holinesse the subject continued though this forme perished therefore for the soul renovation is sufficient but for those graces in the soul a new creation is required Lord by thy Image I excell the beasts by it I match the Angels by it I resemble thy self but the subject of this image is by sin decayed and by sin the forme is quite abolished O thou that in my Creation didst grace me with the breath of life now in my Regeneration breathe in me the life of grace the temple of God is decayed in me and the God of this temple is banished from me repaire this temple that thy image again may stand in it and renew thy image that this temple may be sanctified by it XLI Adams sin was committed after Predestination if we consider Adams actuall existence but it was before Predestination in respect of Gods prescience What madnesse is it to think that God sees not our sinnes which we commit secretly whereas he did foresee our sins before they were committed and that from all eternitie XLII In Predestination the preterition of some men was the punishment of those men and the deniall of felicitie was their miserie but punishment presupposeth sin and preterition as a punishment must come after the prevision of sinne If this doctrine be true that the prevision of sin was the cause of preterition sure it is most true that the commission of sin is the cause of condemnation XLIII Passive excaecation or the wilfull ignorance and spirituall blindnesse in man is both a sin and the cause of sin active excaecation as it is from man it is a sin as from God it is the punishment of sin It stands with thy justice O God to punish them with blindnesse who have with delight blinded themselves and to deprive those of light who love to walke in darknesse Why shouldest thou hold out the lamp of thy Word to those that despise it and cause thy sun to shine on them who wilfully shut their eyes against it Lord deale with me as thou didst with Saul I am blinded spiritually make me blinde corporally that by losing the sight of my body I may regain the sight of my soul I will gladly lose the light of the sun moon and other planets so I may behold the light of the Son of righteousnesse XLIIII Some say that the hearts induration is not the cause of Gods indignation but that God is first angry then hardneth I am sure God hath just cause to be angry with those who will be hardned and therefore in his just anger hardneth them I confesse Lord that I have hardned my own heart therefore thou mayest justly be angry with me and because my voluntary hardnesse hath provoked thy anger therefore may thy anger effect in me and that most justly a further degree of hardnesse XLV God who by his irresistible will decreeth the hardning of a sinner yet actually by his resistible will useth to harden that sinner Though none can resist the will of his decrees yet he permits us sometimes to oppose the actions of his will in the one he shewes himself the God of power in the other he shewes his mercy in suffring man to resist the power of God O thou that diddest wrestle with Jacob and gavest him strength both to resist and conquer thee when thou wrestlest with me by tentations give me so much strength as by mortification to subdue my self and then give me leave by faith and teares to vanquish thee XLVI There is in God a two-fold negative act the one of Providence the other of Preterition by the former God denyed to Adam the gift of Perseverance and so suffered him to fall by the other he denyeth to some men the gift of Faith and Repentance and so suffers them to remain in their fall God was not bound to give Adam perseverance seeing otherwise he furnished him with grace sufficiently nor is he bound to give to those faith and repentance who fell from their former grace willingly and oppose his Word and Spirit obstinately Lord I confesse that as thou wast not in Adams debt for perseverance so neither art thou in mine for any grace but if thou wilt be pleased to bestow on me so much grace as to attaine true happinesse I will impute it not to my deserts but to thy favour and goodnesse XLVII Some say that those whom God hath decreed for Salvation may be damned but that they shall not be damned that his decree hindreth the act but not the possibilitie I leave this nicetie for the Schooles But this use I will make of it that if I may be damned I will work out my salvation with fear and trembling if I shall not be damned I will not fear though I walk through the valley of death if I may be damned I acknowledge Lord it is through my own wickednesse if I shall not be damned it is out of thy unspeakable goodnesse XLVIII It is the doctrine of many in these dayes that as God by his revealed will saves none but such as beleeve in him so he decreed by his secret will to save none but such as he foresaw would beleeve in him I am confident God could foresee nothing thing in me but what he was pleased to bestow upon me if he foresaw my faith he foresaw the fruit of his preventing grace if he foresaw my perseverance he foresaw the effect of his subsequent grace XLIX Election say some is Gods decree to justifie the faithfull others say 't is Gods decree to save man as he is man and to that end to make him faithfull In the one opinion I finde faith the meanes of Justification in the other of Salvation meanes I say but not the cause Lord the cause of my happinesse is in thee the meanes in me but the efficacie of this meanes both in my justification and salvation is only from thee L. If the decree of preterition went before the act of sin but not before the prevision of that sin I am confident the act of preterition cannot much lesse can the act of condemnation precede the act of sin Therefore how injurious are some to the God of mercy in daring to accuse him of crueltie who is so far from condemning any man but for sin committed that he would not decree mans condemnation but for sin foreseen LI. There was injoyned to Adam the law of abstinence from the forbidden fruit and the law of obedience the former was particular to Adam the other was common to him and his posteritie it was not for the breach of the former which was personall but for the breach of the other which was universall that we are condemned not Adams act of eating but his disobedience was our bane for we sinned in him sin is a transgression of the law but the law could not have been transgressed by us had it not been in him given to us Lord we have great cause to admire and respect thy mercy in saving us
own Son is an action of necessitie but the regeneration of his adopted sonnes is a work altogether voluntarie So much the more then will I admire and praise that goodnesse which elected and saved me by how much the more I see it was free and voluntarie but no wayes in respect of his perfection necessarie XXIII There is in man a two-fold judgement to wit an antecedent which is that of the affections and senses and a consequent which is that of reason so there is a two-fold volition the one followes the judgement of sense and it is rather an imperfect desire then a perfect volition the other followes the judgement of reason both these volitions were in Christ more eminently then in us because in him were two Wils and these by reason of his two natures were distinct in him though his person was but one therefore he desired the cup might passe from him but willed it not or he willed it by his antecedent not by his consequent will O thou that madest in thy selfe the judgement of affection stoope to the judgement of reason and madest thy desire subservient to thy will and causedst thy antecedent will to give place to thy consequent produce in me the same effect that these sinfull delights which my affections so earnestly run after and thy gentle corrections which they so earnestly run from may be so ordered that the one by me may be courageously subdued the other patiently indured that my affections may submit to my will my will to reason and reason to thy Spirit XXIIII God worketh not immediately by his decree but by his power his decree is but a remote cause his power immediate his decree is an internall action the actions of his power are externall the actions of his decrees depend on his wisedome the actions of his power are subservient to his decrees Lord if in thy wisedome thou thoughtest it good that my soul should be saved and if thou hast decreed it then let thy power be seen in effecting it XXV The necessitie and contingencie of things is not to be attributed to Gods decree but to the working of his power contingencie is when he useth his resistible power if he works irresistibly then followes necessitie what is contingent to the second cause is infallible to Gods prescience but necessarie to the work of his omnipotencie his decree is a remote cause which without his power worketh not Christs death was contingent to the Jewes that crucified him infallible to Gods prescience who foresaw that the Jewes would kill him but necessarie in regard of his decree working by his power in presenting that bitter cup unto him Why then shall afflictions dismay mee which though they be contingent in respect of the second agent yet they are infallible to that all-seeing eye of Heaven that foresaw them and necessarie if we regard that powerfull hand which inflicted them XXVI God ordereth sin though he ordained it not he ordereth it that it may be subservient to his glory he ordained it not because he sinneth not He could not ordain it seeing he hates it forbids it and punishes it Lord I ascribe to thy glorie both my salvation and my sin my salvation thou hast ordained my sin thou hast ordered that by the one I may love thy mercie and by the other I may feare thy Iustice Who but Goodnesse it selfe would ordaine the salvation of a sinner and who but Wisdome it self would order the prevarications of a sinner What is more offensive to thy nature then sin What is more destructive of thy feature in me then sin yet out of sin thou hast drawn the meanes to manifest the goodnesse of thy nature in my salvation and out of the same sin thou hast drawn a meanes to repaire in me thy decayed feature by my repentance and conversion XXVII God gave to Adam sufficient grace to stand but not to persist he permitted him to fall who by the grace he received might have stood he gave him sufficiencie of grace not permanencie in grace by the one God is cleared from iniquitie and by the other he manifests his justice and mercie if man had not been a sinner God had not been a Saviour we had not known Emanuel God with us if Adam by sin had not separated God from us we had known him as Jehova but not as Jesus O my God if thou give me sufficiencie of grace I may fall but if thou give me permanencie in grace I shall not fall give me Adams happinesse in Paradise that I may sufficiently love and know thee give me the Angels happinesse in Heaven that I may constantly love and know and eternally abide in thee XXVIII God delivered his Son to death so did Satan by Iudas God had power to doe so Satan had none God did this in love to the sonnes of men Satan did it in malice to the Son of God by an affirmative act God was willing to permit Satan to exercise his malice by a negative act he hindered him not in all this God sinned not if we consider the authoritie of the agent the forme of the action and the justice and goodnesse of his intention Though God acts not sin nor is willing it should be acted by man yet he is willing to permit it Not sin but permission is the object of his will he could not will sin because he is not sinfull he permits it because he can draw good out of it XXIX God permits not punishment but inflicts it he permits not good but commands it he wills not sin but permits it not as it is good but as out of it he drawes good O thou that drewest light out of darknesse and meat out of the eater draw good out of my evils and comforts out of my afflictions Thou canst draw honey out of the rock and turne water into wine and make bitter Meribah potable we pray thee turn the bitter waters of our Meribah our strife and contention into the pure and sweet streames of Peace and Union XXX What God cannot doe he cannot will what he cannot will he cannot decree and although affirmatively his power be of a larger extent then his will for he can doe that which he will not doe yet negatively he cannot will what he cannot doe nor doe what he cannot will he cannot doe evil therefore he cannot will it he cannot will it therefore he can neither doe it by an externall nor decree it by any internall act O that my will and actions Lord were conformable to thine for oftentimes I doe the evil which I will not and I will the good which I doe not Lord make my will conformable to thine that my actions may be conformable to my will XXXI Gods grace reacheth further then his mercy his grace is extended to all his mercy only to those that are in miserie by grace the Angels were confirmed by grace the world is preserved but by mercie man is redeemed he is gracious then to
actions but on his own prescience his will may be Posterior to the foreseen sin of the creature but no wayes depending on the will of the creature In willing the death of sinners he shewes his justice in willing the death but of some sinners he shewes his goodnesse LXXVI All men may beleeve only some men will beleeve in all there is a possibilitie in some only a velleitie the possibilitie to beleeve is the gift of nature but the will to beleeve is the gift of grace the one we have by Creation the other by Regeneration Lord what is possibilitie without will and nature without grace As in Generation thou gavest me a reasonable soul that had a capabilitie to beleeve in thee so in my Regeneration give me a sanctified will that I may actually and constantly beleeve in thee LXXVII He that bestoweth Faith upon sinners bestoweth also Salvation upon repentant sinners by faith we are brought to repentance by repentance we are prepared for salvation Lord if thou hadst not bestowed faith upon Peter to beleeve in thee he had not repented for denying thee and if he had not repented he had not been saved lead me then by the hand of faith to the Iordan of repentance that being washed there from my spots I may see Heaven opened with Christ and with him injoy thy Spirit and light of thy Countenance LXXVIII There is in Gods will both a necessitie and a libertie he wills necessarily what concerns himself he wills freely what concerns other things besides himself he did necessarily will his own glorie he did freely will and decree my felicitie Lord thou couldst not but will thine own honour and goodnesse thou couldst not have willed my happinesse the more free thou wast from necessitie in willing my felicitie the more am I bound to praise the glorie of thy mercie LXXIX Gods will hath a two-fold consideration one as it is concealed another as it is revealed the former hath relation to his own actions the other to ours what he will doe himselfe is concealed what he will have us doe is revealed this will is not alwayes forcible the other is powerfull and irresistible Lord let me follow the directions of thy revealed will and not meddle with the hid secrets of thy concealed will I will not be too forward to know what thou hast not revealed nor will I be too backward to doe what thou hast commanded LXXX God hath decreed to bestow on man first grace then glory to the decree of giving grace preterition is opposite to the decree of giving glory reprobation no man is debarred from glory but he that was first deprived of grace preterition then is the antecedent to reprobation and the want of grace to the want of glory Thus they whom God doth here honour with the spirituall crown of grace shall be hereafter graced with the eternall crown of honour LXXXI That is a just law which is given by him that hath right to impose it and imposed on him who hath power to performe it such was the law that God gave to Adam the one had power to give the other power to keep it Lord thy law is just which thou hast given to me because thou hast power to impose it this law will not be the lesse just if thou wilt assist me and give me power to obey it LXXXII As Gods will hath relation to his own actions it is accompanied with omnipotencie as it hath relation to our actions it is regulated by justice for when he will doe what he hath determined he cannot be resisted so when he will have us doe what he hath commanded he cannot be unjust what he himself will doe is best known to him what he will have us do is not unknown to us Lord as it is thy will that I doe that which thou commandest wherein thou shewest thy justice so let it be thy will to command that which by thy help I can doe and therein shew thy goodnesse LXXXIII He that opposeth Gods revealed will which can be resisted deserveth to be hardned by Gods concealed will which cannot be resisted for that will of God which is not done by him shall be done on him Lord assist me to follow the direction of that will which is revealed that I may avoid the destruction which by that other will is decreed for although by the secret will of thy * pleasure thou hast determined death for obstinate sinners yet by the pleasure †of thy revealed will thou hast proposed life to penitent sinners LXXXIIII God in his goodnesse made man a vessell of mercy Satan in malice made him a vessell of miserie therefore God in his justice hath made him a vessell of his wrath and furie God made the vessell which whilst it staid in his hand remained sound falling from thence it hath received a crack therfore by this crack being made unserviceable it is rejected Lord the substance of the vessell is thine the crack is mine I have made my self unfit to serve thee therefore justly maist thou refuse to honour me LXXXV God hated Pharaoh not because he hardned him but because he obstinately resisted God therefore he hated him and consequently hardned him and that not by the force of his omnipotencie but by his patience and longanimitie Lord if I by thy goodnesse should take occasion to become obstinate in wickednesse why maist not thou take occasion by my perversenesse to obdurate me in my sins and to debarre me from grace and happinesse Therefore I pray thee keep me from obstinacie that thy patience by my sins may not be turned into fury LXXXVI There be two sorts of carnall men some are carnall in knowledge some in affections the former sort are children who are fed with milk and not yet with spirituall men able to judge of all things the other sort are wicked men who walk after the flesh not after the spirit and have not mortified the deeds of the flesh now God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit Lord remove from me all fleshly understanding that I may conceive thee spiritually and remove from me all carnall affections that I may love thee spiritually Give me the love of knowledge that I may attain to the knowledge of thy love Make me by the spirit of understanding to come to the understanding of thy Spirit LXXXVII Goodnesse hath a two-fold residence one in the minde the other in the flesh when 't is there I will good when 't is here I doe good 't is good to have the knowledge of good and that is in the minde 't is good to subdue and mortifie sinfull lusts and that is in the flesh the former goodnesse is sometimes in wicked men the other is onely in good men Lord place in my minde the goodnesse of knowledge whereby I may see and understand thee and place in my flesh the goodnesse of holiness whereby I may love and injoy thee for what is knowledge without
tentations wrestles with us as the Angel did with Iacob but we must not despaire though we halt he that strives with us all the night will give us a blessing in the morning and he that commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son will send an Angel to Abraham to rescue his son though Satan seek to winnow us yet we have a supporter of our faith a Saviour who prayes to his Father for us Feare not drowning though these billowes of tentations shake our ship so long as we have Christ with us in the ship though our tentations are unpleasing for a wounded spirit who can bear though all the waves and stormes of the Almightie goe over our head though from our youth up we suffer his terrours with a troubled minde though he give us vinegar and gall to drink and feed us with the bread of teares in a word though he would slay us yet with Iob let us trust in him he will lay no more on us then we can beare he can make the same rod that beats us support and comfort us and though the vinegar which he powres into our wounds be sharp yet he will temper it with oile he can sweeten our corrupted potage with meale as well as our corrupted waters with salt What though the gall of tentations be bitter what though the spitle and clay of afflictions be unpleasant so long as he can by them recover our spirituall eye-sight which we by pride have lost Give the Physician leave to lance and scarifie so long as by such meanes he can cure thee of thy maladie O great Physician of my soul I will not refuse to swallow the bitter Aloes of afflictions if by them thou canst purge out the rank humours of my sickly affections If I cannot obtain the Crown but by fighting in this bloudie field if I cannot attain the haven of Heaven but by sailing through this stormie sea be thou my Pilot to conduct me my Captain to lead me and my King to reward me or rather thy own worke in me O my God if these waters of tentation doe at any time over-flow their banks like Iordan let the presence of the true Ark of the Covenant drive back these waters that I may passe safely through them to the land of eternitie let the rod of thy passions divide this red sea of tribulations and let the long robe of thy righteousnesse which farre exceeds Elijah's mantle in vertue and largenesse make me a way through this Iordan to the Kingdome of true happinesse VII 1. God in his severe Justice doth often punish a multitude for the sinnes of one man one Achan offends and all the host of Israel suffers 2. Oftentimes he punisheth the children for the parents to the third and fourth generation 3. Sometimes he punisheth the good for the sinnes of the bad Mordecai Daniel and the three Children are punished with captivitie for the Jewes rebellion and iniquitie 4. Oftentimes for mans transgressions he destroyes the dumb creatures Man sinned and the earth with the beasts are destroyed In this God is not unjust though his judgements be occult for if the Chirurgion can strike the arme for the infirmitie of the head why may not God punish one for the offence of another if by punishing the one he can cure the other 1. It was no injustice in God to punish a multitude for the sin of Achan because the multitude was guiltie of other sinnes though not of the sinne of Achan 2. It is no injustice in God to punish children for the sin of their parents because they are parts of their parents 3. Neither is it injustice in God to punish the good for the offences of the wicked because no man is so good that can say he is no wayes wicked 4. It is no injustice in God to punish the creatures for mans transgression seeing it was Gods goodnesse to make the creatures for mans use and recreation thus as God can justly punish a whole nation for the sinnes of a wicked Prince so as justly can God punish a good Prince for the sinnes of a wicked nation O Lord if harmelesse Infants who have not sinned but in their pareâ—ts are not exempted from thy justice how shall I who to the stock of my parents sinnes have added such an increase of actuall transgressions think to escape And if the dumb creatures which know not sin are punished for mine iniquitie doe not I deserve to be punished both for mine own sins and for subjecting the creature unto vanity VIII Gods Justice appeares in punishing the wicked in releeving the oppressed in rejecting the bribes of rich men in refusing to accept the persons of any men in pronouncing just judgement and putting the same in execution towards all men and in tempering his justice with mercy towards the most wicked men He drowned the first world for their abominations he relieved the Israelites from their oppressions he spared not kings and rich men for their wealth and greatnesse and yet in sparing some when he drowned the world he shewed his mercy and goodnesse O thou righteous Iudge of the world look with the eye of Iustice upon the oppressions of thy Church and remove them and with that same eye of Iustice look on her oppressors and destroy them but yet with the other eye of mercy look upon such of her persecutors as thou wilt save and in time reclaime them DIVINE MEDITATIONS UPON Gods Mercie I. AS there is in God no passion so consequently no compassion yet he is truly the God of Mercie because there is in him a promptitude to help those that are in miserie This mercy he extends not only to the good that love him but also to the bad that hate him 1. That they who are bad by their own perversenesse may be made good by his love and kindnesse 2. As no man is so bad in whom there is not some goodnesse and no man so good in whom there is not some wickednesse so God is not so unjust as to suffer the one to goe unpunished nor is he so mercilesse as to suffer the other to goe unrewarded 3. As he sheweth mercie to the bad and to those by whom he is hated he will teach us by his example how to carrie our selves to those by whom we are persecuted He healed the eare of him that came to apprehend him he forgave Peter that denyed him he made Paul a vessell of mercy though he persecuted him he prayed for those that crucified him and he died for those sheep that went astray from him he causeth his sun to shine upon the good and bad his rain to fall upon the just and unjust O my God I acknowledge thy goodnesse and mercie towards me a wretched sinner who am sold under sin and laden with iniquitie O let this thy goodnesse be a forcible meanes to reclaime me from the course of sinne that I may henceforth walk before thee in truth in righteousnesse and in