Heaven lost and that for ever Is it not a wonder to consider that whereas Faith teacheth us that the soul is immortal and must live for ever and experience sheweth us that the body is mortal yet most people contrary to faith and experience do neglect the Soul as though that were mortal and labor for the body as if that were immortal As Julius Caesar was wont to say of Cicero that he was negligent in things belonging to himself but diligent in things belonging to the Common-wealth So such there are who are negligent in things concerning their souls but diligent in things concerning their bodies who spend the best of their time and strength in laboring for their bodies but in the mean time neglect to provide for their Eternal Souls Prima animi bona says Juvenal those good things of the mind are the first things to be minded Optimum est curam principalem animae impendere says another Our first and principal endeavor should be for the principal things for things which concern the Soul for sanctification here and glorification hereafter To provide for the body should be but a Christian's by-work but caring for the soul ought to be his main work As our greatest fear should be for the Soul so our greatest care ought to be for the Soul That our greatest fear should be for the Soul appears by those words of our Saviour Matth. 10. 28. v. Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell It is the greatest folly in the world out of fear of the body to betray the soul That our greatest care should be for the soul appears also out of our Saviour's words Matth. 16. 26. v. What profit hath a man if he win the whole World and lose his own Soul A Christian's great care should be not to hazard the Eternal welfare of his soul for a short fruition of Riches and Splendor in the world these are but conveniences of the body not of the soul If we could discern Souls with the eye or conceive them by the mind they would even ravish us and lead us into an excessive love of them The souls of Men though now they are clogged with flesh are dwelling in houses of clay and tabernacles of dust though now they are shut up in the body like a bird of paradise in a cage yet are such beings as have no less distant original from the body then heaven is from earth coming immediate from God a truth exprest by Ovid in a short verse Sedibus aethereis Spiritus ille venit but better by Zachariah chap. 12. 1. The Lord which stretcheth forth the Heavens and layeth the foundations of the Earth and formeth the spirit of Man within him The body which is flesh is from flesh but the Soul which is a spirit is from the God of Spirits and in the Soul mostly and properly is the Image of God stampt Magna res est anima It is a sparkling Diamond set in a ring of Clay It is the better more noble and sublimated part of man It is the quintessence of a rational nature the very glory of the Creation that hath the image of its Creator to beautify it and is a Jewel more worth than the World with all its Revenues and Perquesites in every respect far more excellent and precious then the body The body that is but of a course make the soul that is a finer spinning the body that is but of an earthly extract the soul is an heavenly born being The Apostle Phil. 3. 21. v. calls the body a vile body and so it is compared with the soul T is the Soul that makes the body lovely and amiable Take the soul out of the body but even half an hour and the body forthwith grows out of each one's love that they who before were enamoured on it do not now desire to come near it or have it in their sight Though Sarah had been unto Abraham the desire of his eyes Ezek. 24. 16. v. and a most sweet companion of his life yet is she by the removal of her soul at death so defaced that he loaths to look on her hence saith he to the Sons of Heth Gen. 23. 4. v Give me a possession of a burying-place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Hence it is that the Psalmist calls it Vnica mea my Darling Psal 22. 20. v. Deliver my soul from the Sword my Darling from the power of the Dogg He prefers the soul as his Darling before the body A darling child shall be cared for and provided for whoever is neglected Not a soul here but is so excellently and perfectly precious that we cannot set forth nor understand how excellent and perfectly precious it is So precious is the soul of every man that all the Gold of the West all the treasures of the East all the Spices of the South all the Pearls of the North are nothing though a man had a Monopoly of them to an invaluable Soul heaps of wedges of Gold mountains of Silver hoards of Pearl are not to be compared with it I may say of the Souls preciousness what is commonly spoken of Aristotles book of Physicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that made publick it was and yet not made known because men do not yet understand the Secrets of it So the preciousness of the Soul hath by many pens been made publick and yet not made known because no man knows the full preciousness thereof Favorinus the Philosopher was wont to say and his words are excellent Nihil in terra magnum praeter hominem nihil in homine praeter mentem The greatest thing in the world is Man the greatest thing in man is the Soul The body at best cannot live long for all the pampering and triming and repairing and dawbing it will not be long before it lyes down in the grave it hath but a short time to live but believe it Christian in that mouldring decaying and dying body of thine thou hast an immortal and never dying soul And wilt thou provide for thy body and not for thy soul wilt thou labor and take pains for a decaying body and not labor for thy soul that means to live as long as Eternity This were as if a man should buy in a great deal of provision for his Servants and starve his Wife and children or as if he should think nothing too much to lay out upon his Doggs and yet starve himself So do all those that labor for what pleases and contents the body but neglect their immortal and never dying souls which God hath breathed into them which God hath beautified with some shadowing representations of his own most glorious being and for which he hath given so great a price and values above all the world besides It was the saying of Aristippus an Heathen who will rise up
post and that only and meerly Ex gratia Your Souls are not so immersed in your bodies as that they must be extinguished with your bodies but they are seperable from your bodies and are able through the benefit of their own subtilty and spiritual substance being of a simple and uncompounded nature to subsist by themselves and when they are once divested of these earthly cases and divorced from your bodies they shall be clothed with an Eternity either of joy or torment and run parallel with the life of God and longest line of Eternity The senses of seeing hearing and the rest of those Organs of the body cease and dye with the body because they are parts of the body and have their dependance upon the body but the Soul hath a nature distinct from the body and moves and operates of it self when the body is dead and iâ— sepâ—rated from the body for when the body dyes the Soul dyes not with it but subsists even in its sepâ—rated state hath a being is still living and active and is crowned with immortallity It being the end of the resurrection of the body to meet with its old partner the Soul Not a body here this day but must dye but Souls those inmates must live though all our bodies return to the Earth whence they came yet our Spirits shall return to God that gave them and be sempiternal Eccles 12. 7. v. though our bodies must be made a prey to rottenness and worms and become captives to death and corruption yet our intellective Souls being spiritual substances independent and self-subsisting agents shall be incorruptible and for ever exist being endowed with an undying condition though our bodies was old yet Anima non senesâ—it the Soul doth not waâ— old nor ever lose its strength and vigor as bodies compounded of elements do Death its true may tyrannize over our earthly parts and may drive our Souls out of these clay lodgings but it is that they may at the very instant of departure have livery and seisin of everlasting Mansions in Heaven be alwayes themselves be for ever permanent and not subject to any extinguishment or destruction Hence it was a custom among the ancient Romans that when their great men dyed they caused an Eagle to fly aloft in the Air signifying hereby that the Soul was immortal and did not dye as the body The serious consideration of the Souls immortality should make us labour for that which will makes the immortal Soul for ever blessed and happy when it shall be unsheathed from the body unclothed from corruption and let loose from this cage of clay 5. Help Study the shortness of time and your present life And believe it Christians the less time you have the more need have you to make hast to labour for these Eternal good things Aeternitati comparatum omne tempus est breve All time if compared to Eternity is but short But time as it is short so it passeth away fast The ancients emblemed time with wings to shew the volubility and swiftness of it as if it were not running but flying whither towards Eternity for time is but a space borrowed and set a part from Eternity which must at last return to Eternity again I have read of certain Hereticks called Eternales because they held the world to be Eternal We have many such Eternallists who fancy to themselves a kind of Eternity here upon Earth Such an Eternallist was that rich fool in the Gospel we have spoken of before who fancied that he had a long time that yet he should remain upon the earth but was suddenly to be taken away Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken away In a moment his life endeth We read of a beast called from the continuance of its life Ephemeris which though it live according to his appellative name but one day yet it falls presently to provide for sustenance as though it might live years Man's life is frequently in Scripture called a Day and yet most like this beast labour and toyl build and purchase thirst after honours and preferment in the world as if they were here to live for ever but in the mean time improve not a short life for Eternal advantages Let me tell the most healthful person here present that he is not assured of one day more wherein death may not assault him and push him into an Eternal Abâ—â—s after a few hours more and then you may expect your departing hour and throw the last cast foâ— Eternity Thou knowest not yet what may be in the womb of this very day Prov. 27. 1. v. Boast not thâ— self of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day mâ— bring forth Whilst a woman is with child none câ— tell what kind of birth it will be so as little doth anâ— man know what is yet in the womb of this very day until God have signified his will by the event Therâ— was a fellow that brought to Domitian the names those in a paper that would murther him but he put it in his pocket saying nova cras to morrow is a new day but he was killed or ever night He was a Wise man that being invited to a Feast on the next morrow answered Ex multis annis crastinum non habui For these many years I have not had a morrow to promise for any business No more do any here present know whether they shall have a morrow to labour for what will make them Eternally happy Death may surprize them before the Sun rise again The Apostle Peter saith 2 Pet. 1. 13. v. I will put you in remembrance knowing I must shortly put off this Tabernacle O so let us say to our selves We will now be thinking of death we will now have Eternity in our thoughts we will now be labouring for Eternal good things we will be storing our Souls with Grace because we must shortly put off these Tabernacles we must shortly have an end put to this present life I have sometimes acquainted you with the speech of young King Charles of Sicily lying upon his death-bed I have scarce begun to live and now woe is me I am compelled to dye Art thou one that hast not yet begun to live the life of Grace that only hast a share of this Worlds goods but altogether without the good things of Heaven O make haste for thou mayest suddenly be called to dye and it will be a sore affliction to you to have an end put to time before you have provided for Eternity Oh that men in their sins would consider what space what distance how far off their Souls are from death from Hell from Eternity No more but a breath one breath and no more the next puff of breath may be their last It is said of Sparta that they used to choose their Kings every year and whilst they did raign they were to live pompously and have all the fulness their hearts could wish but when
portion of his fulness Let burning hanging all the torments of Hell befall me Tantummodo ut Jesum nauciscar so that I may get my Jesus said Ignatius Christ to him was more dear then his temporal life Jesus Christ was the Paradise wherein he delighted and the foundation in whom his Soul found all satisfaction Lambert at the Stake cryed out None but Christ none but Christ lifting up at the same time such hands as he had and his fingers ends flaming It was the saying of Holy Bernard Lord Jesus I love thee Plus quam mea meos me that is more then all my goods then all my friends wife or Children yea then my own self To him all riches were but poverty in comparison of that treasure he found in Jesus Christ all his friends and relations but dumb idols in comparison of Christ Himself to be nothing in comparison of Christ nothing was so sweet and dear unto him as Christ It is storied of Hormisda a Noble man in the King of Persia his Court because he would not deny Christ he was put into ragged cloaths deprived of his honors and set to keep Camels after a long time the King seeing him in that base condition he was and remembring his former fortunes he pitied him and caused him to be brought into the Pallace and to be cloathed again like a Noble man and then the King persuades him to deny Christ he presently rends his Silken cloaths and says If for these things you think to have me to deny my Faith take them again and so with scorn was cast out This hath made those who have wanted Christ to long as sore for Christ as Daâ—id did for the waters of the Well of Bethlehem Oh for a blessed armful of the Babe of Bethlehem such a one as Simeon once had It hath made them cry out Give me Christ or else I dye All things to them have been of no value in comparison of Christ they must haâ—e 〈…〉 t wâ—ateveâ— it cost â—â—em Certainly did Christians iâ— these days thus esteem of Christ Christ would haâ—e â—â—â—e â—oom in their hearts T is said when 〈◊〉 was Emperour that Germaniâ—us raigned in â—â—e Râ—â—an hâ—â—râ—s Tiberius only in their Provinces â—o â—ill it be â—iâ—h all that prize Christ Though God have given them leaâ—e â—o â—ave the world in their hands yet Christ only shall reign in their hearts they will take him to be the top of all their felicity and happyness Christ shall be to them in respect of all things else as the Aple Tree among the trees of the Wood as the Sun among the gloe-worms as the Jewel among dross Well may we reckon Jesus Christ amongst the chiefest of Eternal good things called therefore the Everlasting Father Isay 9. 6. v. He is One Eternal God with the Father and with the Holy Ghost read these following places John 10. 30. v. I and the Father are one John 1. 1 2 3. v. In the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God The same was in the begining with God All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made As God he did preexist in the form of God not only before his Incarnation but before the whole Creation before Abraham was born he was Joh. 8. 58. v. Before any creatures were he had an existence Jesus Christ was so before all Creatures that all creatures were made by him Col. 1. 16. v. For by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him Pro. 8. 23. v. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was And as he was before the world began so will he be after the world shall have an end As â—e was before all Temporal things so is he not to be out-lived by any Eternal things whatsoever As he was begotten of his Father before all worlds so will he be the same when there shall be no world when there shall be no Earth nor Heavens Psal 102. 26 27. v. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end St. Paul assures us that he it is who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9. 5. v. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Christ is the same aforetime in time and after time he is unchangeable in his Essence always the same Revel 1. 8. v. I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come The phrase is known to be taken from the Greek letters whereof Alpha is the first and Omega the last letter of the Greek Alphabet The first and last letters are a description of Jesus Christ who was before all and will be after all and altogether unchangeable in himself When friends dye when estates are gone yet Jesus Christ will remain and be a never failing spring and fountain of all blessings and goodness And Jesus Christ doth make all them good who do injoy him All men by nature are empty of all spiritual good but Christ is as a fountain filling them therewith that possess him All men by nature are dead in sins and trespasses it is true of all men what the Apostle faith of the wanton Widdow 1 Tim. 5. 6. v. She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth As Pamphilus in Terence saith the like of a light Huswife Sane hercle homo voluptati obsequens fuit dum vixit St. Paul's Greek as one noteth cannot well be rendred but by Terences Latin and Terences Latin cannot well be put into other Greek Here is the true condition of men before they are interested in Christ they are all as so many dead men they are but walking Sepulchers their bodies living Coffings carrying about in them dead souls they are all of them spiritually dead they are living ghosts those men who be already in their graves are not more devoid of natural life then these are of spiritual life they are like Ezekiel's dead bones until Jesus Christ breath life into them until Jesus Christ speak to them as once he did to Lazarus Come out of the Grave and live they are stark dead Look what a branch is without a root or a body without a Soul such is every man without Jesus Christ he is but a withered branch or dead carcass Dead twice dead and pluckt up by the roots spiritually dead whilst corporally alive altogether alienated from the life of God whilst they injoy the life of Men. There is the life of
the body and this life they have but there is the life of the Soul and that life they have not We hear of many children born dead its true in this sence all men are born dead men there is not a man born a member of the new Adam but every man is born a member of the old Adam and therefore in a spiritual sence they must needs be born dead men though otherwise endued with a natural life For if the root be dead as the old Adam is all the branches that rise from that root must needs be dead also In Adam all dyed saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 22. v. Adam was the common root of Mankind all Mankind was in him Tamquam in radice as so many Branches in the root and so consequently Adam dying all Mankind dye in him and with him and in this dead condition they all do remain until they do injoy an interest in and union with Jesus Christ the last Adam who was made a quickning spirit 1 Cor. 15. 45. v. he being the fountain and author both of a spiritual and eternal life to all Believers And therefore saith St. John John 5. 12. v. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life And the Apostle St. Paul calleth him Our life because none live the life of Grace but those who partake of Jesus Christ it is he in whom and by whom they do live Col. 3. 4. v. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Hence saith Wisdom that is Christ Pro. 8. 35. v. Who so findeth me findeth life Not a Soul wanting Jesus Christ but he wanteth life and also in him there dweleth no good thing Rom. 7. 18. v. Neither faith nor any other saving grace dwelleth in such a one but he is as full of all kind of evil as Baal's house of Idolatry as the Sluggard's field of thorns and bryars or as Pharisees sepulchers of dead mens bones such a man's Soul is a very sink of uncleanness and naughtiness â—ut as when a man is made a partaker of Christ he is a new creature old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. v. So he is also a Good Man bad things are passed away and all things are become good he is become a good man and hath his heart filled with the good treasure of saving Grace Such another as Joseph of Arimathea who was a good man and a just Luke 23. 50. v. Such another as Banabas was a Good man and full of the Holy Ghost Act. 11. 24. v. When Christ came into the Temple John 2. 5. v. he purged his Father's house he overturned the money â—ables he drove out the buyers and sellers So when Christ cometh into any man and taketh up his holy habitation in the heart he throws down every sin he drives out every â—orruption and carnal lust he purges out every evil thing and maketh the heart good The heart of man by nature is a very den of Thieves a pallace of Pride a slaughter-house of Malice a brothel-house of uncleanness a raging sea of Sin a little hell of black and blaspâ—emous Imaginations and â—warming with all manner of noysom lusts but the Lord Jesus Christ rids the heart hereof and makes it holy Himself is called that holy thing Luk. 1. 35. v. Therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That holy thing it is put in the Neuter gender Emphatically shewing that he hath not the least spot of sin in him but is every way holy typified therein by the high Priest under the Law who had this written upon him Holyness to the Lord but Jesus Christ is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy but he is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that sanctifieth and maketh us holy by his blood cleansing us from all filthy abominations 4. The fourth Instance is that of the Spirit who is called the Spirit of Grace and is of the same essence and consubstantial with the Father and the Son and in all respects co-equal and co-eternal called therefore the Eternal Spirit Heb. 9. 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God The holy Ghost in Scripture is expresly called God Act. 5. 3 4 v. Peter reproving Ananias for lying to the holy Ghost saith Thou hast not lyed unto Man but unto God And St. Paul proves that our bodies are the Temple of the living God 2 Cor. 6. 16. v. Because of the holy Ghost which dwelleth in us 1 Cor. 6. 19. v. Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the holy Ghost which is in you He that in one place is called the holy Ghost in the other place is called the living God And whosoever will be saved is taught in St. Athanasius his Creed to believe thus That the Godhead of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost is all one the â—lory equal the Majesty co-eternal Anâ— again Such as the Father is such is the Son and such is the holy Ghost And again The Father Eternal the Son Eternal and the holy Ghost Eternal And yet they are not three Eternals but one Eternal And Eternally blessed is that man who hath gotten this Eternal spirit of the living God into his heart for wheresoever the spirit of God comes it is not idle We read Matth. 8. 7. v. how Christ saith to the Centurion When I come I will heal thy servant I will not meerly come to see him and visit him but when I come I will heal him So when the holy Ghost doth come into a man he will not be idle and do nothing but he will heal the Soul sanctify the heart and purge corrupted nature in some measure Holyness is the natural product of the spirit by its powerful influence and breathings it raises poor dead Souls out of the grave of sin frames them unto a spiritual and divine conformity unto Christ subdues the rebellion of evil hearts and makes the sinner to become another man by a spiritual Metamorphosis This is that work which is ascribed to the holy Ghost 1 Pet. 1 2 v. Elect according to the foreknowledg of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Here is held forth the concurrence of the whole Trinity in the salvation of man The Father electing us the holy Ghost sanctiâ—ying us Jesus Christ shedding his blood for us Hence it is that our Saviour calleth it the holy Spirit Luk. 11. 13. v. If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him Sanctus dicitur quia sanctificat He calleth him the holy
saying Take I pray thee my blessing that is brought to thee because God hath dealt graciously with me and because I have enough I have enough saith Esau I have enough saith Jacob though the word â—e one and the same in both places in the English I have enough yet it is by Divines observed that there is a difference in the Original Jacob's word is different from Esau's Jacob's word signifies I have all things and yet Jacob was poorer than Esau Esau had much but Jacob had all but how had he all Because he had the God of all he had God that was all And indeed as one observes Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia He hath all things that hath him that is all things God alone was enough to Jacob and God alone would satisfy David's desire Psal 73. 25. v. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none I desire upon earth besides thee So great is the capacity and largeness of the Soul of Man that no Riches no Dignities Kingdoms nor the Empire of the whole World no Pleasures in a word no finite and limitable good can quench its insatiable thirst and desire nothing can do this but some immense infinite and boundless good and such as containeth in it self by way of Eminency or preheminency the fulness of all good whatsoever This David insinuated Psal 17. 15. v. Satiabor cum apparuer it gloria tua as the vulgar translation renders those words I shall be satisfied and filled when thy glory shall appear As if David had said No other thing can give me full contentment except the manifestation of thy glory which is an infinite and illimitable good David is here conceived to speak of that confidence and hope that himself and others of God's people have of happyness and satisfaction after this life when their bodies that sleep in the grave shall be awaked to the resurrection of Eternal Life then their happyness will be full in the measure without want of any thing that can make them happy all their desires shall be then satisfied They shall be abundantly satisfied with thâ— fatness of thy house Psal 36. 8. v. It were impossible to imagine that any one should have an interest in God and not be happy Psal 144. 15. v Happy is that people whose God is the Lord But in this life the happyness of the best is but like an house in building hereafter when they shall injoy God in heaven and be glorified with Christ in those heavenly Mansions when they shall wear upon their heads a Crown of life and be blessed associates unto Angels and all glorified spirits then the top-stone of perfect and everlasting happyness shall be put on At their conversion they are restored to the possession of some of those good things they lost in Adam but in heaven they shall injoy all those good things they lost in Adam 6. Our labor and pains ought cheifly to be imployed not about perishing but Eternal good things Because Eternal good things concern our Souls other good things concern the body only As the soul is to be preferred before the body so our labor and pains should rather be for those things that concern the soul than for those that concern the body only It is most true there is an excellency even to be taken notice of in the body and most excellent things might be observed touching the Noble Structure and Symetry thereof its figure frame temperature and proportion not any part of the common lump of Claâ— being fashioned like to it It is said of Galen that he gave Epiâ—urus an hundred years time to imagine a more commodious Configuration or Composition of any one part of a humane body When David spends his thoughts upon the curious frame of Man's body he seems to look upon himself as it were in amazed Extasies See Psal 139. 13 14 15. v. Thou hast possessed my reins thou hast covered me in my Mothers womb I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are thy works and that my Soul knoweth right-well My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Where David compares the Workman-ship of the body to the curious Needle-work of some skilful Woman The body is indeed a little miracle of Nature a vessel made capable of the best Jewel an house prepared for the best inhabitant every part whereof hath its wonder neither is there any piece in this Exquisite frame whereof the place use and form doth not admit wonder and exceed it God having invested the body with many noble Endowments made it a mirror of beauty and printed upon it surpassing excellencies But yet a Christians greatest labor and pains should not be for the body but for the soul the body indeed is to be provided for but the more special care should be for and about the soul The Egyptians parted with their money after that with their cattel and last of all with their land to buy bread to feed their bodies and what should not a man part with and do for the good of the soul The Heathen man could say Major sum ad majora genitus quam ut mancipium sim mei corporis I am more noble and born to more noble ends then that I should become a Slave to my body And should not Christians who are made capable of an infinite good and do far exceed him in spiritual nobility as having God for their Father Christ for their elder-brother conclude it far short of those noble ends for which they were born to toyl and labor all their whole life only to nourish to feed and cloth the body and in the mean time to neglect the soul which is far more excellent then the body Shall they only look after what is conducing and accommodated to a corporal life and not mind what will be good for their souls when they must injoy an Eternal life It is said of Caesar Major fuit cura Caesari libellorum quam purpurae That he had greater care of his books then of his Royal robes for swimming through the waters to escape his enemies he carried his Books in his hands above the waters but lost his Robes That heathen Epimanondus being dangerously wounded with a Spear so that he sunk down as one dead and after coming to himself he asked if his Target were safe his cheif care was about his Target So should it be with a Christian about his Soul his cheif care should be about his soul that must in the first place be regarded and cared for the body is but the souls upper garment and although that should fall into hands of unreasonable men though the Soul should lose its upper garment yet if the soul it self be safe all is safe but if the soul be lost all is lost God lost and Christ lost and the society of glorious Angels and blessed Saints lost and
in Judgment against many Christians That he would rather neglect his means thâ—n his mind his farm than his soul To be stored with Eternal good things will cause our souls afterwards to go out of our bodies upon the wings of joy calmness and serenity of spirit and with full sail for heaven This will make a Christian sweetly to sing with old Simeon Lord now let thy servant depart in peace And say as Hillary said to his soul Soul thou hast served Christ thâ—s Seventy years and art thou afraid of Death Go out soul go out But without this with what a dreadful Out-cry and Shrike will poor souls leave the body seeing themselves attended only with a black guard of Divels and no other place provided for them but the burning Lake and bottomless Pit with no other treasure inriched but the curse and wrath of the Almighty Not to have labored and taken pains for what will do the soul good will prove bitterness in the end It is storied of Caesar Borgias that being sick to death that he lamentingly cryed out When I lived I provided for every thing but Death now I must dye and am unprovided to dye this was a dart at his heart and believe it it will be at last a dagger at their hearts who now take care for their bodies but neglect their souls who labor and take pains to make provision for their ignoble part but make no provision for their more noble part When the body shall lye under its short breathings cold sweats dying groans and hastening to the Grave where worms and filthy Vermine must feed upon it and the soul hath nothing to comfort it now that it is passing into Eternity surely such a soul must needs be amazed at the â—nsuing change Oh that Christians were wise to consider these things that they would make it their work to provide for their souls to furnish them with that will prove Eternal that they would labor for spiritual and heavenly excellencies that they would acknowledg one soul to be more worth than many worlds God hath given to each of us a soul and to each of us but one soul It was a wretched and most foolish speech of a prophane Noble Man of Naples who said that he had two souls in his body one for God and another for whosoever would buy it Omnia Deus dedit duplicia saith one speaking of bodily members God hath given men double members two eyes if one be lost the other supplies the want of it two hands two ears two feet that the failing of one may be supplyed by the help of the other Animan vero unam but one soul if that perish there is not another to supply its loss And it is no other than madness and folly to look after the body and neglect the soul to gratify the body but to lose the soul With what hopes can such look to receive mercy and comfort from God in a dying hour It is reported of Alphonsus King of Arragon when a Knight of his had consumed a great patrimony by lust and luxury and besides ran into debt and being to be laid into prison by his Creditors his friends petitioned for him to the King the King answered Si tantam pecuniam vel in sui Regis obsequium vel patriae commodis vel sublevandis propinquis impedisset audirem nunc quoniam tant as opes impendit corpori parâ— est ut luat corpore If he had spent so much money in the service of his Prince or for the good of his Countrey or in relieving his Kindred I would have harkned but seeing he hath spent so much upon his body it is fit his body should smart for it So when those who now labor for the world and the things thereof that only concern the body and profit the body but neglect what concerns the soul and would profit the soul I say when these come and look up to God for comfort and mercy when all comfort from the world is gone God may justly answer If they had labored not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which indureth unto everlasting life If they had labored as much for what would have done their souls good as for what they saw would do their bodies good I would have heard them but as they have neglected their souls in their life I will not care for their souls at death 7. Our labor and pains ought cheifly to be imployed not about perishing but Eternal good things Because our labor about Eternal good things will not be in vain In Malachy his time some did not stick to say It was in vain to serve God Mal. 3. 14. v. they did as others now think their pains in vain hypocrites they were such as would needs persuade themselves that they served God and that truly And being â—uft up with this conceit they thought God should â—hereupon serve them as they would have him and â—hey expected but when he at any time punished them â—or their sins and exercised them with afflictions â—hey presently would cry out It is in vain and to â—o purpose to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked â—ournfully before the Lord of hosts Indeed there is many a man that pursues the world with a fruitless and â—ain attempt they rise early go to bed late eat the â—read of sorrows yet all will not do they labor and â—hat hard for what they are not sure to obtain in the world and for that very often which they never do obtain they have but their labor for their pains Quid emolumenti what profit or gain have most afâ—er many a hard days labor utterly disappointed of â—hat they labored for like many such who seek after â—he Philosophers stone Not so a Christian laboring for Eternal good things â—hey are sure to obtain what they labor for their laâ—or will not be in vain That will never befall them which is written of Dioclesian and Maximian Herâ—ulius who suddenly gave over their Empires and cast â—ff their honors and betook themselves to a private â—fe out of rage and madness when they saw themâ—elves labor so much in vain for the rooting out of â—he Christians See that place 1 Cor. 15. 58. v. Thereâ—re my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable â—ways abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch â— you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Christians labor herein will not be like those labors that were by way of punishment inflicted upon the Daughters of Danaeus whom the old Poets feigned to be condemned in Hell to fill a bottomless tub with Water and to increase their labor this water they were to carry in Sieves and never to leave work till the tub were full here was a great deal of unfruitful labor here was labor in vain indeed A Christian hath better incouragement to labor his labor is not in vain in the Lord.
for thee Uniâ— me to Christ 111 who is the Fountain of life that I may live who by nature am dead in sins and trespasses Let thine Eternal spirit by its powerful influence and breathings heal 114 my Soul sanctifie my heart subdue the rebellion 115 of my will and purifie all uncleanness out of my affections that acting from inward principles of holiness I may imitating blessed St. Paul exercise 121 my self to have alwayes a conscience void of offence towards man and 122 in simplicity and godly sincerity not in fleshly wisdome but by the grace of God I may have my conversation in the world in all things willing â—12 to live honestly and walking before thee in truth and with a perfect heart doing that which is good that so when thou shalt bring to my mind the History 126 of my life which having been very sinful might here be followed with dreadful apprehensions of thy wrath and some glimpses and pre-occupations of Hell and hereafter with Eternal torments I may have that which will afford unto me inward consolation and refreshment and in the day when I must pass 127 through the valley and shadow of death that neither the terrors of death nor the fiercest oppositions of Hell and the Divel may dismay me let me be found interested in what will do me 145 good then and being lasting good things will last beyond Death go with me out of this 131 world stand me in stead at the day of 23â— 152 Judgement and keep me out 137 of Hell If whilst I live thou shalt make my condition an afflicted condition that 141 I must go through the valley of Baca towards Zionâ— yet bestow upon me what thou knowest 142 will make me bear afflictions patiently be as an Ark to uphold my spirits and keep them from sinking in the greatest deluge of calamities Though here I should meet with shame and disgrace O Christ yet with thee let me 174 enjoy Eternal Glory though here I should live but a short life yet in Heaven let me live 175 an Eternal life though here I should not have one joyful hour yet hereafter let me enter into my Masters 177 joy into that joy which Eternity begins 178 but Eternity shall never end though here I should never enjoy any earthly inheritance yet let me not miss of that Inheritance incorruptible 179 which fadeth not away in the 180 everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and there also receive that Crown 182 of glory that fadeth not away though here I should not have a house to shelter my self from storms and tempests yet let me be admitted into that house not 184 made with hands Eternal in the Heavens and scituated in the new Jerusalem which is the everlasting habitation of 189 Angels and glorified Saints Take my heart off these lower things wherein so many do fancy 221 doth consist the only comfort of their lives which are only for the body 198 and but vanity and vexation 191 of spirit and set it upon those alwayes 188 desirable good things in Heaven which only can satisfie 193 the longings of it and make my soul 198 that most precious and immortal 203 being happy By faith help me to look above 22â— the gaiety and eye-dazling 224 objects here in the world and to see the excellency and worth of those things that are 215 invisible but are made 235 known in the Gospel Oh that my head were water 245 and mine Eye a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for them who make all the motions 250 of their Souls to wait upon earthly designs and for the gaining 252 the Mammon of unrighteousness in this world such â—s prefeâ— momentany pleasures before 244 Eterâ—al joyes and spend their whole time in making proâ—sion for the flesh without the least thought upon Eâ—ernity that follows and never think of their present â—nfulness or their future Eternal misery Pardon â—e O my God that I have at any time postponed 256 the things of Heaven to the things of this world â—referring dross before Gold the fatness of the Earth â—efore the dew of Heaven earthly Mammon before Heavenly Mansions and the good things of this life â—efore the good things of another and better life yea â—ood and â—aiment for my body before Grace and Glory â—or my soul and now O Lord â—help me to consider â—hat it is â—igh time for me to mind the concerns of my â—oul and to be labouring for Eternal good things and â—261 seeking those things that are above and to â—ve above those things which 269 I cannot live withâ—ut yea wholly to spend my time whilst 269 I am â—n the body about those things whereof I shall have â—ost need when I am out of the body and principally â—o Labour for on earth those things that will be of use â— Heaven Make me spiritually 273 wise to lay up â—uch a stock and store that will do me good throughâ—ut all Eternity and before my body be laid in the Grave to take care that my never dying soul may be â—arryed into Abrahams bosome by a turning to thee O God by accepting of Jesus Christ by getting my â—ins pardoned and my evidence for Heaven cleared â—hough I do yet remain upon Earth let I pray thee â—hy spirit help me to converse in Heaven 274 and â—o have mine Eyes fixed upon those invisible things â—or ever blessed be thy most holy name O Lord that I am not placed among the common Beggars of this world that I have not been sent to beg my bread from door to door it might 278 have been my portion to have crowched to another for a morsel of bread to have been a vagabond and have saught my bread out of desolate places and to have lived as another Lazarus 279 in a starving and famishing condition O Lord I beseech thee never lay me under the heavy judgement of poverty in this world least I be poor and steal and take the name of thee my God in vain neither let me be a beggar in another world in Hell to howl for a drop of water to cools my tongue Yet if poverty must be the condition thou O God wilt have me to end my dayes in and I must be made worldly 287 poor yet O God vouchsafe to make me spiritually rich rich in Faith even enriched with the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ let me be found to be an heir of Salvation even an heir 288 of God and a joynt heir with Christ an heir of that Kingdome 289 which thou hast promised to them that love thee Help me O Lord to overlook the splendid braveries of this world the greatest and best things of this life 299 as those things which are 293 not but are as so many Empty 294 clouds and Wells without Water ciphers without figures and but as shadows to real substances being altogether void of 291 what will make me happy to Eternity and to Labour that I may have
v. O Lord thou art my God early will I seeâ— thee And Psal 5. 3. v. My voyce shalt thou hear in the morning in the morning will I direct my Prayer to thee and look up Psal 88. 13. In the morning shall my Prayer prevent thee So â—ob chap. 1. 5. He rose up early in the morning and offered up burnt offerings So the Church to express her longâ—ngs after God says Isai â—6 9. With my spirit within me will I seek thee early in the dimm and duskish morning while it is not yet so much as twi-light And our blessed Saviour Mark 1. 35. it is said of him theâ—e in the morning rising up a great while before day he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed Of Luther it is said that every day he spent three hours in Prayer Etiam studijs aptissimas even those that were most proper for study and surely no time so proper as the morning foâ— study and no â—â—me more proper then the morning foâ— Heavenly duâ—y anâ— labor Under the Law they who gathered not Manna in the morning had none all day anâ— they who begin not with God in the morning have â—arâ—lâ— any thing to do for God or in â—eaven all the â—ay if the world â—s but the start of Reâ—â—gion in the morning is hard for Religion to overtake it all the day 2. In the Evening or last part of the day As God lets him see the day begin in mercy and end in mercy so then is a Christian minding the good things of Eternity when he both begins the day with God and ends it with God When Eternal good things are the first things he labors for in the morning of the day so they are the last things he minds in the evening of the day then he may be said chiefly to be imployed about Eternal good things When before he begins with the world or any business on Earth he begins with God and the things of Heaven and when he hath done with the world and all business upon Earth he again returns to mind God and the things of Heaven As under the Law God had his evening and morning Sacrifices 1 Chron. 16. 40. 2 Chro. 13. 11. So from him God shall have his evening as well as his morning Services Twice a day was God worshiped in the Temple both morning and evening twice a day was the Jews constant course to be in the Temple there to worship God They had their morning sacrifice when they went to their labor and their evening sacrifice when they ended their labor they gave God the first part of the day and the last part of the day although they were days appointed for work they gave the Lord his part of every day so when a Christian though he does follow the work of his particular calling in the day yet forgets not to labor for what is chiefly to be labored for as in the morning and first part of the day so in the evening and last part of the day he is obeying our Saviour's Injunction in the Text. 2. When he does it in the night time It is true the night is for sleep God hath made the night time for man to rest in they that sleep sleep in the night 1 Thes 5. 7. and sleep is a singular mercy when God does afford it tis ros naturae the Nurse and dew of Nature the sweet Parenthesis of all griefs and cares t is Medicus laborum redintegratio virium recreator corporum the great Phisitian of the sick body the redintegration of mans spirits a reviver of wearied bodies more necessary then meat and drink and without which a man were not able long to subsist but yet as the whole day is not alwayes to be spent in bodily labors no more is the whole night alwayes to be spent in taking of bodily rest under pretence of a little time allowed us for that use the half of our time should not alwayes be exacted from us Heathens will herein shame many Christians Alexander and Caesar parted the night into three parts the first they took unto rest the second to the works of Nature the third to their Studyes and thus they did because they were forced to take the day-time for the Government of their Kingdomes and administration of warlike affairs Indeed God sometimes withholds sleep from men in the night that they might be imployed in some Nocturnal actions of piety towards God for the good of their immortal Souls Sometimes that they may call to mind their sins to mourn for them and repent of them that so they may not sleep the sleep of death Psal 13. 3. that a sensible sinner can truly say with David Psal 6 6. v. All the night long make I my bed to swim I water my Couch with my tears surely these are no tears of an Hypocrite that are shed in the night and that in such abundance as to cause a flood in the bed God deals by Men as those used to be dealt with who had the Sweating-sickness In the Sweating-sickness that raigned sometims in England those that were suffered to sleep as all in that case were apt to do they dyed within a few hours the best office therefore that any could do them was to keep them waking though against their wills so God deals with many when he brings their sins to their remembrance the thoughts of their sins will not let them sleep As t is said The rich Man's abundance will not let him sleep Eccles 5. 12. care of getting and fear of losing breaks his sleep and how oft does God make the poor penitent troubled Sinner find this true that the abundance of his sins will not let him sleep Sometimes to pray unto God in the night T is true the day is most seasonable to work in Night cometh saith Christ when no Man can work John 9. 4. v. that is then it is unseasonable to work but though it be unseasonable to follow the works of our particular calling in yet it is not unseasonable to Pray in of Samuel it is said 1 Sam. 15. 11. v. he cryed to the Lord all night for Soul And of David it is said 2 Sam. 12. 16. v. And David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth when he sought to God by Prayer for his child So did our blessed Saviour Luk. 6. 12. v. in the Mountain he prayed all night totam noctem consumpsâ—t in â—raeciâ—us he spent the whole night in Prayer when Christ prayed for sinners he prayed all night long that they might learn how to pray for themselves if God drive sleep from them or the condition of their souls reqâ—ire iâ— not only to pray in the day but also in the night so did Jacob when he wrestled with God in the shape of a Man Gen. 32. 24. 25. â— untill the breaking of the day Iâ— is storyed of St. Anthony that having spent the whole night in Prayer
compareth the deceitfulness of Riches and cares of the world to thornes which prick not the flesh only but pierce through the mind and heart and wound the souls and conscience with manifold hurts and smart-pain Our Saviour and St. Paul confirm the verdict of Solomon to shew the vexation of spirits that attends all Temporal good things As Bees have honey and wax but they have a sting with all so verily have most of earthly and Temporal things they have honey in them to intice and wax to inflame but with all too oftentimes deadly stings wherewith they sting the possessors of them and therefore Solomon unto vanity adds vexation of mind If ever there were any man fit and able in respect of his wealth to try of industry to search and of wisdom to judg of the things of this life it was King Solomon and yet Solomon when he had imployed his wealth wisdom and industry in this diligent scrutiny and distilled forth even the purest spirits of these Terrestrial bodies he found amongst them vanity but that is not all vexation of spirit When Hezekiah had defaced the Serpent which had defaced God s glory he called it in contempt Nehushtan It is a piece of Brass that so it might be vile in the eyes of those who did adore it for by this name he gave the people to understand that there was no Deity in it and therefore no worship to be done to it no sacrifice or Incense to be offered unto it in a word that it was not what they took it to be neither did it deserve to have such an high esteem as they had of it For it was but a piece of brass and no more and a piece of brass was no such thing as to be worshiped and adored In like manner so does Solomon call all sublunary and Temporal good things Vanity and vexation of spirit thereby to undervalue them in the eyes of those that over valued them thereby to debase and villiâ—y them and to shew others what he after tryal made had found to be in them no contentation but rather vexation Who would not think Kings and Princes to be the only happy ones They are to make their lives happy and full of Felicity if it may be had most liberally provided for they have stately Palaces costly Ornaments honorable Services delicate Meats variety of Pleasures they have all Honors Dignities and Rule at their dispose they are able to raise at their pleasure the meanest Man to an high place and with a frown to disgrace the mightiest and what ever precious Rarities choice and desirable things their eyes which are the principal Seates of desire or lusting can desire are not kept from them unto which we may add their ample and Royal Revenues rich Exchequers great tributes out of their Kingdoms and Provinces And yet even their Raign and Rule is but a Noble Servitude as Antigonus said to his Son so many are the calamities depending upon Regal Crowns and miseries that do compass Scepters and States of Princes besides the dayly trouble in Government in Domestick and forreign Affairs what secret censures murmurings and dispraises do they undergo what continual fears do they lye under In their Palaces they are afraid lest Servants in the day-time do poyson them or in the night-time murther them In their Kingdoms least their Guards betray them least their Nobles forsake them and least the rude and common People incouraged by discontented great ones Rebell against them From abroad also their fears are increased somtimes least their Allies desert them and least their Enemies invade them And after a whole life of Dangers and Fears how often are they but even ill rewarded by those they have defended and protected nay by some they have favored enriched and advanced Somtimes they have been at last hissed at and chased from their Thrones with Shame and Confusion Have mean ones been derided so have Princes Have mean ones been restrained so have Princes Have mean ones been imprisoned so have Princes Have mean ones been banished so have Princes Have mean ones been murthered so have Princes Not only is their whole life a life of Fears and Dangers as Dionysius told Damocles but their deaths have been both â—gnomius and barbarous Demosthenes after he had been a just and faithful Governor of the Common-wealth of Athens was in â—he end without cause unjustly banished So was Aâ—istides of whom it used to be said A man might as â—oon turn the Sun in her course as turn Aristides from doing Justice These Temporal good things are like to those waâ—ers of Babylon where the Jews sate down and wept Psal 137. 1. v. By the river 〈…〉 Babylon there we â—ate down yea we wept like unto which waters â—re these Temporal good things not only for their â—wift passing away and never returning but for the â—oubles that attend them they being to the possessors thereof no little cause of vexation of Spirit of weeping and small sorrow The whole world as one calls it is but a Sea of glass for its vanity and mingled with fire for its vexation Rev. 15. 2. v. And the things of the world like so many sweet Bryars or like the Rose which is a fragrant flower but yet it hath its pricks and to one Rose in the Worlds-garden we meet with a thousand thornes Let men set what esteem they will upon them yet are they not pure Wine but mixed and have in them more dreggs than spirits they are like the River Plutarch speaks of where the waters in the morning run sweet but in the Evening run bitter Like the profitable Bee which though it affords the owner Honey yet again many times stings him and for one Ounce of Honey the World affords we meet with a Tunn of Gall. It fares with many men in this respect as it did with Lot Gen. 13. 10 11. v. When he beheld all the plain of Jordan to be well watered and that it was like the Garden of God he chose all the Countrey and departed from Abraham But many sad dangers and many dayly vexations did this unwise choice of his cast him into and bring upon him In like manner the injoyment of these things oft expose to dangers Multos sua felicitas stravit Many men their lives had been longer if their riches had been less that which they counted their happyness made them miserable Consolationes factae sunt desolationes as one says the same things that have somtimes made their lives comfortable at another time have occasioned them afterwards to be miserable Pro. 1. 19. chap. that they have been weary of their injoyments and weary of their very lives But we never did nor ever will hear of any weary of Grace weary of the love of God weary of Heaven and Eternal glory Can any think that the Saints in Heaven are weary of their being in heaven or that they are weary of the presence of God there Vident semper videre
called his day in the place before mentioned when Christ tells the Jews Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day But the great question will be this how Abraham did see this day of Christ's birth It is clear in the words that Abraham had his desire granted He did see Christ's day he saw it though it were two thousand years before it came to pass But how saw he this day of Christ's birth It was oculis animi says Piscator by the piercing eye of his Faith It is most true that Abraham saw not the day of Christ as the Shepheards and wisemen of the East saw Christ in the Manger at Bethlehem the one being sent thither by the Angel and the other guided by a Star that they might see and behold Christ Nor did Abraham see the day of Christ as Simeon saw Christ in the Temple at his Mothers Purification Nor as Zacheus who had a sight of Christ from the top of a Sycamoor-tree being climbed up thither to get a sight of him But Abraham saw it luce fidei by the sight of Faith Faith helped Abraham to see Christ and to see his day as clearly as he was seen by the Shepheards or Wise men of the East as clearly as he was seen by Simeon or Zacheus and this two thousand years before it came And as Faith can discover and approximate things remote in respect of time so things remote in respect of place It is said therefore That Faith is the evidence of the things not seen Heb. 11. 1. v. by it may be seen what is afar off Some write of one Lynceus that he could see an hundred and thirty thousand paces off but the eye of Faith can see further The eye of the Eagle is very sharp and piercing she can see from Heaven to Earth she can spy her prey afar off she and her Birds can look upon the Sun Faith is such an excellent eye it can see him who to the eye of the body is invisible By Faith Moses saw him who is invisible Heb. 11. 27. v. God is invisible to any eye but to the eye of Faith And as God is an invisible God a being that no natural eye ever saw or can be that way seen so also are all the Eternal good things of Heaven so saith Saint Paul 2 Cor. 4. 18. v. he sayes that things that are Eternal are not seen But in the very same Verse he sayes that we look at things that are not seen Though they be things that are not seen yet Saint Paul sayes of himself and other Believers that by the eye of Faith they could see them they could by the eye of Faith see Eternal things While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for 〈◊〉 the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal In which words it is observable that Saint Paul saith That he and other Believers look at the things which are not seen and those things not seen that they look at are Eternal they are good things that are Eternal And without doubt such a sight as the Apostle here means cannot but work very much upon the heart of a Christian A sight of the day of Christ by Faith greatly rejoyced the good old Patriarchs heart It even ravished his heart to hear the wonderful promise of God concerning the Messias and to foresee the joyful performance which he saw would follow in due time The Apostle Saint Paul is Perplexed but not in despair 2 Cor. 4. 8. v. he is Cast down but not destroyed 9. v. he faints not saying Though our outward perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day 16. v. And the reason of all is laid down at the 18. v. While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen And these things which are not seen are Eternal In like manner such a sight would work signally upon our hearts if we could by the eye of Faith but have a sight of Eternal good things it would make us long until we come to the fingering and possessing of them till we have livery and seizin of them Such a sight would inflame our hearts with love to them it would make us like a Suitor or Lover who is not satisfied who is willing to do any thing and take any pains that he may enjoy his desired Object He that gets this sight will certainly find his affections setled upon them and having his affections setled upon his heart will be set to take pains to gain them When Sampson had seen Dalilah he loved her loving her he could not be at rest until he enjoyed her When Jacob had once seen Rachel he loved her loving her he was contented to labour and take pains the space of two hard Apprentiships that he might possess her CHAP. XIV Some directions in labouring for Eternal good things VVHerein is shewed how a Christian should labour for Eternal good things As 1. Faithfully 2. Diligently 3. Cheerfully 4. Abundantly 5. Earnestly 6. Vnweariedly And because I have been long upon this subject I shall speak but briefly hereunto and so conclude this Text. 1. In labouring for Eternal good things labour faithfully let there be sincerity in using all those means whereby Eternal good things are to be gain'd take heed in the use thereof that there be no squinting aside at any thing else Verily not every one that useth those means are labouring after Eternal good things but may have their eye rather upon Temporal good things like the Monk in the Story who looked downwards towards the Earth like a mortified Person but 't was only to find the keys of the Abbey The Monk indeed seems to have been a most mortified man and dead to all these things of the World and to have minded things above Even so do many others how attentive are they in hearing of the Word of God how often are they reading of the Scriptures how earnest are they in praye◠how frequent in eating Sacramentally the Body and Blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper But alas their hearts are not upright for God not any delight in such duties not any love to God's wayes not any hungring desire after Eternal good things moves them but they are conscious to themselves that there is something else which doth set them upon this work and that notwithstanding all they do they are not faithful in these and the like holy observances Verily thousands there are who will hereafter bewail such kind of labour and pains taking When Cardinal Woolsey was cast out of his Princes favour and left to his enemies fury said he If I had served my God as faithfully as I have served my King he would not have left me thus And will not those men say so when they come into Hell that have been as you call them true drudges to the World but hypocritical in all their seeming
v. that if there be first a wilâ—ing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath â—nd not according to that he hath not yet he had â—efore said in the 11. v. Now perform the doing of â— that as there was a readiness to will so there may â— a performance also As a thirsty man will not onâ— long for drink but he will labour earnestly to get â— neither will a covetous man only desire or wish â—r Riches and wealth but he will strive and take â—ins to be rich and wealthy so it should be with a â—tristian not only should he desire to be happy â—d desire to obtain Eternal good things but he â—ould labour earnestly to get these things Who was â—ere ever so wicked that desired not to be good and come to Heaven But neither Grace here nor â—ory hereafter can be had with bare wishing and â—iring as they say of Caeneus in the Fable who of â—oman became a man with a wish The Apostle â—h told us that there must be a seeking those things â—ich are above as well as a minding of those things â—ve Col. 3. 1. 2. v. If ye then be risen with Christ â—e those things which are above where Christ sitteth â—he right hand of God Set your affections on things above not on things on the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seek those things which are above the word used signifieth summo studio quaerere to seek with the whole strength 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set your affections on or mind as in the margâ—nt things above it signifieth to mind with the whole Soul 6. In labouring for Eternal good things labour unweariedly never being weary but holding on to the end of your lives indeed that great desire which any one hath of enjoying these things will be to him like a rod of Mirtle of which it is reported that iâ— makes the traveller who carries it in his hand that hâ— shall never be weary or faint when others that wanâ— this true desire are in their pains and labour hereiâ— like Charles the eight of France of whom one noteâ— in his Expedition to Naples he came into the fielâ— like thunder but went out like a snuff So these answer not alwayes their sometime undertaken laboâ— but languish and sink herein such resemble thoâ— winds about Sancto Croix in Africk which the Poâ—tug call the Monâ—oones which blow constantly oâ— way for six moneths and then the quite contrary wâ— the other half of the year while the vein lasts the out-do and over-labour all others but this hot is soon over their motion soon endeth it being bâ— like the motion of a Watch which is quickly dowâ— The true labour for Heaven is constant but thâ— though they put their hand to the Plouâ—â— soon grâ— weary and look back whereby they shew they â— not fit for the Kingdome of God Luke 9. 62. v. present dilligence herein should be followed with future and lasting diligence Heb. 6. 11. v. We desâ— saith the Apostle that every one of you do shew same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto â—nd We look for happiness as long as God hath any being in Heaven why then should we cease from painfulness as long as we have any being on Earth Man goes forth saith the Psalmist Psal 104. 23. v. to his work and to his labour until the evening so till the sun of our life be set we must be working we must be labouring The things we labour for shall never end why thâ— should our labour for them ever end this should animate us every day to labour a fresh for them As the Mother of Melitho animated her son when she saw his legs broken and his body bruised being ready to yield up his spirit in Martyrdome saying O my son hold on yet but a little and behold Christ standeth by ready to bring help to thee in thy torments and a large reward for thy sufferings So may we animate our selves with those words of St. Peter 1 Pet. 1. 4. v. who calls this reward an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us the two Greek words here used for undefiled and that fadeth not away are also Latine words the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 undefiled it is a Latine word also Amiantus it is a pretious stone the nature whereof is such that though it be never so much soiled yet it can never at all be blemished but cast it into the fire it is taken out still more bright and clean The other word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non marcescens that fadeth not away This Greek word is a Latine word also Amarantus it is the proper name of a Flower which being a long time hung up in the house yet still is fresh and green To these it is thought the Apostle â—alludeth here and it is as if he should say the Crown â—hat you shall receive shall be studded with the stone Amiantus which cannot be defiled and it is garnished with the Flower Amarantus which continues fresh and green The latter of these two words is used by the same Apostle 1 Pet. 5. 4. v. where he calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immarcâ—ssibilem gloriae coronam a Crown of glory that fadeth not away This is the Crown laid up in Heaven but it is given only to such as hold out to the end Rev. 2. 10. v. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of life Matt. 10. 23. v. He that endureth to the end shall be saeved Non currenti sed vincenti datur corona Only they who run their race with patience and finish their course can truly hope for these things When Judas Maccabeus 1 Macca 4. 17. 18. v. saw two men over greedy of the spoyl of the Enemy and thereupon to begin to desist from the Battel they had hitherto so valiently prosecuted Judas willeth them to follow on the persuit of the Enemy flying for quoth he in the end you shall safely take the spoyles or at last ye shall have Riches enough So say I Christians be not weary of your labouring after Eternal good things for in the end you shall have Eternal good things enough Let me here allude to our blessed Saviours words Matth. 5. 6. v. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled It is observable the Greek words in this place are the participles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessed are they that are hungring and thirsting though they have righteousness yet they are still hungring after more So should every Christian though he have already gotten a portion of Eternal good things yet should he be labouring and taking pains for more the sweetness of these things cannot but stirr up an hungring and thirsting after more of them whose infiniteness will more than fill the Soul brim-full How unweariedly therefore should a Christian go on in this Labour after Eternal good Things
Censure of a Chariot made by Myrmeeidas and Chalecrates p. 98 Alphonsus his Saying p. 8 Alphonsus refuseth to give any thing to a Knight that had spent his Estate p. 206 Ancients used means to keep Death in their thoughts p. 145 Andronicus his fall p. 169 Angola Inhabitants prefer a Dog before a Slave p. 223 Antimachus high esteem of his Schollar Plato p. 35 Antigenides a famous Musician his custom before he play'd a Lesson p. 311 Apelles how he came to fall in love with a Woman p. 224 Archimedes the Mathematician slain and why p. 16 Aristotle preferred conjecturall knowledge about Heavenly things before certain knowledge about Earthly things p. 270 Aristotle studied Philosophy in the morning but Eloquence in the afternoon Ibid. Artabazus Cup not so good Gold as Chrysantus Kiss p. 100 Athenians gave the Grashopper for their Badge p. 218 Athens what a kind of City p. 269 Attention required at hearing of the Word p. 21 Aetna ' s sad and ruining eruptions 1669 wasting the Habitations of 27000 Persons with 13 Towns p. 168 B. BAjazet carried in an Iron-cage p. 169 Babtism what it is p. 23 Baptism enters us into the Church p. 23 Baleassar his submission to the Word of God 24 Basil his answer to the threatnings of Modestus p. 23 Bassianus the Emperour strangely degenerated into effeminatness would be called Bassiana p. 223 Beatitudes the first of them belong to the Poor p. 92 Beauford Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor in the Reign of Henry VI. p. 128 â—ee what Men are like to it p. 273 â—eggars are all they who though they possess the greatest of Temporal good things are without Eternal good things p. 277 â—eggars lye under a great judgment p. 278 â—eggars are all they who have nothing laid up in Heaven p. 285 â—eleivers have the promise of two Worlds p. 290 â—elisarius his poor condition p. 169 â—engala where was an old Man of a great age p. 299 â—ernard ' s Esteem of Christ p. 108 â—ernard ' s words of the end of Christ ' s Comming at the last Day p. 155 â—ible presented to Queen Elizabeth p. 19 â—ody but a mean habitation for the Soul p. 149 â—ody made lovely by the Soul p. 202 â—ody of an excellent Structure p. 198 199 â—ooks cared for by Caesar p. 200 â—runo his change of Life and the cause thereof p. 135 â—udaeus high esteem of Plutarchâ— Works p. 18 â—urleigh his high esteem of Tully ' s Offices p. 20 C. Caesars Battle in Affrica with the followers of Pompey p. 53 Caesars Battle with the Swiffes that fought to obtain Gallia out of his hands p. 54 Caesar murthered p. 1â—1 Caesars Care of his Books p. 200 Caesar Borgia upon his Death-bed lamented because he had not taken care for Death before-hand p. 205 Caius Marius how he was wont to choose Souldiers p. 31 Camois relates what devout Personages used to writâ— upon their Chymney-pieces p. 308 Cardinal his choyce p. 257 Cato at evening meditated upon what he read in the day p. 21 Cats why Men compared unto them p. 232 Change is made by Grace p. 98 9â— Charles the Fifth Emperour his Challenge to Franciâ— the First King of France p. 10â— Christ the full of Mans Happiness p. 10â— Christ reckon'd amongst the chief of Eternal good thingâ— p. 10â— Christ makes them good who do enjoy him p. 11â— Christless Men are dead Men p. 111 11â— Christ loved by Saints above all things p. 107 10â— Christ will be a Righteous Judge in the day of Judgement p. 135 Christ hath a two fold Coming p. 15â— Christ will do those who have an Interest in him good anâ— stand them in stead at the day of Judgement p. 15â— Christianity compared to a Race p. 50 Christianity compared to Wrestling Ibid Christianity compared to a Fight p. 5â— Christianity compared to an Agony p. 5â— Christians have many Enemies p. 51 52 Christians find their condition in this Life very mutable p. 177 16â— Christians should be chearful in labouring for Eternal good things p. 337 338 Chrysostomes Censure of Antioch p. 68 Church why called the Congregation of the Poor p. 209 Cicero his Saying wherein we are taught not to be idle p. 246 Cleanthes great labour p. 47 Count Anhalt his Saying concerning the Scriptures p. 18 Colen Ground Where Saint Ursula ' s Virgins are buried retains no other dead Bodies in it p. 45 Commands of God dangerous to be neglected p. 82 Conscience that is good of a great benefit p. 117 Conscience an everlasting Companion p. 118 Conscience doth mind Men of sin in this Life that long after it hath been committed p. 119 â—onscience will bring to mind sins in another Life p. 120 â—onscience that is bad like a Mill Ibid. â—onscience that is good is in a good Man p. 121 â—onscience that is good a consequence of Grace p. 122 â—onscience that is good is a bridle against sin p. 122 â—onscience that is good is a spur unto duty p. 123 â—onscience that is good a comfort under affliction Ibid. â—onscience that is good lives in peace and dyes in pease p. 124 â—onscience when terrified for sin not comforted by Temporal good things p. 826 â—onstantinople had 7000 Houses in it burnt in the year 1633 p. 166 â—ourtier his Saying upon his Death-bed p. 130 â—reatures all of them do desire their center p. 107 â—ickets of the Night who p. 44 â—own worn in Heaven is Eternal p. 181 Crown in Heaven promised to five sorts p. 182 D. DAvid his great desire after God p. 31 Daughters of Danaeus are in Hell condemned to fill a bottomless tub p. 208 Day time is for labour p. 35 Days how Christ in Scripture is said to have many of them p. 326 327 Dazled are the minds and Distracted are the judgments of Men by Temporal things p. 224 Dead Men are all Men without Christ p. 111 112 Death cannot he kept off by Temporal good things p. 128 Death should always be in a Christians thoughts p. 145 Death terrible especially to those who have made no provision for Eternity p. 146 Death by Mundanus an Heathen looked upon to be but a change to a more happy Estate p. 147 Death not feared by Seneca p. 148 Death what it will be to a good Man and what it will be to a wicked Man p. 151 Death what thoughts Saint Basil had of it p. 152 Death makes all Men equal p. 284 Death-bed how terrible to Philip the Third King of Spain p. 129 Death-bed how terrible it was to a Courtier p. 130 Death-bed what thoughts Pelican a German Divine had thereupon p. 133 Death-bed made comfortable to those who have gotten Eternal good things p. 144 Death-bed how Valentinian the Emperour was comfortable thereon p. 152 Death-bed what will comfort any Christian thereon Ibid. Delightful is the labour for Heaven p. 335 Demades his Counsel to the Athenians p. 264 Diligence commanded p. 332 333 Diocletian leaves the Empire because