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
savour of it So if godliness and the immediate worship of God do first in the morning possess my soul my natural and civil affairs will probably rellish of it Again Mens hearts are generally upon that in the morning which they esteem their happiness and portion The covetous Muck-worm no sooner openeth his eyes but his â—eart is tumbling in his heaps The voluptuous beast no sooner wakes but he is sporting in sensual waters The ambitious Peacock no sooner is able to think but his gay Feathers and gaudy dress for that day come into his mind and why should not my heart send its first thoughts into Heaven Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee The Birds early in the morning salute the rising Sun with their sweet notes and shall not I the Sun of righteousness Further My wants my mercies call for morning duties I walk in the midst of deaths of dangers every day and shall I dare to travail without my defence Men cloath their bodies against the sharpness of the weather and why not their souls against the assaults of the flesh the world and the wicked one There is no safety without this breast-work If Satan take me out of my trenches and strong holds as Joshua did the men of Ai it will be no wonder if he roâ—t and ruine me If I do not bless God in the morning how can I expect that he should bless me in the day Is any earthly Prince so prodigal of his favours as to throw them away upon those that esteem them unworthy to be desired If I do not serve the Precepts of God I am presumptuous to look that his providence should serve meâ— Should I undertake my affairs on earth before I have dispatched my business with heaven I am a notorious Cheat and Theif I am a Theif to God by robbing him of his glory and that natural allegiance which I owe to my Maker I am a Theif to my self in robbing my self of that blessing which I might have on my callings and undertakings O that prayer might be the girdle to compass in the whole body of my natural and civil dealings and concernments And that I could every day of my life forestal the worlds market by setting early about closet and family duties Suitors find it fittest to wait upon and dispatch their business with great persons betimes in the morning Lord freedom of access to thy throne of grace is an unspeakable favour Access is hard to earthly Princes No worldly Court is so open as to admit all comers Those that with much difficulty present their Petitions are often against all reason denyed Thy gates are open night and day all that will may come and be welcome Thou invitest souls to come into thy presence and delightest to hear and grant their prayers Thine eares are more open and ready to hear then their mouths to ask Thou pressest upon many undesired blessings but denyest none who ask not stones instead of bread Importunity never angers thee the more fervent and frequent my soul is with thee the more prevalent Thou fillest the hungry with good things and dost not send any that desire thy grace empty away from thy gate What care I how little notice or knowledge the Nobles of the earth will take of me when I can speak so freely to their better their Soveraign and not fear a repulse O teach me the right art of begging and then I need not be afraid of poverty If I be but skilful to follow that trade my returns will be both â—â—re and large Thy mercies are renewed upon me every morning so are my necessities O let my prayses and prayers be as frequent and early I will bless the Lord at all times his praise â—hall be continually in my mouth O God my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee in a dry and barren Wilderness where no water is My voice shalt thou hear in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up I Wiâ—h that having done with the more immediaâ—e service of my God in Praying and Reading both in my Closet and Family I may proceed to serve him in my Shop and Particular Calling When God saith Man is born to labour I must not sing with the fool Soul take thine ease An idle person is like Caterpillars and Mice that devour Gods creatures and do no good to others It s pity he ever lived the book of whose life is filled up with nothing but Cyphers Nature never intended men to be drones to feed on others labours nor bats to spend their lives in the company of sleep the brother of death My God my soul my family my country do all call upon me to be diligent in that calling whereto he hath called me My God is a pure act himself and hath capacitated all his creatures for action He created all men but never made a sluggard The idle person wholly degenerates from the end of his being and receiveth his faculties in vain The command for civil labour hath the same divine stamp as that for sacred rest I have also his pattern for my encouragement as well as his precept for my warrant Hitherto my father worketh and I work My soul also stands in as much need of exercise as my body Idleness is the door at which diseases enter into both Rust eats up vessels that are laid by and unused The mind is never more bright then when it is in imployment from doing nothing we proceed to do evil Idleness is not onely a vice it self but also hath this unhappiness to usher in all other This is the least advantage of industry that it gives the soul no leasure to play with sin or to entertain the wicked one Standing waters do not sooner putrifie then lazy souls T is action that preserves the â—oul in health As Gâ—ats dance up and down in the Sun and then sit down and sting the next hand they seize upon So they who have no time to work have much to imploy in slandering and backbiting others One sin never goeth alone Again my Family may well rouze me out of the bed of laziness If I expect supply of their wants it must come in with Gods blessing at the door of diligence I am stealing from my wife and children all the while I am loytering The Heavens may cause seed sown to ripen into a joyful Harvest but untilled land will afford no crop save of weeds or stones Once more My Country commands me to my calling I am but an ill member in the body Politique if as a diseased part I take of its nourishment but rather hinder its growth then contribute to its health A jarring string is not more prejudicial to the rarest Viol in the hands of a skilful artist then an idle person to the musick and composure of the universe The most venemous
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
with fear Didst thou receive thy meat as in Gods presence and hadst thou an eye therein at his praise How didst thou behave thy self in thy Particular calling Did it no way incroach upon thy general Was thy conversation in heaven whilst thy dealings were about earth Wast thou diligent in the exercise of it righteous in thy dealings in it depending on God for a blessing on it What was thy carriage in company was thy life holy spotless exemplary profitable to others Mightest thou not in such a place have done thy God more service and thy Brothers soul more good May I not say to thee as God to Jonah Didst thou well to be angry at such a time upon no cause what were thy thoughts in solitude how wast thou imployed Had God any true share in thy thoughts hast thou watched thy self this day and kept thy heart with all diligence Hath none of thy precious time been lavisht away on unnecessary things Answer me faithfully to all these particulars that I may be able to return an answer to him that sent me O that I could but imploy one half hour every day with seriousness and uprightness in such soliloquies Lord thou didst create the world in six days and thou wast pleased to loâ—k back on every days work and behold it was very good and then ensued thy Sabbath Cause thy â—ervant to be a follower of thee as a dear child in minding every day the work thou hast given me to do that I may every night review it with comfort finding it good in thy Christ at the end of all my days looking back upon all my works I may see them very good through the acceptation of thy grace and with joy enter into my eternal Sabbath I Wish that I may end every day with him who is the beginning and first born from the dead That I may every night go to bed as if I were going to my grave knowing that sleep is the shadow of death and when the shadow is so near the substance cannot be far off Though lovers cannot meet all day yet they will make hard shift but they will find an opportunity to meet at night Should my devotion set with the natural Sun I may fear a dreadful night of darkness to follow That bed may well be as uneasie as one stuft with thorns that is not made by prayer If the soul lye down under an heavy load of sin the body can have no true rest Jacob could sleep sweetly upon an hard stone having made his peace with God when Ahashuerus could not though on a bed of down I cannot sleep unless God wake for me and I cannot rationally expect his watchfulness over me unless I request it My corruptions in the day call for contrition in the night How many omissions commissions personal relative sins heart life wickedness am I daily guilty of and â—hould I lye down under their weight for ought I know they may sink me before morning into endless wo. Whilst blood is in my veins sin will be in my soul. The weed of sin may be cut broken pulled up yet it will spring again I shall as soon cease to live as cease to sin Though I should be free all the day long from presumptuous enormities and onely defiled with ordinary humane infirmities yet these if not bewailed are damning The smallest letters are most hurtful to the eyes and far worse then a large Character Those sins which are comparatively little if not lamented are far more dangerous then Davids Murther and Adultery which were repented of When the soul like Thamar hath notwithstanding its utmost endeavours to preserve its chastity been ravished and by force defiled it must with her lift up the voice and weep If the Sun may not go down upon my wrath against man much-less may I presume to lye down under the wrath of God Besides how can sin be mortified if it be not confessed and bewailed Arraignment and Conviction must go before Execution The favours of the day past are not to be forgotten but to be acknowledged with thankefulness I receive every day more considerable mercies then there are moments in the day and when I borrow such large sums the principal of which I am unable ever to satisfie shall I be so unworthy as to deny the payment of this small interest which is all my Creditour requireth Whatsoever gain I have got in my calling whatsoever strength I have received by my food whatsoever comfort I have had in my Relations or Friends whatsoever peace liberty protection I have enjoyed all the day long I must say of all 〈◊〉 Jacob of his Venison The Lord hath brought it to me Surely the hearer of my morning prayers may well be the object of my evening prayses Aâ— how unreasonable is it that I like a whirl-pool should suck in every good thing that comes near me and not so much as acknowledge it Should any one be the thousandth part so much indebted to me as I am to God how ill should I take it if he should not confess it If a Beggar at my door receive a small almes from God by my hands I look for his thanks How often have I complained of the baseness and unworthiness of some that are engaged to me O what tongue can express what heart can conceive how much I am indebted to my God every moment though I am less then the least of all his mercies and doth not all his goodness merit sincere thankefulness Lord I confess there is not a day of my life wherein I do not break thy Laws in thought word and deed Sin is too much the element in which I live and the trade that I drive I find continually a law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and captivating me to the Law of sin and death Ah wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Since I am no day innocent make me every night penitent As my sins abound let my sorrow abound and thy grace much more abound Though I can never requite thy favours help me to admire and bless the fountain of them Suffer me never to go to bed till I have first asked thee my heavenly Father blessing Let the eyes of my soul be always open to thee in prayer and prayse before the eyes of my body be shut And O be thou always pleased so to accept my confessions petitions thanksgivings my person and performances in thy dear son that I may lay me down in peace and sleep because thou Lord makest me to dwell in safety Finally I Wish that every day of my life may be spent as if it were the day of my death and all my time employed in adorning my soul in trimming my lamp and in a serious preparation for eternity Whilst I am living I am dying every moment my sand is running and my Sun is declining I am as Stubble before the Wind and as
ready by him The loving Husband let him come when he will is ever welcom to a faithful Spouse The actual unpreparedness of some holy persons hath caused their Petitions for a longer stay when God seemed to call them hence Psa. 39. 13. As a Nobleman who is a Loyal Subject and affectionately desires his Princes presence and company at his house may wish that it may be deferred when his house is out of repairs till it is in a better order The habitual unpreparedness of sinners I mean their predominant impenitency and unbeleif hath made death cutting to them indeed The Pismire fears not the Winter having laid in her provision against that season but the Graâ—hopper being unprepared is starved therein Let thy whole life be but a preparation for death He that would dye but once I mean escape the second death must dye daily live in a constant expectation of it and preparation for it Pliny calleth a sudden death the greatest fortune of a mans life Iulius Caesar the day before his death in discourse with Marius Lepidus upon that point what was the best end of a mans life preferred that which was sudden and unlookt for which was his fate the next day Augustus his Successor was of the same judgement and desired Mortem celerem insperatem But the Christian findeth by experience that death to be the best which was most expected and prepared for Meditatio mortis vita perfectissima The Meditation of death is the holiest life â—aith the Father Tota vita meditatio mortis discendum est mori The whole life is but a learning to dye saith the Philosopher Wise Princes lay up ten years for one days Battel A wise Christian will lay up every day somewhat for his last day knowing that if he win that combat he is made for ever Invasions or Insurrections like a sudden breach of the Sea carry all before them when pitcht Battels give equal advantage and cause less terror on each side Evils premeditated are often prevented always mitigated the mind gathering reason and strength together wherewith to encounter them But unthought of troubles like fire in the night are most frightful startling the secure sinner from his quiet repose In order to this preparation I shall mention two or three particulars but briefly having spoken to them else-where 1. Keep a clear conscience in thy health Remember that sin is the sting of death therefore be afraid of sin if thou wouldst not be afraid of death T was Nero's answer to Seneca when he advised him to desist his wicked courses that he might please the Gods Verâ—or ego deos cum talia facio Do you think I fear the gods who dare run upon such actions But he who did not dread the Gods found death dreadful to him for the Historian observeth that he cried pittifully like a Child when he was called forth to be killed T is the righteous onely that is bold as a Lion because the rigâ—teous onely hath a conscience sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb and a conscience void of offence towards God and Man When Hilarion was nigh death Depart my soul saith he depart what dost thou fear thou hast served Christ almost seventy years and art thou afraid of death Bernard observeth of Gerrard I beheld him exultantem in morte hominem insultantem morti exulting in death and insulting over death St. Ambrose undauntedly encountred his last enemy saying I have not so lived that I am afraid to live any longer neither do I fear to die because we have a good Lord. The Testimony of a good conscience was the great Apostles comfort in the midst of his trials and troubles 2 Cor. 1. 12. T is guilt which makes us shie of a severe and Holy Gods presence It is no marvail that Alexander the Conqueror was struck almost dead at the sight of Cyrus Tomb that Sigismond when dying should forbid his servants to mention the word Death that Lewis the eleventh should while in health enjoyn his Courtiers not to speak of Death and when sick prohibit the naming it upon pain of death I do not wonder that Saul upon the news of his approaching danger and death falls groveling on the ground and hath no strength left in him nor that Belteshazar upon the tidings of this Serjeants coming to arrest him fell into an Ague Quaking and Shivering so violently that all the wine which he drank so plentifully in his golden Bowles could not chear his heart nor fetch blood into his cheeks The Malefactour may well dread the thoughts much more the approach of an Assize knowing that he is bound over to it and must appear to be arraigned condemned and executed The entry of death may well be forcible upon them whom it ejects out of all their happiness and whole lives have been made up of unholiness T is vice that paints death with such a formidable countenance with a whip and flames in its hand Friend let thy conversation be pious if thou wouldst dye in peace Such as a mans life is usually such is his death An unholy life is ordinarily followed with an unhappy end A filthy Adulterer mentioned by Luther expired in the armes of an Harlot So also Tigillinus Cornelius Gallus Ladislaus King of Naples one of the Popes died in the embraces of strange flesh A great swearer when he came to dye saith Mr. Bolton swore apace and as if he had been already in Hell called upon the standers by to help him with oaths King Henry the second on his death-bed cursed his Sons the day wherein he was born and in that distemper departed the World saith the Historian which himself had so often distempered We read of one who lived well that died ill and of but one in the whole Book of God who lived ill that dyed well A sinner may presume upon peace at death and bespeak in the language of Iehoram to Iehu Is it peace Jehu Is it peace death or as the Elders to Samuel Comest thou peaceably but the Answer will be the same with that of Iehu to him What peace can there be so long as the whordoms of thy Mother Jezabel and her witch-crafts are so many What peace can there be so long as thy lâ—sts and atheism and ignorance and prophaness abound and thy abominations are so many It s no wonder that such persons like Owles are never heard but at night the close of their days and then they screech horribly What shall we call a mocking of God saith a learned person if they do not mock him who think it enough to ask him forgiveness at leasure with the last drawing of a malicious breath these find out a new God make one a leaden one like Lewis the eleventh of France And again Let us not flatter our immortal souls to neglect God all our lives and know that we neglect him trusting upon the peace we think to make at parting for this is no
undergo so strict an examination Well may the time of judgement be called a day for it will declare and manifest the worth of grace and holiness which in the night of this life is not observed Ah who can conceive the value which the vilest wretch on earth will put upon holiness at that day then grace will be grace indeed and godliness will be godliness indeed Then they who mock at Saints for their purity and strictness and look upon Sanctity but as Hypocrisie and the acting of a part to cozen the world with and think it is enough to put God off with a few prayers now and then when their pastimes and lusts will give them leave will call to beleivers as the foolish to the wise Virgins Give us of your oyl for our lamps are gone out then the graceless Princes and Potentates of the world will throw their Crowns and Diadems at the feet of the meanest Christian for a dram of his grace and holiness The Apostle speaking of that day puts the question Where shall the sinner and ungodly appear 1 Pet. 4. 18. Now indeed those that â—coff and deride and scorn at holiness and holy ones may appear before great men in many parts of the world with praise and applause Now they may appear in the Country and be respected of their Drunken Atheistical Brutish Neighbours and probably be the more honoured for their opposition to the Spirit of grace and holiness but then Where will the sinner and ungodly appear Not in Heaven for that is no Stie for Swine no Kennel for Dogs no Gaol for Malefactours no place for such unholy God-provoking persons Into it can in no wise enter that which is defiled or unclean Such a Pallace is not fit for Beasts Snakes and Serpents and Adders are more fit for the bosome and embraces of men then such men for the bosome and embraces of God Heaven cast out wicked Angels and will not take in wicked Men Where shall they then appear Not on Earth for that will be burnt up with fire Their Houses and places must know them no more for ever The earth groaned under their weight whilst it bare them but now is eased of such loads and shall not be pestered with such Plagues again But where shall they appear Not before Christ the Iudge with any comfort for him they have derided buffeted crucified they have rejected his Laws trampled on his blood told him to his face that they will not have him to raign over them But where will they appear Not before the Saints for they have maligned oppressed imprisoned persecuted them as a company of Cheats and Hypocrites O where shall the sinner and ungodly appear 1. Consider The holiness of the Iudge He is the holy Iesus He loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity Psa. 45. What will the ungodly sinner do when he shall be judged by the holy Saviour Who can stand before this holy God 1 Sam. 60. 20. His eyes are like a flame of fire and so he knoweth the most secret works of darkness His Law is very pure and observeth and condemneth the least spots the least defilement and how will unclean ones endure to be judged for their everlasting lives and deaths by such a Law His throne is a white throne and how will the black sinner do to stand before this white throne Reader Thou hadst need to be a faithful and loyal subject if thou wouldst then be owned and acknowledged by thy Soveraign How exact should he be in his life who must be tried by so holy a Law If thou callest him Father who without respect of persons will judge every man according to his works pass the time of thy sojourning here in fear 1 Pet. 1. 17. 2. Consider The strictness of his proceedings Every thought word and action shall be revealed examined and weighed in the ballance of the sanctuary There is nothing hid that shall not be revealed nor secret that shall not be made known The thoughts of thy heart shall then be as visible as the features of thy face When God shall judge the secrets of mens hearts by my Gospel Rom. 2â— 16. All thy words will then be as audible as if thou hadst had a voice to reach every child of Adam both alive and dead Verily I say unto you that of every idle word ye shall give an account at the day of Christ Mat. 12. 36. Every action of thine will then be legible not onely to God as it is at this day but also to Angels and Men We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ to give an account of all things done in the body whether they be good or whether they be evil 2 Cor. 5. 10. All the works of darkness will then be brought to light We must all appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely be present in person and not by a proxy but be laid open and manifest be transparent so the word signifieth to give an account of every thing done c. to render a reason of every individual thought word and deed what was the principle from which we acted what was the rule by which we acted what was the end for which we acted When Benjamins sack was opened the silver cup appeared On that Fair-day all mens packs will be opened and then it will be known what ware they carry about with them Hence some have conjectured that it will not be a short time nor the judgement soon passed over It is called a day but not in relation to our natural or artificial days for Christ judging as man in his humane nature by his divine power will probably employ a far greater time in searching into and publiquely revealing every mans condition and conversation Though I am not of their opinions who say it will be precisely a thousand yearsâ— because it s said A thousand years are in thy sight but as one day Yet I judge it to be taken indefinitely and as Aâ—stin saith That the day of judgement shall begin is certain but when it shall end is uncertain I find two Divines eminent both for grace and learning in their generations speaking One saith I humbly conceive that the day of judgement shall not be passed over in an instant but shall be of long continuance sor if Christ should judge onely as God he could dispatch it in a moment but he judging as man it must be after the manner of men that the creature may understand admire and approve what is done The other saith It must take up some large quantity of time to manifest all the secret sins of men and therefore it may be made evident both from Scripture and reason that the day of Christs kingly office in judging the world shall last happily longer then the day of Christs private administration now in governing the world 3. Consider The weight of the sentence It s called the eternal judgement because the sentence then pronounced shall never be
Conclusion of the Treatise FOurthly Consider the excellency of this Calling As it is said of God in respect of beings Who is like thee O God! Among all the Gods none is to be compared to thee So I may say of godliness in respect of Callings What is like thee O Godliness amongst all callings none is comparable to thee 1. It is the most honourable Calling The Master that thou are bound to is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Fountain of honour and Lord of glory One of whom the greatest Princes and Potentates of the world hold their Crowns and Scepters to whom they must kneel and do their homage One to whom the whole creation is lesse then nothing The work that thou art imployed in is not servile and mean but high and noble the worship of the great God walking and conversing with his blessed Majesty subduing brutish lusts living above this beggarly earth a conversation in heaven a conflict with and conquest over this dreggy flesh and drossy world and powers of hell to which the greatest battels and victories of the most valiant warriours that ever drew the sword are worse then childrens play To conquer our passions is more then to conquer kingdomes Thâ—mistocles is renowned by Cicero for telling some who disparaged him for his ignorance in playing on the Lute That he knew not how to play on the Lute yet he knew how to take a City To subdue one lust is more then to subdue a thousand Cities Thy fellow servants are the elect of God glorious Angels and Saints who are higher then the Kings of the earth Princes in all lands a crown of glory a royal diadem a chosen generation the excellent of the earth vessels of Gold the Children of the most high of whom the world is not worthy The Priviledges of this calling and company are eminent Adoption remission growth in grace divine love perseverance â—n holiness an eternal kingdom are all contained in the Charter granted to thiâ— Corporation The covenant of grace that hive of sweetness that mine of gold that cabinet of jewels to which all the world is but an heap of dust is their part and portion and contains more in iâ— for their comfort then heaven and earth is able to contain To serve God is one of the fairest flowers in the Saints garland of honour hence the Lords kinsman glorieth in being the Lords servant and the Lords Mother calleth her self his handmaid Iude ver 1. Luk. 1. 38. If the meanest offices about earthly Princes are esteemed honourable what an honour is it to wait on the King of heaven The Saints duty is their preferment and that service which is commanded them a priviledge The great Apostle boasteth of his Chain for God as his glory and credit and holdeth it up as a mark and badge of honour For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain Act. 28. 20. and begins one of his Epistles with this honourary Title Paul a prisoner of Iesus Christ Philem. 1. It is not earthly riches that make a man honourable we mistake in calling and counting rich men the best men in the Parish Riches without godliness are but a gold ring in a swines snout for which the brute is nothing the better It is not aiery applause or worldly preferments that will make a man honourable Titles are but like feathers in the hat or glistering scarfes under the armes which adde not the least worth to the man that wears them A great letter makes no more to the sense of the word then a small one Worship Honourâ— Grace Highness Majesty make nothing to the real intrinsick value of any person The ungodly Monarchs of the world are but beasts in Gods account Antiâ—chus Epiphanes whose name signifieth Illustrious whom the Samaritans stiled the Mighty God is called by the Holy Ghost because of his ungodliness a vile person Dan. 11. 21. In his days shall stand up a vile person All honour without holiness is fading as well as fancied rather then real External nobility though it glister in the face of the world is but as Seneca saith vitrea brittle as glass and compounded of earth The Potentates of the world are often like Tennis-balls tossed up on high to fall down low Hence some of the wiser Heathen have called them Ludibria fortunae the scorn of fortune Haman honoured one day the next day hanged Gelimer the Puissant Prince of the Vandals Bellisarius Charles the fifth and Henry the fourth Emperours and many others experienced the brittleness of worldly glory But that honour which is from above is true and eternal Plutarch tells us the Roman nobles as a badge of their nobility wore the picture of the Moon upon their shoes signifying as their nobility did increase so it would decrease All priviledges all prerogatives all titles all dignities without godliness are vanishing shadows T is the new creation that rendreth the children of Abraham like the glorious stars in heaven The world looks on the Saint possibly he is poor and mean in the world as the Jews lookt on Christ As a root out of a dry ground and so saw no form nor comliness in him but they who could pierce into the inside of Christ could see that in him dwelt thee fullness of the godhead bodily and they who can see into the inside of Christians behold the Kings daughter all glorious within As the precious stone Sandastra hath nothing in outward appearance but that which seemeth black bâ—t being broken poureth forth beams like the Sun So the Church of Christ is outwardly black with affliction but inwardly more bright and glorious then the Sun with thriving vertues and celestial graces The power of godliness in a mean Christian is a rich treasure in a mean Cabinet but vice in robes in scarlet is poison in wine the more deadly and dangerous Tamberlain tomb was rifled by the Turks and his bones worn by them for Iewels though their enemy and one that had conquered them in divers combates and captivated their Emperour and carried him up and down in an Iron Cage for his foot-stool God makes his people honourable in the eyes of the wicked Since thou wast precious in my sight thou art honourable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life The sons of them that afflicted thee shall bow before thee and thine enemies shall lick the dust Isa. 43. 4. A wicked King Iohoram honoreth and waiteth on a Servant of God Elisha Herod reverenceth the Baptist. Grace is a powerful though silent Oratour to perswade all that see it to love and honour it What Diogenes spake of learning is truly applicable to grace or the knowledge of God in Christ It makes young men sober old men happy poor men rich and rich men honourable When Agesilaus was ready to dye he charged his friends that they should not make any picture or statue of him for saith he If I
his duty and leaves all to his father who knoweth what he hath need of But the Covâ—tous who like the barren womb hath never enongh pines with fear of want can neither eat nor drink nor sleep quietly lest he should lose what he hath or not have sufficient to hold out nay he will not allow himself convenient food or raiment though he have never so much but like a beast feeds on thistles when he hath all sorts of provision upon his back Temperance hath health and strength with it and thereby renders the other comforts of this life savoury and comfortable so also Chastity But â—luttony and Drunkenness and Whoredom bring weakness and sickness on mens bodies and imbitter all other blessings besides the fear of being discovered to the shame and disgrace of the Authors which tormenteth not a little There is comfort in dealing honestly and righteously but if a man will cheat and cozen and filtch and steal no wonder if he tire his head with plots and projects â—o carry it on cunningly and secretly and terrifie his heart with apprehention that it will be known and then he shall be branded for a knave or suffer the penalty of law in a more severe degree The sinner is hurried hither and thither by his opposite Lords and contrary lusts and torn piecemeal by them as a man by beasts which draw the parts of his body contrary ways The Commands of sin are harsh and heavy No Tyrant ever put his subjects upon more crabbed painful work But the Commandments of God are not grievous 1 Joh. 4. 3. Sin is sâ—avery and its servants worse then those that row in Turkish Gallies but Gods law is a law of liberty and they walk at liberty who seek his precepts The ways of sinners are called crooked ways rugged ways which are unpleasant to travail in but the ways of God are called strait ways plain paths which are delightful to passengers I am confident the true Christian hath more true pleasure in suffering for Christ or one act of mortification or victory over one lust then the highest earthly Potentate hath in his largest dominions in the multitude of his subjects in the richness of his kingdoms and in all the honour that is done him or good things enjoyed by him all his days 3. It is the most profitable Calling Reader this argument is Achilleum or instar omnium the strongest argument and instead of all with most men gain is the great God of this world that commandeth all their heads and hearts and hands to whom they bow down the knees both of their bodies and souls The theif murderer are quickened by this to their hellish trade Come let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause We shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil Prov. 1. 9 10. The Sechemites upon this ground will endure the pain of Circumcision and throw up their former religion Shall not their beasts and their cattel and their substance be ours The Soul for this will scale the Walls and leap upon the Pikes and run upon the Mouth of the Cannon The Husband-man for this will rise early go to bed late eat the bread of carefullness toyl and moyl all day and make a drudge a slave a pack-horse of himself all the year The Merchant for this will plough the Ocean dance upon the surging billows suffer many dangers and deaths through his whole voyage The Shop-keeper for this will croud into any hole of the City break his sleep waste his health run about hither and thither early and late Gehezi Achan Iudas Balaam for this will venture their bodies their souls any things all things Profit is such a bait that all will bite at The Devil that Arch Politician who hath had so many thousand years experience besides his extraordinary natural knowledge could not judge any Topicks more likely then this to take with our blessed Saviour All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me The gods themselves were said by the Athenians to be corrupted with Philips gold that their Oracles still were in favour of him Money is the absolute Monarch which can put men upon the most dangerous defignes Therefore Cassius surnamed the Severe one of the wisest of the Roman Judges in all doubtful Causes that came before him would demand Cui bono Who gained or had the profit well knowing that that is the bias which turneth men aside to wrong others and the heady wanton horse which breaks through the fence to trespass upon neighbours Now Reader If profit will prevail with thee Godliness with contentment is great gain All the gold of the world is dross all the diamonds of the world are dirt all the gaines of the world are loss to this gain of Godliness Egypt watered by Nilus hath four rich harvests say some in less then four months Solinus saith the Egyptian fig tree beareth fruit seven times in a year Godliness brings forth 30 60. 100. fold increase It giveth an hundreth fold in this world and in the world to come life everlasting After ye had your fruits unto holiness in the end everlasting life Mat. 19. 29. Rom. 6. 22. Did the sinner but believe Scripture that speaks the infinite reward of holiness he would quickly set up this trade Pinder the Poet saith in regard of the fertility of Rhodia and the wealth of the inhabitants that it rained gold in that country The fruit of wisdom is better then silver and the gain thereof then fine gold She is more precious then Rubies and all thou canst desire is not to be compared to her Prov. 3. 14 15. Lucian fancieth all the Heathen gods and goddesses sitting in Parliament and each making choice of that tree which best pleased them Iupiter chose the Oak for its strength Apollo the Baytree for its greeness Neptune chose the Poplar for its length Iuno chose the Eglantine for its sweetness Venus chose the Myrtle-tree for its beauty Minerva sitting by demanded of her Father Iupiter why since there were so many fruitful trees they all had chosen barren ones He answered Ne videanâ—ur fructu honorem vendere Lest they should seem to sell honour for fruit Minerva replied Well Do what you please I for my part make choice of the Olive for its fatness and fruitfulness They all commended her choice and were ashamed of their own Folly This fiction doth fitly represent the foolishness of men at this day in chusing the honours and preferments and glory of the world which are barren and unfruitful things of no wâ—rth in the other world before that honour which is from God and the eternal weight of glory and also the convictions of their consciences another day which will force them to be ashamed of their own folly and to commend the choice of a Christian for preferring grace and godliness which will stand him in stead in an hour of
thou know how powerful an enemy how intolerable his anger is what a Lion gâ—eedy of his prey what a consuming fire he is to them that do his work by halfes and negligently didst thou know him as the saved in heaven know him to be an hive of sweetness a river of pleasure or as the damned in hell know him to be a sea of wormwood meeting thee as a Bear robbed of her whelps O what wouldst thou then think of making religion thy business speak Friend in thy conscience wouldst thou then live without him in the world and leave him out as one unconcerned in the several passages of thy conversation Wouldst thou then put him off with the skin and shell and carkasse of religion as if he were an Idol and had eyes and saw not and ears and heard not instead of an hearty dedication of thy self and all thou hast to his service Wouldst thou then eat or drink or buy or sell or do any thing without asking his leave and begging his blessing and observing the rules and commands which he hath prescribed thee Or wouldst thou not rather do all things as in his presence according to his precepts and as may be most for his praise believing that he is not a God to be dallied with 3. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which is the end of thy being and preservation and of all the mercies that thou enjoyest and of all the cost and charge which the Great God is night and day at with thee For what end dost thou think the Great and Glorious God formed thy body so couriously in the womb and animated it with an heaven-born soul but that thou mightst be made capable of admiring his excellencies adoring his perfections and obeying his precepts Canst thou be so foolish as to think that he created thee to despise his dominion and break his laws and dishonour his name and walk contrary to him in thy conversation Wherefore dost thou imagine God doth preserve thee in thy being afford thee health and strength and sleep and food and raiment and friends and respect and protect thee in thy outgoings and incomings and defend thee from invisible enemies who are continually waiting to destroy thee and have power enough to drag thee into hell every moment bâ—t are onely restrained by his almighty arm but that thou mightest by these streams be led upward to the fountain imploy these talents as a faithfull Steward for the honour of thy Master and by these gifts tokens of his love be perswaded to own and acknowledge the giver Canst thou bâ— so sottish as to think that he bestoweth these favours upon thee that thou shouldst walk after the flesh and embrace the present world or to strengthen thee in thy treasons and rebellions against him To what purpose dost thou imagine he bestoweth on thee his Gospel his Ministers his Sabbaths his Ordinances many golden seasons of grace but to help and enable thee to draw nigh to him to seek out after him to desire him and delight in him as thy onely happiness and heaven Surely thou canst not be so brutish as to conceive that he giveth thee all this as women give babies to children to play and toy with or as the Dutch are reported to have sent powder and shot for money to the Spaniards to fight against him with Doth not the Husbandman who takes care by dunging and ploughing and sowing and harrowing to manuâ—e his ground expect that it will bring forth the greater crop and so recompence his cost that the profit which he shall receive by it at harvest will answer all his pains When a Father is at a great charge in the nurture and education of his child providing him Tutors or sending him first to some considerable Schools for a good while next to the University then to the Inns of Court is it not his â—rdâ— that his Son may be an honour to him continâ—â— his name with credit and be a prop and suppoâ—â— to his family And canst thou think that the only wise God to whom all Men are absolute and Angels comparative fools is at such infinite cost and charge with thee upon any other account then that thou mayst be serviceable to his interest advance his kingdom and make his praise glorious by a pious gracious and exemplary conversation and by making his service thy business 4. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which is the elevation and advancement and perfection of thine heaven-born immortal soul The advancement and restauration of a Prince and one nobly born to his kingdom and birth-right is much more deserving our care and pains and treasure and blood then the exaltation of a beggar from the dunghil The soul of man is royally descended begotten of God holiness is its restauration to its original glory and primitive perfection which it lost by the fall and therefore is worthy of all our cost and care and study and labour Thy soul Reader is of unconceivable value and excellency 1. As it is immediately created by God without any pre-existing matter 2. As it is of an immaterial and spiritual nature 3. As it is capable of the image and life and love and fruition of God himself 4. As it is immortal and of eternal duration though years and ages and generations and time have an end the soul hath no end 5. As it is the bottom in which the body and its everlasting good is embarqued 6. As it is the standard and measure of all our outward excellencies as friends and health and food and life and riches and honour and ministers and ordinances are more or less worth as they are more or less serviceable to the soul. Now grace and godliness is the honour and elevation and excellency of the soul it is soul-beauty Cant. 4. 1. it is soul-wisdom Prov. 4. 7. it is soul-riches Luk. 12. 21. it is soul-glory soul-comfort soul-food soul-raiment soul rest O how worthy is that form which animates and elevates the soul of man as its subject and matter He that addeth honour to a puissant King must be high and honouraâ—le indeed That which is the form of our form and the soul of our soul that exalteth and honoureth so noble a piece must needs deserve to be our only business 5. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which was the great design and end of the blessed Redeemers birth life death burial ascension and intercession No man unless worse then distracted can possibly conceive that the glorious God whose wisdom is unsearchable and love to his Son unquestionable would send his onely begotten Son out of his bosome or that Christ in whom were all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge would give himself to be born so meanly to live so poorly to die so painfully to be disgraced reviled buffetted scourged crucified for any thing that was not superlatively eminent and deserved to be the main work and business of every
man in this world The greatness of the price the blood of God doth to every rational understanding fully speak the preciousness of the pearl Now how clear and plain is it in the word of truth that the Redeemer gave himself to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of goodworks Tit. 2. 14. That being delivered out of the hands of our enemies we might serve him in holiness and righteousness all our days Surely Reader that which the Son of God who thought it no robbery to be equal with God thought worthy the taking on himself the form of a servant and the suffering the spite and malice of men the wrath and rage of devils and the frowns and fury of his father to purchase for thee doth deserve to be minded and regarded by thee as thee onely thing thou followest after and setst thy self about during thy pilgrimage Alas All the pains and labour and watching and working and time and strength and lives of all the men in the world are not equivalent to one drop of the blood of Christ or the least degree of his humiliation and wilt thou deny to make that thy business for which he shed so much blood and laid down his life 6. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which is the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost and for which the Spirit is infused into the hearts of men The worth of the Father doth speak the desert of the Child Though men who pretend to honour the Father for his work of Creation and to admire the Son for his work of Redemption blasphemously deride and wretchly slight sanctification which is the work of the Spirit yet undoubtedly the work of the Spirit is no whit inferiour to either nay is the beauty and glory both of Creation and Redemption as being the end and perfection of both The Father created the world in order to the new creation by the Spirit as that choice work man ship which he resolved should bring him in the largest revenue of praise and honour T is the new heavens wherein dwelleth righteousness that doth most declare the glory of God and the Firmament of sparkling graces that sheweth forth his most choice and curious handi-work Sanctification is the travel of the Sons soul a spiritual sacred life the great end of his death The Son redeemed man from slavery to sin and Satan and unto the service of righteousness by layino down the price thereof his own most precious blood One of the Sons main works was to purchase the re-impression of Gods Image on man the actual performance of which is the peculiar office of the Spirit hence he tells us Ioh. 14. I go away that the comforter may come and again Ioh. 6. The Spirit was not yet given i. e. so plentifully and universally because Iesus was not yet glorified And therefore we read that in few days after his ascension to acquaint us what was one main end and fruit of his death and suffering he powreth down the holy Ghost in an extraordinary manner and measure So that Creation the work of the Father doth as it were provide the matter the wax Redemption the work of the Son buyeth the Image of God the Seal and Sanctification the work of the Spirit stampeth it on the soul. Now Reader doth not the Sanctification of the Soul deserve to be thy main business when it is the curious work of the holy Spirit as that which the Fathers eye was chiafly on in thy Creation and the Sons in thy Redemption Is not that worthy to be made thy business which addeth a real worth to every thing and without which nothing is of worth or value Every one will grant that what is so richly excellent as to ennoble and add an intrinsick value to whatsoever it is affixed and the lack of which maketh every thing be they in other respects never so precious low and mean must needs deserve to be our business Truely Friend such is holiness it makes the word of God a precious word more to be embraced then gold yea then much fine gold The Ordinances of God precious Ordinances the people of God a precious people the excellent of the earth What is the reason that some in the account of him who is best able to judge though they be never so rich or beautiful or high and honourable in the world are called Dross Chaff Stubble Dust Filth Vessels of dishonour and counted Dogs Swine Vermine Serpents Cockatrices but want of holiness What is the reason that some though poor and despised and mean and houseless and friendless are esteemed by him who can best discern true worth The glory of the World the glory of Christ a Royal Diadem a Royal Priesthood higher then the Kings of the earth more excellent then their Neighbours Princes in all lands such of whom the world is not worthy but because they are godly persons an holy people Why are some Angels advanced to the highest Heavens waiting always in the presence of the King of Kings honoured to be his Ministers and Deputies in the Government of this lower world when other Angels are thrown down into the lowest Hell for ever banished the Celestial Court and bound in chains of darkness as prisoners to the day of execution but holiness in the former and want of it in the latter 8. Is not that worthy to be made thy business which will and can refresh and revive thee in an hour of death and enable thee to sing and triumph at the approach of the King of terrors The Master of Moral Philosophy tells us that its worth the while for a man to be all the time he lives learning how to dye well The unerring spirit of God acquaints us that it ought to be our great work to be wise for our latter end Doubtless it must be a rich costly cordial indeed and deserves not a little time and pains and charge to prepare which can keep a man from fainting in such a day of extremity wherein our honours and treasures friends wives children nay our flesh and hearts will fail and forsake us That cannot be of mean worth which can make a man encounter his last enemy with courage and conquest at the sight of which Kings and Captains and Nobles and the greatest Warriers have trembled as leaves with the wind and their hearts melted as grease before the fire Now Reader Godliness is that wine which will cause thee to sing at the approach of this Goliah and enable thee as Leviathan to laugh at the shaking of his spear when whole hosts of others without Godliness flie like Cowards before it and would give all they are worth to avoid fighting with it Heark what a challenge the godly sends to this adversary daring it to meet him in the field O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the
and stranger in this earth may joyn my self not with the natives the men of the World whose portion is in this life by whose company I am sure to contract either guilt or greif but with my fellow sojourners who are travailing with me towards the same Heaven Though I love the wicked with a love of pity I would love onely the Saints with a love of delight Let my choice be of them now with whom I would choose to be for ever O let me joyn with those on earth and that in discoursing of thy gracious word and glorious works with whom I hope to joyn in Heaven in admiring thy boundless perfections and giving thee everlasting praise Lord if there be such comfort in thy chosen and their voices be so lovely and their faces so comely here below in the estate of their minority when they are black with the worlds calumnies and cruelties and besmeared with their own corruptions what delight will there be in them above when they shall come to their full age be parted from all their defilements and be perfectly adorned with thine Image How lovely will their voices be when they shall joyn with thy Celestial quire in singing HallelUjahs and in running division on thine infinite attributes and excellencies How comely will their faces be when they shall be freed from all the freckles and spots of sin and so see thee as to be fully like thee O if grace in its infancy be so ravishing what will it be in its maturity If the morning of holiness be so glorious how glorious will it be in its noon-day lustre Lord if my soul rejoyce so much in thy Saints who shine onely as stars in their several Orbes with a borrowed light what joy may I have in thy self the true Sun O cause thy servant so to glorifie thee in my choice of Companions and in my carriage in all Companies that I may come at last to enjoy immediate communion with thy beautiful Saints and thy blessed Majesty World without end Amen CHAP. III. How a Christian may exercise himself to Godliness in evil Company HAving spoken to the Choice of Companions I proceed Reader to thy Carriage in Company and first in evil Company Though evil men are not to be the object of a Christians choice or delight yet he must sometimes fall into their Company or go out of the world 1 Cor. 5. 10. Our Relations or Vocations or Offices of Charity which we owe to the worst of men will command our presence now and then amongst them Civil commerce with them is lawfâ—l though intimate communion be sinful It s certain the less we have of their society the more of safety but because civility and our necessities require us sometimes to be with them Christianity must help us as a glass-window to let in the light and keep out the rain to get what good we may and to prevent the hurt they intend God in the first creation separated the light from the darkness and so must the godly man amongst wicked persons Swine will be cleanly in a fair Meadow Sinners civil sometimeâ— in the society of Saints but Christians must keep their garments unspotted when they walk in dirty places and amongst defiled persons Godliness will be thy best armour to ward off those blows and hinder those wounds which those sons of violence and villany would cause in thee A wise Physitian whatsoever diseased Patients he goeth amongst will take some preservative but if he be to go into a Pest-house an Antidote It will be a sign of an excellent complexion if thou canst walk as occasion is in the Sun and not be tanned The Romans had a Law that every one where ever he went should wear a badge of his profession or trade either on his garment or in his hat that he might be known Christianity must be owned in every company as that which is our great and worthy calling The Nobleman carrieth his Garter or George with him in all places because he esteems them his gâ—ory and honour and if he be of the blood royal he desireth that all may take notice of it O what an honour and happiness is it to be a Christian to be related to Iesus Christ and how willing shouldst thou be to own and acknowledge it as the badge of thine honour amongst all personsâ— He is a base servant that is ashamed of his Lords livery It s said of the Teal a certain wild Beast iâ— AEthiopia that he hath two hornes of a Cubit long which he moveth as he pleaseth either both forward to offend his enemy or both backward to defend himself or one forward and the other backward to both uses at once A Christian in evil company should be as wise as a Serpent that he do not bring himself into suffering but yet as innocent as a Dove that others do not draw him to sin Walk as prudently as thou canst onely walk piously Use as much caution as thou wilt but be sure thou keepest a good conscience The Apostle gives a special precept for our pious carriage in such Company Walk wisely towards them that are without Col. 4. 5. In which words the qualification of the act and the specification of the subject are considerable 1. The qualification of the act walk wisely that is graciously Grace is Wisdom To fear God is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding He who walketh in the Law of the Lord and according to the rule of the word is the wise walker Job 28. 28. Psa. 119. 1. Gal. 16. 16. Whatsoever our company be we must walk by precept not by pattern He may be a good Courtier but he is a bad Christian that alters and orders his carriage according to his company If like Musicians we play no lessons but what the company calls for and what pleaseth them our musick will be harsh and jarring in Gods ears If I please men saith Paul I am not the servant of Christ Gal. 1. 10. He walks foolishly that to please a few weak dying Men displeaseth the jealous and Almighty God He walks wisely who will be sure who ever be offended to please him upon whose favour his life and all his comforts depend 2. The specification of the Subject towards them that are without Wicked men are said to be without 1. Because they are visibly without the Church scandalous sinners proclaim to the world that they are not so much as visible members of Christ. What have I to do to judge them that are without Do not ye judge them that are within but them that are without God judgeth 1 Corinth 5. 12 13. 2. Because they are really without God and Christ God may be in their mouths and they may call him Father but he is far from their hearts and will never own them foâ— his Children That at that time ye were without Christ and with out God in the world Ephes. 2. 12. 3. Because they shall go
will suffer then not to publish what thou art is a sin The light of Religion ought not to be carried in a Dark Lanthorn and to be shewn onely when thy own interest will permit and at other times to be hid Christ tells us Whoâ—oever shall deny me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven Mat. 10. 33. Not to confess Christ openly when thou art called to it is to deny him And expect the same measure from Christ in the other world which thou givest to him in this How justly will he be disowned for a servant hereafter that was ashamed to own so Noble a Master here And how dreadful will his condition be whom Christ shall deny before his Father All thy happiness depends upon his confessing thee If he disclaim thee Divels will lay claim to thee and theirs thou shalt be for ever It concerns thee therefore to confess Christ how dear soever it may cost and to own Religion in all companies for thou mayst truly say what an honest man did being occasionally in a Pyrates Ship when t was searcht and the Pyrates cryed out Wo be to us if we be known he said Wo be to me if I be not known There are a sort of men that like Mercury the Good-fellow Planet are according to their company good if with the good bad if in conjunction with bad but the true Christian hath not so learned Christ. He who like the Mariner changeth his course upon the change of the weather is but an unsound Professour We read of some that feared the Lord and served graven Images 2 King 17. 41. They divided themselves between the true God and Idols As the Jewish Children which spake half Hebrew and half in the language of Ashdod Nehem. 13. 24. and as some Gentlemen that speak Italian when they are amongst Italians French amongst French men and order their language answerable to their associates So some that would be called Christians change themselves both for words and deeds into the nature of their Companions Amongst the godly they own God but amongst the wicked they deny him They alter their colour as the Sole say Naturalists according to that which is nearest and expose the Name of God rather then their own to contempt Beza saith of Baldwinus that he had Religionem ephemeram A Religion for every day Some men have a deportment sutable to all with whom they converse resembling such as are sinful and dissembling with them that are holy These are either ashamed or afraid of Christ both which are unreasonable 1. Some will not own him out of shame though he be the glory of his people Israel The Paint of women in some Countries is the Dung of the Crocodile and their sweet powder the excrement of a Cat yet people can esteem these their honour The Drunkard can boast of his strength to drink The cunning Cheat of his deceitful doings And alas many Christians are ashamed of Christ. O how unworthy is it that wicked men should glory in their shame and good men be ashamed of their glory that the scum of Hell should be prided in and the Soveraign of Heaven be esteemed a disgrace that some should with brows of brass boast of the ugly Monster begotten of Satan and others not dare to own the fairest of ten thousands and the onely begotten of the Father It s reported of Aristotles Daughter that being asked what colour was best she should answer the blush colour Diogenes was wont to say that Blushing was the colour of vertue How ever this colour may be commendable on other occasions its abominable in the cause of Christ David saith I will speak of thy judgements before Kings and will not be ashamed Psa. 119. 46. Neither the greatness of their power nor the brightness of their splendour shall make me bashful and ashamed to own thee Shame doth excellently become sin but it s wholly unbecoming the blessed Saviour Rom. 6. 21. Mark 8. 38. 2. Some will not own Christ out of fear As an Owl peeps at the Sun out of a Bâ—rn but dares not come near it So some peep at the Sun of righteousness but stand aloof as if they were more afraid to be nigh God then the Devil This made Peter deny his Master How daunted have many been to look danger in the face He who had sometimes courage enough to take a Lion by the beard lost his colour and changed his behaviour before wicked Achish Slavish fear is a great foe to Godliness The Great Philosopher gives this reason why the Camelion changeth colour so frequently he being a fearful creature swelleth by drawing in the air hereby his skin is pent in and made smooth and more apt to receive the colour of those objects that are next him They who are fearful of suffering will easily if their company require it change their colour and disown their Saviour Timerous creatures will run into any unclean places for shelter when a magnanimous spirit in a good cause will defie death it self He who fears his skin is no friend to his soul but will defile the latter to defend the former Fear surprising the heart takes it away and makes the Christian weak and then 't is no wonder if the smallest blow conquer him and like a Reed he bend with the least blast of wind but how unreasonable is it that any should be afraid to own the blessed Saviour when in sticking close to him is their only safety Nothing can hurt thee but sin t is that alone which exposeth thee to injuries and miseries if thou fearest that thou needest fear nothing else What a foolish bargain dost thou make by denying Christ to make wicked and weak men thy seeming friends and the jealous God thy real enemy Is not he distracted who to avoid the scratch of a pin layeth himself open to the shatering of a Cannon And art thou not worse if to avoid the fury of poor Mortals thou incurrest the wrath of the Almighty Remember that the fearful are the first in the black list for the eternal fire Rev. 21. 8. and do not play the Coward as Furius Fulvius to sound a retreat when thou shouldst as a man of courage sound an Alarm The Mulberry tree is esteemed the wisest of all Trees because it onely bringeth forth its leaves after the cold frosts be past but in Christianity he is a fool who dares not profess himself a Christian till dangers be over St. Austin in his Confessions relates a story of one Victorinus who being converted because he had many great friends that were Heathens durst not own Christ publiquely but went to Simplicianus and whispered him in the ear I am a Christian but Simplicianus answered him Vix credo nec deputabo te inter Christianos c. I do not beleive it nor will count thee a Christian till I see thee profess it openly Victorinus at first derided this answer but afterwards considering the
good Companions will advise and direct my feet in the ways of peace If I fit in darkness and see no light by their counsel and comfort I may learn the way out of the mist. If I am perplexed in any labyrinths they may help me to unty that knot of which I have been labouring long in vâ—in to find an end If I be falling they will be props to support me if I wander they will be guides to reduce me if I be dull they will be whet-stones to quicken me if I do well they will be fathers to encourage me whatever my want be they will endeavour to supply me and whatever my condition be they will be like-minded both weeping with me in my sorrows and rejoycing with me in my joys Besides if I expect the presence of my God who is rich in mercy and the God of all consolations where can I find him sooner then in his Temple they are the Temple of God and I will dwell in them His Saints on Earth are his lesser Heaven wherein he takes up his abode O my soul what an Argument is here to perswade thee to fellowship with the Saints Theirs is the onely good fellowship Their Communion is a Conjunction in the service of thy God and tendeth abundantly to thy spiritual advantage and edification Thy Redeemer calls them the light of the world and they will guide thee in the way which he hath cast up The salt of the earth and they will preserve thee from corruption Their conversations are living Commentaries upon that word which is thy rule and so will both plainly teach thee thy duty and powerfully provoke thee to do it Their expressions will by savoury and help thee to learn the language of Canaan The tongue of the just is a tree of life and beareth excellent fruit The lips of the righteous feed many Besides amongst these Children thou mayst be sure to meet with the everlasting Father Where two or three are gathered together in my name I will be in the midst of them Though but two or three that the wicked despise them for their paucity though two or three never so low and mean that the world scorns them for their poverty yet if gathered together in his name they shall not fail of his presence Surely nothing will prevail more with a faithful Spouse to joyn with any company then this She shall meet with her beloved Husband amongst them O of what great price is this one promise I will be in the midst of them His presence like the nearer approaches of the Sun in the Spring will refresh their hearts with the warm beams of his love when they are chill and almost dead with the cold of frights and fears and cause in their souls a new shooting of grace that notwithstanding any foregoing winter of barrenness they shall now abound in the fruits of righteousness What can they or thou O my soul want which his presence will not supply Art thou laden with sin he can give thee rest art thou full of sorrows he is the conâ—olation of Israel art thou poor in grace with him is durable riches and righteousness art thou dull and dead in spirituals he is the Lord of life and can quicken thee He hath power enough to subdue all thy lusts he hath wisdom enough to resolve all thy doubts he hath grace enough to pity all thy weaknesses and mercy enough to pardon all thy unworthiness He is able to save to the uttermost Nay thou hast not only his Promise to meet thee in his Garden amongst his people but thou hast also his Performance of it for thine encouragement Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them Peace be unto you And when he had so said he shewd unto them his hands and his side then were the Disciples glad when they had seen the Lord Then said Iesus unto them again Peace be unto you As my Father hath sent me so send I you And he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost O the value of those Jewels which are lockt up in this Cabinet All the Crowns and Scepters of the world had they been thrown in amongst the Disciples could not have caused the thousandth part of that comfort nor have brought any degree of that profit which the Disciples had by the presence of the holy Jesus Consider his words Peace be unto you peace be unto you Never did sweeter words or more melodious musick ever sound in humane ears What tidings could be more welcom to them that had known the terrors of an angry God and felt the curses of his righteous Law Didst thou never see a poor debtor arrested by severe Serjeants and hailed to the Goal in which nasty miserable place he was like to continue whilst he lived with wringing of hands and watering of cheeks and doleful screeches and afterwards upon the payment of his debts by some loving Surety with what clapping of hands and gladness of heart he was enlarged If so thou hadst some poor resemblâ—nce of that exuberancy of joy which the Disciples felt when they saw the Lord and heard those blessed words Peace be unto you They were all liable every moment to the arrest of divine justice for those vast sums which they owed to the Holy and Jealous God and in continual danger to be hurried by Divels his Officers to the Prison of Hell whence they could never have come out Now his appearance to them did evidence that the Law was satisfied that all their debts were discharged in that the Surety who took upon him the payment of them was by order of the Iudge released What news could find more acceptance with those that dreaded the fury of the Lord more then death and esteemed his favour far before life then that which did speak him reconciled to them And farther observe the work of the blessed Redeemer And he breathed on them Receive ye the Holy Ghost As if he had said I know your unbeleiving hearts will think the news of a reconciled God and of peace with him too good to be true behold therefore his love-token Receive the earnest of his favour his holy Spirit who knoweth his mind fully and was at the Council-Table of Heaven when all your names were engrost in the book of life and all the methods of grace and good-will towards poor sinners were debated and concluded and is sent to you on purpose to reveal them to you and assure you of them and therefore is an unquestionable evidence that he is at one with you This O my soul was the blessed Heavenly Banquet which the Redeemer entertained his Disciples with when they met together and wouldst thou miss such a feast for all the World Lord thou lovest the Assemblies of thy Saints they are the habitations
Psa. 16. 7. The sensual worldling is a stranger to such secrecy It hath in some respects an advantage of society it hath not those clamours nor distractions with it which hinder us in our heavenly trade As it hath fewer allurements to good so it hath fewer impediments of good and fewer suggestions to evil and truly the grand Argument to good which is instar omnium is not wanting to it It hath the presence of God Every godly man may say in a sense as Christ did when his Disciples were to leave him alone I am not alone because the Father is with me Joh. 16. 32. It is reported of Numa that after the death of his Wife Tatia he left the City and gave himself wholly to walk in Fields and Woods consecrated to the gods and thence was said to enjoy the goddess Egeria and that she made him her Husband Plut. in vit Num. Though such stories are fabulous yet its true of the Christian that he enjoyeth much of his God when he is out of the worlds crowd Lovers give and return the sweetest kisses and embraces when they are together in secret Isaac and Rebeckah thought themselves in secret when they sported together David had his Sweet-meats and Heavenly Iunkets in the night when the eyes of others were closed and saw not the Charger which was sent from above for his spiritual refreshment His solitary meditations brought him more solace and comfort then the whole creation could afford him When I meditate on thee in my bed and think of thee in the night watches My soul is filled with marrow and fatness Psa. 63. 6. Communion with God in secret is an Heaven upon Earth What food can compare with the hidden Manna Some persons have excellent banquets in their Closets That bread which the Saints eat in secret how pleasant is it Ah what stranger can imagine the joy the melody which even the secret tears of the Saints cause Believers find rich mines of silver and gold in solitary places they fetch up precious jewels out of secret holes out of the bottom of the Ocean where are no inhabitants Naturalists observe that those fish are sweetest which lye hid Saints have often sweet joy and refreshment in secret they have meat to eat which the world knoweth not of The Fig-tree Olive and Vine would not leave their sweetness fatness and chearfulness to be Kings over other trees They that know what it is to enjoy God in secret would not leave it or lose it to be Kings or Commanders over the whole World Iudg. 9. 11,12,13 One place where the Israelites pitched in their passage to Canaan was called Iothatha from Iatab and Batha a pleasant Wilderness or delectable Desart A Christian hath many such stations in his travails to the Heavenly Canaan When he is in a Wilderness alone out of the noise of Pharoahs Court and free from the clamours and complainings of Gods Israel by reason of Epyptian Task-masters he hath the Pillar the extraordinary presence of his God which abundantly satisfieth and rejoyceth his soul. The highest Princes sometimes give their largest gifts to their favourites in private to prevent that envy which publique notice or knowledge of them might occasion Some Saints give their largest almes in secret that their left hand scarce knoweth what their right hand doth The great and holy God sendeth many a rich present giveth many a large almes to his indigent friends when there is none by to witness his bounty and charity In the dead time of the night when deep sleep seiseth on men the earth receiveth many pleasant refreshing showres The Children of God have many costly Collations and much curious Musick when no eye but their own seeth or tasteth the former and no ear save theirs heareth the latter The Prophet Hosea represents God thus speaking of his people Behold I will allure her and bring her into the Wilderness and speak comfortably unto her Hos. 2. 14. Gods method is marvellous he brings his Church into a Wilderness and then turns it into a Canaan causing it to flow with Milk and Honey By Wilderness some understand a sorrowful and others a solitary condition but then God appears to her the God of all consolation for he speaks comfortably to her He that chid her when she was in the crowd of the world saying as they said and doing as they did when he hath her alone reflecting upon her sins and recollecting her self will speak friendly and comfortably to her In the Hebrew it is I will speak to her heart and surely his powerful satable speech will banish all her heaviness This invisible trade brings in visible profit and comfort Secret correspondence with allies is most difficult but exceeding gainful and delightful Some curious mysteries are like Mines sprung under ground the less they are known the more efficacious and effectual they are The open air or breath of men would soil the beauty and lustre of exact pictures Christ calls his Spouse out of the worlds view and light when he intends her the fullest seals of his love Come my beloved let us go forth into the fields let us lodge in the Villages let us get up early to the Vineyards there will I give thee my loves Cant. 7. 11 12. Mark There in the Fields where no eye beholdeth the sweet meeting of our lipsâ—â— the close embraces of our armes the intimate conjunction of our hearts there I will give thee my loves Kings do not unbosome and open their hearts before a multitude The favourite is acquainted with the richest secrets of state in wereâ— saith Iob as in the days of my youth when the secret of God was with my Tabernacle Job 29. 4. As if he had said according to some O that I were as in my former days when God was secretly in my family and gave me familiar visits which the World took no notice of when I had many reviving soliloquies about God and refreshing colloquies with him The Egyptian Laws placed the Image of silence in all those Temples where the Image of Seâ—apis their god stood as if they might expect most of her favour when they approached her privately with as little noise as might be Addresses to the true God in secret have been accompanied with great successe 2. Consider If thou dost not exercise thy self to godliness in solitude thou wilt be in great danger of running into sin and contracting guilt on thy soul The benefit of solitude rightly improved may afford us comfort but the danger of it commandeth our caution A man in solitariness may be secure because he seeth no visible enemies but he is not therefore safe We are no sooner alone but armies of evil thoughts present themselves to us and they will by force quarter with us if the lodging rooms of our hearts be not taken up beforehand When the Virgin is alone then she is in most danger of being ravisht In our solitude we should not
they die and all else are weary of them may well cry out by way of admiration O Lord the earth is full of thy goodness The earth is full of thy glory What rich mines may I dig out of the bowels of the earth when my God is angry the earth shakes and trembleth and the foundations thereof are moved and shall not my flesh tremble for fear of the God of the whole earth and my soul be afraid of his righteous judgements His hand hath laid the foundation of the earth and his right hand hath spanned the Heavens â— when he calls they stand up together and shall not I hear his call and obey his command Lord if the earth be thine and the fulness thereof the world and all that dwell therein Whos 's then am I Surely thine O help me to disown all title to my self to quit all my interest in my self and to live as one that is not his own but the Lords the earth is full of thy riches let my heart be full of thy righteousness and that will turn earth to me into heaven whilst I am full of thy likeness and thy love If we consider the Ocean that amazeth a beholder with its fierce countenance and seems to have neither banks nor bottom how it threatens the earth with its boysterous billows as if it intended to swallow it up in a moment and yet when it hath swoln it self to the height of its pride and its insulting waves have shewed their teeth how soon it retreats like a coward as if it were afraid of the smallest worm and had already outgone its bounds and commission what innumerable Fish both small and great take up their chambers in the waters and finde their food in the jaws of that devourer what multitudes of massy Vessels she fetcheth off from one Island and carrieth upon her back as a Porter his burthen and sets them down safe at another how she playeth with them what frights she puts them in by the way as men do little children tossing them up to heaven and then throwing them down again as if her belly should be the certain place of their burial and after all her frowns and fury refresheth them with her smiles and favour and doth but prepare them thereby to salute their harbour with the greater joy and gladness how she sendeth out of her store-house provision for the several families of the world furnishing the several pipes and aquaeducts of the earth with fresh springs and streams for the comfort of Man and Beasts If we but confider these things what cause shall we have to say with the Psalmist They that go down into Ships see his wonders in the deep and with those Mariners What manner of man is this whom the Winds and the Seas obey What manner of God is this who gathereth the waters of the Sea together and layeth up the Floods in store-houses who shutteth in the Ocean with bars and doors and saith Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed who puts a bridle in the jaws of such a monster and when she threatens nothing but death and destruction puls her in and makes her retreat to her own den without doing the least hurt O what a God is this whom the rugged blustring winds and raging boistrous seas obey What excellent conclusions may a Christian gather from such premises Do the Winds and Seas obey God as stubborn and surly as they are and shall not I obey him Are they kept within their banks and shall not I be kept within my bounds Lord thou stillest the noise of the Seas the noise of the Waters and the tumults of the people O why dost thou not quiet the headstrong passions in my breast Thou observest how they roar and make a noise continually what frightful stormes they raise within me If thou wouldst but say to them in their height and heat Peace be still there would presently ensue a calm O suffer not these high winds to overturn me nor these swelling waters to overwhelm me I am even ready to sink save me Master or I perish Thus a Christian may consider the works of God either collectively or severally both in their insides and outsides to his marvellous advantage As the Rabbies say of the Word I may say of the Works of God Turn it over and over and over again for all is in it Turn them over and over and over again for all is in them There is wisdom in them in their variety diversity of natures subordination and serviceableness each to other O Lord how marvellous are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all There is Power in bringing with a breath the whole Creation out of the barren womb of nothing He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast There is Mercy in providing so bountifully for every of his creatures The whole earth is full of thy goodness There is Faithfulness in upholding all things in their being Thy faithfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abideth yea mercy and truth meet together Thy mercy O Lord is in the heavens and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds Every of Gods works is so profitable that as the Aromatick fruit not onely the kernel is a Nutmg but the skin of it is Mace As in a fair suit of Arras though the hangings never appear to their full advantage but when they are opened in all their dimensions and seen together yet a small shread may assure you of the excellency of the colours and richness of the stuff So though the Divine Perfections would appear most in their beauty and glory if we were able at one view to behold the whole world in its several eminencies and beauties yet a little part of it may speak the worth and richness of the whole It was an honest speech of a Monk who being asked how he could endure that life without the pleasure of books answered The nature of the creatures is my library wherein when I please I can muse upon Gods deep Oracles The Egyptians were instructed by Characters and Hieroglyphicks by something presented to the eye notions were represented to the understanding Reader it is thy priviledge that thou mayst perform this duty in any place No sight no sound but may afford matter for meditation If thou walkest in thy garden thou mayst turn it into an Eden by delightful meditations Dost thou behold the flowers standing in their ranks what a goodly shew they make thou mayst think what a lovely â—ight it is to see Christians contînuing in those several places and stations in which God hath set them Some flowers open and shut with the sun so doth the Christian observe the shining and withdrawing of the Sun of righteousness Some flowers dye having a worm gnawing their root so will all hypocrites wither and come to nothing notwithstanding their gaudy shew Flowers are tender things and must
contrary to his being law and honour though he be so perfect a God that no sin can be hurtful to him yet he is so pure a God that every sin is hateful to him Therefore the Scripture speaking of God after the manner of men represents it as offensive to every of his senses It grates his ears and thence he complains of the cry of Sodom It provoketh his eyes and hence it is said Evil cannot stand in thy sight neither canst thou behold the workers of iniquity It oppresseth his feeling wherefore he â—s said to be pressed with â—in as a Cart is pressed with sheaves It displeaseth his smell and so he calleth sinners rotten carâ—â—sses open sepulchres that send forth noisom savours He proclaimes to the world the offensiveness of sin to his sacred Majesty by the names he gives it in his royal Law wherein â—e forbids it He calls it dung mire vomit filth superfluity of naughtiness filthiness a menstruous cloth a plague an issue an ulcer And yet though sin be thus infinitely loathsom and odious to him he bears with men that are all over infected with it in the highest degree 2. The condition of sinners His patience is much heightned by considering who they are that distaste and provoke him with their sins they are his creatures the work of his hands They rebel against him who were made and are every day maintained by him They forget him that formed them and fight against the fountain of their beings They are his obliged creatures such on whom he hath laid millions of engagements They cannot speak a word or think a thought or fetch their breath without him they live every moment wholly upon his mercy Hear O Heaven give ear O earth he hath nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against him He is daily multiplying mercies on them and yet they are daily multiplying iniquities against him they are creatures full of enmity against him they sin against him out of hatred of him The carnal mind is enmity against God If it could lay a plot to take away the life of God it hath malice enough to put it in execution Hence there appears little reason why he should pity or spare them If a man find his enemy will he let him go yet God is patient towards them 3. The multitude and greatness of sins and sinners He cannot look down from heaven but every moment he beholds millions of transgressors proclaiming war against him walking contrary to him and provoking him before his face The whole world is a field wherein the inhabitants are continually with drums beating and colours flying with brazen foreheads and stubborn hearts letting flie whole volleys of sins and impieties against heaven Their whole work is to stretch out their hands against God and strengthen themselves against the Almighty From the highest to the lowest they disown his authority deny his dominion deface his image dishonour his name despise his laws scorn his love and moâ—k at his threatnings All sin and come short of the glory of God The whole earth is a kind of hell in regard of blasphemy and pollutions and all manner of provoâ—ations His pure eyes behold the Devil-worship amongst Heathen the Imposter-worship amongst Turks the Idol-worship amongst Papists and the belly and flesh-worship amongst Protestants He seeth in the Rich oppression atheism swearing cursing pride persecution of others in the Poor envying murmuring carnal-mindedness drunkenness and ignorance in the Young head strong passions uncleaness youthful lusts in the Ancient impatience covetousness prophaness He understandeth the several hearts of men so many sinks of sin and the several lives of men so many treasons and conspiracies against his Being and Law and so many men in the world so many monsters of wickedness Though he enjoyn them his Precepts they cast them behind their backs though he would allure them by his Promises they scorn them as Babies to fool children withal though he would affright them with his comminations and threatnings they laugh at the shaking of those spears and look on all his words no better then wind Though he endeavours by his works to reclaim them from their wickedness sometimes loading them with his benefits that his goodness might lead them to repentance sometimes scourging them in measure that they might not be condemned with the world yet they slight his favour are not afraid of his fury and by their impenitency and continuance in sin dare him to his very face He sendeth his Ministers to tell them of their danger he sets up Conscience within them to mind them of their duty he hangs up others before them as spectacles of his wrath that they might take warning and escape destruction and yet they laugh at Ministers for their weeping over them check Conscience for its boldness to check them and think themselves wiser then to be frighted with the scarecrows of Gods judgements on others They sin against â—is Wisdom his Power his Goodness his Faithfulness his Patience his Providence his Ordinances his Son his Spirit his Law his Gospel their own Promises and engagements the voyce and cry of his Vicegerent within them and that day after day and this throughout the whole earth and yet notwithstanding all these high affronts and notorious indignities repeated and continued every moment he beareth with them The meekest man in the world no not all the men in the world have patience enough for one sinner what patience then hath God that beareth so much with a world of sinners It is the saying of one If but any tender-hearted man should sit one hour in the Throne of God Almighty and look down upon the earth as God doth continually and see what abominations are done in that hour he would undoubtedly the next set all the world on fire O how patient is that God that beareth with it so many years The meekest man upon earth could not endure the â—rowardness of one people and they the best people in the world the peevishness of the Jews drove him into that passion for which he was excluded the earthly Canaan How meek and patient then is God who beareth the evil manners of all the nations of the world the greatest part of which make it their work to spit their venome and malice and blasphemy in his face every day The whole world is a volume in every leaf and in every line of which Patience Meekness Gentleness Long-suffering Forbearance are written in broad letters 4. How he knoweth all their sins He doth not forbear sinners from ignorance of their sins he seeth and knoweth all things All the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondreth all his goings His eyes behold and his eye-lids try the children of men Men bear with others because they know not their secret treasons and heart-rebellions but God knoweth all the wickedness that is committed in the world He telleth man his thoughts All secret sins are publick to
not his Closet before his Shop is an Atheist and he that mindeth not his Shop after his Closet is an Hypocrite The world is Gods great Family and he will allow none in it to be idle Though he distinguisheth some from the common Mass and maketh them vessels of honour as Superiours and Officers in his house yet to every one he committeth some Talent or other and commandeth them to trade till he come The ancient Massilians would admit no man into their City who had not a good trade knowing what pests and plagues such are to the people among whom they dwell He that is void of or negligent in his calling is at best as a snail 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Septuag Domiporta according to the Latines keeping house and unprofitable But usually such a one is mischeivous and may not unfitly be compared to Kites that flie lazing up and down scarce moving their wings making a querulous complaining noise filching their food out of the shambles or warrens or out of Childrens hands by force Idleness is usher to murmuring and theâ—ving He quickly learns to do ill by doing that which is next to ill nothing The Air when still corrupts and putrifieth Wheat if not stirred groweth musty and unwholsom for mans body The earth if not tilled breeds thorns Milstones if there be no grist wast and wear out themselves The soul needeth exercise as well as the body to preserve it in health Action keeps the soul sweet and clean T is no wonder that persons are almost choacked with the flegm of corruption that deny themselves the benefit and advantage of Motion that they do not thrive who refuse to trade It s a worthy speech of holy Master Boultons He is a cursed drone a child of idleness the very Tennis ball of temptation most unworthy the blessings and benefits of humane society who doth not one way or other cooperate and contribute to the common good with his best endeavours in some honest particular calling Iob saith Man is born to labour but how many Gentlemen sing the rich fools requiem to their souls Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years till at last they come to his end and that place where there is no ease day nor night for ever and ever but as a bone out of joynt so is a good man out of his calling The Sons of the Husbandman in the Fable being told by their Father on his Death-bed that he had left much gold buried in his Vineyard fell presently a digging and delving with diligence whereby they obtained though not the gold they sought for yet a rich Harvest by stirring the mold about the roots of the Trees In all labour there is profit Eccles. 5. Though the Christian doth not ever by diligence in his calling reap that gold of outward profit which is promised conditionally so far as God seeth fit for him in this world yet he reaps peace and comfort in the discharge of his duty and prevents temptations by being imployed about other things It s in vain for any to pretend that they are so busie in praying and reading and hearing and holy duties that they cannot attend their particular callings for the same God that calls them to spiritual traffique commands them their temporal trades and hath allotted them sufficient time for both He doth the Devil too great a courtesie who makes the Commands of God to quarrel and clash one against another If Satan can prevail with men to neglect their callings whole days together and leave their families declining and almost starving through their idleness for private fasting and praying he never fears the good such a man shall get by all that devotion which is as Paul speaks of himself born out of due time He knoweth God doth not usually send in blessings at such back-doors and that he is provoked as truly by leaving our Shops when our callings require our company as by passing by our Closets when he calls us in to speak with us there The best food may prove unwholsom and burthensom to the stomach if a fit season for taking it be not observed Our best duties like some Children are utterly lost by being brought forth before their time The Roman General said Non amo nimium diligentem I love not them that are too diligent meaning them that leave their own callings and are busie-bodies in others God loves not such over-diligent nor any negligent ones As he commandeth our dependance on him for a blessing so he commandeth our diligence in our several places But having also treated largely of the Christians carriage in his particular calling in the first part how he should undertake it in obedience to the divine command follow it with an heavenly heart depend upon God for a blessing I shall say no more here Thirdly Be watchful all the day long If thou wouldst walk safely walk as one that hath his eyes in his head Ponder the paths of thy feet Every man walketh every day in the midst of traps and gins and rubs and blocks now the secure person is as a blind man stumbling at every stone When a man goeth upon cords straitned and fastned on high it concerns him to look well to his footing lest he totter and fall and break his neck There is no Christian but walks as dangerously as he that danceth on the ropes it behoves him therefore to walk Watchfully The Children of God are called to be Souldiers to fight a good sight of faith under Christ the Captain of their salvation but Souldiers must be upon their guard especially such as are encompassed on all sides at all times with enemies of all sorts Should they who are the mark at which the world and Hell are continually shooting their fiery darts to destroy them give themselves to sleep Watch ye stand fast in the faith Quit your selves like men 1 Cor. 16. 3. The Divel watcheth to devour us and he is politique to insnare us and shall we slumber Machiavel saith A Prince ought to know the tempers of men that he may fit them with baits and wind them to his own ends Satan hath not waited on men and observed them so long but he knoweth the length of their feet and can fit them to their will and wo as Agrippina the wife of Claudius gave her Husband poison in that dish which he loved best so he can give them that meat which they love with poison for its sance He is a Serpent for his subtlety and can bait his hooks answerable to the love and liking of poor silly â—ish We read of his wiles of his devices As the Camelion that lieth on the ground to catch Flies and Grashoppers changeth himself into the colour of the grass whereby they are deceived and caught So Satan can transform himself into any shape even into an Angel of light for a shift that he may deceive and destroy Though he appeared in
answerable to my peril and my danger Lord when that day and hour draweth near that I must go hence and be no more seen do thou draw near in boundless mercy to my poor soul When I must enter into the Chambers of death and make my bed in the grave save me from the paws of Satan and the power of Hell that the bottomless pit may not shut her mouth upon me and give me to triumph in that hour of tribulation as knowing that neither tribulation nor persecution nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor life nor death can seperate me from thy love which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I Wish that when I am going to the place of silence I may speak the excellencies of my God and make his praise glorious It is the unhappiness of worldlings and wicked men that they cannot when they dye commend the principles whence they have acted nor the vain pleasures which they have minded and pursued How many of them whose lives have been nothing but a bundle of false-hood and lies when God hath called them to leave the world have spoken truth and told their Friends and Relations that sin is an evil and bitter thing that carnal pleasures are guilded poisons that the greatest and choicest of worldly comforts though they may have honey in their mouths have a sting in their tailes and what a vain empty nothing the whole creation is How often have they complained how the world hath deceived them the flesh deluded them and Devil beguiled and destroyed them It is my priviledge as well as my duty to extol my Master whom I have served to commend the sweetness of his ways the pleasantness of his worship the reasonableness of his precepts the richness of his promises and the vastness of that portion which he hath laid up for his Children when they come to age I have sometimes tasted his work and ways to be sweeter then the honey and the honey comb I have viewed by faith his reward to be vastly glorious and beyond all apprehensions excellent O why should I not diswade others from their eager pursuit of foolish fading shadows and perswade and encourage them to earnest endeavours after real substance and durable riches The sinner who hath wallowed all his life time in the mire of filth and wickedness will when he comes to dye and begins to return to his wits from his own experience of the emptiness and unprofitableness of his ungodly courses and from the convictions of his natural conscience acknowledge a sober sanctified conversation to be safest and the ways of God to be most gainful and upon these accounts advise his friends and relations to forsake and abandon the lusts of the world and flesh and to follow after holiness as they would be happy eternally And have not I much more cause to shew my abhorrency of sin and love to my Saviour and his image when I am entering into my Fathers house The sinner hath onely found at last a fleshly life to be vain and fruitless and is like to pay dear for his learning but I have known the paths of piety to be paths of pleasantness and rejoyced more in them then in all riches The sinner hath onely the dim light of nature to shew him the loathsomness of vice and the loveliness of grace but I have the holy Spirit of my God to enlighten my mind in the knowledge of both The sinner hath only a carnal love to his Neighbours and Kindred he knoweth not what it is to love them in Christ and for Christ I have some knowledge of the love and Law of Christ of the worth of their souls of the price paid for them by the Lord Iesus and their unchangeable conditions in the other world O that my language to them might be somewhat answerable to the love of Christ to me Lord It is unrighteousness to die in debt to man and not to endeavour to make them satisfaction according to my power I am sure to dye in thy debt for I am less then the least of all thy mercies and unable to requite thee for the smallest of thy favours It is my comfort that all the recompence thou expectest is a thankful acknowledgement and hearty acceptance of thy grace and good will O what injustice and ingratitude were I guilty of should I deny thee so small a request Be pleased to help thy servant in his last hours both to accept unfeignedly of thy grace for his own good and to acknowledge thy good will and bounty and faithfulness to thy glory for the good of others I Wish that my lost breath may be drawn Heaven-ward I mean that I may enter praying into the house of blessing and praise I am no Christian if I do not give my self to prayer whilst I live It is one choice piece of my spiritual Armour whereby I have often assaulted and conquered my soul-enemies It is the Ambassadour which I have many a time sent to the heavenly Court that always received a favourable Audience and obtained his errand It is the Vessel which hath brought me food from far and ever returned richly laden if it were not my own fault It is the element in which I live the aliment by which I subsist the pulse the breath of my soul without which it must needs dye On my death-bed I have as much need of its succour as at any season My adversaries will then imploy their greatest power and policy to rout and ruine me I am but weak flesh and blood altogether unable to combat with Principalities and Powers and how can I expect supplies from the Lord of Hosts unless I send this Messenger to intreat it My wants and weaknesses at such a time will be more then ordinary Faith must then be acted in spight of all the frights and fears which a malicious Devil and an unbeleiving heart from the number and nature of my sins the strictness of the law and the justice of God may put me to Repentance must then be exercised and my sins lye nearer my heart then my sharpest diseases In patience I must possess my soul under all the pains and pressures which the wise God shall lay upon me I must then chearfully submit to the divine pleasure and by my willingness to leave all the world to go to Christ shew that I hate Father Mother Wife Child House Lands Life and all for Christ. Those graces and many other must be put forth at suâ—h a time none of which I can do by my own power and therefore have abundant cause to fetch help from Heaven by prayer Besides the distempers of my body will discompose my soul and unfit it in a great measure for all holy service Again my Benefactors my near Friends and Relations the poor afflicted Church of God do all call aloud to me to pray for them as the last kindness I shall ever do for them I profess
of Christ do all give thee daily occasion to mingle thy bread with ashes and thy drink with weeping What is this world that thou art so fond of it Thy God calls it a Sea of glass mingled with fire Rev. 15. 2. A Sea for its turbulency it s never at rest but ebbs and flows continually though sometimes more sometimes less Its work is to bubble up mire and dirt especially on them who are chosen out of the world A Sea of glass for its fragility All its pomp and pride on a sudden vanisheth Glass is both easily and irrecoverably broken in peices A Sea of glass mingled with fire for the fiery and dreadful miseries that befal men in it All its apparent comforts are mingled with real crosses In Heaven there is solace without the least grain of sorrow In Hell there is mourning without the smallest dram of mirth but on Earth there is no estate without mixture The Saints have joy in God but if need be they are in heaviness through manifold tribulations 1 Pet. 1. 6. The merry sinners in the midst of their pleasures have their hearts heavy Some of the wiser Heathen were so sensible of humane miseries that one of them when Ancient told his Scholar that if it were offered him to be young again he would not accept if Saints of all men must expect a large draught of sufferings The world is their enemy and raiseth all its forces against them If I be a Disciple I must look to follow my Master in bearing his Cross O my soul why shouldst thou hug that which hates thee and doat on this world which is neither a fit match for thee as being unsutable to thy nature nor if she were can be faithful to thee being made up of wavering and inconstancy Or secondly Is it the pain of death that thou art so frighted at Surely the fear of it is the greatest torment How many have felt greater pain in divers diseases as in the Stone or Strangury or Collick then in a dying hour Some of Gods Children have felt very little pain in the judgement of those that have seen them dying The waters of Jordan though rough to others have stood still when the Ark was to pass over But though I were sure my pain should be sharp yet I am as sure it shall be short In a moment in the twinckling of an eye I shall be transported over the gulp of misery into endless glory My pangs will be almost as soon gone as come Sorrow will endure but for a short night joy will come in the morning If I were assured of a great purchase made for me in Spain or Turky which upon my first comming over I should enjoy would I not adventure a passage through the boistrous Ocean to take possession My Saviour hath made a larger a better purchase for me in Heaven He is gone before to prepare a place for me My passage thither though it may be more painful is less perillous It s impossible for me to miscarry in it O why am I so slothful to go in and possess the good Land Surely the pleasures of the end may well sweeten the ways to it were they never so bitter With what chearfulness do some women undergo their sharp throws and hard labours supported with this cordial that a child shall thereby be born to them O how infinitely inferiour is the joy of a man child brought forth into this world to the joy of a sanctified soul brought out of this world into Heaven Again I have a tender Father who knoweth my frame and will lay no more upon me living or dying then he will enable me to bear He hath said it I will never leave thee nor forsake thee O my soul thou hast little reason to dread a contest with this enemy for this cause Thou mayst contentedly undergo a little pain to go to thy dearest Lord when many a sinner hath suffered greater to satisfie his hellish lust Thirdly Is it thy future condition that makes thee unwilling to dye Dost thou not know that death is thy portal through which thou shalt pass into the true Paradise It s the straight gate through which thou shalt enter into life Though its the wicked mans shipwrack which swalloweth him up in an Ocean of wrath and torment yet it s the Saints putting into harbour where he is received with the greatest acclamation and richest welcom imaginable Travellers who have met with many dangers and troubles in their journeys rejoyce when they come near their own Country I am a Pilgrim here and used or rather abused as a stranger shall I not be glad when I come near my blessed home my eternal happy habitation Children in some parts when they first behold the Stork the messenger of the Spring testifie their joy with pleasant and loud shoutings O why shouldst not thou lift up thy head with joy when sickness the fore-runner of death is come to bring thee tidings that the Winter of thy misery and cold and hardships is past and the Summer of thine eternal light and joy and pleasure is at hand Thy death may well be a Free-will-offering considering that though the ashes of the sacrifice thy body fall to the earth yet that divine flame thy immortal spirit shall ascend to Heaven In death nothing dyeth of thee but what thou mayst well spare thy sin and sorrows When the house is pulled to peices all those Ivy roots in the wall shall be destroyed The Egg-shell must be broken that the little chick may slip out Thy body must be dissolved that thy â—oul may be delivered Yet thy body doth not dye but sleep in the bed of the grave till the morning of the resurrection That outward apparel shall not be utterly consumed by the moth of time but lockt up safe as in a chest to be new trimmed and gloriously adorned above the Sun in his greatest lustre and put on again when thou shalt awake in the morning never never to put off more O that I could so live that I might not only be always ready but also when God calls me desirous to dye If I borrow any thing of my Neighbour I pay it back with thanks My life is Gods he lends it me for a time Why should I not when he calls for it restore it with thanks that he hath been pleased to lend it me so long Lord thy Children love thee dearly and believe that when they come home to thee thou wilt entertain them kindly yet their flesh like Lots Wife is still â—ankering after the Sodom of this World and loath they are to leave it though it be for their exceeding gain Give thy servant such true faith in thy Son that I may neither love life nor fear death immoderately but as the heart of Jacob revived when he saw the Wagons which Joseph sent to fetch him to Egypt so my heart may leap for joy to behold the heavenly Chariot which the Son of
more they desire He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth gold with increase Many men have too much of the world but no worldly man hath enough His voice still is like the Horse-leech Give Give Though he hath enough to destroy him yet he hath not enough to content him When the Parthians had taken Crassus the covetous Roman who had robbed the Temple they poured molted Gold into his mouth saying Drink now thy sill thou greedy wretch of that which thou hast so long thirsted after The Covetous Caliph of Babylon when taken Prisoner was set by the Great Cham of Tartary in the midst of those treasures which he had wretchedly scraped together and bidden eat his fill and satisfie himself but amongst all his heaps of silver and gold he was miserably famished The soul will starve for all the food which the whole world afâ—ordeth it A worldling is like Tantalus who had Apples at his Lips and water at his Chin yet pined for want In the midst of his sufficiency he is in straights If thou tryest the whole creation and empannellest every creature upon the Iury to enquire where satisfaction is to be had they will write Ignoramus upon the Bill If thou askest the Sea it will answer as concerning wisdom The Sea saith It is not in me And the Depth saith â—It is not in me The Earth saith It is not in me Ask every worldly blessing particularly and it will say It is not in me Thou mayst call and cry to them in thy need for comfort as eagerly and earnestly as Rachel for children and will each answer as Iacob did here Am I in Gods stead that hath with-holden thy desire from thee Or as the Angel to the women Why seek ye the living among the dead he is risen he is not here Am I a poor finite being in Gods stead to satisfie the vast desires of thy capacious soul Why seekest thou living comforts amongst dead creatures it is gone it is not here The World entertains its best guests no better then Caligula did his favourites whom he invited to a feast and when they were come set golden dishes and golden cups empty before them and told them they were welcome and he would have them feed heartily All the trees in the garden of the creation are like those trees which Solinus mentioneth in Assyria the fruit whereof seemeth as yellow as gold but being toucht is as rotten as dirt 4. The things of this world are vexatious Their sting paineth far more then their honey pleaseth They are like the Egyptian reed which will not onely fail them that trust it but also pierce them with splinters and wound them deeply sooner or later They who will be rich pierce themselves through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6. 9. Instead of satisfaction thou wilt find vexation The things of this world are not onely wind for their vanity but also thorns for the vexation they cause As when the blood is corrupted by a poisoned Arrow it flieth to the heart thinking to find some remedy there but as soon as it toucheth the heart it findeth death where it lookt for life Thus men that are pressed with miseries run to the world as their refuge hoping to finde comfort and refreshment there but alass that doth increase their afflictions and gives them rather matter of more mourning then any abatement of their sorrows They who dive into the bottom of this Sea of the world to the hazard of their lives instead of the pearl of contentment and happiness which they take such pains for bring up nothing but their hands full of the sand and gravel of vexation and anguish All the ways of worldly delights are strowed with nettles and briars so that its greatest darlings are but like Bears robbing a Bee hive that with much labour get a little honey but are soundly stung for their pains Therefore reason much more religion may sound a retreat and call us off from our eager pursuit of these lying vanities Car on il nyâ— arâ—en a gaigner que des coups volontiers il ny vapas No man makes haste to the market where there is nothing to be bought but blows 5. Vncertain There is no constancy in outward comforts As Brooks in Winter are carried with violence and run with a mighty stream flowing over with abundance of water on every side when there is no want nor need of waters but in the heat of Summer is dried up when water is scanty and hard to be had Such is the friendship of the world t will promise us many things when we have need of nothing but when the wind turns and afflictions overtake us it is like a tree withered for want of sap and as a ditch without any water to refresh us When the sun of our prosperity is hid and coverd with a cloud these shadows vanish and disappear As leaves fall off in Autumn so doth the friendship of creatures fail men when the sap of that maintenance which commanded their company is withdrawn from them Man in honour doth not abide Psa. 49. As the rising Sun coming into our Horizon like a Giant ready to run his race appearing to us with a full and glorious countenance within an hours space is obscured with mists or darkned with clouds and however if it meet with neither of these when it arriveth at its noon-day height it declines descendeth setteth and is buried under us So the Ambitious person sheweth himself to the world as chief favourite at Court with much pomp and pride by and by his honour is eclipsed by the hate of the People or frowns of his Prince or envy of his fellow Courtiers or if not yet he dyeth and carrieth nothing away and his glory doth not descend after him The like is evident of earthly treasures they are soon gone though not soon gotten As a gallant ship well riggd trimmed tackled manned with her top and top gallant and her well spread sails putteth out of harbour to the admiration of many spectators but within a few days is split upon some dangerous rock or swallowed up of some disasterous tempest or taken by some ravenous Pyrate so are this worlds goods on a sudden taken from their owners or their owners from them There is a hole in our strongest Bags and rust in our choicest mettal The Apostle calls riches uncertain riches and honour a fancy and all the things of this world a fashion 1 Tim. 6.17 Act. 24. 1 Cor. 7. 29. We are not certain to keep these birds in our yards whilst we live for Riches make themselves wings and flie away but we are certain if they do not leave us that we shall leave them We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we shall carry nothing out of the world Reader how unwise is he who neglecteth eternal substance for fading nothings The Romans are recorded as guilty of much folly that in their fight
death and day of judgment and bring him in unspeakable gain before the aery honours and withering vanities of this life Reader If thou wilt give conscience free liberty to speak its mind I know it will tell thee that no calling is comparable to this for profit The gain of Godliness is real gain rich gain certain gain eternal gain 1. It s real if the word of truth may be trusted its fruit is therefore called substance in distinction from earthly riches which are shadows I will cause them that love me to inherit substance 2. It s called also true riches other riches are fained hence also godly men are said to be rich towards god and other men to be rich in this world It s rich gain as it hath relation to the best part it makes the soul of man truly precious as it is serviceable to our last end and prepareth man for the fruition of God and also as its reward is unconceivable The vessels of mercy shall swim in an Ocean of glory Eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can the heart of man conceive what God hath layd up for them that love him 1 Cor. 2. It s reward is beyond all expression above all apprehensions no comparison can fully resemble it no understanding conceive it 3. It s eternal gain Other gains are fading deceitful brooks dying flowers withering goards and vanishing shadows Riches are not for ever Pro. 29 Man in honour abideth not Psa. 49.2 The pleasures of sin are but for a season Heb. 11. 25. But this gain is for ever The fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever both in the nature of it t is incorruptible seed and in the fruit of it which is the gift of God eternal life Though other trades shall all fail as useful onely in this needy World though other callings shall vanish and time it self shall be no more yet this trade this calling shall râ—n parallel with the life of an immortal soul though gold be a corruptible mettal the gain of this calling is better then much fine gold it s an inheritance undefiled incorruptible Our work whether in doing or suffering the Will of God is but for a moment but it works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory O what an happy good what an excellent gain is that which is eternal Mary hath chosen the good part which shall never be taken from her When thy Lands and Houses shall be taken from thee thy place and dwelling shall know thee no more when thy Friends and Relations shall be taken from thee Son of Man behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke when all the comforts of this life shall serve thee as vermine and lice do a dead man though they stick close to him in his life run from him at death this Calling will stand by thee encourage thee never leave thee nor forsake thee In other things thou chosest for that which is most lasting If thou buyest an house or beast or suit of apparel thou art desirous to have that which is most durable and strong O why shouldst thou not chose that good which is everlasting When Demetrius had taken Megara and his Souldiers plundered the City he fearing the Philosopher Stilpo might receive some loss sent for him and asked him whether any of his men had taken any thing of his Stilpo answered No for I saw no man that took my learning from me Godliness is such Wealth such Learning as will abide with thee in general plunder indeed neither men nor Devils can rob thee of it 4. It s certain gain He that sets up of this trade may be trusted for none ever brake of this calling God himself whose is the earth and the fulness thereof is bound for them and hath undertaken for their perseverance and growth and gains The Merchant that trades into the other world is not properly a Merchant-venturer for the Gospel which is the Ensurance Office hath engaged infinite power and love and faithfulness for the security and safe return of all the Vessels which he sends forth The Promises are all yea and amen the sure mercies of David The Covenant of grace which containeth all their gains and riches is stable in all things and sure 2 Cor. 1. 20. Isa. 55. 6. 2 Sam. 23. 5. If there were a free trade proclaimed to the Indies and every man that went promised as much gold as he would desire and a certainty of making a good voyage who almost would stay at home what crowding would there be to Port-Towns and what hast to take shipping Reader Though God will not suffer this to be in reference to earthly treasures knowing out of his infinite wisdom how hurtful they would be to immortal souls yet he offereth thee all this and infinitely more in calling upon thee to mind godliness He saith to thee as Ioseph to his brethren Gen 45. 18. Come unto me and I will give you the good of the Land of Egypt and ye shall eat the fat of the Land Come unto me and I will give you the good of Canaan and ye shall eat the pleasant fruits of that Land flowing with Milk and Honey O Reader didst thou know the worth of this jewel thou wouldst trample upon all the wealth of this World as dung in comparison of it Little dost thou think or imagine the advantage the vertues of this Diamond It is the true Loadstone that draweth all good to it Luther saith of one Psalm This Psalm hath done more for me then all the Potentates of the World I may say to thee This calling will feed thee with bread that came down from Heaven and cloath thee with fine linnen the robes of Gods own righteousness t will protect thee and maintain thee t will advance and honour thee t will inrich and ennoble thee in life refresh and rejoyce thee in death crown and reward thee after death do more for thee then all the Princes or Potentates Relations or Posâ—Possessions Persons or Comforts upon Earth can do In thy prosperity and enjoyment of outward good things godliness would like Sugar and Spice correct their windiness and make them wholsom and profitable to thee It would like Elisha's Meal and Salt make thy Meat sweet and savoury and thy drink pleasant and refreshing to thee It would make thy bed soft and easie thy garments warm and sweet sented T will so far abate thy appetite to this luscious food that thou shouldst not feed immoderately to the surfeiting thy soul. As the fiery bush which Moses saw in the Mount Horeb though it was in a flaming fire did not consume Or as the shining worm that being cast into the fire doth not waste but is thereby pâ—rged from its filth and made more beautiful then all the water in the world could make it So Affliction should not ruine but reform and purifie thee In the greatest danger this will be thy
reversed but stand for ever In this world God judgeth men sometimes mediately sometimes immediately which is the first judgement from which men may appeal by repentance to his mercy-seat but this the last judgement once for all once for ever in which men receive their final their eternal doom Ioh. 11. 24. Here Iacob appeals from Laban to an higher tribunal Gen. 31. 53. And David from Saul to the King of Kings The Lord judge between me and tâ—ee 1 Sam. 24. 12. Psa. 17. 2. And Paul appeals from Festus to Caesar I stand at Caesars judgement seat Act. 25. 10. But then there can be no appeal to an higher Court no writ of error can be brought no arrest of judgement no second hearing obtained The sinner condemned to eternal death then is gone for ever no pardon no not so much as a Reprieve can be procured for one hour The Saint absolved and declared an heir of eternal life is blessed for ever he shall be beyond all fear all doubts in himself above all shot all opposition from others In this life Niniveh was threatned Niniveh repented and Niniveh was â—pared the sentence pronounced was not executed at least it was respited but then every sinner will repent weep and wail but repentance will be hid from the eyes of the Judge all their tears will be in vain when they are cast then they are gone for ever To provoke thee to holiness 4. Consider The felicity of the godly at that day O with what joy will they lift up their heads when that day of their redemption is come This life is the day of their oppression and persecution but that day will be the day of their redemption At this day they are troubled and vexed with a tempting Devil and deceitful hearts and false proud unbeleiving flesh but that will be the day of their redemption from them all No wonder they love the appearing of Christ and look and long for his appearing when it will be the day of their redemption and time of their refreshing â—rom the presence of the Lord. When thousands and millions shall howl and lament When the Oratour will be silenced and have his mouth stopped When the Souldier that durst venture into the mouth of the Cannon and dare death it self shall play the Coward and seek for any hole to hide himself in when the Captains and Kings and Nobles shall call to the Rocks to fall on them and the Mountains to cover them from the presence of the Lord and the wrath of the Lamb even then the godly shall sing and rejoyce 1. Their godliness will then be mentioned to their eternal honour As God hath a bag for mens sins Thou sealest up mine iniquities in a bag so he hath a book for their services A book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his name Then all their prayers and tears their watchings fastings faith love zeal patience almes imprisonment loss of goods name liberty life for Christ and the Gospel will be manifested to their honour and praise and glory at the coming of Christ 1 Pet. 1. 7. Mat. 25. 34 53. 2. Their names will be then vindicated With the resurrection of bodies there shall also be a resurrection of names Now indeed the throats of wicked men are open Sepulchres wherein the credit of the godly is buried Ioseph is an Adulterer Nehemiah a Traytour Ieremiah a Rebel against the King Paul a mover of sedition a pestilent fellow and one that turned Christian for spite because the High Priest would not give him his Daughter in Marriage but when the Sea and Death and Hell shall give up their dead then shall the throats the open Sepulchres of wicked men give up the names of the godly Then their righteousness shall be cleared as the Sun and their uprightness as the noon day 3. Their persons shall be then publiquely acquitted They shall be cleared by publique proclamation before God Angels and Men. Hence it 's said Their sins shall be blotted out when the time of refreshment shall come from the presence of the Lord. The sentence of Absolution passed in their conscience by the Spirit at this day is sweet and puts more joy into their hearts then if all the Crowns and Scepters of this world had befallen them but O how comfortable will it be to be declared just by the Judge himself before the whole world at that solemn and imperial day They may then ring that challenge Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect Rom. 8. 33. And none will accept it or take up the Gantlet Who Shall God whose Children and Chosen they are No It is God that justifieth Shall the Iudge No It is his undertaken-work to present them to the Father without spot or wrinckle or any such thing He hath washed them in his own blood and made them as white as innocent Adam or Angels He was judged for them and will not passe judgement against them He cannot condemne them but he must condemne himself for they are his members his body his brethren bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh Shall the Law No They have fully answered all its demands superabundantly satisfied it through their surety both in perfect obedience to all its precepts and undergoing its punishment What the Law saith either in regard of commanding compleat subjection or cursing for the omission of it it saith to them that are under the Law but they are not under the Law but under Grace Shall Conscience No Next to God and Christ its their best friend as Christ pleads for them to his father so Conscience pleads for them to themselves This is their rejoycing the testimony of good Consciences that in simplicity and godly sincerity they had their conversations in this world 2 Cor. 1. 12. Shall Satan No The accuser of the brethren will be then cast down and his place will be found no more in Heaven then then those blessed promises will be performed The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head and the God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet 4. The Saints happiness will be then perfected and he shall never know more what sin or sorrow meaneth or what want of Gods favour or doubt of Christs love or defect of joy and comfort meaneth The Christian hath so much laid out upon him in this world Vocation Adoption Pardon Peace Joy in the Holy Ghost hopes of Glory that in the worst condition that Men and Devils can plunge him into he finds cause to say Yet God is good to Israel to them that are of a clean heart but then when he shall enjoy all that is laid up for him and know the full extent of Gods promises to him the all of Christs purchase for him and the utmost reward of his piety then surely he will cry out with the Psalmist O how great is that goodness which thou hast laid up for them