he faithful Sayings of God that it is hid to none â—ut those that perish whose eyes the God of this World hath blinded So absurd a thing is Atheism that even those who serve the Devil cannot want their God At the Birth of Jesus there appeared a Star in the East which guided the Wise-men by their Presents seeming to have been Greatmen to the place where the was But the Scripture like the Sun is the great Light that ruleth the day of the Gospel circling the World as long as the Sun and continuing while the Moon endureth Rom 10. 17. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God But I say have they not heard yes verily their sound went out into all the Earth and their words unto the Worlds end In the Creation the first-born Light of the first day lasting but three dayes concentred and ceased in the enduring Luminaries the product of the fourth day So in the Regeneration the light of Christs personal Preaching lasting just as many Prophetical dayes Dan. 9 27. hath given place to the Scripture-light that endureth for ever and the sure word rf Prophecy to which we do well to take heed as to a Light that shineth in a dark place This is the Light that maketh all things manifest even the thoughts and intents of the Heart that discovereth all things to Men and a Man to himself both what he is and what he ought to be And what manner of persons ought we to be 2 Pet 23 â—1 Truly this Light is sweet and intertaineth uâ— with variety of delightful Objects Amongst which of late happening to be detained with these last words of Nehemiah and seeing them like a well done Portrait in all stances looking towards me with an eye of Instruction walking and returning and still more desireously beholding hardly could I be satisfied with a sixth View Remember me O my God for good Nehem. 13. last THESE words at the very first view do clearly hold forth That There is a God And that both by an express Testimony of his blessed Name that heard in all the Scripture and seen in all his Works â—e Man of Wisdom shall see thy Name Mic. 6. 9. And force of Reason from the inclination and motiâ—â— of the Soul which finding nothing but emptiness home goeth forth in quest of Happiness and but â—arpening its desires with all that is imperfect is â—â—tisfied only with a perfect Good And that is â—od So unhappy by necessity is every one that is ungodly The Pythagorean and Hermetick Method of â—ence is the best Instructer of this Truth which euery Man may read off his own Soul Be still and know at I am God How shall I know that By my own desires and Expectations which can take up with other thing Whom have I in Heaven but thee and Earth what desire I beside thee And now Lord what â—â—t I for my hope is in thee If a raving Stoick or petulant Dialogist shall say that these Soul-ardors â—e but the intemperat extravagant heats of a working Fancy quickned by the touch of a Platonick Iâ—a rather to be starved to extinction than indulâ—â—d to satisfaction It is Answered seriously That â—â—icile est hominem exuere Or can any of them by an â—ey of Fancy quiet an earning Stomack or cure a â—erish Body let be without quenching the Spirit â—d starving the Soul still otherwise than by Satisfaction and enjoyment of the desired Object these Soul-longings and Desires which are ever strongest â—â—d most eager in the greatest serenity With my Soul â—â—ve I desired thee in the night by night upon my Bed â—ought him whom my Soul loved And the Lord is in â—e still voice To make good the Argument let it be added That the Sagest Holyest Noblest Soâ— are alwayes the hottest in this pursuit such as Pâ—â— Isay Nehemiah David Now after what is the King of Israel come out after what doth he pursue aâ—ter a Flea after a Fancy or should a wife Man â—â—ter vain knowledge and like Simon Patricks Pilgrim fill his Belly with the East-wind Now shall aâ— Man be so unmerciful to conclude all the Worâ—â— unavoidably miserable that they may be Atheist or shall they be so unwise thus to be abused to tâ—â— hazarding even of a possibility of Happiness Fâ—â— if there be Happiness there is a God and if theâ— be no God there can be no Happiness And wâ— then are all Men made in vain If there be no Men for what do we Hunger if no Drink what do 〈◊〉 Thirst for if no Glory saith Cicero for what 〈◊〉 all Men labour if no Rest way weary we our selves in vain if no God no Happiness what is this oâ—â— Souls do so importunately pursue with a serioâ—â— loathing of all that is seen or what hath wakenâ— in them those desires that can never be stilled till thâ— get what they seek And what say these Soul-longings Thirstings Pantings Breathings but that 〈◊〉 thou beest an Atheist thou must put out the Soul aâ— put off the Man How seasonable may this Reflection be in a Woâ—â—â— where Atheism is acted in so various Guises by some with a Fools Heart in a Fools Coat saying in 〈◊〉 Heart There is no God by others in a Philosopher Garment for in the judgement of God The Worâ—â— by wisdom knew not God by some in the dress of Hypocrite In words professing to know God but â—â— works denying him By others in the person of Amhitryo thinking that God is altogether such a one â—s himself By some in Epicurus his person complementing God with the Kingdom of Heaven â—nd offering to relieve him of the abaseing pensive and expensive charge of these his Low Countries saying He will neither do Good nor Evil But he is a God that judgeth in the Earth By others in the Robs of Pharaoh the Egyptian Tyrant braving and defying God Who is the Lord that I should obey him or harken to his voice By some in the Pontificalls of Antichrist With a Mouth speaking great things against the most High boasting himself that he is God exalting himself above all that is called God or is Worshiped By others in the Equipage of a Souldier fighting against God with Wit and Power Pen and Sword But let such as Make War against the holy Covenant and Saints of the most High that hate the Gospel and hinder the Preaching thereof take Gamaleels counsel and beware lest they be found even to fight against God For there is neither Counsel nor Strength against the Lord and who ever hardned himself against him and prospered The Second View of these Words presents to us clearly The Immortality of the Soul This is establisht 1. Upon the same ground with the former For if the Souls Happinessly in the enjoyment of a perfect and so necessarly an unchangeable Good sit must undeniably be Immortal both to enjoy and praise its Obiect Et miserum est fuisse felicem There is no Happiness not perpetual else
he was a Fool who spoiled his Mirth with the thoughts of a Sword hanging over his head 2. It is confirmed clearly by the expectation of a future Reward Remember me O my God for good Till I see good Ropes twined of the Sand and the Sea beaten to powder I cannot be inclined to think that the World was made of Atoms And if it be ruled by chance what are Counsel and Art Wisdom and Folly Good and Evil Law and Justice but names of Fancies large as ridiculous as he who should command the motes of the Sun to dance a Measure or be who scourged the Sea for its disorder We know that pure chance obtaineth impunity by the Law both of God and Man Now this matter belongeth to the Ruler gravly to consider how inconsistent Atheism is with Government For to the Atheist Treason and Robbery is neither Plot nor Fellony but simple chance medley a French Aire or merry Jigg of Volage Atoms But by this fortuitous Act of Indemnity as the Atheist can do no wrong so neither can he complain of injury if he chance to be baffled robbed or dispatched violently If the World reel I cannot say properly be ruled by chance is not the Atheist not by Scripture only which never speaks good of him but by his own Principle also proven a forlorn Fool lyable in all things to unavoidable surprisal yea a liar also who knowing and warned of a continual surprisal can therefore never be surprised except into the absurdity of a Self-contradiction whereof his Principles of Fortuity are a fair Essay But to a wise Man If the World must be ruled by Counsel and Law how is it that Justice is not in this life universally and fully executed and every Man rewarded according to his Works But that there is a Court of Referrs A day of the restitution of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of righting all wrongs and settling all disorders Rom. 2. 6. to 13. Some are rewarded in this life to convince us of a Divine Providence others are not rewarded to warn â—s of a World to come Or what can perswade Nehemiah with all the wisest and best of Men deliberatâ— to chuse willingly to forgo the Worlds favour and measures and undergo all its toil and displeasure but â—â— eye to the recompence of reward by far more â—â—e better than it is the later The sence of the Souls â—nmortality is the indelible Character and solid â—â—reats of Authentick Nature exactly rendered in â—â—ery Man's coppy Only it is not illuminated in some â—â—rk Hereticks and desperate Monsters Satyres or â—â—ch doleful Creatures in humane shape where you â—â— as little of the Man as of Immortality for these â—â— all appear equally Yet it is shaddowed in all â—ens practice For look we backward What but â—â—e Aire of Immortality maketh Men so conceit an â—â—cient Pedegree Or foreward What moveth â—â—en to call their Children and Lands by their own â—ame and to endeavour to perpetuat all together it the expectation of Immortality Say it is their â—â—â—ty yet omne malum est in bono and there must some reality under that same vanity And truâ—â— the Souls Immortality is the early dictat of Naâ—â—re our Religious Mother the uncontroverted â—â—d universal Sentiment of all her posterity of whatever Religion Jewish Pagan Christian Mahumeâ—â— The Sadducees might well be the first Deniers O Lord O Lord I beseeth thee send now prosperity Yet all that will live goaly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution and through much Tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God But let no man add affliction to the afflicted and scornfully with Apostate Iulian alledge to Christians this Doctrine to make their burdens heavier God will not be mocked but He will avenge his own Elect who cry day and night to him Though he bear long with them I tell you that he will avenge them speedily Luke 18. 7 8. And men would remember that there is Suffering for evil-doing as well as for well-doing and he who inflicts the one may be rewarded with the other For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the Wine is red it is full of mixture and he poureth out of the same but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them Psal. 75. 8. And it â—â— a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance c. 2 Thess. 1. 6 7 8. 2. The belief of the Souls Immortality teacheth men effectually the Fear of God Fear not them that kill the Body and when they have done that have no more that they can do But fear ye him who can cast both Soul and Body into Hell I say fear him Luke 12. 4 5 Psal. 76. 11. He ought to be feared And why verse 12. He cutteth off the Spirits of Princes he is terrible to the Kings of the Earth Who would not fear thee O King of Nations For to thee doth it appertain Jer. 10. 7. 3. It teacheth moderation in the desire and use of all things worldly We look not at the things that are seen which are Temporal but at the things that are not seen which are Eternal There is indeed the high spirit of Christianity courting immortality with so great disdain of all Worldly things that it cannot see them in its way This is the true Nobility of the Soul that exempteth it from the Egyptian slavery and servil drudgery of loading it self with thick clay for the brick-kilns of worldly projects and setteth it far without the reach of this Temptation And woe be to him who buildeth his House by Blood and his City by Oppression and delivereth it from the sâ—art of him Who will be Rich till He be peirced with many Sorrows and drowned in Damnation But this I say Brethren the time is short even short enough to him who every Evening may hear This night thy Soul shall be taken from thee It remaineth That they who possess the World be as they possessed it not they that use it as if they used it not and as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passeth away 1 Cor. 7. 29. and foreward But alas for pitty that this same Moderation and Indifferency should be both practised and applauded in the matters of God! And that it is so rare to be Seriously and positively Holy that Godliness may say O ye Sons of Men how long will ye turn my Glory into Shame How long will ye love Vanity and seek after Leasing Psal. 4. 2. 4 It teacheth us the best managry This Age hath learned to be wonderful Thrifty But O that they could study to be rich toward God! And could be perswaded that Alms and Charity is the best Husbandry and surest Art of Managry and would learn of the
under a Christians Cognition to be resolved according to the Word of God which are determinable only by the Spirit of God eveâ— all these that may most desevedly be called to things of a man which none knows and therefore cannot competently judge of but the Spirit of God that knoweth all things and the Spirit the man and that not either without a special presence and assistance of the Spirit of God Nay you should conveen about these Questions a Council or General Assembly of the learnedst Doctor or ablest Divines in Christendome they could noâ— define them Such are the Questions of a Manâ— personal interest in God and his state toward God whether a man have the Spirit and be born of God and the like They may give evidences of theâ— things in the general and indefinitly which maâ— be as media to conclud upon and which they maâ— frame into universal propositions that he who haâ— these evidences is of God c. But to subsume those propositions and from these premisses to conclude particularly belongs only to the Spirit of God witnessing with our Spirits that we are â—e Children of God for by the Spirit we know â—â—e things that are freely given us of God The â—â—ke is to be said of many particular matters of fact â—hat concern a man I instance in one but it is a â—ain on The nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost I find the best advised Divines very warry as they have Reason to determine in and yet â—ore awar of personal application of their determinationss because of latent circumstances impossible to be infallibly reached and discerned by any â—an in his neighbour Now whether is my sin against the Holy Ghost is a Question so puzling and perplexing oftimes some know what I â—â—y even to such as are dear to God that it passes â—e reach of all created wisdom to ridd their doubt â—nd let me say only by the way there is no more compendious method in the World to draw or â—ther to drive a man to the sin against the Holy â—host than the apprehension that he hath already â—â—nned that sin for that apprehension renders him â—esperat and what will not a desperat man do O cunning Devil But O wiser God! that gives subâ—lty to the simple and makes them able to stand against the wyles of Satan But how is the Question ridd I answer the Spirit of God rids it thus according to the Scripture That surely is not the sin against the Holy Ghost whereof a man repenteth Now when the Soul is at its wits end â—nd ready to sink the Spirit of God sendeth such loose into the Soul of the sinner of Godly sorrow unto repentance for that sin whereof he was so jealous and the Soul of him so joyes in hiâ— sorrow and sorrows with his joy de peccato 〈◊〉 let de dolore gaudet that he cannot be satisfyed nor get his fill of that Godly sorrow which is so warme with love and so wet with tears thaâ— except a man that is wet to the Skin should deâ—â— that he has gotten the showre he cannot deny bâ— he repents of that sin And than sure he is not â—â— sinner against the Holy Ghost For it is impossible to renew such an one to Repentance I do noâ— here mean that only an overflowing power of Repentance such as I have spoken of is a cure 〈◊〉 the case no for the very desire of Repentance vindicats a man from any fear of this sin because a sinner against the Holy Ghost so sins and so delights to sin that sin that he would not do other wise if it were in his choise But when the Soul's perplexities about this question are over whelming then it is fit that they be cured wiâ—â— this measure of Repentance that is so overflowing I marked before and I mind it again as gooâ— Showrs calme and clear the Air so much Repentance it clears many doubts resolves many Cases ridds the Soul from many perplexities and settles it in a sweet calme and serenity The Fourth Direction I give to those thâ—â— would keep so in with the Scriptures as to maâ—â— use of them with comfort and profit is this thâ—â— they despise not the Discipline of tentations Book learned Christians and Divines are not the be Scholars but they that would be taught the mysteries and Acroamaticks of Religion and Divinity must be Luther's Condisciples and he was bred at the School of Tentations he confessed that his tentations had learned him more of the Gospel than all his books had done This School of tentations is of an old erection and not to speak of others here our Lord Jesus took all his Degrees Hence he was commenced Master of experiences and Doctor universal in all cases for in that he suffered being tempted he is able also to help those that are tempted and in all things he was tempted as we are that he might succour them that are tempted Heb. 2. 17 18. and 4 15. And as his temptations accomplished him highly for the rest of his Mediatory Work so particularly and especially for the Ministery these were his Tryalls for the Ministery Matth. 4. at the beginning he is tempted and in the 17 verse from that time Iesus began to Preach Wherefore let Ministers remember that if they be tempted the Lord is giving them the highest point of breeding for their imployment But blessed is the man that endureth temptation or bides out the Tryal for when he is tryed he shall receive the Crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him James 1 12. Now having thus spoken at length to the Commendation of Scripture what excellent uses it serves to in all cases and what kind Offices it performes to the People of God in every condition Let us for Conclusion behold how it shewes to us the kindness of the Lord in that Iethro-like it comes to visit â—s in the Wilderness And let us hearken what it till say to us there For there we are Text Hosea 2. 14. Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her INTRODUCTION WE have in the contexture of this Chapter a solemn confirmation of three great Truths that are noted in the Scripture of Truth 1. That the Lord will not cast off his People nor forsake his Inheritance Psal. 94. 14. Which general assertion it will be fit to clear in these particular Propositions 1. God will never cast off the universal Church nor leave himself destitute of a People upon the Earth who may owne him and his Truth and may hold forth the Word of Life shining â—s Lights in the World being blameless and â—armless in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation Thus in our Creed We believe a Church Universal which sometimes is cloathed in Scarlet and sometime again is set upon the Dunghill Sometimes is courted of the multitude in the City and sometimes is persecuted
exchange of heartâ— are there What concentering of Affections What returns of Love What uniting Raptures â— What reflections of Beauty What Echo's of Invitations and Commendations with such likeness of voices that sometimes you shall hardly discern who speaks Moreover we find this compliancâ— universal in the Saint swaying all that was in him to the Lords Devotion his understanding is re-newed in knowledge after the Image of him thaâ— created him he understands with God from God and for God He can do nothing against the truth but for the truth He lighteth his Torch at the Suâ— and taketh his light from the Candlestick of tâ— Sanctuary the Law and the Testimony his faitâ— hath the image of Christ Iames 2. 1. It is thâ— faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory And Christs Superscription Revel 3 â— These things sayeth the Amen the faithful and true witness And we have the mind of Chrisâ— Conformably his will is swayed whether for acting Lord what wilt thou have me to do or for suffering Not my will but thy will be done he is an Orthodox Monothelit And for his affections he loveth and hateth as God doth and because he doth it And finally in his conversation he is Holy as God is Holy merciful as he is mercifull and perfect as his heavenly Father is perfect Hence the old Philosophers seeing thorow the darkness of nature have said That good men are visible mortal Gods and the Gods are invisible immortal men Which as it is litterally true of their fictitious fancied Gods so with respect to the true God it proveth Symbolically that the mystery of the Incarnation is no absurdity there being such a high affinity betwixt the Divine and Humane nature in its integrity for we are also his off-spring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 17. 28. 4. In mutual claim to and interest in the Persons and things of one another the result of mutual choice gift and Covenant contract My beloved is mine and and I am his I will be their God and they shall be my People All that is in God is God and all that is in God is for his People he is a God to Israel all that his People are or have or can is for him 1 Cor. 6. 19. 20. ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods And none of us liveth to himself neither doth any of us dy unto himself but whether we live we are the Lords or whether we dy we are the Lords And our Communion with God consisteth much in holding up a Trade and keeping a bank with God in getting from him and bestowing for him and though a man cannot profit God nor reapeth he where he sowed not yet he must have his own with the use Hath a man communion with God What hath he done what hath he given or what hath he forsaken that he had or refused that he might have had for God Numb 24. 11. Balak could say to Balaam Lo the Lord hath keept thee back from honour but we may say to some The Lord hath not keept thee back from Honour for like the Apostate Jews they love the praise of men better than God or the praise of God But Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt Heb. 11. 24 26 The Apostles forsook all and followed Christ A good bargain a thing much prized by the spirits of our time a hundred fold in this present life and in the World to come life everlasting A man may forsake all for God but he can lose nothing for God Take Galeacius Caracciolus for a sufficient witness who proved the matter Italy the Garden of the World Naples of Italy Vicum of Naples farewell all for Christ freely But now if the son of man should come shall he find faith in the earth Who believeth indeed that He who snared not his own son will with him give us all things freely Are the consolations of God small with thee Thinkest thou so meanly of God and Christ the gift of God all the fulness of God the treasures of hope the earnest of the Spirit the Riches of saith the first fruits of the inheritance Didst thou ever sing Psal. 4 7. Thou hast put more gladness in my heart than in the time that their corn and their wine increased All these things have I given thee and yet I will do more for thee if thou canst but for goe a little for me Poor Soul mayst thou not spare it 5. In fellowship of converse And therefore in Scripture it s called a walâ—ing with God before God in Christ a dwelling in his presence and walking in the light of his countenance Psal. 73 23. I am continually with thee Psal. 139. 18. When I awake I am still with thee 2 Cor. 16. 16. I will dwell in them and walk in them Rev. 21. 2. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his People and God himself shall be with them and be their God Men live together for mutual comfort and help of life his comforts delight the soul and he is the God of our life Men converse together for Counsel Counsel is mine sayeth the wonderful Counseller and â—e giveth his People Counsel and therefore the Godly Souls desire is to enquire in his temple Men â—onverse together for business and O how much â—ath the Soul to do with God! Who doth all things 〈◊〉 it Men pay visits to one another and what find visits pass betwixt God and his People Men â—ast and sup together I will sup with him and he with me Rev. 3 20. Prov. 9. 2. Wisdom hath killed her beasts she hath mingled her wine she hath also furnished her Table Psal. 23 5. Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine Enemies Isa 25. 6 A feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined Cant. 4. last and 5. 1. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant Fruits I am come into my Garden my Sister my Spouse c Eaâ— O Friend Drink yea Drink abundantly O Beloved Friends Converse in Presence and Correspond in Absence and at a distance The Godly Soul cannot endure Absence or Distance from God for the Light of his Countenance iâ— better than Life But if it fall at distance it keepâ— up a correspondence In my trouble I sought the Lord and my cry came before him ever into his Ears O ye Daughters of Jerusalem you see him whom my Soul loveth tell him I am Sick of Love When my heart was over whelmed within me thou knewest my way From the ends of the earth will I cry unto thee O when shall I come and
shall Mercy be built and Faithfulness established in the very Heavens Psal. 89. 2. I shall illustrate this consideration with the case of Relapses a case right perplexing to exercised Spirits and wherein they find the Scripture sparing of examples at least of frequent relapses into the same fault which makes them apprehend there is no hope These I write not that any should sin and sure for that very cause the Spirit of God in Wisdom hath beeen more sparing of such examples 〈◊〉 if any man have sinned and relapsed often into sin Let him remember 1. Christ's Seventy times Seven times Matth 18 22. And withall that as far as Heaven is above the earth so far are his wayes above our wayes and his thoughts above ours Isai. 55. 9. Let him remember 2 The indefinit promises Ezek 18. 27. and the like That when and what time soever a sinner shall repent he shall find mercy 3. Let him remember chiefly the blood of Christ that cleanseth us from all sin 1 Iohn 1 7. And 4thly if he must have examples Let him read the History of Israel's relapses in the book of Iudges Notwithstanding which the Lord as often as he heard their penitent cryes returned and Repented and sent them Saviours And let him read a notable place Psalm 78. 38. 40. In the 38 verse many a time he delivered them and forgave them but how many times did he that in the 40. verse how many a time did they provoke him Even as often as they provoked him a◠often he forgave them And when any man shall tell me precisely how often they provoked him I shall then tell him peremptorly how often he forgave them A simple Soul may possibly think to prevail with God at a time by pleading thus after the manner of men Help me O Lord this once and pardon my sin and I shall never trouble thy Majesty again I apprehend such are sometimes the thoughts of some But when Heaven and earth shall be measured in one line when God shall be as man or as the son of man when his ways shall be as our ways and his thoughts as our thoughts when I shall see the man that shall not be beholding to mercy Or the day wherein we ought not to Pray forgive us our debts or the time when it shall be lawful to limit the Holy one of Israel then shall I think that a convenient Argument But if I understand the Gospel it might be more beseeming God and his Grace in the Gospel to plead after this manner O Lord be gracious to me and forgive me this once And if ever I need I shall come to thee again Providing always that the Grace of God be not turned into wantonness nor this our liberty used for an occasion to sin Now for confirmation of what hath been said in this consideration I shall apply my self briefly to two places of Scripture The first is Psal 22 7. where I observe these things from the whole tenor of the Psalm 1. A saint's case may be right odd and in many things without a match but I am a worme and no man a reproach of men c. 2. I see in afflicted Saints a strong inclination to aggrege their own case and to reason themselves out of case with a sort of pleasure verse 4. Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou deliveredst them but I am not like other men I am a worme and no man the very language of dejected Spirits to this day 3. I see that when they have reasoned themselves never so far out of account beyond all example or match of case Parrallel there is yet some further ground for the faith of the desolate Soul to travel upon in its search for discoveries of light and comfort for we see how he goes on complaining searching believeing and Praying till he arrives at Praise which ever lyes at the far end of the darkest Wilderness that a Saint can go thorow for when a Saint is in the thickest darkness and under the greatest damps there is still aliquid ultra something before them and that is light for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart 4. I see that a humble well tamed Soul will stoop right low to lift up such grounds of hope and incouragement as to a Soul that is lifted up might seem but slender and mean thou tookest me from my mothers belly and caused me to hope upon the breasts A humble faith will winn its meat amongst other folks feet and when all examples fail such they will find an example in themselves furnishing them with matter of hope 5. I see there may be extant signal and manifest evidences of Gods kindness to his People in former times and in cases as pressing as the present the Memory whereof for a long time may be darkned with the prevailing sense of incumbent pressures verse 21. save me from the Lyons mouth for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns 6. Though all Parallels and matching examples of other mens cases fail a Saint yet to him it is sufficient ground of Faith and matter of Praise that his own case hath been helped when once it hath been as ill as now it is thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns and therefore I will declare thy name amongst my brethren in the midst of the Congregation will I praise thee 7. If there must be examples of leading cases if so I may call them then some must be the example by being first in that case And thus oftentimes he that finds no Parallel before him leaves one behind him And indeed we should be as well content if so the will of God be to be examples to others of suffering affliction and enduring tentations as to have examples of others Therefore sayes he verse 27. All the ends of the World shall remember this and in the last verse They shall declare to the people that shall be to come that he hath done this The 2d place of Scripture I direct my thoughts to is Iob. 5. 8 9. Iob's case was clearly unparallel'd and absolutly matchless And sayes Eliphaz the Temanite I would seek unto God and unto God would I commit my cause And that he might do that upon good ground he shewes in the 9 verse for sayes he God doth great things Why sayes the Soul mine is a great case then he doth great things Why I know what he doth No neither thou nor all the World knows that nor can find it out for he doth unsearchable things Whether that he is a God that cannot be known be a greater mercy or that he is an unknown God be to us a greater misery is that which I know not but this I know well that more of the knowledge of God and larger thoughts of him would loose many a knot and answer many a perplexing case to his People Yea but sayes the Soul it shall be a wonder a very miracle if ever my case
that make the true use of every dispensation that it requires that lament when the Lord Mournes that dance when he Pipes that tremble when he Roares that hearken when he teaches that answer when he calls and thus every Godly Soul is an Eccho to the voice of God The spirit says come and the Bride says come The Lord says return and the sinner says behod we come He says seek ye my face and the Soul says thy face will I seek O Lord. But as Christ says it is only he that hath an ear who will hear and as the Prophet Micah says it is only the man of wisdom that will see Gods name and hear the Rod. And I take him to have a bad ear and little skill in discerning voices that cannot give the Tune of God's present dispensations to his People in these Nations But it will appertain to the answer of the next question to give the particular notes of this tune and to hold forth the proper uses of present dispensations to the Church and Saints of God The 2d Question proponed was how are we to observe the Works and dispensations of God To the Question I answer that we are to observe the dispensations of God 1. with selfdenyal and humble diffidence of our own wisdom and understanding There is 1. so much of mystery in thâ— dispensations of God Verily thou art a good that hâ—est thy self O God the Saviour of Israel Isai 42 15 And 2dly So many even good observers Godly men have verily mistaken so far in their apprehensions of Divine dispensations Witness Job and his freinds who darkned counsel by words without knowledge Iob 38. 2. and 42 3. whereupon the Lord poses â—ob in the former place and which he freely confesses in the latter That it is needful in this point if in any to hearken to instruction Prov 3 5 7. lean not to thine own understanding be no wise in thine own eyes Humble David though wise David who for his discerning was as an Angel â—â— God 2 Sam 14. 17. would not exercise himself â—â— matter too high for him Psal 131 1. whereof the dispensations of God are a high part which hâ— acknowledges to be too hard for him to understand Psal. 73. 16. And his Son Solomon whose wisdom is so renowned taxes all rash and unadvised inquiry into the works of God Eccles. 7 10. There is no safe nor true discovery of the Works of God but through the prospect of his Word Psaâ— 73. 17. We must â—o to the sanctuary with Gods Works the Word will let us see that wicked men are seâ— upon slippery places even when they seem to stand surest Psal. 73. 18. And when their roots are wrapped about the earth and they see the place oâ— Stones while they lean upon their House and holy it fast While they are in their greenness they are cut down and as the rush they wither before any other herb Iob. 8. 11. and foreward Yea whilst the Saints look not upon their own state and Gods dispensations to them according to the Word they are ready to mistake right far I said in my prosperity my mountain stands strong and I shall never be moved thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled And upon the other hand when I said my foot slippeth Thy mercy Lord it held me up Wherefore let us ay be ready to hearken to better information in our apprehensions of Divine dispensations and particular events remembring that all men are lyars But for the general issue of things we may be well assured without all fear of mistake That it shall be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked for this is the sure word of Prophesie Isai 3. 10. 11. Yea not only shall it be well with the Righteous in the end but every thing how cross soever in the way shall conduce and concurr to work his wellfare And this is a truth that shall never fail and wherein there is no fear of mistake Rom. 8. 28. And the Scripture abounds with Noble instances of this truth But by the contrary all things how prosperous soever that fall to the wicked in his way shall in the end redound to his woe and turn to his greater misery of this likewise there are in Scripture instances not a few Learn we then to observe dispensations of particular events with humility and submission to a better Judgment 2dly We must observe the works of God with Patience if we would know the Lords going forth we must follow on to know Hosea 6. 3. In our observation of dispensations we must not conclude at a view nor upon their first appearance There is I so much of surprisal in many dispensations that often they escape our first thoughts verily says Jacob God was in this place and I knew it not Genes 28 16. when the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion sayes the Church we were as men that dreame Psal. 116 1 When the Angel delivered Peter he wist not whether that it was true that was done but thought he saw a vision Act. 12 9. There is 2 oft times much Error in our first thoughts of things that needs to be corrected by second thoughts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 second thoughts are the wiser I say ays David I am cut off from thine eyes but I said it over soon I said it in my haste I took no leasure throughly to consider the matter And therefore I will look again toward thy Holy temple I looked but I must look again I said but I must say again The Scriptures gives many instances of the Saints mistaks and errors in the first thoughts of Gods dispensations and in these patâ—untur aliquid humani they are but like men Somtimes again 3 the Lord goes thorow in his dispensations by a method of contraries he brings his People into the dark before he cause light shine out of darkness he brings them as the Text says into the driery Wilderness and there he comforts them he wounds before he heal he kills before he make alive he casts down before he raise up And therefore there is need of Patience to observe the whole course of dispensations and their connexion for if we look upon them by parts we will readily mistake in our Observation I find likwise 4. In many Dispensations a reserve the Lord keeping up his mind as it were to bait and allure his People to observe Verily thou art a God that hidest thy self O God the Saviour of Israel Isai 45. 14. O Lord we cannot see what thou wouldst be at what I do thou knowest not now sayes Christ but thou shalt know afterwards Like a man if he see his hearers slack their attention to a serious discourse he breaks off and pauses a little to reduce them to a serious attention so does God in his works to gain us to a diligent Observation Threfore in our Observation of Dispensations we would be like Abraham's Godly servant Genes 24 21.
a Wilderness may easily understand this and there is reason for it because a man is there deprived of any thing that may chear his Spirit and of all gladening Objects besides that he is possessed with fearful apprehensions of evils that may befal him and his spirit in the very entry is amused with the uncouth and solitary nature of the place To say no more of this the very Countenances of of the Lords People in these times look like a Wilderness and sâ—d cause why we see many things to make us sorry little to make us glad We see such things as we nor our Fathers have not seen the like And if there were no more and albeit for our own particular we had no occasion of grief and though like Nehemiah we were serving the King with Wine and were of as jovial an humor as he who was not wont afore time to be sad yet if any should ask the Kings Question Nehemiah 2 2. Why is thy countenance sad seing thou art not sick This is nothing els but sorrow of heart may we not sadly reply with him in the 3 d verse Why should not my Countenance be sad when my City the place of my fathers Sepulchres lyeth waste and the Gates thereof are consumed with fire That is when the Church of God is laid desolate But I suspect there are few that truly love God or are kindly sons of Zion but they have their own particular grievances in these times wherein they share of the common lot of the Church their Mother that sits in the dust and â—â— is good it be so For wo to them that are at ease â—â— Zion Amos 6. 1. The particular grievances of Saints and their pressures serve well to keep them mindful of the Churches common lot for fellowship in calamity is such a pregnant incentive to sympathy that even Jesus himself was made the more compassionat for what he himself suffered being in all points tempted as we are yet without sin he cannot but be touched with the feeling of our infirmity Heb. 4. 15. And does it not well suite all the Children to go in Mourning when the Mother sits desolate and afflicted as a Woman forsaken Eâ— how could they expect to be comforted with her if they do not Mourn for her Solomon that great Master of Religion Nature and Reason hath determined Eccl. 7. 2 3. that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting And that sorrow is better than laughter for that by the sadness of the Countenance the heart is made better and he who is greater than Solomon who himself often weept but never that we read once laughed pronounceth them blessed that mourn for that they shall be comforted Matth. 5. 4. 9. This Wilderness importeth a Condition of Weariness and fainting This yet follows naturally from all that hath been said Psal. 107. 5. those that wander in a Wilderness their soul fainteth in them Psal. 63. 1. Davids Wilderness was a thristy or as the Original hath it a weary Land and Isai 32 2. it is expresly rendered a weary Land The Saints case in their Wilderness is often like that of the Egyptian 1 Sam. 30. 11 12. who was so outwearyed that he fell off from his company and sunk in the Wilderness David often complaineth that he was weak that his spirit failled his soul fainted this throat was dry his eyes failed whilst he cryed upon the Lord and waited for him And no wonder it is that the Saints so often weary and faint by the way but a great wonder it is that any of them should hold up to the end They have such long stages in the Race that is set before them and those in a thirsty Wilderness where hardly they can drink of the brook by the way and they must run it so oft about with fresh parties whereof possibly the worst comes last upon them when they are already so much exhausted that there is great reason for him that would wager upon their heads to ask whether they have so much confidence remaining as to answer that Question Jer. 12. 5. If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee then how canst thou contend with horses and if in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst they wearyed thee how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan But the Lord that makes the Question must answer and one Prophet must Answer another and how Jeremy could do all that Isaiah can tell Chap 40. from the 28 verse to the end the everlasting God the Lord that created the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary c. Let the people of God in their Wilderness expect to have their hands full of it and as much as shall put them to a strict necessity either to believe or utterly to give it over Psal 27. 13. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Now this is the Wilderness and thus is answered the first thing in the point What is the Wilderness II. The second thing to be considered in the point is Wherefore doth the Lord bring his People into the Wilderdess The Scripture sheweth that for one or more of these five Reasons the Lord doth this 1. He doth it for their sin and that in these five Respects 1. to convince them of sin It is long many a time ere the Lords sinful People will see or acknowledge their sin yea they will say they are innocent when their transgressions are most evident Jer. 2 23. and therefore verse 35. I will plead with thee because thou sayest I have not sinned Such as are kindly Melancholians may know by experience what effectual impressions the change of places hath to the changing of mens minds and for this it is necessary often times that men be sent to learn that in the Wilderness which they could not it may be they would not see at home in a land inhabited Jer. 22. 21 22. I spoke unto thee to thy prosperity but thou saidest I will not hear and therefore thou shalt go into captivity Affliction is quick-sighted and necessity is wise and Ingenious affliction according as it is blest or not blest of God hath very contrary effects upon men Solomon tells us that affliction makes a wise man mad and he that is greater than Solomon tells us that affliction sometimes makes a mad man wise Luk. 15 17. it brought a distracted Prodigal to himself Many men think it a piece of Wit and Gallantry to mantain their sinful courses in a Day of prosperity and if he be a beneficed person or one in place he is ill worthy either place or benefice who is so scant of Discourse that he cannot if this our craft be in danger to be set at nought Act. 19. 27 make an Oration in defence of Diana and at least cannot say to his Companions with more truth than Wit though
Necessity he is the person that cannot be wanted by any that would be happy Deut. 30. 20. he is thy life and the length of thy days And if any think they may do as well elswhere let them answer the question John 6. 68. Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal Life Now this is my beloved and this is my friend O Daughters of Ierusalem Cant. 5. 16. The Lords second Motive and external allurement is his Words Words are very charming and enticeing things and how forceable are right words says Job Hence the Latines wisely give the name of verba dare to that which the Court calls a complement but the Countrey plainly calls a Cheat. Hence the way of Fishing which catcheth by the Ear applauded of the greatest Wits approven and much practised by Lovers the most ingenious because the most serious Anglers who busk their hooks with words and bait with the artificial flee of Complements Hence as the world goes he is the finest man that can say fairest to it and albeit Solomon both a Wise Man and a great Preacher and Spokes-man hath said Proverb 17. 28. even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise yet with most men even a wise man if he bold his peace is counted a fool But the truth is multum ille assecutus est qui bene didicit loqut bene qui tacere non minus assecutus est he hath attained much who hath learned to speak well and he hath attained no less who hath learned to hold his peace well But to say no more in general of the allurements of Words how specially excellent are the words of the Lord to the purpose of Soul-converting and heart-alluring Zach. 1. 13. They are good words and comfortable words Jer. 15. 16. Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoycing of mine Heart Gold and Treasure is alluring unto any Honey and Apples to Delicate Persons And if it were even the mortal forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil yet if it be good for Food and I leasant to the Eyes and a Tree to be desired it must be had if the price should be Death Gen. 3. But the words of God are more to be desired than Gold sweeter also than Honey and the Honey comb Psal. 19. 10. Psal. 119. 72 103. verses If nature could propine the World with Golden Apples as a present of her first Fruits sure those would ravish the Hearts of the greatest Potentates and would raise Wars among Princes for the possession and keeping of the Tree that bare those they would be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apples of Strife properly and indeed And the Words of God which are the Flower and first Fruits of all fit Words are Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Prov. 25 11. They Nourish Solidly Comfort Cordially and Inrich Mightily How charming the Lords Words are we have famous instances in the Gospel that with his Words he catched those that were sent and intended to catch and entrap him he sent them back with this Report never man spoke like this man And here in the â—â—xt it self I will allure her saith the Lord and I will speak comfortably unto her The third chief Motive and Allurement is The Works of the Lord and his Doings He hath done for his People and is daily doing to them that which cannot but rationally entice any ingenuous Soul to be for him If God had not loved us I should have wondered at every thing he does for us Love is the chief of the wayes of God to us God loved the World God so loved the World A Wonder indeed But after that stupendious portent of his Works to us That he loved us I shall wonder at nothing he does for us For what will we not do for those we Love But again I must wonder that he loved us and in this love to us he was humbled and emptyed for us For us he came into the World For us He took the likeness of sinful flesh and the form of a servant For us he suffered Temptations Crosses and Contradictions in his Life and for us he tasted death He gave him â—â—s for us He came under the Law and Sin and the Wrath and Curse of God for us For us he drank the Cup of astonishment which would have made all the Elect tremble to Eternity Yea and he rose and was victorious over death for us â—e hath also ascended Heaven for us and there he interceeds for us he is our Friend at Court he stands in the way there that nothing pass against us and when there is hazard he warns us and by his Word and Spirit he keeps intelligence with our Souls and gives us daily accounts of the true state of our Spiritual business Thence he issues daily many favours on our behalf Psal. 103 2 and forward Forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities c. And his negative Mercies are not the least part of what he doth for us That he prevents and holds off us so many temptations suares and evils that otherwise would even over-run us and that for all these he waiteth to be gracious to us at the voice of our Cry when he shall hear it And in a word that he is so wholly taken up for us as if he had nothing else to mind but us Now to a rational ingenuous Spirit and every one that deserves to be called a Man all these will be the Coras of a Man and Bands of Love Hos. 11. 4. Yea there is some secret alluring quality in the saddest and darkest of Gods dispensations to the Soul of the Saint Hence we never find the Godly Soul more fond so to speak of its beloved and more earnest upon him than in the time of desertion which of all dispensations is the most afflicting to such an one If the Lord withdraw such an one will fall down sick of Love to him and then go tell him O ye Daughters of Ierusalem that I cannot live in his absence And if he do not come quickly skipping like a young Roe or Hart yea and if he take not the nearest way over the mountains of Bether he may come too late to lay his hands upon the eyes of his distressed Beloved Psal. 28. 1. If thou be silent to me sayes David I shall be like them that go down into the â—â—t O Lord I cannot live I value not Life if thou be not the God of my Life I have resolved I shall never be glad till thou be the health of my Countenance and make me glad with thy Works For I see little difference betwixt Sorrow and Joy if thou be not my chiefest joy And in our Text the Wilderness is the alluring place to this ungracious froward Church The fourth chief Motive wherewith the Lord allures his People is his Gifts Gifts and tokens use to pass betwixt Lovers and
Faith had got footing his Affections were to seek The Case is common and too well known to the People of God In Preaching Hearing Reading Meditating Praying Praising or any other Duty of our Life the Affections oft times do not answer But Grace hath a skilful hand and is a Musician so expert that if the Tenor of the Will be but well set and the Base of Godly sorrow record well ordinary failings in the other parts shall not be much discerned 4. The inward power of Grace making outward Motives effectual consists in a Cheerful Ready Motion of the Locomotives and an actual up-stiring of all that is in a man by an Act Elicitive of the Imperated Acts of the Understanding Will and Affections So the Schools express it But to speak plainly it is Grace causing us to perform indeed and with our Hand that which it hath caused us to know will and Love with our Heart For sayes the Apostle It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure Philip. 1. 13. And if Grace assist not in this as well as in the rest this to do may make much adoe and cause even an Apostolick Spirit have a hard pull of Duty Rom. 7. 18. To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not And by this their defectiveness and short coming in the point of doing the best of Saints may be convinced that of themselves they fall as far short in the other points and that it they cannot go the least step without Christs hand holding them up they could far less have walked the whole length of their Duty The Apostle's inference is remarkable to the purpose I know sayes he that in me that is in my 〈◊〉 dwelleth no good thing for to perform that which is good I find not albeit that to will is present with me So that he who of himself cannot do neither of himself can he know will or love that which is good Fail in one fail in all This consideration of it self may refute the whole and half Pâ—â—agian Popish Lutheran and Arminian Crotâ—hets in the point of Grace And this shortly is the method of Graces work Converting a Soul and alluring a Sinners heart The Understanding sayes Gods will is true the Will sayes it is good the Affections say it is sweet the Practice and whole Man sayes it is done Thy will he done and if it be thy will to save me and have me to thy self then Lord I am thine save me for I seek thy Precepts Psal. 119. 94. But in the Natural Birth we know not how the Bones do grow in the Womb of her that is with Child far less can we reach to Perfection the Mystery of Regeneration and if we know not the time when the wild Goats of the Rock bring forth nor can mark when the Hindes do Calve how shall we be able to Cast the Nativity of the Sons of God For Iohn 3. 8. The Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth So is every one that is born of the Spirit If we know not the way of a man with a maid Prov. 30. 19. how short may we well be judged to have come in our Accounts of the Lords method of courting and making Love to the Souls of his People and yet we are instructed from the Word of God to give of all these an account sufficient to Salvation with all necessary instruction and comfort And the like account the Saints are to expect from the Spirit of God which searcheth all things even the very deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. The Use of this point I dispatch in these few words of Instruction 1. We are taught from this that sinners naturally are very untoward and untractable to that which is good they must be allured enticed and as it were beguiled and deceased unto that which is equally there Duty and Mercy Ier 20. 7 O Lord thou hast deceaved me and I was deceaved 2 Cor. 12. 16. The Apostle who was as a deceaver and yet true being crafty caught the Corinthians with guile It is indeed a pia fraus a Godly beguile to beguile a Soul to Heaven and to God I wish moe were thus beguiled and that many such deceavers may enter into the World nor can I say in this deceit whether the deceiver iâ— the Honester Man or the deceived the Happier 2. This teacheth Ministers the Art of Preaching They must be both serious and dexterous as friends of the Bridgroom and Ambassadors for Christ they must be so well acquaint with the laws of love as to be able a Divine blessing concurring to allure the wildest and most froward Soul A Minister would be a Seraphick lover one of the order of Peter Peter lovest thou me Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Peter feed my lambes feed my sheep If our way with sinners be not the most taken way let it be the most taking way and so we shall not mistake the way Many Ministers are but cold Suters for Christ and why they are troubled with an error of the first concoction they erre concerning the end they seek their own things and not the things of Christ they serve not our Lord Jesus but there own belly they eat the fat and cloath themselves with the wooll but they feed not the flock put them to tryal and it will be found they cannot read the Bible they lisp like the men of Ephraim for Shibboleth they say Sibboleth give them but to read that short text 2 Cor. 12. 14. they read it I seek not you but yours and if they read right I seek not Yours but You they are the greatest of lyars In a word they are like many in our days and those are even like them who court the fortune more than the person in this age a rich man needs not want Children let him make Images of his Silver and these shall not want matches such who for their generosity deserve as often they get the reward of a silver crucifix But as he that findeth a wife though he find her in her shirt findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord Prov. 18. 22. So he that winneth Souls though he win not a penny with them is wise Prov. 11. 30. Truely the alluring way of preaching is ars longa a thing not soon learned but where God doth give the tongue of the learned This art hath many precepts which I am fitter to be taught than to teach and till God send the time of teaching I take this for the time of learning who are these that come up from the Wilderness both better men and better Ministers 3. We see this in the point That Religion is an alluring thing It deservs to be written in Gold Lord write it upon my heart it hath that in it which may abundantly
tryed the Experiment of all things Sublunary that they are but vexation of Spirit and a very Vanity And will a man fill his Belly with the East-wind The most refined Spirits and artificial Extracts of natures fullness hath no more fitness and congruity to satisfy a Soul than Chaff or Sand hath to nourish a humane Body Nor did Nebuchadnezar eat Grass with the Oxen until his heart was made like the Beasts Moreover the Glory of all things transitory hath not the Civility to see the Soul to its rest But serve it like wicked Companions who have debauched a man all the day and leave him to dry a Kennel at night O when the Soul shall run out into Eternity and Death shall draw the Courtain upon all things Worldly Then it shall be seen that the things that are seen are but Temporal And then if the Soul would return to call but for a cup of cold water of all its sensual Pleasures it cannot have passage For there is a great Gulf fixed betwixt So that they who would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence Luk. 16. 26 To close this consideration Remember that the wise God called him a fool a great fool a rich fool Who for that his Barns were full would say to his Soul Soul thou hast much good laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry Luke 12. 19 20. But O! the revenue of Godliness God and the Light of his countenance Christ and his Merits the Holy Ghost with his Comforts and Graces the Justification of Faith the Peace of God the Joy of the Holy Ghost the hope of Glory are things of great Beauty to please our Souls withall 3. The Consolations Joyes Pleasures and Delights of Godliness are the choicest of any For however as the Proverb is a small thing will make fool fain and as little makes him sad Yet the Delights of a Wise-man are such as are the things he delighteth in Ps. 4. 7. Thou thorough the light of by countenance hast put gladness in my Heart more â—â—an in the time when their Corn and their Wine inâ—eased O Lord I am as far above the envy of the ungodly as they are below mine The Worlds great prejudice against Godliness is that they fancy it an unpleasant thing void of delight But â—â—tum est in organo And no doubt if men found that delight in Holiness which they do in wickedness we should quickly have the World a Proâ—lyte to Godliness O then that my Words were weighed and that the World would give me a air hearing but in this one consideration no doubt I had then gained Delight is a very alluring thing and trahit sua quemque voluptas every one follows whither his I leasure and Delight â—ads him Nor is it any wonder that so it be â—r Delight and Pleasure is the very flower and â—ossome of Happiness the accomplishment and â—st act of Blessedness differing from Vertue and Godliness as the Flourish from the Tree the Rose â—â—m the Bush. The Scripture placeth the Saints â—lessedness both in the Estate of Grace and Glory Pleasure and Delight That Delight is a mans â—lessedness in the state of Grace see the Command Psal. 37. 4. the Promise Isai. 64 5. the â—â—ints professed practice of whom Christ is the chief and chiefly meant Psal. 40. 8. The Motive given by the Spirit of God Prov. 3. 17. And that Delight hath the same place in Glory if any that have heard of such a thing as Heaven did ever once doubt of it it is more than clear from Psal. 16. 11 Revel 21. 4. with many the like places If men knew to do the Epicureans right in their opinion of Felicity and could speak as Philosophers and not as taunting Satyricks I could rather be than be called an Epicurean For Imperious custom even like Diotrephes who in all things loveth the preheminency hath usurped sofar upon the World that she prevaileth equally in mens Words and practices calling things as she lists Whence a sensual Sow wallowing in the mire of Lust must bear the name of an Epicurean whercas in Truth an Epicurean is no other than a man placeing Happiness in rational Pleasures and intellectual Delights worthy of men Even as I according to the Scripture have placed it in those Delights that are Spiritual and becoming a Saint The cutting off of a Member deserves not the name of a Cure but is the Uncomfortable result of the desperate wits of Extremity and Necessity in a deplorable Case and an expedient intending the preservation of the whole with the loss of the part For better it is to go to Heaven with one Eye Hand or Foot than to be cast into Hell with two The Stoical Apathetick method if the Stoick be not as much wronged as the Epicurean is but a pitiful cutting at best a curb no wayes a Cure of a corrupt World A man will suffer much before he suffer the loss of his Limbs and he hath wrought but an undesirable Cure that by cutting off of a Member hath made a man creple or maim The World will want much before they want their Pleasures and Delights And indeed who would choose to be miserable Wherefore the only expedient method in this case will be diversion whereby men may save their Members the World may enjoy Delights and Pleasures for measure as much greater as for quality better than formerly in their courses of Iniquity only they must not run any more in the Channel of Sensuality but in the vein of Religion and Spirituality Consider then the Delights and Pleasures of Godliness and then let reason say who hath the sweetest Life the Saint or the Bruit 1. For their nature they are unspeakable and full of Glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. the Word is significant in its own Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a glorifyed â—oy a very Heaven upon Earth A Joy of the same Nature though not to the same degree with that in Heaven The Saints Delights in Earth are a cup of the same Wine for kind which they shall drink in the Kingdom of their Father though it be not of so high a colour nor of so rich a relish to us here in the Cellar as it is to them at the Kings Table Holiness is much mistaken in the World and so is Heaven and Happiness which is no other than the top and upper â—nd of Holiness or Holiness in its Holy-dayes Cloathes If men would consider this I suppose some should be as afraid of Heaven as they are of Holiness Yea I am really of the mind if God should open a door in Heaven to a Prophane Liver and say Come up hither that he should not dare to enter The Beauty and Light of that Glory so contrary to Darkness would dazle and confound and utterly undoe him If a man should be permitted yea commanded to throw himself into a burning Fiery Furnace like that of