my Discourse All that may be said to manifest this truth unto you may be comprehended in those few Lines with which I concluded my former Sermon on this Text True Faith Roots all Feare out of a Christians Heart and turnes all his Expectation into Hope even through the strength of this Perswasion that All things worke together for Good to them that love GOD and also that Himselfe is One of Them I have now Finished the Doctrine I raised from this Text That Faith enables a man to draw Comfort from all the objects of his Thoughts Having shewne you Particularly how the Faithfull take Comfort in all things that concerne themselves from whence as I said in the beginning of my Former Sermon you may easily apprehend how they may also Comfort themselves in the Notice they take of other things as of all those Workes of Providence which they see in the Affaires of the World c. therefore I shall not extend my Discourse to any of them but proceed to application And here I shall speake first to the Faithfull those that have taken CHRIST'S Yoke upon them utterly renouncing the Filthy Conversation of the Wicked those who Mind Earthly things absolutely resolving to Walke with GOD in true Holinesse and Righteousnesse all their dayes And if at any time being Overborne by some sudden and impetuous Temptations as the Best of Christians often are they Fall back into any Uncleannesse not like Swine in the myre to Wallow in it but to Repent and to Cry unto God their Father to help them up to * Purifie their hearts by Faith to wash and Cleanse them by his Spirit in the * Blood of JESUS CHRIST His Sonne Then I shall speake to those that Go on in the Wayes of the Ungodly those that * Regard Iniquity in their Heart those that do not absolutely resolve never to Allow themselves in any One Knowne Sinne Praying continually that God would so strengthen them by his Grace that their Iniquities may not Prevaile against them that if they have been Drunkards they may be Drunke no more if they have beene Wantons they may be Wanton no more if they have been * Desirous of Vaine Glory provoking envying their Brethren they may be such no more if they have delighted themselves in Foolish Talking or Jesting * or that Elaborate Scurrility and Witty malice in which some men of Parts and Learning Exercise their Invention then which what can be more Opposite to The Spirit of meekenesse to the Calme and Sweet Nature of the LAMBE and the DOVE that they may do so no more Briefly to speake in the * Apostles words that Denying ungodlinesse and worldly Lusts they may live soberly righteously and godlily Those that have not taken such a resolution and such I feare are some of you I must reckon amongst the Wicked If therefore any of you are conscious to your selves that you are such as here I have Described Apply to your selves I beseech you for the good of your Immortall Soules what I shall speake in the second place but first as I said but now I shall speake to the Faithfull c. Beloved Brethren You know by Experience the truth I have spoken E're since you took CHRIST'S Yoke upon you have you not found Rest unto your Soules E're since you Bare that Easie yoke since your Hearts stood in * awe of GOD's Word Have you not found your selves most Sweetly and Gently and yet most Powerfully Restrained from Following the Track of your Lusts and Extravagant Affections from Breaking over the Inclosures of a strict and holy Conversation to * Run with the men of the world to the same excesse of Riot In a word have you not found all your Christian thoughts in what Subject soever you have imployed them to Worke Comfort for your soules Surely you have good thoughts are the Beames of the SUN's OF RIGHTEOUSNES which Stream forth continually upon the Hearts of Christians to warm Comfort them and to cherish and to make to Grow the Fruits of the Spirit Well my Brethren hath the Holy one of Israel the Great and Glorious GOD Shewne himselfe so Gratious to you Sinfull Creatures Dust and Ashes wormes and no men as to send his Beloved SON into the World to Dye for you by Faith in whose Blood you Rejoyce in some measure even in this Vale of Teares this miserable life and shall shortly even when a few dayes are past be inhabitants of Heaven see the Face of GOD * In whose presence there is fulnesse of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Well my Brethren hath GOD Dealt so Bountifully with you and will you not love him will you not with all the Powers of your Soule Warre against your Lusts that you may be no more as formerly you have been what ever Temptations befall you Lovers of Pleasures more then Lovers of God I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of GOD by all that Sweetnesse Love and Favour of His towards you that your Soules have ever Tasted That you would This Day Renew your Vowes Resolve afresh To Love the LORD your God with All your Heart That You may no more Judg of Things as the Vulgar doe amongst whom give me leave to reckon most of those that are commonly Accounted Great Scholars or Fine Gentlemen that you may not Esteem any Action Wise Prudent Noble or any way Praise-worthy and becoming a Generous Spirit but what is done To the Glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 in Defiance of the Wicked WORLD And on the other side That you may Account nothing Base Sordid and Degenerous but what is Done in Compliance with your own Lusts or the Vaine Humours of other men contrary to the Commands of that All-Glorious Majesty to whom we Owe Homage for the Air we Breath In Him we Live and move and have our being Acts 17.28 And as for those Absurd Fellowes who own the Name of CHRISTIANS and yet Delight in scorning You and call you Puritanes and I know not what You must be so farre from being Fierce and Raging against Them from thinking of Revenge c. that you must from the heart Pity them as it may be they say they Pity you for your Weaknesse and imprudence as they terme your Wisedome and Spirituall Understanding you must I say heartily Pity such men and Pray for Them as Your Fellow Creatures yea as Your Brethren in ADAM who miserably expose Themselves to the Utmost Danger of Everlasting Destruction Ah Poore Soules What Madnesse and Folly hath possessed Them Doe They say they Believe that there is an HEAVEN and an HELL and yet esteem those for a Ridiculous sort of people Who by what they Write Talke or Do for the most part plainly Discover that their Mind is wholy Bent upon This that They may Enter into the Kingdome of GOD Poore Soules Simple Ones indeed Doe They say They Believe that the
THE QVIET SOULE OR The Peace and Tranquillity OF A CHRISTIANS ESTATE Set Forth in TWO SERMONS BY EDMUND ELYS Master of Arts and Fellow of Baliol-Colledg in OXFORD Qui non appetit hominibus placere nec timet displicere Multa perfruetur pace TH à KEMPIS OXFORD Printed by H. H. for Tho Robinson 1659. To the truly Vertuous and Excellent LADY Mris HESTER NOYE Madam THose deep Discourses which I have so often heard from you upon the Subject of this Small Book gave me the Occasion of Composing it and therefore I thought it my Duty to Dedicate it unto You. In perusing it you may Conceit that these few Good Thoughts of mine returne to You as small brooks and rivulets to the OCEAN from whence they came for seriously Madam I shall ever Acknowledg that one of the best waies I have found out to improve my Vnderstanding in Spirituall Things has been the Contemplation of that truly Noble and Christian Disposition which the Giver of every Good and Perfect Gift has Bestowed on You. Certainly those Vertuous Persons who have the happynesse to be Acquainted with You if they peruse this Discourse will imagine it to be no other then Your CHARACTER Considering what a rare thing that Temper of Mind is which here I Describe I Fancy they would have thought me to have had lōe Acquaintance with You though I had not Prefixt Your Name You Madam are one of those very few in the world who by the strength of true Sanctified Reason are able to Apprehend firmely and constantly these most important Truthes which scape the Notice of the generality of men That the things of the World are in themselves altogether Vanity That GOD is All in All c. The Sun of Righteousnesse thus Shining into Your Soule giving you a Cleare and full demonstration of these Truthes Scatters those Mists and Clouds of False Hopes and Feares Anxious Desires and Foolish Imaginations c. which continually hang over the Soules of those Persons which are by farre the greatest part of the World that are Earthly and Sensuall Shewing you that the only way to Set your heart at rest is to Acquiesce in the Enjoyment of GOD which you have in part here and in the Hopes of the fulnesse and Consummation of it which you shall have in Heaven hereafter If I have put you to a Blush for I know your Nature is such that you still endeavour to Fly the Praises your Actions all for I shall entreat you to consider that by what I have here spoken I did not Principally intend to Praise You but to Glorifie your MAKER for what have you that you have not receiv'd You know what Vse you are to make of being well spoken of To Thanke GOD for the Grace he hath given you and to Pray unto him for more It may be you will wonder to see me in Print again c. contrary to the Advice of so many of my honor'd Friends but seriously Madam to speak freely I have weigh'd all the Reasons that have been or I think can be produc'd to dissvvade me and I find them too light to Over-ballance my Resolution in this Designe vvherein I am sure I can do no man any harme but in all probability shall doe some good in the Service of HIM whose Favour is the only thing I would Absolutely Desire whose Displeasure is the onely thing I would Absolutely Avoid neither shall I ever charge my selfe as Guilty of Indiscretion which is the great Bugbear which some men would Fright me withall from such Vndertakings but when I find that through the Blindnesse of my Understanding or the Violence and Praecipitancy of my Affections I have Fallen into the one or have Missed the other I shall not hold you with any longer discourse Farewell And may the GOD of all Comfort Love and Embrace you and wipe off all Teares from your Eyes may You and I and all those whom we are Bound to Pray for Rest from our Labours from all doubts and feares all trouble and anguish and disturbance of Spirit in the Bosome of the Father through our LORD JESUS CHRIST To the READER Reader MEthinks I heare thee say as I have often heard others upon the like occasion What need more Books on this Subject have not such and such Learned men written on it allready and does this man think himselfe wiser then any of them To this I Answer that I conceive the Use of such Bookes may not onely be to make us Know what wee ought to Doe but to Excite us to Doe according to our Knowledg to beget in the mind of the Reader New Acts of Understanding such truths as he has already Received that if his former Notions being Weake and remisse suddenly broken off by Vaine thoughts and Passions have never had any Powerfull and Effectuall Influence upon his Will to ingage him to a stedfast Resolution and Constancy of Acting according to those Truthes his latter may To speake more closely I suppose thou mayest have read severall Treatises on this Subject which I Treat of in these following Leaves Penn'd it may be by men of more Learning then I shall ever attaine unto though I should Live more Lustres then yet I have seen Years and yet 't is very possible that thou mayest gain more good to thy Soule by these Lines of mine then ever thou did'st by theirs Suspend thy Judgment a little and doe not presently passe thy Censure upon me as Proud and selfe-conceited Two Reasons for this my Opinion others I have which I shall not divulge are these First 'T is very possible that when thou readest this Discourse thy Mind may be more Dispos'd Fitted to receive the matter therein deliver'd then it was when thou didst read the discourses of other men upon the same Subject Secondly Through the whole Course of the Observations I have made according to the time I have had to Exercise my Reason of My selfe and others I have found that Practicall Truthes are more or lesse taking according to the Expressions wherein they are set forth As Persons are esteem'd more or lesse Handsome according to the Dresses they go in I do not here imply that my Expressions are Better then others but that being not the same possibly they may be Better to Thee that is they may be more Suitable to thy Genius temper of Mind so the apter to insinuate into Thee the matter they carry in thē I have nomore to say to thee thē only to advise thee that if thou intendest to peruse this short Discours thou wouldst allow thy self more time for it then the small Bulk thereof may seem to require They that read such Discourses as this loosely cursorily usually misse of the greatest part of the Practicall Sense meaning of the Words which does as it were run beside whilst they endevour toe fast to Poure it into their minds Such kind of writings which are intended for the
he considers how by that GOD hath beene pleas'd to make the WORID Bitter unto him to Heighten his Appetite to Spirituall Delights to make him Long more earnestly to Taste and See the Goodnesse of GOD or to make him Meeke and Humble or some other way to Advance his Soule towards Perfection in Piety and Vertue by the Low Estate of his Outward Man If he have been in Prosperity he considers how by that God hath been pleas'd to Provoke him to Christian Magnanimity and Magnificence to make him Instrumentall for His Glory in some Great and Eminent Acts of Charity or to save him from Despondency and Faintnesse of Spirit and such like Infirmities which He knowes most Incident to men in Adversity Still Sanctifying unto him all * Outward things as Poverty or Riches Honours or Disgraces Health or Sicknesse to the Use of his Soule before Conversion to Put Him out of the way to HELL and after to Bring Him on in the way to HEAVEN And may we not here say with Holy DAVID * Who so is wise and will Observe these things even they shall Understand the Loveing-kindness of the LORD All that can be said in this place may be briefly Summ'd up thus All things worke together for Good to those that Love GOD And the Observation that a CHRISTIAN takes of that Reall Spirituall Good that GOD has Wrought for Him by His Temporall Condition whatever it has been Affords Him infinitely more Comfort and Satisfaction then any man can Declare or Conceive but He that Knowes it by Experience I am now come to the Second Proposition that I intended to Handle in This Discourse A CHRISTIAN takes Comfort in the Sense Apprehension of the Present Condition of His Outward Man whether it be Prosperity or Adversity By Prosperity I Understand that Estate wherein He has the Enjoyment of His Health of abundance of Riches and Great Possessions and is in Honour and Reputation amongst all those with whom He has to doe Adversity is the Want of These Things if we Want All of Them we are Wholly if but some Partly Miserable I speake as to the Outward man That Christians take Comfort in their Prosperous Condition I suppose to be a truth so plaine and obvious that I need not spend much time in the Demonstration of it I shall onely shew you one principall Reason of the Comfort They take in their Outward Enjoyments Health Goods Good Name They look upon them as the meanes of performing in Deed what every true Christian constantly Wills That speciall Duty which Christ enjoynes us Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good Workes and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven This truth will be most evideÌ„t if we coÌ„sider that the body is the Instrument of the Soule That whereby we performe the Outward Operations of all our Faculties whereby we Act before men as Writing or Talking or Performing any other Action whereby we discover to the World what Temper and Disposition we are of Now Health is the Firmenesse and Soundnesse of this Instrument and without it we cannot so well Performe any Outward act of Vertue and if we do enjoy our Health without Riches and Honours There are many Vertues which we cannot so well Discover for instance How can a man shew himselfe Liberall that hath nothing to Give to those that Need How can a man discover his Humility that hath no Honour and Reputation in the World that is so Low already that he cannot shew any Condescention Here then let us Observe that 't is the duty of every Christian to use all means possible in a Right way that are truly Honest to gain such Riches and Honours as he knows himselfe able to Manage And in the pursuit of them never to be deterr'd by any Feare of being accounted Covetâ—â—â— or Proud whilst his owne Conscience tells him that he doth not endeavour after these Outward Things that he may enjoy them but God in them using them to His Glory And now I shall shew you by Gods assistance that a true Faithfull Christian takes Comfort also in his Adversity when ever it pleases God to put him into such a Condition That you may have a more cleare and distinct Notion of this Truth I shall shew you particularly what Comfort and Satisfaction he takes in Poverty Sicknesse Disgrace or the losse of his Reputation All Temporall evils or Afflictions being comprehended under one of these three Heads As for the first the main ground and principle of that Comfort which a Christians Heart is possessed of when he reflects upon his Poverty is the thought of that safety which he enjoyes from those Spirituall Dangers and Perplexities which Rich men are entangled in by reason of those manifold Opportunities to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin and allurements thereunto which the abundance of their Worldly Possessions continually presents unto them You know who said 'T is * easier for a Camell to goe through the eye of a needle theÌ„ for a Rich man to enter into the Kingdome of GOD Here we may observe how the Great Ones of the World deceive themselves in thinking they deserve to be admired and had in such high Esteeme for their | Brave Cloathes Stately Houses Rattling Coaches c. a true Christian that goes in Rags though he gives them that outward respect which is due unto them by the Lawes and Constitution of the Commonwealth wherein he lives in his Heart pitties them and dispises their Worldly Height and Glory as That which in his Baptisme he Vow'd to Forsake to slight and contemne the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World He sees himselfe by the Eye of Faith to be in a Condition infinitely more High and Noble then theirs though those Earthly Creatures Carnall minded Men whose discourse is only of Lands and Livings Dogs and Horses Coaches and Howses Fine Cloathes and Banquets c. are no more able to Discerne it then a Mole to Behold the Sun To conclude this point A Poore man that is truly Gracious whose Heart is Rich towards GOD lookes upon himselfe as one of Those that have an interest in that Blessing which Our Saviour gave his Disciples * Blessed be ye Poor for yours is the Kingdome of GOD And in all those other large Promises which the GOD of Truth hath made to Believers which most commonly the Hearts of Christians Cleave unto so much the more closely by how much the lesse they have of the Good Things of this Life to Allure and Draw off their Thoughts Now my Brethren how such Sweet and Comfortable Words from Our Almighty Father as the Holy Scriptures abound with all being Apply'd by Faith will relieve the heart of any true Christian whil'st he labours under the heaviest sense of Outward Poverty What Comfort I say what Spirituall delight Sweetness a Poore CHRISTIAN Driven into Himselfe by the Stormes without if I may so expresse