last and perfect Fulness Col. 2. 19. Ephes 1. 23. And that Jesus Christ may make this express Word of his effectual to accomplish the design of his love to the Souls of his Redeemed he guides them by his Spirit to the most advantagious improvement thereof that not one Jot of his Word may be lost The whole Scriptures are the Inspiration of the Spirit of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ Heb. 1. 1. Col. 3. 16. 2 Tim. 3. 16. given to reveal the way of Salvation which is carried on by a way of History and Doctrine in both which the State of Mankind is discovered in reference to its Innocency Fall and Recovery The State of Innocency and the Fall comprehended all Mankind in the Persons of Adam and Eve the State of Recovery respects only a part of Mankind saved out of that universal Loss by Christ according to the Election of Grace and therefore he is called the second Adam Rom. 5. 14. 1 Cor. 15. 45. who infuseth the Gift and Operation of Righteousness to his Seed as the first Adam had infused the Guilt and enthralling corrupting Power of Sin into his Seed As the Fall was a perfect Fall so the Recovery to the Remnant recovered is a perfect Recovery compleated fully in God's Decree before the World was Ephes 1. 4. and actually solemnized at Christ's Suffering Col. 2. 15. which becomes applicable to every individual person of that number by the Spirit of Faith and Holiness and whereby they are fully and really freed from the matter of Guilt through Union with Christ albeit the afflicting sense and fear of Guilt appears many times through the weakness of Faith in that Union and through the incumbring defilement of Sin in them who are redeemed holds on a Conflict in the Flesh till the last Enemy viz. Death be destroyed and so Mankind stands divided the Persons of them who only bear the Image of the first Adam corrupted by the Serpent's Poyson and they who bear the Image of the second Adam and in the latter every redeemed person carries also a Sub-Division in his own heart for a time viz. the grand Principle of his renewed State and the afflicting Stain and Enmity of the first Adam's Nature remaining in the Flesh And in reference to these two Contraries viz. the Good and Bad Persons of Mankind and the different Principles of Good and Evil the Scripture doth display all the Threatnings and Comforts Reproofs and Encouragements Judgments and Promises Instructions and Rebukes that are found in that blessed Volume with manifestations of God's power and goodness to the one and his power and wrath against the other So that whatsoever is spoken of any one person is spoken of all persons in the same State and whatsoever is spoken of any Action or Qualification in any person is spoken of alike Actions and Qualifications in every person who is in the same state to the end of the World even as long as Mankind remains and as far as the Line of each State whether it be good or bad reacheth so far doth every person continuing in that State bear his proportionable share through the Grave to Eternity When the Spirit of God speaketh any thing in the Word it first looks through the State in which any person is and so deals with that particular person according to the state in which he is whether it be a state of Sin or Grace and so acts towards him according to the rules and method of such a state Hence 't is that comforts or afflictions or teachings that are one and the same in their own nature are exceeding different in the end and use which the Spirit makes of them through the different state of Light or Darkness Life or Death in which all men lie So that by this means the same Word is a savour of Life to one which is a savour of Death to another The general threatnings against Ungodliness concerns every particular ungodly Man The particular punishment inflicted upon any one ungodly Man shews what is equally due to the rest of ungodly Men. And although one evil Man may not commit the same wicked Action as another doth yet he has the Nature and the same evil State which is the Root of that Action and as it brings forth Actions equivolently evil it is by the Spirit of God equally sentenced to Punishment And as in all visible Actions the state of the person in the Scriptures is first considered so in all Actions the nature and spirit of that Action as it holds relation to the state of the person acting is regarded by the Spirit of God in the Word before the Action it self and involves every one within the Guilt of that Action if it be wicked or within the Blessing of that Action if it be good in whom the nature and spirit of such an Action worketh From this ground Christ calls wicked Anger Murther and unchast Lustings Adultery Matth. 5. 21 28. And from this ground a gracious desire and intention has the blessing of a gracious Action 2 Cor. 8. 12. And when the Action is one and the same and yet the Spirit and inward Mind of them who execute that Action different the Action is not accounted the same but different as in the case of Cain's killing Abel and Phineas's killing Zimri it was Murther in the one and Righteousness in the other So that Actions may agree and yet the spirit of that Action in the Actors not agree and the spirit of one Action may agree with the spirit of another Action or the spirit of one that acts may agree in some particular Action with the spirit of another who acts the same thing and yet the difference of their grand state disagree as appears in the case of David's Uncleanness through Lust and the Sin of his Son Ammon for the Repentance of the one is recorded but not of the other So that in the use of the Scriptures we are to consider how far Actions agree and how far the spirit or immediate inward working which produceth Actions agrees and how the grand state of persons do agree that we may know how to make use of the Reproofs and Punishments Promises and Rewards that we find given to others in Scripture As concerning the state of Godliness there is no Godly Man has any peculiar privilege which is not common to all who are in the same state because the Covenant is made to them all alike in Jesus Christ in whom God is become their God upon the equal terms of Free Grace and Christ is as well the Head of one Member as of another and all the privileges which can flow from such a common relation run down rightfully to every person within that relation viz. Justification Adoption Reconciliation Sanctification Preservation Instruction and such like Operations of the Spirit that issue from that relation and which tend to a living enjoyment thereof and the advancing of that state to perfection
of my own Righteousness Rom. 6. 14. Tit. 3. 5. but I am under the Law of my own Lord which is to receive him and own his Righteousness as my own for he is the Lord my Righteousness When I believe then I obey for I am commanded to believe in the Name of the only begotten Son of God when I cast my self on him that fulfilled the whole Law then I fulfil the whole Law when I cast my self on his Righteousness I am in God's sight as white as Snow my sins in this new state are rather accounted my diseases than my faults for if I am not my own my sins are not my own but accounted his who loved me and washed me in his Blood This Obedience of Faith has the sight of Christ's Fulness and the Promises of the new Covenant to lean upon and so it takes its Journy from Flesh to Spirit from Weakness to Strength in the Name of the Lord. And from this Obedience in believing which is the highest and mysterious Obedience proceeds all manner of holiness as the fruits thereof which receive their Sap from this Root this Root makes them to be living Obedience as Branches from the same Root Children of the same Parent The first Subjection is to the Righteousness of Christ's Person to submit all Fear and Guilt to the fulness of Pardon and Life that is in him as the Store-house and there to enjoy it in the enjoying of him and then by the Spirit of Life which is in Christ the Soul with freedom acts forth answerably in some measure to such a renewed state from whence all Actions of Holiness are called the Fruits of Faith and Fruits of Righteousness Phil. 1. 11. 2 Cor. 9. 10. Col. 1. 6. 2 Pet. 1. 4 5 6 7 8. After my Return from One of Faiths dark days and yet delivered I found sore Breaches made upon my Soul my inward Man had suffered loss while I travelled up and down my Soul was violently shaken the Bands of the wicked one conspired with my wicked heart and carried away my treacherous Soul so that my Glory was captivated into the Enemies hand A Wind from the Wilderness laid me in confusion the Tempest prevailed and I suffered Shipwreck all my own feeble Endeavours and former Meditations gave way and the raging Sea of filthy and foolish thoughts did beat sore upon me My Ship of former Resolutions of heart and my poor discovery of the Salvation of God was bulged and ready to sink yet my heart yerned after the Lord my Rock I cried secretly though confusedly to my God and he yet reserved a Plank for my almost drowned Soul to swim to the Shoar He has not utterly removed Mercy from me he has been yet preaching his own Free Grace to my Soul through a Voice of Thunder and Lightning Let me yet hear thy Voice O thou Preserver of Men let me yet gather up advantage through my loss help me yet to receive recovering and establishing vertue from my strong Hold. While my thoughts were thus working I endeavoured to get once more into the Sanctuary of God and there I found that although I carry about a Hell within me yet that Hell cannot devour the infinite Covenant of Peace which God made My Unbelief and Disobedience cannot make the Faith of God to be of no effect I would have lived upon Grace and Strength recieved and I trembled to see those selfish Confidences shaken to the Earth but now methinks Christ calls me again from my Father's House and promiseth me a better Name than that of Sons and Daughters of my own a Name in himself an Off-spring in himself Psal 45. 16. Isa 56. 5. which shall not be cut off I have had a Sentence of Death in my self that I might not trust any more in my self but in God who raised the Dead I am a dry Tree but he who was raised from the Dead is a green Tree and in him is my Fruit found O the Mystery and Power of this Salvation wherewith I am saved O that I might pass as it were through the Eye of a Needle into Christ's Power and there rest from the days of adversity And this Rest is glorious because 't is uncompounded it receives no Ingredients from abroad 't is singly made up of Christ and in him alone Venture O my Soul upon this naked Arm for 't is an Arm of Faithfulness and Mercy This Strength alone is a Fountain of Strength this is the River whose Streams make glad the City of God Wilt thou not be undone O my Soul that thou mayest be saved How long wilt thou set up thy Post by the Pillars of that Salvation which is wrought in God for thee and wrought in thee by single Union with God in Jesus Christ Is not his Arm stronger than thine Be thou translated by Faith into Divine Strength Let not thy Wine be mixed with Water Thy Confidences are rejected make a Voyage to the everlasting Hills enter into the Mount of God Thou hast broken both the Tables of the Covenant and yet the Prince of the same Covenant lives Wait for the Spirit to draw it over again and again by the indelible Character of his own Finger who lives to enliven thee for ever How hard is it to depart from Self from righteous Self and sinful Self I am wounded by sinful Self that I might flee from righteous Self and sinful Self also and cast Anchor only within the Vale. I am weary of the instability of the Streams Oh let me go to the Fountain When I am saying I shall die in my Nest my Nest is soon fired about my ears and turned to ashes Certainly there is a better Rest than this and it lieth in trusting Christ and trusting in him only I both trust Christ and trust in Christ when I believe that he is the Standard of all saving Righteousness communicable to Man and all my Righteousness and Holiness is but the Reflection of his I trust in Christ when I live resignedly at his Feet to be made holy And whatsoever composure of heart I do at any time receive I do not nor cannot hold it but 't is held by him while it remains and when it withdraws it lives in the Root for me I am ready to think if I had all Graces in my own dispose I would manage them to the Glory of God but how can God be glorified more than in a holy Content to live at his Allowance All his design is to allure me and so to force me out of my self to live in him as well as to live by him he bestows his Grace within doors I must not take his Graces to my self to put it to Usury for Increase but must fetch the Increase as well as the Principal from him by Union with him through Jesus Christ and my work is to rest on his Faithfulness Wisdom Willingness and Readiness to supply me as if every Grace of the Spirit were fully in
DIVINE CONTEMPLATIONS AND Spiritual Breathings OF Mr. HENRY DORNEY Comprised in I. Practical DISCOURSES 1. Of the Nature Means and Method of Salvation on Isa 45. 17. 2. How to find God a Sanctuary in time of Trouble With the manner of the Author 's entring into Covenant with God on Rev. 1. 5. 3. Of Union with Christ on Joh. 17. 23. 4. Of Glorifying God on 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. With an Appendix how to pursue a Lawful Thing Lawfully II. His LETTERS III. His Last and Dying Speeches and Prayers Also an Account of his Life at the Close of the Preface LONDON Printed by James Rawlins for John Wright at the Crown on Ludgate-Hill 1684. THE PREFACE WHEN we see any extraordinary Effect 't is usual for us to enquire the Cause whether it be in things Natural Artificial or Moral Every new Appearance in the Heavens invites us to consider its Reason Any useful Engine framed by exquisite Art tempts the Curious to examine its inward Springs and Movements And when we observe a Person to manage his Province or Affairs succesfully we are willing to know the Rules and Measures by which he guides himself There is the like Tendency in the renewed Soul when it sees any one of extraordinary Elevation in Religion and Holiness to consider the inward Principles that act them The AVTHOR was observed to be a Person of great Wisdom and singular Holiness equally admired and loved by those who knew him And some who had the happiness to be intimately acquainted with him and have heard with what Clearness and inward Sense he would discourse of the sublimest things in Religion have been ready to say what was once said of Christ Whence hath this Man this Learning Whence did he derive his Knowledge and Holiness But the following DISCOVRSES lay open unto us the inward Springs of them both It hath been observed that there is nothing more influential upon the Divine Life than a constant and deep Impression of our own Corruption and Impotence together with a continual Dependance upon the Redeemer's Grace both which were in an eminent degree visible in him There is throughout the whole of his Discourses an admirable Depression of Sin and Self with an Exaltation of Christ and Divine Grace and a believing Admiration of his Person with a continual living upon him in the Exercises of Faith and Love And indeed there is no true Spring of Holiness but Faith in the Mediator the Purchaser of all Grace and the Spirit the Conveyer of it from which some having turned away have made Shipwrack both of Faith Holiness and even of Moral Vertue too There hath not been there cannot be any steady and firm Principle of Holiness but Faith in Christ Jesus the abundant Efficacy of which upon the Divine Life the AVTHOR was a very sensible and full Instance of If there be any thing in the following DISCOVRSES which may recede from Theological Accuracy you must know that he was but a private Person The Manner of his Phrase is somewhat peculiar yet such as he found most proper to express his inward Sentiments and whereas he could as he said to a Friend have altered and refined the Phrase yet he did rather let it alone writing it only for his own private use judging too that as he had his in Meditations a very special Assistance from the Spirit of God so the words which cloathed them were most genuine natural and agreeable to his purpose And indeed there is such a lively and sensible Affection in his Style that nothing else but an intimate feeling and experience of the things themselves could suggest which doth at the same time equally instruct and move In the Discourse of finding God a Sanctuary he doth in a very express manner enter into Covenant with God which may both encourage and direct in the performance of it Some holy Divines in their practical Discourses have advised to this but there are few who have put it in practice nay many have alledged this as the reason of their backwardness to it the sense that they had of their inability to perform it and the making it in so solemn a manner and then transgressing the same it might but involve them in the greater difficulties of Mind But the AVTHOR doth it in that way and manner as to take off the force of this Objection which doth much arise from the ignorance of the nature of the Gospel-Covenant wherein God calls us to nothing but what he hath promised his Grace shall enable us to perform He addresseth himself unto it in a very great sense of his own weakness and the Riches of Divine Grace relying on that to enable him to perform the Covenant on his part By which means his entring into Covenant was so far from being a Snare to him of which he was very cautious as that it became a mighty Support to his Faith and Assurance So that his Sins and Infirmities which were more discernable to himself than others did not make him as he said to question his Interest in the Covenant he found that an undue way of procedure but did excite him by a fresh Application of the Blood of Sprinkling according to the Tenure of that new Covenant to seek out both their Pardon and Mortification there being a Provision of Righteousness and Strength in it through him who is the Mediator and Head of it His LETTERS are but a very few in comparison of those multitudes that he wrote of the like nature and import more of which could not be procured And for Brevity sake the Preface and Close are sometimes omitted with what related to Civil Affairs He had a most earnest desire to do good So that what was said of Timothy may be well applied to him That he did naturally care for the Good of Men. And therefore he would both by his Exhortations when present and his Letters when absent endeavour to promote the spiritual Welfare of those who were blest with his Acquaintance As to his last and DYING SPEECHES and PRAYERS they were taken from him without his Observation by those who were constantly with him and were greatly affected therewith In which there may be some things a little abrupt by reason of his great weakness and pains diverting him But they have in them that deep savour of Religion and express so powerful a sense of Divine Grace as 't is thought they would not be unacceptable to serious Persons To conclude What is here exposed to view was without the AVTHOR's design and at the desire of Relations and Friends who being greatly affected therewith judged it might leave some good Impressions on those who read it wherein we have an useful Systeme of practical Divinity written with an inward Sense and Experience manifesting the vigorous and lively actings of Grace and giving us a clear and distinct Anatomy of his excellent Spirit How sublimely doth he soar in his Contemplations viewing Christ both in his Person and
when he joyned with others in Prayer he seldom was seen or heard to stir as accounting it would be matter of disturbance And he would be sure as to his own particular to use no higher Voice in Prayer than was meerly necessary for those that were present and joyned with him in the same Duty often signifying his dislike of such a raised Voice in Prayer as might be distinctly heard any further than that Room or place where those that joyned in Prayer were assembled Also except the Case was extraordinary he did not approve of making long Prayers but rather more frequent especially in and with a Family lest some other necessary Duties might be omitted or the time that ought to be spent about them abridged and more particularly at Nights that Family-Duties should be more concise lest through weariness Servants and others should be overtaken with Sleep And he said that The reason why many make long Prayers and multiplied words was that they doubted God did not hear them and therefore they would pray the more thinking that by much speaking something might take with God And he further said that As Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices of old were not regarded any further than they typified Christ so God delights not in the outward Carnal Performance of Religious Duties nor in any thing performed only by the Abilities of the Outward Man And that Prayer should be the holding of the Promise in the one hand and the Petition in the other That our words should be few with a still inward Composure of Mind and Spirit in the Duty And that We often come before the Lord furnished with words when the power of Faith and of the Spirit is wanting And that we never pray with delight until we believe that our Prayers are heard and will be answered which we put up to God in the Name of Christ according to his Will And that without a personal Interest in Christ there is no Approach unto God If our persons be not in him it would be in vain to seek him for we could never come at him were not our persons united to him And as to his own experience he said Sometimes I find I am exceeding heartless in Duty that I go unto it as one altogether dead yet being convinced it is my duty I speak the words in Prayer and doubtless such words where there is a striving of the Spirit against the Flesh to overcome that Indisposedness they are prevalent with God though we may not account them so He was so often and frequent His secret Devotions both Day and Night in his Converse with God that his Life was no other but a constant Walking with him In his Family he so wisely behaved His Family-Government himself in his Discipline and by his grave sweet and pious Carriage that all under his Roof did both reverence and love him And his endeavour and care was if it were possible to receive and retain none in his House but such as truly feared God And if it happened at any time that any Servants proved bad he would turn them off so soon as he could but yet always at their parting by his Prayers for them his Counsel Advice and Liberality to them none such went from him but at their departure did or might have carried with them a self-condemning Conviction of his Goodness and their own Folly He also used to Catechise his Servants on certain days of the Week so far as other important Affairs and his natural Constitution of Body would permit His daily Family-Duties were His Family-Duties in this method performed First he prayed before the reading of God's Word which was observed to be to this effect That God would favour us with his Presence in our Approaches to him and make us sensible we have to do with him who is the living God and with his Word as a living Word That it might not be as a dry Well as a dead Letter nor our hearts dead in the perusal of it but that it might come as Water on a thirsty Ground and we made fat with the fatness of it our Souls being capacitated to suck in its sweetness that we might have some sweet sense of his Holiness and our Relation to him and that put forwards in the use of the Word and Prayer That God would cloath his Word with Almightiness causing his Arm to be unbared and his Truths to be revealed that they might be a bright Lamp to our Feet and a Light to our Paths That all his Divine Dictates be taken in with all greediness that thence Vertue might flow out and enter into our hearts and be the very Operation of God upon our Souls and his Power unto our Salvation That God would consult his own Grace that we might have his Presence both in the Word and in our hearts in an efficacious way causing it kindly to operate That some spiritual Grace might drop down unto us and that the Word being every whit of it spiritual might spiritualize our hearts and influence them to an Obediential Compliance with his whole Will therein revealed That he would cause it to take hold of our hearts that they might be bowed down broken and healed by its powerful vertue and efficacy making us to delight therein and that through Christ we might be a delight unto himself That God would quicken and enlighten us and cause his Word to come with Power and Life That we might behold his Glory and Majesty shining in every part of his Word And as God had put an Almightiness in it so he would command the Majesty and Authority of it to bear in with an exceeding weight upon our hearts and make it Almighty in all its efficacious Actings And that the Vital Power of his Spirit might cleanse lead and teach us in the way everlasting And that the Word might be as an Instrument and Means in the hand of his Spirit to do all this for us and in us c. And in the reading of the Word he would usually spend a little time in speaking to the most remarkable Heads therein contained improving it for the Instruction and Edification of himself and Family And after that he closed the Morning Exercise with solemn Prayer And his Evening Exercise was first Prayer for a Blessing on the Word to be read after which he read a Chapter and then concluded with Prayer For the right understanding His Directions for understanding the Word and profiting by it of Scripture-Truths his Counsel was that we should compare spiritual things with spiritual which is discerningly to suit the way and method of Utterance in such a spiritual Simplicity as may best agree with the nature of the spiritual Mystery of the Gospel and not to speak spiritual things carnally in the Wisdom of the Flesh And that we can never profit by the Word heard or read until we receive it and take it up as a Message from the Lord to our Souls
that state in all times and Ages and stands answerable to the nature of all future cases and experiences of the Saints which makes the whole Scriptures which were written aforetime to be of a perpetual present use from the beginning to the end of that Volumne so said Moses of old Deut. 4. 2. and so said John many hundred years after Rev. 22. 18 19. So that all Scripture is given for a perpetual profit by Doctrine Reproof Exhortation and Instruction in Righteousness in order to the perfecting of the Saints 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. And this brings in again the Consideration of the wonderful Condescention of God who though he be invisible yet he doth in a sort become visible in the Word there the Life of God is manifested even that hidden Life which enlivens the new Man it exposeth it self to be seen heard and handled by the thoughts of Worm-like Man 1 Joh. 1. 1 2 3. God who was pleased to manifest himself in the Flesh has carried on a correspondent method in a way suitable to Humanity ever since the Restoration was promised to the Seed of the Woman The Spirit brings forth all its special Operations in the exercise of Man's Nature Reason Understanding Will Affections and Passions The Scriptures seem to bespeak nothing oft-times but meer Man whereas that Humane way was only fitted as a Sheath for the Sword of the Spirit to be carried in through all several cases that could fall out in Man's condition God who brought forth all things out of himself doth still manage them and uphold them for he is the Life As his Purpose and Power created the Being of all things so his Providence and Wisdom doth create the continual disposing and ordering of all things I create Jerusalem a rejoycing saith the Lord Isa 65. 18. And therefore having created a new thing in the Earth that a Woman should compass a Man Jer. 31. 22. he works creatingly in the discovery and application of that Mystery and stoops down into all the Sences Passions and Affections of Humane Nature and brings forth the Mystery of the new Creation under the vail and external use of the matter of the first Creation which runs through the whole History of outward Providences and through every Branch of Moses's Law in all the Sacrifices every part of the Tabernacle and Temple and through every Dispensation and among all the Faculties of the rational Soul as the power of Life striving against Death and Light against Darkness which is the scope of what we find spoken to Man or of or by Man in the Scriptures which is spoken not to shew only what Man 's natural thoughts are but how the Spirit of God works in their thoughts words and actions or how the Spirit of Satan naturally and sinfully works in them which is delivered to us by the Spirit of God sometimes by the Rules of Doctrine and Worship sometimes by Comforts Instructions Exhortations Reproofs and Threatnings and sometimes by Examples and Experiences acted upon the persons of Good and Bad and acting in them This Operation of the Spirit of the Father and the Son begets all the Convincements Heart-searchings Prayers Groans Cries Sighs Comforts Encouragements and Conquests which we find exercised in the hearts of the people of God throughout the Scriptures as in a Glass shewing the Combat betwixt the Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman and establishing Faith and Assurance of the Victory by Jesus Christ who is the Captain of their Salvation And God has recorded these things in this manner in the Word that all the people of God may read the whole of their present State and Work acted in the Scriptures by the Inspiration of the Spirit which now breaths Workings of a like nature in their hearts The least Groan cannot be lost 't is part of the Lambs War and therefore there is a Blessing in it If the infinite Purity Power and Holiness of God did reveal it self only to the Understanding it would either distract or confound the Soul or harden it by a desperate Dispondency and therefore the infinite Excellency of God descends into the Humane Nature of Christ that it might overshadow and work in the hearts of the Saints who are his Mystical Body by the Spirit in the Scriptures in the way of an Instinct and new Principle arising from that spiritual Closure made betwixt him and them in the Gospel The rejection of the Gospel and The Glory of Christs Condescention despising the Word doth chiefly arise from an aptness to stumble at the Condescention of God he sees a necessity to bow down lower to save poor Man than the Pride of Man's heart knows how to digest and therefore the broken and contrite ones get most of his company Isa 57. 15. the Soul who loves him and believes his Condescention in the design and truth thereof can never be too low for relief The manner of Christ's coming into the Flesh and the despicableness of his Person in his Life and Death seriously considered and the Ordinances which he blest and left to us gives no encouragement to the Wisdom of the Flesh The way of carnal Wisdom is to do great things by great means but the Wisdom of God doth great things by small and despicable means 1 Sam. 16. 7. 2 King 5. 10 11. and so confoundeth the Wisdom of the Wise as the Apostle argues 1 Cor. 1. from v. 20. forwards Were the truth of this Mystery of God's Condescention truly taken up it would spoil that repining dejection which torments the Saints about their unworthiness and thankfulness would accompany all their Groans towards him he is as low as the lowest and their way cannot be hid from him though he be high and lofty and the Creator of the ends of the earth Isa 40. 27 28 29. and 57. 15. The very Kernel of the Gospels Glory lies in the extreamness of his Condescention in the way of saving Man his design is to exalt his Glory to the highest Heavens by the unspeakable lowness of his stooping throughout all the day of Grace He doth by his Spirit wait weep strive grieve sigh suffer and complain in the hearts of his people and figuratively he is said to do such things also himself on their behalf their weak Faith is mighty through him who works it and who carries his Lambs in his Arms. His infinite Greatness is not at all the cause of any estranged distance betwixt him and Mankind in this day of Grace but the carnal and unbroken Pride and fulness of a self-righteous careless ignorant unbelieving heart He setteth the Solitary in Families and stoopeth down to deliver them who are sensible of their Chains but the Rebellious dwelleth in a dry Land Psal 68. 6. Oh let this Truth visit me and save me Here is a Rest indeed O my confused heart he that heard the moan of Ephraim hears thy moan hears thy confused cries picks up all thy sighs and
not talk with thee and look upon thy face and yet work too The presence of my Christ makes any toil to be perfect freedom Methinks I can easier find in some measure my work throughout the whole Scriptures though that requires also the teachings of the Spirit necessarily than I can know how to compose my heart to keep the Faith of Union and Communion with God fresh and so to work and labour in the strength of that Fellowship whatever I do in the World When I am earnest in Contemplation I fear I fail in the matter of Action when I am acting I fear losing the Marrow of my Communion with my God Here lies Divine Skill to put both these together as being of the same nature and tending to the same end each of them helping and not hindring one another And to this end I desire help from on high to find out my way and method that I may so run that I may at length finish my course with joy The Spring of all Christian Conversation How to hold Communion with God in worldly business is Justifying Faith which cleanseth the Soul and quickens it at the same time by Union with Jesus Christ and as in the order of Nature Life is first infused before any Action of Life can appear so Faith being the accepting and digesting vertue which receives in a way of spiritual digesture Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life doth cleanse and save the Soul which new Life puts forth Actions of its own nature which Actions do add a Perfection of Growth and Manifestation but not of Essence to that new Life of Justification Regeneration and Reconcilement All good works of a holy Conversation are the improving of that Life but neither the cause nor matter of it the cause of it is the meer Grace and Favour of God Ephes 1. 4 5 6. the matter of this Life is the Spirit of Jesus Christ quickning the Soul through Union with it and from thence grows Action as the delightful Exercise of the Life of the new Man So that my more or less improvement must not question the Essence of this Life the least Action notes Life as well as the greatest though the vigour thereof be in a different measure and if I doubt of Life I cannot produce it by Action Leaves will not put life into the Tree but I am in that case by Soul-resigning and Self-renouncing Recumbency of heart to lie down upon Christ to receive Life from him All Life lies in the Root and comes thence by naked believing whereby God through Christ vents his own Life by meer Grace in my Soul that all Actions of Holiness may be no other than the Life of God working in me Now that the Soul may both enjoy its Communion with God and also act with vigour the works of Righteousness in an active Conversation there must be Order and Uniformity in every Action suitable to the Spirit of Communion with God without Order there can be no Peace but Confusion 1 Cor. 14. 23. and without Uniformity also arising from the Root of Union that is between the Action and the Spirit of the Actor there can be no Peace for Unity breeds Peace Ephes 4. 3. by making things different or distinguishable to agree in one by some common and uniting likeness or other And because this Uniformity seems naturally to offer it self to Consideration in the first place I would let a few thoughts pass upon it In all Christan and morally good Actions forbearing to speak of ungodly Actions which are plainly opposite to the Spirit of Holiness no Action though it be in it self materially good ought to be left to its own swinge but always ought to move in the hand of the Spirit as it gives direction by and suitable to the Word The natural motion of a Wheel is to run downwards yet we read Ezek. 1. 19 20 21. that the Spirit of the living Creature being in the Wheels it guided the Wheels from their natural motion to the pleasure and Will of the Spirit that was in the Wheels up or down hither or thither as the Spirit moved them the Spirit and the Wheels were made one in motion by reason of their Union And even so in all good Actions spiritually performed there is a Union betwixt the Principle of Holiness in the new Man and the outward Action that is done which forms the Action into a homogeneous suitableness to that inward Principle and prevents discord betwixt the Action and the Principle Thus it was with Job when he said My heart shall not reproach me Job 27. 6. And hence comes a peaceable Execution of any Actions when the Principle of Holiness does spirit the Action and the Action outwardly manifest a justifying Concurrence with the Principle in and by which it acts the Action and the Principle having the same united Tendency to the Will of God And as Union and Symphony betwixt a gracious efficient Principle and a gracious Action renders it a comfortable Service whatever the work be which is done so the Order betwixt these two do add a further supply to carry on a heavenly Conversation here on Earth The goodness of every Action as to Comfort in the Execution thereof ariseth from Communion with God for whom and to whom that Action and Service is performed Although both be the Exercise of the New Man yet each of them act in their own order the heart is first under true warmth within and then the suitable discoveries do follow Psal 39. 3. While I was musing saith David the fire burned and then spake I with my tongue A good Action loseth its inward beauty when it keeps not its inside order it is numbred amongst dead works and moves but in a ghastly manner when the Spirit within moves not first much like to the irrational Actions of a Man who walks up and down and talks by some strength of fancy when he is in a dead sleep all the while But when the Root of Communion with God bears the Soul forth unto fruitfulness in any Service that Service is comely because it springs naturally from a Spirit of Faith in the New Man and carries along the nature of the New Man in whatsoever is done These two being observed would so carry on the course of Christianity that in the various affairs of this life inward Peace would not be broken there would be readiness at all times to pray praise and rejoyce Thus Abraham and Enoch walked with God and this is the glorious Promise They shall walk up and down in the name of the Lord Zach. 10. 12. All good Actions being thus rooted and ordered have the Glory of God in their eye and run forth in way of duty and carry with them the encouragement of Acceptation with God And although the Actions of such a man may visibly be successless yet his heart is never wrung with disappointment because his secret Communion with and Subjection to
is a poysonous Delectation the Object of thy Aim is momentary thy Workings are carnal proud impetuous and tyrannous spawned from the Serpent in the day that it said to Eve Ye shall be as Gods Thou didst then feed thy Expectation with forbidden Fruit thou forsookest Divine Counsel lost thy Aim and art ever since crawling upon thy Belly to the Earth and feeding upon the Dust there lies something in that first Promise The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpent's head to loose me in the inward Man from the Bonds of thy Captivity That blessed word began the second Creation sentenced Carnal Sense and the way of its Reason and brought in the Draft of a new created State in which the Image of Christ is renewed upon the Soul swaying it by spiritual Knowledge and Understanding into a state of Righteousness and Holiness and has given it Dominion by a holy Force and rightful Power to subject all Humane Sense and Reason Knowledge Understanding and the Delights thereof to the Authority and full Command of the Wisdom of the Spirit And therefore I would wait for some Dew from this Wisdom that is from above to water and guide me and by this Conduct I would lay down these Grounds The pursuit of a lawful thing is so far sinful to me as the pursuit thereof doth tend to distract my Prayers and Converse with God and that which makes the Mind of Christ in his Word and Godly Conference unrelishable to me That which tends to contract and confine my view of the Worth of Christ my necessity of him and relation to him That which hinders me from a penitent and vigorous watchfulness and reluctancy against the defiling nature of my Heart-corruptions That which weakens the exercise of my faith about the reality of Divine Truths God's all-seeing Eye the constant necessity of Holiness in my heart and in my aim unlimited and free Resignation to the Will of God and a hungry expectation of the appearing of Christ and my own Dissolution That which offers violence to all or any Christian Duty which takes off my desire to the Ordinances and profitable use of them as if the time were lost which is spent in such work That which cares not for an Exercise of Faith and Prayer for a blessing upon it and direction and assistance from God in it doth declare it self so far to be a Work of the Flesh and not wrought in God For if I am wholly redeemed then nothing in me is to be any longer at my natural Command but my whole self and all my ways and Concernments do come under the Laws of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ In all which forementioned Particulars I have found Guilt sliding in upon me with a strong hand In the next place I would consider what civil Actions Labours or Studies may be truly accounted lawful and within that Command and Permission in the fourth Commandment Six days shalt thou labonr and do all that thou hast to do viz. Whatsoever may conduce to administer any true natural good to the Body Estate or Credit of my self or others which lies included in all the Precepts of the second Table Exod. 20. 12 13 14 15 16 17 c. Whatsoever may conduce to polish true Reason and free the discerning faculty of the Mind from that Captivity Darkness and Infirmity contracted by the Fall of our first Parents which disabled the Understanding in a great measure to discern between things truly morally good and evil without which the discoursive faculty of the Soul cannot act within it self or be capable of any impressions for its good from the words of others the freeing of which would tend much to make way for the entrance of gracious Convictions where the Word of God is heard or leave that Soul more wilfully inexcusable which seems te be hinted in Isa 44. 18 19. where the Prophet speaks of the very irrationality of Idol-worship as that which contradicts the true use even of natural Reason And in order hereunto Whatsoever may help Reason in its Exercise as Conference with and reading the Labours of such whom God hath fitted in any measure for repairing the sad Breach made on Humane Nature And whatsoever may conduce for the help of Memory as the Art of Reading and Writing which Art we find justified in the Scriptures Dan. 9. 2. Deut. 6. 9. Whatsoever may make the Offices of Humanity as well as Christianity more communicable as the knowledge of Tongues the ordinary learning of which seems to be justified by the extraordinary Gift of Tongues whereby the Apostles were enabled to dispense the Gospel in the World Whatsoever also may tend to the understanding of the Letter of the Scriptures as the Knowledge especially of the Original Tongues And whatsoever may facilitate the lawful Employments of Men as Arithmetick Navigation and other Arts and Manufactures not properly serving the bare Lust but the true advantage and lawful comfort and conveniency of the rational Creature Which curious Manufactures and ingenious Arts were used at the making of the Mosaical Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple in the fitting and adorning of it for that use for which it was intended of God Having weighed the lawfulness of the forementioned Particulars among which one of those Cases do at present more than the rest concern my own Consideration and further Enquiry and therefore I would next consider how a natural or civil lawful Action may be done lawfully so as not to prejudice the inward Man by grieving the Spirit in the manner of a Man's labour care pains diligence or study or in his utmost end and design therein A right spiritual End in natural and moral Actions lies in these respects 1. When I serve the Will of God intentionally in obeying that Law of Nature as in Eating Drinking Physick Cloathing Sleep which God has subjected me to 1 Tim. 4. 3 4. 1 Cor. 10. 31. 2. When I design more Serviceableness to the Will and Glory of God by my Health Estate Credit and Endowment of Mind than I could attain unto without those Means Prov. 3. 9. 3. When the Will and Glory of God is so far the Soul of my natural and civil Actions and Designs that my delight doth not terminate in the thing done or enjoyed but passing through them takes up its rest in the enjoying pleasing and serving God therein 1 Chron. 29. 9. For the better regulating the Mind in such Actions and Labours in pursuance of a right End consider these Rules and Helps Consider 1. A Christian Life lies in Union with Christ and not in any of the things or Enjoyments here below 2. They are such things and Enjoyments which the Enemies of God may be employed in and possessed of in this World as well as the Servants of God And therefore that such common work may be done spiritually 1. Sanctifie it by Prayer 1 Tim. 4. 5. Ruth 2. 4. 2. Lean on God by Faith for such Abilities
in his Breath as in his Breathing so it is with spiritual Life exercising fresh and fresh Acts of Recourse to Jesus Christ And by this means the Soul comes at length to be bathed in the Comfort of his Truth and Love by an operating Faith Let my Condition be what it will inwardly or outwardly I am not to be dismayed from running to God and encouraging my self in him But my work is to listen out what God reproves or teacheth thereby holding this as an unmovable Truth That his love never fails from his People one moment and his People are they who in good earnest chuse him for their God whose very hearts fly and hanker after him such who come to God by Christ who design that as their Aim The whole Scripture doth justifie this plain difference between persons and persons viz. they who come to the light and they who hate it Joh 3. 20 21. Now I say My work is never to let my heart question his love to me If he has made me to hanker after him and if he loves continually then there is continually room for Access to him 'T is true that he hath suffered his People sometimes to fall grievously as David and others and he hid his face upon it But did we ever read that he did turn away from the Prayer of the Poor and while it is nothing else but his own Spirit interceding in them and Christ for them 'T is not imaginable though he seems not to answer sometimes yet he loves their voice continually Faith viz. an acting out of our own Life in the Life and spirit of Christ for all manner of good from God by him is and was always a conquering successful Grace In the greatest Surge it gives either Contentation or it hastens the opening of the Door for Deliverance and usually both together one way or other 'T is a sad thing that when we should be exercising Faith for getting the good of an Affliction and prying after further Discoveries of God's Truth Love and Wisdom and enquiring what the voice of our Father is and what it means I say it is a sad thing that at that time we should spend our thoughts in an unseasonable distrust of an Interest in him His Rod his Trials walk up and down among his People to shew he is their Father and his Discipline is amongst his Children and yet we are apt to take the very sign of our Reconciliation and make it an occasion of our distrust that we are not related to him This Wisdom comes not from above but is carnal sensual and unworthy of them who have heard the Word of Faith yea and accepted it also for many years 'T is bad tempting God and vexing his Spirit in that which provoketh him most But if I think I was not related to him before let me fly to him in Christ now and I shall be his though I was not actually so before for he casts away no sincere Comer But I do suppose you armed by the Lord to encounter these Assaults and am persuaded your Faith will grow by every Trial yea when 't is most assaulted you will be made to expect some good in the Rear which will make you glorifie God even in the Fires Dear Sister I commend you to the Lord Christ prays for you and therefore your faith cannot fail He will be Eyes to the Blind Feet to the Lame He will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he with-hold c. 1661. To T. N. N o 56. IN pursuance of my Promise and also that the mutual Remembrance of each other may be kept alive I account my self engaged to present you these Lines 'T is one comfort that the Lord rules the World yea no other but that God to whom the Supplications of his People are always acceptable in Jesus Christ and that nothing can be perfectly miserable to them who are constituted Heirs of Blessing and past away from the Curse through the Curse of Christ And though the glorious Arm and Truths of God seem to be overwhelmed in the World yet when God shall appear to vindicate his Name and cloath himself with Jealousie what Obstruction shall hinder his Course or stop his hand I know you are not only strugling with difficulties without as well as I am but with Enemies within and truly that is my case also And I know nothing that keeps me from being overwhelmed but only this viz. some blinks of the free and eternal unchangeable Bounty of God who has for his own sake only pitch'd upon such an unworthy Creature and caused my Soul to hanker after him When I am tired out with my own Darkness Infirmity Pollution and Unbelief his good Spirit is pleased sometimes to sway my heart to throw my self Body and Soul and all my Sins and Cares upon him through Jesus Christ and so out of my own Shame and Confusion of face there darts in sometimes a Beam of Relief from him who quickeneth the Dead and calleth the things that are not as if they were Could we come off more smoothly to own and catch that Hold upon Jesus Christ which the Word of God's Grace doth invite us to we might lanch forth and venture securely in the Ark Jesus Christ when there is not a Foot of dry Ground here below to stand upon When we cannot pray then to remember Christ intercedes When we are all over defiled and confused to remember the Mediator is cloathed with our Nature and that on our behalf in perfect Purity and in the same Nature which each of us doth bear He did conquer over all that which we are as yet conflicting with in his Name That we are esteemed not according to our present Infirmity but according to that Perfection to which we are entitled in him who is at God's Right Hand Could we be more exercised in this view and blessed prospect it would make our dry and dead Limbs recover heat and life as it was with Jacob when he heard that Joseph was yet alive Joseph our Brother is yet alive And all Power is committed into his hands he has the Keys of Hell and Death and is himself the Door of Life also Oh how unpersuadable are our hearts for the most part and loath to credit the Word of his Grace and Truth so far as to resign up our selves our sins our burthens of all sorts to the vertue and power of his Atonement and Soveraignty who has ended all differences and brought in an everlasting Righteousness and Good Will that a righteous God and sinful Man might be reconciled together in him who has ballanced the Account exactly and being gone has left a Legacy of Blessing and Peace to every Soul that flees to him to feed upon till the days of full refreshing appears and we see him as he is When I only muse my own weakness it makes me more weak while I converse with anxious thoughts it makes my heart dark sower and
perish eternally for want of Seriousness and that Isaiah herein was a great President for our Imitation And in company of some Friends he spake to this purpose We even very we must appear before the Judge of Heaven and Earth that judgeth the Quick and the Dead and the Enquiry will not be then How rich or how poor we have been But how did we thrive in the ways of Holiness What Work of Faith Labour of Love Patience of Hope What Exercise of Grace What Zeal for God How did we make the Glory of God shine forth in our Lives Therefore let our main Care be that we do not miss of Heaven at last for 't is possible after a glorious Profession the Soul may miscarry for all that And I do not speak this to put a damp upon you but to quicken and caution you His Zeal against all Sin was apparent His Zeal against Sin in his general Course He shunned all Appearances of Evil hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh Whence he gave this Counsel Go not within the Clutches of a Temptation to see what it is before you resist 't is easier to pass by a Temptation than to come out of it When the Knot is knit and the Door barred 't is harder to get Freedom than before And also he was observed to say That the least Evil admitted hath a Tendency in it toward the utmost Link of Distance from God and the least Sin indulged is like unto a Cockatrice indulged which turns into a Fiery Flying Serpent Isa 14. 29. His Zeal and Activity for God His Zeal and Activity for God throughout his Christian Race did eminently shew it self by improving all opportunities to advance his Glory in doing good to Souls especially amongst his Relations and intimate Acquaintance where the Lord was pleased greatly to succeed his faithful and sincere Endeavours and the more in that there was such a Grateful Majesty in his Carriage and in those pathetical Expressions uttered by him That it may be truly said of him in his private Capacity That his Lips fed many and his Mouth was a Well of Life And he used to pray for his Relations in such words as these That the Lord would deal with Relations in a way of saving powerful Conviction and spiritual Operation And that such in whom is the Seed of God sown might grow up to be Plants of Righteousness in whom he might be glorified and have the Seal of his Grace and Favour put upon them and be numbred amongst those that are cared for by the Lord and housed in him And for such Relations as were at a distance from him he also frequently visited with Letters and would be sometimes sending them Books using variety of Means for their spiritual Welfare Likewise he would be writing them in Verse and instead of many Instances it may not be improper to insert these two of plain Verse which accompanied two Bibles he transmitted viz. To Jane Daunsy Jun. Sept. 1671. If Life Eternal doth surpass A Span of Time compar'd to Grass Neglect no time until aright Enform'd you are by Scripture-Light Deceipts of Sin how to eschew And then of Christ to take a view Vntil your heart be drawn to come Near unto him as to your Home So shall your tender Years be blest Your Soul obtain Eternal Rest And for this end this Book I send Accept the same and Lines above Coming from your Kinsman's Love Jane Daunsy Anagram AND IS VAIN The Scripture is the Rule of Truth The chiefest Guide for Age and Youth It truly shews the way to Bliss Even how Souls may be born again Then let Jane Daunsy study this AND say All other Skill IS VAIN To my honoured Unkle and Aunt Trevis Sept. 22. 1672. What Study can adorn gray Hairs More than true Wisdom Studies which Best Crown Old Age when Earths Affairs Shall cease and die must Poor and Rich. A Draught of that true Wisdom lies Within this Book which I present Oh let your Hearts and aged Eyes Therein be earnestly intent That while you do sill up your days A Heavenly Mind Earths Thoughts may quell And that on Earth you may always Spring to Eternal Life Farewel In all his Actions it did appear His eying the Glory of God that his Aim was to do the Will of his Father which is in Heaven and would oft say Whatever we do we should go up and down doing God's Work not our own and that would be a means to keep our Spirits even and the heart tender and calm His constant Converse holy His constant Converse with God Familiarity and nearness to God signally shewed it self in his Looks Speech and Behaviour As Moses when he had been with God in the Mount his Face shone And Peter and John's Courage before the Rulers and Elders of the Jews did evidence that they had been with Jesus And as hath been already suggested he had such a holy Intimacy with God that he would speak to him in Prayer as if one Friend were speaking to another yet with great Reverence Humility and Self-abasement And he would be frequently urging it upon his Friends that they should not rest till they had attained a more inward Acquaintance with God And that we should labour after a greater Intimacy with God than with any Person in the World and when we are alone we should have still retired Communion with God And that we get nothing by a cold Acquaintance but all things by a warm Acquaintance with him And speaking of his own experience said he It is my great disquiet that Christ hath so little of my company though I may not say I have not his And this was likewise manifest in those words he used in Prayer to this effect That the Lord would cause us to ripen into a greater Knowledge of him and into a greater Intimacy with him And that we may have more warm Communion with his Spirit in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus And that he would act towards us according to that Vndertaking of his with the Father on our behalf before we had a Being And that our hearts be actually springing towards him and be acquainted with the Mystery of God in Christ and be brought into the nearest Intimacy and Fellowship with himself attainable in this Life That it might be an Earnest and Pledge of our everlasting Fruition and Enjoyment of him in the other World His living in dependence on His living in dependence on God God was his constant Trade which also the following Expressions do evidence The Lord make us sensible of our weakness and inability to help our selves That he would preserve the Soul in a holy Fear in its ordinary Walk lest it grieve that Spirit by whose power alone it acts and cause the Soul to step forth into the Life of Believing prostrating it self at the foot of God and to say Lord I can have no Relief but from thee and
I long for the Effusion of the Spirit remarkably promised in thy Word and for the Resurrection of the Body which now is sown in Weakness but then 't will be raised in Power and cry out to be cloathed upon with Power from on high And he further said That the want of this Conviction of our own Weakness makes us lose the Juice of Religion And that we can no more live by Grace already received than a Man can live upon his Food the day after he hath eaten it That therefore we must have the Mouth of our Souls never divided from the Fountain even God himself for we live our Life our spiritual Life upon the Flower of Free Grace only And that the Spirit of God would have us to see what we are even without Strength that God's Mercy might appear the more abundant and the Gospel be glorified in its Power that so a poor Christian may be necessitated to believe in and on Jesus Christ forced into this glorious Sanctuary made to cling on the Horns of this Altar and fly to this City of Refuge as his Zoar of Safety And he likewise said That could we live in the Faith of this that God orders every particular thing and rules all the Affairs of his People that he hath a secret Care of them and for them under all That his Providence is never off the Wheel What Relief would it be We might then pass through thick and thin and it would raise the Soul strangely on the Wing For Faith which is the sence and feeling of the Soul lies in looking unto God's Power Wisdom and Faithfulness in the Promise We have heard much of the Doctrine of Faith and now God is teaching us the Life of Faith This was spoken when under a very pressing Affliction And he further added That Faith hath no dependence upon the Creature Cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee Psal 55. 22. Faith is an adventurous Cast Cast not away thy self nor thy burthen any where else Oh that we knew what it were to live in God to be brought out of our selves and to dwell there no more And that we have as great need to lock up our selves as it were in God when we go to Bed as to lock up our Doors if we would be kept from Assaults for we have as much cause to fear lest Satan and our depraved Nature should make a Prey of our Souls as of Thieves and Robbers lest they should make a Spoil of our Goods Let us therefore give away our selves to God Morning and Evening and from Evening to Morning and be always in the Spirit of Faith and Holiness Likewise he was observed to say that a holy and free Contentment in all God's Dealings is that we should most labour after for that the happiness of the Soul consists not in the bare Enjoyment of any Mercy but in the God of the Mercy That if it hath his Presence though in the Shadow of Death it hath content for outward Good or Misery is but a fancy seeing we are never the more truly happy if we have much or miserable if we have but little of this World But 't is the Enjoyment of God in any Condition must be our All in all And that we should make God and the things of God the natural Centre of the Soul and all other things we go about as if we were constrained to it We make full Experience that we have Justifying Faith when we can trust God as well for outward things as for Pardon of Sin and Salvation 'T is a woful Religion we profess when we cannot live upon God in the want of all things else Wherefore let us not rest till we get some feeding Fruitfulness in such Meditations and to have the Lord alone exalted in our Souls His Expressions in Prayer did also declare his great Dependence on God which were to this purpose That all our Concerns might be upon his heart and we owned and refreshed in him That our Souls might evermore be acted and possessed by his Spirit And that he would continue in us a hankering after him and satisfaction in him giving us in a Cast in a way of spiritual Quickning and Reviving to our Souls And that we might be under his Care and kept in his Arms and walk in his Fear causing our Acquaintance with him to grow and increase daily c. He conversed more with Heaven than Earth while he remained His Heavenly-mindedness on it And this was discerned in his Conversation and by the Sayings of his Lips which dropped as an Honey-Comb on all occasions and particularly in such words as these Things visible are the Product of things invisible and purely spiritual and therefore invisible things are the more excellent for the things which are seen were not made of things that do appear The Glory of the unseen Trade of a Christian is not so discernable now but the time will come when all seen things shall be dissolved and then it will stand forth Outward things of Sence are comfortable to the World but things unseen to the People of God are of a Soul-raising Power mounting the Soul above that which causeth Fainting for those spiritual things they look on believingly as having a real Interest in them else they would not give any Relief And whilst a Christian hath a sight of unseen things by Faith when great Gusts of Trouble come there is no room for Fear Therefore there should be a daily Converse with unseen things and we should not rest till we can see them with some Evidence and Clearness And the Soul should range up and down in this Garden of Delights not suffering that Converse to cool And that the entertaining but a little distance from God dulls the sight of him And when the Soul is looking with overmuch Intention on Worldly things it dazles the Eye as to invisible Glories And when it suffers any outward Trouble inordinately to bear in it makes the Eye goggle from that which should fix it But a good Muse on things unseen would allay calm and supple the Soul and make it steady in its Course Therefore Oh give me things unseen should we say There let my Share be It was further observed that the things of God and Religion became as it were natural to him and as it hath been said by some that spiritual things flowed from him as Water from a Fountain And what he spake thereof proceeded from an inward Sence and not so much from Head and Memory as from his Heart and Experience whence an Authority and Lustre was derived to it His Humility was visible to His Humility all for he was cloathed with it there being not the least Appearance of Pride or Vain-Glory that was discernable in him He had a very mean esteem of his own Gifts Parts and Graces And as he had a low respect towards himself so according to Scripture-Precept he esteemed others