be careful of to day and carelesse of to morrow for sufficient to the day is the evil thereof 299. 'T is hard to be chearfull without levity or serious without melancholy we verge to extremes In conveniences and snares attend all constitutions and complexions and like Syllogismes sequimur deteriorem partem Chearfulnesse is most like to do the body good and the soul hurt and seriousnesse is most like to do the soul good and the body hurt if we take not heed that therefore soul and body may receive good and no hurt let us be cheerfully serious and seriously cheerful while cheerfulnesse is the sall let seriousnesse be the ballast of the Vessel if we want ballast we may move too swiftly if we want sails we shall move too slowly 300. 'T is not in man to direct his way 'T is hard to know what course to take to obtain an end to be compos voti and to enjoy ones desires for that which sometime is to some the onely help at other times is to others the onely hindrance Some denials had never been given had it not been for the importunity of them that requested and some requests had never been granted if the requesters had not been importunate Fabius Cunctator conquer'd by delaies Caesar by expedition and quick dispatch 'T was but Veni Vidi Vici There is uncertainty in wisdome as well as folly The course we take to save us kills us and that which we fear will bee our undoing proves our safety What a simple thing is man Wisdom also is vanity In all thy ways acknowledge God and he shall direct thy paths The third Century 301. God afflicts Saints because he loves them the Devil afflicts them because he hates them If God did not love them he would not if the Devil did love them he would not afflict them God afflicts them for their gain that they may be sanctified and saved the Devil afflicts them for their losse that they may sin and be damned But this is their comfort that God loves them more then the Devil can hate them and that Gods love will doe them more good then the Devils hatred can doe them hurt and that God is better able to bring about his ends then the Devil is able to bring about his Lord let me be a Saint though an afflicted one and loved of thee though the world and the Devil hate me Sanctifie I do beseech thee the Devils temptations and mine own corruptions to me I shall then know that all things work together for my good when I am the better and that they are sanctified to me when I am the more sanctified 302. Death He that would try What is true happinesse indeed must dye The good mans end is surely the beginning Of his true joy cause 't puts an end to sinning There were three Saints Job Elias and Jonah desiring to dye out of discontent two Saints Simeon and Paul content to desire death and two other Saints David and Hezekiah not discontented yet not content to dye Lord let me rather be content to dye then be discontented to live for though having with Simeon seen thy salvation I desire to depart in peace and with Paul long to be with Christ which is farre better yet I dare not out-face thee as Jonah did to say 't is better for me to dye then to live Surely 't is not good to dye in anger nor well to be angry unto death Let this be the care of my soul that while I live I may live to thee and then when I dye I shall live with thee So thou mayest be magnified it s no matter whether it be by life or death yet seeing as Hezekiah said 't is the living praise thee Oh as David pray'd spare me a little and give me strength to do thy will before I go hence and be no more seen 303. We obtain nothing by the merit but many things by the means of prayer 304. 'T is easie to tell a Lye 't is hard to tell but a Lye 't is hard to commit one fin and but one sin 305. While others fret at the prosperity of the wicked and are envious at the foolish because they abound in goods my prayer for them shall be this much good may they doe with it and much good may it doe them the first is the duty the next is the blessing if the duty be not done the blessing will not come If they doe not doe good 't will doe them no good For not what one hath but what one doth with what one hath maketh happy or miserable 306. Some men can say as Esau I have enough or rather as 't is in the Hebrew I have much but few can say as Jacob I have enough or as 't is in the Hebrew I have all or God is all to me he is mine all He hath not enough how much soever he hath that hath not God for his portion and he that hath God for his portion hath enough how little soever he hath 'T is not happy are the people that are in such a plentiful case but happy are the people whose God is the Lord. 307. The Alphabet or Crosse-row This Text Matth. 16.24 is the Christians Alphabet or Crosse-row We learn that first which we must alwaies use as our letters and our vowels we can spell no word without them This lesson of self-denial must be first learnt because alwaies to be practis'd for without it we can doe nothing that is nothing pleasing to God or profitable to our selves he that denies himself doth himself most good and he that seeks himself doth himself most hurt The reason we are such bad scholars and non-proficients is because we are so long in taking out this first lesson dimidium facti qui bene coepit habet He is more then half way that learns this first line of Religion till that be learnt a man cannot proceed to take up the Crosse and follow Christ if therefore we would be Christ's disciples let us deny our selves 308. Comparison Few men judge themselves happy or unhappy according to what they are but by comparing themselves with others where all goe naked none are ashamed Many augment their misery by seeing others more happy and yet think themselves happy when they see others more miserable We many times gather our sorrowes from others joyes and our joyes from others sorrowes We blesse our selves when we see them below us and yet think all we have to be no blessing when we look on them that are above us Lord let not me think my good the lesse because others have more or my evil the more because others have lesse but let me learn in all estates to be content and to welcome the will come how it will 309. Some men while they are wits in jest are fools in earness for commonly they are the trifling things of the world whom serious men have to doe withal when they have nothing else to doe their
mine Isaac God No saith God take thy son even Isaac Abraham Lord he is mine onely son he hath not a Brother nor are there any more in Sarahs wombe Lord I begge onely this spare mine onely son God No saith God take thine onely son Abraham Why Lord I have had him but a little while if thou wilt take him yet good Lord let mine Isaac and I laugh together yet a while God No saith God take him now Abraham But Lord I love him and so that to take Isaac is to take my life which is bound up in the life of the lad and if thou take him away thou wilt bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave God Well saith God I know thou lovest him but must you not love me better offer up this son this onely son this Isaac whom thou lovest Abraham But Lord though thou art righteous when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgements What will the wicked say when they shall hear that thou delightest in blood and that thy servants must offer their children unto thee Lord who will serve thee at this rate God Well saith God I take but mine own and I may do with mine own what I please I that give may take and therefore minde not you what the world will say but what I say and I say offer thy son Abraham But Lord hast thou not commanded me to do no murther and must I now imbrue mine hands in blood and in mine own blood too Oh happy I might my blood go for his Oh Isaac Isaac my son Isaac my son my son would God I might die for thee Oh Isaac my son my son Lord how can this stand with the Law which thou hast given me God Abraham saith God such things are not first just and then willed by me but willed by me and therefore just Abraham doe you not know that I can repeal or make exceptions 't is I that say it therefore doe it Who is this that darkneth counsel by words without knowledge gird up now thy loins like a man smite him kill him have not I commanded thee be couragious and a son of valour goe and offer thy son Abraham But good Lord thou hast made this exception when thou didst shew man what was good and pleasing in thine eyes thou wouldest not that he should give his first-born for his transgression nor the fruit of his body for the sins of his soul but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God to obey thou sayest it is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of rams God Well then saith God hearken and obey this is to do justice this is Oh wonder to shew mercy this is to walk humbly with thy God Abraham Seeing I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord I will yet say Lord he is the son of the promise in whom thou hast said that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed now Lord if he die and die a childe without children where then is the blessednesse thou spakest of what will become of the blessing God Well Abraham saith God perform you what I command and I will perform what I promise What will Abraham who was once not weak in faith and considered not his own body nor Sarah's when 't was dead who staggered not through unbelief at my promise but was strong in faith and gave me glory who was fully perswaded that what I had promised I was able to perform and was not disappointed of his hope though against hope will this Abraham now call me in question hast thou known my name and wilt thou not trust in me am not I the Lord who change not have I said it and shall it not come to passe is there any thing too hard for God am not I able to raise up even out of stones to raise up children unto Abraham Cannot I say to dry bones live thou hast received him from the dead in a figure and were Isaac in the grave could not I who am the resurrection from the dead say Isaac come forth arise and walk that thy father may receive thee with double joy saying Isaac my son who was dead yea who was twice dead is alive Abraham offer thy son Abraham My dear Lord seeing I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon me to speak unto thee Oh let not my Lord be angry if I speak once more If I may not prevail to Oh that I might prevail to save Isaac alive yet let me intreat thee that I may not be the Priest let not mine hand be upon him how can I see the death of the childe Good Lord let some other doe it surely I cannot lift up my hand or if I doe shall I not wish it may wither or be turned into a stone will not these eyes run down with rivers of tears Ah Lord I can speak no more mine heart will break mine hand will shake Send by whom thou wilt send let me Oh let me not go God Yes thou take him thou and goe thou and offer him thou none but thou Abraham Ah Lord yet once more but this once more and I have done I am old and full of daies past travail spare me a little let me not goe so far as the land of Moriah let it if it must be let it be done at home God No Abraham take now thy son thine onely son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the Land of Moriah and offer him there no where but there Thus you have seen if not a faith of Miracles yet a Miracle of faith that one who had so much and more to say should say nothing but rise up early in the morning after he had slept upon it if sleep he could and saddle his asse and take two of his young men and Isaac his son and cleave the wood and rise up and goe to the place and lest he should be interrupted by his servants he left them with the asses and laies the wood upon his son his son Isaac he must bear his crosse and when this innocent soul this Lamb did open his mouth not to complain but to ask for another he tells him could Abraham tell him without a sigh that God would provide and what 's Abraham about to doe now what to binde him Ah Abraham was thine heart in thy hand or thy hand in thine heart What and lay him on the Altar Tears Abraham tears What and stretch forth his hand and take the knife to slay his son Oh wonder Yet Abraham is so far from holding or praying to God to hold his hand that the Lord himself cries out Oh Abraham hold thy hand This is Abraham of whom God saith now I know thou fearest lovest me seeing thou hast not withheld thy son thine onely son from me How then with admiration and adoration may we say to God now we know thou lovest us in that thou hast not
faithfull and wel-doing servant will finde a Well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into thy Masters joy but of the wicked slothful and unprofitable servant 't is said Cast ye him into utter darknesse 209. If Esau were so much to blame to sell his birthright for a mess of Pottage which yet was to save his life how much more are they to blame that Ahab-like sell themselves to work wickednesse that for a title of Honour esteem of men or for a little white and yellow dust which is called Gold and Silver meere vanities will sell their souls alas these ticklings will turn into stings and the torment will be the more torment the more pleasing the sin was 'T will be but cold comfort for any man to goe to Hell with credit or that others thinke him gone to Heaven when he feeles himselfe in Hell 210. 'T is good to be prepared for that at all times which may come at any time viz. death if it come unsent for yet it should not come unlookt for Setting a mans house and heart in order will not make a man die the sooner 't will help a man to die the better Hee that when he comes to die hath nothing to doe but to die may well beg to be dissolved for hee can say I am ready to be offered if the time of my departure be at hand 211. A bad great man is a great bad man for the greatnesse of an evill man makes the mans evill the greater such a man will have many sins to answer for which he never committed because his committing of one made many others to commit many who haply had never done so had they not been led by the example of their leaders If we take not heed other men may have cause to be sorry for our sins and we have cause to be sorry for other mens sins for they may become our-other-mens sins 212. Some men are kind to others but for their own ends and when they have once attained the end for which they were kind there 's an end of their kindnesse they will serve you for their needs and when you have served their needs you shall observe that they will neither serve nor observe you any longer Alas doe not men serve God thus doth not rich Jacob forget to pay what poor Jacob did promise 213. Some men have much to use who make but little use of what they have 214. Were we as loving as God is lovely how Oh how infinitely should we love him 215. To some as to Dives death is the end of all comfort and the beginning of all misery to others as to Lazarus death is the end of all misery and the beginning of all comfort Lord let my condition be such that at death I may passe from torment to comfort and not from comfort to torment 216. Every man loves to be beloved and is apt to take pleasure in this that others take pleasure in him whence that which ought not doth oft come to passe men comply with mens humours and that they may not be thought uncivil will sin for company and to please others displease God Oh Lord let me never cease to be a good Christian that I may be thought a good companion Let me chuse rather with Moses to suffer reproaches then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and rather go to prison with Joseph then to live a Laplin to the lust of the eye and the pride of life or to be lull'd and husht asleep by the fawnnings of this worlds flattery Let it be enough to me to bee beloved of God 217. Whatever talent indowment or estate God hath given thee improve it not for thy pleasure but to please him not to honour thy selfe but to henour him for if he have not the glory thou wilt have the shame and cry out at last Inopem me copia fecit Oh that I had never been rich my riches have made me poore Oh that I had never been faire my beauty made me proud and wanton Oh that I had never been learned and witty my wit hath made me a fool abused good turnes to the greatest evil Let not therefore the wise man glory in his wisdome nor the rich man in his riches but let him that glorieth glory in this that he knoweth and loveth serveth and honoureth God 218. Hee that promiseth what hee cannot doe is a foolish man and he that promiseth what he meanes not to doe is a false man the first deceives others most the latter deceives himself most and he that promiseth what he may not doe is while courteous to others cruel to himself while a friend to another an enemy to his own soul 219. A man may meditate of good and yet his meditation may be evil and a man may meditate of evil and yet his meditation may be good 'T is good to meditate of good to doe it and of evil not to doe it 220. If it be good for us to draw neere to God Oh how good is it when God drawes neer to us 221. 'T is good that a man should wait for God Lament 3.26 for God is good to them that wait for him Lament 3.25 222. 'T is better to spend ones time in doing good then in getting goods for the goods we get we must leave but the good we doe will never leave us When we rest from our labour our workes shall follow us 223. God stands in no need of us for he is blessed without us but we stand in need of God for we cannot be blessed without him Oh the gracious condescension of God! 224. If a man cannot be rich with honesty he should be content to be poor for 't is better to continue poore with a good conscience then to grow rich with a bad one 225. He that truly desires heavenly joyes or the joyes of Heaven which shall never have an end cannot but desire to have an end of earthly joyes which are but for a season 226. 'T is great reason that we should continue to pray because ourwants continue and 't is as great reason that wee should continue to praise because our mercies continue Who is there so full that wants nothing and who so empty but hath something Let none give over praying but hee that wants nothing and let none give over praising that hath any thing Is not the mercy we want worth the asking and is not the mercy we have worth the acknowledging 't is sin and misery to give over duty 227. Hee can be no friend to thee that is a friend to thy faults and thou canst be no friend to thy selfe if thou be an enemy to him that tels thee of thy faults Wilt thou like him the worse that would have thee be better 228. Christ hath commanded us to love our enemies and to doe good for evill which if we doe not we wrong our selves more by not doing good to them for that 's our sin then they did by
as the Lord liveth had you feared me and saved them alive I would not slay you I would not damn you but now away to prison away to Hell Woe this woe to him that offendeth one of Christ's little ones it were better for him that a mill-stone were hung about his neck and he cast into sea I far better then to be cast into the bottomelesse pit of Hell 243. The sins of professors quickly ripe The sins of a professing people or Nation are sooner ripe then the sins of the wilde world as fruit that growes more in the Sun they are concocted and come to maturity sooner and therefore 't is observable that God bears longer with the world yea and in a sense deals more gently in their punishment The sin of the Amorites was long many years ere it was full ripe but Israels was ripe in forty years and seeing they were known of any people of the Earth therefore God will visit upon them all their iniquities and that to their cost they shall more intensely feel his wrath How dear was this Israel unto God by how many sweet loving and precious appellations were they called his people his spouse his treasure his Jewels his darling and yet God cast them to the dogs Oh how should England hear and fear and do no more so wickedly lest God make a quick dispatch and do as by Asia remove the Candles and the Candlesticks out of their place 244. The happy Adventure When a poore soul begins to be sensible of sinne and its danger thereby though it lye downe in sorrow yet it should not mourne as without hopes but resolve as the Lepers 2. Kings 7.3 to prefer though an uncertaine hope before a certaine death Say as they why sit we here untill we dye if we enter into the City the famine is there and we shall certainely dye if we sit still here we dye also now therefore come let us fall for the host of the Syrians let the poore soul say into the hands of God if he save us alive we shall live if he kill us we shall but dye Dye Oh poore souls never any came to God by Christ but they were saved alive Come to him then for he will not kill you indeed he will not Come to him and say as the Prodigall when he came to himselfe how many hired servants of my Fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger I will arise and goe to my Father c. I doe so arise and goe for there is hope in Israel concerning this thing See how his father had compassion on him how he ran how he fell on his necke how he kist him and bid him welcome home Say then as Hester c. 4.16 I will goe in unto the King if I perish I perish What soul perish sayst thou no no the Golden Scepter is held out thou mayst come and welcome God will say as the King to Hester c. 5.3 What wilt thou and what is thy request it shall be given thee even to the Kingdom whereupon Hester made a feast for the King but God will make a feast for thee Dost thou not heare what he saith Luke 15.22 Bring forth the best robe and put it on him put a ring upon his hand and shooes on his feet Kill the fatted Calfe let us eat and be merry for this soul was dead and is alive 't was lost and is found Oh who would not come to thee thou O thou lover of souls 245. The smitting of Amalek A Saint should doe by his corruptions as Saul was commissioned to doe by Amalek 1. Sam. 15.3 Goe and smite Amalek and utterly destory all that they have and spare them not but slay both Man and Woman Infant and Suckling Ox and sheep Cammel and Asse yea he should doe as Ioshuah c. 8. v. 26. who withdrew not his hand untill he had utterly destroyed the inhabitants of Ai. He that 's mercifull to sinne is cruell to his owne soul 246. Busie-idlenesse Mans idle time is the Devils working time he doth most when men do least for as Latimer said the Devil hath more service done him in one holy-day then in many working-dayes 247. The hypocritical deceitful pleasures of sin The pleasures of sin say unto us as Jael said to Sisera turn in my Lord turn in to me fear not and if we ask water they will give us milk and bring forth butter in a Lordly dish but when we are turned in they as she did Sisera cover us with a Mantle and finding us by their lullings to fall fast asleep they put their hand to the nails and their right hand to the workmans hammer and with this hammer they smite us piercing and striking through our temples at their feet we bow we fall where we bow there we fall down dead Judg. 4.18 19. with 5.25 26 27. their lips indeed drop like the honey-comb and their mouth is smoother then oyl but their end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword their feet go down to death and their steps take hold on Hell Prov. 5.3 4 5. with much fair speech they cause us to yield with the flattering of their lips they force us and little think we that we go as an Oxe to the slaughter and as a fool to the stocks till a dart strike through our liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that 't is for his life Prov. 7.21 22 23. 248. Not Heaven but God in Heaven If a Saint were in Heaven and saw not Gods face there he would say as Absolom said to Joab 2 Sam. 14.32 Wherefore am I come from Geshur it had been good for me to be there still unlesse I may see the Kings face Though Heaven be Gods dwelling place yea his Presence-Chamber yet a Saint could not be at rest there if he saw not God 't is not the Jasper nor the Chrystal 't is not the pure Gold wherewith the streets are paved 't is not the pearls nor the precious stones that are precious in his sight but the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb who are the light thereof Whom have I in Heaven but thee 249. God more then self A Saint cares not how ill it goe with him so it goe well with Jesus Christ he saith as Mephibosheth to David 2 Sam. 19.30 yea let him take all inasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace unto his house So it may goe well with Gods name Moses cares not though his be blotted out of the book of life and said John he must increase but I must decrease this my joy therefore is fulfilled 250. Little faith in the world concerning the world A Gentlewoman being told that the world and the glory of it was but vanity 't is true said she Solomon said so but he tryed it first and so will I. Alas that we cannot take Gods word we cannot believe till nor scarce when we see the world bewitcheth us
of things that are to be done and yet to come as if they were already come and done Many Prophesies of things to be run in the Present Tense as if they were in being Babylon is fallen it shall as certainly fall as if it were fallen by hope we are sav'd we are as safe as if we were saved and are kept safe that we may be saved He that believes not is condemned already for he shall be as surely condemned as if he were already in Hell Them whom he predestinated he called justified and glorified they shall be as surely called justified and glorified as if 't were done 344. All the glory of the world hath a stain and all the beauty a spot there is nothing that is all desires altogether lovely but Christ Jesus He is but time denies to tell you what Sum all perfection up and he is that The praises of all others are with a but and an exception Naaman was a mighty man but a Leper such an one so and so but c. fair but foolish serious but subtle Let us lay out our hearts then not on that which is lovely but in part but on him who is lovely in every part 346. Contentment Whoso in present state himself can rightly bear Hath neither ill that 's past nor future ill to fear The one which is no more ought now no more to fray us Th' other which is not yet as little can dismay us Not he that hath but little but he that covets more Not the contented but covetous man is poore The man who hungers not he needs not bread I think The man that never thirsts hath never need of drink 347. We are so far from meriting by our works of mercy that our works of mercy stand in need of mercy 348. We can alas we can goe from heavenly things to earthly things and carry our hearts with us but how seldome is it that we can goe from earthly things to heavenly and carry our hearts with us 349. Men appoint walls bulwarks for salvation but God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks Salvation is often without walls and bulwarks and walls and bulwarks are often without salvation Salvation is the safer safeguard 350. Saints desire not onely to receive the word into their liking but to be received into its likenes not onely to love it but to live it 351. God knowes the names of all the men in the world and yet he knowes but few men by name 352. To be a servant is sometime put for a sin as to be the servant of sin or servant of men sometime 't is put for a curse as servant of servants shalt thou be said Noah to Cham Sometime 't is put for an honour when a man is called and is the servant of God 353. As there is joy in Heaven at the conversion of a sinner so there is a kinde of joy in Hell when one sins that is converted 354. It s a great piece of wisdom so to order our condition and conversation in this world that we may be able to attend upon God without distraction a distracted man can do but little and that little cannot be well done duties are well done when done with a present and sutable frame of heart but the distracted man hath neither 355. The fear of man makes men to sin but the fear of God keeps men from sin Gen. 3.5 Your eyes shall be open'd and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil His eyes indeed were o'pe And then he had the skill To know the difference Between the good and ill Then did he know how good Good was when he had lost it And evil too he knew But ah how dearly cost it 356. Lawful things are often the occasion of unlawful things we should use them then for of them it may be said as the Apostle of the Law the Law is good if a man use it lawfully The sins of the old world are described Luke 17.27 28. not by unlawful or things evil in themselves but becoming such by the abuse They did eat and drink c. which things are necessary to preserve life and yet by these they lost their lives they in these things sinn'd away their lives from the earth and their souls into bell 357. Feasting times are too too often sinning times 't is true it s not sinful to feasi if our feasting be not sinful which that it may not be we should not spend too much care like Martha nor too much cost and time like Dives who fared deliciously every day while we are eating and drinking wee may be dying in remembrance whereof the Egyptians us'd to serve in a deaths head at their feasts and therefore in eating and drinking we need be holy and do that and all to the glory of God 358. That we might not think riches evil God gives them to those who are good yea to the choicest the chiefest the very best of good men to whom he never gives any thing that is in it self evil and lest we should think riches the chiefest good the best good God gives them to them that are evil to whom he never gives the chiefest good 359. Love of pleasure and fear of suffering are the two great things which keep men from minding that which is their chiefe good which if enjoy'd would either free them from suffering or fill them with pleasure in suffering and make them say as Augustine quam suave estistis suavitatibus carere how sweet is it to want the worlds sweets True rest is not attain'd by spending of the yeer In pleasure soft sweet shades down-beds and dainty cheer These leave the soul as empty of content As doth a dream when time of sleep is spent There 's more true joy in godly sorrowes tears Then in sins pleasures he that truly fears The God of Heaven and humbly walks with him He he 's the man that hath an Heaven within 360. It will much aggravate the condemnation of some that they have been so careful of their bodies and so careless of their souls they are so taken up with the things of this world which are but half goods for they reach but half and the worse half of man that ye rise early go to bed late and eat the bread of carefulness for their bodily accommodations when their poor souls may sink or swim that 's left at six and seven the soul is not in all their thoughts One said he had so much businesse to do that he must trust God with his soul he could not look after it Most men are like the woman who when her house was on fire so minded the saving her goods that she forgate her childe and left it burning in the fire at last being minded of it she cries out oh my childe oh my childe So men scrabble here for a little pelf and let their souls be consumed with the fiery heat of cares and at death cry out oh my soul
delectatur adverbiis quam nominibus God is more delighted in adverbs then in nounes 't is not so much the matter that 's done but the manner how 't is done that God minds Not how much but how well 'T is the well doing that meets with a well done Let us therefore serve God not nominally or verbally but adverbially 371. We thinke it a great matter to be knowne of a man and wish 't well and yet thereby we become neither white nor blacke the better or worse rich or poore for our knowledge is small in capacity limited in effects and inefficacious in operation but 't is not so with Gods Knowledge Happy they that are knowne of God 372. Science in most conscience in the rest make all cry out there is a God 373. There is no truer misery then false joys 374. Christians many times sin most when least tempted and sin least when most tempted 375. 'T is punishment as well or indeed as ill to take away the good which was formerly injoyed as to inflict an evill which was not formerly suffered 376. He is an happy man that 's beaten when the stroake is a stroake of love 377. Though God would have sinners hearts broaken yet so tender is he that he would not have them breake their hearts nor be swallowed up with over-much sorrow 378. The good mans best and the bad mans worst is to come Isaiah 3.9 I will say to the righteous it shall be well with them they shall eat the fruit of their doings say to the wicked woe it shal be ill with them for the reward of their hand shall be given them Oh this shall be how sweet will it be to the godly and how bitter to the ungodly men that like sins work will not like sins wages they that are content to sin on earth will not find content in hell 379. Man discovers himselfe to be a sinner by covering his sin 380. He that seeks Philosophy in Divinity seekes the dead among the living and he that seeks Divinity in Philosophy seekes the living among the dead I may say as the Angel of Christ religion is not here she is risen 381. Surely they doe not love God who love any thing more then God or they love not God at all who doe not love him more then all 382. The love of God to any soul is good ground of glorying here and to expect glory hereafter THE HEATHEN IMPROVED OR The Gibeonites hewing of wood and drawing of water for the Sanctuary 1. SCipio made his boast that there was not one of his souldiers but would adventure their lives for him if it were to leap into the sea or to cast themselves down an high towre if he required it How much them should Christians be at Christs command and not love their lives unto the death especially seeing all his commands are holy just and good 2. When newes came to Anaxageras of the death of his son at which they thought he would have been much troubled he said I begate him mortal Should not Christians much more quiet themselves at the losse of children which though they beget mortal yet not without hope of immortality 3. A Philosopher walking abroad found a woman weeping and asking her the reason alas said she I have broken my Pitcher and walking another day found another woman weeping and asking her the reason she told him her son was dead He presently sayes did that woman think that an earthen Pitcher would not break and this woman that a mortal man would not dye Should we not expect that changeables will change That the fashion of this world will passe away Wee should so use creature-enjoyments as if we were taking leave of them Our moderation of joy and sorrow should be known because the end of all things is at hand 4. Socrates when the Tyrant did threaten death to him told him he was willing nay then said the Tyrant you shall live against your will nay but said Socrates whatever you do with me it shall bee my will And a certain Stoick speaking of God said quid vult volo quid non vult nolo vult ut vivam vivam vult ut moriar moriar What God will I will what God nills I will not if he will that I live I will live if it be his pleasure that Idye I will dye Ah how should the will of Christians stoop and lie down at the foot of Gods will not my will but thine be done 5. Plutarch in his Epistle Consolatory to his wife on the death of a childe among many other arguments hath this We must alwaies think well of what the Gods doe And shall not Christians think well of what God doth and say as Hezekiah good is the word and good is the work of the Lord. 6. A Roman servant knowing that his Master was sought for to be put to death put himself into his Masters clothes that he might be taken for him and so was and put to death in memory whereof his Master erected a brazen statue Oh what Monuments shall we erect for Christ who when we were to be put to death would die for us for a good man some would dare to die and greater love then this cannot be shown then that a man may lay down his life for a friend but behold herein God manifesteth and commendeth his love to us that while we were yet sinners yea enemies Christ dyed for us 7. Phoeion an Athenian Captain being condemned to death seeing one Cnippus condeÌ„ned to the same death but very fearful he comforts him with these words is it not enough to thee that thou art to dve with Phocion Should it not comfort us in our suffering that we dye with Christ 8. Antonius after Julius Caesar was slain brought forth his coat all bloody and laid it before the people saying loe here is the Emperours coat Whereupon the people cryed out slay the murtherers Shall we not say so of sin which slew our Lord Christ and would have slain us 9. Numa held that the service of God was greater honour then to be a King and shall not Christians think so 10. Alexander distributing very large gifts was askt what he would keep for himself hee answeâ—'d hope by hope are we saved He hath a great deal who hath not so much hope of good as a good hope 11. 'T was the saving of an Heathen Condo compono quae mox deâ—romere possum I lay in and lay up that I may lay out and shall not Christians do so 12. When Pericles went into the Pulpit to make Orations to the people he would make his prayer to the gods that nothing might goe out of his mouth but what might be to the purpose a good example for Preachers 13. Phocions wife having many Jewels shewn her by a Lady said all my Jewels are there pointing to her husband and Cornelius said of the Gracchi his sons coming in when a Lady was shewing her Jewels