noise at the bringing forth of a child Well enough saith she for now I suffer for my sins but then I shall suffer for my Saviour There is more evill in a drop of corruption then there is in a sea of affliction In suffering the offence is done to us in finning the offence is done to God In suffering there is an infringement of mans liberty in sinning there is a violation of Gods authority The evil of suffering is transient but the evill of sin is permanent In suffering we lose the favour of men in sinning we hazard the favour of God The rose is sweeter under the Still where it drops then on the stalk where it sprouts The face of godliness is never so beautiful as when its spit upon The best corn is that which lies under the clods in snowy weather It was a brave saying of Vincentius to his persecutors Rage and do your worst you shall finde the Spirit of God more strengthening the tormented then the spirit of the devil can strengthen their tormentors Let but Professors do their best and then let persecutors â—eâ—cussâ—res nihil moraâ—amur praeseâ—tim â—um moriendum esse nobis sciamuâ— Justin 2. Defens ad Anâ—on 〈◊〉 do their worst Though you may feel their might yet you should not fear their malice Nil desperandum Christo duce auspice Christo It s storied of Hooper when he came to suffer O Sir saith one have a care of your self life is Thus the Proconsul perswaded and besought the noble German who suffered under Verus Vt quoniam admodum juâ—enis in flore esset sui ipsius misereretur Euseb Hist Eccl. cap. 15. sweet and death is bitter Ah saith he this I know but the life to come is more full of sweetness and the death to come is more full of bitterness A man may suffer without sinning but a man cannot sin without suffering When Philip asked Demosthenes If he was not afraid to lose his head No saith he for if I lose my head the Athenians will give me one immortal Do but listen to the language that drops out of the mouthes of those three children or rather of those three Vos occidere quidem potestis nocere non potestis â—ust ubi prius champions Dan. 3. 17 18. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up Either they must sin fouly or they must suffer sadly Either they must bow to a golden Image or burn in a fiery furnace Yet they were as far from worshipping of his gods as he Thus Polycarpe was assaulted by Herod and Nicetes who said Quidnam mali fuerit dicere Domine Caefar sacrificareque conservari But he answered Facturus non sum quod consulitis and chose rather a flaming fire then to consent unto their fawning words Euseb ubi prius was from worshipping of theirs And Daniel chuses the den of the lions before he will forsake the cause of the Lamb. Shall not we for his sake bear the wrath of man who for our sakes did bear the wrath of God Though obedience be better then sacrifice yet sometimes to sacrifice a mans self is the best obedience He that loses a baser life for Christ shall finde a better life in Christ Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Heb. 11. 25. What is a cup of physick that takes away the disease to a cup of poyson that takes away the life They that live upon God in the use of the creature can live upon God in the loss of the creature It was a brave expression of one What I receive thankfully as a token of Gods love to me I part with all contentedly as a token of my love to him For a good man one will even dare to dye Rom. 5. 7. Will one dare to die for a good man and shall we be afraid to die for a good God And others were tortured not accepting Melius est mibi emori propter Christum Iesum quam imperare sinibus terrae Ign. ad Rom. deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Heb. 11. 35. Some would have used any pick-lock to have opened a passage to their liberty but they knew too much of another world to bid so high a rate for this world It is storied of Hormisdas a noble man of Persia who was degraded of all his promotion because he would not alter his professions afterward they restored them all again and sollicited him to deny Christ but he rent his purple robe and laid all his Honours at the feet of the Emperor saying Siideo me sperasti pietatem deserturam habe tibi donum tuum una cum impietate If you think to make me deny Christ for The like constancy and resolution you may read of in the noble Suenes and the zealous Benjamin both barbarously used by the same Prince Id. ibid. the obtaining of my honours take them all back again He thought that Christ without his honors was better then his honours without Christ It is storied of one of the Martyrs going to the stake a Noble man wisht him to have a care of his soul So I will saith he for I give my body to be burned to keep my soul from being defiled How many are there that had rather have sinful self satisfied then to have sinful self crucified As grace comes in at one door vice goes out at another as in a well when one bucket comes up full the other returns down empty The only way to have the house of Saul weakened is to get the house of David strengthned Those Philistims that could not stand before Sampson in his health how scornfully did they dance about him in his sickness O remember sin it is that which in this life doth debase us and it is that which in the next life doth destroy us Those whose end is damnation their damnation is without end No condition is so intolerably easeless as that condition which is unalterably changeless One seeing a woman going chearfully to prison O saith he you have not yet tasted of the bitterness of death No saith she nor never shall for Christ hath promised that they who keep his sayings shall never see death A beleever may feel the stroke of death but he shall never feel the sting of death The first death may bring his body to corruption but the second death shall never bring his soul to damnation Though the cross may be endured by them yet the curse is removed from them Though they may live a life that is dying yet they shall not dye a death that is
there is oft a vast distance and difference between the face of the work and heart of the worker But a soul acted by God in service though he may have self at the hither end he will have God at the higher end A Christian is more in love with his present duty then he is in love with his future glory St. Paul was contented to stay a while out of heaven that he might bring other souls into heaven To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Phil. 1. 21. His life to them was most useful but his death to him was most gainful by dying he had injoyed his recompence sooner but by living he made his recompence larger Were it possible to divorce those things asunder which God himself hath linked together a Christian had rather be holy without any happiness then be happy without any holiness Luther hath this expression Mallem in inferne esse cum Christo quam in coelo sine Christo I had rather be in hell with Christ then in heaven without Christ And indeed hell it self would be a heaven if God were in it and heaven would be a hell if God were from it A gracious man makes this the request of his soul Lord let me rather have a good heart then a great estate Let me rather be pious without prosperity then prosperous without piety Though you may love many things beside Religion yet you may not love any thing above religion The earth that is our work-house but heaven that is our storehouse This is a place to run in and that is a place to rest in Yet a Beleever on his dying pillow being asked how he did O saith he sorry for nothing but that I am going to that Country where wages are received and no works performed That is the sixteenth 17. Singular thing is To be more in searching our own hearts then we are in censuring others states They are too busie Bishops that lord it over others Diócesses We are to allow beleevers for their failings though we are not to allow beleevers in their failings Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy heards Prov. 21. 23. It s of greater concernment to know the state of our hearts then to know the state of our flocks It s the expression of Seneca Vtimur perspicillis magis quam speculis Men are more apt to use spectacles to see other mens faults then looking-glasses to view their own Plato entertaining some friends at a neatly spread table Diogenes coming in tramples upon it saying Calco fastum Platonis I trample upon the pride of Plato to whom he answered Yea At cum majori fastu but with a greater pride He that is without sin let him throw the first stone They are fittest to finde fault in whom no fault is to be found and to blame others who are blameless themselves There is no removing of blots from the paper by laying upon it a blurred finger Thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the moat out of Illud quasi cacoethes penitimmè inssium est ut cum in gravissimis nobis ipsis nimium facilè indulgentur ignoscimus aliorum tamen judices inclementissimi censores rigidissimi sumus Chem. Evan. Har. cap. 51. thy brrthers eye Mat. 7. 5. What dost thou get by throwing of stones in at thy enemies windows whilst thy own Children look out at the casements He that blows in a heap of dust is in danger to put out his own eyes Is not the worst mens practices a comment on the best mens principles Are there not the same lusts lodging in your hearts that are reigning in their lives The reason why there is so little self-manifestation is because there is so little self-examination For want of this men are like Travellers skilled in other Countries but ignorant of their own It is a sign they are sunk in their estates who are afraid to look into their books The trial of our selves is the ready road to the knowledge of our selves He that buys a jewel in a case deserves to be couzened with a Bristol stone Many think themselves as surely going to heaven as if they were already dwelling in heaven Christians would you see God then cast your eyes upwards would you see your selves then cast your eyes inward Contemplation that is a perspective glass to see our Saviour in but examination that is a looking-glass to see our selves in Bring your selves to the standard and see whether you be in the narrow way that leads to life or in the broad way that leads to death whether your spirits be chairs for vice to sit in or thrones for grace to rule in whether you be one of Christ Spouses or one of the Devils harlots Nero thought no person chast because Nero impurissimus neminem à libidine purum judâ—cabat himself was unchast Such as are troubled with the Jaundise see all things yellow But such as are more religious are less censorious Why dost Temerarium â—st judâ—cium cum in illo nâ—l lam jurisdictionem habeas Gor. in loc thou judge another mans servant Rom. 14. 4. They that are fellow-creatures with men should not be fellow-judges with God What will it advantage you to search anothers wounds and let your own bleed to death Take heed your own cloaths be not full of dust when you are brushing others garments or complaining of dirty streets when heaps lie at your own doors Many are never well longer then they are holding their fingers upon others sores such are no better then crows that fasten only upon carrion Let every man prove his own works so shall he have rejoycing in himself not in another Gal. 6. 4. For want of this men have their accounts to cast up when they should have their accounts to give up They have their evidences of grace to seek when they should have their evidences of grace to shew They lye down with such hopes in their beds of rest which they dare not lye down withall in their beds of dust Because he considereth and turneth away from all his transgressions Ezek. 18. 28. Conversion begins in consideration The hasty showr falls fastest but the soft snow sinks deepest The Mariner that is running his ship against a rock if he considers it and stears another course prevents a desperate shipwrack Examine your selves Integritatis tuae curiosus explorator vitam tuam in quotidianâ discussione examina attende diligenter quantum proficias vel quantum deficias Bern med 5. in lim whether ye be in the faith or no or whether the faith be in you or no prove your own selves know ye not your own selves that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. See whether your hearts be the cabinets of such a jewel A true Subject dares not deny any coyn which bears the image of
our life to a day Infancy is as it were the day breake youth is the Sun rising full growth is as the Sun in it's Meridian and old age is as the Sun setting by the light of the day let us doe the worke of the day O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that doe belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Luk. 19. 42. The dews of grace is falling whilst the day of grace is dawning O how just is it that they should misse of heaven at the last that never seek for Heaven till the last That God should deny them his grace to repent that abuse his grace to sin It 's a Maxime Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum every thing hath an aptitude of returning into the Principle of its beginning as the Rivers that have their eflux from the Sea have their reflux to the Sea Out of the dust man was formed and therefore into the dust man is turned Sirs How much of your lives is gone and yet how little of your works are done You tender plants will you spend your youthfull lives in following of your youthfull lusts will you hang the most sparkling Jewells of your yeares as pendents in the Devils ears The Aegyptians sold their funerall balms in the Temple of Venus to shew that where they prayed for their nativity they might not forget their mortallity O you fresh pictures will you not be hung in Heavens gallery do you not know that the blossome is as subject to nipping as the flower to withering and the spark to extinguishing as the flame to expiring Veins brimmed full with blood may be emptied by an accident as soon as those that are leakish with old age As there 's none too old for eternity so there 's none too young for mortallity In Golgotha there are sculls of all sizes You are but green enough for reformation that are gray enough for dissolution tell me how wilt thou live when thou diest that art dead whilst thou livest every step that your bodies take it 's towards the earth O that euery step your souls take might be towards Heaven We sin as well in not doing the good commanded as in doing the evil prohibited The Vine that bringeth forth no Grapes shall be cut down as well as the Vine that bringeth forth wild Grapes There 's no countermining against the death of the body without us but by undermining of the body of death within us O how sad is it to be taken out of the world before we are taken off from the world To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3. 7. We have but a day wherein we are called to repent and therefore should repent whilest it is called to day None sings so sweetly as the Turtle upon the Churches Walls and all that he may even constram sinners unto himself He is the deafest Adder that stops his ears to the voice of the sweetest Charmer The Lord hath made a promise to late repentance but he hath not made a promise of late repentance If the Tap be not now thawed it may be for ever frozen A pardon is sometimes given to a Thief on the Gallows but he that Quòspectas quò te extendu Omnia quae ventura sunt in incertojacent Seneca ubi prius trusts to that sometimes hath a Rope for his wages Boast not of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27. Man is such a pur-blind creature that he cannot unerringly see a day before him O see the ending of one day before thou gloriest in the beginning of another Many a mans dayes deceives him they passe away like a shadow by Moon-shine that then appears longest when it s nearest to an end Thou mayest not have halfe a day to live Dum floret aetas dum viget animus operemur bonum cùm enim vita ista transierit auferetur tempus operandi Arbor in cap. 6. ad Gal. ver 10. who thinks thou hast not lived out halfe thy dayes up and be doing least you be for ever undone The night cometh wherein no man can work The Grave is a Bed to rest in but not a Shop to trade in There 's no setting up under ground for those that have lost their time above ground When the soul in death takes its flight from its loving maite they shall meet no more till the general Assises 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the acceptable Vide Gor. Arboreum in loc time behold now is the day of salvation Now is the time for grace to accept of you and now is the time for you to accept of grace Opportunities they are for eternity but opportunities they are not to eternity Mercies Clock doth not strike at the sinners beck Where the means of grace is greatest there the day of grace is shortest Thou mayest be unhappy all thy dayes for the neglect of this dayes happinesse It was the sad cry of one My life is done but my work is undone O that you would imploy the small remnant you have of opportunity for the obtaining of the whole peece of felicity Make Hay whilest the Sun is shining and hoyse up Sails whilest the wind is serving Let this be thy living day the next may be thy dying day Seek the Lord whilest he may be found call upon him whilest he is near Isa 55. 6. Sirs The sufferings of eternal death are but the Issue of the slightings of eternal life Methinks the worth of such Pearls of price should sparkle in your eyes Will you let such a Sun set on earth by the beams of which you should walke to Heaven No disease is more fatal then that which doth reject Cordials What asad thing is it that such rich Mines should be opened and not a penny of this treasure fall to your share Some are gone so far in the way of sinning that there 's small hopes of their returning How much time did God bestow upon you before ever you returned any of that time to him It 's good to have an Ark prepared before a Deluge come in which you may be overwhelmed Man must do what he can and leave God to do what he will Though you cannot create the breath of the Spirit yet hang out your Sails to entertain it Though you cannot make the Pool of Bethesda healing yet lye at its mouth and wait for its stirring The longer a building goes to ruin the more cost it requires for reparation Remember that God can as easily turn you into the dust as he could take you out of the dust Delayes are numerous O but delayes are dangerous Who will look for water from a drained River Or that wealthy Grapes should grow upon a withered Vine For a man to make his best work to be his last work what 's this but as if an Husbandman should be putting in of his Plough for the sowing of his
he carries with him The Disciples of Christ as they are more then others so they should do more then others A Heathen may move beyond a Sodomite but a Christian must move beyond an Hypocrite Though the naturally dead can do nothing yet the spiritually dead may do something Though they can do nothing as to the obtaining of the grace of life yet they may do something as to the using of the means of life Cicero complains of Homer that he taught the gods to live like men but grace teaches men to live like gods Great persons they are like bells which whilst they are rising strike apace but when they are up are set and strike no more or like flowers which by change of soil degenerate into weeds Thus the highest mountains are the barrenest grounds It s sad that we should live so long in the world and do so little good or that we should live so little in the world and do so much evil All creatures have their several essences according to the creatures essence is the creatures actings Trees are in their bearing as they are in their being Other creatures are not more below a sinner then a Saint is above a sinner Man is the excellency of the creature the Saint is the excellency of the man Grace is the excellency of the Saint Glory is the excellency of Grace Believers are among others as Saul among the Israelites higher by the head and shoulders They are but base-born to them that are twice born What is the lowest shrubs in the bottom of the valleys to the highest cedars on the tops of the mountain Stars that are placed in the highest orbes give the clearest lights Trees planted by the rivers of water yield the choycest fruits They who look for a heaven made ready should live as though they were in heaven already Grace doth not only make a man more a man but it makes him more then a man The primitive Christians were the best of men though they were but men at the best None were more lowly in their dispositions and none more lovely in their conversations Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation Gen. 6. 9. He was not a sinner amongst those that were Saints but he was a Saint amongst those that were sinners Who would ever have looked for so fair a bird in so foul a nest In a field of wheat there may spring up tares A Saint is not free from sin that 's his burthen a Saint is not free to sin that 's his blessing Sin is in his soul that 's his lamentation his soul is not in sin that 's his consolation And the Lord said unto Satan Hast thou considered my servant Job Job 1. 8. Why what was there in Job that was so considerable there is none like him in all the earth Though there was none so bad as Job in heaven yet there was none so good as Job on earth He was a man so like unto God that there was never another man like unto him Beleivers in the world they are the Non-such's of the world It was the saying of a gracious soul hearing of the far goings of Hypocrites Let Hypocrites go as far as they can in that which is good I will follow them and where they can go no further I will go beyond them A Christian is not only to do more then all other men will do but he is to do more then all other men can do Whatsoever is not above the top of Nature is below the bottom of grace Some there are that believe and work not others there are that work and believe not but a Saint must do both He must so obey the Law as if there were no Gospel to be beleived and so believe the Gospel as if there were no Law to be obeyed It s by faith that our works are justified but it s by works that our faith is testified A Christians work doth not lie in beleeving or in doing but in beleiving and in doing There are Four sorts of things First Some things that are neither good nor pleasant as envy and detraction The eclipsing of anothers sun will never make our own to shine with brighter beams O pare off those envious nails that are ever scratching those faces that are fairer then your own Why do you wound your selves with those plaisters that are laid upon your brethrens sores Or weep at every showre of rain that falls besides your own corn Who would grudge an Ox its fat pasture which doth but fit it for the slaughter Or the Malefactors progress through the meadows which conducts him to the gallows Thou hast never the less for others having of the more and others have never the more for thy having of the less Leahs fruitfulness was not the spring of Rachels barrenness Secondly Some things are pleasant but not good as sin and transgression This Bee carries honey in its mouth but a sting in its tail When Jael brings forth her milk and her butter then beware of the nail and the hammer Death is in the pot whilst you are tasting of the broth The fish by leaping at the bait is catcht upon the hook If the cup be sinful we must not taste it if the cup be lawful we must not carouze it Reason forbids either the tasting of known poyson or the being drunk with pleasant wine Sin it is like a river that begins in a quiet spring but ends in a tumultuous sea Thirdly Some things are good but not pleasant as sorrow and affliction Sin that 's pleasant but unprofitable sorrow that profitable but unpleasant God by affliction separates the sin that he hates so deadly from the soul that he loves so dearly They are not to take our spirits out of our flesh but to take our flesh out of our spirits They are not to pull down the tabernacle of Nature without us but to rear up the temple of Grace within us Waters are purest when they are in their motion and Saints are holiest when they are in affliction A foul feskue may point us to a fair lesson Some children never learn their books but when the rod is on their backs By the greatest affliction God doth give the sweetest instruction Though you may resist the Judgements that are laid before you in the word yet you cannot resist the Judgements that are laid upon you by the rod. The purest gold is the most ductible that 's a good blade that bends well without retaining its crooked figure Fourthly Some things that are both good and pleasant and they are gracious operations A Beleivers bed of graces is more fragrant then a bed of spices He that gives his Image to us he loves his Image in us Finally my brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things Phil. 4. 8.
yet he was not a man of sins Though we cannot equalize his holiness yet we should imitate his holiness As it is the same light which shines from the body of the sun in its meridian and which breaks forth in the dawnings of the morning There 's the same water in the streams that bubbles up at the spring-head Summa religionis est 〈◊〉 eum quem colis Lactant. There should be such a conformity between the life of Christ and the life of a Christian as there is between the Counterpain and its Original As face answers to face in the water so should life answer to life in the Scripture What he was by nature that we should be by grace He that was a way to others never went out of the way himself A holy life is a chrystal glass wherein Jesus Christ beholds his own face In our Sacramental participations we shew forth the death of Christ but in our evangelical conversations we shew forth the life of Christ An excellent Christ calls for excellent Christians And why should we â—ay his yoke is heavy when he says his yoke is easie He went about doing good Acts 10. 38. As he was never ill imployed so he was never unimployed Jesus Christ submits his person to be judged by his actions If I do not the works beleeve me not If I act not like a Saviour do not take me for a Saviour Thus should it be with a Saint Never take me for a Christian if I act not like a Christian If men finde no more among Saints then they find among men they will say Here is a man and a man and not a man and a Christian Man naturally is an aspiring piece and loves to be nearest to those that are highest Now a Christ that did more then others calls on Christians to do more then others Methinks you should take as much delight in those precepts that enjoyn holiness as in those promises that assures happiness and be as willing to be ruled by Christ as you are willing to be saved by Christ To the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight Psa 16. 3. Was it so in his time and shall iâ— not be so in our time The New Testament out-shines the Old as much as the splendor of the sun doth the brightness of the stars If you live under more glorious dispensations you should have more gracious conversations As he is so are we in this world 1 Joh. 4. 17. As he was so should we be on earth and as he is so shall we be in heaven If there be no congruity between Christ and you in holiness there will be no society between Christ and you in happiness That 's the fourth 5. The Disciples of Christ must do more then others because they are more lookt upon then others If once a man be a Professor the eyes of the whole world are placed upon him Because our profession in the world is a separation from the world Beleevers should condemn those by their lives who condemn them with their lips Teach me thy way O Lord and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies Psal 27. 11. Heb. Because of my observers or propter insidiatores meos because of those that lye in wait for me If you walk in the unpaved road of licentious loosness the world will not go backwards like Shem and Japhet to cover your nakedness but they will march forward like cursed Cham to uncover your nakedness They make use of your weakness as a shield to defend their own wickedness Men are merciless in their censures though God hath more equitable scales and wil give grains of allowance to his own gold A true Christian though he be a Dove in Gods eyes yet he is a Raveâ— in theirs An unholy conversation pâ—lls off the jewels from the beautiful Queen of Religion Sin allowed of in a Saint it s like a slit in a piece of cloth of gold or like a crack in a silver bell The foulest spots are soonest seen in the fairest cloaths The world will sooner allow its own enormities then of your infirmities The loose walkings of Christians are the reproaches of Christ Si Christus sancta dâ—â—uisset sancta à Christianis fierent qualis secta talis sectatores Quomodo bonus magistor eujus tam pravos videmus Discipulos as Lactantius brings in the Heathens ubraiding the Nations So much malice is there lodged in sinners as to reproach the rectitude of the rule for the obliquity of their lives who swerve and vary from it Now your pure lives should hang a padlock upon their impure lips who throw the dirt of Professors upon the face of Profession One hour of the suns eclipsing attracts more eyes to view it then all its illustrious shinings Dr. Whitaker reading that fifth of Matthew breaks forth into these words Aut hoc non est Evangelium aut nos non sumus Evangelici Either this is not Gospel that we Christians profess or else we are not Christians that profess the Gospel The curelty of the Spaniards to the Indians made them cry out Quam malus Deus iste qui habet tam malos servos What an evil God is this that hath such evil servants Gods Jewels should cast a sparkling lustre in the eyes of others One scar may stain the beauty of the fairest face It was a glorious Encomium given of Zachary and Elizabeth They were both righteous before God walking in all the commandmâ—nts and ordinances of the Lord blam â—â—ss Luk. 1. 6. As they were harmless in their actings so they were blameless in their walkings Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world Jam. 1. 2. If you would keep your selves unspotted from the world you must keep your selves unspotted in the world Christians such even threads should be spun by you as none might fasten a snarl upon you That 's the fifth 6. Ground is Because if you do no more then others it will appear that you are no more then others Vna actio non denominat fidelem It is not one action that makes a Beleever no more then its one Swallow that makes a Summer As there is none so evil but may do some good so there is none so good but may do some evil Every being nath its proper acting and where we do not finde the working we may deny the being You would be thought to be more then Publicans and Sinners what and yet act no more then Publicans and Sinners Ye shall know them by their fruits Mat. 7. 20. By the leaves the tree is seen but by the fruit the tree is known The hand of the Dyal is without in going as the wheels of the clock are within in moving Where the heart is of a good constitution the life will be of a fair complexion When the
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. A drop of his blood is worth a sea of ours and yet he died our death that we might live his life and suffered our hell to bring us to his heaven He was conceived in the bowels of his mother that we might be received into the bosom of his Father His love began in his eternal purposes of grace and ends in our eternal possessions of glory Why was the Bread of life an hungry but to feed the hungry with the bread of life why was Rest it self weary but to give the weary rest why did he hang upon the cross in mount Calvary but that we might sit upon the throne in mount Sion His face was covered with spittle that ours might be enamelled with glory Why did this Jonah cast himself into the sea of his fathers wrath but to save the ship of his Church from drowning Christians you are not vessels in which the waters of life are lodged but pipes through which it is to be conveyed If the mountains overflow with moysture the valleys are the richer but if the head be full of ill humors the whole body is the worser Happy are those persons that God will use as besoms to sweep out the dust from his Temple that shall tug at an oar in that boat where Christ and his Church are carried For David after he had served his own Generation by the will of God fell asleep Act. 13. 36. Davids service was not swallowed up in the narrow gulf of self He did not Advertite aâ—iâ— um popusi capâ—ta atque à â—avid distite quid cor vestrum a peâ—ere deâ—eat Mâ—ndâ—â—uâ—us fallaci uâ— oâ—iâ—us inâ—iaâ—e â—â—◠〈◊〉 decet Sibel ubi supra draw al his lines to the ignoble center of his own ends Such birds are bad in the nest but worse when winged to fly abroad He served his own generation not the generation that was before him for they were dead before he was living nor the generation that was behinde him for they were living after he was dead Every gracious spirit is publick though every publick spirit is not gracious God may use the Midwifery of the Egyptians to bring forth the children of the Israelties An Iron key may open a golden treasury and leaden pipes convey pleasant waters I saw a great wonder in heaven a woman cloathed with the sun and the moon was under her feet Rev. 12. 1. Though carnal blessings may be communicated to a man that is spiritual yet spiritual blessings shall not be communicated to a man that is carnal When the Moon is waxing she hath her shut end towards the earth and her open end towards heaven but when the moon is waining she hath her open end towards earth and her shut ends toward heaven They that live most downwards they dye most upwards Meteors whilst they keep above in the firmament yield a glorious lustre but if they decline they fall to the earth and come to nothing If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy Psalm 137. 6. Old Ely mourned more for the loss of his Religion then for the loss of his relation his heart was broken before his neck was broken If the Church be lost we cannot be saved if the Church be saved we cannot be lost Augustus Caesar carried such an intire love to his Country that he called it Filiam suam his own daughter therefore refused And this he had with the consent of all Patris patriae cognomen universi repentino maximoque consensu detulerunt ei Suet. p. 101. to be called its Master but would be called its Father because he ruled it non per timorem sed per amorem Not by fear but by love The people at his expiration used this bitter lamentation Vtinam aut non nasceretur aut non moreretur Macrob. O would to God that either he had never lived or else that he had never died The worth of good Rulers is best seen in the want of good Rulers As we see more in the discomposure of a Watch then when its wheels are set together Such whose lives deserve no prayers their deaths deserve no tears A self-seeker he breaths unrespected and he dies unlamented When once a man becomes a God to himself he then becomes a devil to others and cares not who sinks in the sea so he arrive but safe at the shore Those wretches in the Acts rather then a few shrine-makers should lose their gains cared not though a whole City lost their souls It s reported of Agrippina the mother of Nero who being told that if ever her son came to be an Emperor she would find him to be her murderer she answered Peream ego modo ille imperet Let me perish so he may be Emperor There is many such who though they do not utter it with their tongues yet harbour it in their breasts Pereat Religio modo ego imperem Let Religion perish so I may flourish Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation Exod. 32. 10. But the affection of Moses as a Ruler quencht the affections of Moses as a Father And such was the noble disposition of Joshua that he first divided Canaan into several parts and portions for the Tribes of Israel before any provision was made for his own family Give me such carvers as lay not all the meat upon their own trenchers That 's the fourth 5. Singular thing is to have the beautifullest conversations among the blackest persons A wicked man as he poysons the air in which he breaths so he pollutes the age in which he lives The putrid grape corrupts the Principis mores mirâ vi in populuÌ„ transsunduntur Stapl. pro. mor. p. 57â— sound cluster Joseph by living in the Court of Pharoah had learnt to swear by the life of Pharoah A High Priests hall will instruct a Peter how to disclaim his Master The sweet streams lose their freshness by gliding into the salt seas They which sail amongst such rocks may quickly split their own ships When vice runs in a single stream it s then a passable shallow but when many of these meet together they swell a deeper channel I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed Gen. 3. 15. There must be no harmony where the chief Musician will have a jar It s better to have the enmity of wicked men then it is to have the society of wicked men By the former they are most hateful but by the latter they are most hurtful A good man in bad company is like a green stick amongst dry ones They may sooner kindle him
18. 4. If Rome have left us in the foundation let us leave them in the superstruction Where they are fallen from God there let us fall from them Where such worms breeds in the body of a Nation they will be sure to eat out the bowels of Religion Not to take away such traytors is to make a nest wherein to hatch their treasons That is the fifth 6. Singular thing is this To chuse the worst of sorrows before you commit the least of sins Others they chuse the greatest sin before the smallest suffering which is like the fish that leaps out of the broyling-pan into the burning flame by seeking to shun an external calamity they rush Thus Spira by labouring to preserve his outward estate indangered the loss of his immortal soul into eternal misery What is this but as if a man to save his hat should lose his head Or to sink the ship that is sailing to avoid the storm that is rising It is better to have the flesh defaced then Peccatum inter omnia mala existimare debemus maximum malum Chem Evan. har p. 878. it is to have the spirit defiled Though man be the Butt yet it is sin that is the mark at which all the arrows of divine vengeance are shot These spiders weave their own webs and then are intangled in them Our own damnation is but the product of our own transgression Wherefore doth a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins Lam. 3. 39. When man had no evil within him man had no evil upon Peccatum omnia mala habet sibi adjuncta eorumque sons origo existit id ibid. him He began to be sorrowful when he began to be sinful When the soul shall be fully released from the guilt of its impieties the body shall be wholly delivered from the grief of its infirmities Sorrow shall never be a visitant where sin is not an inhabitant the former would be a foraigner if the latter were not a sojourner God is as far from beating his children for nothing as he is from beating his children to nothing There is no way to calm the sea but Si serpentem negligis basiliscus fiet si parvae navis foramina non abturas â—qua paulatim acrescens submerget navens Stapl. p. m. p. 443. to excommunicate Jonah from the ship Kill the root and the branches wither Diminish the spring and the streams will fail Remove but the fuel of corruption and you extinguish the fire of affliction The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. The works of sin are hateful and the wages of sin are mortal The corruption of nature is the cause of the dissolution of nature The candle of our lives is blown out by the wind of our lusts that is the weed that overtops the corn the smoak that depresses the flame and the cloud that over-shadows the sun Were it not for sin death had never had a beginning and Supersint in nobis peccati reliquiae adhaerentes carni nostrae donee sâ—mus in hâc vâ—tâ at hae reliquiae mortâ— tollâ—atur â—â—use â—oc 〈◊〉 de â—em pec p. 53. were it not for death sin would never have an ending Man as a creature is a debtor to Gods Soveraignty commanding but man as a sinner is a debtor to Gods severity condemning What is so sweet a good as Christ and what is so great an evil as lust Sin hath brought many a Beleever into suffering and suffering Afflâ—ctiones sunt reâ—edia peccatorum ut peccata sunt causae afflictionum Stap. promp Mor. p. 197. hath kept many a Beleever out of sin It is better to be preserved in brine then to rot in honey The bitterest Physick is to be chosen before the sweetest poyson Sicut aurum reprobum igne consumitur probum vero igne declaratur In the same fire where the dross is consumed the gold is refined How many thousands of souls had never obtained the hopes of heaven if they had not sailed by the gates of hell As every mercy is a drop derived from the ocean of Gods goodness so every misery is a dram weighed by the wisdom of Gods providence When Eudoxia threatned Chrysostom with banishment Go tell her saith he Nil nisi peccatum timeo I fear nothing but sin And indeed nothing but sin is to be feared Before we lanch out into any undertaking it behoves us to ask our selves what is our tackling if a storm should overtake us in our voyage A bad conscience imbitters the sweetest comforts when a good conscience sweetens the bitterest crosses Et quantam in conscientia relinquent cicatricem vitia vel aetate tenerrima perpetrata He that is not afraid to do evil will be afraid to suffer evil But what need he fear a cross on the back who doth feel a Christ in Afflictio pins non constituit infaelices aut miseros uti humana judicat ratio sed contra felices aâ—beatos Lau. â—â— Ep. Iac. p 78. the heart It s the water without the ship that tosses it but it s the water within the ship that drowns it It s better to have a body consumed to ashes then a soul that shall dwell with everlasting burnings Though we cannot Diligo quidem pati sed nescio an dignus sim Ignat in Ep. ad Trall live without afflictions yet le ts live above afflictions Our Patmos is our way to Paradise Non nisi per angusta ad augusta Suppose the furnace be heated seven times hotter it is but to make us seven times better They that are here crossed for well doing shall be hereafter crowned for well-dying There is none so welcome to the spiritual Canaan as those that swim to it through the red sea of their own blood Christian when thou comest into the world thou dost but live to die again and when thou goest out of the world thou dost but dye to live again What is the grain the worse for the fan by which it is winowed or the gold for the fire by which it is purified Pendleton promised rather to fry out a fat body in flames of martyrdom then to betray his Religion but when the trial approacht he said As he came not frying into the world so he would not go flaming out of the world They who will not part with their lusts for Christ will never part with their lives for Christ But Paul and Silas they had their prison Thus that undaunted champion of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. frumentum Dei dentibus ferarum molar ut mundus panis Dei inveniar Ign. in Ep. ad Rom songs in the midst of their prison-sufferings These caged birds sang as sweetly as those that have skie freedom I have read a story of a woman that being in travel in prison a little before her death she cried out of her sorrows The Keeper askt her how she could indure the fire that made such a
6. 21. him as one that is in bitterness for his first born Zach. 12. 10. The nailes that pierced his hands shall now pierce their hearts they shall wound themselves with their sorrows which have wounded him with their sins That they have grieved his spirit it shall grieve their spirits A beleiver puts on his mourning garment for puting off his wedding garment As the Suger-loaf is disolved and weeps it self away when it s dipt in wine so do our hearts disolve and melt themselves away in the sweet sence of Divine love and our refusals of it O that ever I should be so bad a child to him that hath been so good a Father Of sin because they beliive not in me John 16. 9. Unbelief it s a sin that least visible and yet a sin that 's most damnable Not to fetch our lives from Christ is to bring the greatest death upon Christ Insidelity is the greatest robbery it frustrates not onely all the actions of Christ in doing but all the passions of Christ in dying Other persons are like Lapwings that flutter most at the greatest remoteness from the nests if they have teares for their outward losses but none for their inward lusts they can mourn for the evil that sin brings but not for the sin which brings the evil As Pharoah more lamented the hard strokes that was upon him then the hard heart that was within him Esau mourned not because he sold the Birthright which was his sin but because he lost the blessing which was his punishment This is like weeping with an Onion the eye sheds tears because it smarts A Marriner casts over those goods in a Tempestuous season that he courts a return off when the winds are silenced many complain more of the sorrows to which they are born then of the sins in which they are born The venome of sin is not ever distastful when the vengeance of sin is affrightful The sinners in Sion are affraid fearfulness hath surprised the Hypocrites Why what 's the matter Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongsts us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isai 33. 14. They fear corruption not as it is a cole that is blacking but as it is a fire that is burning A stroke from Justice brake Judases heart into despaire but a look from mercy melted Peters hearts into teares There are two things in our sins There 's the devillishness of them and the dangerousnes of them Now take a Saint and a sinner Quid feci quò me praecipitaveram nisi mihi Dei misericordia subveniret Cal. inst l. 3. c. 3. sec 15. the one saith what have I done the other what must I suffer the one mourns for the active evil that hath been committed by him the other mourns for the passive evil that shall be inflicted on him The former grieves because his soul is defiled The latter grieves because his soul is condemned Water may gush from a Rock when is smitten by a rod But such heartless humiliations are hearty dissimulations Did sin bring sorrow into the world O let sorrow carry sin out of the world Whilst the vessel is leaking the Pump is going it s too early to wipe Tota vita vestra poenitentia sit haec enim vita locus est poenitentia Stel. in Luc. 3. 3. away tears from your eyes till God sweep away dust from your hearts It s better to go to heaven sadly then to go to hell securely Give me a melancholy Saint rather then a merry devil nothing can quench Magni igitur constat poenitentiae Ferrar. the fire that sin hath kindled but the water which repentance hath caused Did the rocks rend when Christ dyed for our sins and shall not our hearts rend that have lived in our sins If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to clense us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1. 9. Do but you acknowledg the debt and he will cansel the bond Is it not better to be savedby Divine mercy then to be sued by Divine Justice do you open the Offensum se Deus obliviscitur si nos offensi cum dolore recordemur Drex Christi Zod. p. 115. ulcer that is paining and he will apply the plaister that is healing till we are opressed with our own burdens we shall never be eased by Christs Shoulders Where misery passes undiscerned there mercy passes undesired behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Rev. 3. 20. Christ doth many times come unto the door when he doth not come into the house but how willing is he to be received who is unwilling to be denied as you knock at his doors for audience so he knocks at your doors for entrance if you shut out his person he will shut out your Prayers the onely way to have our will of God is to do the will of God A Saints tears are better then a sinners triumps Lachrymae poenitentium Bern. serm 30. super Cant. sunt vinum Angelorum A sinners repenting is the Angels rejoycing and give me such a mourning on earth as creates Musick in heaven if you would not sin in your griefs then grieve for your sins Why should God shew him mercy that doth not acknowledge himself guilty how many are there that are battered as lead by the hammer that were never bettered as gold by the fire Look to it least your repentance of dead works be not it self a work that 's dead that you shed such tears as need no tears for the sheding of them Usually that repentance that begins in the fears of hell ends in the flames of hell that 's the eighth 9. Singular thing is to keep our hearts lowest when God raises our estates highest charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches 1 Tim. 6. 17. Sinful arrogance doth usually attend sinful considence Worldly wealthyness is a great quill to blow up the bladder of high-mindedness when mens estates are lifted up then mens hearts are pussed up Oh how proud is thin dust of thick clay Pride breeds Thus Romulus secundis rebus elatus tumidus m nime serendam superbiam contumaciam sumebat Pâ—â—t in vita Rom. in great estates as wormes do in sweet fruits but Christians if you be poor in the world you should be rich in faith but if you be rich in the world you should be poor in spirit the way to ascend is to descend the deeper a tree is in its rooting the larger a tree is in its spreading The face of prosperity shines brightest through the Mask of humility As none have so little but they have matter for blessing so none have so much that they have matter for bosting shall the stage-player be proud of his borowed robes or the
He that promises to cover the sincere souls infirmities threatens to disclose the Hypocrites impieties O remember Judas who purchased nothing by his deceitful dealing but a halter in which his body was hanged and a fire in which his soul was burned that 's the tenth 11. singular thing is to be more afflicted with the Churches heaviness then we are affected with our own happiness When we suffer not from the Enemies of Christ by persecution we should suffer with the friends of Christ by compassion wherefore the King said unto me Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick Nehemiah 2. 2. Sadness is the fruit of sickness What sad when the Kings cup bearer and wine so neare the third verse informes you the reason why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my Fathers Sepulchres lieth wast and the gates thereof are consumed with fire Let not Sions sons be rejoycing whilst their mothers mourning are not her breaches like the Sea and there 's none to heal them though you cannot make up her breaches yet let your hearts break for her breaches Have pitty upon me have Non oportet nos laetari in malis proximorum sed compati Stel. in Luc. 1◠3. pitty upon me O me my friends for the hand of God hath touched me Job 19. 21. It s observed of the Bees that if one be sick the other will lament Christianity strips no man of humanity some observe in Swine that there is a sympathy when one is killed the rest are troubled and shall that be lost amongst men which is found amongst Swine Will you see the Church bleed to death and never ask balm to cure her wounds how can such rejoyce in her standing that do not mourn for her falling Others what they do not feel by sence that they will not feel by Sympathy Nero could be playing when Rome was burning we may Suet. in vit Ner. Thus the killing of the infants was Spectaculum Herodi jucundum quia luctuosum Bap. Ferra. Orat. 5. draw up that charge against many persons Amos 6. 4 6. They lye upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the flock and the Calves out of the midst of the stall that drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief oyntments but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph They can weep for the◠dying groanes of a child but not for the dying grones of a Church their love unto their relations transcends their love unto their Religion But he that hath a stock going in the Churches ship cannot but lament at every storme I should be jealous that thats but a silver eye in the head an Ivory tooth in the Mouth a Wooden Leg in the body that is unsensible of its sorrows I will know that the Churches Enimies though they may be Waves to toss her yet they shal never be rocks to split her It s only such fabricks as are bottomed upon the sands that are overturned by the wind he that is a well of water within her to keep her from fainting is a wall of fire about her to keep her from hurting Though he may scoure his plate and his Jewels yer ye will throw such wispes on the dunghills yet Enemies will be found pushing as far as their short hornes are reaching Sion like a bottle may be dipt in the water but she shall never be drownd in the water Many had rather see a Churches Expiration then see a Churches reformation they had rather view her as one thats nullified then view her as one that 's purified they care not how many Tares spring up amongst Gods Wheat When the Churches adversaries make long furrows upon her back we should cast in the seed of tears Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Thus the head cryes out in heaven whilst the Toe is trod upon on earth Jesus Christ though he hath altered his condition yet he hath not altered his affection Death took away his life for us but it did not take away his love from us he that loves to see the face of his Church beautiful eare long will wipe away those bloody teares that run trickling down her cheeks the prise of her redemption is already paid and the Lords will not require that debt again Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40. 2. When we see the Church pledgin her beloved in the cup of affliction we should drink to her in the cup of consolation a heavy burden is easile born by the assistance of many shoulders others they are like Galeo that care for none of those things Nay when they should be Sympat hisers with them in their miserie Temerarium judicium est quod ex levi conjecturâ levibusque signis colligitur Stapl. in Dom. 1. post Pent. they are Censurers of them for their misery they judge the golds not good because it s tryed and the grounds is naught because it s plowed It s dangerous smitting them with our tongues whom God hath smitten with his hands Christ himself because he suffered for transgressors was therefore numbred with transgressors What 's this but to give the sharpest Vinegar where we should give the sweetest wine Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Psal 69. 24. But what 's their sin 26. verse for they persecute them whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded Sympathy is a debt which we owe to sufferer and creature comforts will fit those seasons no better then a Silver lace would do a Mourning sute a particular loss it s but like the putting of out a candle which brings darkness to a room but a general loss is like the Eclipsing of the Sun which overshadows the whole Hemisphear Pliny tels us of two Goats meeting together on a narrow bridge when the one could not get forward nor the other go backwards the one lay down that the other might go over him How much of men were there in these beasts but how much of beasts are there in some men It s better to be in the humble posture of a mourner then in the proud gesture of a scorner Have mercy upon me O Lord thou Son of David my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil Mat. 15. 22. The childs malady was the parents misery the tortures of the daughter was the torment of the mother as if the one had been possessed till the other was dispossessed The righteous When Alexanders Army was ready to perish with thirst he himself refufed water that was proffered to him with this Heroick Ipeech Nec solus bibere sustineo nec tam ex iguum dividere omnibus possum Quin. Curt. l. ◠Sect 5. perish and no man lays it to heart Isa 57. 1. Sympathy with others makes an estate
Others they live more on their cushions then they do upon Christ more upon the prayers they make to God then upon the God to whom they make their prayers which is as if a redeemed captive should reverence the sword but not the man that hath wrought his rescue The name of God with a sling and a stone will do more then Goliah with all his armour Duties they are but dry pits in themselves though never so curiously cut out till Christ fills them I would have you neither be idle in the means nor to make an Idol of the means If a Mariner will have the help of the winds he must weigh the anchor and spread the sails The pipes can make no conveyance unless the spring yields its concurrence What 's hearing without Christ but like a cabinet without a jewel or receiving without Christ but like an empty glass without a cordial It s only that ladder whose bottom stood on earth on the staves of which we climb to heaven And be found in him not having on mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God through faith Phil. 3. 9. If you be found in your own righteousness you wil be lost by your own righteousness That garment was worn to pieces on Adams back and lasted but for a days covering Duties they are good crutches to go upon but they are bad Christs to lean upon when Augustus Caesar desired the Senate of Rome to joyn some with him in the Consulship they replied They held it a great dishonor to him to have any joyned with him It s the greatest disparagement that Christians can do to Christ to put their services in equipage with his sufferings You must put off the rotten rags of the first Adam if you would put on the royal robes of the Second To mix the Virgins milk with a Redeemers blood Though the voyce may be humble Jacobs yet the hands are proud Esaus Man is a creature that 's apt to warm himself by the sparks of his own fire though he lie down in eternal flames for the kindling of them Noahs dove made use of her wings but she did rest in the Ark. Duties can never have too much of our diligence nor too little of our confidence For he that is entred into rest hath ceased from his works as God did from his Heb. 4. 10. A Beleever doth not do good works to live but a beleever he lives to do good works It was a proud saying of him Coelum gratis non accipiam He would not accept of heaven gratis But he shall have hell as a debt that Non in carnabâ— bus 〈◊〉 sâ—d in solo Chrâ—sto fiduciam â—alutâ—â— noâ—â—rae omnem â—â—llâ— aâ—iââ—m re collocaâ—â—â— Zanc in loc will not take heaven as a gift For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Phil. 3. 3. A Christian stands at as great a distance from the best of his services as he doth from the worst of his sins And makes not the greatest part of his holiness to be the smallest part of his righteousness When you have done all then say we are unprofitable servants Luk. 17. 10. When you have obeyed all the commandments from above there is one commandment above them all to be obeyed that is to rest from your obedience A bridge is made to give us a passage over a dangerous river but he that stumbles on the bridge is in danger of falling into the river In the most of our works we are abominable sinners but in the best of our works we are unprofitable servants Our duties are not like the chrystal streams of a living fountain but like the impure overflowings of an unruly torrent I will go out in Omnis alia fiducia quae in quâvis aliâ re colocari potest è cordibus nostris prorsus amputetur omnino necesse est Zanc. ubi prius the strength of the Lord and make mention of his righteousness and of his only Psal 71. 16. The righteousness of Christ is to be magnified but the righteousness of a Christian is not to be mentioned It s a hard thing for us to be nothing in our selves in the midst of our worthiness and to be all in Christ in the midst of our weakness To undertake all our duties and yet to overlook all our duties Our services they are like good wine that relishes of a bad cask The Law will not take Ninety nine for an Hundred it will neither accept of counterfeit coyn nor of clipped money The duty it exacts is as impossible to be performed as the penalty it inflicts is intolerable to be indured We sail to glory not in the salt seas of our own tears but in the red sea of Christs blood Crux Christi clavis Paradisi The gates of heaven were closly shut till the cross of Christ beat them open We owe the life of our souls to the death of our Saviour It was his going into the furnace that hath kept us from coming into the flame T is the ruddiness of his blood that takes away the redness of our guilt Man lives by death his natural life is preserved by the death of the creature his spiritual life is preserved by the death of his Redeemer Moses must lead the children of Israel through the wilderness but Joshua must bring them into Canaan Whilst we are in the wilderness of this world we must walk under the conduct of Moses but when we enter into the spiritual Canaan it must be by the merit of Jesus The same hand that hath shut the doors of hell to keep us out of perdition hath opened the gates of heaven to let us into salvation They that carry the bucket to the puddle of their own merit will never draw water out of the clear fountain of Gods mercy Luther compares the Law and the Gospel to Heaven and Earth we should walk in the earth of the Law in respect of obeying but in the heaven of the Gospel in respect of believing It was the saying of one That he would swim through a sea of brimstone so he might come to heaven at the last What would not natural men do for heaven if they might have heaven for their doings But the heat of the Sun beams wil melt such weak and waxen wings He that hath no better righteousness Omnis anima eget oleo divinae misericordiae then what is of his own providing shall meet with no higher happiness then what is of his own deserving For they being ignorant of the righteousness of God and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God Rom. 11. 3. Others if they rest not from their duties then they rest in their duties They will sail in their own bottoms though they sink in the Ocean
the bark of a tree whist it is young grow up with it till it comes to be old though a standing pool is soon dryed up yet a fountain is always running Its trees that are unsound at their roots that soon cease from the putting forth of their fruits they who for the present are inwardly corrupt will for the future be openly prophane That 's a crazy peece of building that must be cramped with Iron bars to keep its standing false grace is always declining till it be wholy lost but true grace goes from a mornings dawning unto a Meridian shining the vvool on the sheeps back if it be shorn vvill grovv again but the vvoll on the shee skin clip that and there comes no more in its room Philosophy playes vvith this Nullum violentum est perpetuum There is nothing permanent that is violent as a stone that 's mounted upvvards vvhen it loses its impress sinks dovvnvvards but its dreadful to be cast off from God for casting off the vvays and vvork of God A finger divorced from the hand receives no influence from the head He that deserts his Colours deserves to be cashered the Camp Ah beloved it would have bin well if we had made as much conscience in our liberty as we have had liberty for our conscience but we have gone from one Religion unto all till at last we are come from all Religions unto none Every varition from unity is but a progression towards nullity be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life Rev. 2. 10. He hath a Crown for runners but a curse for run aways God accounts not himself served at all if he be not always served Non tantum facite sed perficite t is not enough to begin our course well unless we Crown it with perseverance We live in the fall of the leaf divers Sibi ipsis indulgent ex fervidis repidi ex repidis fergidi fiunt Stapl. in Dom. 2. post Epip â—ex â— trees which did put forth fair blossoms their spring is turned into an Autumn and their fair mornings have been overcast with cloudings The Corn that promised a large harvest in the blade is blasted in the eare The light remaines no longer then the sun shines When God ceases to be gracious man ceases to be righteous The flowers of Paradise would quickly wither on earth if they were not watered with drops from heaven How have the mighty faln when the Almighty hath not stood by them The Divel would soon put out our candles if Christ did not carry them in his Lanthorn be not weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you faint not Gal. 6. 9. To see a ship sink in the harbor is more grievous then if it had perisht in the open Sea There goes the same power to a Saints strengthening that there goes to a sinners quickening he that doth set us up and make us holy must keep us up and make us steady How easily is a ship sailing to the shore carryed back again by a storme to the Sea O Ephraim what shall I do unto thee and Judah what shall I do unto thee why what 's the matter your goodness is as the morning cloud and as the early dew it goeth away Hosea 6. 4. Their bowls began to slug before they came to the end of the Alley Some have beat Jehues March they have driven furiously in Religion but within a few years they have knockt off there Chariot wheels After they have lifted up their hands to God they have lift up their heels against him that mans beginning was in Hypocrisie whose ending is in apostacy You look for happiness as long as God hath a being in heaven God looks for holiness as long as you have a being on earth he that endures to the end shall be saved Vestis Aaronica expraescripto Dei deorsum ad pedes habuit in circuitu quasi mala punica et tintinnabula aurea Mala punica inter omnes alios sructus sola coronae cujusdam spociem habent illa coront est virtutum perfectio consummatio finis enim coronat opus Hanc idcirco coronam Deus necia principio nec in medio sed ad pedes posuit tunicae sacerdioalis Id. ibid. He shall never be glorious in the end that is not gracious to the end That man must carry his grace within him to the dust that would have his grace carry him with it to Christ if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10. 38. He that draws back from profession shall be kept back from Salvation he that departs in the Faith shall be Saved but he that departs from the Faith shall be damned We praise the Mariner when he is arived at his harbour and commend the Souldiers valour when he hath obtained the victory the Chrysolite which is of a golden colour in the morning loses its splendor before the evening such are the glittering shews of Hypocrites But though blazing commets fall to the earth yet fixed stars remain in heaven That fire which is lade on Gods Altar when once it s kindled shall no more be quenched Grace may be shaken in the soul but it cannot be shaken out of the soul it may be a brused reed but it shall never be a broken reed Christ is more tender of his body mysticall then he was of his body natural A beleiver though he may fall fowly yet he shall never fall finally The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Saints of Heaven The fiery darts of the Devil that in themselves are intentionally mortal shall be to such Eventually medcinal These bees may startle thee to keep thee wakeful but they shall not sting thee to make thee woful Thy light may be Eclipsed for a time but the Sun will break forth again Under the law God had his Evening as well as his Morning Sacrifice Ther 's as much sweetness in the Sugar at the bottom of the cup as in the cream on the top of the Milk No man that puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdome of God Our labours are never fulfilled till our lives are expired Religion if it be a thing that is troublesom it will be a thing that tyresome there is no thing constant but what is pleasant though a Saint may some times be weary in doing the work of the Lord yet a Saint is no time weary of doing the Lords work Habitus non amittitur licet actus intermittitur theâ—e may be an omission of grace but there cannot be an amission of grace this babe may lye upon a sick bed but it shall never lye upon a Death bed Christ is stiled the finisher of our faith as well as he is stiled the Author of our faith We have as much need of the spirit to bring up our graces as we have need of the spirit to bring forth our graces
nor of him that runs though it be never so hastily Our Crown of Glory is made by mercy Our working is not the cause of Gods grace but Ipsa salut hominis non debetur alicui per aliquam ejus voluntatem vel exteriorem operationem quae dicitur cursus sed procedit ex solâ Dei misericordiâ Aquin. in loc but Gods grace is the cause of our working Man may doe something against it but man can doe nothing without it It s ill hanging the great weight of Eternity upon the small Wiers of Activity The boundless life of felicity flowes from the bottomless love of the Deity That 's the sixth 7. Principle that you should walk by is this That there 's no obtaining what is promised but by fulfilling what 's commanded As those which were under the Law were not without a Gospel to save them so those that are under the Gospel are not without a Law to rule Lex moral is non minus ad Christianos pertinet sub novo quum ad Judae nos subvetere Testando Synops. Pur. Theol. disp 18. them What God hath put asunder let no man joyn together but what God hath joyned together let no man put asunder It 's as ill divorcing what 's united as it is uniting what 's divorced Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall Quasi dixisset id quo vobu opus est petite Non conceditur quod petitis Quaerite Negatur quod quaerites â— Pulsate Deus vult cogi Arrowsin Tact. sacr l. 3. cap. 1. sect 11. find knock and it shall be opened unto you Matthew 7. 7. Continued Importunity is the most learned Oratory repeated knocks soonest opens heavengates Man cannot blame God for not giving but God can blame man for not asking He that inables us to find him he enjoyns us to seek him He that hath promised us to open that we might not be doubtful hath enjoyned us to knock that we might not be sloathful He that will not heare Debet se ei viâ morum conformare in viâ justitiae charitatis et patientiae c. et haec est via Coeli non seculi Dei non Mundi Gorram in loc the voice of Christ shall never see the face of Christ He that saith He abideth in him ought to walk even as he also walk 1 John 2. 6. Then only doth the Watch of our lives move with uprightnesse when it is set by the beams of the Sun of Righteousnesse As he hath made his glory to be the pattern of our happinesse so he hath made his grace to be the pattern of our holinesse The Law condemns those persons as criminal that pretends to the Royal blood but are not of it because there 's a dependance between the blood Royal and the Crown Royal. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Revel 2. 9. Many would be made like Christ in Blisse who would not be made like Christ in Grace They would have a promise to corroberate their assurance but would not have a precept to regulate their performance Observe the connexion The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us Isa 33. 22. Where ever Christ is a Priest for Redemption he is a Prince for Dominion Wherever he Non rebellibus sed meum credentibus et ei obedientibus est causa sufficiens salutis aeternae Gor. in loc is a Saviour there he is a Ruler And being made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Jesus Christ where he is a fountain of happinesse there he is a fountain of holinesse If he be not your Refiner he will not be your Redeemer And those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay before me Luke 19. 27. It s here the voice of rebelious sinners we will not have this man to reign over us and it will hereafter be the voice of a righteous Saviour I will not have these men to reign with me As many as walk according to this rule peace be upon them Gala. 6. 16. To tread in any other path on Earth is but to mistake your way to Heaven If the Golden Chains of duty will not hold you Jussasme culsâ non negligâ—ntur sine crimine non coâ—temnanâ—ur ubique enim et neglectus culstâ—biâ—e et contemptus dâ—mnabiâ—is est Bern de praec dispens the Iron Chains of darkness shall bind you If you abuse your liberty in one world you will loose your liberty in another Blessed are they that do his Commandemenâ—s that they may have right to the tree of life Revel 22. 4. To look upon a promise without a prâ—cept is the Road way to presumption To look upon a precept without a promise is the Road way to desparation the one is like the Lead to the Net to keep it from floating the other is like the Cork to the Net to keep it from sinking Beleevers should be like the point in the compasse that 's governed not by the various winds but by the constant Heavens An obedient person when hisbody is translated from life to death his soul is translated from death to life O doe not make him to be a Quà m miserum est ex eò flore veneâ—um colligere equo alii remedium sugunt stone for stumbling that God hath made to be a stone for building The force of the fire is manifested as much in consuming the dross as in refining the Gold The strength of a Rock is seen not onely in upholding the house that 's built upon it but in breaking the ships that dashes against it The pillar of a Cloud was as wonderful in the darknesse that it cast upon the Aegyptians as in the brightnesse that it gave to the Israelites Thus doth the Lord Jesus display the greatnesse of his owne power in putting off the living to death as well as in raising of the dead to life Come unto me all ye thatlabour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Matthew 11. 28. But what follows vers 29. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me Wherever he takes a burden from off the creatures back there he layes a yoke upon the creatures neck The Gospel it gives a pardon to the greatest sin but it doth not give a patronage to the smallest sin To be lascivious because God is gracious what 's this but to split that ship in the Sea which should Land us at the Shore To live in a holy obedience to a Heavenly Father is the liberty of Gods sons but to give lust the swinge is the licentious bondage of the Devils slaves That soule was never related to Christ that was never devoted to Christ Not every Observa quomodo Christus ponit discrimen inter judicium Dei et hominum
heated in the Mid-night of adversity Afflictions are not a fire that 's consuming but a flame that 's refining they are like the prick at the Nightingales breast that awaken her and put her upon her delightful singing Many Saints are like Topps that goes best when they are lasht most For Ireckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Romans 8. 18. These fall as far short of glory as the smallest fraction of the greatest number or as the least filings of Gold of the riches of the whole Indies If the early glimmerings of our Lord Jesus Christ shroud so much joy and strength within their own beams as over-powers the cross what will his Meridian Rayes of glory doe when they are revealed Will you cast them both into the scales of the Sanctuary 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory How light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory and how short a Minute of pains to an Eternity of pleasures He said excellently Bene fertur Calumina cúm acquiritur Corona He need not be weary of the Crosse that 's sure of the Crown After the Cup of affliction comes the cup of salvation The Wine-presse prepares for the Wine-cellar After the pangs and throws comes the child birth O clear up your interest in God A pardon may be past the Princes Seale that is not put into the Prisoners hand Things that are exceeding sharp calls for much Sugar to make them sweet Death is a thing that hath the most ungrateful taste to the creatures pallate Now Grace is baptized with a double name It 's called The first-fruits of the spirit Romans 8. 28. It 's called The earnest of the spirit 2 Cor. 1. 22. It 's a tast to shew us the sweetnesse of eternal life and it 's a pledge to shew us the sureness of eternal life Our Heavenly Physitian will keep us no longer in Physick but till we are thorowly purged Our merciful refiner will detain us no longer in the Furnace but till we are sufficiently purified Patience for sowing the seeds of sorrow on earth shall reap a golden crop of joy in Heaven We may talk of the greatnesse of our future recompence but we shall never know the weight of our Crowns till they be set on our heads nor the worth of our Robes till they be worn on our backs then the pricking Thorn shall be turned into a precious Gem. As darknesse is the absence of light when the Sun is removed from its Horizon so is death the privation of life when the soul is removed from its Prison we have here but jus ad rem there we shall have jus in re Here we have an expectation of our fruitions there we shall have the fruition of our expectations Chear up brave spirits your Wildernesse Nunc deprimuntur et calcantur electi ut olim assurgant et extollantur ad instar palmarum Drex Christian Zod. Sig. 5. p. 42. journeys will soon be periodized The cloth must be cut in peeces before it can be made up in garments The hewing of the timber is for the erecting of the structure The new corn that lives in Summer is produced from the old corn that dyed in the Winter We should willingly embrace death though we should not desperately rush upon it you will be like Civet that 's when it 's taken out of the Box leaves a sweet savour behind it Shall Christ willingly come down from Heaven to earth to dye for us and shall not we willingly go up from earth to Heaven to live with him A Saints loathnesse to expire doth not spring from this root because they judge that death is not good enough for them but it 's a sprig that grows upon this root because they judge thēselves not good enough for death But remember the edg of this keen sword is blunted since the sides of Christ was the scabbard in which it was sheathed When the Ship is in the Haven its Erras mi Christiane erras sicogitas te integrum et non bene contusum perventurum ad coelum Drex loc citat past all storms but by induring storms it at last arriveth at the Haven When we come to Glory there will be no temptations to endure but it s by enduring of temptations that we come to glory When the body and the soul shall part asunder the soul and God shall meet together The sharper your sorrows are here the sweeter will be your joyes hereafter let me allude to that Psal 68. 13. Though ye have lien among the Pots yet shall ye be as the wings of a Dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold All the Grapes in Christs Vineyard must passe thorow the Wine-presse Health is most acceptable after the sharpest sicknesse and liberty most sweet after a rigorous bondage and the harbour most welcome after turbulent storms How pleasant soever a sinners beginning is his ending is dolorous how troublesome soever a Saints beginning is his ending is joyous The fresh Rivers of carnal pleasure run into a salt Sea of despairing tears when the wet seeds-time of a pious life ushers in the Sun-shiny Harvest of a peacefull death When Craesus askt Solon who he Dicique beatus ant◠obitum nemo supremaque funera debet Horat. thought happy he told him one Tellus a man that was dead Happinesse doth not goe before death but death goes before happinesse It 's storied of Adrianus that seeing many Christians put to such cruel and bitter deaths he askt some of them what it was that they suffered such cruel torments for to whom they answered Speramus illa bona quae oculus non videt auras non audivit in cor hominis non ascenderunt We hope for those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive They who are born blind are unable to judg of that glory that dazles the very eyes of the Angels One smile in Gods face will dry up all the tears in their eyes When beleevers change earth for Heaven they do not loose their blessednesse but compleat their blessednesse as fishes dropping out of the narrow Brook into the wide Ocean do not leave their Element but are more in it then they were before A beleevers dying is resembled to a burnt-offering now in a burnt-offering when the ashes falls to the earth the flame ascends to Heaven Thus have I set twenty Diamonds in your Golden Ring And so much for the first thing Namely The erection of singular Principles I come now to the last stage for the direction of singular practises Here I shall spread but six Sails and make to the shoar 1. Would you do more then others then you must know more then others I may say of Divine
judgeth the earth Psal 58. ult There 's no work that is done in vaine but that work that is vainly done Wealth and riches shall be in his house and his righteousnesse indures for ever Psal 112. 2 3. Doe but you take care of all that belongs to God and God will take care of all that belongs to you For all other gaines whilst we live we lose them or when we dye we leave them to whom we know not but it may be to them we would not Inkeeping of thy Commandements there is great reward Psal 19. 11. There is not only a reward for keeping of them but there 's a reward in keeping of them In other services the Master hath all the profit and the servant none but in this the servant hath all the profit and the Master none 2 Sam. 6. 11. And the Arke of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his houshold The Ark was not blessed for the sake of the houshold but the houshould was blessed for the sake of the Arke The Arke of God payes for its entertainment wheresoever it comes We say that those have decayed limbes that must be helped on with crutches Such are they that will side with resigion when they may live upon it but will shrink from Religion when it must live upon them But that maxime is still ture that Godliness with contentment is great gain 1 Tim. 6. 6. It 's only the Christian man that is the contented man and what is our enjoyments without contentment what 's abundance of possessions if linked to abundance of vexations Wicked men make this world their treasure and God makes this Fiunt instrumenta paenarum quae scilicet divitiae fuerant oblectament◠culparum Innocent world their torment When they want estates they are troubled for them when they have estates they are troubled with them when they should drink of the river God disturbs the water Sinner remember when thou diest thou wilt find godlinesse needfull and whilst thou livest thou wilt find godlinesse gainfull The purest honey is ever gathered out of the hive of holiness O that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my wayes Psal 81. 13. But what had they got by it vers 16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee The wayes of iniquity are the wayes of beggery It 's but equal that God should fall out with them in the course of his providence that falls off from him in the course of their obedience that they should have nothing from him in a way of bounty that will doe nothing for him in a way of duty If you make your Tabernacles leprous God will make your Tabernacles ruinous Length of dayes is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Prov. 3. 16. Look to which hand you will and yet you shall find that both are full It 's storied of Synesius a Minister that living near Evagrius a philosopher This story you may read larger just after Mr. Baxter's Preface to his book called the Crucifying of the world and had often perswaded him to be a Christian O but saith the Philosopher if I become a christian either I must lose all for Christ or else I may lose all for Christ to whom the Minister replyed what you lose for him he will pay you againe O but saith the philosopher will you be bound for Christ that if he do not pay me you will Yes saith he and so became a surety for his surety and the philosopher became a Christian When this person came to lye upon his dying pillow he sent for this Minister saying here 's your bond Christ hath paid me all he hath left nothing for you to pay It was a vaine conceite of that potentate who refusing the name of Pius would be called Faelix Inward piety is the best friend to outward felicity though outward felicity be many times the worst enemy to inward piety That 's the tenth The eleventh Principle that you should walk by is this That all the time that God allows us is little enough to fulfill the task that he allots us Man that is borne of a woman is few of dayes and full of troubles Job 14. 1. The creatures life and existence is of a very short and small continuance Natures womb somtimes proves natures tombe and swallows up her own Vitae hujus principium mortis exordium est nec priùs incipit augeri aetas nostra quam minui Prosp de vocat Gen. lib. 2. c. 20 issue With many it's ebb water before the tide be at the full the lamp of their lives is wasted even as soon as it is lighted the sands of their hour-glasse are quite run out when they think it is but newly turned When men feele sicknesse arresting then they feare deaths approaching But we begin our dying as soon as ever we begin our living and how much the longer our time hath been so much the shorter our time shall be Every mans passing-bell hangs in his own steeple Take him in his four elements of Earth and Aire Fire and Water In the Earth he is like dust that 's scattering in the Aire he is like a vapour that 's vanishing in the water he is like a bubble that 's breaking in the Fire he is like smoak that 's consuming Seneca said truly Maximum vivendi Sen. de brevit vitae cap. 9. impedimentum est expectatio quae pendet in crastino the greatest hinderance of well living is the expectation of long life Therefore men so little prepare for death because they so little think on death they think not of living any better till they think not of living any longer Did you but walke by this principle though much of your time be past yet would no more of your time be lost you would this moment make sure of God because the next moment you are not sure of your selves One to-day is worth two to-morrows you know not how soone the sails of your lives may be rowled up or how nigh you are to your eternall haven O ply your Oares dilligently lest the vessell doe miscarry everlastingly What will you doe if you begin to dye naturally before you begin to live spiritually if the Tabernacle of nature be taken down before the Temple of grace be raised up if your paradise be laid wast before the Tree of life be set in it if you give up the Ghost before ever you have received the Holy Ghost if the Sun of your lives set within you before the Sun of righteousness shine upon you if the body be sit to be turned into the earth before the soul be fit to be taken into Heaven If the second birth have no place in you the second Death shall have a power over you One excellently compares