these chiefe ends and doe lye directly in the way to procure Gods glory For so farre forth as a mans health and well-fare both of body and soule lyeth directly in the way to glorifie God hee may in that respect ayme at them in his actions Our Saviour Christ in an inferiour and secondary respect aymed at his owne glory and at the salvation of man in the worke of mans redemption When he said Glorifie thy Son and prayed that his Church might be glorified here he had respect unto himselfe and unto man But when he said that thy Sonne may glorifie thee here he made Gods glory his utmost end and the only marke which for it selfe hee aymed at The upright mans ayme at his owne and at his neighbours goods is not for themselves as if his desire ended there but in reference to GOD the chiefe Good and the highest end of all things Indeed such is GODS wisedome and goodnes that he hath set before man evill and good Evill that followeth upon displeasing and dishonouring him by sinne that man might feare and avoyd sinne Good and recompēce of reward that followeth upon faith and indevour to obey that he might hope and be better induced to beleeve and obey This GOD did knowing that man hath need of all reasonable helps to affright him from evill and to allure him to good Now God having set these before man man may and ought for these good purposes to set them before himselfe Yet the upright man standeth so straight and onely to God that so farre as he knoweth his owne heart he thus resolved that if there were no feare of punishment nor hope of reward if there were neither Heaven or Hell he would indevour to please and glorifie GOD even out of that duty hee oweth to him and out of that high and awful estimation which he hath of Gods Soveraigntie and from that entire love which hee beareth unto him He that ordinarily in doing of common and earthly businesse though they concerne his owne good hath a will to doe them with an heavenly mind and to an heavenly end principally certainly hee standeth well and uprightly resolved albeit intemptations and feares he doth not alwayes feele the said resolution But the hypocrite not so hee onely or chiefly aymeth at himselfe and in his aime serveth himselfe in all that he doth If he looke to GODS will and glory as sometimes he wil pretend he maketh that but the by and not the main he seeketh Gods will and glory not for it selfe but for himselfe not for Gods sake but for his owne Thus did Iehu Sixthly An upright man may know hee is upright by the effects that follow upon his well-doing First his chiefe inquiry is and hee doth observe what good commeth by it and what glory God hath had or may have rather then what earthly credit and benefit hee hath gotten to himselfe Or if this latter thrust in it selfe before the other as it will oft-times in the best he is greatly displeased with himselfe for it The hypocrit not so all that he harkeneth after is pleased with after hee hath done a good deed is what applause it hath amongst men c. Secondly when an upright man hath done a prayse-worthy action he is not puft up with pride and high conceit of his owne worth glorying in himselfe but hee is humbly thankefull unto God Thankefull that God hath enabled him to doe any thing with which he will be wel-pleased and accept as well done Humble and low in his eyes because of the manifold failings in that good worke and because he hath done it no better and because whatsoever good hee did it was by the grace and power of God not by any power of his own Thus David shewed his uprightnesse in that solemne thanksgiving when hee said But who am I and what is my people that wee should bee able to offer
and hope in him whence as by Conduit-pipes you shall more and more partake of his fulnesse even grace answerable â—…ace in kinde though not â—…sure for though yoâ—…apable of the fulnes â—…ghtnesse of Christ in whose mouth was found no guile Yet you shall have a measure of uprightnesse proportionable to your faith For as the branch partaketh more of the vine so it draweth more sappe and beareth more good fruit Eightly You must with an holy jealousie of the deceitfulnesse of your hearts examine your selfe often not onely of what you have done and now doâ— but of the manner how what moveth you and why as you may see before in the marks of uprightnesse Lay your selfe oft to the rule of uprightnesse scil the will of God and finding your selfe faulty study and assay to amend and be upright and that to the utmost of your power Ninthly Exercise that measure of uprightnesse which you have and be more thankefull for the little you have than discouraged as many are because they have no more If you finde your selfe upright be abundantly thankefull and resolve to keepe and increase it by all meanes Keep your heart thus with all diligence then as all other graces so this of uprightnesse will increase in the using Tenthly and lastly use the meanes of all meanes the Catholicoâ— for all graces which is Prayer Thinke not to gaine uprightnesse by the power of your own might but in the sense of your insufficiencie repaire oft to God by praier even to him who made your heart in whose hands your heart is who best knoweth the crooked windings and turnings of your heart who onely can amend set straight your heart Who because he delighteth in an upright hart and hath commanded you to seeke it in the humble use of his meanes will assuredly give it Thus David Renew O Lord a right spirit within me And Let my heart be sound in thy Statutes CHAP. XIII Of lawfull care and of freedome from taking thought SECTION 1. NOw when you have had a holy care to walke with GOD in uprightnesse according to the foregoing directions It remaineth that you free your selfe of all other care and that you rest holily secure in God enioying your most blessed peace with him according to that golden saying of the Apostle Be carefull in nothing c. Philip. 4. 6 7. For understanding hereof know that the Greeke Noune and Verbe which signifie care or to take care are taken indifferently in Scripture either for lawfull or unlawfull care Now because unlawfull care is more care than GOD requireth Our last Translators of the Bible whensoever there was neede to expresse a difference betweene it and lawfull care doe render it Carefulnesse to bee carefull or to take thought As in this place and Matth 6. 25. Matth. 10. 19. Luk. 10. 41. 1 Cor. 7. 32. and elsewhere But when these words must be understood of a Lawfull care they are translated Care not carefulnesse or to be carefull As 1 Cor. 12. 25. 2 Cor. 11. 28. Phil. 2. 20. 1 Pet. 5. 7. and elsewhere The Care which is Commanded and Carefulnesse which is forbidden differ thus Care is an act of wisedome taking up the understanding facultie chiefly whereby after that a man hath rightly iudged what hee ought to doe what not what good hee is to pursue and what evill is by him to be shunned or removed he accordingly with more or lesse intention and eagernesse of minde as the things to be obtained or avoyded are greater or lesse is provident to finde out and diligent to use lawfull and fit meanes for the good and against the evill and that with all warinesse and circumspection that hee may omit nothing that may further him nor commit any thing that may hinder him in his lawfull designes Which when hee hath done he resteth quiet and careth no further castall care of successe vpon God to whom it belongeth expecting a good issue vpon the vse of good meanes yet resolving howsoever to submit his will to Gods will whatsoever the successe shall be Carefulnesse is an act of feare and distrust taking up not onely the head but chiefly the heart to the very dividing and disturbance thereof causing a man inordinately and over-eagerly to pursue his desires perplexing himselfe likewise with doubtfull and fearefull thoughts about successe Lawfull care may be called a provident care and care of the head Carefulnesse may bee called â— distrustfull care a carking â—are or a taking thought of the â—eart This prevident care is not only â—awfull but necessary For without it a man cannot possibly be â—ecure nor can have hope of â—ood successe This provident care is commended to you in the examples of the most industrious and most â—rovident brute creatures and â—â— the examples of the most pruâ—ent men As of Iacobs care of his safetie how to escape the rage of his brother Esau Of David and Salomon in preparing and building the Temple Of Saint Pauls care of the Churches of the Corinthians care and study to reforme themselves of the good Noble womans care to entertaine the good Prophet of the Good wives and good houswives care of well ordering and maintaining her Family The like you have in the examples of the care of godly unmarried men and women whose care was how to please God and that they might be holy both in Body and Soule and of Mary who cared for that one thing needfull Moreover you are Commanded this provident care namely To study to bee quiet to be no busie body not idle but to labour iâ— a lawfull calling the thing that iâ— good Also to Walke honestly towardes them that are without To indevor so to walke towardâ— Gods people that you keepe the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace To provide for your owne To give diligence to make your calling and election sure To study to maintaine good workes But amongst all you are commanded chiefly to seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse as the best meanes to rid you out of all unlawfull care The properties of prouident care are these First the subiect or seat wherein provident lawfull care resideth is the head for that is the seat of understanding wisdome discretion fore-cast But carefulnesse is chiefly seated in the heart Secondly provident godly care is alwayes about good and lawfull things it hath a good object and good matter to worke upon and to be conversant about propounding alwayes some good thing to bee the end which it would compasse It is not a care about evill as how to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof like the Carefulnesse of Amnon to defile his Sister Tamar nor like Ahabs and Iesabels carefulnesse for Naboths Vineyard and life Nor yet like Absoloms carefulnesse how to usurpe his Fathers Kingdome nor like Hamans how
to destroy the Iewes nor like the carefulnesse of Darius Princes how to entrap Daniel Neither is it like the carefulnesse of those of whom Salomon speaketh who cannot sleepe unlesse they doe mischiefe Thirdly This holy provident care maketh choyce onely of lawfull meanes to obtaine that lawfull thing which is cared for David had care of his owne life therefore he gat intelligence from â—onathan of Sauls evill purposes towards him He did slie and hide himselfe from Saul but would by no meanes lay violent hanâ— upon his annointed Lord and King though he had faire opportunities and strong solicitations to kil him he falling twice into his power and was earnestly called upon by his servants to dispatch him Observe likewise Iacobs care to save himselfe and all that he had from the fury of his brother Esau he used onely apt and lawfull meanes For though a mans intention be never so good and the thing cared for be good yet if the means to get it be unlawful that care is naught To care how to provide for yourselfe and for yours is in it selfe good needfull but so to care that you run to unjust and indirect meanes it maketh it evill To care how to be saved is an excellent care but when you shall seeke to attaine it by wayes of your owne or of other mens inventions as by Idolatrous worship and voluntary Religion or looking to be saved by your owne workes by Purgatorie Popes Pardons and Indulgences as the Papists doe this is a most sinfull carefulnesse To care how to bring glory to God is the best care but if any man for to procure it use lying for GOD or any other unlawfull meanes it is an unholy care Fourthly This provident holy care is a full and impartiall care even of all things belonging to a mans care It is not such a care of the body and state as causeth neglect of the soule Neither is it such a care of the soule as it with neglect of the body life state or name It is not such a care of the privat as to neglect the publike good or of the publike so as to neglect the private It extendeth it selfe to whatsoever God hath committed to our care both for ourselves and others Those who care only for theÌ„selves for the things of this life sinne in their care Likewise those who seem to care onely how to please God and to save their soules yet wittingly or carelesly neglecting their bodies and affaires of their families belonging to their place or the comon good of others in Church or Common-wealth all these are partiall and doe sinne in their care All worldlings and selfe-loving men offend in the first kinde All superstitious indiâ—creetly devout men offend in the second kinde As not onely Papists in their Popish cloystering up men and women and in their whipping and cruell macerating their bodies and in their penitentiary Pilgrimages and in other acts doe not sparing the body but also all such who for devotion sake neglect the necessary duties of their particular calling Fifthly Care of providence is a discreet and well-ordered care It putteth difference betweene things more or lesse good and between things necessary or not necessary between things more necessary and lesse necessary In all things it would keepe first due order then due measure First caring most for GODS glory as Moses and Paul did who cared more for the glory of GOD than for their own lives and honours yea if they had beene put to it than for their owne salvation Next it careth for that one thing needfull how the soule may be saved in the day of the LORD As any thing is best or more needfull for the present that is cared first and chiefly for If all cannot bee cared for the lesse worthy things the lesse necessary for the present those things to which a man is least bound shall be omitted Secondly As provident care doth through discretion keepe due order for it is an ordinate care so it keepeth due measure seeking Spirituall and Heavenly things with more diligence and zeale than those that â—â—e temporall and earthly caring for the things of this life with great moderation without eagernesse and greedinesse of desire alwaies proportioning the care to the goodnes and worth of that which is to be cared for Now because the world is to be loved and used as if we loved and used it not it being of little worth in comparison therefore the cares about it in comparison of the best and most necessary things must bee as if you cared not Then cares of the things of this life are inordinate and immoderate when they will not give men leave to take the comforts and naturall refreshings of this life as sleepe meate and drinke and other needfull and lawfull recreations but especially when they hinder them from exercise profitable use or due performance of religious duties 2. Secondly when they are first and chiefe in amans thoughts the minde alwayes running upon them 3. When they cause a man out of his over-much haste to be rich and to enjoy the world to use unlawfull and indirect meanes or to enter upon dealing and trading beyond his skill stocke and meanes well to manage the same 4. When they cause a man so to minde his worldly businesse that he thinketh nothing wel done or safe if his eye or hand be not in it and if it be not in his owne custody albeit there is cause why others should be used and intrusted with it Sixthly this holy provident care knoweth as about what and how so how farre to care It knoweth its limits how farre to goe and where to stay Namely when it hath chosen a lawful object to bee conversant about and hath found out and used lawfull meanes and applyeth it selfe to one thing as well as another in due order and measure it stayeth there caring no further but waiteth patiently GODS pleasure for good successe casting all care of event and successe upon God by prayer and supplication with thanks giving SECTION 2. Of Carefulnesse and taking thought BY all that hath been written in the former Section you may see that although you may and must care for many things according to the directions there givâ—â— yet you must as the Apostle saith Be carefull in nothing This is now the point to be insisted on God would have none of his servants and children to care inordinately about any thing noâ— yet when in obedience to his Commandement and due observance of his providence they have diligeÌ„tly used lawful means for things lawfull and have able that they should care at all about the issue or successe Hee would not that they should suffer their minds to hang in doubtfull suspence and feare there-about but would that they should roule themselves and their affaires upon him whether it be in
proceedeth from base and cursed causes namely from ignorance of God from unbeliefe and distrust of God in whomsoever this sinne raigneth hence it was that the Heathen abounded in this sinne And by how much this Carefulnesse is in any though it raigne not by so much he may be said to be of little sound knowledge and of little faith Sixtly Carefulnesse and hanging in doubtfull suspence about successe in any your lawfull indevours be it whether you or yours shall prosper or whether you shall profit by the meanes of grace or whether you shal be saved in the end doth produce many dangerous and mischievous effects First It will cause you to neglect provident care to use the meanes of this life or of that which is to come according as you doubt of successe in either or if you neglect them not utterly yet you shall have no heart to go about them For those that goe about others workes usually neglect their owne so you will be apt to leave your owne worke undone when you take Gods worke out of his hands And who is hee that can take paines about that which he feareth wil be to no purpose and will be labour lost Secondly you will be ready to use unlawful means for anything when you doubt of succes from lawful Thirdly Taking thought doth divide distract over-loade weare and waste the heart and spirits nothing more Fourthly You can never be thank full to GOD for anything whereof you feare that you shall have no good successe Fiftly This taking thought and plodding about successe with doubtfull feare will deprive you of the comfort of all those good things you have had and which now you doe enioy Sixtly nothing will bring ill successe unto you sooner than to be taking thought and be troubled about what may be For when any man shall not withstanding the experience hee hath had or might have had of Gods power love care and truth of his promises yet distrustfully care so far as not to content himself with his own worke so far as provident care leadeth him but also will take Gods worke and the burthen of his worke upon himselfe caring about successe which onely belongeth to God and which God onely can doe and beare this folly and presumption doth so much provoke God that it causeth him out of his wise Iustice to cease caring for such a one leaving him to his owne care and to his wit friends or any other earthly helpes to make him by wofull experience see feele how little any or all these without GOD can availe him Nay it causeth God not onely to withdraw his owne helpe but the helpe of all things wheron such a man doth relye and which is more causeth them in stead of being for him to be utterly against him Is it not just with God that whosoever will not be beholding to God to beare their burthen but will take it up and beare it themselves should be made to beare it alone to the breaking of their back or at lest to be much bowed and crusht under it Wherefore all these things waighed I returne to the exhortation or conclusion before propounded viz. Roule your selfe and your affaires upon God Cast all your care on God be carefull in nothing Oh! How happy are we Christians if we did but know or knowing would enioy our Happinesse We are cared for in every thing that wee need and that can bee good for us We may live without taking thought or care in any thing Our worke is onely to study and indevor to please God walking before him in sincerity and with a perfect heart then we may cleave to him and rest on him both for our bodies and soules without feare or distraction GOD is Al-sufficient and all in all to such he is known by his name Iehovah to such even to bee the being and the accomplisher of his promises to them If we shall wisely and diligently care to doe our work we serving so good and so able a master need not care for our wages If we would make it our care to obey and please so good and so rich and bountifull a Father We need not be carefull for our maintenance here in our minority and non-age nor yet for our eternall inheritance when we shall come to full age We in this holy security and freedome from Carefulnesse if wee were not wanting to our selves might live in an heaven upon earth and that not onely when wee have meanes for even then our securitie is in God not in the meanes but when to the eye of flesh we have no meanes For God is above and more than all meanes That you may leave carking and be brought to cast all your care on God 1 Deny your selfe and your owne wisedome bee not wise in your owne conceit nor presumptuous of your wit skill or meanes 2 Get soùnd knowledge faith hope and confidence in God live by faith beleeving to the preservation both of body and soule Get not onely faith in his promise but in his providence also When you shall see no way or meanes of having the good you desire or of keeping you from the evill which you feare or of delivering you from the evill you feele then call to minde not onely the promises of God viz. I am with you I will not leave nor forsake you and All things worke together for good and many such like but beleeve also that God will provide meanes to bring to passe what he hath promised though yet you see not how When you can say with faithfull Abraham God will provide you shall be out of feare and doubt But if with Abraham in the case of the promise of issue of his body in whom the Nations of the earth should be blessed you beleeve GODS promises in the maine but not Gods providence in the meanes then you will be so fearefull doubtfull and carefull that of your selfe or by others solicitations you wil readily find out and use unlawfull meanes to obtaine the thing promised as he did when he went in to Hagar or to faint in waiting as many others have done For we see the like in David when he had faith in Gods providence he could say of Saul The Lord shall smite him or his day shall come to dye or he shall descend into the battell and perish The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lords annointed But when he doubted of Gods providence then he saith I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul 3 Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure For when you know assuredly that GOD is your heavenly Father and Christ Iesus your Redeemer and that you are of his family having your name written in heaven you then shall easily free your heart from being troubled with feare and carking care being sure that your heavenly Father and Savior
doth care and will provide for you 4 Lastly you must oft-times actually casâ— your care on GOD by making your requests known to GOD by prayer and supplication for what you would have being heartily thankful for what you have had now have and hope to have hereafter Then the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keepe your heart and minde from vexing thoughts and heart-eating fears and that in and through Christ Iesus of which peace I intend next to speake and with it shall end these directions CHAP. XIIII Of Peace of GOD. SECTION I. Of Peace in generall and of the kindes of it THat you may be perswaded to walke before GOD in uprightnes in all wel-pleasing and to live without taking thought about any thing casting your care on GOD according to the former directions God hath assured you that peace shall be upon you even that peace of God which passeth all understanding which shall keepe your heart and minde through Christ Iesus if you thus doe Peace and quiet is most desireable Al things that have motion desire it as their perfectioÌ„ bodily things enjoy it by their rest in their places reasonable things enjoy this peace in the quiet of their minde and heart when they have their desires satisfied being freed from such opposition as might disquiet them Peace is a true agreement and concord betweene persons or things whereby not onely all enmitie is laid downe and all crossing and doing each other harme is forborne but all amitie is entred into and all readinesse of communicating and doing good to each other is shewed Naturall peace consisting of the harmony and good agreement of the severall parts of mans body Domesticks and Civill peace consisting of amitie and good agreement of persons in a familie or State is of great price and very much to be desired for the exceeding great benefit which it bringeth to the body family and state But the peace of which I am to speake which is promised to all which walk with God according to the rule of faith and of the new creature casting their care on God exceedeth all other peace as far as the soule heaven and eternitie exceedeth the body the earth and a moment of time Which will easily appeare if you shall observe by what motives and arguments the holy Ghost doth commend and set this forth unto you Phil 4. 7. It hath its commendation above all other peace in three respects First In respect of the excellency of the person with whom and from whom it is namely God therefore it is called peace of God It is so called 1 Because it hath God for its obiect it is a peace with God 2 Because God by his Spirit is the author of it it is peace from God a peace which God giveth such a peace which the world neither can nor will give Secondly this peace is commended in respect of the unspeakable inconceivable and surpassing goodnesse and worth that is in it It passeth all understanding and this it doth not onely because unsanctified men are meere strangers to it and understand it not but because regenerate men to whom it belongeth and in whom it is even they when God giveth them any lively feeling of it finde it to bee such a peace as they could not imagine it to be before they felt it For they cannot so distinctly and so fully conceive and comprehend the surpassing excellency of it as by any meanes fully to expresse it It rather taketh up the minde into an holy rapture unto admiration of what it seeth and of what it perceiveth is yet to be known beyond full comprehension then possibly can be taken up and bee distinctly and fully comprehended or expressed by minde or tongue It fareth with them that feele it in any speciall degree as it did with the Queen of the South when she saw Salomons Wisdoms Shee had a great opinion of Salomons Wisdome by that which she received by heare say but when she saw it she was stricken with such admiration and was so taken up with it that it is said shee had no more spirit in her his Wisdome was not only more than her expectation but more than her spirit was able throughly to comprehend in so much that shee giveth over to seeke to finde the depth of it but breaketh out into words of admiration saying the halfe was not told her of Salomons wisedome it exceeded the fame thereof So doth the peace of God It being like the dimensions of the love of Christ the root thereof and like the ravishing ioy of Christians the effect thereof passing all full and distinct knowlege and passing all meanes of full and cleare expression being as the holy Ghost also saith unspeakeable This peace is included amongst those other graces and gifts accompanying the Gospell which are such as eye hath not seene nor eare heard nor hath entered into the heart of man so as clearely to perceive them or fully to expresse them Thirdly This peace is commended in respect of the excellent effect thereof which is a proofe that it passeth understanding namely it keepeth the heart and minde in and through Christ Iesus This is a rare and most usefull effect on mans behalfe For it supplieth the place and office of a Castle or strong Garrison as the Greeke word signifieth to keep the principall Forts of the soule from being surprised or annoied either by invasioÌ„ from without or by insurrection from within The parts of man which are kept by this peace of GOD are the heart and minde by heart is meant the will and affections by minde the power of thinking and understanding For true peace of GOD doth fill the heart with such Ioy Patience Hope and Comfort in beleeving that it keepeth it from heart-eating and heart-vexing griefe feare distrust and despaire It likewise filleth the mind so full of apprehension of Gods favors fidelity and love that it maketh it rest secure in God and to forbeare to plod and beat the brain unnecessarily about any thing keeping out the dominion of all carking and distrustfull thoughts The strength which this peace hath whereby it keepeth the heart and mind as wâ—th a Garrison is impregnable It is derived from Christ it hath it in from Christ The Text saith through Christ that is throgh the power of Christs Spirit For as wee are kept by Faith from which this peace springeth as with a strong Garrison by the power of GOD to Salvation readie to be revealed in the last time so by the same power of Christ our hearts and mindes are kept by the peace of God as with a Garrison from discouragefull distractfull distrustfull and discomfortable thoughts in the meane time For what is this peace else but a parcell of the object of our Faith as wee apprehend it in God to us-ward and the fruit of Faith as wee feele it wrought in us by God This peace
Ministers cannot say yea and that such an instruction and such a promise in the Word did helpe him then you conclude that you are incurable But last of all let it be supposed that your case is worse than any bodies else Is there not a soveraigne Balme in Gods Word a Catholicon that will heale all spirituall diseases Gods Word is like himselfe to a beleever an Omnipotent Word Is any thing too hard for the LORD Neither is there any spiritual disease too hard for his Word When Christ healed the people with his Word did it not heale even such the like whereof were never knowne to be cured before They made no question whether he cured the like before Indeede Martha failed in this for she said of her brother Lazarus being dead LORD he stinketh for he hath beene dead foure dayes she conceived her brothers case to be desperate and that none in his case could be raised But Christ did blame her for want of faith and by his Word hee did as easily raise Lazarus from being dead so long as hee did cure Peters wiues mother sicke but of an ague It is not greatnesse of any mans distres whatsoever that can hinder from helpe and comfort but onely as then in curing mens bodies so now in curing and comforting mens soules nothing hinders the cure but the greatnesse of the unbeliefe of the party to be cured for all things are possible to him that beleeveth You will yet Reply indeed here lyeth the difficultie in the unbelife Well be it so If unbeliefe be your disease and trouble doe you thinke that God cannot cure you of unbeliefe as well as of any other sinne But know that if with him in the Gospell you feele your unbeliefe and complaine of it and confesse it unto GOD saying Lord I have cause to beleeve Lord I doe I would beleeve helpe thou my unbeliefe if withall you will waite untill GOD give you power to beleeve and to enjoy comfort in beleeving for faith maketh no haste this same is both to beleeve in truth and is a certaine meanes to increase in beleeving Wherefore let not Sathan nor yet a fearefull heart make you to judge your case to be desperate and remedilesse either in respect of Gods power or will though you yet be in distresse and doe feele in you much feare and unbeliefe Seeke to God and with patience waite the good time of deliverance and comfort and in due time you shall have helpe and comfort as well as any other There are yet some that feare God doth not love them because they have prayed oft and much but God rejected their prayers and hath not heard them There are many just causes why God may reject or at least not grant your prayers and yet may love your persons For first It may be you aske amisse either asking things unlawfull or asking things inconvenient for the present or in asking to have good things temporall or spirituall in that quantity degree which GOD doth not hold fit for you as yet or you aske good things to an ill end as to satisfie some lust as pride voluptuousnesse covetousnesse or some other or it may bee you might aske onely with a naturall desire or if with spirituall yet you did it but faintly without fervor or lastly though you failed in neither of the former yet you failed in this you were doubtfull you did not aske in faith you did not beleeve you should have the things so asked Whosoever doe thus faile in asking let them not thinke ever to receive any thing in favour from the LORD And it is a fruit of Gods love when he doth not answer prayers so made For it will cause you to seeke him and to pray to him in a better manner that you may be heard Secondly God doth many times in love and mercy heare his childrens praiers when they thinke he doth not God heareth prayers many wayes you must observe this else you will judge that he doth not heare your praiers when yet indeed he doth Sometimes yea alwaies when it is good for you he giveth the vâ—râ— thing which you pray for Someâ—â—â—â—s hee giveth not that thing which you aske but some thingâ—s good nay much better As when you aske corporall and temporall good things he denyeth to grant them but in stead therof doth give you things spirituall and eternall likewise when you aske grace in some special degree such as joy or comfort in God or the like it may please him not to let it appeare that hee giveth the same unto you but in stead thereof he doth enlarge your desires and he giveth humility and patience to wait his leisure which will doe you more good than that which you prayed for So likewise when you pray that GOD would rid and ease you of such or such a temptation God doth not alwayes rid and ease you of it but he in stead thereof giveth you strength to withstand it and keepeth you that you are not overcome by it thus Christ was heard in that which he feared so he said to the Apostle My grace is sufficient for thee Which is better than to have your particular request For now GODS power is seene in your weakenesse and God hath the glory of it and you hereby have experience of GODS power which experienceis of excellent use Likewise you may desire to have such or such a crosse removed yet God may suffer the crosse to remaine for a time but he giveth you stâ—ength and patience to beare it wisedome and grace to be lesse earthly and more heavenly minded by reason of it There was never any that with an holy and humble heart made lawfull requests according to the wil of Christ beleeving he should be heard but though he were a man of many failings in himselfe and did discover many weaknesses in his prayer was heard in that hee prayed either in what he did ask or in what he should rather have asked either in that very thing or in a better I would have you leave objecting and questioning whether God love you Consider this Hath hee not loved you that hath given his onely be gotten Sonne for you and to you who hath washed you with his bloud having given him to dye for your sinnes and to rise againe for your iustification and hath hereby translated you into the kingdome of his deare Sonne having also given unto you to beleeve in his Name hereby making you his children inheritours with the Saints in light What greater signe can there be of greater love of God towards you And what better evidence can you have of Gods love in justifying of you then the evidence of your faith whereby you are iustified SECTION 5. A removall of false feares rising from doubtings whether they have faith and are Iustified ALL men will grant that if they were sure that they
is not of it selfe so strong nor so constant nor so infallible as the certainty of Faith and Adherence is For sense and reason since the fall even in the regenerate though they will lay some foundation in the Rules of Faith to proceed by yet erring in or misapplying the rule are weake variable and their conclusions are not so certaine as those of pure Faith Because Faith buildeth onely upon Diuine Testimonie concluding without reasoning or disputing yea many times against reasoning So that notwithstanding the excellent and needfull use of Assurance and certainty of Evidence it is Faith and the certainty of Adherence whereby even in feares and doubts a man cleaveth fast to the promises and is that which we must trust unto and is the Cable wee must hold by lest we make ship wracke of all when wee are assaulted with our greatest temptatioÌ„s for then many times our Assurance leaveth us to the mercy of the winds and Seas as Marriners speake If you have Faith though you have little or no feeling you are yet sure enough of Salvation indeede though not in your owne apprehension When both can be had it is best for then you have most strength and most comfort giving you chearefulnesse in all your troubles but that certainty of Faith and cleaving to the naked word and promise is that to which you must trust See this in the examples of most faithfull men for when they have beene put to it it was this that upheld them and in this was their faith commended Abraham against all present sense and reason even against hope beleeved in hope both in the matter of receiving a sonne and in going about to offer him againe unto God in Sacrifice He denyed sense and reason he considered not the unlikelihoods and seeming impossibilities in the iudgement of reason that ever he should have a seed hee being old and Sarah being old and barren or having a seed that he should be saved by that seed sith hee was to kill him in Sacrifice He onely considered the Almighty power faithfulnesse and soveraigntie of him that had promised he knew it was his dutie to obey and to waite and so let all the businesse thereabout to rest on Gods promise For this his faith is commended and hee is said to be strong in faith Iob and David or Asaph shewed most strength of Faith when they had little or no feeling of Gods favour but the contrary rather Iob had little feeling of Gods favour when for paine of body hee said wherefore doe I take my flesh in my teeth and in anguish of soule he said Wherefore hidest thou thy face and takest me for thine enemie Yet then this certainty of faith which made him cleave unto GOD made him to hold fast and say in the same Chapter Though hee slay mee yet I will trust in him When David said to GOD Why hast thou forgotten mee His Assurance was weake yet even then his Faith discovered it selfe when he saith to his soule Why art thou disquieted within mee Hope in God who is the health of my countenance and my God You see then that the excellencie of Faith lyeth not in your feeling but as the Psalmist speaketh by experience in cleaving close unto the promise and relying on God for it upon his bare word For he saith It is good for mee to draw neere to God I have put my trust in the Lord God this was it which secretly upheld him and kept him in possession when as you may see in that Psalme his Evidences and Assurance was to seek Wherefore Beleeve Gods promises made to you in Christ and â—est on him even when you want â—oy and feeling comfort For â—aving Faith you are sure of heaven though you be not so fully â—ssured of it as you desire It will â—e your greatest commendation when you will be dutifull servants and children at GODS Commandement though you have not present wages when you wil take Gods word for that Those are bad servants and children which cannot go on chearfully in doing their Master or Fathers will except they may receive the promised wages 〈◊〉 least in good part aforehand Oâ— every day or except they may have atleast a good part of the promised inheritance presently and in hand Feeling of comfort is part of a Christians wages and inheritance to be received at the good pleasure of God that freely giveth it rather than a Christian duty To comfort and stay ourselves on God in distresse is a duty but this joyous sense and feeling of Gods favour is a gracious favour of God towards us not a duty of ours toward God It is from too much distrust in God and too much self-respect when wee have no heart to goe about his worke except we be full of feeling of his favour Hee is the best child or servant that will obey out of love duty and conscience and will trust on God and wait on him for his wages and recompence Though want of apprehension of Gods favour and of feeling of comfort may be accounted a great misery yet it is not to be judged a proofe of no grace or of no true Faith Thirdly when you say you cannot feele that you have faith or hope you meane as in deede many good soules doe you cannot finde and perceive that these graces bee in you in truth which if you did you would not doubt of your salvation My answer is If faith and hope be in you then if you would judiciously enquire into your selves and feele for them you may finde and feele them and know that you have them For as certainly as he that seeth bodily may know that he seeth so he that hath the spirituall sight of Faith may know that he hath Faith Wherfore try and feele for your Faith and you shall finde whether it be in you yea or no. For this cause 1 Try whether you ever had the necessary Antecedents and Preparatives which ordinarily make way for the seed of Faith to take deepe root 2 Consider the nature of saving Faith and whether it hath wrought in you accordingly 3 Consider some consequents and certaine effects thereof First hath the Law shut you up in your owne apprehension under the curse so that you have beene afraid of Hell And hath the Spirit also convinced you of sin by the Gospell to the wounding of your conscience and to the working of true humiliation causing the heart to relent and to desire to know how to be saved and if after this you have denied your selfe and received and rested on Christ according to the nature of true Faith as followeth then you have Faith If you doubt you were never sufficiently humbled then reade Chap. 16. Sect. 6. Secondly Consider rightly the nature and proper acts of Faith lest you conceive that to be faith which is not and that to be no faith which is You may know wherein true saving Faith consists by
to be at his owne disposing not at ours It should be your care onely to be present at GODS Ordinances and when you reade or heare the Word or will of God to indevour to beleeve and obey it As when hee saith Thou shalt love the Lord thy GOD with all thy heart Thou shalt beleeve in the name of the Lord thy God and trust in his Name Thou shalt obey the voyce of the Lord thy God and serve him and such like Attend to the Word heedfully and because this Word is infallibly true and excellently good bring your thoughts and heart to beleeve and to approve it and say within your selves these are true these are good this I ought to doe this I would beleeve and doe Lord helpe mee and I will doe it O that my wayes were directed to keepe thy statutes In such like agitations and reasonings of the reasonable soule it pleaseth GOD to give his grace both to will and to doe his Commandements But secondly doe not say that you have not faith and the feare of God and love to him all which God of his free grace promised as you heard to you absolutely which graces are indeed the conditions fore-going the reward promised when as in truth you have them For what kinde of duties be these thinke you Are they Legall which require perfect exact and full degrees of faith feare and love Or are they not Evangelicall Such as doe require truth in all these and doe not exact ful perfection in degrees If you have desire if you can desire to feare him which is the scantling of the feare of Gods people as Nehemiah calleth it so if you desire to beleeve and will to obey in the inmost longing of your soul according to the measure and strength of grace in you this according to the Tenour of the blessed Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ is true and acceptable through Christ for whose sake GOD doth accept the will for the deede in all such cases wherein there is truth of will and endevour but not power to doe Furthermore if you thinke that it is your well doing that must make you acceptable to God you are in a proud and dangerous errour Indeede God will not accept of you if you doe not indevour to doe his will but you must propound to your selfe another end than to be accepted for your well-doing You must doe your dutie to shew your obedience to God and to shew your thankfulnes that God hath pleased and doth please to accept you in his Sonne Christ and that it is your desire to be accepted through him But I would have you which are pressed with the load of your sinnes looke neerely judiciously and impartially into your selfe it may be you have more faith feare of God and obedience then you are aware of or then you will be knowne of Can you grieve and doth it trouble you that you have so little faith so little feare of GOD and that you doe shew so little obedience and is it your desire and indevor to have more and to doe as well as you can though you cannot doe so well as you should then you have much faith feare and â—bedience For to grieve for little â—aith feare and obedience is an â—videntsigne of much faith feare â—nd obedience For whence is â—his trouble and griefe but from Gods saving graces And to â—rieve for little sheweth that you â—ong for and would have much Let this suffice to be a full answer to the principall doubts whereof fearefull hearts will â—ake no answer Never yeeld to your feares waite on God still â—or resolution of your doubts in â—is best time For it is not man that can but it is God that both â—an and will speake peace to his people not onely outward but inward peace In the meane time though you can have no feeling comfort in any of GODS promises yet consider God in the Lord and that Christ is Lord of all you are his creature you owe to him all obedience wherefore you will as much as you can keepe your selfe from iniquity and you will strive to doe his will let him do with you as hee pleaseth yea though he kill you or though he give you no comfort till death you will trust in him and will obey him and it is your desire to rest and hope in him as in your Redeemer then whether you know that God is yours or no I am sure he knoweth you to be his this is an argument of strong faith And you are upon a sure ground The foundation of God remaineth sure The Lord knoweth his and who be they Even all that professing his name depart from iniquitie And whosoever in his heart would he in truth doth depart from iniquity Something remaineth yet to be answered Many say that doe what they can they are assaulted still so thicke with temptations that they cannot have one houres quiet What of that Doth this hinder your peace with God that the Devill the World and your lusts Gods sworne enemies are not at peace with you So long as you have peace of Sanctification in this degree that the faculties of soule and body doe not mutinie one against the other but hold a good correspondencie in joyning together against their fleshly lusts which fight against the soule you are in good case I meane when the Vnderstanding Conscience Will and Affections are all willing to doe their part against sinne their common enemy Not but that you shall find a sensible warring opposition in all these while you live here even when you have most peace in this kinde but how The unsanctified part of the understanding is against the sanctified part of the understanding and unsanctified will against the sanctified will and so in all other faculties of the soule flesh in every part lusteth against spirit in every part spirit in every part lusteth against flesh in every part For as every sanctified part hath the spirit so it hath likewise the remaines of the flesh fighting one against the other Now if that your faculties and powers be ruled all by one spirit you have a good agreement and good peace within you notwithstaÌ„ding that the flesh doth so violently warre against this spirit For this warring of sinne in your members against the spirit the warring of the spirit against sinne argueth clearely that you have peace with God and this warre continued will in time beget perfect peace But let no man ever looke to have peace of sanctification perfect in this life For the best are sanctified but in part Wherefore let no man professing Chrisâ— think that he shal be freed from temptations and assaults risinâ— from within or comming from without so long as he liveth in this world Are not Christians called to be Souldiers Wherefore wee must arme our selves that we may stand by the power of Gods might and quit our selves like
excellency of Christian Experience 126 127. F An answer to them that question their Faith because they want feeling 590 Many doe not feele they have Faith because they feele not for it 603 How a man may know that he hath Faith 621 Reasons why many without cause thinke they have no Faith 584 Many presume they have Faith but have none 614 Reason for which many thinke they have Faith but have not 463 Who may Fall from grace and how 683 A regenerate man may Fall farre backe but not quite away 685 Grounds of difference betweene the Fals of men truly sanctified and others 688 Whence it is that a true Convert cannot Fall quite away from grace 695 Of Religious Fasting 68 A generall Reason of Fasting 72 Reasons why the body must be afflicted in Fasting 73 Reasons why the soule must be afflicted in Fasting 74 Who are to keepe a publike Fast 76 Who may keepe a private Fast 77 How oft we must Fast 78 How long we must Fast 80 Preparation to a Fast 82 How to keepe a Religious Fast 84 c. What to doe when a man is interrupted in his private Fast 142 Motives to oft Fasting 143 Directions what is to be done after a Fast 145 Cautions touching Fasting 146 Needful fear before coÌ„version 485 Holy Feare after conversion 486 Causlesse Feare 488 The kindes of causlesse Feares ibid Strange effects of Feares rising from naturall distempers 489 There is some difference between the regenerate in those Feares which arise froÌ„ melaÌ„choly others 490 Difference betweene those Feares which arise chiefly from melancholy and those which arise from trouble of conscience ibid Grounds of false Feares 495 Feare of punishment must be turned into trouble for sinne 498 Feares of sinning against the holy Ghost removed 527 Feare that because the heart condemneth God will condemne much more removed 529 Feare of being reprobates removed 531 Feare that God will not have mercie because they have let passe the time of their Conversion removed 540 Feares arising from doubts of Gods love removed 576 c. Feares through conceit of being in worse case than any other removed 561 Feares that God loveth them not because they thinke their prayers are reiected removed 576 Feares from doubting of faith removed 581 Feares of not being sanctified because they thinke they were never sufficiently humbled nor have repented removed 626 Reasons why some feele more sense of Feare and horror in their first conversion than others 627 Feares that a man is not sanctified because he is pestered with worse thoughts than ever removed 637 Feares of not being sanctified because of falling into grosse sinnes removed 656 Feares that they are not sanctified because of sense of dulnesse and deadnessein spirituall duties removed 665 Feares of not being sanctified because of sudden dulnesse after fresh feeling comforts removed 670 Feares of not being sanctified because out-gone by others removed 671 Feares of not being sanctified because of hardnesse of heart removed 677 Feares of falling away from grace removed 681 c. Feares taken from thinking the heart is deceitfull removed 727 Feares from present fainting removed ibid Feares because we doe not our part removed 729 Feare from want of such graces where of God hath absolutely promised removed 676 Feares through want of peace of Sanctification removed 744 G Convincing reasons to prove that there is a God 647 God doth never wholly forsake his children 566 Once and ever in state of Grace 685 Reasons why man being once in state of grace can never fall quite from it 701 Reasons why many thinke they have lesse grace now than in their first conversion but mistake 714 H What is the cause of Hypocrites well-doing 341 Disswasives from hypocrisie 361 365 Meanes against hypocrisie 373 Grounds of false hope discovered and removed 444 I Meanes to strengthen the Inner man 133 Rules to direct Inferiours 62 Causes of error in Iudging of a mans state 754 Of Iudging and condemning of a mans selfe 126 L ATable of Duties commanded and of Vices forbidden in the Morall Law 90 c. No man must abuse Christs lenity 620 Signes to know when God giveth good things in love 265 Directions for sanctisying the Lords day 147 M What Meditation is 195 The distinct acts and parts of Meditation 198 Rules for meditation 202 Cautions about the matter of meditation 203 Motives perswading to meditation 211 Meanes of Mortification 131 O When it is that a man obeyeth out of conscience and love to Christ 340 Weakest performance of duties is lesse dangerous than whole omissions 551 P A description of Christian Patience 286 Inducements to patience 286 287 Meanes of Christian patience 288 Vpon what grounds arguments may be taken to worke the heart to patience 291 292 What peace is in generall 414 The peace of GOD explained and magnified by the opening of Philip. 4. 6. 7. 415 The different sorts of peace of God 421 Reasons proving the excellency of the peace of God 432 The impediments of peace 437 Whence presumption and false peace doth arise 441 Signes of false hope and false peace 476 An excellent helpe to peace of conscience 765 Meanes to get and keep true peace ibid How to know in time of peace to hold out in time of persecution 725 How to be kept from dastardly feare in time of persecution 723 Reasons of due preparation of the heart to prayer 32 How to bee disposeà in the act of prayer 35 God heareth prayer many wayes 578 Cautions to be observed in preparation and in prayer 37 Signes of distempered thoughts thorough worldly businesse to prayer 42 Remedies against distempered thoughts in preparation and in prayer 43 How to know when thoughts of worldly businesse are distractfull in preparation in prayer 45 Remedies against the said distractions in preparation and in prayer 47 Pride is a manifest hinderance of Christiâ—â— Comfort 764 765 Grounds of presumption discovered and removed 437. unto 481 Rules of holy carriage in prosperity and when men have good successe 245 246 Good effects of prosperity 247 Doubts of Gods love because men prosper removed 559 Presumption of Gods love because they prosper removed 448 Presumption ariseth either from false grounds of hope or from true grounds misapplyed 442 Presumption that God will save a man because he made him removed 444 Presumption of escaping Hell because men thinke they have it in this life removed 445 Presumption they shall ever be wel because hither to they have escaped evill removed 446 Presumption they shall be saved because as great sinners as they have bin saved removed 450 Presumption of Salvation by Popes Pardons pennance and merit of workes removed 452 Presumption of salvation because God is mercifull removed 454 Presumption from universall Redemption removed 456 Presumption of Salvation because as men thinke their faith and repentance is good when it is not removed 462 Presumption of repenting hereafter removed 475 R How to read the Word profitably 187 Who must
1 King 9. 4. f Luk. 1. 6. g Gen. 5. 24. h Heb. 11. 5 6. i Col. 3. 7. k Heb. 13. 14. Heb 11. 3. to 16. 1 Thes 1. 9 10. Eph. 2 10 How many things concurin our walke with God l Isa 53. 6. m Rom. 3. 12. n Heb. 10. 20. o Heb. 6. 1. p Col 2. 6 7 Psa â—5 â—â— Ro. â— â— 1â— Gal. 5. 1â— q Isa 64 1. r Psal 16. 8 Å¿ Heb. 11. 27. t 2 Cor. 2. 17. What it is to walke with God Reasons why ChristiaÌ„s shold walk with God 1 Ioh. â— 6. Micah 6. 8. u Ier. 6. 16 x Isa. 35. â— y Pro. 3. 17 z Ier. 6. 16 a Isa 48. 17 Psa 15. 12. Psa 37. 23. b Isa 3â— 21 c Pro. 3. 23 24. Psa 37. 24. d Psa 3. 5 6 e Psa 3. 4. 7 f Ps 91. 11 12 Iob 22. 21 to 30. 〈…〉 Phil. 3. â—â— Colos 3. â— g Gen. 39. 9. Psal 119. 163. h Heb. 11. 5. i 1 Cor. 11 10. k 3 Ioh. 4. l Psal 119 74. m Col. 1. 9 10. 1 King 8. 23. 1 Ioh. 17. Rom. 8. 1. Psa 16. un to 12. vers n Ps 10. 4. o Eph. 4. 17 p 2 Pet. 3. 3 q 1 Iâ— 2. 16 r Eph 2. 2. Ier. 86. Levi. 26. 21 to 28. Phil. 3. 18 19. Man must walke with his God in every point of time t Pro. 23. 17. s 1 Pet. 1. 17 u Acts 24. 16. 1 Pet 4. 2. Heb. 3. 12. Reasons why a man must walk with God at al times x Luk. 1. 74 75. y Pro. 6. 21 22. z 1 Pet. 5. 8 Ephe. 5. 15 16. a Psa 16 8 Acts 2 25. b Psal 139. 18 c Psa 63 6 d Psal 119 1â—7 148 Isa 6. 9. How to awake with God e Ps 127. 2 f Pro. 6. 22 g Lam. 3. 22 23 Ioh. 8. 2. Pro. 31. 5. h Eph. 5 14 1 Cor. 15 34. i Rom. 13. 11 12 13. k 1 Cor. 15 54 55. l 1 Thes 4. 16. m Ps 17. 15 Fit meditations when a man doth apparell himselfe n Gen. 1. 31. o Gen. 2. 25. 1 Tim 2. 9 10 p Deâ— 22. 5 1 Cor. 11. 13 14. 15 q 1 Cor. 12 23 1 Zâ—ph 1. 8 Isa 3. 18 to 24 Phal 4. 8. 1 Cor. 11. Rev. 3. 18. Å¿ 1 Pet. 3 4 t Rev. 3. 17 Rev. 16. 15 Exo. 32. 25 * Hab. 1. 13 u Rev. 19. 8 * Ephes 6. 11 to 18. Iam 1. 23 24 25. Exod. 34. 29 30. 2 Cor. 3 18 Cautions to the former directions a Amos 3. 3 Exod 23. 20 21 22 Iosh 24. â—4 1â— b Ps 92. 1 2 Psal 88 13 How to begin the day with prayer c Ps 57. 7. Lam. 3. 40 41. Iob 11. 13. Psa 116 unto 13. Iob 11. 14. Deu. 6. 8 9 2 Tim. 1. 13 1 Reasons of due preparation before praier 2 * Ps 66. 1â— Ioh. 9. 31. 3 2 Cor. 1 12 1 Cor. 11. 31. How to be disposed in the act of prayer d Psal 55. Mat. 6. 9. c 1 Sam. 1. 15 f Phil. 4. 6. p 1 Cor. 14 15 h Iam. 5. 16 i Marke 11. 2â— The Key of Heauen Cautions to be observed in preparation to prayer and in prayer k Psa 5. 3. l Eccle. 3. 1 m Mat. 6. 11 n Lu. 12. 29 Signes of disteÌ„pred thoughts through worldlines in preparations to prayer Remedies against distempered thoughts in preparation to prayer o Mat 6. 21 p Eccles 9. 10 * How to know that thoughts about successe in worldly busines are distractioÌ„s in preparation to prayer with the remedy q Mat. 6. 25 r 1 Pet. 5. 7 Å¿ 2 Sam. 19 3. t Luk. â—1 13. u 2 Tim. 1 6 x Gen. 32. 25. 31. Hos 12. 4. y Gen. 32. 28 a 1 Tim. 4. 5 b Deut. 6 7 c 2 Thes 3. 10 11. d Heb 11. 6 e 1 Cor. 7. 17. 24. f How a maÌ„ should carry himselfe before God in his calling g Eph. 4. 25. * Pro. 13. 4 o Pro. 10. 4 h 1 The. 4. 6 i Mat. 22. 39 k Phil. 2. 4. l Mat. 7. 12. Prov. 6. 6 7 8 m Pro. 11. â—â— Pro. 22. 26 Prov. 6. 1. to 6. Rules to direct superiors a Lev. 25. 43. b 1 Tim. 2 2. Meanes wherby superiours may containe inferiours in their duties c Iob 1. 5. d Exo. 20. 8 9 10. e Ps 101. 6 f Pro. 31. 31. g Col. 3. 19 21 Ephes 6. 9. h Prov. 29. 15. 17. 19 i Deut 21. 18 19 20 21 Meanes to keepe governours from abusing their authority k Leu. 25. 39. 43. l 1 Pet. 3. 7 Philem. 16 m Eph. 6. 9. Col. 4. 1. n Ex. 20 12 Rules to direct inferiours o Eph. 5 24 6. 1. 5. Heb. 13. 17 p 1 Pet 2. 13 14. Eph. 6. 5 6. q Tit 2. 9. r Rom 13. 2 Å¿ Rom. 13. 5. t 1 Pet. 2. 13. 14. u Eph 6. 6 7 8. x Col. 3. 24 a Iud. 12. b Tit. 1. 15. 1 Tim. 4. 4 5. Rules for eating and drinking c Pro. 20. 17 2 The. 3. 12 * Pro. 4. 17 d Rom. 13. 13 Pro. 23. 20 21. * Eccle. 10. 17 The best recreation e Can. 4. 12 13 14 15 And 5. 1. f Ps 94. 19 g Col. 3. 10 h Psal 119 14. 16. 24. Rules for sporting i Isa 58. 13. k Eph. 5. 16 l 1 Cor. 16 14. m Prov. 21. 17. n 1 Cor. 10 31. * Hom. li. 2. Page 89. Anno 1629 Rom. 13. 1. 5 1 Pet 2. 13 14 * Ezr. 8. 23 Ps 35. 13. Mar. 9. 29. 1 Cor. 7. 5. Act. 13. 3. Lev. 16. 29 30. Lev. 23. 27 Num. 29 7 a Iudg. 20 26 1 Sam. 7 6 a Chro. 20. 3 Ioel 2. 15. b 2 Sam 12 19 Psa 35. 13. c Hest 4. 16 Dan. 9. 3. Nehe. 9. 1 Ezr. 8. 21. d Mat. 9. 15 * Mat. 6. 16 17 e 1 Cor. 7. 5 f Act 13. 2 3 Act. 14. 23 A generall reason of Fasting g Mar. 9. 29 h 1 Sam 7. 5. 7. Iudg. 20. 18. 13. compared with vers 26. 1 Reasons why the body must be afflicted 2 3 1 Reasons why the soule must be afflicted Isa 58. 5. 2 2 Cor. 5. 10 3 Hos 5. 15. 4 Isa 66. 2. Ier. 31. 19 20. Psa 66. 18. Ioh. 15. 7. Who are to keepe a publike fast * Ioel 1. 14 1 Who may keep a private Fast Ioel 2. 16. 2 Mat. 9 14 16 17. Luk. 5 33 34 35 c. Numb 30. 5. 8. 13. How oft we must fast 2 Sam. 12. 16. Neh. 1. 4. Dan. 9. 3. Act. 10. 30. The Maniches Aug. Casulanâ— Episl 86. How long we must fast Host 416. Iudg. 20. 26. Preparation to a fast 1 2 2 Chr. 20. Dan. 10. 12 3 4 2 Sam. 12. 16. Ioel 1. 13. i Hest 4. 16. Luk. 5. 33. Chalced. 2 k Exod. 33. 4 5 6. l Isa 58. 3. m 1 Cor. 7. 5 Ioel 2. 16. 3 Isa 58. 3. Ioel 2. 16. Lev. 23. 27 28 29 30. 1 Ioh. 3. 4. Psal 119. 105. An examinatory Table of the