be is not Psa. 19. 7. It s promissory part is holy both formaliter in its own nature and effective in its end and fruit It s Historical part is holy other books are properly called prophane Histories in distinction from this The Scriptures expressions are pure of the most impure actions He knew her no more men with men doing what is unseemly Gen. 38. 26. Rom. 1. 27. 2. It is powerful As fire it can melt the hardest mettal As an Hammer it can break the most stony heart Ier. 23. 29. 1. It is powerful for Conviction It sets mens sins before their eyes and makes them behold their ugliness and deformity whether they will or no It tells the sinner as Elisha concerning the Syrian King to the King of Israel what he doth and saith in his bed-â—hamber in the retiring room of his heart It makes the spirit of the stoutest sinner to treâ—ble as the leaves with the wind and though he strives to put off his quaking fits by some humane cordials yet he finds his soul-Ague still continuing upon him Sturdy Murderers of Christ spring in trembling and an earthly Felix quakes under the power of this word This voice of the Lord is powerful it â—hakes the Cedars of Lebanon The batteries of the word have shaken the sensless conscience and shattered the flinty hâ—art in peices 2. It is powerful for conversion It is able to change the nature and turn an heart of stone into an heart of flesh It hath many a time inlightned dark minds to see the things which they never saw enlivened dead souls and enabled them to stand up from the dead The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul It hath dispossessed the strong man cast him out of his strong holds wherein he had raigned many years and subdued the soul to another Lord and Soveraign What hath been said of God may be said of the Word in the hand of the Spirit Who ever resisted its will How powerful is that word which can make the proudest creature that scorned former reproofs and precepts threatnings and judgements to cry and weep bitterly like a child under the rod that can create the new creature the choicest of Gods works By the word of the Lord are the new Heavens wherein dwelleth righteousness made and all the glorious host thereof of sparkling graces by the breath of his mouth 3. It s powerful for conquering spiritual enemies The noble victories atchieved by the Lords Worthies are most of them obtained by this sword of the Spirit Whole armies of sins have been discomfited and forced to flie before the face of this weapon God hews these by his Prophets and slays them by the word of his mouth This word like the rod in the hand of Moses worketh wonderfully for the destruction of such Egyptian enemies Satan is another enemy of the Christians but as powerful and as politique as he is he falls down like lightening from heaven before the preaching of the word This sword hath so wounded that Leviathan that destroyer of souls that he can never recover himself They overcame him i. e. the Devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony Rev. 12. 11. In a word it must needs be strong for it is the power of God to salvation The rod of his strength Rom. 1. 16. Psa. 110. 2. 3. It is perfect It contains in it all that is necessary and sufficient for our eternal salvation It is a full and compleat rule and measure both of things to be believed and practised it will admit no addition because it is defective in nothing it will suffer no diminution for it is redundant in nothing If any man shall add unto it God shall add anto his plagues If any man shall take away from the words of this book God shall take away his part out of the book of life Jesus Christ who was the great Teacher sent from God was faithful in his office and gave his Church whatsoever Precepts or Doctrines were needful for her in order to her endless good He tells us Whatsoever I have heard of the Father I have made known unto you Joh. 15. 15. And his Apostle speaks to the same purpose Act. 20. 21. I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God Besides it is able to make the man of God perfect and throughly furnished unto every good word which it could never do if it were not perfect it self Nil dat quod non habet Nothing can give that which it hath not in it self either formally or virtually Traditions are no way necessary to compleat the Canon of Scripture Since God did reveal his will in writing every age had that revealed to it which was sufficient for that age to make such as then lived wise to salvation but as God was pleased to reveal more the latter did assist us in the understanding of the former â—herefore so long as any truth was necessary to be more fully known he inspiâ—ed holy men to do it and the compleating of the divine Canon was reserved for Christ and his Apostles Ioh. 15. 15. and 7. 8. and 6. 13. Act. 20. 27. Gal. 1. 6 7 8. 4. It is true and certain Not a tittle of it shall fail It is calâ—ed truth the truth thy truth the Scripture of truth the word of truth the Gospel of truth a more sure word the comparative for the superlative the most sure word Christ prefers it before information from the dead the Apostle before Revelation from Angels or auy other way whatsoever 1. The Precepts of it are true they are perfectly agreeable to the mind of the speaker Thou art near O Lord and all thy commandments are truth Psa. 119. 5. The words of men may be true but the word of God onely is truth There is no error no mixture in it t is therefore called sincere milk 1 Pet. 2. 2. 2. The Promises of it are true They are accomplished to the least particle of them Hence they are called the sure mercies of David The Promises of God are unquestionable because their speaker is unchangeable and one for whom it is impossible to lie They are sure hold and will eat their way through all the Alpes of opposition Not one good thing haâ—h failed of all that the Lord our God hath promised Joshua 21. 45. 3. The Histories of it are true Whatsoever is written in it of the first or second Adam of any persons or nations is exactly true â—here never was fuch an impartial historian as the inditer of the word This is the Book which hath no Errata's in it 4. The threatnings are true The sinner shall as certainly feel them as he reads or hears them He shall as surely be damned as if he were already damned therefore he is said to be condemned already to speak its certainty He shall find the gnawing worm and the eternal fire as unquestionably as if he felt them at
but God forbears none upon any such grounds His goodness is the onely string that tieth his hand from striking Yea many years didst thou forbear them for thou art a gracious and a merciful God Neh. 9. 30 31. The Final Cause is manifold 1. That he might exalt his great name It s light straw that upon the least spark takes fire The discretion of a man deferreth his anger and it s his glory to pass by infirmities Mean and low spirits are most peevish and passionate Sickly and weak persons are observed to be the most impatient God makes his power known when he endureth with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction He intendeth the advancement of his praise in the lengthening of his patience For my names sake will I defer mine anger for my praise will I refrain for thee that I out thee not off Isa. 48. 2. That sinners might amend He is patient that men might not perish The Lord is not slack as some men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance He defers their execution that they might sue out their pardons The Lord waiteth not that he might be blessed in himself but that he may be gracious to sinners 3. That impenitent sinners might be left without excuse If sinners that are turned out of the womb into hell will justifie God surely those upâ—on whom he waited twenty or thirty or forty or fifty years for their conversion will condemn themselves if all mouths shall be stopped then they that tasted so largely of forbearing mercy may well be silent O how little will they have to say for themselves upon whom grace waited so many years knocking hard at the door of their hearts for acceptance and they refused to open to it or bid it come in How justly will they suffer long in the other world to whom God was so long-suffering to no purpose in this world Rom. 4. 2. How fully O my soul doth the Scripture mention this patience of thy God! The Lord passed by and proclaimed his name the Lord the Lord God gracious long suffering Though sinners trie his patience by their heaven-daring provocations yet the Lord is gratious slow to anger and of great kindness Oftentimes they do their utmost to kindle the fire of his anger but many a time turned he away his anger and did not stir up all his wrath What monuments of his patience hath he reared up in his word It is also written in broad letters in his works He bore with the Iews after their unparalleld murder of his own Son above forty years The old world had larger experiences of his â—orbearance My Spirit shall not always strive with man yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years The Egyptians though cruel persecutors of his own people that were as dear to him as the apple of his eye yet were suffered four hundered years He beareth with men till he can no longer forbear The woman with child is forced though she hold out long to fall in labour at last I have long time holden my peace I have been still and refrained my self now will I cry like a travailing woman Isa. 42. 14. O thou dear friend of mankind that thou wert imprinted in my thoughts engraven in my heart and always before mine eyes O my soul Consider this long suffering of thy God till thou tastest some rellish of its sweetness This name of thy God is as oyntment poured out which yeildeth a refreshing fragrancy Hath it been all thy days so near thee and done so much for thee and wilt thou not give it some warm entertainment within thee Hast thou not infinite cause to cry out God! As soon as thou wast conceived thou wast corrupted before thou wast born sin wâ—â— brought forth in thee thy God might have turned thee out of thy mothers belly into the belly of hell divels might have been the Midwife to deliver thy mother of such a monster and their dungeon of darkness the first place in which thou didst breath yet he who might have caused eternal death to have trodden upon the heels of thy natural birth spared thee Had he then suffered the roaring lions his executioners to have dragged thee to their own den he had got himself glory and prevented much dishonour which thou hast since brought to his name As thou didst grow up sin grew up in thee and patience grew up with thee Numberless haâ—â— thine iniquities been and his advantages for thy destruction yet he hath forborn thee What hath he got by all his long-suffering towards thee He might have ruined thee to his eternal honour but his forbearance hath seemed to impair the revenues of heaven Wicked men question his power and good men quarrel with his providence and all because of his patience When some sinners are hanged on Gibbets as spectacles of his justice others are kept in the more awe but if judgement be not speedily executed the hearts of the Sons of men are set in them to do mischief The thanks that are usually paid him for his patience are indignities and affronts The sleeping of vengeance occasioneth the awakening of sin Besides their thoughts of him are the more prophane as well as their actions If he be patient towards the sinner he is judged a party in the sin These things thou didst and I kept silence thou thoughtst that I was altogether such a one as thy self Because he is silent they judge him consenting O my soul may not thy God be well called the God of all patience when he aboundeth so much in it though he be so great a loser by it Was not the patience of thy Redeemer on earth wonderful in bearing such mockings smitings on the cheek spittings in his face scourgings on his back But thy Redeemer in Heaven endureth more affronts every moment against his divine nature then he did all his time of abode in this world against his humane nature O why art thou no more warmed with it and wondering at it Even a Saul was so affected with the forbearance of David that he should spare his enemy when he had him in his hands and might as easily have cut his throat as the skirt of his garment that he lift up his voice and wept And art not thou affected with the patience of thy God in whose hand is thy life and breath and all thy comforts who can with a glance of his eye turn thee into the fiery furnace against whom thou art an open traytour and profest rebel that he should spare thee so many years and instead of heaping up judgements on thee lade thee with his benefits Consider 1. He is not patient towards all men as he hath been towards thee Some have found justice arresting them immediatly upon their contracting of new debts and haling them presently to hell upon the
affections to them Who would esteem much of that flower which flourisheth and looks lovely in the morning but perisheth and is withered at night How little are those things worth which are to day mine and to morrow anothers which make themselves wings and as birds flye away are no sooner in sight but almost as soon out of sight Though all the works and creatures of God are excellent and admirable in their degrees and places yet some are of far more worth then others because of their nearer relation to our spiritual souls and their eternal duration When I look upon honours and applause and respect in the world methinks its worth is little for I can see through that air it is but a breath a blast that quickly passeth away When I look upon houses and lands and silver and gold I may well judge their price low for there is a worm that will eat out and consume the strongest timberd-dwelling and gold and silver are corruptable things Riches are not for ever When I look upon my Wife and Children in whom I have through mercy much comfort and contentment yet their value as natural relations is small for so they shall not be mine for ever and therefore they that have wives are commanded to be as though they had none But when I look upon grace upon godliness upon religion upon the Image of God O of what inâ—â—nite worth and price and value are they because they are lasting they are everlasting they are mine for ever When honours and crowns and robes and scepters are but for a few days when stately pallaces and costly mannors and treasures gold and pearl are but for a short time when the most lovely and loving wives and husbands and sons and daughters and friends are frail and fading The fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever Godliness is the good part that when thy relations and possessions and all the good thing of this life shall be taken from thee shall never be taken from thee Reader what an argument is here to provoke thee to spend and be spent to imploy all thy time and strength and talents to sell all for this pearl when it is of so great price that when all other priviledges excellencies royal or noble births high breedings preferments favours with Great men riches pleasures will onely as brass of leathren money be currant in some Countries in this beggarly earth it will enrich thee and enliven thee refresh and rejoyce thee for ever 11. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which all men even the greatest enemies to it will sooner or later heartily and earnestly wish had been their business We have an usual saying that what one speaketh may be false and light and what two speak may be false and vain and what three speak may be so but what all speak and agree in must have something of truth and weight in it And again we say Vox populi est vox dei The voice of all the people is an oracle Though as Christ said of himself so I may say of Godliness God himself beareth witness of it and his witness is true and it needeth not testimony from man yet as he made use of the testimony of Iohn to convince the Jews of their desperate wickedness and inexcusableness in not submitting to his precepts and accepting him as a Saviour So may I improve the witness of the whole world on the behalf of Godliness to convince thee Reader of thy folly and sinfullness in neglecting it and to shew thee how inexcusable thou wilt be found at the day of Christ if thou dost not presently set upon it and make it thy business It s evident that many men whose hearts are full of opposition to the ways of God and whose lives are a flat contradiction to his Word and Will do yet in their extremity seek him early and cry to him earnestly and flie to Godliness as the only shelter in a storm and safest anchor in a tempest The most prophane and atheistical wretches who have in their works defied God himself and in their words blasphemously derided godly men and godliness when they have been brought low by sickness and entred within the borders of the King of terrours and have some apprehensions upon their spirits that they must go the way of all the earth then as Naturalists observe of the dying Cuckoe they change their note send for godly Ministers godly Christians desire them to pray with them to pray for them hearken diligently to their serious instructions wish with all their hearts and would give their highest honours and richest treasures and imperial diadems and kingdoms if they have any and all they are worth that they had made Godliness their business and promise if God will spare them and lengthen their lives but a few days upon earth that they will have no work no calling no employment no design but how to please God and obey his counsel and submit to his Spirit and follow after holiness and prepare their souls for heaven O then Godliness is godliness indeed and grace is grace indeed Then they call and cry as the foolish Virgins to the wise Give us of your oyl for our lamps are gone out O give us grace give us godliness in the power of it for all our formal out side lazy serving of God is come to nothing The Serpent that is crooked all her life time when dying stretcheth her self straight As Dionisius on his death when he heard Thales discoursing excellently about the nature and worth of Moral Philosophy Cursed his pastimes and sports and foolish pleasures that had taken him off and diverted him from the study of so worthy a subject So these lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God whose lives are little else then brutish delights in a circle or a diversion from one pleasure to another whose business now is to mock at piety and persecute the pious when they come to be thrown by a disease on their beds and their consciences begin to accuse them for their neglect of Godliness and to convince them of its absolute necessity and they have some fears to be overthroâ—n by death then they curse their hauks and hounds and games and cups and companions and sensual delights that hindered them from making religion their business Experience testifieth this frequently in many parts of the Nation where the consciences of dying sinners are not seared with a red hot iron Some wish this whilst they live either under some great affliction or on a dying bed nay I am perswaded that most wicked men that live under the Gospel in their prosperity even when they have the world at will in the midst of their sensual delights have inward conviction that the course they take will prove cursed in the end and have some velleities or weak desires though overruled by carnal head-strong affections that they could leave those vanities and make religion their business But
which is so great a friend to me Can I be so unworthy as to cause others to trample this great favourite at heavens Court under their feet Hath not the polluting thy name been the argument which I have sometimes used for the perdition of thine enemies I have cried to thee Remember this that the enemy hath reproached O Lord and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name and shall I be guilty of that which I plead as a reason for others ruine Again My dayly prayer is Hallowed be thy name and shall my practices give my prayer the lye and prophane it Should I cheat and cozen as the men of the world my great profession would cause my sin like a Cart heavy laden to make deep furrows into which many might trip and fall How ordinary is it for Egyptians to follow the dark side of the Israelites Pillar to their perdition Foolish man that I am is not the burthen of my own sins already intolerable and shall I add to them by being partaker of other mens sins Is the River of wrath due to me so low so little that I must invite streams from every place to swell it into an Ocean O that for my own sake for the sake of other men and especially for thy sake I may order all my ways by thy word Lord preserve me by thy Spirit that I may never lay a stumbling block before the wicked nor as the unbeleiving spies by my distrust of thy providence and using indirect courses to releive my family bring an ill report upon the good Land Assist me that I may look not onely to the power of Religion but also the honour of Religion Let thy grace ever accompany me and enable me to keep a conscience void of guile before thee and a conversation so void of guilt before men that whereas they speak against me as an evil doer they may be ashamed at this day and may by my good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of visitation I Wish that I may look to the righteousness of my actions as well as to the righteousness of my person and never think that my house can be firm if it be built upon the rotten foundation of injustice My God hath said Wo be to him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his Chambers by wrong As high as my house is raised and as sure as it is seated the breath of this curse will blow it down Though my estate seem never so fair yet how easily and how speedily may this scorching curse cause it to fade and to wither in my hand as a flower Have not mine eyes beheld the ruines of some stately dwellings which have been built upon rapine Unrighteousness like Rabbits in some Countrys hath undermined the foundations and overturned the buildings and shall mine escape Whether I will believe it or no â— My God hath spoken that unjust gain will prove my own loss and he will see it accomplished Whatsoever fine terms I may call my cheating by as an Art in my Trade or the Mystery of my Calling yet my God counts it Theft and me for it but a Thief Though I may put a fair colour upon my false dealing yet he forbids it under the plain censure of stealing Thou shalt not steal And O how great a Theif am I if I be guilty of this in my ordinary dealings I wrong my Neighbours that trade with me and that most Hypocritically under the pretence of doing them right To kill a man in the field by force is wicked but to poison him at my Table by fraud is worse because in this latter I pretend friendship To rob on the High-way by open power is greivous but to rob in my Shop by this hellish policy is more odious for I wrong one that is my friend and in such a way that he hath no means to help himself The Righteous God saith My hands are full of blood not onely when I murther a mans person and take away his life but also when I injure a mans portion and take away his lively-hood Such unjust persons must expect sore punishments The Law of man punisheth Cheats in some measure but the Law of the jealous God is more severe to such Iuglers as endeavour to unglue the whole worlds frame knit together onely by commerce and contracts I rob my own family as well as my Neighbours He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house False dealing like Fire consumes what comes near it My Children were better be left beggars then heirs of those riches which I have got by robbery What is well gotten will faâ—e the worse for the Neighbourhood of my ill gotten wealth This as a rotten sheep will infect the sound flock Whilst I am digging deep to lay the foundation of my house sure I do but lay in barrels of powder to blow it up I rob my own soul most of all by my unrighteousness How ill is that gain which causeth the loss of my God! How cheap do I sell those wares with which I buy endless and intollerable wo How dear do I buy that silver for which I sell my inestimable soul and salvation Ah what an ill Market doth he make that puts off his soul at any price If it be unprofitable to gain the whole world and lose my own soul what a fool what a mad man am I to set my soul to sale for a very small part of the world Into what a miserable Dilemma doth my deceitful dealing bring me Either I must repent and vomit it up which will tear and wrack my very heart or else I must burn for ever in hell O that I might never â—e so bereaved of my wits as to touch or meddle with such distracting wealth Lord thou hast informed me that A little which the righteous man hath is better then the possessions of many wicked that better is a little with righteousness then great revenues without right I know that the comfort of my life doth not depend upon a confluence of outward good things but upon thy love and good-will towards me Let me rather choose the greatest want then riches from Satans hands and in Hells way Be thou pleased to sparkle my little with the precious diamond of thy love and then t will be better indeed then the riches of many wicked yea more worth then all the World I Wish that in my buying and selling I might ever have an eye to the ballance of the Sanctuary My person must be tried by Scripture at the last day for my everlasting life and death and shall not my actions be squared by it at this day How sad a bargain should I make if I should buy my own bane What a dreadful trade should I drive to sell like that Son of Perdition the incomparable Saviour for a little corruptible silver Is that wealth worth getting which will make way for eternal want Though my heapes
who would give as great a blow to kill a Flie as to kill an Ox Old festered sores must be handled in a rougher manner then green wounds Phil. 3. 15. Tit. 3. 10. Ordinary Physick will serve for a distemper newly begun but a chronical disease must have harsher and stronger Purges Some offend ignorantly others out of contumacy Some offend out of weakness being overborn by a sudden passion others of premeditated contrived wickedness and perverseness some sins are of a lower nature of lesser moment and influence upon others other sins overthrow the foundations of Christianity and devour the vitals of Religion Now according to the nature of the disease and constitution of the Patients must the prescription be for their cure Though all sins have one price for their satisfaction yet not one way for their reprehension If the Linnen be but a little foul ordinary rubbing may serve but if it be died with dirt it must have the more Our Saviour called Herod Fox the Master of the Synagogue Hypocrite the Scribes and Pharises Vipers St. Stephen calls the Iews Traytours and Murtherers cutting reproofs are for notorious offenders a weak dose will but stir up not purge away their noxious humours 5. Reprove compassionately Soft words and hard arguments do well together Passion will heat the sinners blood but compassion heal his conscience our reprehension may be sharp but our spirits must be meek The Probe that searcheth the wound will put the Patient to less pain and do the more good if covered with soft lint Those who oppose themselves are to be instructed in meekness 2 Tim. 2. 25. There is a rigid austerity which is apt to creep into and corrupt our reproofs Mollifying Oyntments are oft instrumental to abate great swellings The Iron of Napthalies shooes were dipt in Oyl Reproof should be as Oyls or Ointments gently rub'd in by the warm fire of love The Chirurgion that setteth the bone stroketh the part If love do not play its part in this Scene we do but act a Tragedy The more thou canst perswade him of thy affection the better will he take thy reprehension The sweetest kisses of an enemy are rejected with disdain but even the wounds of a friend are received with applause Prov. 27. 6. Such as in reproving shew their anger more then their love rather exasperate then heal Of all seasons the Chirurgion had need to be sober and farthest from being drunk with passion when he is to cut off a gangren'd member The Reprover should have a Lions stout heart or he will not be faithful and a Ladies soft hand or he is not like to be successeful Holy Paul speaking of his coming to reprove some delinquents amongst the Corinthians tells them And lest when I come again my God will humble me among you and that I shall bewail many who have sinned 2 Cor. 6. ult He that would gather fruit must pluck the Bough gently towards him if too hard he may break it A Reprover is like one that is taking a mote out of his brothers eye now this must be done very tenderly For this purpose it would be convenient where it may be that reproofs be given privately We administer Physick to persons in their Chamber He that proclaims anothers crimes up and down the Country wrongs his own soul in walking contrary to the command first tell him his fault between him and thee Mat. 18. 15 16. and he wrongs his Neighbour in hardning him hereby in his sin for this man thinks the sinner designeth to reproach not to reform therefore he throweth the reproof with indignation back in his face Socrates at a Banquet falling out with one of his friends twitted him with his faults How much better had this been done in private said Plato And had you not done better to have told me so privately said Socrates Qui peccant coram omnibus coram omnibus corripiendi sunt ut omnes timeant Qui secreto pecavit in te secreto corripe Nam si soluâ— nosti eum vis coram aliis arguere non es corrector sed Proditor Aug. de verb domini If thy brother offend thee saith Christ tell him of it between thee and him Mat. 5. Others crimes are not to be cried at a Market Private reproof is the best grave to bury private faults in The Plaister should not be larger then the sore Our Saviour did not tell the woman of Samaria of her wickedness whilst the Disciples were with him but when he had sent them away Ioh. 4. For this end it is also fit that reproof be given with as little reflection as may be on the person reproved If there be any thing in him worthy of praise do not pass it by We take Pills the better when they are well guilt Children lick up their medicines the more freely when they are sprinkled with a little sugar A faithful Historian will relate mens vertues as well as their vices They are of a dunghil brood that fasten onely upon galled backs and ulcerous sores and take no notice of the sound flesh Wise Commanders when their Souldiers are making a dishonourable Retreat do not presently upbraid them with cowardise but often by mentioning their former heroick courage or their Ancestors noble carriage inflame them with a desire to continue their repute and credit Good Nurses when children fall first help them up and speak them fair and then chide them This were an excellent art to draw them to God whom thou couldst not drive shame will not let such be angry with those that deal so equally the rod and crown Sometimes indirect reprehension hath wrought much good A man may by a Parable or an History pertinent to the purpose convince a sinners conscience and not openly injure his credit Paul in his Sermon to Felix seemed to shoot at random not naming any but his Arrow pierced that unrighteous Prince to the quick The Sun keeps the world in good temperature by moving in an oblique circle not directly with the highest heavens nor directly contrary but fetching a compass a little over-thwart The Saint may keep the Sinner from that heat and rage which is apt to boil under reproof by fetching a little compass about The reproof may sometimes be given in our own persons and declaring how ill it would have been for us to have run into such riotous courses So the Apostle Paul reprehended the Sectmakers in Corinth by transferring it to himself and Apollo 2 Cor. 4. 6. A wise Reprover in this is like a good Fencer who though he strike one part yet none that stand by could perceive by his eye or the carriage of his arm that he aimed at that more then the rest We esteem it a singular commendation in a Chirurgion when he can cure a wound in the face and leave no scar behind Indeed some wounds are so great that this cannot be done yet a good Chirurgion will always
as never to reproach the sinner when I reprove the sin lest I break their heads instead of their hearts and make them flie in my face instead of falling down at Gods feet Bone-setters must deal very warily and Physick is given with great advice and in dangerous diseases not without a consultation I would distinguish between crimes and not fall upon any as the Syrians did on Gilead Amos. 1. 3. with a flail of Iron when a small wand may do the work nor as Jeroboam threatened Israel chastise them with Scorpions who may be reformed with Whips It was not the heat but the cool of the day when my God came down to reprove Adam The wrath of man workeâ—h not the righteousness of God It s in vain to undertake to cast out Satan with Satan or sin with sin I must turn anger out of my nature but I must not turn my nature into anger Yet let me be serious not light in all my admonitions It s ill playing or jesting with one that is destroying and damning himself Would it not stick close to me another day should I laugh at them at this day that are going into the place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth My frothy carriage would as Hazaels cloth dipt in water instead of recovering stifle my brother to death Physick works best when its warm I must love my Neighbour as my self True self-love will throw the first stone at its own sin I may not suffer sin in my self therefore not in my neighbour Lord thou hast commanded me in any wise to rebuke my neighbour and not to suffer sin upon him I confess it s an unpleasing work to rake into sores and ulcers If I lance festred wounds I make the Patients angry by putting them to pain and O how averse is my wicked heart to such a task I am prone to fear their ill-will more then thine and rather to let them rot in the hony of flattery then preserve and save them by faithful admonition How backward is my cowardly spirit to undertake the work how many excuses will it plead for its neglect When through grace I have overcome those lets and hinderances how flatteringly and unfaithfully do I go about it rather stroaking the sinner then striking the sin O pardon my omissions of this duty and all my falseness in the performance of it Let thy Spirit so encourage me that I may not fear the faces of men so direct me that affectionately prudently and zealously I may admonish them that go astray and O do thou so prosper and bless that I may bring them home to thy flock and fold I Wish that I may unfaignedly bewail others wickedness and lament that dishonour to my God which I cannot hinder It s an ill sign of my Sonship for others to blaspheme the name of my father and me to be insensible Adoption is ever accompanied with filial affection If I expect the priviledges I must ensure the properties of a Child Nature will teach me to be troubled for affronts that are offered to the Father of my flesh and will not grace enable me to be greived at the dirt which wicked men throw in the â—ace of the Father of Spirits Again I must not look for freedom from others sufferings unleâ—â— I lay to heart their sins The mourners in Sion are those that in a common calamity are markt for safety Ezek. 9. The destroying Angel will take me to be as guâ—lty as others if it fixd me without grief and so wrap me up in their punishments my God himself judgeth me infected with those sins for which I am not afflicted and can I then think to escape O that my head were water and mine eyes fountains of tears that I might weep day and night for the iniquity and misery of dying gasping sinners Lord thou canst fetch water out of this rocky heart and open the sluces of my eyes Break my heart because others break thy Commands When others kindle the fire of thine anger help thy servâ—nt to draw water and poure it out before thee Let me be so far from seeing others provoke the eyes of thy glory without sorrow that when ever I remember the transgressours I may be greived because they forsake thy statutes Let rivers of tears run down mine eyes when the wicked forsake thy Law I cannot for my life so carry my self but I shall sometimes fall amongst wicked men Whilst I am amongst them I endanger my soul either by complying with or conniving at them in their evil actions There is no safety in evil society Such Pitch is apt to defile my conscience Who can expect to come off without loss from such Cheats and Juglers It is the peevish industry of wickedness to find or make a fellow Besides they are Children of the world whose friendship is enmity against my God they are Children of disobedience therefore contrary to my new nature and so must needs be uncomfortable to me Children of the Devil therefore Traytors against Christ and so abominable to my God I cannot be certain not to meet with evil companions but I will be careful not to be their consorts I would willingly sort my self with such as should either teach me vertue or learn of me to avoid vice And if my Companion cannot make me better nor I him good let me rather leave him ill then he should make we worse Though if I depart from â—hem the world will judge me proud yet should I stay with them needlesly my God would count me prophane and is it not better that men accuse me falsly then God condemne me justly What need I care what men think so God approve T is to his judgement that I must stand or fall for ever It is likely that those who cannot defile my conscience will injure my credit and publish to their fellows that I am a precise fool But this is my comfort there is a time coming when innocency will cause the greatest boldness and freedom from sin will do me more service and be infinitely more worth then the highest renown that ever mortal acquired Lord thy people in this world are as Lillies among Thorns The Canaanites of the Land are Thornes in the eyes and Pricks in the sides of thy true Israelites Wo is me that I dwell in Meshech and my habitation is in the Tents of Kedar My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate peace They like not me because I am not like to them and count my Company not good because it is not bad and I dare not sin with them They are mine enemies because I follow the thing that good is O how black are their tongues with railing and their hearts with rage against them who dare not provoke thee as much as themselves I am ready to say now upon the view of their abominations and the hearing their Oaths and Curses and Blasphemies Cursed be their anger for it is fierce and their rage
learn some good then in the Senate-house with Caesar. As one Circle caused by a stone thrown into the water begets a second and that a third And as one Rain-bow begets another and they two together beget a third so one Christian helps to beget another to Christ and they two joyning turn more from the errors of their ways Holiness like an Elixar by contraction if any disposition in the mettal will render it of the same property The Indians were brought to embrace the Christian faith by the holy conference and company of Edesins and Frumentius two private Christians Secondly By good company pious souls have been confirmed Whilst Latimer and Ridley lived they kept up Cranmer by intercourse of letters Christian conference is a great help to perseverance The staff of bonds was the Jews beauty and safety Zach. 11.14 Company causeth courage the beams of joy are the hotter for reflection Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat saith the Moralist The very countenance of a good man makes us chearful Our sight of him is reviving to us When Paul saw the brethren he blessed God and took courage Act. 28. 15. When many Mariners pull at a rope together they strive with the more alacrity therefore Christ sent his Disciples by two and two Mark 6.7 When Ionathan went against the Philistines he would take his Armour-bearer along with him The blessed Jesus going into the Garden to his bitter bloody Agony chose Peter Iames and Iohn to accompany him The great Apostle expected comfort from the Roâ—mans company and hoped to confirm them by his For I long to see you that I might impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end ye may be established The closer the stones of the Edifice are joyned together the stronger is the Building That I might be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me Grace is the Oyl of gladness and the more of this oyl the more of gladness when Pauls faith and the Romans met in one channel such a river of oyl would be a river of pleasure The union of such flames could not but become a good fire to refresh and rejoyce their hearts Iob. 41.16 As it s said of Leviathan that his scales are his pride i.e. his strengâ—h in which he boasteth and the reason of it is rendred One is so near to another that no air can come betweeu them They are joyned one to another they stick together that they cannot be sundred So it may be said of the people of God Their unity will be their security when one is so near to another that no enemy can come between them when they are joyned one to another and stick together that they cannot be sundred then it may be said of them as of him In their neck remaineth strength and sorrow is turned into joy before them ver 21. Secondly By good company erring Saints have been recovered Holy David lay sleeping in his sin till his good friend Nathan jogged and awakened him Many a one hath been roused out of his spiritual lethargy by private admonition Hence saith Solomon Two are better then one because they have a good reward for their labour For if they fall the one will lift up his fellow but wo to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up Eccles. 4. 9 10. Men that are troubled with the Falling-sickness are sometimes carried away and die with their distemper it seising upon them when none is with them but when they fall amongst company by rubbing and chaffing them they often come to themselves again Every scandalous sin especially is a kind of Falling-sickness very dangerous to the soul its ill therefore for them that are overtaken with it and have none with them by serious admonition to recover them out of it I have read of a Minister that in the night had a sudden motion to go visit a certain neighbour and though he argued with himself the unseasonableness of the time and his ignorance of any cause for such an action yet the impulse upon him was so strong that he could not withstand it so going to that friends house late in the night he found none at home save the Master of the house Truly saith the Minister to him I am come to your house thus late but I know not to what end nor for what purpose Yea saith the man of the house but God knoweth for I have made away through my prophaneness so many childrens portions and here is the rope in my pocket with which I was going to hang my self But what replied the Minister if I can tell you of one that made away with more portions and yet was saved Who was that said the Neighbour Adam saith the Minister who as a publique person was intrusted with the stock of all his posterity and prodigally wasted them yet was saved Thus by his serious and seasonable counsel he stayed the man from his purpose and was probably instrumental for much spiritual good to him Fourthly By good Company dull Christians have been quickened Two cold things steel and flint smitten together send forth fire When two lye together they have warmth but how can one be warm alone Eccles. 4. 11. When David was old and his natural heat decayed they got a young damsel to lye neer him and to put some warmth into him Cold Christians have been heated by being near others that have been glowing coals When Silas and Timothens came from Macedonia Paul was pressed in Spirit before he was warm but then in a light flame Act. 18. 5. Some men of weak stomachs have fed the more for seeing others fall so heartily to their meat As Iron sharpeneth Iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend Prov. 27. 17. Some interpret the words thus Rub Iron against Iron and it giveth an edge unto it so if a man lye often grating upon his friend by unkind usage it will sharpen his countenance to discontent and make his spirit keen and angry and to make good this exposition they observe that the wise man doth not say so a friend sharpeneth c. but so a man because by his unworthy carriage he puts off the nature of a friend and therefore doth not deserve the nameâ— But I rather incline to the other interpretation As Iron sharpeneth Iron Rub one file against another and though before they were dull and blunt they both become thereby bright and sharp So friends that are heavy and backward and over-run with rust for want of use by mutual conference and communion they become lively quick and keen about spiritual things Christian society like rubbing Iron against Iron takes away that rust which made them so dull and unactive and sets a spiritual edge upon them Vrbanus Regius an eminent Dutch Divine meeting with Luther about Goburg he spent a whole day in conference with him of which himself writeth that he never had a more
be secure as thinking themselves safe when they are as they imagine among none but themselves But truly seeming honest men may deceive us sooner then known cheats because we are apt to conâ—ide in the former when we fear and take heed of the latter The Plague may soonest be conveyed through perfumed linnen Satan tempted Eve in the forme of a Serpent but when he sets upon Christ whom he knew hard to be conquered he sets upon him in the shape of a Dove None so fit as a Peter to perswade him to pity himself As God can send us a Pearl in a Toads Head bring light out of darkness and enable us to get good by polluted persons So Satan like Hanibal can convey poison through a gold ring bring darkness out of light and make us the worse for the Company of the best Christians The society of the godly is like the Shop of an Apothecary in which there are many Cordial Iulips Purging Potions and Wholsom Drugs but also some poisonous which need strong correctives and therefore they must be the object of our caution as well as of our choice There are two or three things which Christians when they meet together too frequently erre in against which I would advise thee In mis-spending time censuring the good aâ—d backbiting the bad 1. Take heed of mispending that season Time is in it self of great price and ought to be redeemed but Opportunity is of greater value and t is infinite pity to cut such a precious commodity to waste It s ordinary even with good men when they meet though it relate nothing to their callings or concernments to be talking chiefly of corn and cattel and markets and fayrs and forraign transactions as if they had not a God a Christ a soul an eternal estate to be minding each other of Our words are the servants of our reason and to send more then will performe our business or to send them upon unnecessary and trifling errands argueth vanity and folly Have we not the country to which we are all travailing the purity and pleasantness of the way thither the excellency and certainty of our reward there to talk about St. Bernard complained that in his time Christians were faulty in this particular Nihil de scripturis nihil de salute agitur animarum sed nugae risus verba proferuntur in ventum Not a word of the Scriptures nothing of your eternal salvation but trifles and laughter and words as light as the wind take up the time Some spend their time in nice Questions as what Christ disputed of amongst the Doctors where Paradise stood in what part of the world is local Hell What became of Moses body how many orders and degrees of elect Spirits These curious persons the further they go the nearer they approach a Sun that blinds them Others in circumstantial câ—ntroversies when in the interim the essentials of Religion are laid by Such talk is but a wasting time and those that sweat at it are but laborious loyterers like those that take great pains to crack or cleave a date stone which when they have done affords them no Kernel Would it not be counted a peice of great folly for a man that had a wound neer some vital part to be very busie in laying a plaister upon his scratcht finger while the other lay unregarded Were it not a peice of strange madness when the enemy is at the walls and the town every moment in danger of being stormed the Bullets flying thick about the streets for the people within to be sitting still and consulting whether a Musquet would carry further then a Trunk or whether more are killed with Bullets or Arrows Truly such folly such madness is it to imploy our selves about needless discourse about the world or superficial circumstantial things when our inestimable souls are continually in danger of being surprised and slain The Apostle reproveth such as spent their time about fables and endless genealogies that is things frivolous and besides our work of Christianity though not false or directly opposite to it which minister Questions rather then godly edifying 1 Tim. 1. 5. To prevent this Reader Offer some serious discourse either by way of Position or Question Thy profit by good company doth very much depend upon thy self Thy Question or Position is the fire which draweth out either the quintessence or dregs of things It may be there is one in thy company rich in grace in gifts these are the treasure of the soul but if ever thou wouldst be the better for it thou must open it by the Key of some savoury question or sentence An ordinary person by some practical question may lay the foundation for a goodly fabrick of rich and excellent discourse A little water poured into a Pump may fetch up many Buckets full A small Lacquey may call us to a costly Banquet Ferus on Matthew affirmeth that it was the practice of the Monks to meet together once in a week and to acquaint each other with their temptations the means of resistance and the issue thereof I believe if Christians were more open-hearted in declaring to one another the state of their souls their experiences in point of loss or gain in spirituals and sense of Gods favour or anger c. it would much tend not onely to the honour of God but also to the defeating of our great enemy and our own mutual advantage Satan hath many wiles where-with to wrong and destroy souls he proceedeth many times in the same method with several Christians now when one acquainteth another with the snares he laid to catch him and the way he took to avoid it hereby the other is fore-warned and fore-armed fore-warned to expect that such a trap should be laid for him and fore-armed how to avoid it An Almanack Calculated for London without any sensible error may serve the whole Kingdom That which hath been one Saints condition or temptation may be any Saints and that way which one hath taken to escape a peril or improve a providence may be useful and helpful to any of the Saints Some tell us the Art of medicines was thus perfected When any one met with an Herb and discovered the vertue of it by any accident he did post it up in some publique place and if any were sick or diseased he was laid in some common passage that every passenger might communicate the best Receipt he knew for that distemper and so the Physitians skill was compleated by a collection of those posted Experiences and Receipts I cannot but think that our souls would be more safe and our spiritual sicknesses less dangerous if Christians were more free in revealing what means have through the assistance of the Spirit been instrumental for their recovery out of their inward distempers and the preservation of their health 2. Take heed of censuring the good This is another sin that even good men are guilty of when they meet
this hour hence God appeals to the consciences of the Jews whether though the Prophets died his threatnings which were denounced by those Prophets did not live and take hold of them Zach. 1.5 5 It s true in the Predictions and Prophesies The predictions of the Israelties distress in Egypt four hundred years and deliverance thence of their possessing Canaan of Cyrus birth of the Jews redemption out of the Babylonish captivity of the four Monarchies and of Christs coming in the flesh his mean birth afflicted life death buriall ascention are all already accomplished Those Prophesies in Daniel and Revelation concerning the future estate of the Church the ruine of Pope and Turk the vocation of the Jews and the glorious and pure condition of the people of God in the latter days shall all to a tittle be fulfilled It s observable therefore that some predictions that were or are future are set down in the present tense To us a son is born Babylon the great is fallen is fallen to assure us that they shall be as certainly fulfilled as if they were fulfilled already Isa. 9. 6. Rev. 18. 6. It is the rule of all truth Other Books are true no farther then they are agreeable and commensurable to this All other sayings and writings are to be tried by this touchstone It is not what sense saith or what reason saith or what Fathers say or what General Councils say or what Traditions say or what Customs say but what Scripture saith that is to be the rule of faith and life Whatsoever is contrary to Scripture or beside Scripture or not rationally deducible from Scripture is to be rejected as spurious and adulterate To the Law and to the Testimonies if they speak not according to this it is because there is no light no truth inâ— them Isa. 8.20 3. Consider it O my soul in its names and they will speak much to the excellency of its nature What is this Word which thy thoughts are now upon It is called Scripture or Scriptures by an Antonomasie or excellency of phrase as the most worthy writings that ever saw the light It is called the Word of God both in regard of its efficient cause which is the Spirit of God the material cause which is the mind of God the final cause which is the glory of God It is called the Law of the Lord the law of liberty the law of saith a lawâ— a royal law the book of the law the book of the Lord the book of life the Gospel of peace the Gospel of God the Gospel of Gods grace the counsel of God the charge of God the breath of God the mouth of God the oath of God the Oracles of God the paths of God the wisdom of God It is called a thingâ— the good part the key of knowledge the key of Heaven tidings of salvation glad tidings of peace a good way a perfect way a narrow way Many other titâ—es it hath which shew the excellency of this Word of truth 4. Consider it O my soul in its comparisons which will shew thee somewhat of its perfections Whereunto is this Word resembled it is resembled to light to a lamp Solomon tells us The commandment is a lamp and the law is light T is likely he learned it of his father Thy word is a light to my feet and a lanthorn to my paths saith David Prov. 6 23. Psal. 119. 105. 1. It is light for its clarity and beauty Light is the ornament of the world which is most incorporeal of all corporeal beings therefore termed spiritual Though it discovers all the pollutions of the earth yet it is not polluted therewith The word is the glory of this lower world The law is spiritual and its beauty is not faided nor its purity stained by all the filth of false doctrines and heresies which have been cast into the face of it from the beginning of the world to this day The word of the Lord abideth for ever 2. Light is pleasant and delightful darkness is affrighting and dreadful but light is refreshing and reviving Light is sweet and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun Eccles. 11.7 The word of God is sweet and its a pleasant thing with the eyes of faith to behold the glorious sun of divine truths The eye is not more affected with curious sights nor the ear with ravishing musick nor the pallate with rare meats then a spiritualized understanding with spiritual truths David found not onely delight in the singular but delights in the plural number all sorts and degrees of delights in the word of God Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me but thy commandments are my delights His delights in the Law of God were so rare and ravishing that they quite extinguished all sensual delights as the light of the day the light of a candle and drowned the noise of all his crosses and troubles by their loud and amazing melody Chrysostom compares the Scripture to a pleasant Garden wherein every flower yeilds a fragrant savour Ambrose to a feast wherein every book is a dainty dish affording food both pleasant and wholsom 3. Light discovereth and maketh things manifest The night conceals things and the day reveals them That which maketh manifest is light Ephes. 5. 13. Light discovers things in their proper shapes and colours whether beauties or deformities When the Sun appeareth we see the dust in corners and dirt in Ditches which before lay hid The word of God maketh a discovery of an unknown world of sin in the heart of man and the great mystery of iniquity which lay hid there I was alive without the Law but when the commandment came sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7. 9. The faults and spots and defects of his duties were visible by the light of the word All things are naked and open before it It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4. 12. The word sheweth the beauty of holiness the love and loveliness of the Redeemer 4. Light directs us how and where to walk In the night we wander and go out of the way we stumble and fall but the day helpeth us both to see our way and to walk in it without stumbling If any man walk in the day he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world Iohn 11. 9. The word of God doth preserve us from sin and guide our feet in the way of peace Luk. 1. 73. It is our Poleâ—stâ—r as we are Mariners our Pillar of fire as we are travellers The Law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide Psa. 37. 31. Our feet by the light of the word are preserved from falling and our steps from sliding Psalm 119. 105. 5. Light scattereth darkness As the Sun
where it ariseth and displayeth its beames dispelleth mists and clounds causeth an alteration in the face of the Air and makes the shadows to flie before it that they cry like Iacob to the Angel Let me go for the day breaketh so the light of the word scattereth that darkness which was before upon the minds of men 1. It dispelleth the darkness of error Mat. 22.29 Naked Truth conquereth Armed Error and Little David with his small stones out of the silver streams of the Sanctuary the great Goliah of Heresie With this silly women have confuted and conquered profound Doctors notwithstanding their deep and intricate arguments and have wounded them as mortally as that woman without weapons did Abimilech that great Captain with a Milstone 2. It dispelleth the darkness of ignorance The word is the key of knowledge and openeth the door that lets us into the treasures of wisdom and knowledge It is that precious eye-salve with which our blind eyes being anointed see It is sent to open the eyes of the blind and to turn men from darkness to light When the word comes the people that sat in darkness see a great light Act. 26. 18. Mat. 4. 16. 3. It dispelleth the darkness of prophaness this weapon of the word stabbeth lust under its fifth rib and letteth out the very heart blood of it The Devil puts off his rotten wares in the dark shops of Heathen and unbelieving and unchristian Christians but where the word hath arisen upon any soul it discerneth his cheat and is too wise to be cozened by him By what means may a young man cleanse his way By taking heed thereto according to thy word Psa. 119.9 The word is resembled to Rain to Water to Dew Moses tells the Israelites My Doctrine shall drop as the Rain and my speech distil as the Dew Christ calls it the water of life Joh. 6. 35. 1. Rain is from above God keeps that key under his own girdle Can any of the vanities of the Heathen cause Rain Art not thou he Jer. 14. 22. Man may speak long enough to the cloâ—ds before they will distil one drop but if God command those bottles they are presently unstopped and poure down in abundance He covereth the Heavens with Clouds and prepareth Rain for the earth Psa. 147. 8. Thus the Word of God came down from above Every of the Pen-men of it might have spoken as David The Spirit of the Lord spake by me 2. Sam. 23. 2. It did immediately inspire me what particulars to utter and in what phrases to deliver them That which is said of some of the Prophesies may be said of every Book and of every Chapter and Verse in every Book Thus saith the Lord The word of the Lord which came to Amos The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it It is all one to say The Scripture saith and God saith Compare Rom. 4. 3. and 10. 11. with Rom. 9. 25. and Heb. 4.3 and Gal. 3. 21. with Rom. 11. 32. Some observe that the word which Moses useth for Doctrine dropping like Rain signifieth received Doctrine because the Doctrine in the word is received from God not devised by men Deut. 32. 2. I received from the Lord that which I also delivered unto you 1 Cor. 11. 32. 2. Rain is mollifying and softning When the earth hath been like Brass and Iron under our feet by long drought or hard frosts a few good showres supple it and make it tender Therefore David speaking of the earth saith Thou makest it soft with showres Psa. 65. 10. So the heart of man is compared to a stone to a rock to a flint to an adamant the hardest of stones for its hardness hath been suppled and softned by the word The Jews that had imbrued their hands in the blood of Christ had certainly very hard hearts The thought of such a murder would have made a deep impression upon any conscience that were not seared with a red hot Iron yet this word preached melted them as hard mettal as they were When they heard these things they were pricked to the heart Peters Sermon like Moses rod fetcht water out of the Rock Act. 2. 37. David upon the disorder and intemperance of his soul in the matter of Vriah had an hard swelling which continued and increased upon him several moneths yet when Nathan comes and gently baths it with this Oyl of the Word it groweth soft and tender as appeareth by the title of Psa. 51. A Psalm of David when Nathan the Prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba 3. Rain maketh the earth fruitful therefore some call it the earths Husband because it helps the earth to bring forth He watereth the hills from his chambers the earth is satisfied with his works he causeth the grass to grow for the earth and hearbs for the service of man Psal. 104. 13,14 so Psal. 65.9,10,11,12 So the Word of God turns that heart which was as a barren wilderness into a fruitful meadow 1 Pet. 2. 2. 4. Rain reviveth and refresheth the earth when the earth is chopt and faint when it gaspeth and is weary a showre of rain recovers and refresheth it the Psalmist tells us that upon such droppings from above the pastures and valleys shout for joy they also sing Psa. 65.13 Thus the Christian scorcâ—ed with the apprehension of Gods wrath due to him for sin draweth all his comfort and refreshment out of those wells of salvation the promises of the word When conscience is sore and raw through the wounds sin hath made in it and the weight of guilt that lieth continually grating upon it He sendeth his word and health them Psal. 107.20 David had experience what an healing medicine the Word was In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. When Philip had preached the word to the Eunuch he went away rejoycing That milk which runs from the breasts of the two Testaments is never sucked with the mouth of faith without abundant satisfaction that wine which which is drawn from the pipes of the promises rejoyceth the heart of man indeed These things are written that your joy may be full The Saint never sits at a fuller table of joy then when he is feasting on the dainties of the Gospel O my soul how many thoughts mightst thou spend about those several things to which the word is aptly and excellently resembled It is compared to Armour to a tree of life to a portion to milk to strong meat to pastures to seed to an ornament of grace to rest to a Crown of glory to hidden treasures to gold tried in the fire to a glass to oyl and oyntment all which as so many curious colours well laid may help thee to admire and prize more the beauty of that face which they resemble and represent Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou Word of God Many books have done vertuously have acted famously for the overthrow of sin and
would not reverence the issue for the Authors sake Surely that coin deserves esteem which hath that Kings Image and Superscription on it The matter in thee merits respect Thou art a Love-letter from God to his creature revealing his eternal thoughts of good will publishing his acts of grace and oblivion to all traytors and rebels in arms against his Majesty upon condition they will throw down their weapons and become Loyal Subjects for the future Thou art the Churches Charter containing all the priviledges which the blessed Jesus purchased for her What wise man would not value the deeds and evidences which speak and give a right to pardon love grace joy peace and the undefiled inheritance for ever When thou comest to a soul salvation comes to that soul Thou art always attended with a rich train of all sorts of comforts The good tidings thou bringest and great blessings thou conveyest where ever thou comest may well make thee welcome I may well say unâ—o thee beholding the bracelets and ear-rings wherewith thou adornest the Spouse of the true Isaac as Laban to Abrahams servant Come in thou blessed of the Lord why standest thou without I have prepared lodging for thee If I am bound to bless my God for the natural lights which he hath made the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night because thereby it appears that his mercy endureth for ever Psa. 136. 7 8 9. How much am I bound to bless him for the spiritual light of his word that true that marvellous light which shineth in a dark place till the eternal day dawn O what mercy what mercy enduring for ever is there in every leaf in every verse in every line of that sacred Book If Regeneration be a mercy to be partaker of the divine nature the stamping the lovely Image of the glorious God upon thee then the word is a mercy for that is the seal in the hand of the Spirit which imprinteâ—h it on thee Iames 1. 18. Is faith a mercy that shield of the soul whereby it quencheth the fiery darts of the Devil that Ladder by which the soul mounteth to Heaven and converseth daily with its Lord and Master then the word is a mercy for faith comes by hearing the word is the door of faith Rom. 10. 14. Act. 14. 27. If repentance be a mercy those second and best thoughts of the soul that recovery of the man to his wits and right mind then the word is a mercy for t is the voice of Christ in the word that casteth the Devil of impenitency and sensuality out of the heart where it raigned and raged sending out fire and flames like AEtna for many years and makes the man like him in the Gospel out of whom the Devil was cast to sit at Iesus his feet in his right mind bitterly weeping and mourning for his former folly and madness T is the hot beams of love that shine in the Gospel that thaw the frozen spirits Is hope a mercy â—hat Helmet of salvation which defendeth the head of Christians from Swords and Musquets the souls of Saints from the darts and dangers of temptations those Bladders of the soul which keep it from sinking in deep waters then the word is a mercy for we through patience and comfort of the Scripture have hope Rom. 15. 4. Hope had never lookt out at the window longing for the coming of its beloved if the word had not come before as a faithful Messenger and brought certain news that he was upon the way Are pardon reconciliation with God adoption growth in grace yea Heaven it self a mercy then the word is a mercy All those Jewels are lockt up in that Cabinet Man durst not have presumed he could not have conceived that the glorious jealous God should ever have such infinite respect for such wretches and rebels if he had not found it written with his own hand in the word T is on the waters of the sanctuary that the Saint saileth safely through the Sea of this world to the Port of salvation There was no visible bridge laid over the Gulf of Gods wrath for sinners to pass into the Kingdom of grace here and glory hereafter till the Gospel erected one O my soul what honour can be high enough what love hot enough for the holy Scriptures 1. Consider the preciousness of them in the eyes of good men and the love they had for them Iob preferred them before food before his necessary food Solomon before ornaments of gold crowns of glory Paul before all other Doctrines though Preached by Angels David before the honey and the honey comb great spoils thousands of gold and silver all riches And when he ceaseth to compare beginneth to admire iâ—s worth Wonderful are thy testimonies And his own fervent affection to it O how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day 2. The price paid for it It cost the blood of thy beloved well may the Scriptures be called Testaments they were both sprinkled with blood and made valid by the death of the Testatour Heb. 9. 15 16 17. And for this cause he is the mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of transgressions that were under the first Testament they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance For where a Testament is there must of necessity also be the death of the Testator For a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the testator liveth 3. The pearl hid in it The Lord Jesus Christ is the matter as well as the Author of it Well may it be called the Word of Christ. Search the Scripture for they are they that testifie of me He was the substance of the Law and he is the sum of the Gospel Thou hadst not known sin but for the Law nor the Saviour but for the Gospel When David considered the kindness he had receâ—ved from Ionathan he said to his servants Is there none left of the house of Saul that I may shew kindness to for Jonathans sake He could not but in gratitude study some return suitable to that good will of his dear friend Great is the kindness I have received from the Scripture What wilt thou say what wilt thou do O my soul for this Word of thy God! O swear unto the Lord and vow unto the mighty God of Jacob surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house I will not go up into my bed I will not give sleep to mine eyes nor slumber to mine eyeâ—lids until I â—inde out a place for the law of the Lord and an habitation for the Gospel of the God of Jacob. Wilt thou not willingly O my soul rather then this worthy guest should lie without doors take it into thy heart O that thou wert the ark wherein the two Tables the two Testaments might be laid up for ever Lord I will
strong This Sampson of death can fetch meat out of the eater and out of the strong sweetness Deaths harbinger sickness which prepareth its way before it will make me melt like Wax before the Sun though my strength were the strength of stones and my flesh as brass Fresh Flowers are cropt in their pride and greatest beauty The Autumn of death comes ordinarily before the winter of old age Besides I am liable every day to many sudden accidents and unexpected surprisals How many die in their Shops or Fields or in the Church or Streets as well as others in their beds All men do not go out of the world at the fore door of sickness many at the back-door of a violent death When my blood frisketh merrily in my veins and light sparkleth gloriously in mine eyes when my countenance is most fresh and lovely and my senses are most quick and lively even then aâ— my best estate I am altogether vanity I may draw a long line of life because nature may afford radical moysture enough for it when death lieth in ambush like a theif in the candle and wasteth all on a sudden Should I as the rich fool reckon falsly to a million when I cannot count truly to one and promise my self many days when my soul may be required of me this night how gross is my delusion Ah how sad how fatal is that error that can never be mended The time past is gone and never never to be called back All my prayers and tears all the revenues of the world cannot regain the last moment The time to come is Gods not mine own It is not in my hands therefore I have no reason to reckon upon it I am both foolish and dishonest if I dispose of anothers goods Reversions are uncertain and he may well be poor that hath no estate but what he hath in hope or rather presumption Lord thou reckonest my life not by ages no not by years but by days thou hast told me that my days are few my time is little though my work be great I acknowledge my proneness to put far from me my dying day whereby I gratifie my grand enemy in drawing nigh to the seat of iniquity O help thy servant to live every day as if it were his last day Grant that I may live well and much though my life be little and short because there is no day of my life in which I can promise my self security from the arrest of Death let me expect it every day and every hour of every day that when ever my Lord shall come I may be found well-doing I Wish that since the eye of my God is ever on me my eye may be ever on him and I may be so pious as to carry my self all the day long as in his presence What ever I do my God observeth whatever I speak my God heareth whatever I think he knoweth I may call every place I come into Mizpeh The Lord watcheth and observeth Ah how holy should he be who hath always to do with so pure and jealous a Majesty The Iews were to dig and cover the natural excrements of their bodies because the Lord their God walked in the midst of their camp Sin is the spiritual excrement of my soul and infinitely more odious and loathsom to my God O how watchful should I be against it who walk ever in his company The Sun is said by some to be all eye because it hath a thousand beams in every place it filleth the largest windows and peepeth in at the smallest key-hole it shineth on the Princes Pallace and the Poor mans Cottage the Heavens above the Earth beneath and Air between it looks on every person with so direct a countenance as if it beheld none beside The natural Sun is darkness to the Sun of righteousness the whole world to him is a sea of glass he seeth it thorough and thorough The Watch-maker knoweth all the wheels and pins and motions in the Watch He that made me cannot be ignorant of me nor of any thing in me or done by me Whether I be in my Shop or Closet Abroad or at Home in Company or Alone the Hand of my God is with me and the Eye of my God upon me O that I could set him ever before me and set my self ever before him that I could always see him who always seeth me and like a Sun-dyal so receive this Sun in the morning as to go along with him all the day Lord thou searchest and knowest me thou knowest my down-sitting and uprising thou understandest my thoughs afar off Thou compassest my paths and lying down and art acquainted with all my ways For there is not a word in my tongue but O Lord thou knowest it altogether Whither shall I go from thy Spirit and whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up to Heaven thoâ— art there If I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me If I say surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light about me Yea the darkness hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day The darkness and the light are both alike to thee O teach me to walk before thee and to be upright I Wish that the end of all my days may be the beginning of every day that my first thoughts in the morning may be of him by whom alone I think The Firstling under the Law was to be the Lords and why not the first fruits of every day under the Gospel Surely the worthiness of the person deserves precedency of dispatch It is no mean incivility to let an honourable man wait our leasure what impiety is it then to let the great God stay till the dreggy flesh or world be served Ah how unworthy as well as wicked is it to put that God off who deserves all I am and have with the leavings of his slaves Besides the soul usually walks up and down all day in the same habit in which it is dressed in the morning The day is usually spent well or ill according to the morning employment If Satan get possession in the morning t will be many to one but he keeps his hold all day What youth is to age that is the morning to the day if youth be not tainted with vice age is imployed in vertue He that loves chastity will not marry her that spent her youth in whordom A man may give a shrewd guess in the morning when second causes are in working what weather will be most part of the day If I set out early in my heavenly journey I am the more likely to persevere in it all the day As some sweet Oyls poured into a Vessel first will cause whatsoever is put into it afterwards to taste and
creatures that nature produceth are some way serviceable to their fellow creatures O that I might never by filling up my life with laziness be a Wen in the face of nature serving no way to profit onely to disfigure it Yet I desire that my diligence in my particular may be regulated by my duty towards my General calling Oyl moderately poured in feeds the Lamp excessively drowns it Alexanders Souldier run so lightly upon the sand that he made no impression with his feet My duty is to give earthly things my hands but my heart onely to the things of heaven Lord It s as well thy pleasure that I should work here as thy promise that I shall rest hereafter Let tâ—y grace be so operative in me that I may never give Satan advantage against me by being negligent or over-diligent in my particular calling Suffer not the interposition of the earth ever to cause an eclipse of holiness in my soul But let thy word so limit me and thy spirit guide me that as one diligent in his business I may come at last to stand before the King of Kings to my eternal comfort I Wish that I may no part of the day be so overcharged with the cares of this life by my particular calling as to expose my self to wickedness by neglecting my spiritual watch If my heart be full of earthly vapours they will fume up into my head and make me drowsie A drunken man is no sooner set in his chair but he is fast asleep Sober and Vigilant are sisters in Scripture 1 Thes. 5. Let us watch and be sober 1 Pet. 5. 8. Be sober and vigilant The immoderate love of the world will incline me as effectually to spiritual slumbers as immoderate drinking of Wine to bodily If Satan can get me to take this Opium he doubts not but to lock me fast to my bed and to have me at what advantage be pleaseth O how easie is it to destroy a sleeping body to defile a sleepy soul Noah Lot David Solomon walked in their sleep and dreams in strange and sensual paths When the eye of the souls watchfulness is â—hut the soul is open to all dangers and assaults Whilst the Husbandmen sleep the enemy soweth Tares Sisera's head was nailed to the earth whilst he lâ—y snoring on the ground Epaminondas was not more severe then exemplary when he ran the Souldier through with his sword whom he found sleeping upon the Guard as if he intended to bring the two Brothers Sleep and Death to a meeting The Hare therefore say someâ— being liable to many enemies sleepeth with her eyes open to see danger before it surprise her I walk continually in the midst of powerful and politick adversaries The Canaanite is yet in the Land though not Master of the Field yet skulking in Holes and Ambushments watching an opportunity to set upon and destroy me There is not onely an Army of Temptations besieging me without but also many Traytours conspiring within to open the gate of my heart to them that they may enter and undo me My own heart is like Jacob a Supplanter and conspireth to rob me both of the birth-right and the blessing Let me go where I will I tread upon Lime-twigs which the Arch-fowler layeth to intangle and insnare me Saul sent messengers to Davids house to watch him and to slay him Satan sendeth messengers after me in all places where I â—ome to watch me and to sâ—ay me The whole world is as the valâ— of Siddimâ— full of slime-pits and without watchfulness the anointed of the Lord are taken in those pits Gen. 14. 10. Lam. 4. 10. Sin is a slie theif that steals upon the soul to rob it when t is asleep O what need have I of the greatest watchfulness and circumspection imaginable As the eye-lids guard the tender eyes from harm so doth watchfulness preserve the soul from wickedness O my soul canst thou not watch with thy Redeemer one hour when he ever liveth to make intercession for thee T is but the short night of this life that thou art commanded to stand â—entinel ere long thou shalt be called off the guard and freed from that trouble Lord thou art ever watchful over me for good thou never slumberest nor sleepest but thy seven eyes are ever upon me Thou mayst say to me as to thy Vineyard I the Lord do keep it I water it every moment lest any hurt it I keep it night and day O since thou watchest to preserve me let me watch to serve thee Set a watch O Lord before my lips Be thou the Governour of my heart Lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death Let mine enemies never find me nodding lest they leave me dying Thou hast told me Behold I come as a Theif Blesâ—ed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Give me so to wake and watch now that death may bring me a Writ of ease and call me to my endless rest I Wish that I may all the day long be even covetous of my time as knowing it is allowed me not for the service of the flesh but for the service of my God and to dress my soul for Heaven If I be lavish of my time I am the greatest Prodigal in the World If he be a spendthrift that throweth away an hundred pound every day he is a far greater that wasteth half an hour in one day Time is more worth then the revenues of the whole world He that can command millions of treasure cannot command one moment of time The Father of eternity hath the sole disposition of time The value of this commodity is not known to this beggarly world in a day of life Now men study sports and pleasures and company and plays to waste time It lieth as a drug upon their hands and they think themselves beholden to any that will help them to put it off But when the King of terrors with his gastly countenance approacheth them and summons them to a speedy appearance bâ—fore the King of nations to receive their eternal dooms O then their judgements will be quite altered and time will be precious indeed Then they who play away their time and give all to the world or flesh will tell me that time was good for something else then to eat and drink and sleep and trade that it was good to feed an immortal soul in and provide for an eternal estate Then the Rich and Covetous as well as they loved their wealth though it be now dearer to them then their God and Christ and Souls and Heaven will part with all they have for a little time Then the Swaggerers and Gallants of the world who spend twenty hourâ— in Taverns to one hour in the Temple and if it were not for Play-houses and Ale-houses and Whore-houses and Hawks and Hounds and Cards and Dice could not tell what to do with their time who mark all the
guns of the losâ— of his Cattel and Estate and Servants would have done some execution in making some breach upon his faith and patience and this great gun playing when he was before tired in defending must needs shatter him in peices He may fitly be called the Wolf of the Evening Jer. 5. 6. that devoureth This roaring Lyon walketh in the night to seek his prey There have been few eminent Saints but have found their Death-bed a Bed of Thorns in regard of temptations Mr. Knox said when he came to dye In my life time the Devil tempted me to despair casting my sins in my teeth but now in my sickness he tells me I have been faithful in the Ministery and so have merited Heaven but blessed be God who brought those Texts into my mind Not I but the grace of God in me What hast thou that thou hast not received The Israelites never met with so much opposition as when they were to take possession of the Land of Canaan then all the Kings of Canaan combined together and came out and fought them When Satan was to be cast out of the possessed person and never to enter into him more he rent him and tore him that the people thought he was dead Now Reader What need hast thou to be serious and holy on a dying Bed to the utmost of thine ability and to fetch in all the strength thou canst from Heaven when thou hast such cruel powerful enemies to encounter with It s was one of the most quickening prevalent arguments that Alexander used to the Macedonians before their third and last fatal Battel with Darius That tâ—ey were to fight with all the strength of Persia at once What an awakening argument should it be to thee that thou art to fight with all the Powers of Hell at once Secondly Consider It s a special season wherein thou mayst glorifie God A Saint by his death may bring God more honour then by all his life The Actions and Speeches of dying men make a deep impression on the hearts of those that are about them The wicked themselves who have mocked at the purity and strictness of the Saints lives have admired their patience and chearfulness in their deaths Though they look on the beleivers words in health as savouring of self and sinister ends and humour and so neglect them yet when they hear a dying Saint commend the love and faithfulness of God the pleasantness and excellency of his ways and worship and to bless the time and pains and strength that ever they spent in his service they esteem his language and begin to have other thoughts of Holiness and Heaven for they consider that surely now the man is entering upon the borders of eternity he is serious and in earnest Hence the Patriarchs knowing the prevalency of such words urge Ioseph with Iacobs dying charge Thy Father when dying said Forgive I pray thee the iniquity of thy servants Gen. 50. 16. That Ruâ—â—ian that would live with his fellow Riotors beholding the holy behaviour of Ambrose on his Death-bed would chuse to dye with Ambrose The enemies of Christ beholding at the death of Christ how the Rocks were rent darkness covered the face of the earth how the vail of the Temple was torn in sunder the graves were opened the dead raised were forced to cry out Doubtless this man was the Son of God So when the adversaries of Gods people see them on their Death-beds and behold their patience in bearing their sickness their Faith in relying on their Saviour their charity in forgiving their enemies their zeal for the honour and interest of their Master their constancy in defending the Gospel they did before profess they are compelled in their consciences to acknowledge Doubtless these are the Servants the Sons and Daughters of God Much more will a holy behaviour on a Dying-bed benefit such as fear God It convinceth sinners that they whether they will or no must have other thoughts of holiness and holy men then formerly and it confirmeth Saints in their gracious practices and makes them more diligent in their preparation Mr. Bilny the day before he suffered death being told that though the fire was hot Gods Spirit would cool it to his everlasting refreshing answered putting his hand in the flame of the Candle I feel by experience and have known by Philosophy that Fire by Gods Ordinance is very hot but yet I am perswaded by Gods holy Word and by the experience of some spoken of therein That in the flame they felt no heat and in the fire no consumption and I constantly beleive howsoever the stubble of this my body shall be wasted by it yet my soul and spirit shall be purged thereby a pain for the time whereon followeth joy unspeakable And then he most comfortably treated on Isaiah 43. 1 2. But now Thus said the Lord that created thee O Jacob and that formed thee O Israel Fear not for I have redeemed thee When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Which words he applied both to himself and his friends then present Of which some reaped such fruit that they caused the words to be fair written on Tables The comfort whereof in several that were with him was never taken from them to their dying day O t is very profitable to others when a Saint so behaveth himself on his Death-bed that he may say to his Friends and Relations as Sir Robert Harleigh did to his Children I have formerly taught you how to live and now I teach you how to die Thirdly Consider It s the last opportunity that thou shalt ever have to do any work for thy God and Saviour and thy own soul When thou diest thou goest to the place where thou shalt receive thy reward and shalt never never more have any season to sow to the Spirit in to serve thy Redeemer in and to manifest thy thankfulness to him for his love to thee I must work the work of him that sent me whilst it is day saith Christ for the night cometh wherein no man can work Ioh. 9. 4. Thou mayst when dying say to thy friends as the Crier of the Ludi seculares which happened but once in a hundred years did at Rome Come see that which ye never saw before nor shall ever see again He that hath but one Arrow to shoot but one throw to cast but one opportunity left him to work out his salvation in may well improve it to the utmost A certain Martyr going to suffer expressed his sorrow that he was going thither Where he should do his God no more service Our God is so good that his work is desireable and were it possible for any grief in Heaven saith Dr. Sibs it would arise from a Christians consideration that he did no more
10. Motives to frequent good company The good of good Company Fulk Meteor lib. 4. In vit * In the same sense that the Poet speaks Aâ—ri sacra fames or as mons is so called a non movendo 2 Motive Wicked men joyn together 3 Motive The backwardness of our own hearts 4 Motive The evil of neglecting Christian Communion 1 Take heed of thoâ—e sins which good mâ—n are prone to when they meet together 1 Mispending time 2 In censuring the good Qui judicat fratrem tantum crimen elationâ—s incurrit ut Christi tribunal sibi videatur assumâ—â—e ejus judicium praeâ—enire Ans. in Rom. 14. Luther gives the Character of wicked men Tanquam fameliâ—i porâ—i immergunt se in sterâ—ora nostra ex iis delicias â—aciunt cum infirmitatem nostram exemple malâ—dict aperiunt traducunt Lut. in Gen. 9. Detractor â—ubens aâ—ditor uterque diabolum portat alter in ore alter in aure Bern. 2 Be serviceable to others Ephes. 4. 16. Si amici sunt quo sâ—m alter ita dives alter ita pauper â—en Epist. 8. Quanto plus prosundimus fluentorum bonorum spiritualâ—um tanto nâ—hiâ— fluenta sunt auctiora Non enim in hac causa contingit sicut in pâ—cuniis Illic enim quanto plus expendit tanto plus pâ—ssidet pecuniae hic autem plane secus agitur Chrys. Hom. 8. in Gen. p. 37. Prov. 17. 17. 2 Thes. 3. 11. Perrigit panem ut â—ilâ—at Vt malus sermoâ— inducit in peccatumâ— siâ— malum silentium relinquit in peccatoâ— August In Quat Noviss Rom. 12. 15. Heb. 3. 3. Cyprian de patâ—ent 3 Christians must receive good in good company Sir W. Râ—wl Hist. World l. 4. c. 4. Prov. 29. 1. Pâ—ov 21. 24. Prov. 27. 6. 4 Christians should rejoyce in each others graces Plutarâ—hâ— The Introduction Motives to mind the Communion of Saints 1. The profit of Christian Society 1 Cor. 6. â—â— 2 Motive Wicked men joyn togethâ—r 2 Motive The evil of needless solitariness 4 Motive The backwardnesâ— of our hearts Caution in good company 1 Beware of those sinâ— that good men are too guilty of when they meet together 1 In spending time vainly 2 In censuring the good 3 In backbiting the bad 2 Christians should be serviceable to each other 1 Pet. 4. 10. Châ—istians must be serviceable 1. In instructing the ignorant 2 In bearing with one anothers inâ—irmâ—ties 3 In comâ—orting the sorrowful 4 In reproving the sinful 3 Christians should endeavour to receive what good they can from each other 1 In receiving counsel 2 In accepting a reproof 4 To rejoyce in each others wâ—lfare The Conclusion Rev. 7. Suetonius Motives 1. The benefit of solitude Quando secrete dâ—us erat in tabernaculo Vulgar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. 2 Motive The danger of neglect Seâ— Epist. 10. Isa. 34. 11. 3 Motive It will be some evidence of uprightness Wherein the exercising our selves to godliness in solitude consisteth 1 In keeping away vain thoughtâ—â— Quid trâ—lesâ— solitudo corporis si non est solitudo cordis Greg. Hoâ— 7. 9. 2 In spiritualizing natural things Luth. Declam Popular de Terti Precept Tom. 1. Nâ—â— est â—llum animalâ—ulum tam exiguum in quo non â—lâ—s disâ—ere possimuâ— quam in omnibus sâ—ulâ—tis pictis aut â—asâ—â— simâ—laâ—bris Lavat Every creature saâ—th Bernard hath this voyce Qâ—â— secit mâ— propter te sâ—â—it tâ— propter se. Cant 7. 11. Isa. 40.6 3 Mind solemn and set meditations The Subject matter of meditation The word of God The first part of meditation Cogitation of the word First In it Câ—uses 1 It s principal efficient Cause The Spirit of God John 7. 46. 2 It s instrumental Cause Eminent Saints 3 The Material Cause 3 The formal cause of it 1 Inward 2 Outward 4 The final cause Joh. 7. 18. 2 Cor. 4. 6. 2 Tiâ— 1. 9. 2 In its properties Psa. 119. 142. Joh. 17. 17 Dan. 10. ult Eccles. 12. 10. Col. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 19 Gal. 1. 8 2 Pet. 1. 19 Luk. 16. 31 John 3. â—lt 3 In its names and titles a John 10. 35. b Matth. 22.29 c 1 Pet. 1.15 d 2 Tim. 3.15 e Ephes. 1.9 f Ephes. 3.9 g Prov. 20.17 h James 1 25. i Rom. 3.27 k Psal. 19.7 l James 1. 8. m Josh. 1.8 n Isa. 34. 16. o 2 King 22.8 p Ephes. 1.16 q Rom. 1. 1. r Acts 20.24 s Acts 20 27. t 1 Kings 2. 3. u Job 37. 10. x Jer. 9. 12 y Deut. 29. 12. z Acts 7.38 a Micah 6. 9. b Prov 8.14 c Rom 10.14 d Luke 10. ult e Matth 16.19 f Luke 11. 52. g Luke 2.10 h Isa 52.7 i 1 Sam. 13. 23 k Psalm 101.2 l Matth 7. 13. 4 In itâ— comparisons Application Resolution Aâ—nsw on Psa. 3. 2. The Introduction Motives to exercise our selves to godliness in solitude 1. The advantage which a Christian may reap by solitude 2 Motive The danger of carelesness in solitude 3 Motive T is a good sign of sincerity Wherein godliness consisteth in solitude 1 By watching against sinful and vain thoughts 2 Spiritualize natural things 3 Be frequent in deliberate meditations An example oâ— set meditation The subject of meditatâ—on The Patience of God 1 The nature of it Patience amplified towards sinners 1 In that God hates sin 2 The coâ—dition of sinners Mr Boltoâ— 1 Cor 11. 31. Rom. 9. 22. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Isa. 30. 18. Gen. 6. 3. 1 Pet. 3.20 Testimonies Exod. 32. Pâ—alm 103. 8. Applicat Rev. 13. Chap 21 22 1 Pet. 1. 17. 1 Motive Every day may be our last day 2 Motive God observeth us all the day long An nescis O homo quod primitias cordis vocis deo debeas occurre ergo ad sulis ortum sol oriens inveniat te jam paratum Amb. in Psal. 119 Serm 19 Melâ—h Adam in â—it Luth. Christian mâ—â—â— Calling 1. Paâ—â— Chap. 23. Valer l. 6. c. 1. Dâ—rections for walking with God p. 49. Prov. 5. 10 to the end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rursus emo Metaphora sumpta a mercatoribus Beza Labitur occulte fallitque volubilis aetas Ovid. Metam l. 10. Sen. de brevit vit cap. 1. Sen de Irae l. 3. c. 36. Desinet ira crit moderatior quae sâ—ietâ—s â—i quotidie ad Iudicem esse veniendum Qualis ille somnus post recogâ—tionem sui sequitur quam trinquillus c. Idem ibid. Idem ibid. The Introduction Motives Every day may be thy last day 2 Motive Gods eye is on thee all the day loâ—g Wherein the exercising our selves to godliness on a week-day consisteth 1 In beginning tâ—e day with God 2 Spend the greatest part of the day in thy particular calling 3 Be watchful all the day 1 Sam. 19. 11. 4 Redeem time 5 Call thy self to account 6 Mind evening duties