hear a voice this hour as that wicked Pope did Veâ—i Miser in judicium Come thou wretch unto thy particular and eternal judgement what wouldst thou do where wouldst thou appear and where wouldst thou leave thy glory Isai 10.3 I would not for a world take thy turn How is it possible that thou canst eat or drink or sleep with any quietness of mind that in the day thy meat is not sauced with sorrow and thy drink mingled with weeping that in the night thou art not scared with dreams and terrified with visions when thy whole eternity dependeth upon that little thread of life which is in danger every moment to be cut asunder and thou to drop into hell Art thou a man that hast reason and canst thou be contented one hour in such a condition Art thou a Christian that believest the Word of God to be truth and canst thou continue one moment longer in that Sodom of thy natural estate which will be punished with fire and brimstone I tell thee didst thou and the rest of thy carnal neighbours but give credit to Scripture thou and they too would sooner sleep in a chamber where all the wals round the cieling above and floor below were in a burning light flame then rest quietly one moment in thine estate of sin and wrath But for thy sake thy condition yet not being desperate though very dangerous that thou mightest avoid the easeless misery of the sinner and attain the endlesse felicity of the Saint I have purposely written the next Use which I request thee as thou lovest thy life thy soul thine unchangeable good nay I charge thee as thou wilt answer the contrary at the great and dreadful day of the Lord Jesus that thou read carefully and that thou practice faithfully the means and directions therein propounded out of the Word of God 3. My third Use shall be of exhortation to those that are dead in sins to labour for this spiritual life Whoever thou art that wouldest have gain by thy death then get Christ to be thy life Hast thou read of that fulness of joy of those rivers of pleasures of that exceeding and eternal weight of glory of that Kingdom that cannot be shaken of that enjoyment of Christ of that full immediate fruition of God and in him of all good of that perfect freedom from all evil which they and only they shall be partakers of who have this spiritual life And is not thy heart inflamed with love to it thy soul enlarged in desire after it Extrema Christianorum desiderantur etsi non exâ—r iâ— Hiâ—â— thy will resolved to venture all and undertake any thing for it Surely if thou art a man and hast reason thy will and affections will be carried out after things that are good but if thou hast but a spark of Christianity thou canst not but be exceedingly ravished with things so eminently so superlatively so infinitely good The Historian observeth that the riches of Cyprus invited the Romans to hazard dangerous fights for the conquering it How many storms doth the Merchant sail through for corruptible treasures How often doth the Souldier venture his limbs nay his life for a little perishing plunder Reader I am perswading thee to mind the true treasure durable riches even those which will swim out with thee in the shipwrack of death Stephen Gardiner said of justification by Faith only that it was a good supper doctrine though not so good a break-fast one So the power of godliness this spiritual life though it be not so pleasant to live in as to the flesh yet it is most comfortable to die with When Moses had heard a little of the earthly Canaan how earnestly doth he beg that he might see it Deut. 3.25 I pray thee let me go over and see the good Land that is beyond Jordan that goodly mountain and Lebanon Thou hast read a little of the heavenly Canaan and hast thou not ten thousend times more cause to desire it Plato saith If moral Philosophy could be seen with moral eyes it would draw all mens hearts after it May not I more truly say if the gain of a Saint at death could be seen with spiritual eyes with the eye of faith it would make all men in love with it and eager after it Baalam as bad as he was did desire to die the death of the righteous and surely they that dislike their way cannot but desire their end but God hath joyned them both together and it is not in the power of any man to put them asunder therefore if thou wouldst die their deaths thou must live their spiritual lives Holinesse is the seed out of which that harvest groweth If thou wouldst be safe when thou shalt launch into the vast Ocean of eternity if thou wouldst be received into the celestial habitation when thou shalt be turned out of thy house of clay make sure of this life in Christ If an Heathen Prince would not admit Virgins to his bed before they were purified Est 2.12 canst thou think the King of Kings will take thee into his nearest and dearest embraces before thou art sanctified Believe it heaven must be in thee before thou shalt be in heaven Unless the Spirit of God adorn thy soul as Abrams servant did Rebeckah with the jewels of grace thou art no fit Spouse for the true Isaak the Lord of glory The brutish worldling indeed would willingly live prophanely and yet die comfortably dance with the Devil all day and sup with Christ at night have his portion in this world with the rich man in the other world with Lazarus There is a story of one thaâ— b iâ—g repâ—â—ved for his vicious life and pâ—rswaded to mind godliness would anâ— often Thâ—t it was but sayâ—ng three words at his death â—nd he â—as sure to have eternal life probably his three words were Miâ—erere mei Deus but he riding one day over a bridge his horse stumbled and as boâ—h werâ— falling into the river he cryeth out Capiat omnia diabolus â—o se and mâ—n â—nd all to the Devil As he l ved so he died with three words 〈…〉 such as he hoped to have had As the young swaggerer told his gracelesse companion when they had been with Ambrose and seen him on his death-bed nothing affrighted at the approach of the King of terrors but triumphing over it O that I might live with thee and die with Ambrose But this cannot be an happy death is the conclusion of an holy life The God who giveth heaven hath in great letters written in his Word upon what termes and no other it may be had He chooseth to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth 2 Thess 2.13 It is as possible for thee to enjoy the benefit of the Sons passion without the Fathers creation as without the Spirits sanctification Believe the word of truth John 3.3 Verily verily I say unto thee except a
God may imprint what he pleaseth Lord what wilt thou have me do The other instance is in the cruel rough hard-hearted Jaylour After the earth-quake and the heart-quake which God had caused he springs trembling in and fell down before Paul and Silas crying out Sirs What shall I do to be saved Acts 16. 29 30. Observe now the man is heart-sick indeed he is willing to take the most bitter pills As if he had said Sirs Do but tell me what I must do for salvation though the terms be never so hard the conditions never so unpleasant the price never so much the pains never so great yet I will submit to any thing to all things for salvation What must I do to be saved When the Israelite first sets out towards Canaan there is a mixt multitude of carnal affections which desire and endeavour to bear him company now because God knoweth that the land is too good for such evil inhabitants and besides that they will cause many mutinies in the way he brings therefore the Israelite into the wildernesse to humble him and to cut them off Before the soul be throughly humbled it dodgeth with Christ it plaies fast and loose off and on this it liketh and that it disliketh this part of the yoke is uneasie this burthen is too heavy and such and such commandments are grievous fain it would have Christ and his precious promises but loth it is to forego its old friends its beloved lusts but when God is pleased to take the sinner by the throat and to shake him out of his security by shewing him sin and wrath in their colours making him sensible of the one and terrifying him with a fearful expectation of the other laying him at the pits brink within the smoak of hell within the smell of that brimstone within the sorchings of that eternal fire which is prepared for the Devil and his Angles now the sinner seeth that God is in earnest and therefore dareth not halt or halve it any longer now he is in a boisterous storm and casteth all those goods his darling-sinnes into the sea perceiving that he must perish if he do not God is necessitated to launce mens wounds and put them to pain because otherwise they cannot be cured When the metal is thus melted God may cast it into what mold he pleaseth O thrice happy is that heart which hath been deeply and truly humbled it shall hold out in those tempests wherein many others shall make shipwrack of faith and a good conscience Thirdly 3 Direction Application of Christ if thou hast been faithful in following my former advice to get thy mind enlightned to see and thy heart throughly humbled for thy sin and misery thy next work is to rest and rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon grace and salvation To look upon him as one appointed by the father given by himself sanctified by the spirit and revealed in the word of truth the Gospel to be the onely and al-sufficient Saviour of lost souls It is now the proper time for thee to cast thy soul thy sins thine eternal estate upon the infinite meritoriousnesse of the blessed Redeemer Experience sheweth that it is very easie for an unbroken sinner to presume but surely it is very hard for an humbled sinner that hath had all his vilenesse and unworthinesse displayed before his eye and the infinite wrath of God like a mountain of lead oppressing his conscience to believe and therefore I have prepared some choice cordials for such fainting spirits which I shall give thee anon But my work now is to beseech thee broken heart that thou take heed of thinking to lick thy self whole I know the Devil and thy heart will be both busie and diligent to get thee to make a Christ of thy contrition and a Saviour of thy humiliation O how unwilling is man when he hath shipwrack't his soul to commit himself naked to the sea of Christs blood how earnest is he to have the chains and jewels of his earthly affections along with him This spiritual life is a liâ—e of Faith and indeed upon this the whole almost of thy work dependeth Fide regenâ—ramur resipiscontia non solum fidem subsâ—quitur sed ex ea nascitur Calv. and to swim out upon the rotten boards of his own works Reader now therefore especially if thy soul be in a flame be careful out of what well thou drawest thy water to quench it This is one of the chiefest nay the chiefest of all fundamentals in Religion and therefore it behoveth thee to be very tender Now thou art nigh drowning neer sinking in the Ocean of divine fury thou hadst need to make sure that the bough or stake or what ever it be by which thou holdest be strong enough and able to bear thy weight It is likely nay it is certain if thou art humbled as aforesaid thou prayest thou mournest thou sighest thou loathest thy self for thy wickednesse thou admirest God for his forbearance thou longest after help and deliverance be sure that thou do not look on these as so much money wherewith thou maiest purchase thy pardon and buy off thy guilt for believe it if thou doest as white as thy silver is it will draw black lines instead of wiping off thy old score thou wilt thereby run further in debt Evangelical humiliation is required not so much to make thee acceptable to Christ as to make Christ acceptable to thee It is a good evidence of the beginnings of sanctification but it is a bad advocate for thy justification It is as truly dangerous to appear before God in the rags of thy own righteousnesse as in thy sinful nakednesse If ever thou receive the blessing of pardon and love from thy heavenly father it must be by appearing in the garments of thine elder brother He maketh his acceptable but it is in Christ the beloved Eph. 1.6 Nothing but perfect righteousnesse will pacifie Gods anger or satisfie his justice or please those eyes which are purer than to behold the least iniquity And this righteousnesse is onely in Christ who was made sin for thee that thou mightst become the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Corinth 5. ult Do not therefore when thou ceasest to be an Athiest begin to be a Papist in relying upon thy good works for though God will not save thee without them yet he will never save thee for them Shepherds Sincere Convert p. 107. Edit 5. Canst thou saith an eminent Minister now with Christ make thy self a Christ for thy self Canst thou bear and come from under an infinite wrath canst thou bring in perfect righteousnesse into the presence of God This Christ must do else he could not satisfie and redeem And if thou canst not do this and hast no Christ desire and pray till heaven and earth shake till thou hast worn thy tongue to the stumps endeavour as much as thou canst and others commend thee for a diligent
Piscator will by no means grant it to be the mind of the Spirit in this place In the words you may see the sign of a Saint to him to live is Christ and his solace to him to die is gain his holy description in the former his happy condition in the latter The Text being thus explained affordeth this truth taking both parts of it together Doctrine That such as have Christ for their life shall have gain by their death He that liveth in Christ on earth shall live with Christ in heaven Where the soul hath the seed of holinesse it shall reap an harvest of happinesse The Apostle when he summeth up the estate of a believer counteth death as a part of his riches Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death all are yours 1 Cor. 3.22 and ye are Christs he that can say I am Christs may as truly say Death is mine If thou canst say I am Christs servant I am Christs Subject thou mayest say Death will be my preferment death will be my advancement For the Explication of this doctrine I shall shew first what is meant by that phrase to me to live is Christ and secondly wherein it will appear that death to such a man iâ— gain Four things in the phrase To me to live is Christ For the former To me to live is Christ may imply these four things 1. Christ is the principle of my life All living creatures have an inward principle by which they live and according to which they act Plants have a principle of vegetation beasts have a principle of sense Ad vitam spiritualem quod attinet certum est adnos derivari exiguos quosdam rivulos ipsum autem fontem in Christo latere Daven in Col. 3.3 men have a principle of reason and their lives are different answerable to their different principles But a Christian hath an higher principle that is Christ dwelling in his heart by faith Ephes 3.17 and thence it is that he lives an higher life As the body liveth by its union with the soul so the Christian liveth by his union with Jesus Christ Christ is the fountaine and spring of his life the soul of his soul and the life of his life I live saith the Apostle Gal. 2.20 yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Sonne of God As the branches they live but it is by the root they derive sap from it and so live by it So the believer he liveth spiritually but it is by Christ he deriveth the sap of grace from this true Vine and so liveth by him The water in the Rivers doth not more depend upon the Ocean nor the light in the air upon the Sun than the life of a Christian dependeth on Jesus Christ And therefore the Holy Ghost telleth us He that hath the Son 1 Joh. 5.12 hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life I have sometime read that the Lioness bringeth forth her whelps dead till after some time the lion roareth aloud and then they live This is certain every man and woman is born dead dead to God dead in sins and trespasses till this lion of rhe tribe of Judah uttereth his voice then they arise from the dead and Christ giveth them life When the soul like the body of Lazarus hath been dead so long that it stinketh and is unsavory when it hath been many dayes nay many years rotting in the grave of corruption then if Jesus Christ calleth effectually Lazarus come forth sinner come forth of thy carnal unregenerate estate then and not till then the soul heareth the voice of the Son of God and liveth Grace is of a divine birth Joh. 3.3 it is the seed of God John 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Except a man be born from above 1 Joh. 3.9 an unction from the holy One 1 Joh. 2.27 called dew which is of a coelestial extraction Psal 110.3 and light 1 Joh. 1.7 the fountain of water is in the earth but the fountain of light is in the Heavens Non nascimur sed renascimur christiani The web of godlinesse was never spun out of mans own bowels As none can see the Sun but by its own light so none can with an eye of faith see the Sun of righteousnesse but by the light of grace derived from him We are his workmanship saith the Apostle created in Jesus Christ unto good works His workmanship not only in our natural capacity as men as creatures and in our civil capacity as rich or poor high or low but also in our spiritual capacity as Christians as new creatures Secondly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the pattern of my life my life is not onely from him but according to him Christ is the rule according to which I walk the copy after which I write As sin and disobedience is a resemblance of the first so grace and holinesse is a resemblance of the second Adam True christianity consisteth in nothing but our conformity to Sanctitas dicitur per quam mens scipsam suos actâ—â— applicat Deo So the Schoolâ—e and imitation of Jesus Christ And indeed as the child in generation receiveth from the parent member for member part for part and the paper from the press word for word letter for lettter and the wax from the seal figure for figure So in regeneration Christ is formed in the soul and it receiveth according to its proportion grace for grace One end of Christs incarnation and life in the flesh was to set an exact pattern for our lives in the spirit He left us an example that we shoeld follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 All the actions of Christ are instructions to a Christian His actions were either moral or mediatory In both the Christian imitates him In the former doing as he did exercising the same graces performing the same duties resisting the same temptations forbearing the same corruptions In the latter by similitude dying to sin as he died for sin rising to a spiritual life as he rose again to a natural life None indeed can parallel the life of Christ but every new creature imitateth Christ in his life he walketh as Christ walked Philip. 2 1 Joh. 2.6 The same mind is in all the Saints so far as they are regenerated that was in Christ the same will the same affections they love what he loveth they loath what he loatheth what pleaseth him pleaseth them what grieveth his spirit grieveth their spirits As the wicked are like their father the Devil unholy as he is unholy so the children of Christ are like their everlasting Father holy as he is holy onely with this difference in Christ there is a fulnesse in them a measure in Christ pureness in them a mixture Thirdly To me to live is Christ i. e. Christ is the comfort of
you are of his honor that was so tender of your eternal welfare how you testifie your thankfulnesse to him for all the bitter agony and ignominy which he suffered for you You shall shortly never more have the least opportunitie though you would give a thousand worlds for it to do any thing in for Gods glorie your own or others good Work therefore the work of him that sent you into the world while it is the day of your life for the night of death is hastening on you wherein you cannot work Up and be doing as a Christian as a Magistrate and the Lord be with you Sir I have no more to speak to you but that the Hearer of prayers may hear often from you that I may take heed to the ministrie which I have received of the Lord and fulfil it and to assure you that my prayers at the throne of grace shall be that you and your religious Consort may continue to dwell together as fellow heirs of the grace of life and your hopeful Children may be planted with and grow up in grace till they shall be transplanted into the true Paradise the Kingdom of Glorie This through the help of heaven shall be the petition of Your real Servant in the ever blessed Saviour George Swinnocke Febr. 15. 1658. 9. Christian Reader THere are two thing which should be of highest regard with us a serviceable life and a comfortable death and they are both so inseparably conjoyned that in vain do we hope for the one without the other which of these is to be preferred was a doubt which put the Apostle to an Anxious disquisition on the one side there was service on the other side there was gain if he lived he should preach Christ if he dyed he should enjoy Christ and remain with him for ever therefore Paul was at a stand and knew not what to determine Surely he had an holy heart that could thus set duty against enjoyment and think his service worthy to come into competition with his spiritual and eternal interests that which made Paul so indifferent and incurious as to the means was the resolved fixing of his scope his end scope was Christs glory now 't was all one to him how God would use him to such a purpose as a man that is resolved upon a journey taketh the way as he findeth it fair or foul t is enough that it leadeth him to his journeys end so Christ might be glorified either by his Ministry or by martyrdom Paul was indifferent 't was enough that Christ should be glorified none have such an unfeighned respect to Christs glory but those that live in the communion of his life mens tendency is according to the principle by which they are acted carnal men that act by their own life and live upon their own root bring forth fruit to themselves water riseth no higher than its fountain but those that have life from Christ use it for him to them to live is Christ as they live in him and by him so they live for him and to him We need then to take all occasions to press men to get into Christ that they may live in the communion of his life and in the strength and influence of it be carryed out to his glory this is that which will make life serviceable and death sweet and to this we need to be pressed by all kinde of arguments both those which are taken from Gods relation to us as also those which are taken from our expectations from him Rom. 14.8 We are the Lords by every kinde of right and title and therefore owe all manner of service to him even though nothing should come of it but they that do the Lords work will not want his wages though he might require our service out of meer soveraignty yet he condescendeth to propound a reward and that so full and ample that it should ravish our hearts every time we think of it These considerations which I have here loosely discoursed of are notably improved in the ensuing treatise which being communicated to me by a friend of the Author I could not but return it with this Character that 't is a discourse grave and judicious and yet quickened with such warmth and vigor of illustration as that it may be of great use to awaken men unto more seriousness in the great concernments of their souls among which nothing can be more momentous than our living in Christ that we may live to him and then with him for evermore this being signified I leave thee to the work it self which I cannot but judge to proceed from one both of a good head and heart and profess my self Thine in the service of the Gospel Tho. Manton THE PREFACE and EPISTLE TO THE READER Especially of the Parish of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire and Borden in Kent as also the occasion of this Treatise I Have sometime considered with my self not without some remorse and grief of spirt the multitudes of men and women that even in those places where the Word of God is plainly and powerfully taught run headlong in the broad way which leadeth to destruction And indeed if my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night though every tear were a tear of blood I could never sufficiently bewail the slain of the daughter of my people of that Parish to which the providence of God hath called me That the lying vanities of this world should by most be so greedily pursued and the reall mercies relating to a better world so wretchedly despised that a brutish flesh which must shortly be food for wormes should be so highly prized and constantly gratified and an angelical spirit the soul which must live for ever so basely slighted and unworthily neglected that every soul-damning lust should be so heartily embraced and the soul-saving Lord but coldly and complementally entertained that the road to Hell should be so exceedingly filled and the way to Heaven almost wholly unoccupied Surely this ought to be for a bitter lamentation and O what sea of blood is enough to bemoan this horrid wickednesse It hath seemed to me therefore a matter worthy of diligent enquiry what special Malefactors should be indicted for these many soul-mischeifs and soul-murders which are committed amongst us And truly by that acquaintance which I have with the Word of God and experience of the soul-affairs of men I find though many Accessaries might be named that ignorance ought to be arraigned and condemned as one of the principals The people perish for want of knowledge Hos 4.6 Inner darkness is the beaten path to utter darkness to the blackness of darkness for ever Men in this mist of ignorance like ships run upon those rocks which split them eternally As the Indians prefer every toy and trifle before their Mines of Gold so they every sensuall sinful pleasure every foolish perishing creature before the beautiful Image of God the
were handled The Contents will make full satisfaction for that error My absence from the Press hath occasioned also some few mistakes in the body of the Book the most considerable of which I have observed and request thee to amend The Greek and Latine are mangled in the Margine but I intending not the Treatise for Scholars medled little with them and am the less troubled for the mistakes about them Errata PAge 7. line 21. r. is p. 20. l. 10. r. there p. 23. l. 21. add iâ— p. 37. l. 8. r. shall p. 41. l. 3. r. Demarathus p. 81. l. 23. r. such p. 116. l. 6. r. life p. 123. l. 2. add shall p. 159. l. 25. 1. whos 's l. 26. r. mayst p. 192. l. 24. add for p. 198. l. 20. add years p. 278. l. 4. for Christ is a co-heir r. Christ is heir Margine Pag. 4. r. an p. 35. â— adeptio p. 39. r. cummo Phil. 1.12 For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain IT is a memorable observation of that Christian Heathen Vivere tâ—ta vita discendum est quod magis fortasse miraberis tota vita discendum est mori Sene. ad Paulin. cap. 7. as he hath been sometime called That the two great lessons which every man hath to learn in the whole time of his life are how to live and how to dye how to live vertuously and how to die valiantly These two weighty questions are clearly and fully answered in this Text. It declareth and delivereth such directions about life as could never be learned in the school of nature improved to the utmost It prepareth and provideth such a cordial against death as could never be extracted out of all the creatures distill'd together And indeed herein the excellency of the Christian Religion appeareth above all Religions in the world None enjoyneth such pious precepts none subjoyneth such precious promises none sets the soul about so noble a work none satisfieth it with such an ample reward The scope of the Apostle in this Epistle is first to confirm the Philippians in the faith of Christ against the scandal of the Crosse And secondly to exhort them to such godlinesse as might be answerable to the Gospel In this first Chapter Paul encourageth them greatly to be constant in Christianity 1. From the nature of God who never doth his works by halves but performeth what he promiseth and perfecteth what he beginneth ver 6. 2. From his own prayer which was for their increase and perseverance in grace and that inoffensively to Gods glory verse 9.10 3. From the happy fruits of his sufferings for the faith The Rod wherewith he was scourged like Aarons Rod blossomed First The Gospel was the more propagated verse 12. The more the Husbandmen were dispersed the more the seed of the Word was scattered and the deeper the ground was ploughed it took the better root and brought forth the greater fruit Secondly The Ministers of the Gospel were the more emboldned ver 14. True zeal like the fire burns hottest in the coldest season and sincerity like the stars though it may be hid in a warme day yet it will be sure to shew it self in a frosty night Thirdly Eveniunt mihi ut mi hisâ—ut salutaria Trem. in Phil. 1.19 Paul himself should be much advantaged verse 19. which latter he amplifieth by acquainting them with the reason of that hope namely the assistance of the Spirit of Christ verse 19. and the assurance God had wrought in him from his experience of what God had done for him that his Saviour should be honoured and his salvation furthered both by his life and death ver 20.21 The Text considered relatively contains the ground why the Philippians should not be troubled so much at Pauls trials For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain i. e. If I be a gainer in all conditions why should you be discouraged by my afflictions If sufferings advantage the Pastor why should they dishearten the people The children may well enjoy a calm in their spirits when their spiritual Father is safe nay a gainer in the greaâ—â—st storme Take the words absolutely and they include first the character of a Christian while he liveth To me to live is Christ and secondly the comfort of a Christian when he dyeth and to die is gain Or you may take notice of the piety of a Saint in life To me to live is Christ and his profit by death to dye is gain For the meaning of the words To me To me who am the mark at which hell and the world shoot their arrowes of persecution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To me whose life hath been a ring of miseries ever since my conversion To me who am set to undergo both mens and devils opposition yet to me there are spiritual and inward consolations For to me to live is Christ To me to live is Christ To me who am in Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nam mihi vivere Christus est i. e. Tota meavita ad hoc ordinata est ut per meum ministerium perque meam vocationem verbis factis promoveam pro mea virili regnum Christi Au non hac res bona cuique fideli optanda Zanch. in loc to me to live is Christ I live not only the life of nature but I live also the life of grace I have not only a being from Christ as a man but likewise a well-being in Christ as a Christian as I did receive my life from Christ so I do improve my life for Christ his honour is my utmost desire and my greatest endeavour And to die is gain i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diodate to this purpose I having had no other object no employment but Christ and his service in my life shall certainly have an eternal advancement at my death Or Christ is my life here by grace and hereafter by glory He is both the Authour and the end of my life I live for him I live to him I live in him I live by him and if I be put to death that shall no way endamage me but rather bring me great advantage in regard that thereby I shall gain heaven for earth an happy eternal life for this miserable mortal life So our larger Annotations sense it a Atqui Christus in utroque membro subjectum esse debet Christus vita in vita Christus lucrum in morte Cal. in loc Mihi enim est Christus in vita in morte lumen Beza Some indeed read the words Christ is my gain both in life and death and therefore the Apostle was little troubled at but rather indifferent to all conditions There is a certain truth in this Exposition though b Sic haec sententia non cohaerebit uâ— râ—tiocum praecedente quod tamen postulat conjunctio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 namaliud â—st gloria Christi aliud salus Pauli Piscat in loc
the message might have been wel-come and death desireable as a passage to eternal life but it 's Thou fool had it been this year or this month nay had it been this week the man might have been fore-warned and fore-armed but it is this night thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been this night thy riches shall be required of thee how harsh would it have sounded in his eares who had no other God but his gold who like a Mole lived in the earth as his element O how hard would it be to part this covetous muck-worm and his Mammon of unrighteousnesse but it is not thy silver but thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been This night thy relations shall be required of thee thy wife and children and all thy kindred shall be required of thee what heavy tidings would it have been to his heart that had had no kindred in heaven with what wringing of hands and watering of cheeks and sighs and sobs would such news have been entertained many an eye would a tender husband and father have cast upon his loving wife and lovely babes and O how would his eye have affected his heart with grief and sorrow to consider that these thriving hopeful plants must be removed into another soil that this near conjugal knot must be untied and he and his dearest relations who had so often and so much rejoyced together so suddenly be separated and that for ever but it is not thy wife that is one flesh with thee but thy Spouse that is a spirit within thee thy soul shall be required of thee Had it been This night all the means of grace shall be required of thee it had been worse then the losse of a limb to him that had had any spiritual life the Ordinances of God to a soul are as the Sun to the world without which notwithstanding all its earthly delights it would be but a place of darknesse and of the shadow of death Matth. 4.16 but it is thy soul the former might have spoken the mans condition very dangerous but this speaks it altogether desperate Thou fool this night thy soul shall he required of thee The former although sad are yet nothing to this not so much as the noise of a podgun to the noise of a Cannon This is the great Ordnance which includes and yet drowns those smaller pieces Couldst thou Ambr. ult pag. 69. saith one upen the fore-cited Text purchase a Monopoly of all the world hadst thou the Gold of the West the Treasures of the East the Spices of the South the Pearls of the North all is nothing to this incarnate Angel this invaluable soul O wretched worldling what hast thou done thus to undo thy soul Was it a wedge of gold an heap of earth an hoard of silver to which thou trustedst see they are gone and thy soul is required Alas poor soul whither must it go to heaven No there is another place for wandring sinners Go ye into everlasting fire prepared for the Divel and his Angels thither must it go with heavinesse of heart into a Kingdome of darknesse a lake of fire a prison of horrible confusion and terrible tortures Reader if thou art not new-born put this case to thy self and ask thy soul what it wil do in such an hour when the grave shall come with an habeas corpus for thy body and the Divel with an habeas animam for thy soul when thy soul shall leave this dwelling of thy body and passe naked of all its comforts into a far countrey where Divels and damned spirits are the inhabitants where screeching yelling and howling is the language where fire and brimstone is the meat and a cup of pure wrath without the least mixture is the drink where weeping and wailing is their calling where a killing death is all their life Assure thy self if thou diest unsanctified thou wilt find far more and worse then all this O my soul saith Bernard what a terrible day shall that be Bern. medita when thou shalt leave this mansion and enter into an unknown Region who can deliver thee from those ramping Lyons who shall defend thee from those hellish monsters Now thou most unworthily undervaluest thy precious soul little caring what flaws by sin thou causest in this Diamond like the cock on the dung-hill thou knowest not the worth of this Jewel but preferrest thy barly-corns before it I have read that there was a time when the Romans did wear Jewels on their shoes thou do'st worse thou tramplest this matchlesse Jewel under thy feet whil'st thy dying body is cloathed and pampered thy ever-living soul is naked and starved some write of Herod I suppose because of that infant massacre It was better to be his swine than his Sonne for when his superstition hindred him from slaying his hogs his ambition helpt him to kill his child I say it were better to be thy beast than thy soul thou canst every morning and evening what ever happen take care that thy beasts be watered and foddered and many times in the day look abroad after them to see what they ail and accordingly take order for their supply and yet O man or rather O brute thou canst let thy soul go an whole day and never feed it with the set meals of prayer Scripture and meditation yea and in an whole day nay it may be an whole week not ask thy soul in good earnest how it doth what it wanteth what sins it hath to be mortified what grace it hath to be bestowed or increased what spiritual necessities to be supplied Reader Is it not so let conscience speak and canst thou read these lines without blushing and heart-breaking that thou shouldest spend more time and strength upon thy beasts than upon that soul which truth it self saith is more worth than a world Matth. 16.26 which is created capable of such an high work as pleasing glorifying and enjoying God and of such an happy reward as the immediate and eternal fruition of and communion with his infinite majesty in heaven Well this soul thus despised when lost though then too late will be esteemed Hell will read thee such a Lecture of thy souls worth that it will make thee understand it and believe it whether thou wilt or no and then thou shalt have time enough in that eternity in which thy soul shall be lost to befool thy self for thy desperate madnesse in gratifying thy bruitish flesh and thus basely neglecting thy soul that heaven-born Spirit Sixthly Thou shalt by death lose the infinitely blessed God this is the losse of losses the misery of miseries the very hell of hell such a loss as there was never the like before it nor ever shall be again after it such a loss as no tongue can express as no heart can conceive yet such a loss as thou shalt know fully when experimentally The four first losses might have been born with comfort and delight by
and take him in Gen. 8.9 Then and not till then he crieth out with the Psalmish Return to thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now Reader what say'st thou how is it with thee Do thy affections as the waters of Jordan overflow their banks at the time of thine earthly harvest Josh 3.15 Or like the bird do'st thou then sing most merrily when thou art mounting up to heaven Art thou willing to be served as the children of Abrams Concubines put off with ordinary gifts or must thou like Isaac have all even Jesus Christ or else thou esteemest thy self to have nothing Gen. 25 5 6. 4. Is Christ the end of thy life Is it thy main scope to live to him that died for thee Doth the compasse of thy soul without trepidation stand right to this pole the glory of Jesus Christ For none of us liveth to himself saith the Apostle and no man dieth to himself but whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die we are the Lords For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living Rom. 14.7 8 9. A sincere Christian dedicates his body soul name estate relations interests and his all to the glory of Christ and wisheth he had something better to consecrate to him As the Grecian told the Emperour If I had more more would I give thee so the Saint desireth that he may believe more and repent more and hate sin more and for this end that he may exalt Christ more The Philosopher telleth us that means move by the goodnesse of their ends Media movent bonitate finis not by any absolute goodnesse of their own but by their relative goodnesse the goodnesse of their ends as we take Physick not for Physicks sake but for healths sake So duties and Ordinances move a Christian to mind them not so much for their own sake as for their â—nds sake he prayeth fasteth readeth meditateth that he may thereby and therein please glorifie and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ But now a Professour without the power of godlinesse hath another end He goeth to Church but it is as the cut-purse not to seek God but his prey He performeth duties but either for self-credit Matth. 6.2 as Pliny observeth of the Nightingale As that Emperor who commanded all golden Idols to be pull'd down out of Churches not out of hatred to the Idols but out of love to the gold that she will sing much longer and louder when men are by then when they are not or else for self-profit Matth. 23.14 Like him in the comedy that cried out O heavens but pointed to the earth Religion is either this mans stirrup by which he hopes to get into the saddle above his Neighbours or else it is his stalking horse which he contentedly followeth all day because it may bring him in some gain at night like Satan he may assume the shape of Samuel but it is only upon some particular errand and for his own ends This man is not holy but crafty and doth not serve God but himself of God Reader search whether thou art not one of these Thou art but an empty vine if thou bringest forth fruit to thy self Hos 10.1 O how many a work materially good being flie-blown with self proves sormally bad and so becomes stinking and unsavoury in the nostrils of God! Self is the pirate which too too often intercepteth the golden fleet of religious performances that they cannot return fraughted with blessings It concerneth thee therefore to observe thy ends what are thy ends in thy eating and drinking and all thy natural and civil actions is thy end to please and gratifie the flesh or is it that thou mayst get health and strength and thereby be the more serviceable to thy Maker and Redeemer what is thy end in thy spiritual undertakings is duty the end of duty or is obedience to the honour of and Communion with Christ the end of thy performances make a pause before thou readest farther and answer the Lord who commandeth thee to examine and know the state of thy soul But because I would willingly find thee out whoever thou art and have thee fully acquainted with thy spiritual condition I shall desire thee to try thy spiritual condition by the efficient cause of it and that is the Spirit of God The holy Ghost is called the Spirit of life Rom. 8.2 and indeed he only hath this spiritual life that hath this Spirit of life As all the members of the natural body are actuated and enlivened by the same humane spirit from the Head So all the Members of the Mystical body are quickened and actuated by the same Divine Spirit from their Head the Lord Jesus Christ Mark therefore that one place in Rom. 8.9 how full it is to this purpose for upon that place the weight of all I have to speak further about this Use of trial will depend The words are these But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you Mark Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Observe I beseech thee If any man let him pretend never so much let his priviledges be never so many let his profession be never so great and his performances never so numerous yet if he have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his so that if the Spirit of Christ have not its habitation in thee thou hast no spiritual relation to Jesus Christ Now I shall teach thee to know whether the Spirit be in thee or no by two of its effects or properties the first will be more general the second more special 1. The Spirit of God if it be in thee will purifie thee for it is a purifying Spirit Sanctification is the proper work of the Spirit of Christ It is called the holy Ghost and it is holy not only subjectively but effectively it worketh holinesse and makes men holy 1 Cor. 6.11 It infuseth holy habits and principles into the soul whereby it is enabled to fight with and by degrees to foyl its corruptions It changeth the understanding by illumination the will by renovation and the affections by sanctification it doth not infuse new faculties into the soul but it doth renew the old it turneth the same waters into another Channel they ran before after the world and the flesh but now after God and his wayes It is as it were the same viol only it is new tuned before it could make no musick in praying or singing but now it is so melodious that it delighteth the heart and ravisheth the ear of God himself The old Moon and the new are the same only the new hath a new endowment of light from the Sun which it had not before so it is here the purified person
be farthest from and most opposite to Christ when they receive the most light of prosperity from him and art fullest of the blessings of his goodness Take heed thou be not like the Horse and Mule Psalm 32.9 to drink plentifully of the streames and never look to the Fountain but let thine eyes as the Churches be Doves eyes When the Dove hath pecked her corn she turneth her eyes heavenward she looketh up Cant. 1.15 It is reported of the Spartans that they use to choose their King every year during which year he liveth in all abundance but is after the year be expired banisht into some remote place for ever One King knowing this being called to be King did not as others prodigally spend his revenues but heaped up all the treasure he could get together and sent it before to that place whither he should be banisht and so in the year of his Government made a comfortable provision for his whole life So wise are they that lay up a treasure in Heaven against the time of their departure out of this world Art thou poor Labour for this spiritual life it will make thee rich indeed Thou hast little on earth but thou mayst have a treasure in heaven God offereth thee Grace Christ and Life as freely as others take heed thou neglect them not and think as they in Sweden that it is only for Gentlemen to keep the Sabbath that its only for Gentlemen to mind Religion thou hast a soul to save an endlesse estate to provide for an hell to escape an heaven to attain a dreadful day of judgement to prepare for as well as they It is a great mercy that though God difference thee from others in temporals yet not in spirituals Among the Israelites the price for their ransome was equal half a shekel the rich shall not give more nor the poor lesse Exod. 30.12 15 16. thereby * Willet in loc signifying that the same price was paid by Christ for the redemption of all poor as well as rich and that the vertue and merits of Christs passion belong equally to all thy outward condition doth not exclude thee from an interest in Christs death and intercession Poor Lazarus may lie in the bosom of rich Abraham The poor may be gospellized as that Matth. 11.5 is sometimes read not only have the Gospel preached to them but be changed by it God accepted the Lamb and Dove in sacrifice when he rejected the Lion and Eagle But thou must be one of Gods poor not of the Devils ragged Regiment Will it not be sad for thee to have two hels one on earth in cold hunger and thirst and wants and another in hell in heat and unspeakable woe How many of thy condition serve the Devil and the world all their dayes in drudgery and slavery and are turned into hell as a Sumpter-horse at the night of death after all his hard travel with his back full of gals and bruises A low man if his eye be clear may look as high as the tallest B. Hall Contempl. the least Pigmie may from the lowest valley see the Sun as fully as a Gyant upon the highest mountain Christ is now in Heaven it is not the smalnesse of our person nor the meanness of our condition that can let us from beholding him The soul hath no stature neither is heaven to be had with reaching If God clear the eyes of our faith we shall be high enough to beho d him Do not say thou art to provide for thy wife and children and hast no time to regard thy soul in a solemn serious performance of duties remember the same God that commandeth thee to follow thy particular calling as a man injoyneth thee likewise to follow thy general calling as a Christian and that in the first place Seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all other things shall be added to you Mat. 6.33 and also with the greatest labour John 6.27 Phil. 2.12 Labour not for the food that perisheth but for the food that endureth to everlasting life Where our Saviour doth not indeed absolutely forbid labour for the body but comparatively thy labour for thy soul should be so much so great that thy labour for thy body should be no labour at all not deserve the name of labour in comparison of it Now consider what answer thou wilt make to the great God when he shall plead with thee for the breach of these commands besides hast not thou many spare hours in many evenings and on wet dayes wherein thou mightst go to God in secret and with thy family and humble thy soul in a mournful confession of thy sins and sensible apprehension of the wrath which is due to thee and wherein thou mightst be importunate for pardon and grace without which thou art lost for ever Nay the Lord knoweth how many Lords dayes thou hast enjoyed which dayes he hath set apart as well out of mercy as out of soveraignity not only for the glory of his Name but also for the good of thy soul wherein thou mightst both publickly privately and secretly have furthered thy spiritual and eternal good but how dost thou squander away those precious hours sometime in corporal labour alwayes in spiritual idleness in sleeping or walking or sitting at thy door or talking with thy neighbors and yet thou hast no time for thy soul But lastly tell me hast thou time to eat and drink and work and sleep and no time to work out thy salvation to fit thy soul for death for judgement for eternity If thy house were in a flame thou wouldst not let it burn and say I have no time to quench it If thy neighbor call thee to sit or talk or dine or it may be to go to the Ale-house with him thou dost not answer him I must provide for my family I have no time but when thy Maker and Preserver the blessed God calleth upon thee by his Spirit and Word to be diligent for the making thy calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 thou must provide for thy family thou hast no time for this Foolish worm leave off thy vain and cursed pretences and set upon the business for which thou wast sent into the world even the glorifying and obeying the Lord or thou shalt have another manner of answer to thy simple excuses from the Judge of quick and dead when for thy want of time to serve him in he shall give thee an eternity to suffer in Reader I have two things to desire of thee before I deliver thee the directions which I have received of the Lord for thee and indeed unlesse thou grant me or rather God and thy soul these two requests all that I have to say will be to no purpose at all my requests are that thou wouldst follow the counsel of God in order to the recovery of thy soul out of its bottomlesse misery with all speed and with all diligence Now because
an unhumbled sinner is a man conceitedly whole seeing no need of and therefore setting little price upon the Physician of souls Till men see that they are cast by the Law of God and condemn'd men they will never heartily desire and value a psalm of mercy According to a mans sense of misery such is his estimation of mercy When Paul saw himself the chiefest of sinners then that saying That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners was worthy of all acceptation This sharp sawce of repentance doth commend Christ exceedingly unto the spiritual palat The more bitter and irksome sin is the more sweet and welcome Jesus Christ will be to the soul When the sinner seeth that he is lost in himself then and not till then will he truly request to be found in Christ the prodigal did not prize the bread in his fathers house till he was ready to perish for hunger Ministers preach much of the infinite excellencies that are in Christ of the unspeakable misery of sinners without Christ of the absolute necessity that men and women stand in of Christ and yet preach to little purpose most prize their shops and their lands their relations yea and their sensual lusts above the Lord Jesus notwithstanding all their pretences to the contrary they see no such need of him nor such worth in him as the Preachers and Scriptures speak of What 's the reason of it truly this They were never sensible of the stings of the fiery serpents if they had they would look up to the brazen serpent with an eye of greater respect They were never pricked to the heart and therefore cry not out Men and brethren what shall we do to be saved But when God discovereth his wrath to the soul and shutteth the soul up under it when he commandeth conscience in his Name to arrest the soul for all its debts which it oweth to divine justice and when in pursuance thereof conscience doth in the name of the dreadful God charge on the sinner the guilt of all his sins and hales him to the Judgment-seat of God where he seeth nothing but frowns and fury fire and brimstone and feeleth nothing but tribulation and anguish indignation and wrath now the sinner cryeth out in bitternesse of spirit O wretched miserable man alas alas I am undone What desperate madnesse possessed my soul thus to provoke the Almighty God by my sins Into what a sea of misery have I brought my self by mine iniquities The God whom I see is angry the wrath which I feel is heavy the torments which I fear are infinite The Law which sheweth no mercy is violated the God who will have full satisfaction for the breach of his law is incensed conscience which is his Jailour is commissionated to wound and terrifie me And whether shall I go wrath above me wrath below me wrath without me wrath within me A world mark now for a surety to discharge me of these debts a thousand worlds for that balm which can heal this wounded conscience Ten thousand thousand worlds for a Jesus that can deliver from the wrath to come When sin comes to be sin indeed then and not till then a Saviour will be a Saviour indeed Secondly humiliation is necessary in order to the souls hearty resignation of it self to every Law and Command of Christ According to a mans humiliation such will his subjection to Christ be Humilation is in some sense the foundation of a Christians obedience and the strength of the building dependeth upon the strength of the foundation The reason why the Religious buildings of hundreds of Professors in our dayes though they have been very fair and beautiful to the eye have miscarried is this the want of this foundation their hearts were never throughly humbled The reason why the stony ground did not bring forth good fruit was this the plough had not gon deep enough it did not take deep root Matth. 13.20 21. Men would never dally with God as they do or halt as the Israelites between two opinions be sometimes for God and sometimes for the world holy by fits and girts if they had ever felt the weight of sin Christ when he cometh into the soul as a Saviour will come also as a Soveraign to command and govern the whole man He is the true Sun and he will have the whole heaven the whole heart to himself he will allow no writ of partition his Law forbiddeth inmates as well as mans Now against this Probably therefore fleshly lusts may be called earthly members Col. 3. not only because they flow from the body of death but also because they are as dear to men as their bodily members the natural carnal man riseth and rebelleth exceedingly He hath ever at this time some lust or other which he valueth as his * limbs some right hand that he desireth may not be cut off some right eye which he would not have pluckt out some Herodias that must not be medled with some Absolom that the sinner intreateth Christ to spare and deal gently with for his sake Therefore before the Lord of hosts can make an absolute conquest before he can perswade the besieged soul to surrender it self wholly and altogether to his government he is forc'd by the Granadoes and thundring Cannons of the Laws curse and Gods wrath to fire and fright it out of all its sinful holds Then it will come up to those excellent terms of the Lord which are most honourable for the Saviour and most profitable for the soul Now he seeth most certainly such a sting in sins tail that he dares plead no longer for the beauty of its face Now he feeleth it as a dart in his liver as an arrow sticking in his heart as a coal of fire in his hand he is heartily willing yea thinks himself much beholden to that Redeemer that will pluck out this dart this arrow O how readily doth he throw away this coal of fire fearing to be burnt by it any more We have two famous instances of this in Scripture The one is in Paul Acts 9.6 When Paul that was posting in the road to hell comes to be knockt down and to feel those tremblings and terrors in his spirit he crieth out Lord what wilt thou have me to do He had probably heard much before of God but he regarded it not till now he receiveth a word and a blow a word from without and a wound within to set it home now it is Lord what wilt thou have me to do before it was What will the high Priest the Scribes and Pharisees have me to do and what will the vain imaginations and high thoughts which exalted themselves against God and Christ have me to do but now it is Lord what wilt thou have me to do Before his heart was like hard wax it would take no impression from God but now it is softned by this fire of inward humiliation it is ready for any stamp
others will be the comfortable of comfortables to thee Thou needest never fear ill news in thine ears having Christ and grace in thy heart others shall not be such unspeakable loosers by death but thou shalt be as great a gainer When thou liest on thy death bed where all thy friends and riches and earthly comforts will fail thee this spiritual life is the good part which shall never be taken from thee Thou maist look upward and see as it were God smiling on thee in the face of Christ and hear him call to his angels to go and fetch thee his childe who hast been all this while at nurse home to the fathers house Thou mayst look downward on thy relations and with much faith and chearfulness commit thy fatherless children to God and bid thy weeping widdow trust in him who will be infinitely better to them than ten thousand of the richest tenderest fathers and husbands in the world Thou maist look without thee into Scripture and behold it as a garden full of sweet flowers comforting cordials refreshing heart-reviing promises and though it be an inclosure to others its open and free to thee thou maist pick and choose cull and gather where thou pleasest and needst not fear to be chidden In the multitude of those perplexing thoughts which at that time may be within thee thou mayest finde choice comforts there to refresh thy spirit If thou look within thee thou shalt not have thy conscience like an unquiet wife frowning on thee and scolding at thee but thou shalt hear a little bird singing merrily and sweetly in thy breast Lord Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seeen thy salvation How joyful maist thou leave thy dearest wife to go to thine infinitely dearer husband How willingly maist thou forsake thy lovely children to go to thy loving God and Father How freely maist thou part with all thy friends honors and pleasures to go to the Congregation of the first-born those rivers of pleasures and eternal weight of glory How chearfully maist thou bid adieu to nothing for all things to stars and streams at best for a full immediate eternal enjoyment of the Sun himself of an immense Ocean of happiness With what a lively colour in thy face and true comfort in thy heart maist thou behold that pale-faced messenger death the thought of whom though a far off is death to others entering into thy Chamber and coming up to thy bed-side how heartily welcome maist thou bid him as knowing that he cometh purposely to give thee actual possession of fulness of joy unspeakable delights a Kingdom of glory that is eternal in the heavens O the gain of godliness the profit of piety surely the price of this pearl is scarce known in this world A Merchant will in a morning gain five hundred pound by a bargain whereas poor people work hard a whole day for a shilling such a rich trade driveth the godly man godlinesse brings in thousands and millions at a clap when the moral and civil yet unsanctified man may work hard and yet earn but some poor businesse some outward blessing God may give them and his eternal wrath at last Now Reader consider if here be not abundant encouragement for thee presently and diligently to labor for this spiritual life Is it not the gainfullest calling that ever was followed the richest trade ever was driven Why dost thou spend thy strength for what is not bread and thy labor for that which will not satisfie Hearken to me and eat thou that which is good and let thy soul delight it self in fatnesse As Saul said to his servants Hear now ye Benjamites will the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds 1 Sam 22.7 So say I to thee hearken O friend will a sensual fleshly life give thee such honor as to be the son of the infinite God such comfort as to drink of the pure rivers of Gods own pleasures and will it make thee bold at death and confident at judgement an heir of heaven and so happy in every condition Can it do this Can it give thee as godliness can so much in hand and infinitely more in hope If it can I will give up my cause and leave thee to thy choice but if it cannot as doubtless thou art convinced so unlesse thou art an Heathen among Christians why dost thou labour so much and so eagerly for the pampering and pleasing thy flesh for the food that perisheth and so little and so lazily for this food which will endure unto everlasting life It was an excellent answer of one of the Martyrs when he was offered riches and honors if he would recant Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ and you shall see what I will say to you Reader Could the world or the flesh shew thee any thing that were equal nay that were but ten thousand degrees inferior to Christ and godliness thou mightst have some colour for thy gratifying the flesh and unwillingness to walk after the Spirit but when the disproportion is so vast that the one is not worthy in the least to be compared with the other when the difference is as great as between a sea of honey and a spoonful of gall a whole world of pearles and a little heap of dirt an heaven of happiness and an hell of horror Is it not unconceivable madness and inexcusable folly to choose that life which is after the flesh and refuse that which is after the Spirit Reader if thou wouldst be truly honorable in the esteem of God himself who is the fountain of all honor If thou wouldst have those spiritual consolations which can warm the heart in the coldest night of affliction If thou wouldst be profitable to thy dear children to thy own soul be a reall gainer in prosperity in adversity while thou livest when thou dyest If thou wouldst when thy wealth and friends and flesh and heart shall fail thee have God in Christ to be the strength of thy heart and thy portion for ever If thou wouldst in thy greatest extremity when thy soul shall be turned naked of all earthly delights out of thy body escape the fury of roaring Devils and unquenchable burnings If thou wouldst in that hour of thy misery find mercy and be received into the place of endlesse blisse then get this spiritual life this true wisdom to fear God and depart from evil Get wisdom get understanding forget it not above all thy gettings get wisdom Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold She is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her Length of dayes is in her right hand and in her left hand
man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God And Hebr. 12.14 Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Consider Friend this is the Word of the true and living God and this Law this standing Law of Heaven is like the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered not one iota or title of it can possibly go unfulfilled Math. 5.18 Darest thou think that the God of truth will be found a lyar for thy sake as he must be if he save thee in thy sinful unconverted state I tell thee the God of holiness and justice will send millions of such carnal wretches as thou art to hell there to suffer the vengeance of the unquenchable fire before he will stain his honour in the least No he is more tender of his glory then so though thou carest not how much thou tramplest his honor in the dust by the wilful breach of his Commands yet he is exceeding jealous of his great Name and when his very being is engaged for the accomplishment of his Word he will not ungod himself to glorifie thee in an unsanctified condition and therefore do not delude thy soul in presuming that he that made thee will not damn thee for he saith himself that unless thou art new made and hast that true understanding to fear his Majesty and depart from iniquity He that made thee will not save thee and he that formed thee will shew thee no mercy Isai 27.11 I hope therefore thou art fully convinced that it highly concerneth thee to be night and day with the greatest diligence imaginable labouring for this spiritual life when thine everlasting comfort in the other world thine eternal life dependeth so much upon it Art thou rich hearken to this word of counsel from God look after these durable riches Prov. 6.18 thy earthly riches are not for ever Prov. 27.24 though thy heart possibly is more set upon thy houses and hoards then upon heaven yet thou must take thine everlasting leave of them ere long when these unsearchable riches in Christ which I am perswading thee to mind out-live the dayes of heaven run parallel with the life of God and line of eternity Prov. 8.18 Nay till thou livest this spiritual life all thy wealth is want all thy glory is ignominy all thy comforts are crosses yea curses to thee Prov. 1.32 Psal 69.22 All thy outward comforts like the Rainbow shew themselves in all their dainty colours and then vanish away or if they stay with thee till death then they die with thee Oh how hath the Moon of great mens plenty often been eclipsed at the full and the Sun of their pomp gone down at noon Through the corruption of thy heart they prove but fuel for thy lusts on earth if thou shouldst die having only this worlds goods they will feed the eternal fire in hell It is storied of Heliogabalus that he had silken halters to hang himself with ponds of sweet water to drown himself in and gilded poyson to poyson himself Truly more hurtful are the worlds trinity riches honors and pleasures to them that have great estates in the world but no estate in the Covenant Poyson worketh more furiously in wine then in water and so doth corruption many times bewray it self more in plenty then in poverty It is sad that thou shouldst not be led to God by that which came from God But O how lamentable is it that thou shouldst Jehu like fight against thy Master with his own Souldiers like the dunghill the more the Sun shineth on it it sends forth the more stinking savour The Poet feigned Pluto to be the god of riches and Hell as if they had been inseparable Homer that thou shouldst by the riches which his Majesty hath given thee only have this cursed advantage to be the greater Rebel Many good works hath Christ done for thee for which dost thou stone him John 10.32 for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy house by oaths or drunkenness or gaming or by atheisme and irreligion or at least by putting him off with a few short cold formal prayers and that but now and then neither Many good works hath he done for thee for which of them dost thou stone him out of thy heart by letting the world and the things of the world have the highest seat there the throne thy chiefest esteem warmest love and strongest trust What sayest thou is it not thus and is this to be led by his goodness to repentance Oh consider thy bodies mercies are holy baits laid by God to catch thy soul He tryeth the vessel with water to see whether it will hold wine do not like the foolish flie burn thy self in this flame of love turn not his grace into wantonnesse but let the kindnesse of God be salvation unto thee thou shouldst by those cords of love be drawn nearer unto him and by those bands of mercies be tied closer to his commands How shouldst thou gather if the streames of creatures be so sweet what sweetnesse is there in God who is the Fountain If he be so good in temporals surely he is better in spirituals and best of all in eternals How unsatisfied shouldst thou be with all these outward gifts which may consist with his everlasting hatred and resolve with Luther not to be put off with the blessings of his left hand Valde protestatus summe nolle sic ab eo satiari Melch. Aâ— in vit Luth. of his foot-stool Thou hast the more cause to look about thee because few of thy rank are truly religious a little godliness will go a great way with great men though of all men they have most obligations from God see James 2.5 God chooseth the poor of the world rich in faith and heirs of his Kingdom And Christ telleth us It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 19.24 Our Saviour indeed doth not speak of an impossibility but of the difficulty of it and the rarenesse of it Job unfolded the riddle and got through the needles eye with three thousand Camels but it is hard to be wealthy and not wanton too too often are riches like bird-lime hindering the soul in its flight towards Heaven a load of earth hath sunk many a soul to hell and the inriching of the outward occasioned the impoverishing of the inward man A rich man is a rare dish at heavens table Blessed be God there are some but surely few rich of those very few that shall be saved 1 Cor. 1.26 The weighty burden in a vessel though it consisted of the most precious commodities hath not seldom caused its miscarriage when otherwise it had arrived safely at its desired haven As the Moon when she is at the full is farthest from and in most direct opposition to the Sun so t is the temper of most in thy condition to