weakness because tho' the Believers hand is weak yet his Heart is right the Hypocrite may have the most active Hand but the Believer hath the most faithful and sincere Heart Our applying to God through Jesus Christ id est our address to the Father through his Son begetting in us a sense of that Love which our Saviour had for us cannot but kindle returns of Love suitable to it and that must needs reform the inward Man upon which purity and holiness of Life will certainly follow Right Obedience to Christ First It must be Evangelical 1st For the Matter of it Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John 15.14 2ly To the manner of it according to what God requires of us God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth John 4.24 3ly The ground of it This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1.15 Secondly It is an Universal Obedience Numb 14.24 But thy servant Caleb because he hath another Spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land c. Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments Thirdly It is a continual Obedience Psal 119.112 I have enclined my Heart to perform thy Statutes always even unto the end God is never absent tho' the wicked have him not in their Thoughts where he is not by Favour he is by Punishment and Terror Greg. the Great Painting of Faces THey that love to Paint themselves in this World otherwise than God hath made them may justly fear that at the Resurrection their Creator will not know them Cyprian Passions IT is the greatest Slavery in the World to be subject to ones own Passions Justin Martyr Patience OTher Graces are but the parts of a Christians Armour but Patience is the whole Armour of the Man of God the Enemy foils us without it but we foil him with it Ignatius O that I could live says Mr. Corbet by Faith in this time of Affliction I endeavour to press upon my Soul those Arguments which the Scripture affords with Patience and Long-suffering with Joyfulness but this will not do the Work except the Spirit of Faith and Patience be given from him from whom comes down every good and perfect Gift I do pray I do cry to my Father that he would give me the gracious Spirit according to his Promises that I may shew forth the Power of his Grace and that I may not Dishonour him A Soul patient when Wrongs are offered him is like a Man with a Sword in one hand and a Salve in the other could wound but will heal Alexander of Hales Do not promise to thy self that which God never promised thee This heals the evils that arise from vain hopes and cools the anger of those Sores that are caused by frustration of our Expectations It is lawful to desire several things which are uncertain if God sees them good for us but let us not promise to our selves any of them Do not entertain thy thoughts with promises of Contentment in such a relation in such a condition nor success in such an Enterprise no tho' thou goest about it wisely but promise to thy self pardon of Sin and Eternal Life if thou do thy Duty and the Grace of God to do it if thou pray for it and wilt use it for this our Merciful Father hath promised And if we will hope for any thing let it be as I said before in the days of our Sorrow and Adversity to support our Heaviness but not in the days of our Prosperity to please our Fancies Parents PArents ought to offer these things to their Children as Instructions both in God's Word and Human Arts which preserves them from Idleness and Folly gives them Wisdom and learns them Subjection and Obedience to their Superiours Justin Martyr Peace WHat will it avail thee to Dispute soundly of the Trinity if thou be void of Humility and art thereby displeasing to the Trinity high Words surely never make a Man neither Holy nor Just but a Vertuous Life makes him dear to God I desire rather to feel Compunction than to understand the Definition thereof If thou dost know the whole Bible and the Sayings of all the Philosophers by Heart what would that profit thee without the Word of God Vanity of Vanity all is Vanity but to fear God and him only this is the highest Wisdom by contempt of the World to attend the Kingdom of Heaven It is Vanity then to tend after Perishing Riches to hunt after Honors to climb to high Dignities and to labor after that for which we afterwards suffer more grievous Punishments Vanity it is to wish to live long and carelessly to live well Vanity it is to mind only this present Life and not to foresee these things that are to come Vanity it is to stay and set thy love on these fading and Perishing things here below and not to hasten thither where everlasting Joy is permanent Call often to mind that Proverb The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing endeavor therefore to withdraw thy Heart from these Visible things and turn thy self to the Invisible for they that follow their Sensuality shame their own Consciences and lose the favor of God. Thou must labor to break thy Will in many things if thou wilt have Peace and Concord with others It is no small thing to live in Chistian Communion It is no small thing to dwell in Religious Communion and to converse therein without Complaint and persevere therein faithfully till Death Blessed is he that hath then lived well and persevered therein till Death The Kingdom of God is within you saith the Lord turn thee with thy whole Heart to God and forsake this wretched World and thy Soul shall find rest Learn to despise Exterior things and to give thy self Inferior and thou shalt perceive the Kingdom of God to come into thee for the Kingdom of God is Peace and within the Holy Ghost which is not given to the Wicked Christ will come unto thee and shew thee his Consolations if thou prepare for him a worthy Mansion within thee All his Beauty and Glory is within and there he pleaseth himself the Inward Man he often Visiteth and hath with him sweet Discourses much Solace much Peace and wonderful Familiarity O faithful Soul make ready thy Heart for this Bridegroom that he may vouchsafe to come into thee and dwell within thee If any love me he will keep my Words and we will come and make our Abode with him Give therefore admittance to Christ and deny entrance to all others When thou hast Christ thou art Rich and he will suffice thee he will be thy faithful and provident Helper in all things so that thou shalt not need to trust in Men for Men are quickly
Faculty The Will against the Will Affection against Affection And this is that the Apostle calls The lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit That is the striving of one Unregenerate part against the Regenerate part and this ever in the same Faculty But striving against Sin may be in several Faculties as between the Will and Conscience as for fear of Hell which Wicked Men may have Acts 7.15 It is impossible for a Man to forsake Sin except he forsakes all that he knows to be Sin To hate Sin as it is an offence to God and wrong to his Majesty to hate Sin as it is a breach of his Commandments a wicked controuling of God's Will which is the only Rule of Goodness To hate Sin as being a disingenuous Transgression of that Law of Love established in the Blood and Death of Christ and so in a degree a Crucifying of Christ afresh to hate Sin as being a grieving and quenching of the Spirit of God as all Sin in its nature is Thus to hate Sin is Grace and thus every true Christian hates Sin and not for the Shame that attends it nor as it is contrary to some other Sin c. I do not cease to lament the more hainous Sins of my Life and cannot forbear continually to implore the Pardon of them I do not again return unto them and resolve never so to do I watch and pray against all Sin but especially against those Sins to which I especially am enclined my Conflicts are daily and I am hard put to it but I do not yield up my self to any Sin nor lie down in it Yea I do not suffer Sinful Thoughts or Cogitations to lodg in me howbeit I am much discomposed and damped in Spirit deadned in Duty distracted in my Studies and molested and hindered every way by Sin that dwelleth in me But I resolve that Sin shall never have rest in my Soul and that I will never enjoy it I cannot keep Sin out of my Heart yet it doth not raign in my Mortal Body nor do I yield my Members to the Service of it Mr. Corbet 's Enquiry It is a less Evil to do Sin and not to love it than to love Sin and not to do it for to do Sin may argue weakness of Grace but to love Sin argues strength of Lust What I hate that I do Rom. 7.14 A Man may forsake the Life of Sin and yet retain the Love of Sin. True Mourning for Sin is more for the Evil that is in Sin than the Evil that comes by Sin more because it dishonoureth God and Wounds Christ and grieves the Spirit and makes the Soul unlike God than because it Damns the Soul Mat. 7.11 O Lord when I confess Sin unto thee grant that I may feel the burthen and weight of it upon my Conscience that it may not be a customary Confession Where Confession is right it will be distinct especially of those which were our chief Sins Confession should come like Water out of a Spring which runs freely not like Water out of a Still which is forced by Fire Salvation by CHRIST's Blood. TAke it for granted there is no Man under Heaven whereby we can be saved but Jesus Christ all Grace for this Life and for that which is to come must come to you through the Channel of Christ's Blood. Acts 16.30 31. Sorrow I Could have born any Sorrow rather than this I am under this is a good sign GOD hath let me Blood in the right Vein he will have me part with all manner of Sin without exception It is doubtless our Sin to disable our selves by our Sorrow for our general or particular Callings Let us be heartily Sorrowful that we have so Carnally so Hypocritically so Covetously so Vain-gloriously Professed the Gospel Let the Plagues and Anger of GOD most justly fallen upon us be applyed to our Sins that from the bottom of our Hearts every one of us may say It is I Lord that have Sinned against Thee It is my Wickedness that causeth success and encrease of Authority to my Enemies M. Bradford Speech THERE is no Man that talks but I may gain by him and none that holds his Tongue but I may lose by him As Henry Wotton being bound for Rome asked his Host in Vienna a Man well versed in Men and Business What Rules he would give him for his Port Conduct and Carriage He answered There is one short Remembrance which will carry you Safe throughout the whole World and that is nothing but this Keep your Thoughts close and your Countenance loose He that knoweth to speak well knoweth also where he must hold his Peace Said that Old Grecian Think an Hour before thou speakest and a Day before thou Promisest Spirit SPirit in the un-erring Sense is nothing but Reason illuminated by Revelation out of the Written Word for when the Mind and Spirit humbly conform and submit to the Written Will of God then are you said to have the Spirit of God and to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the Flesh Mr. Hales of Eaton College There is an Having of the Spirit which is a sure Work of Saintship Where the Spirit is an effectual prevailing Principle of Grace and Sanctification renewing and regenerating the Heart Where the Spirit is as a potent Worker helping the Souls Infirmities Rom. 8.26 Where the Spirit is said to abide for ever John 14.16 The true Believer hath so much of the Spirit such a work of it in him that he cannot sin that Sin unto Death He that is born of God sinneth not to wit that Sin unto Death for that is meant 1 John 7.16 1. Mr. Smith in a Sermon said to this purpose If God be our Father in Christ he lays hold of us by his Spirit and we lay hold of Him by Faith. Now it is his Hold-fast of us that saves us so that tho our Faith be as it were a sleep yet the Fathers Hold-fast continues firm Many when they hear that Spiritual Comforts are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit presently conceive themselves to be meerly Passive therein and that they have nothing to do but wait when God will bestow them Notwithstanding tho these Comforts are Spiritual yet they are rationally raised up on the Understanding's Apprehension of the Excellency of God our Happiness and our Interest in Him and by the rolling of these blessed Objects in our frequent Meditations the Spirit doth advance and not destroy our Reason it doth ratifie and then use it as its ordinary Instrument for the Conveyance of such things to our Affections and Exciting them accordingly and not lay it aside and affect us without it Therefore our Joys are raised discoursively and the Spirit first revealeth the Cause of our Joy and then helps us to rejoice upon those revealed Grounds so that he rejoyceth groundedly who knoweth why he rejoiceth ordinarily Mr. Baxter's Rest 3d. part p. 159 160. Sufferings I May be Poor but still I
brings Men into Snares which drown Men in Perdition Fulgentius used to say CHRIST Died for Men and Angels for Men that they may rise from Sin and for Angels that they may not fall into Sin. And if they go to Hell that do not Feed the Hungry Cloath the Naked c. If want of Charity be Tormented in Hell what will become of the Covetous Tertullian saith Gold to many Men is much better than their Faith and Honesty And the Love of it makes many so Covetous as if they were to Live here for ever Avarice is not the Vice of Gold but of Men that use it Conscience THe Two main Principles that guide Human Nature saith Judge Dodderidge are Conscience and Law by the former we are obliged in reference to another World by the latter in reference to This. St. Ambrose was wont to say A clear Conscience should not regard slanderous Speeches nor think that they have more Power to Condemn him than his own Conscience hath to clear him Aquinas was wont to say That Day will come when Fair-Dealing will be found a Jewel when a good Conscience shall be better than a good Purse when the Judge will not be put off with fair Speeches nor drawn aside with hopes of Reward Isidore saith All things may be shuned but a Man 's own Heart a Man cannot run from himself a guilty Conscience will not leave him wheresoever he goes It is very dangerous to quiet Conscience with any thing but the Blood of Christ It 's bad being at Peace till Christ speaks Peace Nothing can truly satisfie Conscience less than that which pacifies God and that is the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ Mead. Whoso will keep the Peace of his Conscience and his Confidence in God must carefully keep himself from all those things that displease his Holy Eyes and turn away his Gracious Countenance lest that when need of our Duty calls us to draw near him by Prayer we feel our selves pulled back by Guilty Fears Du Moulin 63. The Glory of a good Man is the Testimony of a good Conscience A good Conscience is able to bear very much and is chearful in Adversities To walk inwardly with God and not to be possessed with any outward Affection is the State of a Spiriritual Man. Have a good Conscience and thou shalt ever have Joy. Charity CHrisologus saith Let not thy Care be to have thy Hands full when the Poors are empty for the only way to have full Barns is to have Charitable Hands St. Ambrose saith It is not so much to be enquired how much thou Givest as with what Heart It is not Liberality when thou takest by Oppression from one and givest to another St. Cyril saith It is the best way for a Rich Man to make the Bellies of the Poor his Barn to succor the Fatherless and Naked and thereby to lay up Treasure in Heaven that he may be received into the Heavenly and everlasting Habitations Chastity A Woman is truly Chast that hath Liberty and Opportunity to Sin and doth not Commands GOD comes to us not a Naked GOD but Cloathed with His Commands and if we Love Him we must receive Him so Cloathed GOD hears our Prayers according as we keep his Commands Whatsoever God forbids in the Act he forbids likewise in the Thoughts If Christ be not our King to Rule and Govern us he will neither be our Prophet to Fore-warn nor our Priest to Expiate If Christ hath freed us from the Damnation of Sin he hath also freed us from the Dominion of Sin. If with his Blood he hath quenched the Fire of Hell for us he hath also quenched the Fire of Lust in us Christ's Justifying Blood is given by his Sanctifying Spirit Touchstone of a Christian Conversion LAbor after and Pray for a through Conversion beg of GOD that he would make a saving Change in your Souls that you may be altogether Christians all other Changes below this saving Change this Heart change make us but almost Christians Morality and Civility may commend us to Men but not to God they are of no moment or value to the procurement of Eternal Salvation The sober Man not being renewed throughout by the Spirit of God shall as surely go to Hell as the beastly Drunkard Corruptions WHilst Grace is Imperfect Corruptions will be strong The great Corruptions that the Godly find in themselves keep them from being Proud and despising of others Hildersam Custom THe Halsion Days of the Gospel provoke Hypocrisie but the Sufferings for Religion prove Sincerity He that is a Professor of Religion meerly for Custom when it Prospers will never be a Martyr for Christ's sake when it Suffers Covenant the Second THe Son of GOD came to make known unto us the Will of his Father in performance of which we shall be sure to be Accepted and Rewarded by Him And this was one great part of his Business which He performed in those many Sermons and Precepts we find set down in the Gospel and herein He is our Prophet it being the Work of a Prophet of Old not only to Foretel but to Teach Our Duty in this particular is to hearken diligently to Him to be most ready and desirous to learn that Will of God which He came from Heaven to Reveal to us The second Thing He was to do for us was To satisfie GOD for our Sins not only that One of Adam but all the Sins of Mankind that truly Repent and Amend and by this means to obtain Forgiveness of Sins and the Favour of God and so to Redeem us from Hell and Eternal Damnation which was the Punishment due to our Sins All this He did for us by his Death He offered up Himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of all those who heartily bewail and forsake them and in this He is our Priest it being the Priests Office to Sacrifice for the Sins of the People Our Duty in this particular is truly and heartily to Repent and forsake our Sins without which they will never be Pardoned us altho' Christ hath Died. Secondly Stedfastly to Believe if we do that we shall have the Comforts of this Sacrifice of His all our Sins how great or how many soever shall be Pardoned and we saved from those Eternal Punishments which were due to us for them And for that other part viz. That of Praying that he not only performed on Earth but continues still to do it in Heaven He sits on the Right-Hand of God and makes Requests for us Rev. 8.34 Our Duty herein is not to resist this unspeakable Blessing of His but to be willing to be thus Blest in being turned from our Sins and not to make void and fruitless all his Prayers and Intercessions for us which will never prevail for us whilst we continue in them The third thing that Christ was to do for us was To enable us or give us strength to do what God requires of us This He doth First by
World that Christ the Messias is come in the Flesh c. Or to Things present as That Almighty God knows all I do and knows all I think or That he is a reconciled Father unto me in Christ Jesus Or Things to come which principally excite those Two great movers of the Soul Hope and Fear in relation to the future Life of Rewards and Punishments Hale Faith worketh by Love consumeth our Corruptions and Sanctifieth the whole Man throughout I come to God by Jesus Christ and as I believe in God so I believe also in Jesus Christ and rejoyce and glory in Him acknowledging my own unworthiness and sinfulness I rest entirely on Him as the ground of my Justification to Life and of all favour and acceptance with God. I most heartily take Christ according to the offers of the Gospel not only to be Justified from my Sins and delivered from the Wrath to come by his Merits but also to be Sanctified by his Word and Spirit and to be Governed by his Law and to be brought by him unto Fellowship with GOD. Corbet 's Self-Imployment Tho' there be not a co-operation of Faith and other Graces to Justifie yet there is a co-existence of Faith and other Graces in the Persons Justified Faith cannot be the Hand to take Christ but Love will be the Warmth to heat our Affections to Christ they always go together like Mother and Daughter Gal. 5.6 Phil. 5. Faith is required as an Hand which we should put forth to receive Pardon for our Sins First At God's Hands as a Free-Gift for he blotteth out our Transgressions for his own sake Isa 43.25 Secondly At Christ's Hands as a purchased Commodity bought for us with his own precious Blood and given to you There is First an Heart mollifying Faith. Secondly An Heart purifying Faith. Thirdly A fruitful Faith. Fourthly An Heart Praying Faith. Fifthly A Victorious Faith. Tho' we are Justified by Faith yet it is by Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 And he that Loves God keeps his Commandments John 14. Bishop of Hereford 's Legacy 66 67. As to Faith Justifying and the Merit of Good-Works Bishop Cranmer concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merit of Christ Jesus and that those that are Justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification When ever we read of our Justification by Faith it is meant of our Justification in a Gospel way and that is by Christ alone Meritoriously and by what he hath done and Suffered Faith being but the conditional means Christ's Satisfaction contrived provided accepted and the Conditions performed then every Saved Person will appear Righteous before God and it will be very apparently a Righteous thing with God to bring such to Glory who have Christ's Righteousness by way of Satisfaction to answer for them in respect of the Law and their own Faith and sincere tho' imperpect Obedience to answer the terms of the Gospel Faith to Live by it IT is an Heavenly and Dutiful committing our whole Persons and of our whole Estates upon God with a Pious dependance on Christ for suitable and seasonable Supplies in all our Exigencies Occurrences and Changes whatsoever When the Soul is in any Exigence and comes to Christ and puts it self upon him and trusts to him for help This is to Live by Faith and this Faith extends it self both to our Spiritual and Temporal Estate The Just shall Live by his Faith Gal. 3.11 speaking of the Temporal State And Live by Faith of the Son of God says St. Paul Gal. 2.2 speaking of the Spiritual State. By reason of the Dignity of Christ's Person his Obedience and Sufferings being performed in our Nature and wholly upon our account God by an Infinite Gracious Statute in Heaven accepts them for us tho' not as done by us and reckons all the Effects and Advantages of them by way of Imputation to us Justification Evangelical We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith. Tertullian Chrysostom saith As a Rock tho' the Winds blow and the Waves beat against it is Immovable so Faith grounded on the Rock Christ holds out in all Temptations and Spiritual Combats Chrysologus saith Neither in the Steel alone nor in the Flint alone any Fire can be seen nor Extracted but by Conjunction and Collision so nor by Faith alone nor by Works alone is Salvation to be attained but by joyning both together Alexander of Hales saith What the Eye is to the Body Faith is to the Soul it 's good for direction if it be kept well And as Flies hurt the Eyes so little Sins and Ill-Thoughts do the Soul. Says Luther to Melancthon Who feared to Profess the Truth If the Cause be bad le ts revoke it and fly back but if it be good why do we make God a Lyar who hath made us such great Promises viz. Cast thy Care on the Lord and be of good Comfort I have Overcome the World. If Christ be the Conqueror of the World why should we fear it as tho' it would Overcome us therefore be not afraid but Couragious and Chearful solicitous for nothing the Lord is at hand to help us Calvin saith With all my Heart I embrace the Mercy which God hath used towards me for Jesus Christ 's sake recompencing my Faults with the Merits of his Death and Passion that Satisfaction may be made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I have not lived so that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to Die because I have a Merciful Lord in that a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy Will I say and not my own which is imperfect and depraved This Day let me see the Lord Jesus c. Jewel Fall of Man. Anselm saith O hard hap What did Man lose What did he find He lost the Blessedness to which he was made and found Death to which he was not made Fortune SIR William Saint James was wont to say That none Fought well but those that did it for a Fortune Fortune saith Sir Ralph Winwood may begin a Man's Greatness but Vertue must continue it Friendship Friendship saith my Lord Bacon easeth the Heart and cheareth the Vnderstanding making clear Day in both partly by giving the purest Council or partly from our Interest and Prepossessions and partly by allowing opportunity to Discourse and by that Discourse to clear the Mind to recollect the Thoughts to see how they look in Words whereby Men attain to the highest Wisdom which Dionisius Aeriopagitus saith is the Daughter of Reflection Forgiveness IF a Man saith Sir David Brooke wrongeth me once God forgive him If he wrong me the second time God forgive me O God Forgive me my Ten Thousand Talents I come to Jesus Christ who
hath made satisfaction and lay this heavy Reckoning to his Account Lord forgive me mine Iniquity for it is very great Vid. Pag. 70. Frugality Frugality is the Left-Hand of Fortune and Diligence the Right Fasting FAsting and other Holy Revenges upon our selves for our Sins are very acceptable to God yet we must not think that either those or any thing else we can do can make satisfaction for our Offences for that nothing else but the Blood of Christ can do And therefore upon that and not upon any of our Performances we must depend for Pardon yet since that Blood shall never be applied to any but Penitent Sinners we are as much concern'd to bring forth all the fruits of Repentance as if our Hope 's depended on them wholly Duty of Man 126. Fear THe Man that Fears GOD is the Wisest Man and he that upon that account departs from Evil is the Man of greatest Understanding Hales's Contemplations 15. When Trembling is the Fruit of a Spirit broken for Sin and the Law in its own Eyes there God will look Mead. 72. How great a Madness is it to Fear Man will soon appear if we do but compare what Man can do unto us and what God can do And First It is sure it is not in the Power of Man I may say Devils too to do us any hurt without God permit and suffer them to do it So that if we do but keep him to be our Friend we may say with the Psalmist The Lord is on my side I need not fear what Man can do unto me for let their Malice be never so great he can restrain and keep them from hurting us Nay He can change their Minds towards us according to that of the Wise-Man Prov. 16.7 When a Man's Ways please the Lord he can make his very Enemies to be at Peace with him A notable Example of this we have of Jacob Gen. 32. Who when his Brother Esau was coming against him as an Enemy God wonderfully turned his Heart so that he met him with all the loving Expressions of Brotherly kindness as you may read in the next Chapter But Secondly Suppose Men were left at liberty to do thee what Mischief they could alas their Power goeth but a little way they may perhaps rob thee of thy Goods it may be they may take away thy Liberty or thy Credit or perchance thy Life too but that thou knowest is the utmost they can do But now God can do all this when he pleases and that which is infinitely more his Vengeance reaches even beyond Death it self to the Eternal Misery both of Body and Soul in Hell in comparison of which Death is so inconsiderable that we are not to look upon it with any dread Fear not them that Kill the Body and after have no more that they can do saith Christ Luk. 12.4 and then immediately adds But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear him which after he hath Killed hath Power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him In which words the Comparison is set between the greatest Ill we can suffer from Man the loss of Life and those sadder Evils God can inflict on us And the latter are found to be the only dreadful things and therefore God only to be Feared Duty of Man. 20. Let your Fear of Men stir up an Holy Fear of GOD. Grace and Merits CArdinal Pool was wont to say tho' a Papist We cannot give too much to God 's Grace nor too little to our own Merits He said when he returned into England I came hither not to Condemn but to Reconcile not to Compel but to Desire God's People THey are a small part of lost Mankind whom God hath from Eternity Predestinated to the Glory of Heaven for the Glory of his Mercy and given to his Son to be by him in a Spiritual manner Redeemed from their lost Estate and advanced to this higher Glory all which Christ doth in due time accomplish accordingly for them and by his Spirit upon them But this is but a piece of their Description concerning God's Work for them and upon them Le ts see also what they are to do in regard of the working of their own Souls towards God and their Redeemer again viz. These People of God are that part of the Externally called who having been by the Spirit of Christ throughly tho imperfectly Regenerated and hereby Convinced and sensible of the Evil in Sin that Misery in themselves that Vanity in the Creature that Necessity Sufficiency and Excellency of Jesus Christ that they abhor that Evil bewail that Misery and turn their hearts from that Vanity and most affectionately accepting of Christ for their Saviour and Lord to bring them to God their chief Good and present them perfectly just before him Do accordingly enter into a Cordial Covenant with him and herein persevere to their lives end Baxter A Godly Man is one of those whose Conversation is in Heaven his Hopes and Heart are likewise there for his Riches his House and his Relations are in Heaven a Godly Man 's All is there ask him what he hath on Earth and he will tell you nothing or less than nothing Ask him then wherein are his Blessings he will tell you where his Father is there are my desired Blessings there are my hopes there is my All there I wish that I my self were with them Wadsworth on Phil. 12. I would not only have God hereafter but in this World for my chief good for as far as I am able to discerne my heart and ways I have chosen the Lord for my Portion I take my rest in him and not in the Creature to Love Fear Admire and Bless him and to have my Communion with him is my Joy an Eternal Vision and Fruition of God is my great hope he is even now better than the whole World. Mr. Corbet's Enquiry pag. 6. Lactantius says Godliness Enriches the owner Grace GRace flowing from the Spirit of God makes the Soul like a Fountain whose Waters are pure and wholesome for Grace Beautifyeth Cleanseth and Saveth the whole Man. Ignatius When a Man desires Grace from a right sence of his natural State when he sees the vileness of Sin and the woful defiled and loathsome condition he is in by reason of Sin and therefore desires the Grace of Christ with uncessant earnestness to renue and change him this is Grace Mead 68. Grace is a comprehensive Word and includes in it not only favour and acceptance with God but also those other accessaries of the Gifts of Bounty and Goodness which comes from the great Giver of every good and perfect Gift as Wisdom Righteousness Purity of Heart and the like Hales Grace is precious it suffereth not it self to be mingled with External things nor with Earthly Comforts thou oughtest therefore to cast away all hindrances of Grace if thou desire the Infusion thereof De Kempis The least Grace gives a full Interest
we say less than the least of God's Mercies Prayer THat Prayer that is pure and holy entereth into the Heavens and returneth not empty It is a shelter to the Soul a Sacrifice to God and a Scourge to the Devil Austin's Prayer was Lord first give me what thou requirest and then require what thou wilt And he that Prayeth well cannot choose but Live well Mr. Perkins upon his Death-Bed said to his Friends praying for the ease of his Pain Pray not for the ease of Torments but for the encrease of my Patience He that Prays for the good Things that he hath not doth not seek for that which is good but that which seems to be good Oh! what do I inwardly suffer when in my Mind I consider Heavenly Things and presently in my Prayers a multitude of Carnal Imaginations present themselves before me My God be not far from me depart not in thy Wrath from thy Servant cast forth thy Light and scatter them send forth thy Darts and break all the Imaginations which the Enemy casts in Gather in call home my Senses unto thee make me forget all the things of this World grant me to cast away speedily the imaginations of Wickedness Succour thou me thou everlasting Truth that no Vanity may move me come Heavenly Sweetness and let Impurity fly from before thee Pardon me also and mercifully forgive me as often as I think of any thing else besides thee in Prayer I do humbly confess I am wont to be subject to many Distractions for I confess I am not there where I do corporally stand or sit but there am I whither my Thoughts do carry me where my Thoughts are there am I. There are oftentimes my Thoughts where my Affections are that offer themselves quickly unto me which is naturally delightful and by custom pleasing Tho. de Kempis 268. If thou be in God Christ is thy Father and therefore in Prayer thy Applications are to thy Father Mat. 7.7 If we being evil know how to give good things whatsoever thou canst expect from thy Earthly Father so much and much more may'st thou expect from thy Heavenly Father patience to bear with thy Infirmities and Failings Psal 78.18 compassion to pity thy Sufferings Psal 103. Goodness to supply thy Wants Justice to revenge thy Injuries Psal 105.14 Those Prayers that are from the workings and sighings of God's Spirit in us from sincere Hearts lifted up to God through the sense of our own Emptiness and from God's infinite Fulness that are suited to God's Will and the great Rule of Prayer that are for Spiritual things more than Temporal that are accompanied with Faith and dependance these Prayers speak a Man altogether a Christian Mead. A Prayer for Purging the Heart and for obtaining Heavenly Wisdom STrengthen me O God by the Grace of thy holy Spirit give me to be strengthened in the inward Man and to empty my self of all unprofitable Care and Anguish not to be drawn away by sundry desires either mean or precious but looking upon all things as passing away together with them for nothing is permanent under the Sun where all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit Oh how wise is he that considereth of them Tho. de Kempis 112. A Powerful Letter IN a Letter to King Henry the VIII it is concluded thus Wherefore Gracious King have pity on your Soul and consider that the Day is even at hand when you shall give an Account of your Office and the Blood that hath been shed with your Sword. In which day that you Grace may stand stedfast and may have your Quietus est sealed with the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ which will only serve at that day is my daily Prayer c. Our Persecutors FRet Fume and Gnash the Teeth to hear that we under these grievous Afflictions can be so Merry let us Pray instantly that this Joy may never be taken from us for it passeth the Delights of this World This is the Peace which passeth all Vnderstanding This Peace the more it is chosen and possessed with the more they feel it and therefore cannot faint neither by Fire nor Water Prosperity HEre lies the danger of a pleasing Condition in regard of Pleasures Credit Delights Riches Friends Habitation Health or any inferiour thing the more of Good that seemeth to be in them as distinct from God the more Dangerous for they are more like to stand up in Competition with him and carry it with our partial and blinded Souls in the Competition Remember this if you love your selves when you would have all things about you more Pleasant and Lovely here lies the danger of a prosperous Condition and State. On the contrary here lies the blessed benefit of Adversity which if Men were not Brutish and Unbelieving they would heartily welcome it as the surest Condition Mr. Baxters Rest 3d Part 216. Papist MY Lord of Worcester being a Papist had this Maxim That he would not be Disordered within himself only because things were out of Order without him Queen Elizabeth was wont to say That my Lord of Worcester had Reconciled what she thought Inconsistent A stiff Papist to be a good Subject Punishment WHensoever God Punisheth he doth it for just Cause and the Godly never accuse him of Rigour as the Wicked do but acknowledge that in themselves is just cause why they should thus intreat them Dan. 9.7 Why should a Living Man complain for the Punishment of his Sins Hale 130. Reason IT 's Human to use Reason rather than Force and a Christian to seek Peace and ensue it Reformation IT would be an easie matter says Malvezzi for Favourites to Reform Kings Palaces if it were not an hard thing to Reform their own Houses Regiment of Health TO be chearfully disposed at Hours of Meat Sleep and Exercise is one of the best Exercises of long lasting As for the passions and studdies of the Mind avoid Envies Anxious Fears Anger fretting Inward subtile and knotty Inquisitions Joys and Exhilerations in Excess Sadness not Communicated entertain Hopes and Mirth rather than Joy variety of Delights rather than Surfeit on them Lord Bacon 's Essays 188. Rejoycing at Death MR. Edward Deering said As for my Death I bless God I feel and find so much inward Joy and Comfort in my Soul that if I were to make my Choice whether to Live or Die I would a Thousand times rather choose Death than Life if it may stand with the good Will of God And shortly after he Died in the Year of our Lord Christ 1576. Religion REligion and the Practice of its Vertues is the Natural state of the Soul the condition to which God designed it As God made Man a reasonable Creature so all the Acts of Religion are equal and suitable to our Natures and our Souls are then in Health when we are what the Laws of Religion require to be and to do what they Command us to do Dr. Tillotson The great Principals of Religion