our betters it is no scorn to take them for our samplers such are Angels Os homini sublime dedit saith the Poet God hath made man to look up as ever to have an eye on his masters such are the Angels Gods servants but our Schoolemasters and as the Master is more perfect in the Lecture than the shooleboy so they than we We desire to know they do know we desire to do what we know The Parallel it is they can do what God hath made known unto them in our works are many weaknesses in theirs not the least of imperfection we procrastinate they cry haste haste for his Majesties service yea their wings witnesse their readiness willingnesse I will resolve upon it The Avowry while earth to cast an eye at Heaven and to make those all * The Angels glorious creatures the samplers of my readinesse willingnesse to do the wil of my Father which is in Heaven Again the three persons by turns have all of them undertaken to teach us Angels scholars in their uppermost Lecture are set to be our samplers to guide our * Our wils and affections feet in the waies of God That I note is this We have divers schoolemasters Doct. God the head who teacheth us by his Word Angels in Heaven who teach us by their Examples Nay nigher the very creatures the poor pismire we are bid to go to her and learn Five things I inferre from this Thesis First God would we were good scholars so much pains is to make us profit Secondly we can want no teaching no whilest a God Angels or any creatures Thirdly there are no few lessons to learn where many messengers many messages Fourthly we are hard of learning with Fambo some are nineteen year a learing one line Fifthly here may be a strong surmise by these many eyes over us we would play the Trewants in very deed man naturally hath no heart to what 's good But since I have so much teaching The Avowry I am resolved by Gods good assistance not to lose my time byt ot minde what it is my Master hath to say unto me The Cases of Conscience are the fourth moity of my method which are three First is this Whether is a perfect obedience to Gods will required I. Case To this question I give this resolution Christ would never have set us to pray for it if God had not look'd for it it were needlesse for man to pray for so much if his Creator would be content with ought lesse I am injoyned by God to do what my Christ wils me to pray I may do A perfect obedience then is required at our hands and we must do what God wils as doe the Angels Since now O Lord The Avowry I have thus much to do I will dismisse my worldly businesse to follow this my heavenly calling We have seen what we should do 2. Case now let us see what it is we are able to do and so I come to the second Case Whither are we able to do all God doth will 1. My answer is negative No apparent first by our every day confession we break all Gods commandements 2. By Esays evidence we are all unclean all our righteousnesse is like unto filthy rags 3. By our prayer put up we need not beg that which is within our reach it is that we pray for we have no power over my beseeching God to grant shewes my want and since I pray for ability to do Gods will it assures me the good I would I cannot I will confesse my frailty The Avowry and alwaies acknowledge though to will be present with me yet I finde no means to performe that which is good And so I come to the third Case 3. Case how we are made capable to attain to do what God doth will wee ‖ should doe To this I answer To will is of our own power but to will what we should and do it is God the instrument is ours the right use of it from God In me is a something vid. to will That it object is good I may thank God for it of whom is both the will and the deed that is the willing good and doing the good I have willed But my last avowry prefers a quere to be discust and tels us even man in the state of grace who hath a will to do good findes no means to finish the work he hath willed But know it that is not meant of a totall defect but a plenary performall though he faile in most not in all It seems then by Gods good aid Gods childe may both will and do good yet not all the good God doth will in his Law To this I answer God hath a twofold Law There is Lex Operum Lex Fidei the Law of works the Law of Faith The Law of Works requires an exact fingular obedience at all times in all places to all particular statute Lawes enacted by the Lord I pray for this cannot attain to it height pray for progresse though fail to fulfill The Law of Faith requires a full beleef what I cannot do my Christ hath done it for me for which I pray and may attain But can you prove a man may be made righteous without the Law of Works that is without exact keeping all the Commandements Beleeve not me Res but S. Paul who * Rom 3.21 22. saith the righteousnesse of God without the Law that is without the Law of Works is made manifest even the righteousnesse of God which is by faith in Christ Jesus unto all and upon all them that beleeve here are Faith and Works met they are at ods about reconciling man to God But here is one inspired with Gods own Spirit Paul the Apostle he certifies us it 's not works the Law of Works but faith the Law of Faith which justifies and makes the beleever reputed a fulfiller of Gods will The Law of Moses had been able to have saved us if we had been able to have observed it now that we cannot observe the Old Law of Moses God hath made a New Law we shall be saved by beleef in Christ Jesus and this is cal'd the New Covenant When God gave out the Law of Works first it was not to save any by it for God knew none could do what he commanded but the Law of * The ten Commandements Works was given First to discover mans infirmities Three ends of the Law to discover to humble to guide on like a glasse in which to let him see the warts and wens growing upon the face of his Conscience Secondly that Law was given to humble man whileft seeing he had injoyned so much and had fail'd in all Thirdly that Law was given to be a Schoolmaster to teach man the way to his Master which Master is our Lord and Saviour who hath done for man what man cannot for himself whose beleef Christ hath done it
a parte ante so a parte post for ever to endure for long beyond all time are to last Gods Kingdome Power Glory Yea world without end Longer than all the Kingdomes upon Earth longer than Sun and Moon longer than the sons of men All these wax old as doth a garment and after these perish it 's these three which break out and bud afresh like Aarons Rod. And yet if there be ought on earth to resemble their ever being Being it is Man not man living to die but dying to live not this his corruptible life but his life everlasting We had a beginning shall never have an ending and this no end of ours is like theirs but their beginning is like to Gods who is without beginning O how long since they were how long yet to last O ever everlastingly Such a King such a Kingdome Ever everlasting Such a Lord and such his Power Ever everlasting Such a State and such his state of Glory its Glory Ever everlasting Let me not doubt to get if I goe to him who hath enough to give a Kingdome and for Ever Let me not fear forgivenesse but beg of him hath power to grant it Power for Ever Let me not be discomforted but still live in hopes of deliverance since he is my friend will rescue who stands upon his Honour and Glory and that for Ever The Divine Contemplation upon the first Reason For thine is the Kingdome Loe have I not hopes of a supply I beg a boon of the King I had not turned a suppliant but that he whom I invocate is owner of a Kingdome O God and my King give me what I beg since thou hast enough to bestow without diminishing thy store look not at me an unworthy begger but consider how much I want and how much thou haft thou canst give to none more poor I can crave of none hath more to give I pray the Father let thy wealth supply my want since all my want may easily be supplyed with thy wealth I have been the Prodigall I have spent my portion I have fed on husks I am now in a sad and sorrowfull estate O like a father whose bowels earn with compassion say to my soul Welcome my son my son I will own thee I will enrich thee thou hast spent me much I have yet much more more to give than thou canst spend there are treasures at my right hand for evermore O thou who ownest even all who art Lord Paramount of heaven and earth I commend all my needs to thy bounteous liberality thou wilt help for art mercifull thou canst help for hast and a Kingdome Dear Father since thou ownest so much make me master of a little of one poor mansion for thine is the Kingdome I have no nothing and canst thou deny me thou hast a Kingdome and wilt thou not give me O give me what I want since what I want thou hast and much more abundance be so good to me since there is enough for thee a magazine to supply my want and maintain thy train I have a strong saith to beleeve thou wilt my illuminate reason assures me thou canst now thy submiss son and servant is begging shut not up thy mercifull compassion For thine is the Kindome The Divine Contemplation upon the second Reason For thine is the Power What were it to own a Kingdome and want power to dispose of it I serve a Master hath enough and power enough he hath a Kingdome and all in it and all at his command Angels in heaven the hearts of Kings upon earth and the very Devils in hell I am now ready to sing a Gloria patri all glory honour and praise be given to him who sits upon the Throne who sits betwixt the Cherubims and clasps the heavens in his hands who dashes the heathen in pieces like a potters vessell who hath put a stand to the sea and his hook in the nosthrils of the Leviathan such a Prince is my Master and such a Master do I serve who can what he will O will what thou canst even the saving my soul in the great day of the Lord Jesus But I have many enemies the world about me the Devill beheath me the flesh within me all are combining my destruction many to one and that one a weakling lame with Jacob limping with Mephibosheth What shall I now go do shall I despair no against hope I will hope I will put my considence in the God of Israel and why for have faith to beleeve thine is the power to vanquish power to deliver power to exalt out of the dust dunghill to a crown of immortall glory O God and my King I will fight with beasts at Ephesus go out against great Goliah encounter the unclean spirit with seven worse than himself I am sure to be more than conqueror so I fight under thy Banner for thine is the power to subdue Hell death and the Devill Othou the preserver of men be thou my Lord Protector and I doe not fear the fury of all the furies of Og and Magog I aske nought without thy reach I crave nought more than thou canst give give me strength to fight thy battell ability to hold out in the day of Temptation then Lord will I not fear the Tempter since I am sure thou hast the sole power to support The Divine Contemplation upon the third Reason For thine is the Glory It 's an happy exchange when both parties fare the better canst thou give me nought but thou gettest by giving Lord supply thou my wants and take thou the honour of it I have nought to retaliate yet still I receive give me more of that I want Mercy and take what is due to thee thy Glory I am imboldned still to beg since my begging inhances the honour of thy name who will not give to gain give me what I want and the supply of my want shall be the Trumpet of thy praise It is my shame I am become so destitute of all good that I am supplyed by the Lord for it all glory be to the Lord. Thus our God casts his bread upon the waters not many daies after findes it we receive it in lumps of Mercy he findes it in a whole patch of Glory he gives what we need he receives what he stands no need of and thus he helps us poor despicable creatures and thus he heaps up a full measure of glory upon himself Ride on O Lord with thine honour be thou to us a God of compassion and inhaunce in the sight of the Heathen thy own Honour While thou doest good to man thou unmaskest thy Majesty among men Lord stretch out thy hand to do us good yea give us Grace and take thou the Glory A Divine Contemplation upon Ever I cannot see how this can be Thy Kingdome Power and Glory from all eternity I had a beginning in Time and therefore uncapable to conceivean Eternity before all Time O now that Reason
warned the Jewes to have a care of this when said to them Think not to say within your selves here 's provision taken against an open assault and a small skirmish O that this care were had over our bodies and sould then we might play at foiles and not receive so many disgracefull vinnies The Avowry I am resolved to have an eye all over and to stand upon my guard * Head to the foot a capo pe since required to take heed to the least harm carching in the incounter Now see what it is we pray for Deliverance from evill I will not divide Deliverance from Evill since Evill without Deliverance delivers us up to death Let us tye these two a good and a bad together and though the wolves guts being placed nigh the sheeps tharmes fret them all to pirces yet it 's my hopes this Innocent shal have the better of that Malefactor and that the nigher Deliverance makes his approach the suddenner downfall will betide Evill Let us team then these two together as Samson did his foxes to burn up the land of the Philistims But to save from spoil the * Soul land of israel 1. I mean let us treat upon Deliverance and Evill conjunctim our Deliverance from Evill 2. Then upon Evill all alone First these two Devill and sin are comprehended under this one only word Evill from which we pray for Deliverance to deliver us from Evill and what to deliver and us and from these thus named This sewes us Note the Devill and sin are our worst of enemies that abroad this at home that without doors this within doors that the prince of the aire this which we heir from Adam and earths in us and dwels in us in our bodies in our souls These two seek the destruction of our souls and bodies Whoso hears the cry of the Crocodile immediately he is a dead body O fear not him can kill the body but these can kill both body and soul Let me count of these for foes who are of force to be my undoing the undoing of all me and for ever Secondly what worse enemies than these which are alwaies at oddes with us Earthly enemies are not ever in action take sometimes truce with us the truth is these two never take truce no not a minute a moment Devill his daily journey is to compasse the earth and all to make us hellish proselytes Sin like the Sun is in continuall motion like the fountain ever bubling Hence saith our Saviour Why do thoughts arise and you shall see what arise and turn to Mar. 7.21 Streams of waters of Mara and amin and so many able to drown the Israel of God as the Red sea all the host of the Egyptians Thirdly it is the Devill and sin seek to destroy unum unitatem not only this or that person but the species Hist the whole kinde and posterity of Adam Nero wisht all Rome had but one head that so with one blow he might be their utter overthrow what he wisht these have wrought even all our overthrowes The Mirandillian Butchery the Parisian Mattens the Sicilian Evensong fall all far short of that these two have complotted acted against Adam and all us his off-spring And honce issues out my ill conceit against the Devill and sin Yea their hate to our kinde The Collect their continuall hate which stretches out its limits beyond this life to deprive us of a life everlastign this foul fact of these two hath made me resolve upon it to repair to those three to the trine Unity or Trinity in unity all to put up to them this petition Lord lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evill Let us now go take notice from what we desire deliverance it is from Evill By which word Evill you have heard is meant the Devill and Sin this is their style nones else That I note is Note nought is more evill than the Devill and Sin 1. For antiquity sio fuit a principie ever since Devill was a Devill and sin sin these have been evill 2. For spite or malice know you not devill makes God out of love with us and sin us out of love with Gods Law 3. For Complots the Devils device to harm Job and sins insinuation to bring Ananias to his end reveal they are horrible evill 4. The Devils Epithites the evill spirit the unclean spirit Mat. 12. and sins effect By one man came sin and by sin death make me give them this title Evill and deservedly I am resolved The Avowry since this they are to beware yea to watch and ward over my heat lest my heart admit of acquaintance with these two foul fiends the Devill and sin The Cases of Conseience now next come in and they be three The first whereof is this I. Case after what manner doth Lust and Concupiscence temps us to fin or intice or draw us on from serving God to become the servants of sin This is the hardest thing in the world to discover and therefore much pains must be taken to compleat an answer satisfactory Such a serious subject as this is slighting of it is unseemly and the Orator should be as ill thought of Hist as Alexander thought of Cherillus who gave him money to hold his peace 1. It is and for this cause that I am resolved first to demonstrate how lust effects this feat by a simile 2. To make the point more perspicuous I purpose God willing to describe lusts sick daies march through the heart of man and all to captivate poor foul and take the Man prisoner and lead him into that strong hold call'd Temptation First this may be made appear by a Simile drawn from flowers how lust or concupiscence entices or draws man on to sin You know there passes from flowers a subtle vapour which the sense of smelling drawes in and which drawes away the sense with delight after it So lust which sprung up in the Garden of Eden after Eve had finned from it as from a flower passes a subtle vapour of evill thoughts And as the sent of the flower goes on by the organ of smell into the brain so a sent of lusts even evill thoughts are carryed by that organ the common sense into the heart And as the delightfull smell makes us in love with the subtle vapour so the pleasures of lusts make us affect the vapours of evill which come from lust Nor are those evill vapours a few but full many apparent by those already quoted words of Christ Luk. 24. Why do thoughts arise in your hearts These are infectious vapours and more dangerous to the soul than fenny mists to the body if not scattered and blown a way by Gods Spirit they poyson soul and cast understanding will and memory the souls publick Notary into Feaver sits This is it hath made me resolve upon it The Avowry to beg of the good gardiner God
Of all kinde of pictures Nebuchaanezars whose head was of gold armes of filver belly of brasse legs of iron feet of clay The Ferriman rowes one way looks another way It 's commendable in his sea-calling not in the calling of Christians Sodoms Apples were fair to the eye but being touch't turned to ashes O what a misery is this to seem to be and not to be Pageants please spectators eyes you have another to please even your Father which is in heaven who tries the heart and searches the reins I approve of a glorious profession let not that be all beware of hypocrisie a white Devill makes as fair shew and comes to the Church and as ost with a white apron as in a white surplice Either be what thou seemest to be orelse shew thy self in thy own colours Straight what crookt conversation conscience that without doors this within else the one will be odious to man both to God Bear 't in minde man judges of the heart by thy words and deeds and thou maist decived him God judges of thy words and actions by thy heart and him thou canst not deceive Though some of you amongst so many it 's to be feared some be akin to the Adverb Quasi as it were but such so zealous yet it 's my hopes there 's but a few such dossemblers among you I should be sorry there should be above one Judas in the house of Jesus A second meditation this Amen gives birthdome and I thus deduct it from it Amen which signifies Christ is as a so w as from everlasting so to last and everlastingly Parallel thy prayer with its Author yea sample the one by the other there is no end of him let there be no end of thine O pray continually Mane the verb gives us it in command Let us hold out our prayers as Joshua did his spear lift up our voice unto the Lord as Moses did his hand let the waters of Eloim be our prayers embleme ever overflowing let the continue motion of the Sun move us continually to move in the sphere of prayer Why should I not lengthen my devotion to God since Gods calling on me and so oft ere I would give heed assures me I shall not be heard for a word when I call on him God hath cal'd on us a thousand times and we would never hear him turn'd deaf ear to him and think we to have God at a whistle when we call Too much we take upon us too little we set by the Lord shall we be so coy Why then should he be so kinde He cals we care not and for a call is there cause for us to exact his audience Dust and ashes is too presumptuous to deny so oft to expect an answer and for no more Must we turn deaf ear to God and must God be bound to hear us for a word With the sweat of our browes we are to earn our bread And for a word and away think we to get bread of life of the Lord of life Away unworthy wretches let the septuplate sound of the Trumpets prompt us on to lift up our voice like a Trumpet to the Lord and aloud and oft The fearfull Hare for the safegard of her life makes many doubles doubra lesse there must be doubling of our Prayers to winde us our of danger of death and Death stand we not in awe of thee I fear not to die but to dye eternally which let my prayers increase as the waters did under the threshold of the Temple Ezek. 47. Then will I not doubt by this sea of deep sounding supplications to be ferried over and set a shore at the gates of New Jerusalem I come to a second Reason 2. Hold out your prayers since its importunity will prevail Have you not heard if one word will not a second onset may do it if not a second a third O! continuall droppings of supplications can cause Gods heart thou hast hardned against thee give again Gutta cavat lapidem the stone is hollowed with incessant drops the unjust judge is move with the importunity of the poor widow shee 's not heard at first cries again again neglected and again cries out upon the unrighteous judge whose ears so much she troubles for her cause he never weighs till all he begs he grants That the parable imports is importunity seldome gets a may say and if not with the unrighteous Judge much lesse with the Judge of heaven and earth This is it hath made me resolve upon it to fall to prayers again and if I gain not what I goe about not to let God rest at quiet till my suit be signed 3. This is Gods own counsell pray continually what shall his counsell be no command a shame so much should be injoyned and so little done here is a long task and a lazie genration some never laying their hands to this labour I mean praying in private neither with their private families nor in their private closets Some disdaining to joyne with us in Common-prayers I mean in the Church in publick What 's the cause Where 's the defect wherein smell they either of Heresie or Superstition would God any loved me so well they would tell me and where and wherein I am not so obstinate but I would give him hearing and thanks if he deserve it In time I may meet with such a Goliah but I trust I need not fear his weavers beam But as for those cry out of all printed prayers I cannot but cry out of them and tell them to their teeths while they cry out of superstition in many things they are too superstitious and in speciall while they imagine there 's no printed prayer meet to have an Amen but it made and extemporary I have heard of two sorts of prayers have been mightily discommended by a Sect suppose themselves none-such and I would be sorry to be such as they are Prayer in print for private use our printed prayers used in publick For the first what thinkest thou all have the gift of prayer There 's one spirit but divers gifts every one the Text plain it hath not all of them what then must he do wants the gift of expressing himself to God by prayer these humorous heads debar such poor souls from pen'd prayers and leave them in a worse case than the Philistims lest the Israelites without an instrument to whet their blunted goads and mattocks For the second Church prayers why relishest thou not a pew-prayer as well as a pulpit-prayer O! the ones in print but the other is pend and by the spirit I tell thee and note it an extemporary pulpit-prayer made by the Minister in respect of thee is a set form of prayer and my reason to prove it is this for that thy spirit is bound to say Amen to what he hath dictated And now since both are set forms in respect of the people this i th' pulpit that i th' pew why maist not thou say Amen