circa pectus a very hardy spirit that shall dare to cross the stream or stem the current of a prevailing luxuriancy So that to have a finger in this ungrateful debate must engage him in Ishmael's fate to have every mans hand lifted up against him seeing it's unavoidable that his hand must be set almost against every man § 5. That yet Charity will lend us one safe Rule That we impose a severer law upon our selves and allow a larger indulgence to others The Rule of our own conversation should be with the strictest but that by which we censure others a little more with the largest For thus has the Apostle Rom. 14. taught us to proceed in things which in their own nature are indifferent § 6. Prudence will also afford us another excellent Rule In dubious cases to take the safer side Not to venture too near the brink of a Precipice when we have room enough to walk secure at a greater distnce For seeing the best that can be said of and pleaded for many of our Fashions is That in themselves they are Adiaphorous which yet in their common use are sinful it becomes a Christian to be cautious and practise only that which is confessedly innocent and inoffensive For he that will always do what may lawfully be done shall sometimes do what is unlawful to be done § 7. An humble heart crucify'd to the World and making a conscience of its baptismal Covenant whereby it stands engaged to renounce the pomps and vanities of a wicked World with all fomentations of and incitations to the flesh will be the best Casuist Mortification would cut up the controversie by the roots cure the disease in the cause and cleanse the stream in the fountain Nor can any determine for another so well as he that is true to his soul might for himself § 8. That yet there are some modes of Apparel which so notoriously cross the ends of all Apparel so inconsistent with the Rule of Decency so apparently transgressing the bounds of Modesty that no pretence of an honest intention no uprightness of heart can atone or excuse the evil of wearing them As if for instance a Garment was made of Silk wrought in such Figures as did imitate the Pictures of Aratine and represent Nakedness in all the most obscene and filthy postures the use of such Raiment would be a gross abuse nor could any internal chastity alleviate the guilt of the outward immodesty § 9. Tho some modes of Apparel can never be well used there are none but may be ill used None so good but they may become bad tho some so bad that they never can be made good And the reason of the difference is because Bonum oritur ex integris malum è quolibet defectu All Circumstances must concur to render a practise lawful when the want of any one which ought to be present is enough to render it sinful § 10. Tho sumptuary laws may justly be made to retrench the excesses yet none can lawfully be enacted to compel men in the defects of Apparel A Law may say Farther thou shalt not go but not Thus far shalt thou go And the Reason is They that can reach the Standard assigned by the Law may lawfully abate at the command of Authority when perhaps some cannot reach the lowest pitch without entrenching upon their Purses or Consciences Having premised these things I reassume the Question What distance ought we to keep in following the strange fashions of Apparel that come up in the days wherein we live The Resolution of which Question will depend I. On an impartial Inquiry Wherein the sinfulness of Apparel does lye II. On some Directions How to walk at a due distance from these strange fashions that we partake not of the sin that may be in them I. Let us then in the first place inquire Wherein the sinfulness of Apparel does lye And that difficulty will be best assoiled by a further inquiry into these Four Particulars 1. For what ends God appoints and Nature requires Apparel 2. What is the Rule of Decency to regulate Apparel 3. From what inward Principles these outward modes are taken up 4. What effects these fashions have or may have on our selves or others 1 Let us then enquire for what ends God appoints and Nature requires Apparel In the state of Innocency and Primitive Integrity Nakedness was mans richest cloathing No Ornament no Raiment was ever since so decent as then was no-Ornament no-Raiment For as there was then no irregular motion in the soul so neither was there any in the body that might die the Cheeks with a Blush or cover the Face with shame They were both naked Gen. 2.25 the Man and his Wife and were not ashamed But when they had once violated the Covenant and broken the Law of their Creator Shame the Fruit and Daughter of sin seized their souls and that in respect of God and of each other which latter chiefly as I conceive to hide the best expedient their confused and distracted thoughts could pitch upon was to stitch together a few fig-leaves to make themselves Aprons till God commiserating their wretched plight provided better covering more adequate to the necessity of Nature more comporting with decency i. e. coats of skins Gen 3.21 Wherein the Divine Wisdom so admirably contriv'd it That their Apparel 1. might serve as a standing Memorial of their demerits that they might carry about them the continual conviction of their sin and the deserved punishment For what less could they infer than that they deserved to die the death when the innocent Beasts must die to preserve and accommodate their lives 2. That their Apparel might direct their weak Faith to the promised seed in whom they might expect a better covering and from a greater shame that of their filthiness in the sight of God In him I say whom those Beasts probably slain in sacrifice did typifie For that any were slain merely on the account of food before the Flood is not probable when yet the distinction between the clean and unclean on the account of sacrifice is demonstrable Gen. 2.7 Now God appoints and Nature frail faded Nature requires Apparel § 1. To hide shame to cover nakedness That our first Parents and their Posterity in their Exile from Paradise might not become a perpetual covering of the eyes and shame to each other Whence it will follow 1. That whatever Apparel or fashions of Apparel do either cross or not comply with this great design of God must be sinfully used 2. That as any Apparel or fashions of Apparel do more or less cross or not comply with this end they are proportionably more or less sinful But our Semi-Evites aware of danger from these conclusions to their naked breasts will readily reply That this will be of no great use to decide this controversie because it is not clear 1. what parts of the body 't is God has appointed Apparel to cover nor
what it is to be led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.14 XXVII for Serm. XXV What advantage may we expect from Christs Prayer for Vnion with himself and the Blessings relating to it John 17.20 21. XXVIII for Serm. XXVI How should we eye Eternity that it may have its due influence upon us in all we doe 2 Cor. 4.18 XXIX for Serm. XXVII How may we most certainly get and maintain the most uninterrupted Communion with God Joh. 1.7 Serm. XXVIII What is the best way to prepare to meet God in the way of his Judgments or Mercies 1 John 12.28 Serm. XXIX How may a gracious person from whom God hides his face trust in the Lord as his God Psal 42.11 Serm. XXX How are the Religious of a Nation the Strength of it Isa 6.13 Serm. XXXI Whether it be expedient and how the Congregation may say Amen in publick Worship Neh. 8.6 ERRATA PAge 108. lines 43 44. beginning at these words It should c. must be made the 3d and 4th lines of page 109. Page 116. l. 30. for offences r. offenders p. 152. l. 12. dele while ibid. after displeasure you insert do not p. 177. l. 3. for only r. duly ibid. l. 35. r. Tell me First ibid. l. 42. r. Secondly Do you p. 180. l. 27. r. Father p. 192. l. 44. insert not p. 421. l. 14. for early r. easily ibid. l. 30. for forced r. found p. 422. l. 21. for injuries r. iniquities ibid. l. 32. for scene r. scope ibid. l. 36. for wet r. rub p. 424. l. 2. for lakes r. leakes ibid. l. 24. for conceived r. conveighed ibid. l. 32. for them r. thence ibid. l. 42. for why r. who p. 425. l. 35. for Family r. Faculty so also p. 433. l. 36 p. 427. l. 38. for inducers r. induces p. 432. l. 30. r. old boots p. 434. l. 35. r. Thurvey p. 495. l. 38. dele All ibid. l. 41. for External r. Eternal ibid. l. 42. for Externity r. Eternity p. 496. l. 31. for Owenesse r. Onenesse p. 506. l. 27 for Yet r. Yea p. 506. l. 28. for Chetir r. Chetiu p. 510. l. 27. for Interception r. Introrecâ—ption p. 511. l. 33. for be r. are p. 512. l. 8. for 't is God that r. ' t is That God ibid. l. 12. for whence 't is r. And ibid l. 23 after of r. Reason p. 513. dele said p. 514. l. 5. after Rules r. of natural Reason p. 519. l. 1. for Correspondeâ—â—y r. Transcendency ibid. l. 4. for without it r. about it p. 521. l. 28 29 for by Impression r. Iâ—â—ell and p. 1019. l. 16. add them after distinguish p. 1025. l. 12. dele 1. p. 1035. l. 28. after Christ add so Quest How is the adherent Vanity of every Condition most effectually abated by Serious Godliness SERMON I. ECCLES VI. 11 12. 11. Seeing there be many things that encrease Vanity what is man the better 12. For who knoweth what is good for man in this Life I Began my Morning-Exercises with this comprehensive Case How to be in all things at all times exactly Conscientious and the Supplement with this How to attain and improve such Love to God as may influence all the Graces Actions and Passages of our Lives and now I would fain direct you How to prevent or cure the Vanity that is incident to every Condition Solomon upon the review of his Life the Honours Pleasures Wealth and Wisdom he had so abundantly enjoyed the many observations he had made of things natural moral domestical civil sensual and divine the curious critical enquiries he had made after true Happiness and what contribution all things under the Sun afford towards it at last demonstrates the utter insufficiency of all things meerly worldly to make us happy In the first six Chapters of this Book he shews wherein Happiness doth not consist confuting the vain Opinions of all sorts of irreligious Persons and in the six last Chapters he shews wherein it doth consist rectifying the Judgment of all those that seek after it In this Chapter is continued a further description of the vanity of Riches and Honours and Children and long Life c. And in these two last verses he takes up a general Conclusion of all the precedent Vanities Since there are so many things that increase vanity what is man the better for all of them Considering our ignorance we do not know what is best for our selves many and great things do but distract us and if we did know and could obtain what is good for us we can enjoy these things but a little while and what will come to pass hereafter we know not To make every Condition as easie as 't is possible I shall endeavour to discuss this Question How is the adherent vanity of every Condition most effectually abated by serious Godliness You will all grant that Solomon was the fittest man that ever lived to find out the very quintessence of Creature-excellencies and to extract what was possible to be extracted out of worldly Vanities he doth upon both his own impartial Scrutiny and the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost give you the total Summe at the head of the account Eccles 1.2 Vanity of vanities Vanity of vanities i. e. extream vanity This he demonstrates by an induction of particulars but to dispell as much as 't is possible that vexation of Spirit that steams from such multiplication of Vanity he doth upon his own experience and the Holy Ghosts direction commend this Prescription at the foot of the account viz. Serious Godliness Eccles 12.13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments c. And do it now as you will wish you had done it when you come to Judgment For the discussing my Question I shall lay down these Propositions Prop. I Every Condition is clogg'd with Vanity All things that men generally set their Hearts upon are Vanity Vanity is that which seemeth to be something and is nothing 't is a shadow empty without substance unprofitable without fruit if you put any confidence in it 't will not only deceive you but hurt you we are loth to think so more loth to believe it every one hath a kind of unaccountable confidence about the things of this world that if they might but be their own Carvers they doubt not of an earthly happiness whereas they cannot but be mistaken For 1. God never made the World nor any condition in it to be a place of rest and satisfaction and since Sin hath so far marr'd the Beauty of the Universe there 's a judicial Vanity upon the whole Creation Rom. 8.20 Now men must needs fail of their expectation when they look for that in the Creature that God never plac'd there as if we could mend the works of Creation and Providence I confess 't is ordinary for persons to attempt it and to glory in their Atchievments e. g. God made man only to have
causes There 's a Necessity of these things while we are in the World and we need variety of them more than for present use e. g. Childhood and Age are helpless and need greater supplies there 's difference between Sickness and Health and we must provide for both and is not this very plausible Whereas did but Persons consider how many Superfluities shroud themselves under the wing of Necessaries and how Persons love to be at their own finding rather than Gods thô there 's no comparison between them as Israel Numb 11.5 We Remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely the Cucumbers and the Melons and the Leeks and the Onions and the Garlick and now our Soul is dryed away there is nothing at all besides this Manna before our Eyes They preferred the Food which the Egyptians gave their Slaves before Manna which if the Inhabitants of the upper World needed food were fit for them We would not onely have Mercies but we would be humour'd in the Circumstances of 'em Rachel must presently have Children or she 'l be weary of her Life whereas she might have learnt from her own Husband and Grand-father that those Children of patiently believing Parents were the greatest Blessings that came from teeming Prayers and Barren Wombs but she considers not this she must have Children or dye Well God so far gratifies her she shall have Children but that which she reckoned would be the greatest Comfort of her Life proved to be her death The flattery of worldly things prevails with many The Grandeur of the World that pleaseth the Eye the Esteem of the World that pleaseth the Fancy whereas would but these Persons consider all things of the World appear better at a distance than we find them near at hand I dare confidently make this offer and without imposing upon God any thing indecent peremptorily assure you God will make it good That if you can but give any one instance of any one Person made happy satisfyingly happy by any worldly enjoyment you shall be the second I grant many are through Grace contented with a little pittance of the World but where dwelt the man that was ever yet contented meerly with the World The wealth of the World promiseth Satisfaction a Eccl. 10.19 Money answereth all things but b ch 5.10 he that loveth Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase The pleasures of the World promise refreshment to relieve us of all our cares but instead of it c Eccl. 2.11 they are all Vanity and Vexation of Spirit The Honours of the World promise quiet and contentment but d Psal 73.18 19. surely they are set in slippery places as upon a Pinnacle whence though they do not presently fall yet they are utterly consumed with terrors of falling In short e Psal 49.20 man that is in honour and understandeth not how to honour God with it is like the Beasts that perish degrades himself into a Beast and the time is at hand when he would count it a greater happiness than ever he shall obtain if his Soul and Body might die together like a Beast Experience is beyond Speculation we see others grow great they fare better and go finer and are more esteemed in the World every one respects them and if he but grow Rich he must presently be the best in the Parish whereas those that are low and mean in the World they are despised thô never so well qualified This thou speak'st upon thine own Observation thou canst name the Persons and the places whence thou hast this experience Very well thou takest this for a demonstration that there is such a thing as an Earthly happiness Hold a little be but intreated to push the Observation a little further and consider impartially how loth thou wouldst be to take up with that for thy Happiness which thou so much admirest Single out any one of those thou accountest most happy in their outward enjoyments and be sure thou art as thoroughly acquainted with all the circumstances of his Condition as thou art with thine own and then sit down and seriously consider Is this the Person whose happiness thou admirest View him inside and outside and tell me wouldst thou have his Condition and all the Circumstances of it 'T is true he is great in the World but wouldst thou have all his cares and fears his restless Nights and troublesome Dayes wouldst thou have just his qualifications of mind that half-wittedness that makes him ridiculous his peevish Humours which make him a burden to himself and others Wouldst thou have just his temper of Body To be alwayes sickly or conceited to be so He can't eat this nor digest that nor relish any thing as do meaner Persons Those Relations that should be the greatest Comfort of his Life hanker after his Death His Children upon one account or other almost break his Heart his Servants are vexatious his Business distracting or his idleness wearisome Whereas perhaps his next Neighbour that hath scarce bread to eat hath a quieter frame of Mind a better temper of Body a better Stomach better Digestion better Health more Comfort in Relations and longer Life to enjoy all these than him thou countest the Worlds darling think of this before thou concludest for an earthly Happiness The restlesness of the Mind of man upon so many disappointments makes him eager after any thing that promiseth Satisfaction he hath experience of the uneasiness of his present Condition and none of that which flatters him So that he becomes like one that hath been long sick who is willing to try every Medicine that every Visitant commends never considering how he heightens his disease by the use of false Remedies e. g. Shouldst thou take medicines proper for an Erysipelas to cure a Dropsie or Medicines for the Stone to cure a Consumption thô those Medicines would not presently kill thee they would never Cure thee but thou must still complain of disappointments and be worse and worse instead of having any amendment Do not deceive your selves one Vanity will never cure another Satan will not be wanting to set in with all the other cheats the Inclinations of the Flesh the flatteries of the World and the various pleadings of carnal Reason Satan you may be sure will do what 's possible to be done to entangle the Soul in a fools Paradise or plunge it into inextricable difficulties especially when he hath a good second as in this Case thô one might rationally think there should need no more to fright him to his watch then to assure him the hand of Satan is in all this Suspect him in every thing he cannot be thy Friend he cannot make any one motion for thy good where he seems to do so 't is to do thee greater mischief Thus have I jumbled together something of what may be said both with real and seeming weight for empty reasonings weigh most with empty
understandings why all sorts of Persons are hankering after an earthly Happiness And now I shall speak largely in the third to what I little more than hinted in the second Proposition It is onely Serious Godliness that can any whit really abate the Vanity Prop. III that cleaves to every Condition Other things may like Topical Medicines as Playsters to the Wrists repell the Disease but while they do not remove the cause they cannot Cure it We may exchange one Vanity for another and the Novelty may please us for a while but when that is over the Vexation returns 'T is true God alone can cure us but what ever method he takes to do it whether of Indulgence or Severity 't is alwayes by framing the Heart and Life to Serious Godliness to hate Sin and love Holiness to live a Life of Faith in dependance upon God and resignation to him to live above the transports of hopes and fears about things temporal and to grow up in the Graces and Comforts of the Holy Ghost for things Eternal In short to be Blessings to the World while we live and to be Blessed with God when we dye this is the business and fruit of Serious Godliness And this alone is that which at present can effectually abate the vexatious Vanities which every Condition swarms with The wisest man in the World cannot tell what is good for man in this Life No man can tell what worldly Condition is better for him than that which is his present Condition Among the variety of things under the Sun which the Heart of man is apt to be drawn out unto neither he himself nor any other for him is able certainly to inform him which of all those 't is best for him to enjoy and to reap Comfort from Whether it be better for him to be rich or poor high or low in private retirement or in publick service Some mens greatness hath undone them they had never been so wicked had not their Wealth been fuel for their Lusts Achitophel might have lived longer had he not been so wise No man can tell whether that he snatcheth at with most greediness have not a hook under the Bait or be not tempered with Poyson Those that live by Rapine and Violence Prov. 1.18 They lay wait for their own blood they lurk privily for their own lives But you 'l say these are hot-headed Persons live extravagantly walk by no Rule don't take time to consider well turn your Eyes from these to those that are most accomplisht for humane wisdom and knowledge Rom. 1.22 Professing themselves to be Wise they became Fools drowning their some way right thô every way short Notions they had of God in unreasonable Idolatry You 'l say these were but Heathens and therefore no marvel if they did not like to retain God in their Knowledge 't is better with Christians Look next upon Christians and those of the highest Notions and form of Godliness on this side the Power of it 2 Pet. 2.18 19 21. While they speak great swelling words of Vanity about that they call Christian Liberty they themselves are the Servants of Corruption and it had been better for them never to have known the way of Righteousness than not to have walkt in it Well but for all this Job tells us of some of even the worst of men that account themselves so happy as if they needed nothing from God to better their Condition but he tells you withall in the same breath Job 21.15 16. Lo their good is not in their hand thô they think it is they have not their Fortune as they call it in their own power to retain it while they live and dispose of it when they dye God can overturn it when he pleaseth and will do it to their Sorrow whatever Persons may hope or fancy if they fear not God nor obey the Voice of his Servants thô they are not at present in trouble like other men Psal 73.5 c. but can speak loftily setting their mouth against the Heavens and their Tongue walketh through the Earth thô they compass themselves about with some sparks or blaze of Comfort Isa 50.10 11. yet this shall they have of Gods hand they shall lye down in Sorrow Now thus when every one is rummaging among heaps of Vanities that pretend to be good for man upon Earth will you accept of a Guide to direct you to what cannot but be good for you and that in every Condition that shall not only abate the Vanity but discover the Excellency that is in every Condition This will be most distinctly done by an induction of particulars and setting contrary Conditions one against another what may be said for and against each Condition and how Serious Godliness makes every Condition amiable Who knows whether Riches or Poverty be best for man in this Life I. For Riches I need say but little because most Persons are ready to say too much they seem to be the Cause without which there can be not so much as the fancying an earthly Happiness what pleasures or esteem can worldlings have without an Estate to feed them the Riches of the Mind are too Spiritual to be seen by carnal Eyes But when you consider these or such like inseparable attendants on a great Estate you will see the desirableness to shrink as the Vanity swells e. g. Some run out the greatest part of their Life before they can reach what they can call an Estate to say nothing of those that dye the Worlds Martyrs in the pursuit of that they never attain those that have got an Estate or have an Estate left 'em have ordinarily as great care and difficulty in keeping as they or others have had in the getting of it O the tiresome Dayes the restless Nights the broken Sleeps the wild Passions the fretting Disquiet of those troublesom occurrences which they cannot possibly prevent And when you come to speak of an Enjoyment to speak strictly they have nothing worth the Name of an Enjoyment which they may not have as well if not better without what they call an Estate Yet thô 't is thus while they have it they are not able to bear the parting with it the very thoughts of losing puts 'em into Heart-convulsions So that an Estate can neither be got nor kept nor lost without manifold Vanity and Vexation of Spirit Alas what remedy Serious Godliness carries a Gracious Person above all Heart-breaking Vexations of getting the World for his Thoughts are fill'd about getting something better about keeping for comparatively he cares for keeping nothing but Faith and a good Conscience about enjoying for he counts nothing on this side God worth the Name of an enjoyment And as for parting with the World he impartially considers that he can't have the possession of his Heavenly Inheritance till the World and he shake hands for ever So that there 's no room without the regret of Grace to edge in so much as
Persons the unpitied Poverty of Huffing Gamesters and in a word the unpleasant Exit of most Pleasure-mongers and for those that escape these common effects they as commonly contract a carnal Security which is as bad as the worst of these And for those pleasures that are above sensual I 'le say no more at present but this the better the Objects of our delights are on this side God and the pleasing of God the more our carnal Wisdom is fortified against the true method to real happiness Upon the whole matter then Pleasures are a kind of dangerous fruit which if not well corrected are Poyson we can scarce taste without danger of surfeiting But now what doth the Power of Godliness in this case What 't will not meddle with unlawful pleasures thô never so tempting 't will strain out the dregs of lawful pleasures that they may not be unwholsome 't will moderate the use of unquestionable delights that they may not be inordinate And 't will teach us to be thankful to God for making our Pilgrimage any way comfortable 't will raise the Soul to prepare and long for Heaven where are pure and full Joyes and that for evermore Thus for a Life of Pleasure What shall we say to a Life of Sorrow and Pensiveness to live 〈◊〉 Recluse from the flattering Vanities of the World a Eccles 2.2 ◠I said of Laughter it is mad and of Mirth what doth it What Musick is the gigling Mirth of the World to a serious Soul Those that the Frothy part of the World count Melancholy the sober part of the World count them Wise But yet to give way to Sorrow disspirits us for any considerable service either to God or Man it unfits us for every thing b 2 Cor. 7.10 the Sorrow of the World worketh Death Such are burdensome to themselves and others they are weary of themselves and every body else is weary of them If a Melancholy mopish temper be not checkt 't will lead to hard thoughts of God to blasphemy infidelity In short a Life of Sorrow is a degree of Hell upon Earth and such Persons torment themselves before their time But what can Religion do in this case Serious Godliness bears up the Soul from sinking under worldly sorrow c Eccles 7.3 4. Sorrow is better than Laughter for by the sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better The Heart of the wise is in the house of Mourning but the Heart of Fools is in the house of Mirth Religion will teach us how to turn worldly Sorrow into Sorrow for Sin d 2 Cor. 7.9 10. to sorrow to Repentance after a godly manner and godly Sorrow worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of 'T is Serious Godliness that teacheth how to mourn for the Sins and Dangers of the Times we live in And Christians pray take special notice that this is our present great duty a duty that every Christian not only ought but may perform and none can hinder it And O that this duty were frequently thought of and more universally practised The Land is even drown'd in Pleasure the Conscientious performance of this duty would be a token for good for the abating of the deluge And thô the times should be such that their own Sorrows should be encreased yet then even then how chearing would the forethoughts of Heaven be to such serious Christians How may they chide their Hearts out of their Dejections e Psal 42.11 Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet aye and ever praise him who now is and for ever will be the health of my Countenance f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salutes faciei mei and the Salvation of my face and my God Because thou art my God g Psal 67.6 my own God my exceeding great not only rewarder but h Gen. 15.1 reward And thus much for the second Pair Pleasure and Sorrow III. Who knows whether Honour or Obscurity be best for man in this Life At first sight it seems easie to determine but when both sides are heard 't will seem otherwise For Honour every one would be Some-body in the World would be esteemed and preferr'd before others disgrace and infamy seem most intolerable when Job had done contesting with his censorious Friends he is greatly concern'd about the contempt poured upon him thô but by infamons Enemies Job 29. 30. And David thô he could even in desperate cases encourage himself in God yet complains i Psal 69.20 Reproach hath broken my Heart matter of Honour and Reputation is a tender point not any of what rank soever but deeply resent the being slighted But for Honour when we consider how hazardous it is to get thô all are clambering few reach it consider further when 't is got 't is slippery to hold others envy and their own fear distract 'em and then if you adde the falling from it that 's worse than if they never had it but there 's worse than all this the insuperable temptation to pride oppression and impenitency all which nothing but Grace can prevent or cure And for that lesser reputation and esteem which comes short of the Name of Honour 't is troublesom to carry it like a Venice-glass that the least touch may not crack it What can Religion do in this Case Serious Godliness 't will never be beholding to Sin nor Satan for worldly Honour It values it no more than as it adds to a capacity of honouring God He that 's truely Religious is neither so fond of Honour as to Sin to get or keep it neither doth he count himself undone to lose it he values the priviledge of Adoption beyond all the Honours in the World k Isa 43.4 Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable he is graciously ambitious of doing God and Christ some service in the World he appears for God to discountenance prevent or remove Sin to encourage promote and advance Holiness this God in condescension accounts an honouring of him and hath accordingly promised l 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed In short you may know what Faith you have by what Honour you prize m John 5.44 How can ye believe that receive honour one of another and seek not the Honour which cometh from God only This for Honour Some preferr Obscurity in the World to snudge in quiet to live retired and reserved out of the Vexatious hurry of a captious World to keep in the shade out of the scorching Sun to steal out of the World without any noise or notice O how sweet is this to many wise and judicious Persons that are every way above what 's Vulgar But how do these in running from one Vanity fall into another They debase the humane Nature and the reasonable Soul while they
wherein you will be as careful to fulfill the Conditions as you would have God faithful in fulfilling the Promises Look out so sharp to the Progress of your Sanctification that Sin may not expire but be mortified and that Grace may be so lively as to confute the reproach of Enemies and exceed the Commendation of Friends Bear Afflictions not as a Malefactor goes to Execution because he can't help it but as chary not to miss the Fruit of Affliction the Participation of Gods Holiness Thô you look first to your selves be not only selfish though in the most Gracious manner but endeavour to be Blessings as far as your Name is heard of In short perform all your duties to God your selves and others in the Name of Christ thrô his Strength according to his Command relying upon his Promises that you may feel what it is to be accepted in Gods and your beloved This is to be Serious in Religion Learn to be more than barely contented with your present Condition Vse 2 't is that which God in Wisdom chooseth for you preferring it before any other Condition Every Condition hath some lessons peculiar to it which are better learnt in that Condition than in any other and those things that may be best learnt in thy Condition are the things you most need learning which when you have learnt then God will put thee into other circumstances to teach thee something else Every Condition hath something grievous in it by reason of the Sin and Vanity that cleaves to it but that which is most grievous if it be used as Physick will help to cure thee We all grant 't is best to take Physick when we need it a 1 Pet. 1.6 Now for a season if need be you are in heaviness thrô manifold Trials and when we take Physick we imprison our selves in our Chamber as much as others in a Gaol we abstain from riot as much as they that want bread we tend our Physick and need no Arguments to do so Christians let God be your Physician and prescribe what Physick he pleaseth we have nothing else to do but observe his Instructions for it's beneficial operation Apply this to any Condition that is uneasie to you and you 'l see cause not only to justifie but to praise your wise Physitian but if this arguing be not cogent I will commend one that is I confess I love those Directions that will apply themselves that will work their way for Application That you may so far like your present Condition as to perform the duties of it before you desire an Alteration of it take this course Sit down and consider should God so far humour thee as to let thee frame thine own Condition to thine own mind to give thee thy choice for a worldly Happiness Suppose he allowed thee time to think to consult Friends to alter and add upon second and third yea upon your twentieth Thought whatever the Wit of man could suggest or the Heart of man desire and all this for a whole Moneth together before you fixt your choice I suppose when you chose it should be Wealth without Care Pleasure without Weariness Honour without Hazard Health without Sickness Friends without Mistake Relations without Crosses Old Age without Infirmities and if God should thus alter the course of his Providence unto what would your own Pride and the Worlds Envy expose you O! but you 'l say all this with Grace will do well Do you think so but would not Grace without all this do better Can you think that such a Condition would Wean you from the World and fit you for Heaven or is Earth the place where you would live for ever and have no more Happiness than that can afford you Return Poor Soul return to thy Self and to thy God acknowledge that God is Wise and thou art a Fool And 't is better be employed in the present Duty of thy present Condition than to doze out thy Life in wilde Imaginations Vse 3 Make Conscience of both sorts of Duties Religious and Worldly and allot fit and distinct times for Heavenly and Worldly Business but with this difference let Religion mix it self with worldly business and spare not but let not the World break in upon Religion lest it spoil it Religion will perfume the World but the World will taint Religion Though every thing in the World be clogg'd with Vanity yet there 's something of Duty about every thing we meddle with and we must not call neglect of Duty contempt of the World Use the World as you do your Servants to whom you give due liberty as the best way to prevent their taking more than is due so to take a due care about the World is the best way to prevent Religion's being justled out by worldly cares Count not any Sin or Duty about the least matters so small as to venture upon the one or neglect the other but proportion your carefulness according to the business before you I see more cause every day than other to commend both the Truth and Weight of the Observation that all Over-doing is undoing You can't bestow too much diligence about one thing but you rob something else of what diligence is necessary and marr that about which you are over-solicitous I 'le close this with that of the Apostle b 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. This I say Brethren the time is short we have none to spare It remaineth for the future that both they that have Wives be as though they bad none let 'em not be Uxorious and they that weep as if they wept not if God bring them under sorrrow let them but water their Plants not drown 'em and they that rejoyce as if they rejoyced not we must at best rejoyce with trembling and they that buy as if they possessed not there 's nothing we can purchase worth the name of a Possession and they that use this world as not abusing it to any other use than what God hath appointed for the fashion of this World passeth away the Pageantry of this World will soon be over but I would have you without carefulness without distracting carefulness about worldly things Whatever you do for the bettering of your Condition follow God but Vse 4 do not go before him This is a direction of great moment being a necessary Caution against that Sin that doth always beset us Every man is an Orator to aggravate his own grievances and thinks himself a Politician for fitting them with Remedies yea hath the confidence of a Prophet that they shall certainly be effectual if God will but take his Time and Method for their operation c Job 11.12 Vain man would be wise thô he be born like a wild Asses Colt to kick up his heels against Gods unsearchable Wisdom You may at once see both your proness to the Sin and Christ directing to this Remedy in one and the same instance viz. When Peter had made such a
extinguish all worldly love And this is an infallible sign of the love of God in the Soul for they two are contrary and mortal Enemies one to the other and seek the destruction of each other The reason is plain 1. They differ in their Rise and Offspring one is Heaven-born Gal. 5.17 the other is Earthly 2. They differ in their Quality one hates what the other loves 3. They differ in their Objects One loves God the other loves the Creature 4. They differ in the Means of their Attainments one minds the Will and Word of God to follow that only the other minds the Wills and Lusts of the flesh to fulfill them Ephes 2.2 and to make provision for them Rom. 13. last v. 5. They differ in their End The love of Creatures is disappointed and lost the Love of God enjoyes him for ever Psal 42.1 2. and rests satisfied in that enjoyment and not before 6. Consider thou canst never keep thy self in the Love of God if thou art not quit and utterly disengaged from the love of the World in the Lusts and Vanities of it by thy inordinate desires and hankerings after it God never comes into the Soul till the World go out Taulerus and then the Soul moves nobly when it moves to its Principle This makes the Circular motion of the Heavens to be most Noble because it returns alwayes to the same point where it began Thus Noah's Dove found no rest out of the Ark but returned to it after long fluttering about because it found no food among the Carrion but the Raven did and therefore abode by it A Bird as long as it flyes aloft in the Air is free from the Fowlers Gin but when it lights down on the ground and falls a picking in the Earth then is nearest unto danger Thus it fares with men of the Earth O poor Soul saith St. Aug. how dost thou debase thy self thou lovest earthly things and thou art better than them thou admirest the Sun and thou art more beautifull and excellent than the Sun only God is above thee and thou wert made to love him only A Child of Heaven and a Son of the Earth differ in this as much as Heaven and Earth Phil. 3.18 19 20. 2 Pet. 3.10 The Ground is cursed and this World shall be burnt up why art thou enamour'd with it Therefore the Lord imbitters the Worlds Breasts to his Children that they may be weaned and no longer suck of them and then when the world begins to be bitter to us the Lord begins to be sweeter to us Math. 17.4 When Peter had found some Sweetness on Mount Tabor he was loth to come down and would dwell there above the World in that heavenly Company That Wife never truly loved her Husband that loves her Jewels above him Did not Israel do so when they made a Calf of the Jewels God gave them and a God of that Calf and themselves Beasts in worshipping of it What abominable Idolatry what Apostasie what Ingratitude is here 1. All that hath hitherto been said of this great Duty of Keeping our selves in the Love of God is Practical and carryes Application with it containing true signs of such as keep themselves in Gods Love What is that but a great Use of Examination of our State and of our Practice 1. Whether we are in the Love of God 2. Whether we do indeed walk so as to keep our selves in it Be not deceived compare your State Heart and Life with these Rules be serious and solemn in it 2. You have had by way of contrary sufficiently hinted the cross Practice of the greatest part of the World herein who keep themselves out of Gods Love by keeping in an evil State of Enmity between God and them And though God hath long beseeched them by his Embassadours to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.20 yet they will not but stand out in open defiance against God Job 21.14 and desire not the knowledge of his wayes they preferr the Love of men before the Love of God They preferr the love of Money and carnal Delights before the love of God Luk. 8.14 2 Tim. 3.4 They hate the Knowledge of God they hate the People of God they hate the Wayes of God they love those that hate God and whom God hates Can these think themselves in the Love of God Can they keep themselves in the Love of God before they are come into it And this carryes in it a Use of Reprehension Conviction Discrimination and Lamentation all of them respectively O mind and consider it well 3. We have a Use of Exhortation The Text is properly such a Use It contains a Duty to be practised all your Life perform the Duties of that State study what doth please God Qui in amore Dei se custodiunt suaviter habitant instar apum in alvearibus in favis meilis ut Sponsa in finu Sponsi Cant. 1.2 3. cap. 2.4 5 6 12 13. take heed of that which doth offend God shun all that is inconsistent with the Love of God Meditate on the happy Priviledge of such a State Thou art a Candidate of Heaven a Favourite of God such are out of the reach of danger they have a sweet Calm and Sun-shine in their Conscience They have a pleasant Spring of singing of Birds and like the fragrant smell of a Garden of Spices and the fill of Divine Flagons in Christs Banquetting House Cant. 4.16 Cap. 5.1 4. If thou keep thy self in the Love of God thou needest not to fear the Hatred of men This is to be feared of all that are not in the Love of God Those that are in Gods love have no cause in the world to fear worldly mens hate they have the strongest security against it 1. From the Power of God which is omnipotent Gen. 15.1 2. From the Promise of God which is faithful and never fails Rom. 8.31 to 39. Heb. 13.5 6 8. 3. From the Eternity of Christ the same to day as yesterday and for ever He hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So that we may boldly say The Lord is my Helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me Read Deut. 33. and the four last Verses God will be a wall of fire about those that are in his Love Zach. 2.5 Read Deut. 32.9 10 11 12 13 14. What higher expressions can be uttered to set forth the tender love of God to his People while they are under his Wing Will ye have more consider that of the Prophet Isaiah in Chap. 60.5 As one whom his Mother comforteth so will I comfort you and you shall be comforted And when ye see this your heart shall rejoyce and your bones shall flourish like an herb 5. If ye mind this Duty aright to keep your selves in the love of God 1 You must labour to understand the love of God to his Elect truely and then meditate
such an Headship The Church is visible and it must they thought have a visible Head It was meet also that this Head should have some such Grandeur and Pomp in the World as became the Head of so Great and Glorious a Society as the Church is How to apply these things unto Christ and his Presence with the Church by his Word and Spirit they knew not Shall they then forgo the Principle That the Church is to have such an Head and Supream Ruler That must not be done but be sacredly retained not only because to deny it in general is to renounce the Gospel but because they had found out a way to turn it unto their own advantage they would therefore make an Image of Christ as this Head of the Church to possess the Place and act all the Powers of such an Head for the Church they say is visible and must have a visible Head as though the Catholick Church as such were any other way visible but as the Head of it is that is by Faith That there must be an Head and Center of Union wherein all the Members of the Church may agree and be united notwithstanding all their distinct Capacities and Circumstances and how this should be Christ himself they know not that without a Supream Head present in the Church to compose all Differences and determine all Controversies even those concerning himself which they vainly pretend unto they expresly affirm that there was never a Society so foolishly ordered as that of the Church And hereon they conclude the Insufficiency of Christ to be this fâ—le Head of the Church another they must have for these Ends. And this was their Pope such an Image as is one of the worst of Idols that ever were in the world Unto him they give all the Titles of Christ which relate unto the Church and ascribe all the Powers of Christ in and over it as unto its Rule to him also But here they fell into a Mistake for when they thought to give him the Power of Christ they gave him the Power of the Dragon to use against Christ and those that are his And when they thought to make an Image of Christ they made an Image of the First Beast set up by the Dragon which had two Horns like a Lamb but spake as a Dragon whose Character and Employ is at large described Rev. 13.11 12 13 14 15 16 17. This is the Sum of what I shall offer on this Head Those who called themselves the Church had lost all Spiritual Light enabling them to discern the Beauty and Glory of the Rule of Christ over the Church as its Head and hereon their Minds became destitute of all Experience of the power and efficacy of his Spirit and Word continually to order the Affairs thereof in the ways and through the use of Means by himself appointed they knew not how to acquiesce in these things nor how the Church could be maintained by them Wherefore in this case they helped every one his Neighbour and every one said to his Brother be of good comfort so the Carpenter encouraged the Goldsmith and he that sâ—â—â—teth with the Hammer him that smiteth the Anvil They set themselves in their several capacities to frame this Idol and set him up in the place and stead of Christ so fixing him in the Temple of God that he might shew himself from thence to be as God Neither will this Idol be ever cast out of the Church until the Generality of Christians become spiritually sensible of the Authority of Christ exerting it self in the Rule of the Church by his Spirit and his Word unto all the Ends of Unity Order Peace and Edification until that be done a Pope or somthing like him will be thought necessary unto these Ends. But never was there a more horrid deformed Image made of so beautiful and glorious an Head All the Craft of Satan all the Wits of men cannot invent any thing more unlike Christ as the Head of the Church than this Pope is A worse Figure and Representation of him cannot possibly be made This is he of whom nothing not great nothing common nothing not exceeding the ordinary state of Mankind on the one hand or the other is thought or spoken Some say he is the Head and Husband of the Church the Vicar of Christ over the whole World God's Vicegerent a Vice-God Peter's Successor the Head and Center of Vnity unto the whole Catholick Church endued with a plenitude of Power with other Ascriptions of the same nature innumerable whereon it is necessary unto every Soul under pain of Damnation to be subject unto him Others aver that he is Antichrist the Man of Sin the Son of Perdition the Beast that came out of the Earth with two Horns like a Lamb and a Voice like the Dragon the false Prophet the Idol Shepherd the evil Servant that beateth his fellow-Servants the Adulterer of a Meretricious and false Church and there is no Mean betwixt these He is undoubtedly the One or the Other The Lord Jesus Christ who hath determined this Controversie already in his Word will ere long give it its ultimate Issue in his own glorious Person and by the brightness of his coming And this is an eminent Idol in the Chamber of Imagery in the Roman Church But at present it is evident wherein lies the preservation of Believers from being inveagled to bow down to this Image and to worship it A due sence of the sole Authority of Christ in and over his Church with an experience of the power of his Word and Spirit unto all the Ends of its Rule and Order will keep them unto the Truth herein and nothing else will so do And if once they decline from this in any Instances seem they never so small so as to admit of any thing in the Church or its Worship which doth not derive immediately from his Authority they will be disposed to admit of another Guide and Head in all other things also SECT V. Again it is a Notion of Truth That the Church of Christ is beautiful and glorious There are many Prophesies and Predictions concerning it that so it should be and there are sundry descriptions given of it as such It s Relation unto Christ with his Love unto it and valuation of it do require that it should be so glorious yea his great Design towards it was to make it so to be Eph. 5.25 26 27. This therefore all do agree in who profess Christian Religion but what that Glory is and wherein it doth consist whence it is and is said to be glorious is not agreed upon The Scripture indeed plainly declares this Glory to be Spiritual and internal that it consists in its Union unto Christ his presence with it the communication of his quickning Spirit unto it the cloathing of it with his Righteousness in its Sanctification and Purification from the defilement of Sin with its fruitfulness in Obedience unto
keep them A transgression of the Law is the endangering of a Subject He shall give his Angels charge ever thee to kâ—ep thee in all thy ways Their commission as large 〈◊〉 it is reaches no further when you leave that you lose your guard but while you keep your way Angels yea the God of Angels will keep you Do not so much fear loosing your Estate or your liberty or your lives as losing your way and leaving your way fear that more than any thing nothing but Sin exposeth you to misery So long as you keep your way you shall keep other things or if you lose any of them you shall get that which is better though you may be sufferers for Christ you shall not be losers by him Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation and walked with God and he was secured in the Ark before the world was drowned with the Flood Let the worst come that can it is not so bad as carnal reason represents it if a good man should be deprived of his temporal comforts it will commend spiritual ones the more to him so that he shall the better rellish and taste them Gods voice is never so sweet as when he speaks comfortably in a wilderness If a Child of God should be cut off by a violent stroak he is thereby brought the sooner to his Father such a death is the shortest way home If inraged Persecutors add to his sufferings in so doing tâ—â—y add to his Crown and by making his burden heavy they make his glory the more exceeding weighty 3. Let Gods governing the World be the matter of your Faith no Truth will be a Staff of Support unless you carry it in a believing hand precepts will not prevail threatnings will not awe you and promises will not comfort you and the most pretious Scripture-Revelations will not chear you any farther than as they are believed Let a Minister of the Gospel present you with never so precious a Cordial made up of the most choice and excellent Ingredients it will do you no good unless it be mingled by you with Faith therefore believe that the management and ordering of all things is in the hand of God and pray that you may have a well confirmed and improved Faith hereof when the Faith is weak it affords but weak comfort do you strengthen your Faith and that will greaten your peace and raise your joy to this end Be careful of this that you do nothing to the prejudice of your Faith do not you weaken that which must support you what a madness was it for Sampson to let his Locks be cut when he knew he should lose his strength together with them Now there is nothing in the World so prejudicial to Faith as Sin is A guilty Conscience doth always make a palsey-hand which is tremulous and shaking whensoever it goes about to lay hold upon God and Christ and the Covenant or any promise Rebukes of Conscience are severe checks to Faith O! saith the poor soul when snib'd from within What! shall I look upon God as my God alass I have disobeyed and dishonoured him Shall I trust in Christ as my Saviour I have crucified him afresh and put him to an open shame Shall I rejoyce in the Covenant I have broken it and dealt falsely in it Shall I delight in the promise and live upon it where is the Condition I cannot find it in my self Such Reflexions as these produce inward Troubles and Disquiets and Fears so that the very sweet meats of the Gospel are imbittered to such an one He cannot rellish them because he questions his Interest in them What is all God to one that cannot say my God Guilt makes Faith and Comfort run low whereas Great Peace have they that love the Law and nothing shall offend them they have peace in trouble joy in sorrow calms in storms inward sedateness in the midst of outward Commotions If our hearts condemn us not then have we boldness toward God and if so then comfort comes in from every Prospect which we have of God Let us then Look upon him which way we will we shall see smiles and delights that very appearance which is dark to others will give Light to us Lastly Be very serious and frequent in your Meditations upon Gods Governing the World transient and fleeting thoughts make either none or but little and slight and short Impressions The Burning-Glass will not Fire any combustible matter unless it be held some considerable time with a steady hand in the beams of the Sun so it is here dwell therefore in your thoughts upon this Subject consider it and return to consider repeat the Work again and again and again 25. Ps 15. Mine Eyes are ever toward the Lord that is often and often at all times and upon all occasions Was he in straits he looked to God Was he in danger he looked to God Was he in fears he still looked to God and that supported him as you may gather from the next Words He shall pluck my Feet out of the Net though mine Enemies have got me in their Net and I am so entangled in it that I cannot make my own Escape yet God shall pluck me out from him I shall have my Deliverance and a Song And in such Cases and Conditions we should specially look to God under the notion of Supreme Rector and Governour of the World Are there confusions and distresses up and down in the World Are Foundations out of course yet comfort your selves with this that God sits at the helm and he is our refuge and strength a very present help in time of trouble you will find serious reiterated meditation will be exceeding influential upon you David remembred God upon his Bed and meditated upon him in the night-watches and called to mind his former mercies how he had been his help 63. Psalm and this greatly supported and comforted him therefore saith He in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoyce he would both hide under it and rejoyce Gods shadow should be both his shelter and his Paradise and so it may well be for his Name is not only a strong Tower but likewise an Ointment poured forth having in it strength and sweetness In the second Use I exhort and beseech you to evidence it unto the World That your Belief of Gods Governing the World doth really support and chear you in the midst of the present Distractions when many Mens hearts are failing for fear of those things which may come to pass The Truth is the day in which Providence hath cast us is a day of Distraction the World is stark mad wicked men are mad upon sin and vanity and superstition and idolatry and mad against Religion and Godliness Well Christians if they will be mad let them be so God knows how to tame them and how to chain and fetter them too he hath hooks for their Noses and bridles for their Jaws Only be
We must consider a man as placed by God in a publick capacity whether of Magistracy or Ministry and in this case also more is requisite to constitute a middle State than for those whom Providence hath set in a lower Orb. The Rule by which a mediocrity in such a capacity must be determined is so much as may be necessary to discharge those Offices and great Trusts to which they are called Magistrates especially chief Magistrates such as have the Care of Kingdoms and Common-wealths upon them it is supposed a liberal share is necessary for them and that for the keeping up that external Grandeur that belongs to their places and to defray the Charges of that great work incumbent upon them which cannot be done but by many hands which must be not only employed but rewarded by them And for Ministers whom God hath called to that honourable Work of winning Souls 1 Tim. 4.13 15. in order to which they are enjoyn'd to give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine and to meditate upon these things and give themselves wholly to them that their profiting may appear to all So much is supposed to be necessary for a competency for them as may free them from worldly distractions Acts 6.2 4. and that they be not necessitated to serve Tables Yet doth not this either justifie Magistrates in the unreasonble Exactions or Oppressions of their People peeling and polling them for the maintaining of their Pride and Luxury contrary both to divine Precept and Pattern The Precept you have Deut. 17.16 17. He shall not multiply Horses to himself nor cause the People to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply Horses c. Neither shall he multiply Wives to himself that his heart turn not away neither shall he greatly multiply to himself Silver and Gold And for a Pattern take good Nehemiah Nehem. 5.15 The former Governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the People and had taken of them Bread and Wine beside forty Shekels of Silver yea even their Servants bare rule over the People but so did not I because of the fear of God Neither will this vindicate Ministers 1 Tim. 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not a lover of Silver by what Titles soever they are dignified or distinguished to be greedy of filthy Lucre or Covetous not grasping at worldly wealth exalting themselves with external Pomp and Grandeur who are to be examples of Humility Meekness and Lowliness to the Flocks over which God hath made them Overseers 1 Pet. 5.3 thus to Lord it over Gods Heritage with high swelling Titles and a Train of Attendants may suit well enough with the Ministers of Antichrist 2 Thes 2.4 who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped but is very unbecoming those who profess themselves to be the servants of a meek and a lowly Jesus Having thus shewed you in what respects we are to judge of a Mediocrity or middle worldly condition I proceed to shew you wherein this condition is the most eligible and desirable and this both upon Rational and Religious Grounds Only one thing remember that when I am recommending a middle state in the world it must be suppos'd that there is no worldly condition that can be propos'd as so desirable but what hath its adherent Vanities as hath excellently been declared in this Morning-Exercise from another Subject Who knoweth what is good for man in this life Eccl. 6.11 12. all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow To which let me add further Neither is there any condition so formidable but what may by the Grace of God influencing the Heart be improv'd for holy and happy purposes and yet so far as seems sutable to sound Reason as also Scripture-Revelation a middle worldly estate is most eligible and that 1. For a man considered as such with respect to his short passage through this world still this is to be understood with submission to divine pleasure Let us look upon man as a Creature placed by God to act a Part upon the Stage of this world for a few years and then to have his Exit and thus think upon him abstracted from all considerations of a future state Could it be supposed that those Expressions of Solomon were to be construed in the Epicures or Atheist's sence That that which befals the Sons of men befalleth Beasts even one thing befalleth them Eccl. 3.19 20. as the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath c. all go into one place This were good News to those wretches that spend their precious Time in the contempt of God and neglect of their Souls if the words were to be understood without a limitation But the following Verse spoils all their Mirth V. 21. Who knoweth the spirit of a man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth A clear Testimony of the immortality and surviving of the Soul in a future state But suppose man as making a short through-fare from the Womb to the Tomb and so a middle condition is most eligible and that 1. With respect to his Mind 2. With respect to his Body 1. With respect to the Mind a middle state is most eligible as tending to a greater sedateness and tranquility and freeing it from many distractions and manifold anxieties that are the natural concomitants of both the forementioned Extreams of Poverty and Riches 1. As for Poverty it is obvious to every eye especially if it be extream O what daily Tortures and wracking thoughts what solicitous cares the mind of man under such circumstances is exposed to and that for the getting of such Provision as is necessary to satisfie the cravings of Nature whose cries and clamors are loud and troublesome impatient and querulous not a day nor scarce an hour but the mind is put upon the contriving an answer to those repeated Queries what shall I eat and what shall I drink and wherewith shall I be cloathed Nor 2. Is the mind ever a whit the more at ease by being brought into the other Extream of Riches as through our folly we are apt to imagine Oh says the poor man could I but compass such an Estate could I get such a Bank of Money into my Coffers then I should be satisfied but alas this is a grand Mistake for though Riches stop the mouth and satisfie the cravings of Nature yet do they open the â—ouths and enlarge the cravings of so many devouring Lusts that the rich man where his heart is not renewed by Grace is less at quiet and fuller of disturbance than the poor Sometimes his Pride sometimes his Pleasure sometimes his Covetousness and sometimes a whole Kennel of Lusts are let loose upon him that eats out all that comfort and sweetness which otherwise might result from his plentiful Enjoyments whenas a middle condition in the world
singularity and a little perhaps to comply with what has the vogue among the more Gentile and well-bred persons To remove this 1. It is a branch of Holy singularity rather to be sober alone than mad for company What Christian would not rather chuse to lag behind than strain himself to keep pace with a hairbrain'd Age in all its endless and irrational usages And 2. Compliance with a vain humoursom generation is so far from being an excuse that 't is an aggravation of the vanity of the practise But these are onely the causae justificae the umbrages invented to palliate the extravagancy the causae sua sociae lie much deeper which because we cannot in all make a Judgment of we must leave them to the censures of their own Consciences I dare not say 't is to allure or invite Customers tho what does the open Shop and Sign at the Door signify but that there 's something Venal Nor shall I tax the practise of Ambition to shew the fineness clearness and beauty of the skin tho if it were so I would ask Who are concern'd I pray to know what hew what colour it is of but either their lawful Husbands or unlawful Paramours In the mean time this too plain is That Arrogance and Impudence have usurpt the place and produced the effect of Primitive simplicity and Women are now almost naked but not at all ashamed 4. Conclusion What ever pretends to be an Ornament which absucres that Natural Ornament which God has bestowed is not an Ornament but a Defilement The Harmony and Symmetry of the parts each to other made and posited conveniently and proportionably to their proper ends and respective uses Theoph. is the real beauty of the outward man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the front of this is Engraved in Capital Letters Deus fecit God is not we should not be ashamed of it much less should we be a shame to it The throne of this beauty is the countenance which 't is the will of God should ordinarily be uncover'd that the Workman may be seen in his Wormanship And yet this Frontispiece this Portal of the Fabrick which shews so much of Divine Art God will have cover'd when the exposing it to view shall expose the Soul to temptation God would have us turn away our own eyes from beholding Vanity and has provided a nimble covering that with one twinkle we may prevent a Dart shot at us out of the Devils Bow by whatsoever Hand or from whatsoever Quiver and so would he have us turn away the eyes of others too when they may wound themselves and suck Poyson from the Flower of Loveliness and Beauty Now if God would have the Face covered whose great end requires the open view when the uncovering would do harm how much more would he have the Breasts covered whose uncovering may do harm but can do no good having no Lawful end or use assigned for such laying open And if God would have the Face the seat of Beauty to be visible what shall we say of those who by Patching disfigure it who by Painting discolour it that we may now seek God in his Workmanship and his Workmanship in the Face and find neither How had these Wantons repin'd at their Creation and perhaps blasphem'd their Creator had he made them as they have marr'd themselves They had no doubt got a room in the Chronicles amongst the prodigious and monstrous Births had they been born with Moons Stars Crosses Lozenges upon their Cheeks especially had they brought into the World with them a Coach and Horses But here we shall be attacqued with some Questions 1. Quest Is it not Lawful to conceal a gross deformity 1. Ans Yes no doubt but not a Natural deformity with an Artificial vanity He that gave thee thy ordinary Cloathing expects thou wilt use them to hide thy blemishes but will nothing serve thy turn but a fantastick vanity 2. It is Lawful to hide a deformity but not with a greater than that thou wouldst conceal a black Patch forsooth is pretended to hide a blemish either natural or it may be accidentally contracted well be it so I demand then what if God had branded thy Cheek or stigmatiz'd thy Forehead with an Escar of the same figure and colour with that which thou hast invented to hide what thou now hast Would not such a mark have been accounted a greater blemish than what thou now complainest of Why then dost thou vain Woman hide a blemish with a deformity All the quarrel I perceive thou hast against the Natural is that it was of Gods making and all the fancy thou hast for the Artificial is because it was of thy own 3. Much less is it Lawful to hide a Natural beauty with an Artificial deformity for what is this but to be ashamed of what God has done exceeding well and then to glory in what thou hast made a thousand times worse 2. Quest Is it not Lawful to conciliate beauty where it is not or to encrease it where it already is 1. Ans An humble submission to the Divine good pleasure is the best Remedy for imaginary or real defects Has God made any of us vessels of courser earth Who shall say to the potter Isa 45.9 why hast thou made me thus Let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth The best covering for the defects of the Face is to lay our hand upon our mouth and our mouth in the dust and to be dumb with silence because the Lord hath done it wherefore then dost thou contend with him Psal 39.9 Job 33.13 who gives not account of any of his matters 2. True Grace is the most excellent Receit for beautifying your Face wisdom makes the face to shine Eccl. 8.1 There is something tho hard to say what it is in an unaffected gravity an unforced modesty in an ingenious affable deportment free and natural without starch and pedantry that recommends and endears more to the acceptation of the judicious than all the curious mixtures of Artificial fading colours 3. Perhaps the evil of thy supposed defect and shortness is more in fancy than in reality thou art well enough very well if thou couldst think so when we consider our Moral blemishes we deceive our selves that we are good because not so bad as the worst but when we reflect on our Natural defects we are apt to repine because we are not as good as the best and whilst we pore only on what we want we lose the contentment and our God the Glory of what we have 4. And it should be considered that as some designing to make it burn the clearer snuff the Candle too long and so near till they quite extinguish it and as others are always Carining the vessel of the Body with Physick washing and tallowing with External applications till they sink it so are many tampering continually to mend the Feature and Complexion which God made very well
in all Ages The greatest the holyest of them gave way to the Course of his Will they were sick imprison'd poor strangers Persecuted and Slain when by whom and as he pleased and what are we a foolish Generation arisen in this last and worst Age that we should reluct or murmur or tumultuate or be angry or impatient Jo. 5.17 My Father worketh hitherto c. He had not been impeded in his Providential will to that day nor is he yet And is it sit he should alter his course for us now at last This is the Fathers own Argument 5. Because do what we can he will Glorify his Name so himself saith in the words following I will Glorify it again Friends 't is fit we consider this matter when God call's to Suffering this is the Language of non-submission We will not be persecuted we will not be Imprisoned c. but what saith God I will c. Yea he will do it in spite of us He did not ask our Leave to make us nor will he to dispose of us Non-resignation imply's a double Contradiction 1. To God I will do all My Will my Councel shall stand in his resolve Isa 46.10 No saith an unresigned Soul I will not I cannot bear it it must not be at least for this once Vain man what would become of the World yea of the Church if Gods Will were not fixt Zach. 6.1 The providences of God are represented by Chariots some Red importing War some Black expressing Famine some Grizled Bay signifiing Vanity of dispensations others White denoting Peace and Comfort Well all this proceeds from two Mountains of Brass denoting the irreversible Councels of God Go to then vain Man if thou will not bear War or Famine c. stop the Chariots stay their Career if thou canst or lead them out of their way but know thou must first remove the Mountains of Brass and change Gods Eternal unalterable Councells Pray is it not better to Submit willingly then struggle in vain Take heed least the more thou strivest thou be the more intangled Isa 51.20 Never was any thing got by Resistance of the Will of God save Blows 2. To our selves and this is as absurd as the other is Vain and Atheistical Have we Prayed all our Days that the Will of God be done If we have not we are Strangers to Prayer Matt. 6.10 If we have then by refusing to Submit to the Will of God in Suffering times we contradict our selves Now what an absurdity is it to desire God to do his Will and refuse to submit when he brings his good Pleasure upon us Is this fair dealing doth it become reasonable Creatures or Christians may we say and unsay desire and deny the same things Obj. But we did not think of Suffering when we put up that Petition Ans And do we Pray we know not or regard not what is this to pray in Faith Is it an Affront to God to vent a Prayer to him without considering the sense or meaning of it Obj. We were of that Mind then but fear of Suffering hath altered our Judgments Ans And must God change his Will as oft as we vary ours This were to make him more changeable than our selves for whereas we only alter our minds as we think fit we would have God change as we please and so make our Wills the rule of His. Besides what we pray Diliberately we ought to resolve for ever or else our Praying is Lightness To which let me add that when Christ gave that directory of Prayer he left it as a standing Rule never to be varyed 6. Because God is our Father therefore we must acquiess in his Pleasure This is our Lords Argument Couch't in the Text. Father Glorify thy Name q. d. I Submit to my Fathers Will Job 17.11 The Cup that my Father giveth me shall I not Drink it Is it becoming our Relation to withstand our Fathers Will and Glory Would you take iâ— well if your Children should Rebel and refuse your Correction And how do you think your Heavenly Father will take your Resistance against his Poor Worms that we are there 's no Proportion between their Disobedience to us and ours to God When Saul though a King Rebelled against the Command of God 't is compared to the Sin of Witchcraft 1 Sam. â—5 23 See how strickt the Law was in this case upon Rebellious Children Deut. 21.18 19 20 21. What then shall our Father do to us when we refuse his Correction To inforce this Argument consider we must Submit to our Fathers Will. For 1. He gave us our Being Lives and all we have and shall he not dispose them may he not do what he will with his own Matt. 20 15. can we or any thing we injoy be better improved then for our Fathers Glory Of him and from him and to him are all things to him be Glory c. Rom. 11.36 2. Our Father is our Superiour 't is fit therefore we be resigned to his Will Exod. 20 12. Honour thy Father and thy Mother How much more our Heavenly Father Heb. 12 9. See Davids Spirit in the case Psal 131.12 q. d. I 'l keep within my own Sphear I 'l not stretch beyond my line in prescribing to God but Submit to his Will as a weaned Child taken from its dear Breasts intimating he 'd Weaâ— himself from what ever God disposed from him How patiently did Isaac permit himself to be bound and Sacrificed by Abraham Gen. 22.9 And yet he was of Age and Strength Sufficient to have strugled for his Life being Twenty five Years old But that holy young man abhorred the thoughts of striving with his Father And shall not we resign our selves to our God and Father in Jesus Christ 3. Our Father is Wiser then we therefore we should rest in his Pleasure shall we who are but of Yesterday and know nothing contradict the wise disposal of the Ancient of days the only wise God my Father saith Isaac herâ—â— the Wood and the Fire but where 's the Lamb O saith Abraham God shall Provide himself a Burnt-offering Gen. 22.7 8. He declares not his design but Isaac is so confident of his Fathers Wisdom that he replied no more It becomes the Children of God to esteem their Fathers Will most Sacred Nay but O Man who art thou that repliest against God Rom. 9.20 What though we see not how our Sufferings can Conduce to our Fathers Glory Remember his thoughts are not as our thoughts c. Isa 55. 4. We may well resign our selves to the Will of our Father for to be sure as such he 'l be tender of us Heb. 12.5 6. c. we indeed may Judg our Afflictions dreadful and insupportable but our Father knows what we can bear and how he 'l carry us through Comfortably He 'l not break the bruised Reed nor c. Matt. This is the reason why he Mannageth the Corrections of his Children that they may not
a distracting Thought about worldly Vanities Faith in Exercise treads the World 1 John 5.4 under feet and alone makes it know its place When Riches capacitate a Gracious Person for those Offices and Employments from which the Poor are excluded the Power of Godliness not only teacheth but enforceth them to employ all their Capacities for God and to do good they know they are Gods Stewards to whom they must be accountable Gods Almoners and God makes the Poor their Creditors to whom they must pay Alms as Debtors †Mat. 6.1 Your Alms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Justice In short 't is only the Holy Person that receives this for a Maxime That a worldly Estate is no otherwise desireable but to capacitate him to do that good with it which he cannot do without it This for Riches What may be said for Poverty II. Poverty is so desirable to many thinking Persons that they have not only in words for discourse sake but in practice for Happiness sake preferr'd it before the greatest Wealth and grandeur in the World and this hath been done not only by melancholy mopish Persons but by men of great name for Wisdom and Learning and that upon great deliberation and Counsel upon weighing of circumstances and trying experiments and further yet not only Bookish men to whom beloved Retirement is much the same whether they are Rich or Poor but those that have worn an Imperial Diadem that have commanded victorious Armies swayed the Scepters of flourishing Kingdoms Dioclesian Charles the 5th and some of the then greatest Empires of the World and these again not only Ethnic but Christian Casimir And some of these even after their self-deposition have been importun'd to re-accept their Dominion but have refused it What greater demonstration can you expect of the preference of Poverty before Riches and to be a Cypher rather than to bear the greatest figure in the World All this is true Obj. But alas the World is full of the miserable effects of Poverty the Poor have great temptations pressing them to the use of unlawful means for their livelihood they are generally despised and contempt is one of the things most intolerable to humane Nature and which is yet more they are under an impossibility of being so serviceable as otherwise they might be Eccles 9.15 16. There was a Poor wise man who by his Wisdom delivered the City yet no man remembred that same Poor man The Poor mans Wisdom is despised and his Words are not heard As to all the Instances that have been or can be given of persons quitting troublesome Riches for a quiet Poverty those great men that have done it it hath plainly proceeded from vexation of Mind that they were not able to have their will upon Christians for their extirpation And as for the several Orders of Fryars that have vowed Poverty and renounced Property this is to be reckoned among the Damnable cheats of the Romish Apostasie 1 Tim. 4.1 2. whose Religion is made up of lying Hypocrisie and Doctrines of Devils their prodigious Wealth and abominable Luxury sufficiently confuting their pretence of Poverty what help then in this Case Answ Serious Godliness sweetens all the bitterness of a poor condition bears up the Heart under all those difficulties that were otherwise intolerable God makes up their worldly Poverty with Riches of Grace 't is the Poor receive the Gospel and the Blessings of it 't is the Poor that are best contented with their Condition and without content every Condition is uneasie what thô the Poor are secluded from serving Offices they are also excused from the Oaths and Snares that attend them At first when Christianity was managed without tricks and artifice when for once upon particular Circumstances never to be repeated the Disciples of Christ us'd a compassionate Levelling 't is said Acts 4. great Grace was upon them all they were greatly in Gods favour they were greatly enriched with the Graces of the Holy Ghost and they were greatly honoured by those that did but gaze at them You may easily observe that very few grow better by growing Rich but 't is ordinary for God to advance Holiness by worldly abasement and who live more in Heaven who have more satisfying communion with God than those that are mean in the World In short to be Poor and Wicked is to be in some respect more miserable than Devils to be Poor and Gracious is to be conformable to our Blessed Jesus and his chiefest Apostle who were Poor yet made many Rich 2 Cor. 6.10 who had nothing yet possessed all things And thus I have endeavour'd to set forth the Vanity of the first Pair Riches and Poverty and how Serious Godliness wears off the Vanity that cleaves to them I see I must not indeed I need not be so large in the rest II. Who knows whether a Life of Pleasure or a Life of Sorrow be best for him Whereas your Vain Persons will presently determine without weighing one against the other yet you will find 't is onely the practical Christian that can improve either as God shall deal with him For pleasure to live without the pleasure of Life seems in som◠respect worse than to be buryed alive most preferr a short Life and a merry before a long Life and a sad and those that are not Sensualists yet would fain have their lives comfortable in all the circumstances of it in every change of Life from the Birth to the Grave in every new Employment Relation Preferment 't is the universal Salutation to wish them Joy so that a Life of Comfort is the desire of mankind But now when we consider the unreasonable cravings of a carnal Mind and how impossible to be satisfied and when most satisfied soonest cloyed wearisome to the flesh that is most gratified and infamous in their Eyes whose esteem we value most of our carnal pleasures are the same with Brutes only they have the better relish of them in the use and no after-claps when past they eat and drink and frisk and sleep without any disturbing cares or subsequent Reflections you cannot force 'em to excess in the use nor impose upon them any corroding remembrances e. g. Let but a voracious Glutton be bound to sit at a well-furnish'd Table but two hours after he hath fill'd his Paunch he would account it an intolerable Penance Let but the Crop-sick Drunkard be forc't to drink on with those that drink him down how is he a burden to himself and a scorn to his fellow Drunkards and for those that glory of their conquest in out-drinking others how are their best Friends ashamed of them as glorying in their shame Let but a lazy Sluggard be confin'd three dayes to his Bed and how weary will he be of his Bed of Down how is the Idle Person more weary of his Idleness than another is of Work I am loth to blot Paper with Naming the loathsome rottenness of filthy