them with their Bloud not only under the ten Roman most barbarous persecutions by those Heathenish Monsters when so many of them were slaughtered that there were for every day in the year saith St. Jerom 5000 Martyrs But this was also the judgment and practise of our English Martyrs in Queen Macies dâ—ies The fire of Loyalty burned in their hearts and flamed out at their mouths in Christian exhortations and perswasions of the Spectators to Allegiance and obedience unto the King and Queen when they were unjustly by their Authority Command or permission condemned sentenced to be burned and when that cruell Sentence was ready to be executed by remorsless men or rather Tygers upon them b Fox Book of Martyrs vol. 3 p. 665. Bishop Cranmer a little before his Martyrdome in his last words to the people said thus I exhort you that next under God you obey your King and Queen viz. Philip and Mary willingly and gladly without murmuring or grudging not for fear of them only but much more for the fear of God Knowing that they be Gods Ministers appointed by God to rule and govern you and therefore whosoever resisteth them resisteth the ordinance of God Authority is Gods creature Monarchy is a divine Institution not the work or Child of men Loyalty therefore is our duty and at once the comfort and the character of Christians and reall piety The spirit of truth hath joined Fear God and honâ—ur the King together true Christians therefore dare not attempt eiâ—her to divide or divorce them And as they have no warrant for it but a plain a peremptory Commâ—nd against it so neither is thâ—re any either wisdome or safety in doing of it For Loyalty is not only the Mother but the Nurse of Peace And peace is the Magazine the Mine Root and Spring of plenty safety prosperity and all temporall felicity Rebellion is the source of desolation Succâ—sâ—full Traitors are usually most cruell Tyranâ—s * Nemo unquâ—m imperium malâ—â— artibus quaesitum bene exercuit Tacit. Vsurpâ—rs are commonly Oppressors Their victories make them bloudy and miserable Captives to their brutish lusts and passions which overcome and enslave them Ira Superbia Crudelitas Furor Rabies sunt victoriae Comites victorum hosteâ— a quibus saepâ— Clarissimi victores turpissime victi sunt saith Petrarch and we can sadly say we have found his words most true Can we expâ—ct or hope that those Wolves which worrey the Shepherd will love spare or defend the Sheep That such as thirst for bloud struggle for Thrones and court the possessions of others will desire peace execute Justice or delight in mercy If conscience then do not prudence should perswade us not only to hate Treason but also to decline yea to detest all Communion Concurrence and correspondency with Traytors By wofull experience we now know though the widest broadest words and the highest the most eloquent language are too narrow low and flat fully to expresse it how great how grievous a Judgment Calamitie it is to have no King in Israel Have we not seen since the Crown did fall from our head because we had sinned against the Lord such things acted amongst us as we cannot but tremble to hear and abhor to think of Have we not had such Nero's as did with delight inhumanity and impiety rip up the Bowels of their Mother murder their gracious Father and endeavour with cunning cruelty and indefatigableness to ruine at once both the Church and State So that we may say of some of their Fathers as the Romanes did of him when he commanded a Boy to be so cut as to make him an artificial Woman Would Nero's Father had had such a Wife Since c Speed Chron. p. 103. what was said of Lucius the King of Britain may be too truly affirmed of them namely That they had been happy if they had not left a Son behind them because their Children as Lampridius said of Commodus hâ—ve livâ—d for the Subjects mâ—schiâ—f and their own shame We have been taught but we have paid exceeding dear for our Learning the difference betwixt being governed by Lâ—mbs and Lions Let us therefore prize Gods mercies whilest we enjoy them lest our sufferings and sorrows show ns the hainousnesse of our Sinne in sâ—ighting and rejecting of them And let us not only professe Loyalty with our lips but let us carefully really constantly express it in our Lives to our Sacred Soveraign it being both pleasing to God and profitable to our selves to be obedient faithfull Subjects For Allegiance is the faithfull Liâ—e-â—uard the invincible Râ—mpart both of King and people 'T is that sweet smell * 'T is said â—hat swâ—et smels wil kâ—l Vultures and revive Dâ—ves Aâ—ms are the defence of Tyrants and therefore â—he unsavory 〈◊〉 of Gunpowder is delightful but the odoâ—iâ—erous savour of peâ—ce is distastâ—ul yea deadly to them which kills Vultures I mean forraign and Domestick Enemies 'T is that Hoop that Ring which keeps Cormorants Avaritious Ambitious men fâ—om devouring of us 'T is that Muzzle tâ—at Chain which ties up and hinders those cruell wilde Beasts Factious Aspiâ—ing Traitâ—rous Incendiaries from tearing in peeces preying on and kindling amongst us the consuming fearful fire of Civil Warre which e like the Trojan horse hath ever an Army of Plagues Miseries and Calamities in the Belly of it 'T is that musick which drives away the evill spirit of Division from us The King is the Head Husband Father Lord of his people 'T is therefore against Piety Nature Law Reason Gratitude for those that are his Members Wife Children Subjects Servants to injure resist or Rebell against him 'T is an odious infamous damnable Crime to conspire against him that protects us to endeavour his Ruine that is exposed to daily yea hourly cares dangers troubles to screen shield preserve us and wickedly to violate those Sacred Oaths which we have solemnly taken to expresse our Aâ—legiance by a Christian sincere obedience unto him Tbough he be a bad King that rules us yet we ought to be good dutiful loyal Subjects For whether he be Merciful or Cruell Righteous or Impious Just or Tyrannical God doth †Rom 13. 1. ordain send set up and * Dan. 4. 32. give him his Kingdome He that gave Soveraignty to Augustus gave it also to Nero. He that gave it to the Vespasions Father and Son sweetest Emperors gave it also to Domitian that bloudy Monster In a word he that gave it to Christian Constantine gave it also to Juâ—ian the Apostate saith St. Augustine We are therefore strongly obliged He being Gods Vice-gerent on earth whether he be good or evill to reverence not resist him to * 1 Tim. 2. 1. pray for him not to plot against him to fear not to fight him Yea so tender jealous and careful is the Lord of Kings that in his holy Word he doth not only forbid us †Exod. 22 28. to speak evill of our
those that are darkened with Ignorance and benighted in Superstition with the glorious Beames of saving knowledge Let it guide all those that wander in the by paths of Errour and Wickednesse into the safe way of Verity and Holinesse And let it quicken such as are dead in Trespasses and Sins that those dry bones those stinking Lazarusses may rise live and praise thee Let it O Lord convince convert humble purifie and regenerate those that are secure profane carnall and unclean that so being sanctified by the Spirit of Christ they may be comfortably assured they are justified by the Merits of Christ Let good God thy Holy Spirit excite perswade inable Christians to try discern and judge which is the true Spirit the Spirit of Truth that so they may not be deluded but infallibly directed by it to choose and to walk under the Câ—nduct thereof in the way of Holinesse that leads to happinesse And do thou O Lord who art the Father of Spirits give us all thy Holy Spirit whereby we may be inabled to cry Abba Father for thy Sons and our alone Saviours sake Jesus Christ Amen Sine Spiritu Sancto nec lux pax puritas Sanctitas nec gloria IV. Of Sinne and Sinners T is the true and fruitfull mother of miseries A Pandoras Box full of all reall deadly plagues and curses T is the poyson of the soul rack of Conscience the Bellows fewell oyle that blow kindle and continue the fiery wrath of God burning against all obstinate perpetrators thereof a Ho 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 632. Like Homers Thersites it's ugly without as well as within having like the subtile cruell Panther a deformed head as well as a destructive deadly paw Like Judas it kisses and betrayes us Like Ioab it embraces stabâ— and kills at once b Quint Curtius lib. 8. p. 154. Sin is like to the River Nilus whose streams do cause and produce a fruitfulnesse even to wonder but yet it abounds with crocodiles wickednesse is sometimes prosperous but it s always dangerous and without Repentance deadly It 's like the Caspian Sea which affords the sweetest waters but breeds the greatest Serpents The Preface of sin may be pleasure its Exordium delight but the Finis thereof will be punishment At sins table the first course may be contentment but the second will be death It may appear to our dim eyes a Dove but if we once lodge it in our bosomes or imbrace it we shall finde it a serpent that will both sting and kill us T is a Siren which allures us to our ruine a Thiefe that robs us of our chiefest treasures our choycest mercies Gods favour a saving interest in Christ pardon of sin peace of Conscience grace glory It 's the souls both Leprosie and murderer Like the stone by the river Maeander called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sober stone which put into a mans bosome would make him mad it distracts us Like that deaf-stone which I have read is in Scotland that one standing at one end of it can not hear what another saith standing at the other end thereof it stops the ears of the Lord that our Prayers cannot find audience or acceptance with him * Esay 59. 1. 2. Behold the Lords hand is not shortned that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear c Plutarch in ejus vitâ— What Phociâ—n the Athenian once said to the people of Athens viz. All that ever you say and do dislikes me God * Prov. 15 8 9. 26. saith and declareth to all wicked persons whose both prayers wayes and thoughts are abominable to him yea and their civill actions too †for the ploughing of the wicked is sin * Prov. 21. 4. Sin it blots out all the characters of beauty comelinesse and amabilitie which God at first engraved upon the soul it covers also the face of the soul which was most fair and lovely till sin did spoil blast and soil it with a black vail of deformity and renders it loathsome and ugly in the pure eye of God It defaces yea ruins the rarest piece of the whole Creation the Epitome of the Universe the wonder of Nature the miracle of the world Man It not only poysons the lower springs of earthly injoyments turns blessings into curses but like Pharaohs lean kine it devours consumes those sat ones riches health greatness peace plenty and all * Read Deut. 28. chapt worldly prosperity It also which is a mischief infinitely greater then the other dams up the current of those upper springs grace mercy speciall love salvation so that the soul like the mountains of Gilbea hath no celestiall showres of holinesse or reall happinesse rained upon it It turned Paradise into a wildernesse and makes the world a Pest-house when that too pregnant womb the heart hath conceived Sin by the Devill who is the true Father thereof it nourishes seeds and keeps it till it falls in travail of those cursed dreadful monstrous Twins Guilt and Misery and then it 's carried and laid down by death and judgment in a bed of fire and attended only with Devils and Reprobates without all possibility or hope of ever being delivered It grieves Heaven but makes Hell triumph It 's a tree that bears no other fruit but shame sorrow wrath and death Doe but wipe your eyes and behold the ugly face of sin in the Crystall glass of Gods word and also in those red mirrors the fearfull judgements the dreadful vengeance of the Lord upon those pillars of salt those miserable standing monuments of Gods hatred and detestation erected both in his word and in the world Impenitent transgressors And lastly in the bloudy sufferings of Jesus Christ and then if your hearts be not harder then an Adamant or like the * Job 41. 24. Leviathans as firm as a stone yea as hard as a piece of the nether milstone they will relent and you will mourn confesse forsake yea loath all sin †Numb 32. 23. It 's the souls bloud-hound which will hunt pursue overtake and as Acteon was killed by his own dogs as Haman was hanged upon his own Gibbet as Holofernes was beheaded with his own sword destroy it T is that Jonas in the ship of the soul which raises a terrible tempest of divine wrath against it whereby it will be not only restlesly tossed upon the briny bitter Billows of fear anguish dejection and perplexity but also before the stone cease unlesse it be thrown over board cast out of the heart and life by godly sorrow and unfained repentance it will most certainly and miserably be wrackt and perisht without hope or help in a boyling Sea of fire and brimstome which hath neither banks nor bottome For as d Leigh choyce observat in the Life of Claudius p. 102.
Loyall and impenitent truly sorrowfull for all our transgressions 3. It quickens and breatheth Life into us that were by nature dead and buried in trespasses and sins 4. It both inspires and stirreth up good motions in our soules 5. It helps our infirmities makes c Rom. 8. 26. intercession for us indites our prayers inables us to pray fervently faithfully prevailingly to God for Grace pardon and salvation 6. It comforts quiets and supports mourning doubting drooping hearts 7. It leads and keepeth Christians into and in the way of holinesse till they come to heaven and enjoy eternall happinesse 8. It sanctifieth and maketh Gods ordinances effectuall for the conviction and conversion of sinners Lastly to name no more it dwelleth and abideth in all those that truly repent believe love obey fear and serve God The Holy Ghost is compared and resembled in Scripture to divers things First it 's compared to d Jere. 23 29. Acts 2. 3. fire and that in these respects Fire first heats 2. shines 3. ascends 4. softens and 5. refines drossy and hard things so the Holy Ghost 1. inflames our frozen hearts with love to God and zeale for God 2 It makes Christians shine in works of piety justice charity mercy and in holinesse of life 3. It raiseth their naturally low-flying or rather crawling affections from earthly things and maketh them to mount and fix them upon God Christ and heavenly things 4. It turneth a heart of Adamant into a soft and tender heart of flesh 5. It purgeth away a Christians drosse it purifies him from his corruptions and filth Secondly the Holy Ghost is compared to e Ezech. 36. 25. water for as water 1. refreshes 2. quenches 3 cleanses 4. fructifies So the Spirit of God comforts cheares and reviveth troubled weary languishing hearts 2. It quencheth Gods fiery wrath kindled and flaming out against transgressors in their terrors spiritual desertion trouble anguish of soul and conscience for their sins 3 It cleanseth them from all filthiness both of flesh spirit 4. It makes them fruitful in every good work Thirdly the Holy Ghost is compared to a * John 3. 32. Dove As Doves are 1. meek for they have no gall 2. innocent and harmlesse creatures 3. Lovers of and delighted with white houses to sit and roost in Amant alba tecta Columbae So those Christians that have the spirit of God are 1. free from malice hatred sinfull anger envy or however they mourn and are exceedingly displeased with themselves for being otherwise 2. The Holy Ghost makes them not only carefull to do no hurt or wrong to any but also willing and desirous to do good unto others especially spiritually that is to their soules 3. It makes their hearts pure and white by sprinkling the bloud of Christ upon them and working godly sorrow in them without which it will neither delight nor dwell in them because sin unrepented of makes the soul black ugly and filthy Fourthly the holy Ghost is compared to * Acts 2. 3. cloven fiery tonguâ—s to teach us that our tongues must be cloven with Charity and fervency in our prayers for 1. we must not only beg earnestly for mercy but we must also praise the Lord most heartily for his mercies petition and thanksgiving must cleave them 2. We must pray for both spirituall and temporall mercies these must again divide our tongues 3. We must pray and â—ry mightily not only for pardon of sin for the removal or sanctification of afflictions for grace and prosperity to and for our selves but for all others also 4. We must pray not only that God would give us and others glory hereafter but also that we and they may honour and glorifie God here And certainly all those that have this glorious Spirit have also not only their tongues but their hearts too thus cloven with zeal I mean for God and love to their own and others souls Fifthly the Holy Ghost is compared to a * Ephes 1. 13. Seal because as Deeds and Conveyances are unable and ineffectual to settle and assure those things conteined in them being null and voyd in Law till they be fealed So we can have no sound good or clear Evidences that our sins are forgiven us that God is reconciled to us that the Lord Jesus is our Jesus and that our souls shall be saved till we be sealed by the Spirit of God Sixthly the Holy Ghost is compared to * 2 Cor. 1 22 and ch 4. v. 5. Earnest for as Earnest is an argument and proof of an agreement betwixt man and man for something to be delivered and given by one to another and also an assurance that some other and greater thing shall be made good and received when that is given and taken So by having the Earnest of the Spirit Christians are assured that now the Lord and they are agreed and reconciled that they shall undoubtedly have his favour blessing grace here and that they shall hereafter injoy eternall joy and blisse with him for ever Seventhly the Holy Ghost is compared to †John 16. 13. a Guide because as Guides do 1. Comfort 2. direct 3 defend 4. keep those they travail with from wandring 5. accompany them and bring them to their Journeys end So the spirit of God doth 1. wonderfully solace and rejoyce the hearts of tru Christians in their pilgrimage on earth 2. It directs and sheweth them which is the sure good and best way for them to go in 3. It secures and delivers them from those enemies and dangers that lye in Ambush to surprize them and are ready to seize upon them 4. It keeps them from erring and straying in the broad dangerous yea deadly ways of sin and leads them forward in the narrow but safe and happy path of life And lastly the Holy Ghost never leaves them finally but conducts them with safety joy and comfort to their earnestly longed for and desired home Heaven These and such like are the bright beautiful and refreshing Beams that ray from his glorious Sun and dart consolation exultation peace and felicity into the hearts of Gods people These are the pure reviving and pleasant streams that flow from this Fountain or rather Ocean into the fouls of true Christians These are the radiant rich yea precious and inestimable Jewels that embellish and adorn the Holy Spirits Mansion a truely Gracious heart Let us then sincerely desire fervently beg highly prize this Holy Spirit and when ever it knocks at the door of our hearts by any holy motions say as †Genes 24. 31. Laban did to Abrahams Servant Come in thou blessed of the Lord wherefore standest thou without for I have prepared a room for thee The Prayer O Eternall infinite and incomprehensible Lord God who art Three in One and One in Three most glorious Persons distinguished but not divided grant I humbly beseech thee that the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Light Truth and Life may illuminate all
fell so low from off those highest pinacles Empire and Majesty as to become Tamerlanes footstool The wise valiant and victorious Romanes were so sensible of the danger and inconstancy of the highest worldly honour and the greatest earthly felicity that in their triumphs the Generall or Emperour that rode in honour through the City of Rome with the principal of his enemies bound in Chains behind his chariot had alwaies a servant running along by him with this Corrective of his Glory Respice post te hominem memento te As if he had said Look behind thee and in those truest faithfull Mirrors set by the angry yet most just hand of providencâ— in a sable frame thou shalt clearly see the vanity o When Pompâ—y's head was presented to Julius Caesar he wept bitterly saying I lament Pompey's fall and fear mine own Fortune Leigh Choice Obser p. 17. mutability misery of all terrestrial greatnesse glory and prosperitie For those Captives who adorn thy Triumph may be thy executioners Those ratling chains which are now thy musick may become hells to ring thy passing peal That Chariot wherein thou now ridest in so much state may be the Coffin wherein before night thou mayest be carried to thy grave and those friends which now so much rejoyce at thy dearly earned or purchased honour may be to day sad mourners at thy Funerall Thou dwellest but in a house of clay whose foundation is in the dust and therefore maist lie levell suddenly with the Earth although at present thou art rear'd up to such a height and built so many stories higher then those feeble tottering and rotten supporters of thy pomp those unwilling mourning miserable witnesses of thy dangerous Exaltations Remember thou art but a man thy victory cannot deifie thee nor conquer thy mortality nor can thy triumph protect or secure thee from being vanquished and led into captivity by death * Mortalia eminent cadunt deterunâ—ur crescunâ— exâ—uriuntuâ— implentur Divinorum una natura est Sen. Epist 66. 645. Seianus fell suddenly from those slippery Battlements where thou now standest both reâ—ling and giddie Let not therefore thy success or Eminency make thee forget either thine own frailty or their inconstancy since calamity stands at that door where Securitie is Porter to the house fearlesse greatnesse and blind presumptuous prosperitie being like that p Arist Problem Sect. 13. Quest 5. Sea wherein ships use to be cast away in the midst of a Calme Crowns then are not so bright as burdensome nor so glorious as dangerous nor so pleasing as they are painful to those that owne carry them The sad experience whereof made that potent King Seleucus often to say * Thorne is the Anagram of Throne Mihi credite mori mallem quam imperare Otho That if a man knew with what cares a Diadem was clogged he would not take it up though it lay in the dust If then either Subjects knew how dearly Princes buy their power or Princes how sweet comfortable and happy a thing it is to live in quiet free from cares * Timeo incustoditos aditus timeo ipsos custodes Tiberius fears dangers Jealousie those evill spirits which alwaies haunt affright vex torment and imbitter greatnesse Subjects would pity their rulers aod Kings would envy their Subjects For without a saving interest in the Sun of Righteousnesse Jesus Christ the mightiest Monarchs both live and dye in a black perplexing afflicting night of trouble distraction and misery notwithstanding all the Stars of Pomp Power and Wealth which shine or rather glimmer in the firmament of Soveraignty The whole world is not able to give the soul one satisfying meale much more unable is she then to feast it She may spread and cover her table with variety of costly curious dainty dishes but she serves them up with such bitter unsavory yea deadly sauces that her best and kindest treatment of her noblest dearest friends proves either their sicknesse or death Her guests sit down indeed to a rare a pleasant banquet but swords hang over their heads tyed to nothing but single horse-hairs What contentment or delight then can it afford or they receive and enjoy when they know not whether they shall live or die feast or perish at her board Luther calls the Turkish Empire nothing but a crumb given by the Master of the family God Almighty to dogs The World like a Lottery gives a hundred blanks for one prize to those that venture their whole estates even body soul name and posterity at it And if any one doe happen to draw out a Throne yet will not that reimburse him or pay his Bill of charges which he hath laid out for it * Fortuna vitrea est quae cum splendet frangitur because when he hath gotten it he 's not sure to injoy it For the strongest Kingdomes are but tottering Fabricks whose foundations are laid though they dig never so deep in sand And although they may seem to be founded on a Rock or to be so deeply rooted as that they need not fear a period nor that they shall be overturned or swallowed up by either the most furious tempest of Forraign Invasions or the raging inexorable Billows of domestick divisions and intestine Rebellions yet q Sir Walter Raleâ—gh pâ—aeface to his Hist of the World dies hora momentum sufficit evertendis iis dominationibus quae Adamantinis radicibus videbantur esse fundatae But this innate inevitable insuperable not only mutability but also mortality of Kingdoms as well as * Nonne telluris tres tantum cubiti te expectant Basil Kings which yet is enough to render the sweetest earthly enjoyments and comforts that the cousening deluding world can afford to those who have the greatest interest in her and share of her both sowr flat and dead to the intellectuall palat of a truly wise man is not either the only Ghost that disquiets Magna sâ—rvitus est magna fortuna Seneca de Bervit viâ—â— ad Pauliâ—um or misery that waits and attends upon Empire from its Birth to its buriall from its Cradle to its Coffin For the Aâ—pes of honour and greatnesse are ascended always by the troublesome steps of danger †drudgery difficulty and too often also by the fatall stairs of Treachery Tyranny and Impiety And when such men after all their sweating toiling and striving do get up to the top of them 't is true they have a delightfull prospect but withall they perceive and finde that they do stand upon r Domitian said That the condition of Princes was most miserable who could not be credited touching a conspiracy plainly detected unless they were first slain a dangerous praecipice and that it will cost them no lesse care and vigilancie to preserve themselves from falling into the bottomlesse gulf of Ruine then it did pains and perils to attain that which they are now assured has more vexation then satisfaction more thorns then Roses and more
weep and gnash his teeth without all possibility of ease or end An Hypocrite then is both a self-destroyer and a self-deceiver Patroclus exultabat Armis Achillis sensit Hector nihil aliud esse quam Patroclum For although with his glittering shewes of piety like a Jugler he may delude the eyes of men yet he cannot cast a mist before * Jerem. 17. 10. nor draw a curtain betwixt the the All-seeing eye of God and his soul because the Lord both searches tries knows and weighs the heart and spirit and the darkest angles together with those darling corruptions that lurk the closest in them What was said of Cicero Linguam omnes fere mirantur pectus non ita is true of an Hypocrite most men may admire his tongue even whilest God abhorreth his heart that may be most eloquent and pious while this is most unclean impious n Speed He is like Tiberius aliud ore aliud mente omnia dissimulans And like o Guicciardine Pope Alexander the 6th who was so cunning a dissembler that he never spoke as he meant And therefore he is abominable to God who loves and requires truth in the inward parts being non corticis sed cordis Deus the God of the heart and not of the bark An Hypocrite deals with Christ as * Ruth 1. 14. 17. Orpah did with Naomi he kisses and leaves professes and forsakes him And therefore God will both reject him eclipse or rather kill his Joyes in * Job 20. 5. a moment * Matth. 22. 13 14 15 16. and inflict eternall woes †upon him But a sincere Christian carries himself towards his Saviour as Ruth did to Naomi he forsakes all for him cleaves stedfastly to him and resolves nothing shall part divide or divorce him from him and therefore God will both own honour and crown him with felicity and glory to all eternity For that with Galba the Emperour of Rome once said to his Souldiers may both most comfortably and truly be affirmed of Christ and all true Nathaniels Zachary's and Elizabeths I mean all sincere Christians viz. ego vestor vos mei Jesus Christ is and * Hosea 2. 19. will be theirs faithfully yea everlastingly and they are his most intirely cordially constantly My beloved is mine and I am his saith the spouse of Christ her Husband The Prayer O LORD since thou hast acquainted those that enjoy thy Gospell wherein thy will and their own duties comforts priviledges and happinesse are revealed to them that a double heart is an evil heart Let us not I beseech thee be contented much lesse well-pleased or resolved like Solomons Harlot to have that Child divided betwixt thee and our Lusts Vnder the Law thou didst command that the Altar upon which thy people sacrificed unto thee should be made of whole Stones But under the Gospell thou requirest that the Spirits of those who serve and seek thee be contrite fleshie tender yet intirely devoted to thee O Let not blessed God our hearts who sit under the droopings of the Sanctuary be stonehard barren sensless dead hearts but take them into thine own hands O Lord and mould fashion form and frame them so that they may be soft broken and yet wholly only and sincerely thine And that so thou mayst delight in them take possession of them set up thy glorious Throne and dwell in them O let us remember that sincerity will be our Comfort in the midst of our sorrows and a welspring of Joy peace gladnesse hope and happinesse to us hath in life and death whereas Hypocrisie will both bring us unto and leave us in eternal woes and horrour Let us also consider that the paint of Hypocrisie and the varnish of formality will not cannot either hide our loathsome deformity from the 〈◊〉 pure All-seeing eye or abide and stick on when we shall appear before our God by death and judgment who is a consuming 〈…〉 us not therefore O thou that requirest truth in the inward parts to content our selves with shewes of goodnesse and a form of Godlinesse but grant that we may labour to get the life and power of Religion into our hearts to depart from all iniquity to walk in all the Commandements of our God without reproof and cordially to serve the Lord that so living here without Guile we may dye in the Lord and after death riegn with the God of truth in Glory Amen Sinceritas pietatis est medulla anima Gratiae Antidotum contra desperationem XV. Of Afflictions T Is the * Esay 48. 10. Ier. 9. 7. Furnace into which God casts his people to refine them his enemies to consume them It 's a comfortable pillar of fire to lead his Israel towards Canaan but a fearfull flame like that from Heaven upon Nadab and Abihu to destroy the wicked 'T is a Scullion a file to make Christians bright and clean 'T is the gall and Wormwood that God layeth upon those breasts of the world power pleasure honour profit to wean his children from it 'T is the hand the friend that pulleth them out and will not suffer them to dabble soile drown themselves in the puddles sinks or streams of earthly vanities carnall pleasures or creature comforts 'T is the Kings professor of Divinity in the Academy of the World 'T is the a Scholacrucis â—ehola lucis Calamitas virtutis est occasio Seneca dedivin provident School of Christ where a Christian learns to take out lessons of patience humility submission to Gods will contempt of the World Repentance and dependence upon God It gives a tongue to the heart and as the extream danger Croesus was in by Cyrus and his enemies in the battle made his till then dumb Son cry out b Rex est caeve ne â—ccidas Heyl. Geogr. p. 528. O do not kill King Croesus maketh men and women both to break open and knock off all the doores locks barres and obstructions of speech and also to * Hosea 5. 15. cry out for mercy acceptance forgivenesse deliverance safety and salvation although they had never before spoken one word to God by prayer for the lives of their indangered wounded dying souls What the barren women of Rome did foolishly conceive of and vainly expect from the Priests of Mars when they danced stark naked up and down the streets with whips in their hands to keep off Doggs from biting them namely that if they were lashed by them it would make them fruitfull Christians find it experimentally to be most true of the Rod of God for it makes them * Psal 119 67â— 71. bring forth fruit meet for repentance Affliction like Aloes is bitter in tast but sweet in operation for it kills sin that Cancer that cruell deadly worm which doth so dangerously wound so grievously pain and so intolerably torment the Soul 'T is to an Israelite a Jordan but a Red sea to an Egyptian A child of God may say of Troubles as
false and wicked principles and in hardening them by their examples counsels and doctrines whom they have caused to wander from the way of truth and life Lastly to name no more if God permit such men to get power into their hands they do often if not alwaies persecute with extreamest rigour and remorselesse cruelty those of contrary Judgments though they be most innocent Orthodox and holy Witnesse those scarlet Theaters on which they acted in Germany which are and will be crimson monuments of their fury tyranny and impiety till time shall be no more The Church of God in St. Augustines time before his conversion used to pray Ab Augustini logica libera nos Domine And for my part I am fully perswaded that it is the Duty of Gods people heartily and fervently to joine togâ—ther in this Petition to the Lord From a toleration of an indulgence to or a connivence at all or any men that will to make themselves ministers and preachers Good Lord deliver us Because it will be high time for Religion to make her Will for the Gospell to take shipping to land in another Land and for Christians to provide an Arke to save themselves from perishing either in a deluge of superstition profanenesse Atheisme or else in a Red sea of persecution when it may be truly said of such men g When Galba came first to the Empire there was great confusion and licentiousnesse in the State whereupon a Senator said in full Senate It were better to live where nothing is lawfuâ—l then where all things are lawful Leigh Choice Observat p. 120. Quod libet id licet his c. The Jewes did highly esteem accounting barrennesse a curse and the Romanes did liberally reward those parents who had many Children h Camerar lib. 6. p. 415. And t is said that the chief reason why the Electors chose Rodolph Emperor of Germany was his plenteous off-spring So the Lord doth also both love honour and crown those spirituall fathers pious and rightly ordained Ministers that beget with the immortall seed of the word quickened by the spirit of life Sons and Daughters unto God for they shall * Dan. 12. 3. shine for ever and ever in the firmament of Glory And he doth blesse their labours But as for these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i Luther super Epist ad Galatas see also Jerem 23. 32. Nunquam fortunat Deus laborom eorum qui non sunt vocati quanquam quaedam salutaria afferunt tamen nihil aedificant saith Luther k Perphyr in â—jus vita Pythagoras when any of his Scholars deserted his Schoole in eorum usitatis sedibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 posuisse dicitur quo significaret eos moraliter obiisse When those who have formerly professed themselves to be the Scholars and Disciples of Christ doe not only desert his School the Temple but also inveigh against and abandon both his ordinances and Ministers their spirituall teachers well may Christians set their Coffins in their seats for it 's much to be feared that they are spiritually departed and dead but however t is most certaine that they are fallen into a dangerous swoon of Apostasie I shall therefore conclude with these hearty and fervent petitions The Prayer EIther convince revive convert and reclaime all such O Lord and suffer them not is keep any longer a splint in their wounds to hinder their cure by adding l Mallâ—â— sâ—mpâ—r errarc quam semel errasse vide i. obstinacy to errouâ— perseverance in evill to ignorance impiety to iniquity or else never suffer most gracious God the wall of thy vineyard Church-Government according to the pattern in the Mount thine own Word and Will to be broken down by fraud or force for Foxes or wild Bores * Pictos agnos adorant vivos devorant Jesuits Apostates Hypocrites Persecutors seducers and temporizers to have free ingresse into it to root up the Vines therein or to pull off the Grapes thereof Nor the door of Christs Garden to be thrown off of those hinges orders and Ordination by the hands of power or policy for wild beasts Hereticks and popish Priests to enter therein to tread down thy Roses and Lillies or to crop or kill thy best fruit-trees Godly Ministers and truly gracious Christians Nor that Crystall pure sweet healing Fountain that spirituall bath and Spaw which cures all the maladies and diseases of the Soul in that Garden the Holy Scriptures to be muddyed defiled corrupted or poysoned by those nor any other unwashed diseased beleapered invenâ—â—d hands or feet till the stream of time shall fall into and lose it self in the boundlesse Ocean of Eternity m Platâ—â— Timeo And since there are two diseases of the Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 madnesse and ignorance and that by wofull experience it 's found that the most of these Leaders and teachers and also their Favourites and followers do labour under and are distempered either with both or one of them be pleasâ—d blessed God who art the great and good Physitian of the Soul and dost see their waies either to heal them by giving repentance to them and making them wise to Salvation or else according to thine own * 2 Tim. 3. 9. promise let their folly be made known to all men and let them proceed no further that so the banks of truth and piety may never be broken down nor over-flowed by the furious filthy and deadly streams of error idolatry heresie and profanenesse And Lastly since Distraction is the inlet of Destruction Division of Desolation to the greatest richest most flourishing and most prosperous Nation For he that is Wisdome it self Jesus * Matth. 12. 15. Christ hath told us so and the spirit of Truth hath also assured us that their †â—ames 3. 14 â—5 Wisdome who love contention and delight in strife is earthly sensuall devilish So that carnall policy makes such men like Children to stand upon their heads and to kick with their heels against Heaven and also seriously cunningly and unweariedly both to contrive plot and endeavour their own as well as others ruine witnesse Haman Absalom and many others Let O Lord piety for this is the best yea the only reall prudence and policy sit at the Helme of that Royall and impregnable Ship thy truly catholick Church and of this sinfull shaking divided unsetled reeling and rebellious Nation in particular once a beautiful Rachel but since a blear-ey'd Leah once a fair and lovely Sarah but since a foul and leprous Miriam yet still blessed be thy Name a true member thereof Let truth and righteousnesse as her hands guide and steer her by the Compasse of thy Holy Word Let O Lord peace and unity be her sailes and let the sweet and pleasant Gales of brotherly lâ—ve tranquillity and Christian charity fill them Let whatever Jonas whatever abomination or accursed thing it is that raises the overturning Tempests of thy wrath and fury
true Beleever is afraid of that which with zeal courage sincerity and constancy he is resolved to do to serve God He delighteth in it yet is grieved that he can perform duty no better He seeketh diligently for that which he knows he shall not find and beggeth that importunately which he is assured will be both denyed and granted in this world unto him He is what he seems to be yet is not what he seems being like Solomons Tents black without but adorned with precious things within He is both black and white weak and strong contemptible and Honourable sick and well at Liberty and in Prison a Sinner and a Saint fearfull and yet bold as a Lyon 19. He leaves the dirty broad way of the World and by crossing that he goeth on directly in the right way toward Heaven Though he be far from home and from his friends in a strange Countrey yea in the darkest night yet he can go to his Father almost in a moment without wandring Though all the men in the World should lye armed in Ambush to surprize him yet he can passe either safely by them or victoriously through them For although he may be taken or killed yet he cannot be kept or overcome 20. A true Beleever loveth Gods Words and Ordinances as dearly as his Life Because by them he was wounded to his healing humbled to his raising inlightened to the beholding of his Blindnesse emptinesse nakednesse nothingnesse filthinesse and because without them though he had been the sole Monarch of the whole world he had been everlastingly undone and a very begger He trembles at the good the holy Word of God yet both rejoyceth in it and findeth transcendent sweetnesse spiritual yea soul-ravishing joy and gladnesse by it 21. He honoureth highly loveth dearly and obeyeth willingly his naturall Parents yet prizeth and affects his spirituall Father a Godly Minister above and beyond all men though he be not at all akin to him Because he knoweth that it 's better never to be then to be everlastingly miserable and never to be Borne then not to be Borne again 22. He will not he dare not spare his own Flock and take anothers only Lamb. He therefore dedicates and consecrates the Sabbath-day which is none of his own wholly cheerfully joyfully thankfully heartily and religiously to the Lord. And by so doing he getteth six for one to himself together with a promise of Gods guidance favour protection and blessing upon him his and his Labours in his calling in them And so by serving God he serves himself too and by giving God his due he both keep 's his own and getteth more then he had 23. A true Beleever increaseth his estate by giving it away gathereth by scattering By clothing others he adorns himself with Robes by relieving others he supplies his owne wants and by sowing Charity he reapâ—s Mercy 24. He saveth his Life by confessing his guiltinesse whereas others condemn themselves by concealing their crimes He 's the only happy man for nothing can make him miserable Because he is comforted when afflicted he is at Liberty in Bondage at home when Banished sed when famished full though empty satisfied when hungry advanced though degraded safe when most cruelly persecuted and when killed crowned 25. He is naturally heavy and droffy yet ascends and the nearer his body comes to its Center the earth and its long home the Grave by age and sicknesse the faster and the higher his Soul mounts towards Heaven And at length his Soul is divorced from his Body both with joy and griefe exultation and mourning 26. A true Beleever is never satisfied yet alwaies contented He feareth continually yet seldome wants Hope He doubts yet stedfastly beleeveth he is not worldly minded and yet he is so covetous that he never thinks he hath enough He is most temperate and sober yet is alwaies thirsty He is a modest Suiter yet is resolved to take no denyal He knoweth and confesseth himself to be unfit to ask and unworthy to receive either a gracious answer or any mercy and yet he will not cease begging till his prayers be heard and his petitions granted 27. He never sits stands nor lies but is alwaies walking His motion is neither retrograde nor circular but progressive yet the longer faster and further he travails the stronger and fresher he is All things â—re become new in him yet the old man is not destroyed He is very pitifull and tender hearted yet so mercilesse and implacable an enemy to sin that he is never quiet or pleased till it be mortified crucified and dead in him He is both in the world and out of it at the same time He is willing yea desirous to keep his estate yet freely parteth with it if God will have it and accounts the losse of all for Christ the greatest the truest gain 28. He injoies that which he doubts he wants loves unfainedly that which he feare he doth not care for prizeth above all things that which others trample under their feet He is assured of his Salvation and that he is an Heir of Glory yet questions his evidences and by * Nulla sunt sirmiora quam quae ex dubiis facta sunt certa doubting makes them firm and good 29. A true Beleever matters not his life nay he desires to dye yet strives more then any man to save himself He is terribly afraid of Hell and Damnation yet would not knowingly and with delight and perseverance commit or live in any one sin to obtain Heaven 30. He is diligent in his calling yet doth not mind earthly things He alone hath a true comfortable and religious right to the Creature yet accounts himself an Usurper till his Title be confirmed by his interest in Christ Though he hold his Land in free Soccage yet he acknowledgeth 't is but in Capite Though his Tenure be in Fee-simple yet he confesseth himself to be but a Tenant at Will Though his goods be his own yet he knows and beleeves himself bound freely and liberally if he be able to distâ—â—bute and communicate them unto others He beâ—eeveth all things without Christ are nothing but vaâ—ity and â—â—â—â—tion of Spirit and that Christ alone is all things without any thing else 31. That which others fear flie and abhorre he courts desires and welcomes That which is their Funerall is his Nuptials For death doth not kill but translate him it doth not execute but remove him He dies daily and so doth not die at all but deparâ— His sleep is a short death and his dissolution is but a long sleep Death which is a destructive deluge to the wicked is only an Ark to him preserving and carrying him safe to Mount Ararat Heaven and there it both lands and leaves him 32 A true Beleever anticipates the last day He accuseth arraigneth and condemneth himself and so is both acquitted and discharged by God at his death He is no Incendiaâ—y yet desires nothing so