and faintness of minde spoken of in the Text. 13. We now see the Malady both in the Nature and in the Cause both what it is and whence it groweth We are in the next place to consider the Part affected That the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 discovereth the Minde or the Soul That ye be not wearied and faint in your mindes or souls And this occasioneth another doubt how it should be possible that worldly tribulations which cannot reach beyond the outer-man in his possessions in his liberty in his good name in his bodily health or life should have such an operation upon his nobler part the soul as to cause a faintness there Our Apostle speaketh of resisting unto blood in the next verse as the highest suffering that can befal a man in this world And our Saviour telleth his friends Luke 12. that when their enemies have killed their bodies and from suffering so much his very best friends it seemeth are not exempted they have then done their worst they can proceed no farther they have no power at all over their souls 14. It is most true they have not And happy it is for us and one singular comfort to us that they have not Yet our own reason and every dayes experience can teach us that outward bodily afflictions and tribulations do by consequent and by way of sympathy and consent and by reason of union though not immediately and directly work even upon the soul also As we see the fancy quick and roaving when the blood is enflamed with choler the memory and apprehension dull in a Lethargy and other notable changes and effects in the faculties of the soul very easily discernable upon any sudden change or distemper in the body David often confesseth that the troubles he met withal went sometimes to the very heart and soul of him The sorrows of my heart are enlarged In the multitude of the troubles or sorrows that I have in my heart My heart is disquieted within me Why art thou so vexed O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me c. Take but that one in Psal. 143. The enemy hath persecuted my soul c. Therefore is my spirit vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate 15. For the Soul then or Minde to be affected with such things as happen to the body is natural and such affections if not vitiated with excess or other inordinacy blameless and without sin But experience sheweth us farther too often God knoweth that persecutions afflictions and such other sad casualties as befall the body nay the very shadows thereof the bare fears of such things and apprehensions of their approach yea even many times when it is causeless may produce worse effects in the soul and be the causes of such vitious weariness and faintness of minde as the Apostle here forewarneth the Hebrews to beware of Not to speak of the Lapsi Traditores others that we read of in former times and of whom there is such frequent mention in the ancient Councels and in the writings of the Fathers of the first ages and the Histories of the Church How many have we seen even in our times who having seemed to stand fast in the profession of Truth and in the performance of the offices of Vertue and duties of Piety Allegiance and Iustice before tryal have yet when they have been hard put to it ey and sometimes not very hard neither falling away starting aside like a broken bow and by flinching at the last discovered themselves to have been but very weak Christians at the best if not rather very deep hypocrites 16. It will sufficiently answer the doubt to tell you That persecutions and all occurrences from without are not the chief causes nor indeed in true propriety of speech any causes at all but the occasions onely of the souls fainting under them Temptations they are I grant yet are they but temptations and it is not the temptation but the consenting to the temptation that induceth guilt If at any time any temptation either on the one hand or the other prevail against us S. Iames teacheth us where to lay the fault Not upon God by any means for God tempteth no man No nor upon the Devil neither let me adde that too it were a sin to bely the Devil in this for though he be a tempter and that a busie one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Tempter yet that is the worst he can do he can but tempt us he cannot compel us When he hath plyed us with all his utmost strength and tried us with all the engines and artifices he can devise the will hath its natural liberty still and it is at our choise whether we will yield or no. But every man when he is tempted saith he tempted cum effectu that is his meaning so tempted as to be overcome by the temptation is tempted of his own lust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 drawen away and entised Drawen away by injuries and affrightments from doing good or entised by delights and allurements to do evil It is with temptations on the left hand for such are those of which we now speak even as it is with those on the right yeeld not and good enough My son saith Solomen if sinners entise thee consent not Prov. 1. It may be said also proportionably and by the same reason My son if sinners affright thee comply not The common saying if in any other holdeth most true in the case of Temptations No man taketh harme but from himself 17. And verily in the particular we are now upon of fainting under the cross it is nothing but our own fears and the falseness of a mis-giving heart that betraieth us to the Tempter and undoeth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as he said It is not any reality in the things themselves so much that troubleth the minde as our over-deep apprehensions of them All passions of the minde if immoderate are perturbations and may bring a snare but none more or sooner then fear The fear of man bringeth a snare saith Solomon And our Saviour Let not your hearts be troubled neither fear as if fear were the greatest troubler of the heart And truly so it is No passion not Love no nor yet Anger it self though great obstructers of Reason both being so irrational as Fear is It maketh us many times do things quite otherwise then our own reason telleth us we should do It is an excellent description that a wise man hath given of it Wisdom 17. Fear saith he is nothing else but the betraying of the succours which reason offereth He that letteth go his courage forfeiteth his reason withall and what good can you reasonably expect from an unreasonable man 18. Seest thou then a man faint-hearted Suspect him I had almost said Conclude him false-hearted too It is certainly a very hard thing if at all possible for a
their adversaries they should not be able to hold out in their holy profession to the end nor to maintain faith and a good conscience with that courage constancy and perseverance they ought but lose the goal and the crown for want of finishing the course they had so happily begun 7. But then Secondly it may be demanded Of this malady what might be the true Cause The inward Cause I mean for what is the outward Cause is apparent enough to wit the Cross. or whence should this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this spiritual weariness proceed That is answered in the Text too in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The translations express it most what by faintness of minde The same word being again used a little after at ver 5. and there also translated after the same manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord neither faint when thou art corrected of him The word properly importeth the loosening slackening or dissolving of something that before was well knit together fast and strong The strength and firmness of a body whether natural or artificial consisteth much in the union of the parts well compacted and knit together and all the joynts strung fast one to another By the slackning loosening or disjoynting whereof the body on the other side commeth to be as much weakned A house ship wagon plough or other artificial body be the materials never so strong yet if it be loose in the joynts when it is put to any stress as we call it to any use where the strength of it is like to be tried it will not endure it but be ready to fall one piece from another 8. Much of a mans strength whereby he is enabled to travel and to work lieth in his loynes and knees and in his armes and hands Whence it is that by an usual trope in most languages and so in the Scriptures too those parts are very often used Genua and Lacerti c. to signifie strength and weakness on the contrary usually described by the luxation of those parts The phrase is very frequent in Homer when one of the Grecian or Trojan Chieftains had given his adversary some deadly or desperate wound that he was not able to stand but fell on the ground to express it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as to say He loosened his knees Even as it it said of Belshazzar Dan. 5. when he was sore affrighted with the hand-writing upon the wall that the joynts bindings or ligatures of his loines were loosed and his knees smote one against another So for the hands and arms we meet in the Scriptures often with such like phrases as these that by such or such means as the occasion required such or such mens hands were either strengthened or weakned So it is said of Isbosheth 2 Sam. 4. when he heard of the death of Abner general of his army his hands were weakned The like we finde in many other places as namely in Ier. 38.4 where in the Greek translation the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same with this in the Text is used Not to seek farr a little after in this very chapter we have both the metaphors together in one verse Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vers 12. which is another compound word from the same Theme As if he should say Support the hands that hang loose and have not strength enough to lift up themselves and binde up the palsy knees that are not well knit up in the joynts and so are unable to bear up the body 9. There is another Metaphor likewise often used by David and sometimes elsewhere which as it very well fitteth with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so it serveth very well to express that feebleness or faintness of spirit arising from fear and consternation of minde when great troubles come upon us whereof we now speak namely the melting of the heart or soule 10. In Psal. 107. They that go down to the sea in ships when the stormy wind ariseth and lifteth up the waves so as the vessel is tossed up and down and the men reel to and fro and stagger like drunkards and are at their wits end he saith of them that their very soul melteth away because of the trouble My soul melteth away for very heaviness in another Psalm speaking of himself and his own troubles In the 22. Psalm he joyneth this and the other Metaphor both together I am powred out like water and all my bones are out of joynt my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax And so doth the Prophet Esay also describing the great miseries and terrours that should be at the destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians he saith that by reason thereof all hands shall be weakned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again in the Greek and all hearts shall melt 11. For even as wax which while it is hard will abide hard pressing and not yield or take impression when it is chafed or melted hath no strength at all to make resistance And as the Ice when the waters are congealed in a hard frost is of that firmness that it will bear a loaden cart uncrakt but as soon as a warme thaw hath fretted and loosened it dissolveth into water and becometh one of the weakest things in the world it is a common proverbe among us As weak as water so is the spirit of a man So long as it standeth firmly knit to God by a stedfast faith as David saith O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy name and true to it self in seipso totus teres atque rotundus by adhering to honest vertuous and religious principles it is of impregnable strength against all outward attempts whatsoever Si fractus illabatur orbis if the weight of all the calamities in the world should come rushing upon him at once it would be able to bear up under them all and stand unruined amidst all those ruines The spirit of a man is of strength enough to sustain all his infirmities 12. But if the strength that is in us be weakness oh how great is that weakness If our spirits within us which should be as our life-guard to secure us against all attempts from without be shattered and dis-joynted through distrust in God or by entertaining fears and irresolutions so enfeebled that it is not able to stand out when it is fiercely assaulted but yieldeth the fort to Satan and his temptations that is to say in plain terms if when any persecution or tribulation ariseth we be scandalized and fall away either from our Christian faith or duty forsake our standing and shrink from the rules of true Religion or a good conscience this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weariness
hand But the Fourth and Fifth are here still wanting because I could not finde them out and so is the Eighteenth also because I could not get it in The want of which last though happening not through my default yet I have made a kinde of compensation for by adding one other Sermon of those Ad Populum in lieu of that which is so wanting to make up the number an even Score notwithstanding The Reader shall finde it in the later end of the Book carrying on every leafe by a mistake in the printing the title of The First Sermon which he may please to mend either with a dash of his pen by putting out the whole 3. words The First Sermon seeing there are no more to follow it or else with reference to the Seven Sermons Ad Populum formerly published by writing Eighth instead of First all along in the Title 5. As for the Sermons themselves the matter therein conteined the manner of handling c. I must permit all to the Readers doome Who if he be homo quadratus perfectly even and unbyassed both in his Iudgment and Affection that is to say neither prepossessed with some false Principle to forestall the one nor carried aside with partiality for or prejudice against any person or party to corrupt the other will be the better able to discern whether I have any where in these Papers exceeded the bounds of Truth and Soberness or layed my self open to the just imputation either of Flattery or Falshood There hath been a generation of men wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for their own purposes but Malignants sure enough that laboured very much when time was to possess the world with an opinion that all Court-Chaplains were Parasites and their preaching little other then daubing I hope these Papers will appear so innocent in that behalf as to contribute somewhat towards the shame and confutation of that Slander 6. The greater fear is that as the times are all men will not be well pleased with some passages herein especially where I had occasion to speak something of our Church-Ceremonies then under command but since growen into disuse But neither ought the displeasure of men nor the change of times to cast any prejudice upon the Truth which in all variations and turnings of affairs remaineth the same it was from the beginning and hath been accustomed and therefore can think it no new thing to finde unkinde entertainment abroad especially from them whose interest it is to be or at leastwise to seem to be of a different perswasion For that the Truth is rather on my side in this point then on theirs that dissent from me there is besides other this strong presumption onwards That I continue of the same judgment I was of twenty thirty forty years agoe and profess so to doe with no great hopes of bettering my temporal condition by so professing whereas hundreds of those who now decry the Ceremonies as they do also some other things of greater importance as Popish and Antichristian did not many years since both use them themselves and by their subscriptions approve the enjoyning of them but having since in complyance with the times professed their dislike of them their portion is visibly growen fatter thereby If the face of affairs be not now the same it was when the Sermons wherein this point is most insisted on were preached what was then done is not sure in any justice now chargable upon me as a crime who never pretended to be a Prophet nor could then either foresee that the times would so soon have changed or have believed that so many men would so soon have changed with the times 7. Of the presumption aforesaid I have here made use not that the business standeth in need of such a Reserve for want of competent proof otherwise which is the case wherein the Lawyers chiefly allow it but to save the labour of doing that over again in the Preface which I conceive to be already done in the Work it selfe With what success I know not that lieth in the brest of the Reader But that I speak no otherwise then I thought and what my intentions were therein that lieth in my own brest and cannot be known to the Reader Who is therefore in charity bound to believe the best where there appeareth no pregnant probability to the contrary The discourses themselves for much of the matter directly tend to the peace both of Church and State by endeavouring to perswade to Vnity and Obedience and for the manner of handling have much in them of Plainness little I think nothing at all of Bitterness and so are of a temper fitter to instruct then to provoke And these I am sure are no Symptomes of very bad Intentions If there be no worse Construction made of them then I meant nor worse Vse I trust they neither will deserve much blame nor can do much hurt Howsoever having now adventured them abroad though having little else to commend them but Truth and Perspicuity two things which I have alwayes had in my care for whereto else serveth that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherewith God hath endued man but to speak reason and to be understood if by the good blessing of Almighty God whom I desire to serve in the spirit of my minde they may become in any little degree instrumental to his Glory the Edification of his Church and the promoting of any one soul in Faith and Holiness towards the attainment of everlasting salvation I shall have great cause of rejoycing in it as a singular evidence of his undeserved mercy towards me and an incomparably rich reward of so poor and unworthy labours Yet dare I not promise to my self any great hopes that any thing that can be spoken in an argument of this nature though with never so much strength of reason and evidence of truth should work any kindly effect upon the men of this generation when the times are nothing favourable and themselves altogether undisposed to receive it No more then the choisest Musick can affect the ear that is stopt up or the most proper Physick operate upon him that either cannot or will not take it But as the Sun when it shineth clearest in a bright day if the beams thereof be intercepted by a beam too but of another kinde lying upon the eye is to the party so blinded as if the light were not at all so I fear it is in this case Not through any incapacity in the Organ so much especially in the learneder part among them as from the interposition of an unsound Principle which they have received with so much affection that for the great complacency they have in it they are loath to have it removed And as they of the Roman party having once throughly imbibed this grand Principle that the Catholick Church and that must needs be it of Rome is infallible are thereby rendred incapable to receive any impressions
root-end of an old Oak that hath layen long a drying in the sun It must be a hard wedg that will enter and it must be handled with some skill too to make it do that and when the wedg is entred it will endure many a hard knock before it will yield to the cleaver and fall in sunder And indeed it is a blessed thing and to be acknowledged a gracious evidence of Gods unspeakable mercy to those that have wilfully suffered such an unclean spirit to enter in and to take possession of their souls if they shall ever be enabled to out him againe though with never so much fasting and Prayer Potentes potenter they that have mightily offended shall be sure to be mightily tormented if they repent not and therefore it is but reason they should be mightily humbled when they do repent 29. After Repentance also Presumptuous sins for the most part have their uncomfortable Effects Very seldome hath any man taken the liberty to sin presumptuously but he hath after met with that which hath been grievous to him either in outward things or in his good name or in his soule in some or other of these if not in all even after the renewing of himself by repentance and the sealing of his pardon from God Like a grievous wound or sore that is not only of a hard cure but leaveth also some remembrance behinde it some scarr in the flesh after it is cured 30. First a Presumptuous Sinner rarely escapeth without some notable outward Affliction Not properly as a debt payable to the Justice of God by way of satisfaction for there is no proportion between the one and the other But partly as an evidence of Gods high displeasure against such a high provocation and partly as a fit chastisement wherewith he is pleased in mercy to correct his servants when they have demeaned themselves so presumptuosly that both they and others may be admonished by that example to do so no more Be David the instance What a world of mischief and misery did he create unto himself by that one presumptuous fact in the matter of Uriah almost all the days of his life after The Prophet Nathan at the very same time when he delivered him Gods royall and gracious pardon for it under seal Transtulit peccatum the Lord hath put away thy sin yet did he withall read him the bitter consequents of it as you have them set down 2 Sam. 12. And as he foretold him accordingly it fell out with him His daughter defiled by her brother that brother slain by another brother a strong conspiracy raised against him by his own son his Concubines openly defiled by the same son himself afflicted with the untimely and uncomfortable death of that son who was his darling reviled and cursed to his face by a base unworthy companion besides many other affronts troubles and vexations continually He had few quiet hours all his life long and even upon his deathb-ed not a little disquieted with tidings of his two sons almost up in arms about the succession We use to say The wilful man never wanteth woe and truly David felt it by sad experience what woe his wilfulness wrought him 31. Secondly Presumptuous sins are often Scandalous leaving an indeleble stain and blot upon the name and memory of the guilty offender not to be wholy wiped off so long as that name and memory lasteth David must be our instance here too who sinned many other times and wayes besides that in the matter of Vriah It can be little pleasure to us to rove into the infirmities of Gods servants and bring them upon the stage it would perhaps become our charity better to cast a mantle over their nakedness where the fact will with any tolerable construction bear an excuse Yet sith all things that are written are written for our learning and that it pleased the wisdome of God for that end to leave so many of their failings upon record as glasses to represent unto us our common frailties and as monuments and marks to minde us of those rocks whereat others have ship-wrackt it cannot be blamed in us to take notice of them and to make the best use we can of them for our own spirituall advantage His diffidence then and anxiety lest he should perish one day by the hands of Saul when he had Gods promise that he should outlive him His deep dissimulation with and before Achis especially when he tendred his service to him in the wars His rash cholerick vow to destroy Nabal and all that belonged to him who had indeed played the churle and the wretch with him as covetous and unthankfull men sometimes will doe but yet in rigore had done him no wrong His double injustice to his loyall subject Mephibosheth and therein also his forgetfulness of his old and trusty friend Ionathan first in giving away all his lands upon the bare suggestion of a servant and that to the false informer himself and that without any examination at all of the matter and then in restoring him but halfe again when he knew the suggestion to be false His fond affection to his ungracious son Absalom in tendring his life before his own safety and the publick good and in taking his death with so much unmanly impatience His lenity and indulgence to his other son Adonijah who was no better then he should be neither to whom he never said so much at any time as Eli did to his sons why hast thou done so His carnall confidence in the multitude of his subjects when he caused them to be numbred by the pole These and perhaps some other sinfull oversights which doe not presently occur to my memory are registred of David as well as the murther of Vriah Yet as if all these were as nothing in comparison of that one that one alone is put in by the holy Ghost by way of exception and so inserted as an exception in that glorious testimony which we finde given of him â— King 15.5 David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the dayes of his life save only in the matter of Vriah the Hittite That is he turned not aside so foulely and so contemptuously so presumptuously and so provokingly in any other thing as he did in that business of Vriah All his Ignorances and Negligences and Inconsiderations and Infirmities are passed over in silence only this great Presumptuous Sin standeth up as a pillar or monument erected ad perpetuam rei memoriam to his perpetual shame in that particular for all succeeding generations to take warning and example by 32. Yet were this more tolerable if besides a Stain in the Name these Presumptuous sins did not also leave a Sting in the Conscience of the sinner which abideth in him many times a long while after the sin is repented of and
Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est Oderit curare And again Dona praesentis cape laetus horae Linque futura These and sundry other like passages we meet with in the Poets together with those phrases so usuall with them In diem vivere c. would be good meditations for us if we should understand them in that Christian sence whereto we now apply them and which the words themselves will bear and not in the Epicures sence wherein for the most part they that used them meant them But I rather give it you in our Saviours words Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of it self sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof Matth. 6. 36. A third consideration there is nothing less available then either of the former but rather much more to them that can lay hold of it for it is above the reach of Poets and Philosophers and beyond the ken even of professed Christians that want the eye of Faith to frame us to contentment with the present arising from the contemplation of the infinite love of our gracious Lord God joyntly with his infinite wisdome By these as many as are truly the children of God by faith and not titulo tenùs only are assured of this most certain truth that whatsoever their heavenly Father in his wisdome seeth best for them that evermore in his love he provideth for them From which Principle every man that truly feareth God and hath fixeth his hope there may draw this infallible conclusion demonstratively and by the Laws of good discourse per viam regressus This my good God hath presently ordered for me and therefore it must needs be he saw it presently best for me Thus may we sugere mel de petrâ gather grapes of thornes and figs of thistles and satisfie our selves with the honey of comfort out of the stony rock of barrenness and adversity 37. Where are they then that will tell you On the one side what jolly men they have been But miserum est fuisse Having been born and bred to better fortunes their spirits are too great to stoop to so low a condition as now they are in If it were with them as in some former times no men should lead more contented lives then they should do Or that will tell you on the other side what jolly men they shall be when such fortunes as they have in chase or in expectation shall fall into their hands they doubt not but they shall live as contentedly as the best Little do the one sort or the other know the falsness of their own unthankful and rebellious hearts If with discontent they repine at what they are I shall doubt they were never truly content with what they were and I shall fear unless God change their hearts that they will never be well content with what they shall be He that is indeed content when the Lord giveth can be content also when the Lord taketh away and with Iob bless the holy name of God for both He had a minde contented in as good though perhaps not in so high a measure when he sat upon the dung-hill scraping himself with a potsheard in the midst of his incompassionate friends as he had when he sate in the gate judging the people in the midst of the Princes and Elders of the Land 38. It were certainly therefore best for us to frame our minds now the best we can to our present estate be it better or worse that whether it shall be better or worse with us hereafter we may the better frame our mindes to it then also We should all do in this case following the Lord which way soever he leadeth us as the Israelites followed the guidance of the cloudy-fiery-pillar When it went they went when it stood they stood and look which way it went to the North or to the South the same way they took and whether it moved swiftly or slowly they also framed their pace accordingly We in like sort to frame our selves and wills to a holy submission to whatsoever the present good pleasure of his will and providence shall share out for us 39. Which yet let no man so desperately mis-understand as to please himself hereupon in his own sloth and supinity with Solomons sluggard whom that wise man censureth as a foole for it who foldeth his hands together and letteth the world wag as it will without any care at all what shall become of him and his another day And yet as if he were the only wise man Sapientum octavus wiser then seven men that can render a reason he speaketh sentences but it is like a parable in a fools mouth a speech full of reason in it self but by him witlesly applyed and telleth you that Better is a handfull with quietness then both the hands full with travel and vexation of spirit Would you not think him the most contented soule that lives But there is no such matter He is as desiring and as having as the most covetous wretch that never ceaseth toyling and moyling to get more if he might but have it and never sweat for it 40. Nor yet Secondly so as to pass censure upon his brethren as if it were nothing but Covetousness or Ambition when he shall observe any of them by his providence industry and good endeavours in a faire and honest course to lay a foundation for their future better fortunes as the currish Philosopher snarled at his fellow Si pranderet olus sapienter regibus uti Nollet Aristippus For so long as the wayes we goe are just and straight and the care we take moderate and neither the things we look after unmeet for us nor the event of our endeavours improbable if withall the mindes we bear be tempered with such an evenness as to expect the issue with patience and neither be puft up beyond measure with the good success of our affairs nor cast down beyond measure if they hap to miscarry it hindereth not but we may at once both be well contented with the present and yet industriously provident for the future The same Poet hath meetly well expressed it there speaking again of the same person Omnis Aristippum decuit color status res Tentantem majora fere praesentibus aequum It is a point of wisdom not a fruit of discontent when God openeth to a man a faire opportunity of advancing his estate to an higher or fuller condition then now he is in to embrace the opportunity and to use all meet diligence in the pursuit for the obtaining of his lawfull desires Rather it is a fruit either of Pride or Sloath or both to neglect it though upon the pretence of being content with the present 41 Pass we now on from this Second to the Third and last point observed concerning the Object of true Contentment which was the indifferency of it as it standeth
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas there is ever some deficiency or other in the things desired What man had ever all things so sortable to his desires but he could spy some thing or other wanting tamen Curtae nescio quid semper abest rei And many times all he hath doth him not so much pleasure as the want of that one thing tortureth him As all Hamans wealth and honours and favour with the King and power in the Court availed him nothing for want of Mordecay's knee And Ahab could not be merry nor sleep nor eat bread though he swaied the Scepter of a mighty Kingdom for want of Naboths vineyard Or if we could suppose contentment should arise from the things yet fourthly it could have no stability nor certainty of continuance because the things themselves are subject to casualties and vicissitudes And the mind of a man that should repose upon such things must needs rise and fall ebb and flow just as the things themselves do Which is contrary to the state of a true contented mind which still remaineth the same and unchanged notwithstanding whatsoever changes and chances happen in these outward and mutable things 7. We see now the unsufficiency of Nature of Morality of Outward things to bring Contentment It remaineth then that it must spring from Religion and from the Grace of God seated in the heart of every godly man which casteth him into a new mould and frameth the heart to a blessed calme within whatsoever stormes are abroad and without And in this Grace there is no defect As the Lord sometimes answered our Apostle when he was importunate with him for that which he thought not fit at that time to grant sufficit tibi gratia My grace is sufficient for thee He then that would attain to St Pauls learning must repair to the same school where St Paul got his learning and he must apply himself to the same tutor that St Paul had He must not languish in porticu or in Lyceo at the feet of Plato or Seneca but he must get him into the sanctuary of God and there become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he must be taught of God and by the anointing of his holy spirit of grace which anointing teacheth us all things 1. Ioh. 2. All other masters are either Ignorant or Envious or Idle Some things they are not able to teach us though they would some things they are not willing to teach us though they might but this Anointing is every way a most compleat tutour Able and loving and active this anointing teacheth us all things and amongst other things this Art of Contentation also 8. Now as for the means whereby the Lord traineth us up by his holy grace unto this learning they are especially these three First by his spirit he worketh this perswasion in our hearts that whatsoever he disposeth unto us at any time for the present that is evermore the fittest and best for us at that time He giveth us to see that all things are guided and ordered by a most just and wise and powerful providence And although it be not fit for us to be acquainted with the particular reasons of such his wise and gracious dispensations yet we are assured in the general that all things work together for the best to them that love God That he is a loving and careful father of his children and will neither bring any thing upon them nor keep back any thing from them but for their good That he is a most skilfull and compassionate Physitian such a one as at all times and perfectly understandeth the true state and temper of our hearts and affections and accordingly ordereth us and dieteth us as he seeth it most behoofefull for us in that present state for the preservation or recovery of our spiritual strength or for the prevention of future maladies And this perswasion is one speciall means whereby the Lord teacheth us Contentment with whatsoever he sendeth 9. Secondly whereas there are in the word scattered every where many gracious and precious promises not only concerning the life to come but also concerning this present life the spirit of grace in the heart of the godly teacheth them by faith to gather up all those scattered promises and to apply them for their own comfort upon every needfull occasion They heare by the outward preaching of the word and are assured of the truth thereof by the inward teaching of the spirit That God will never faile them nor forsake them That he is their shepheard and therefore they shall not want but his goodness and mercy shall follow them all the dayes of their lives That his eyes is upon them that fear him to deliver their souls from death and to feed them in the time dearth That he will give grace and worship and withhold no good thing from them that live a godly life That though the Lions the great and greedy oppressors of the world may lack and suffer hunger yet they which seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good and a thousand other such like promises they hear and beleeve The assurance whereof is another special means by which the Lord teacheth his children to repose themselves in a quiet content without fear of want or too much thoughtfulness for the future 10. Thirdly for our better learning besides these lectures of his providence and promises he doth also both appoint us exercises and discipline us with his rod. By sending changes and afflictions in our bodies in our names in our friends in our estates in the success of our affairs and many other wayes but alwayes for our profit And this his wise teaching of us bringeth on our learning wonderfully As for those whose houses are safe from feare neither is the rod of God upon them as Iob speaketh that are never emptied nor powred from vessel to vessel they settle upon their own dregs and grow muddy and musty with long ease and their prosperity befooleth them to their own destruction When these come once to stirring and trouble over-taketh them as sooner or later they must look for it then the grumbles and mud of their impatience and discontent beginneth to appear and becometh unsavoury both to God and man But as for those whom the Lord hath taken into his own tuition and nurturing he will not suffer them either to wax wanton with too long ease nor to be depressed with too heavy troubles but by frequent changes he exerciseth them and inureth them to all estates As a good Captain traineth his souldiers and putteth them out of one posture into another that they may be expert in all so the Lord of hosts traineth up his souldiers by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left by honour and dishonour by evil report and good report by health and sickness by sometimes raising new friends and sometimes taking away the old
time first estrange by little and little and at length quite alienate our affections one from another It is one thing to dissent from another to be at discord with our brethren Itâ— dissensi ab illo saith Tully concerning himself and Cato ut in disjunctione sententiae conjuncti tamen amiciâ—iâ maneremus It is probable the whole multitude of them that believed were but we are not sure they were and it is possible they might not be all of one opinion in every point even in those first and primitive times but St Luke telleth us for certain that they were all of one heart 26. Like-minded thirdly in a fair and peaceable outward conversation For albeit through humane frailty and amid so many scandals as are and must be in the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there be not evermore that hearty entire affection that ought to be between Christian men especially when they stand divided one from another in opinion yet should they all bear this minde and so be at least thus far like-minded as to resolve to forbear all scornful and insolent speeches and behaviour of and towards one another without jeering without censuring without provoking without causless vexing one another or disturbing the publick peace of the Church For the servant of God must not strive but be gentle unto all men and patient So gentle and patient that he must study to win them that oppose themselves not by reviling but instructing them and that not in a loud and lofty strain unless when there is left no other remedy but first and if that will serve the turn only in love and with meeknesse Our conversation where it cannot be all out so free and familiar should yet be fair and amiable Gods holy truth we must stand for I grant if it be opposed to the utmost of our strength neither may we betray any part thereof by our silence or softness for any mans pleasure or displeasure where we may help it and where the defence of it appeareth to be prudentially necessary Yet even in that case ought we so to maintain the truth of God as not to despise the persons of men We are to follow the truth in love which is then best done when holding us close to the truth we are ready yet in love to our brethren to do them all the rights and to perform unto them all those respects which without confirming them in their errours may any way fall due unto them 27. It is a perfect and a blessed Unity when all the three meet together unity of true Doctrine unity of loving affection and unity of peaceable conversation and this perfection ought to be both in our aims and in our endeavours But if through our own weakness or the waywardness of others we cannot attain to the full perfection of the whole having faithfully endeavoured it pulchrum est in secundis tertiâ—sve it will be some commendation and comfort to us to have attained so much as we could 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 3. Nevertheless whereunto we have attained let us mind the same thing 28. To quicken us hereunto the duty being so needful and we withall so dull these few things following would be taken into consideration Consider first that by our Christian calling we are all made up into one mystical body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that by such a reall though mysterious concorporation as that we become thereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as all of us members of Christ so every one of us one anothers members Now the sympathy and supply that is between the members of the natural body for their mutual comfort and the good of the whole the Apostle elegantly setteth forth and applieth it very fully to the mystical body of the Church in 1 Cor. 12. at large It were a thing prodigiously unnatural and to every mans apprehension the effect of a phrensie at the least to see one member of the body fall a bearing or tearing another No! if any one member be it never so mean and despicable be in anguish the rest are sensible of it No termes of betterness are then stood upon I am better then thou or I then thou no termes of defiance heard I have no need of thee nor I of thee But they are all ready to contribute their several supplies according to their severall abilities and measures to give ease and relief to the grieved part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the reason is given at verse 25. there that so there might be no rent no schisme no division or dis-union of parts in the body 29. Consider secondly That by our condition we are all fellow-brethren and fellow-servants in the same family of the houshold of faith all and these are obliging relations We ought therefore so to behave our selves in the house of God which is the Church of the living God as becometh fellow-brethren that are descended from the same Father and fellow-servants that live under the same Master We all wear one livery having all put on Christ by solemn profession at our holy Baptisme We are fed at one table eating the same spiritual meat and drinking the same spiritual drink in the holy Communion Every thing that belongeth to this house breatheth union One body one spirit one calling one hope one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all as the Apostle urgeth it Ephes. 4. concluding thence that therefore we ought to be at one among our selves endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace Any of us would think it a very disorderly house and ill-governed if coming in by chance we should find the children and servants all together by the ears though but once How much more then if we should observe them to be ever and anon snarling and quarrelling one with another and beating and kicking one another Ioseph thought he need say no more to his brethren to prevent their falling out by the way in their return home-ward then to remind them of this that they were all one mans children And Abraham to procure an everlasting amnesty and utter cessation thenceforth of all debate between himself and his nephew Lot and their servants made use of this one argument as the most prevalent of all other for that end that they were Brethren Ecce quà m bonum I cannot but repeat it once more Behold how good and joyful a thing it is brethren to dwell together in unity 30. Consider thirdly how peace and unity forwardeth the work of God for the building up of his Church which faction and division on the other side obstructeth so as nothing more When all the workmen intend the main business each in his place and office performing his appointed task with chearfulness and good agreement the work goeth on and the building gets up apace But where one man draweth one way and
it nor benefit to them from it but yet by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God who most wisely and powerfully ordered all those various and vitious motions of the creature for the effectuating of his own most glorious and gracious purposes That is one Reason 10. Secondly we use to call all such things Mysteries as cannot possibly come to our knowledge unless they be some way or other revealed unto us whether they have or have not otherwise any great difficulty in them Nebuchadnezzars dream is so called a Mystery Dan. 2. And S. Paul in one place speaking of the conversion of the Iews calleth it a Mystery I would not Brethren that you should be ignorant of this Mystery Rom. 11. and in another place speaking of the change of those that should be found alive at Christs second coming calleth that a Mystery too Behold I shew you a Mystery we shall not all dye c. 1 Cor. 15. In this notion also is the Gospel a Mystery it being utterly impossible that any wit of man by the light of Nature or strength of humane discourse should have been able to have found out that way which Almighty God hath appointed for our salvation if it had not pleased him to have made it known to the world by supernatural revelation The wisest Philosophers and learnedst Rabbies nor did nor could ever have dreamt of any such thing till God revealed it to his Church by his Prophets and Apostles This mystery was hid from ages and from generations nor did any of the Princes of this world know it in any of those ages or generations as it is now made manifest to us since God revealed it to us by his spirit as our Apostle elsewhere speaketh 11. The Philosophers indeed saw a little dimly some of those truths that are more cleerly revealed to us in the Scriptures They found in all men a great proclivity to Evil and an indisposition to Good but knew nothing at all either of the true Causes or of the right remedies thereof Some apprehensions also they had of a Deity of the Creation of the world of a divine providence of the immortality of the soule of a final retribution to be awarded to all men by a divine justice according to the merit of their works and some other truths But those more high and mysterious points especially those two that of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead and that of the Incarnation of the Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek Fathers use to call them together with those appendices of the later the Redemption of the world the Iustification of a sinner the Resurrection of the body and the beatifical Vision of God and Christ in the kingdom of Heaven not the least thought of any of these deep things of God ever came within them God not having revealed the same unto them 12. It is no thanks then to us that very children among us do believe and confess these high mysterious points whereof Plato and Aristotle and all the other grand Sophies among them were ignorant since we owe our whole knowledg herein not to our own natural sagacity or industry wherein they were beyond most of us but to divine and supernatural revelation For flesh and bloud hath not revealed them unto us but our Father which is in heaven We see what they saw not not because our eyes are better then theirs but because God hath vouchsafed to us a better light then he did to them Which being an act of special grace ought therefore to be acknowledged with special thankfulness Our Saviour hath given us the example I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes Mat. 11.25 13. Truly much cause we have to bless the holy Name of God that he hath given us to be born of Christian parents and to be bred up in the bosome of the Christian Church where we have been initiated into these sacred mysteries being catechised and instructed in the doctrine of the Gospel out of the holy Scriptures even from our very childhood as Timothy was But we are wretchedly unthankful to so good a God and extremely unworthy of so great a blessing if we murmur against our Governours and clamour against the Times because every thing is not point-vise just as we would have it or as we have fancied to our selves it should be Whereas were our hearts truly thankful although things should be really and in truth even ten times worse then now they are but in their conceit only yet so long as we may enjoy the Gospel in any though never so scant a measure and with any though never so hard conditions we should account it a benefit and mercy invaluable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so St Paul esteemed it the very riches of the grace of God for he writeth According to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdome and prudence having made known to us the mysterie of his will Eph. 1. If he had not made it known to us we had never known it And that is the Second Reason why a Mystery 14. There is yet a Third even because we are not able perfectly to comprehend it now it is revealed And this Reason will fetch in the Quantum too For herein especially it is that this mysterie doth so far transcend all other mysteries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great marvellous great Mysterie In the search whereof Reason finding it self at a loss is forced to give it over in the plain field and to cry out O altitudo as being unable to reach the unfathomed depth thereof We believe and know and that with fulness of assurance that all these things are so as they are revealed in the holy Scriptures because the mouth of God who is Truth it self and cannot lie hath spoken them and our own Reason upon this ground teacheth us to submit our selves and it to the obedience of Faith for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that so it is But then for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nicodemus his question How can these things be it is no more possible for our weak understandings to comprehend that then it is for the eyes of bats or owles to look stedfastly upon the body of the Sun when he shineth forth in his greatest strength The very Angels those holy and heavenly spirits have a desire saith S. Peter it is but a desire not any perfect ability and that but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither to peep a little into those incomprehensible mysteries and then cover their faces with their wings and peep again and cover again as being not able to endure the fulness of that glorious lustre that shineth therein 15. God hath revealed himself and his good pleasure towards us in his holy
Concerning the other The Lord made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil Prov. 16. He maketh it his End we should make it ours too if but by way of Conformity 13. But he requireth it of us secondly as our bounden Duty and by way of Thankfulness in acknowledgement of those many favours we have received from him What ever we have nay what ever we are as at first we had it all from him so we still hold it all of him and that jure beneficiario as feudataries with reservation of services out of the same to be performed for the honour of the donour Our Apostle therefore in our Lords behalf presseth us with the nature of our tenure and challengeth this duty from us by a claim of right Ye have them of God saith he and ye are not your own therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Glorifie him in both because both are his As the rivers return again to the place whence they came Eccl. 1. they all come from the Sea and they all run into the Sea again So all our store as it issued at first from the fountain of his grace so should it all fall at last into the Ocean of his glory For of him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory for ever and ever Amen 14. But say there lay no such obligation upon us yet thirdly in point of Wisdom it would concern us to seek our Masters glory the benefit whereof would so abundantly redound upon our selves For as was touched before there accrueth no advantage to him thereby the gain is solely ours By seeking his glory we promote our own and so by doing him service we do upon the point but serve our selves Doth Iob doth any man serve God for nought I speak it not for this purpose as if we should aime at Gods glory with a farther aim therein at our own benefit For that could be but a mercenary service at the best neither worthy of him nor becoming us And besides the reason should contradict it self for how could Gods glory be our farthest End if we should have another End beyond it for our selves I note it only to let us see the exceeding goodness of our gracious Lord and Master and for our better heartening that we faint not in his service who doth so infallibly procure our glory whilest we unfainedly seek his And hereof we have a faire and full assurance and that from his own mouth and that in as plain and express terms as it is possible for a promise to be made 1 Sam. 2. Them that honour me I will honour 15. From the Point thus confirmed will arise sundry profitable Inferences some whereof I shall propose to you and those all by way of admonition Since our chief aim ought to be that in every thing God may have the glory due to his name beware we first that we do not by base flattery or other too much reverence or obsequiousness give unto any mortal man or other finite creature any part of that Honour which is due to the infinite and immortal God alone Not the glory of Omnipotency unto any power upon earth be it never so great God spake once twise have I heard the same that power belongeth unto God Psal. 62. Experience sheweth there is impotency in them all Not the glory of Infallibility to any judgment be it never so clear nor to any Iudicatory be it never so solemn Let God be true and every man a lyar Rom. 3. Experience sheweth there is Errour and Partiality in them all Not the glory of Religious worship to any Image Saint Angel or other Creature though never so blessed and glorious For God is extremely jealous in that particular above all other My glory will I not give to another neither my praise to graven Images Esay 42. Experience and reason sheweth there iâ— some deficiency or other in them all 16. Beware we secondly that we do not sacrilegiously rob God of his honour by deriving the least part of it upon our selves As Ananias kept back for his proper use part of the price of his land when he should have brought in all for the Churches use Like crafty Stewards that enrich themselves by lessening their Lords â—ines or untrusty Servants that turn some of their Masters goods into money and then put the money into their own purses Non nobis Domine non nobis saith David Psal. 115. Not unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the praise He repeateth it twise that he might disclaim it wholly and wash his hands of it so clearly that not any of it might stick to his fingers as who say By no means to us Our blessed Lord himself Christ Iesus who was the very brightness and express image of his Fathers glory and without robbery of equal and coeternal glory with him yet as he was man he did not glorifie himself nay let me say more having taken upon him the form of a servant he durst not seek his own glory but the glory of his Father that sent him We use to call it vain-glory when a man seeketh his own glory unduly or inordinately and rightly we so term it for Vanity is next akin to nothing and such glory is no better if Solomon may be judge For men to seek their own glory is not glory Prov. 25. 17. But though we may not seek to pull any glory upon our selves yet if others will needs put it upon us unsought for may we not admit it may we not take it when it is given us No that you may not neither Beware of that therefore thirdly It is a strong temptation I grant to our proud mindes but that maketh it nothing the lesse it rendereth it rather the more dangerous For what hath any man to do to bestow what is none of his And if we know they have no right to give it sure we are greatly to blame if we take it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that receiveth stollen goods is not much less guilty then he that stole them It did not any thing at all either excuse Herod from guilt or exempt him from punishment that he did no more but admit those shouts and acclamations wherewith the people so magnified his eloquence It is the voice of God and not of man Great ones had need take heed how they listen too much to those that magnifie them too much Because he did not some way or other shew himself displeased with those flatterers not chastening them so much as with a frown nor transmit the glory they cast upon him higher where it was of right due he standeth convicted and condemned upon record for not giving God the glory Acts 12. Marvel not that one of Gods holy Angels was so ready to do execution upon him there for
Ieremiah they shall not be able to put them in execution As a cunning rider that suffereth a wilde untamed Horse to fling and fly out under him but with the bridle in his jaws can give him a sudden stop at his pleasure even in the midst of his fullest career Or as a skilful fisher when some great fish hath caught the bait letteth it tumble and play upon the line awhile and beat it self upon the water or against the bank and at last when he spieth his time striketh the hook into him and draweth him to the land So can the Lord deal and often doth with the great Behemoths and Leviathans of the world he letteth them go on in the pleasing devices of their own seduced hearts and suffereth them to prosper in their mischievous imaginations according to the old or as the new translation rendreth it Psal. 140. in their wicked devices till they be even covered over with pride and violence But when the time is come which he in his eternal counsel hath appointed he putteth his hook into their noses and his bridle into their lips they are both his own expressions by the Prophet in the case of Hezekiah and Senacherib and so defeateth all their malicious purposes for the future And though they fret and rage for anger and are as impatient as a wilde Bull in a net which is another of the Prophets expressions elsewhere yet is it to no purpose though they gnash with their teeth through indignation and envy yet will they nill they they shall melt away and their desires shall perish Whereof besides sundry examples in Scriptureâ— God hath given us of this nation some remarkable experiments especially in two never to be forgotten defeats the one of the Invincible Armado in eighty eight the other of the Gunpowder-Treason since 37. The meditation of which both examples and experiments would be as a soveraign Cordial to relieve our spirits and sustain our souls with comfort against those deliquia animae those fainting fits that sometimes come upon us when we are either over-burdened under the pressures of our own sufferings or overgrieved at the prosperous successes of our cruel enemies The comfort is that neither they nor their devices can prevail against us any farther then God will give them leave and we know that if we cleave stedfastly to him he will not give them leave to prevail any farther then shall be for our good He that by his power stilleth the raging of the Sea that hath set it its certain bounds which it may not pass and by his peremptory decree hath said unto it Hitherto shalt thou go and here shalt thou stay thy proud waves by the same power also can still at his pleasure the madness and the tumult of the people Pilate that condemned Christ could have had no power so to do if it had not been given him from above And Iudas that betrayed him and the Iewes that crucified him did no more then what God in his determinate counsel had fore-appointed to be done But nor Pilate nor Iudas nor the Iews could hinder him from rising again from the dead The reason was because in the eternal counsel of God Christ was to dye and to rise again therefore God suffered them to have power to procure his Death but they had no power at all to hinder his Resurrection 38. And therefore also fourthly it will well become us nay it is our bounden duty to submit to such sufferings as God shall call us to and to take up our cross when he shall think fit to lay it upon us with all willingness When we have to do with Satan and his temptations resistance may be of good use to us Resist the devil and he will flye from you but when we have to do with God and his chastisements it is in vain to oppose His hand is too mighty for us there is no way but to submit and to humble our selves thereunder by acknowledging our weakness and resigning our wills and desires to his wisdom and goodness It is the fondest thing in the world to think to redeem our selves out of troubles by our own wit or power alone without his leave Our own devices can no more help us if in his eternal counsel he have determined to afflict us then other mens devices can harm us if he have determined to protect us But how to behave our selves when any trouble is upon us or danger towards us the Apostle hath given us an excellent Rule and our Saviour an excellent Example The Rule is Phil. 4.6 Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God As if he had said Acquaint him with your griefs what it is that troubleth you and with your desires what it is you would have commend all to his good pleasure and wisdom by your humble and hearty prayers and then take no further anxious care about it your heavenly father will take care of it who knoweth better then you doe what is fittest to be done in it The Example is our Saviours prayer in his agony Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done He maketh his request knowen unto God in the former clause and then permitteth all to his will in the later 39. But you will say must we sit still when trouble is upon us Suffer all and doe nothing May we not cast and devise how to free our selves therefrom and use our best endeavours to effect it Doubtless you may There is nothing meant in what hath been hitherto said to exclude either prudent counsels or honest endeavours God forbid He taketh no pleasure either in fools or slugards But here is the danger lest we should rest in our own counsels without asking counsel at his mouth or trust to our own endeavours without seeking help at his hand We are to use both Counsels and Endeavours provided ever that they be honest and lawful but there is something to be done besides both before and after Before we use them we must pray unto God that he would direct us in our Counsels and bless us in our Endeavours and when we have used them we must by our prayers again commend the success of both to him who is able to save us and permit it wholy to his wisdome and goodness at what times and by what means and in what measure it will please him to save us For so it must be even as he will and no otherwise when all is done His Counsel shall stand but so shall no device of man that agreeth not thereunto 40. That therefore we may give unto our purposes as great a certainty of good success as such uncertain things are capable of it should be our care in the last place to provide that they may be as conformable to