Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	death_n	sin_n	wage_n	4,853	5	11.4614	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

downe into the soule Though we cannot command or forbid the raine to water the earth as Eliah did if we can water and mollifie the earthen hearts of men with the supernaturall raine of heavenly Doctrine and make a dry and barren soule beare fruit to God Is not this as great a wonder as the other Though we cannot cause nor command the thunder as Samuel did to terrifie the people for their sinnes yet God hath his Boanerges his sonnes of thunder still that by ratling from heaven the terrible judgements of God against sinne and sinners are able to make the stoutest and the proudest heart upon earth even tremble and quake and fall downe before the presence of God and is not this as great a miracle as that of Samuel to bring an unhumbled sinner upon his knees and make glad to cry God mercy for his sinnes In a word though wee cannot cast out devils out of mens bodies as the disciples of Christ could doe if we can cast the devill out of mens soules by the powerfull Gospell of Iesus Christ is it not as great a wonder Beleeve it brethren the conversion of a sinner to God and bringing of a soule to heaven is absolutely without comparison the greatest miracle the greatest wonder in the world And these be the miracles wherewith it pleaseth God to grace the Ministers of the Gospel therefore ye observe that the Collect for Ministers runnes thus Almighty God which onely workest great marvels c. When a soule is sicke to the death with a surfeit of sinne is recovered and revived againe by that same healthfull spirit of grace which God together with his Word doth breathe into the soule it is so great a marvell so rare a wonder that the Angels of heaven rejoyce to see it I have held you over-long in the former part of Eliahs prayer which brought the judgment heare now in a word or two the Reversing of the judgement and I have done And he prayed again the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit It well becomes the Prophets of God to be mercifull Good Eliah had not the heart to hold the people too long under a judgement when hee saw hee had done enough to humble them he desires God to reverse the judgement As it is observed of the good Angels in the old and new Testament when they appeared to any either man or woman their method and manner was this Primò terrent deinde laetisica●t they first terrified them and put them into feare then presently comforted them and put them out of feare Thus did Eliah with this people thus did Moses with Pharaoh that good man had not the heart to hold wicked Pharoah alway under a judgement but upon the least entreaty made suit to God to reverse it So dealt the Prophet with Ieroboam 1 Reg. 13. 6. when he had smitten him with a judgment and had him at the advantage that his hand was withered Ieroboam was glad to submit and say Intreate now the face of the Lord thy God and pray for me that my hand may be restored me the man of God had not the heart to deny him but immediatly besought the Lord and the Kings hand was restored and became as it was before When a judgement comes then Prophets are in season Abraham is better than a King in this case Gen. 20. 7. 17. Restore the man his own for he is a Prophet and he shall pray for thee and ver 17. Abraham prayed unto God and God healed Abimeleeh c. Goe to my servant Iob saith God to his friends Iob 42. 8. and my servant Iob shall pray for you for him will I accept So Act. 8. 24. When Peter had denounced a curse on Simon Magus he was glad to crouch and cry unto him Oh pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me Thus ye see that judgements and plagues will bring Prophets into request men commonly deale with their Ministers as boyes do by Walnut-trees and other fruit-trees in faire weather throw cudgels at us in foule runne to us for shelter In the dayes of peace and prosperity we are past over as superfluous creatures of whom there is little use and lesse neede but when the wrath of God falls on the naked soule when the conscience is wounded within and body pained without then the Minister is thought on I say no more if you desire their prayers and that God should heare them praying for you in your extremity do not slight them doe not wrong them in prosperity Remember how Ahab and all Israel were glad to be beholden to Eliah to reverse their judgment and you doe not know how soone the case may be your owne therefore as you love your soules love those that have charge of them And he prayed againe c. When I looke into the Story 1 Reg. 18. I can finde no direct prayer that Eliah made for raine But I ●iud there a twofold prayer that he made 1. A virtuall 2. A formall prayer 1. A virtuall prayer not for raine but for their conversion Oh Lord saith Eliah bring backe or b●ing home the heart of this people unto thee vers 73. and this includes all other prayers that can be made A prayer for Conversion is a prayer for every thing Ier. 31. 18. When Ep●ratm prayes for conversion Turne thou me and I shall be turned saith God I will surely have mercy upon him c. Such is the goodnesse of God that he will with-hold no good thing be it raine be it plenty be it any thing that is good for them from them that are converted and brought home by true repentance to him Therefore if thou standest in neede of any temporall mercy pray first for conversion and all other good things shall be super-added and throwne in unto thee or if thou prayest for any child or for any friend to doe him good indeed pray for his conversion and thou prayest for every thing that one prayer is instar omnium insteed of all the rest If hee be in an ill way desire God to bring him backe and for future things take no care 2 A formall prayer when he saw that the people were truely humbled and that their hearts were indeed brought home to God insomuch that they cried out with an ingemmination The Lord he is God the Lord he is God then hee buckles his head betweene his knees to shew the humble prostration of his soule and falls a praying to God for raine After humiliation any prayer comes in season Esay 1. Wash ye make ye cleane put away the evill of your doings c. And now come saith God and we will reason together now let us parle now let us confesse now pray and I will heare you Iud. 10. 17. When the Israelites put away their strange gods and turned themselves to the true God by sincere repentance and reformation the text saith

desire of God as it is in the Collect That his speciall Grace may ever more prevent and follow us first that God would prevent us with his Grace to put into our hearts good motions good thoughts and good desires and secondly that it may follow us too as the water of the Rocke followed the Campe of the Israelites to the Land of Promise 1 Cor. 10. 4. so that Gods Grace may follow accompany and goe along with us in this world and never leave us never forsake us till it hath brought us to the end of our Faith which is the salvation of our soules according to that Psal 109. ult Dominus ad dextram c. the Lord is at the right hand of the poore to save him from all them that would condemne his soule where note that he doth not say the Lord is at their left hand which is as I may terme it the lazy hand to save men in their negligent and idle courses But hee is at their right hand which is the working hand to save all them that worke for their salvation and carefully use the meanes to save themselves which thing if thou make a conscience to doe though thy sinnes and thy enemies should conspire to condemne thee Thy God and his Grace will be sufficient to save thee And so at length I am come aboard the last and long-desired part of my text which containes the application of all in particular which hath beene spoken and delivered in generall drawne out of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Grace is sufficient for thee so that as it is said of our Saviour Mat. 21. 45. that his doctrine was so punctuall and clapt so close to the consciences of his Auditors that the Pharises knew he meant them so by that time I have done with my text neither will I bee long in doing it I trust you shall perceive that Gods meaning was to you when hee spake to Saint Paul and told him that His Grace is sufficient for him Briefly than see what Paul was and say what thou art if your case bee the same your comfort is the same for God is no accepter of persons his Grace is as sufficient for the one as for the other 1. Saint Paul was Homo in Christo he was a man in Christ as you may see by the second verse of this chapter I knew a man in Christ that was taken up into the third heaven Art thou such a one I meane art thou regenerate and become a new creature for he that is in Christ is a new creature 2. Cor. 5. 17 dost thou daily renew thy repentance and renew thy obedience and renew thy duty and devotion to God and is it a griefe to thy soule that so much of the old leaven thy old corruption remaines still in thy heart Then take this holy Scripture to thy comfort and assure thy selfe though thy conscience disquiet thee Gods Grace will be sufficient for thee contrarily if thou beest an old weather beaten sinner an old rusty drunkard swearer and that standest at a stay and gatherest sinne like an old tree that stands and gathers mosse I must say unto thee as Peter said to Symon Magus Act. 8. thou hast neyther part nor portion in this priviledge thou art not a man in Christ and consequently canst claime no interest in the grace and favour of God 2. Saint Paul was Homo in Cruce a man upon the crosse Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ and elswhere Colos 1. 24. I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh whereupon saith a father quid deest passioni Christi nisi u● nos simil●a patiamur what is or what can be wanting to the sufferings of Christ but that as he tooke up his crosse so we take up ours and follow him for vae portantibus crucem non sequentibus Christum woe to them that are crucified not with Christ that bare the crosse and follow not Christ but turne from him cleane another way It is well knowne that afflictions go under the name of crosses now a crosse was a peece of wood for a malefectour to die on there was no other use of a crosse but that Affliction therefore is called a crosse because it should have the nature and power of a Crosse that is it should be a meanes to crucifie and mortifie all carnall lusts and affections in us that the more we are afflicted the more we should dye to sin and the lesse life and power should our corruptions have in us Thus it was with Saint Paul is it so with thee dost thou wish and desire the death of thy sinnes dost thou make this use of thy afflictions even to die daily as the Apostle speakes dost thou every day drive one naile into the body of sinne I meane one sigh or grone to God against it dost thou labour to draw blood of thy soule as they drew blood of thy Saviour I meane the teares of true repentance and is it a death to thy heart that thou canst not die unto sinne and live unto God as thou shouldest and oughtest to doe Then looke no further for Harts-ease but to the words of my text and assure thy selfe what ever Crosses be upon thee Gods Grace in Gods good time shall bee sufficient to ease thee Contrariewise if thou beest one that dost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Setphen speaketh Acts. 7. ●1 one that dost fall crosse and contrary to all but to thy sinnes and art indeede a very crosse to God himselfe and to his good Spirit by thy perverse ungodly courses I must say unto thee as the Prophet Esay saith Esay 3. 6. Woe bee unto thy soule for thou hast rewarded evill unto thy selfe thou forsakest thy owne mercy and deprivest thy selfe of the comfort of Gods grace in the time of neede 3. Saint Paul was Homo in negotiis a laborious man a man full of imployments 1. Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more then all my fellow Apostles saith hee yet not I but the grace of God which was with mee there 's an honest acknowledgement by whom he profited and elsewhere hee tells the Corinthians 2. Cor. 11. 9. When I was with you and wanted non obtorpui I was not chargeable nor burthensome to any man The learned observe that word hath his weight from Torpedo which signifieth a Cramp-fish a fish they say that hath such a benumming quality that the cold of it will strike from the hook to the lyne from the line to the goad from the goad to the arme from the arme to the body of the fisher and so benum him take away al use and feeling of his limmes His meaning is that he was none of those idle drones that by their lazinesse and lewdnesse doe even chill and benumme and dead the charity of well-disposed people but as he laboured in preaching so hee wrought in his calling too and put himselfe to any paines

his lading but still desires to take in more As a ship may be over laden with gold and silver even unto sinking and yet have compasse and sides enough to hold ten times more so a covetous man though he hath enough to sinke him he never hath enough to satisfie him As a dog may have his stomack cram'd usque ad vomitum till he cast it up againe and yet his appetite is stil unsatisfied for he presently returnes to his vomite againe so a covetous miser though he cramme his chests with gold his garners with corne his deskes with bils and bonds yet his lust is never satisfied his minde is never wearied which makes the Lord even to wonder at it and aske usque quo How long Ther 's no end of a covetous mans desires he never leaves clogging and lading himselfe till he and his load perish together Take heede therefore of ill gotten riches Quia onerant because they load the soule and hinder it in its passage to heaven and in that sence are an enemie to mans contentment 2 Quia corrumpunt because ill-gotten riches corrupt a mans conscience and make him worse than otherwise he would or could be 1 Tim. 6. 9. They that will be rich fall into many temptations snares and lusts which drowne men in perdition and destruction Marke that he doth not say they that are rich for a man may be divinitùs dives divinely rich or rich to God I meane rich and godly too as Moses is said to be divinitus venustus divinely faire or faire to God Act. 7. 20. so the originall hath it Neither is it said They that would be rich if God so pleased to blesse them by just and honest wayes But they saith the Apostle that will be rich that set downe this for their resolution Rich they will be by right or by wrong they are those that corrupt themselves and runne the hazzard of their soules It is the conceit of Tertullian that even Iudas carried himselfe honestly and rightly Vsque ad loculorum officium till he came to carry the Bagge that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Evangelists word is the purse or tongue as it signifieth For Iudas thought as all covetous men doe that the purse is the best tongue a man can use to speak for himselfe upon any occasion when once he came to that to be a master of money he grew into such a devilish humour of covetousnesse that rather than h● would be out of takings he would sell his very Saviour and a faire match he made for as Austin saith Iudas sold his salvation and the Scribes and Pharisees bought their damnation and all for a little money No marvell the Apostle cals the love of money the roote af all evill t is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the matter of money but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of money that is the Roote of all evill And why the roote I thinke for two causes 1. Because a roote is of a spreading of a growing nature specially if planted in a fruitful soyle Such is the corrupt heart of man if Satan can but once fasten that wicked roote of covetousnesse in a mans heart water it as he will with suggestions t is wonderful how it wil spread and grow and encrease continually more and more Or secondly some say it is called the Roote because it is with a man as with a tree in winter ther 's sap and life in the roote when ther 's little or none to be seene in the branches So in old and frosty age when other vices and lusts decay then covetousnesse holds life in the roote and a man will be covetous when he hath not strength to be other wayes vitious But why is it called the Roote of all evill for t is not the roote of prodigality ryot c. I take it the meaning is of all gainefull evils if so be that ryot and prodigality were as gainefull evils as basenesse and misery a covetous man would be as inclineable to the one as to the other Labour then to pull up this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Roote of bitternesse and desire God to plant the sweete and comfortable grace of true contentednesse in your hearts that you may be so farre from being carried away with the love of money that you may account it as the Apostle speakes but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but drosse but dung but offall but filth and garbage in respect of Christ and a good conscience 3. Quia cruciant because they vexe and greeve and paine the soule Our Saviour Christ compares them to thornes thornes you know are painefull things painefull in the piercing but more painefull in the pulling out so are ill-gotten riches painefull in the getting but most painefull in the going out when these thornes come to be pluckt out by the hand of death that a man and his riches must part then is the paine then is the woe for now mens hearts are hardned their consciences seared they have as the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde of hornyhoofe growne over their soules like the brawny hardnesse that growes upon a labourors hands or a travellers feete that makes them insensible of any paine Oh but when death comes to pare off this crustinesse and leaves nothing to stand betwixt a mans soule and his sins then is the anguish of ill-gotten goods when he is searched to the quicke and his life lies a bleeding then let him say whether ungodly riches be not paineful things Zophar gives them a worse Epithet than thornes and likens them to poysons Iob 20. 12. Sugred poysons goe downe pleasantly Oh but when they are downe they gall and gnaw and gripe the very heart-strings asunder if there be not extraordinary remedy So do ill-gotten goods go downe like sugred poysons and so please the palats of covetous men that they cannot forbeare them nor will they Oh but there will come a time of wringing and ruing for all this They say the Italians will give a man a poyson that shall not kill him till a long time after such poysons are ill-gotten riches would you know the reason why they doe not trouble mens consciences now itis because the poyson doth not yet work when God in judgement sets this Poyson a working which they themselves have taken long agoe then as the Prophet Esay saith Chap. 3. 9. Woe be unto your souls for they have rewarded evill to themselves If a man should have a Diamond curiously cut into sharp angles in his body or in his bladder no man would account him a rich man but a miserable and a dead man even such is the state of him that hath swallowed downe the guilt of ill-gotten gaine it will one day torment him more than ever it enriched him so that the pleasure of the one shall never countervaile the paine of the other Take heede therefore and beware of ill-gotten riches Quia cruciant though

they smart not now they will one day rend the soule 4 Quia pereunt because ill-gotten riches never prosper with a man but perish and come to a naughty end and that partly through the owners wickednesse as the Prophet speakes of some that earne wages and put it in pertusum sacculum into a broken bag or into a bag full of holes and chinkes every lust every sinne that a wicked man is given to makes as it were a chinke or a hole in his estate whereat his wealth runnes out if it be not stopt by true repentance and partly through the just judgement of God that like as we see Marke 11. 20. as soone as Christ had cursed the figtree it presently withered and dried up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the rootes to shew that it was not the roote alone but the blessing of Christ that did support the figtree it is not all a mans care nor all his endeavour that can keepe his wealth from withering and perishing if God from heaven give a curse unto it as he doth to all ill gotten goods W●e be to him that coveteth an evill covetousnesse to his house Hab. 2. 9. there hangs a judgement over that mans house like raine in the clouds which sooner or later will come dashing downe upon it and overwhelme it Fire shall consume the Tabernacles of bribery Iob 15. 34 a man that builds his tabernacle and raiseth his estate by bribery and such unlawfull meanes the Lord doth beare such hatred to that mans house that if Atonement be not made he will even fire it and burne it to the ground what a world of sudden and lamentable fires are there every day in some place or other who can tell but that God doth fire such houses for the bribery and iniquity of the owners and founders you know that fire may be given to a traine of Gunpowder a great way off from the place to which the blow is intended so may judgement be breeding a long time ere it breake out it may hover a long time ere it light therefore as you tender your owne safety take heed of getting riches by ill courses quia pereunt because they perish and come to a naughty end And wilt thou perish saith Austine for that which perisheth God forbid 5 Lastly quia damnant because with out Gods infinite mercie they damne a mans soule eternally The Apostle Paul is direct Rom. 3. 8. They which doe evill that good may come of it their damnation is just Now wherefore doe men filch and steale cozen and deceive defraud and over reach and doe all mann●r of evill is it not that good may come of it that they get goods by it if it be so then make the inference your selves whether such mens damnation be not just But I dare not dwell upon this uncomfortable point I know it is beside my text let me intreate you in a word and so I have done with it that seeing riches ill gotten are so dangerous to the soule and so great an enemy to a mans contentment that you would remember Agurs prayer and desire no more of God but that which is food and meanes convenient for you and that is onely so much as you may get justly use soberly enjoy thankfully distribute cheerefully and live contentedly You have heard the two extreames of this vertue Poverty and Riches now the meane is that where true contentment rests that is when God fits a man with such an estate as is most meete and most convenient for him feed mee with food convenient for me saith Agur when a mans heart and his estate doe convenire doe meete and agree and comply in one ther 's the contentment that my text speakes of when God fashioneth a mans heart to his meanes as David speakes Psal 33. 13 14 15. The Lord looketh downe from his habitation upon the men of the earth and he fashioneth their hearts every one of them as a sute of cloathes is fitted to a mans body so doth God fashion a good mans heart to his estate and makes it sutable sit and convenient for him and this is it that gives him content for when there is an unsutablenesse a disproportion a disagreement betwixt a mans minde and his meanes he can have no content no comfort in it as we see by Ahab and by Haman and divers others who wanted for no meanes yet because their hearts did not Convenire did not comply and agree with their estates see how discontentedly they lived and ●yed If then thy estate be not according to thy minde desire of God as Agur did to fashion and fit thy minde and heart to thy estate that they may convenire concord and comply one with the other then shalt thou have content in it be it more or lesse You must know it were as easie to God to give a man plenty as poverty health as sicknesse peace as trouble all were one to him to give a man great meanes as little but onely that he sees the one more convenient for some men than the other and accordingly dispenseth his favours He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower and searcher of the heart and sees that some man if he had more it would make him proud if he had lesse it would make him repine he sees that every man hath not wisedome nor humility nor heavenly mindednesse enough to concoct a more plentifull estate and therefore he fits every one with such an estate as is most sutable most convenient for him Doe not therefore thinke hardely of God because he straytens thee and cuts thee short in many things which thou desirest but know that God knowes thee better than thy selfe Remember what title S. Paul gives to God 1 Tim. 1. 17. To God onely wise be glory and immortality If we did but consider that God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely wise it would be a great stay to our minds and a great helpe to our contentment But here 's the mischiefe we thinke our selves wise too nay I may say it we thinke our selves as wise or wiser than God we are of Alphonsus his minde who feared not to say Si in principio mundi ipse Deo adfuisset mult● melius ornatiusque condenda fuisse if he had beene with God in the beginning things should have beene contrived in an other manner than now they are so doe we blasphemously thinke that if God would but take our counsell and be ruled by us things should be carried in another manner than now they are that some should not have so much others so little some all others never a whit thus wee wretchedly and blasphemously thinke our selves as wise or wiser than God and that 's the reason we are not content with his dealing whereas if we did consider that God were onely wise and none were wise but he this would make us resigne our selves to him submit our wills to his and say as Ely did It is the Lord let

sinfull soules and bodies These thoughts came in upon the by and therefore I will not stand to enlarge them but hasten to the next general part of my text as it followeth in the next place Spargit pruinam sicut cinerē he scattereth or sprinkleth the hoary frost like ashes 2. This I termed the Diligence of God He that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor ●leepeth but when we are a sleepe God is awake when we are at rest God is at worke when wee are taking our ease within then is our God taking paines abroad to sprinkle the hoary Frost in the evening for our health and welfare in the morning The consideration hereof should move us not onely to praise God for his Day-mercies as David did Seven times a day will I praise thee saith he Psal 119. because hee knew that so and more than so often he was beholding to God every day that came over his head but also wee have just cause to remember God for his Night-mercies for his preservation and protection for his custody and care that hee hath of us in the night as well as in the day time Have I not remembred thee on my bed saith David elsewhere and thought upon thee when I was waking Psal 63. 7. So if thou hast forgotten God at thy board remember him on thy bed if thou hast not thought upon him in the day thinke upon him the more in the night and when at any time God holdeth thy eyes waking as he did Davids often then consider and call to minde Gods mercies and thine owne sinnes be thankefull for the one be humbled for the other and then lie downe in the peace of Iesus Christ And in the morning when thou walkest a broad and seest the hoary frost lie upon the ground like ashes then thinke with thy selfe this is the worke of Gods owne hands God hath surely beene in this place and I was not aware of it Now marke the manner of Gods working Spargit pr●inam he sprinkleth the hoary frost that is hee doth it in such a secret insensible invisible manner that no man living can perceive it till God have done his worke and finished it and even so it pleaseth God to worke and bring to passe the regeneration of a sinfull soule my Father worketh saith our Saviour and I worke and yet both worke after such a secret way that untill a man be converted the worke of Gods grace cannot be imagined nor perceived as it was with our Saviour at his resurrection when he was risen he appeared and shewed himselfe but the manner of his rising or how or which way he arose and got out of the Sepulchre no man living saw or could conceive as Salomon saith that the way of a ship in the sea is not to be knowne or found a man may stand upon the shore and see the ship and the sea and the ship going on the sea but the way of a ship in the sea is unknowne and undiscernable even so the wayes of God in translating men out of the state of sin and death into the state of grace and life are sine vestigijs unsearchable and past finding out Many a one is troubled that he knowes not the very instant of his conversion and regeneration to God and therfore makes question of his Christian calling but you know there is great difference betwixt a man that is suddenly converted as Paul was like a brande snatcht out of the fire as Saint Iude speakes in the very heate of their sinnes and such as have the grace of God wrought in them by degrees as Timothy had sensim sine sensu now a little and then a little by the secret supplies of the Spirit of grace now it is an easie matter for the one to set downe the time and manner of their regeneration not so for the other But the effect of all is this if a man can finde in himselfe the markes of the Lord Iesus a● the Apostle speakeeth I meane the infallible signes and symptomes of grace as a desire to feare God a ●are to please him and a kindly repentance when he hath done amisse let him never make question of his owne conversion but take it as an undoubted evidence to his soule that God hath received him into the state of mercy wherein he will reserve him for ever unto Iesus Christ No man makes question how the frost is gendred when he sees it lie upon the earth because hee knowes it is the handy worke of God And so is this Againe ●parg●● pruinam Looke how God doth with the hoary frost how he scatters it upon the grasse that no one spot of ground hath it all but every pile of grasse hath some sprinkling of it so he doth with all his heavenly gifts and graces no man ever was so happy to have the fulnesse of grace save only our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ All we have but our sprinklings a sprinkling of faith a sprinkling of zeale a sprinkling of repentance and other graces some more some lesse as God is pleased to distribute it Hence the grace of God is compared unto two things in Scripture which are both things of sprinkling namely Salt and Seed Our Saviour compares it unto salt Marke 9 ult Have salt in your selves and be at peace one with another Now you know They that season meate doe not lay their salt all on a heape but scatter it and sprinkle it all over that every part may be made savoury by it So doth God distribute to every man a measure of grace that his soule may be seasoned and all his services be made savoury to the Lord that he may smell in them as he did in Noahs sacrifice Od●rem quietis a Savour of rest Saint Iohn compares the grace of God unto Seed 1 Ioh. 3. ● Hee that is borne of God cannot sinne meaning sinne unto death Why quia sem●n dei because the seede of God abideth in him Now you know no sower layes his seede all on a heape but scatters and sprinkles it all over his land that every furrow may have some part of the feed and yeeld him againe some fruite of increase Thus doth God sow the seede of eternall life in the mindes and hearts of all faithfull people there is no one that hath all grace and there is no one but hath some some sprinkling of every grace For this cause I suppose the bloud of Christ is called the blo●d of sprinkling Heb. 12. 24. in allusion to the Passeover where the bloud of the Pascall L●m●e was sprinkled on the posts of the doore to save the house from the deadly stroke of the revenging A●gel So is the bloud of Iesus Christ sprinkled as it were by the ●inger of God upon the soules and consciences of all peni●●nt sinners to save their soules from death and to take out the blots and staines of all our sinnes Looke how Aqua fortis takes out the blots of Inke out of a

paper so doth this precious bloud take out the blots of sinne out of the soule and blessed of God is that man that 〈◊〉 sprinkled with it All those sprinklings of 〈◊〉 in the Law of Moses were all but types and shadowes of this bloud of sprinkling which speaketh better things than that of Abell because Abel bloud cried for revenge but the bloud of our Saviour cries for mercy and drownes the cry of our deadly sinnes that ●ry and roare for vengeance And therefore i●●●ou hast not had the grace to keepe thy 〈…〉 spotted of the world but rather for want of grace 〈…〉 hast bestained and bespotted thy selfe with filthy lusts and sinne● then let me advise thee thus to doe as Ioseph of Arima●hea went to pita●● and begged the body of Iesus Ioh. 19. ●8 So doe thou goe to God and begge the bloud of Iesus and desire the Lord to sprinkle it upon thy soule that thy sinnes may be done away and thy iniquities may be seene n● more for even this kinde of sprinkling is as easie to God as that whereof my Text here speaketh He 〈◊〉 or sprinkleth the ho●r● frost like ashes Sicut cin●r●m like Ashes Wee read Exod. ● 8. That Moses by Gods appointment tooke ashes from off the furnace and sprinkled them towards heaven and they bred botches and boyles and blames upon man and beast If God should sprinkle such ashes among us or if the hoary frost should bring forth such effects what a wofull case were we in How much cause therefore have wee as the Prophet speakes Hos 3. 5. to feare the Lord and his goodnesse in that being so unthankefull and so evill as wee are yet God is pleased out of his owne goodnesse and mercy not because we please him but because mercy pleaseth him Micha 7. 18. to doe us good and no harme all our dayes and to sprinkle such wholesome healthfull frost as shall doe every man good and no man hurt It is said Exod. 16. 14. That Manna which was called Angels-food not because the Angels did eate it but because the Angels did prepare it and bring it and make it ready for the peoples eating this Manna lay upon the ground like the hoary frost in the morning Doubtlesse it was to intimate that Manna is no more to God than ashes are to us and that if neede were rather than his people should famish God can turne the hoary frost into Angels food that we might live upon the one as the Israelites did upon the other forty yeares together David was driven to a low ebbe when hee said Psal 102. 9. Cinerem tanquam panem manducavi I have eaten ashes like bread I take it it was not so much out of necessity as to testifie his humility that hee did esteeme himselfe so vile a sinner that hee was not worthy to feede upon any better food and that dust and ashes were too good for him And so in the dayes of old they were wont in times of sorrow and sadnesse to sprinkle dust and ashes upon their heads from whence I take it our Ashwednesday hath its name being dies cinerum a day wherein men humbled them before the Lord in dust and ashes this they did to expresse the humiliation and deepe abasement of their soules that they thought themselves not worthy to be above ground but to be vnder earth in the grave dead and dissolved into dust and ashes I will not here presse the imitation of the ceremony but onely the observation of the substance of that act which concernes us as neerely as it did them and that is I would have you be as humble as sorrowfull as dejected and as pensive for your sinnes as vilely and basely and meanely conceited of your selves as they that strawed ashes upon their heads or as they that eat● ashes in stead of bread and mingled their drinke with weeping And so I come to the third generall point of my Text 〈◊〉 it followeth in the third place 3. Procijcit ejus glaciem sicut buccellas He casteth forth his i●e like morsels Me thinkes the Ice hath some resemblance of the state of this world which is dangerous two wayes 1. For slipping 2. For breaking 1. For slipping so the Fathers call the sinnes of the godly by the name of Lapsus slippings because like men on Ice they slipt and fell ere they were aware of it And David saith of the men of this world Psa 73. that God hath set them in slippery places Now a man that walkes in a slippery place had neede walke very circumspectly and very warily least he get a slip unawares that he cannot rciover himselfe without hurt and danger So the Apostle adviseth all good Christians to see that they walke Circumspectly Ephe. 5. 15. not as fooles but as wise A foole will venture to runne headlong on the Ice as if he were upon firme ground but a wise man will be very circumspect and wary and take heede to every steppe hee takes because he knowes the danger So should a Christian take heede to his wayes and if he finde himselfe going that he is ready to slip and fall from God into any sinne or to be carried headlong by the strength of his owne corruption or other temptation into any dangerous or wicked action let him then call unto the Lord as David did Psal 119. 117. sustenta me c. stay thou me up and I shall be safe like a man ready to fall he prayes God to uphold and stay him up For it is certaine a man hath not any power of himselfe to stay himselfe but that as Hanna tels us in her song 1. Sam. 2. 9. It is God that keepeth the feet of his Saints and staies them when they are going into an evill course And Moses tels us Deut. 33. 3. That God hath all his Saints in his hands as a Nurse hath her child and will not suffer them to fall into their own mischiefe and therefore our care must be by daily prayer to put our selves into Gods hands and desire God to leade us by his grace and his good Spirit and not leave us to our selves for then we shall surely slip and fall into evill That child that cares not to be led but will goe of himselfe gets many a knocke and many a shrewd fall but the child th at is fearefull and will cry to be led that child scapes many a broken face Therefore David desires God to leade him Psal 5. 8. Whereupon saith Musculus Duci cae●orum est pu●rorum infirmorum c. to be led is a thing that properly belongs to such as are blinde and to children and impotent persons now if a blinde man or a child should goe upon the Ice without some guide to leade them what a dangerous case were they in even such are we without the guidance of God The Ice is dangerous and so is the world take heede of slipping 2. For breaking many a one we have knowne and heard

An old disciple that is to be a ●ollower of Christ from ones youth and to continue Christs faithfull servant to ones age Age is a crowne of glory saith Salomon Prov. 16 31. When it is found in the way of righteousnesse that is when an old man is found to be a just and a righteous man then he truely deserves reverence but when a man hath lived to those yeares that he comes to have Caput album and cor nigrum a head white with hoary haires and the heart blacke with wicked deeds it is the most lamentable incongruity and disproportion in the world It is observed out of Gen. 25. 8. that Abraham was the first in all the Scripture that is called by the name of an old man and yet there were many before him that were much elder in yeares and had lived a longer time in the world than he had done why then should Abraham be called an Old man rather than any of his elder ancestours Philo gives this to be the reason that it was propter canitiem virtutum not so much for the age of his body as for the antiquity of his vertue though they were elder in yeares than he yet Abraham was elder in grace and vertue than they and had beene a vertuous a religious man and had served and feared the Lord a longer time than any of his predecessours and for this cause was he written the first old man in the Register of Almightie God And so at this day not he that is first Christened but he that is the first and best Christian is the eldest man in Gods account and comes nearest unto him who is the Ancient of dayes Whereas he that is full of dayes and empty of grace that hath attained bonum se●ectutem as one saith a good old age but wants the maine of all which is Bonum senectutis the goodnesse of old age who when the harvest of his yeares is come doth not bring forth that fruit unto God of devotion and piety of wisedome and gravity of temperance and charity that is to be found in men of fewer yeares Most wretched and miserable is his condition for he comes as it were to the borders of Canaan to the very point of time wherein Gods children make their happy transmigration into heaven but by reason of his sinnes is thrust backe againe so that when he should die and ascend to the place of eternall blessednesse he dies and descends to the pit of utter darkenesse where is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth Such is the miserable condition of that man or woman whose body is declining to the grave but his spirit hath not learned to ascend to God that gave it You therefore that are aged persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ready and ripe for the grave learne to resemble the Sunne whereof the Prophet David speaketh Psal 104. Sol novit occasum suum the Sun knoweth his going downe and therefore before his setting sends forth the brighter and the clearer and the sweeter beames so you cannot but know that it will not be long ere the sunne of your life goe downe therefore before the night of death come upon you send forth some beames of light some good prayers to God some good deeds to the poore shew some token for good before your death that it may appeare that your soules are gone the way of life And then looke how the Rivers when they come neere the sea the tide comes forth to meete them so when your soules come neere to heaven your God and Saviour shall meete you in the way and receive you into those eternall mansions which himselfe hath prepared for you So much for the Time how long David had beene an observer and an eye-witnesse of Gods Providence sc from his youth to his age I come now to the observation it selfe Non v●di justum derelictum I have not scene the righteous forsaken Wherein are two things remarkeable 1. The persons priviledged and they are the Righteous 2. The priviledge of those persons and that is they are never forsaken 1. The persons priviledged to wit the Righteous Here the question will be where any such persons are to be found for it is certaine that a Righteous man is Rara avis in terris as this world goes The Prophet once cried O yee heavens drop downe righteousnesse When Righteousnesse saith a learned man was taken up into heaven and the earth was utterly devoid of it But we trust in God the world is not altogether now so bad but that by Gods grace there are some though not many righous persons to be found amongst men but who be they that deserve to be so called and so accounted Ans I will shew you some particular instances out of the Booke of God what kind of persons went under the name of Righteous men in the dayes of old and leave the application to your selves ● The first that ever went under the name of a Righteous man was Abel of him you shall read Heb. 11. 4. That he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Caine by which he obtained witnesse that he was righteous God himselfe testifying of it Now wherein did Abels righteousnesse consist or what was it for which Abel was accounted righteous the text sheweth it was for that he offered uberius sacrificium a richer a fuller a better sacrifice than Cain for Caine also offered a sacrifice to God such a one as it was but it was a pinching sacrifice and the fruits that he offered were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the refuse of that he had that which he cared not for himselfe that he offered to the Lord but Abel made choise of the best and offered the most so that his sacrifice was both more and more excellent than Caines it was better and bigger too and for this he obtained testimony from God that hee was a righteous man Hence I note that they which are voluntary and free in their offerings to God that are willing God should have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the best and principall part of all their substance that hold it in scorne as David did that it should be said they should worship the Lord and be at no cost these are they in the first place that deserve the name of righteous men Contrariwise they that are of a base and niggardly disposition to God-ward that thinke as Iudas did every thing to be perditio to be waste and lost that goes to the maintenance of the worship and service and Ministers of God they are farre from Abels disposition and consequently farre from being Righteous in Gods account 2 The next Righteous man was Abraham of whom the Apostle speakes Rom. 4. 3. Abraham beleeved God and this was counted to him for righteousnesse Now wherein did Abrahams righteousnesse consist the text saith in his faith in his beleefe of God God Almighty called him out of his owne Countrey and made him leave all his friends and meanes behind him

the Righteous here spoken of and they are mercifull lenders that lend according to our Saviours counsell looking for nothing againe that is for nothing but their owne againe no advantage no gaine no use or their lending but they lend in meere compassion and mercie to releive their poore brethren in their need and necessitie He is ever mercifull and lendeth and marke what followeth His seede is blessed That which worldly-minded men thinke and imagine to be the onely meanes to make their children poore and miserable I meane liberalitie and sending to the poore that the Holy Ghost saith is the onely meanes to make them rich and blessed and is so farre from empoverishing and impairing their estates upon earth that it is the onely way to draw downe Gods blessing out of heaven upon them As the Prophet Ieremy told Iahojakin Ier. 22. 15. So long as thy father did helpe the oppressed and shew kindenesse to the poore and needy did he not prosper was it not well with him so that as Chrysostome saith We may not thinke that God made rich men onely for the profit of the poore but God made the poore as well for the profit of the rich Make yee friends saith our Saviour of the unrighteous Mammon as if rich men should one day finde that the poore were their best friends when they come to be received into everlasting habitations By these and the like examples and instances you may easily conceive who they be that are counted Righteous in Gods acceptation Therefore as Elisha spread himselfe upon the Shunamites child 2 Reg. 4. 34. and applied his mouth to the childs mouth his hands to the childs hands and his body to the childs body till the child began to neeze and to revive so you shall doe well to apply your selves to these patternes and presidents to see what correspondence and agreement there is betwixt 〈◊〉 lives and theirs and if your disposition be the same with 〈…〉 your acceptation shall be the same as theirs was and if you be partakers of the same righteousnesse you shall also be partakers of the same happinesse as it followeth in the text you shall never be deserted nor forsaken of God I never saw the righteous forsaken c. As for the unrighteous and ungracious that first forsake God no marvell if God in Iustice forsake them againe according to that anciently received rule Deus nunquam deserit hominem nisi prius ab homine deseratur God never forsakes any man till that man doe first forsake his God But for the righteous that cleave close unto the Lord and hold them fast by God as David speaketh and will not if they can possibly let go their holdfast beleeve it God will be a steadfast friend to them and will never faile them nor forsake them neither in life nor in death but while they live he will be with them and when they day they shall ●e with him 1 In life the righteous are never quite forsaken nor left utterly destitute of food provision and such other comforts which God in his wisedome seeth to be most expedient for them Thus saith the Lord Esay 65. 13. Behold my servants shall eate but you that is the wicked Idolaters for to them he speaketh you shall be hungry my servants shall drinke but you shall be thirsty my servants shall rejoyce but you shall be ashamed so that what ever be tide the wicked when the dayes of evill come God will take order for the righteous his servants shall be sure to be provided for In the dayes of famine they shall have enough Psa 37. 19. that is enough to content them though not enough to enrich them and if their own meanes chance to faile them at home God will provide them meanes and friends abroad as he told Elias 1 Reg. 17. when he was in great distresse at the river Besor and had neither meate nor drinke to sustaine him The Word of the Lord came unto him saying Arise get thee to Sareptah which is in Sidon and tarry there for behold I have commanded a widdow woman to sustaine thee there Elias knew not the widdow neither did the widdow know him but God who knew them both had given her a secret charge and commandement that shee should sustaine his Prophet and so she did Thus will God 〈…〉 than his owne shall want give secret charges to those we 〈◊〉 not aware of to sustaine and supply us at our need as in Pauls case Act. 17. when the ship was broken in peices which they thought should have carried them to land the Lord cast them and conveighed them safe to shore upon such boards and plankes as they did not nor durst not expect so when those helpes faile us which wee most relied upon God will so provide that somewhat else shall come in and bring us helpe which we never thought nor dreamt of Let the consideration of this teach us to take out that Lesson of the Apostle Heb. 13. 5. Let your conversation be without covetousnesse and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee If God have said it we may sweare it and pawne our lives and soules upon it that if wee live according to his will hee will never leave us nor forsake us while there is breath and life within us 2 As they are ever sustained in life so they are never forsaken in death but in their last extremity when their life is in extremis labris God is alwayes present with them either to relieve or to receive their soules 〈…〉 Iust man saith David and 〈◊〉 the upright for whatsoever 〈◊〉 beginning be yet the end of that ma● is peace And againe Follow after righteousnesse and doe the thing 〈…〉 for that shall bring a man peace at the last It was promised as a blessing to good Jasiah 2 Reg. 22. ult that he should be gathered to the grave in peace and yet we finde in the story that Iosiah died in warre How then was this promise made good I answer thus though he died in warre outwardly yet he died in peace inwardly his conscience was at peace with God and his soule was pacisied and discharged from the trouble of all his sinnes so that whatsoever his death was yet hee died in peace And such is the happinesse of all the righteous some die by fevers some by the sword some by the fire yet all through Gods mercy die in peace Therefore saith Balaam Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like unto his for though it be decreed in heaven that the Righteous must die as wel as the unrighteous yet there is as great a difference betwixt the manner of their dying as betwixt the passage of the Egyptians and the Israelites through the same red sea which was Alijs s●pul●hrum alijs vehiculum a sepulcher and a grave to the one to drowne them in perdition and

who are meant by the seed of the Righteous Secondly whether none of the Righteous seed ever ●ame o● ever shall come to beggery 1 The Scripture speakes of a twofold seed Genesis 3. th● seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent that is an holy seed and an unholy seed by the one are meant the Generation of the Righteous by the other the Generation of Vipers as Iohn Baptist calls such Reprobates Matthew Chapter 3. verse 7. who like Vipers eate out the very bowels of their Parents that is waste their substance grieve and gnaw their hearts and are a meanes as Iacob said Gene. Chap. 44. verse 31. to bring downe their hoary head with sorrow to the grave Now it seemes to mee that this S●m●n in my Text this seed here spoken of is principally if not solely and onely meant and to be understood of the Holy seed of the Righteous generation that is of such children as are of the same Religion and of the same righteousnesse that their parents were For if you marke the Scripture you shall finde that wicked and ungracious children though they be begotten of righteous and religious parents yet they are not esteemed nor accounted as their seed As you see Gen. 16. 12. that Ishmael that ungracious younster whose hands was against every man and every mans hand against him Hee is called the seed of Hagar not the seed of Abraham though hee came out of his loynes as well as out of her wombe onely because the promise of blessing was not made to him but to Isaac who is therefore called the child of promise and Rom. Chapter 9. verse 7 8. Wee have an expresse place for to prove viz. That the children of the Promise onely are counted for the seede Others though they come of righteous parents according to the flesh yet in Gods account they are not reckoned for their seed And therefore Cajetan hath a good conceit upon that promise of God to Abraham Gene. Chap. 13. verse 15. The land which thou seest I will give unto thee and to thy seed for ever It is saith hee as if the Lord had said quandu erit semen tuum c. as long as they shall bee thy seed I will give them this land therefore when they beganne to degenerate from Abraham both in faith and in good life and were not his right children as our Saviour told the Iewes Ioh. 8. but rather by their wicked manners the children of the devill God was no longer tied to his promise but did disinherit them of that good land which they might still have enjoyed had they continued to be Abrahams seed and followed the stepps of his righteousnesse The like place we have Psal 132. 11 12. The Lord swore unto David of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy Throne that is one of thy children shall still succeed thee in thy kingdome but marke what kinde of children God meant onely such as should keepe his Covenant and doe as their father had done If thy children will keepe my Covenant saith God and my Testimony as thou hast done their children also shall sit upon thy Throne for ever-more so that the promises of blessing though they seem to be made promiseuously to all the children of the righteous yet are they peculiarly restrained to such onely as tread in the steps of their parents vertues Therefore in the Iewish Talmud an ungracious sonne is called Ben ve lo ben filius non filius a sonne and no sonne as an Eunuch is said to be a man and no man and a Batt a bird and no bird and a Pumise a stone and no stone so a disobedient● childe is a childe and no childe a childe according to the flesh no childe according to the Spirit a childe in mans account no childe in Gods It is storied of Augustus Cesar that hee had three untoward sonnes whom he used to terme tres vomicas tria carcinomata his three impostumes or his three ulcerous cancers they were such an eye-sore and an heart-sore unto him so may all ungracious children be truly termed as being no better than ulcers and cancers to those that breed and bring them up as Esau was to Rebeccah Gen. 26. ult So that on the one side whereas it is said God will visite the sinnes of the fathers upon the children it is meant onely of wicked children such as do patrizare and follow the tracke of their parents wickednesse and so draw upon themselves their just-deserved punishments so on the contrary whereas it is said in my text that God will never forsake the righteous nor their ●eed it is meant onely of good children that follow the coppy of their Parents righteousnesse and so bring themselves within the compasse of their parents happinesse It is indeed a great happinesse to be borne and bred of righteous parents for as manie a good child smarts for his fathers wickednesse so many a bad one fares the better for his fathers goodnesse as Cham was saved in the Arke not for his owne but for his fathers sake And I doe verily beleeve that the more vertuous predecessours a man hath the greater mercies he shall receive as the blessings of Abraham Isaac and Jacob all three together were more availeable for their posterity than if there had beene but one single of them therfore Iacob saith to Joseph Gen. 49. 26. The blessings of thy Father shall be stronger than the blessings of my elders for he had his fathers blessing and all the rest concurring therewith as on the contrary I feare that the more evill Ancestours one hath the greater punishment he shall receive if his owne sinnes be also added to theirs Therefore let all children that have good parents thanke God for them be obedient unto them and take heede they doe not degenerate from them for as it little benefits a river to come from a cleare spring if it selfe be muddy or as it little benefits a blinde man to say that his parents could see or a feeble man that his parents were strong so it s little comfort and lesse credit to any young person that his parents were worthy and vertuous if he himselfe be unworthy and vicious for this blessing which is here reported of the seede of the righteous belongs you see of ●ight to none but to the righteous seed that is to such children as are righteous and religious as their parents have beene for the other in Gods account a●e none of their seed 2 The last question is whether none of the Righteous seed ever did come or ever shall come to beggery because David saith He never saw their seed quaerentes panem seeking or begging their bread I dare not but say that this generall Rule may admit of som exceptions for we know that Lazarus was a Righteous man for immediatly upon his death his soule was conveied by Angels in Abrahams bosome and yet he lay begging at Dives gate So was Bartimeus no