thy hand and a wedding-garment on thy back improve thy talents well that Christ may say well done good and faithfull servant enter into thy Masters joy when others only wish for heaven do thou work for it Oh my God I have been one of these loitering truants that am justly here reproved and sent again to school to the meanest of thy creatures their diligence shames my negligence they have only an instinct of nature to guide them I have reason experience Scripture and example to put me on they labour only for the body I for the soul and body they for the meat that perisheth I for that which endureth to eternall life they for a winter I for eternity yet are they diligent and I negligent Heaven and earth may stand amazed at my folly Lord pardon what is past and incline my heart for the time to come to give diligence to make my calling and election sure Let me so run that I may obtain so fight that I may conquer and be faithfull to the death that I may receive the crown of life Upon the gorgeous dresse of Flowers 18. Med. WHen I seriously considered the various dress the curious colours of the herbs and flowers which diapred the plot I took some delight to consider the power of God in them and how far he condescended to please our fancies and delight our sences when I saw how gorgeously they were attired how beautiful they appeared it led me up to the fountain-head even to God who is beauty and comeliness it self and the greatest beauty that the world can brag of is but a spark to this fire a ray to this Sun and a drop to this ocean if the creature can be so beautiful what is the Creator end if earth be so pleasant what is heaven but when I considered also the transitory fading nature of these short-lived flowers how soon when they were in their prime they withered away and perished this put me in minde of the vanity of man which is compared to a flower which cometh up and is cut down like a flower and never continueth in one stay and not only he but all earthly enjoyments are short-lived and soon perish But when I considered their beauty with their fading nature it minded me of our Saviours words Mat. 6.28 c. Why take you thought for raiment consider the lillies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory is not arayed like one of these wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe ye O ye of little faith c. he sends us in the former verses to the sparrows which though they neither plough nor sow reap nor mow nor carry into barns are yet fed by divine providence so here he sends to the grass and flowers who though frail vanishing things are gorgeously attired by him and all is to put us on to depend upon our fathers providence for the force of the argument is thus If God feed these worthless sparrows and not one falls to the ground without his providence and so clothe the withering grass in such a dress doubtless he will not suffer his sons and servants to want necessary food and rayment which as they are better so are a thousand times dearer to him then the fowls or flowers There is in every man by nature a conceit of self-sufficiency as if by our own diligenee we could provide for our selves and are ready to undertake Gods part of the work Now this self-confidence is the daughter of unbelief as one saith is the mother of carking care and carnal thoughtfullness Our Saviour here by many arguments disswades us from these there is a care of the head not only lawfull but commendable but there is a carking distrustfull diffident care of the heart here condemned when a man hath done his utmost endeavour in the use of lawfull means yet vexeth himself about the event what if this or that follow I fear I shall die a beggar c. One day saith David I shall perish by the hand of Saul What shall I eat or what shall I drink c. because God will not let us know how we shall be provided for therefore we are ready with Israel to question Can God provide a table in the wilderness Psa 78.19 Oh my soul how justly art thou reproved and sent to these poor creatures to school hast thou not had distracting thoughts and distrustfull fears hast thou not oft been questioning What shall I eat or what shall I drink or wherewithall shall I be cloathed what shall become of my wife and children when I am dead c. even contrary to the express command of the great God as if thou hadst had no father to provide for thee or no God to depend upon or no promise to uphold thee and though God hath ofttimes silenced thy fears and husht thy cares by an unexpected providence yet upon the apprehension of new danger new fears arise like murmuring Israel though they had seen Gods wonders in Egypt at the Red Sea in feeding them with Manna yet cry out Can he furnish a table for us in the wilderness Psal 78.19 yea though thou hast never wanted food nor rayment nor any thing truly necessary and hast a promise thou shalt never want any thing that is good and though God hath bid leave your fatherless children with me and let thy widdows trust in me yet how hard is it to commit wife and children to him if there be no visible means for their subsistance or to trust him when means are out of sight and the world doth not pass for payment what if thy food be not so dainty nor thy cloathes so fine if the one nourish thee and the other keep thee warm it matters not if thou do not fare deliciously every day nor go in purple and fine linnen thy betters have fared harder and gone more meanly clad reade Heb. 11.36 and be ashamed of murmuring others had trials of cruel mocking and scourgings yea moreover of bonds and imprisonments they were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandred about in sheeps-skins and goats-skins being destitute afflicted and tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandred in desarts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth what if thou hast no certain dwelling-house thy dear redeemer had not where to lay his head and those Worthys were worse bestead then ever thou wast Oh my God charge not upon me those distrustful thoughts but strengthen my faith in thy promises Lord I believe help my unbelief and let not this sin have dominion over me Enable me to say with Job though he kill me yet will I trust in him and with Ely 't is the Lord let him do what seemeth him
the Jewel we shall have the box if we buy the wine we shall have the cask and if we seek first the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof all other things shall be added Mat. 6.33 most men begin at the wrong end they make sure the world and think then all is safe and heaven sure but would they make heaven sure riches should not be wanting but most men think that scraping and keeping together is the way to be rich but the holy Ghost teacheth us that it is giving and laying out is the way Solomon tells us he that gives to the poor lends to the Lord and he will repay him Pro. 19.17 and he that gives to the poor shall not lack Pro. 28.27 so that not getting but giving is the way to wealth but he shall have judgement without mercy that will shew no mercy Jam. 2.13 rich men are Gods stewards he trusts them with his store-house to give their fellow-servants their meat in due season and blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall finde so doing Mat. 24.46 but if insteed of feeding them they feed themselves and eat and drink with the drunken and beat their fellow-servants their Lord shall come when they are not aware and shall give them their portion with hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth but all places are too full of such evil servants and so is hell too such dust-heaps are found in every corner but those unmercifull men shall have their portion with the devil and the damned Mat. 25.34 when the charitable Christian shall have a portion in glory we are all Gods servants and have some talents or other to improve in his service to his glory which if we do we shall not be without our reward there is none saith God shuts the door of my house for nought or kindles a fire upon my altar for nought Mal. 1.10 he hath lent us our riches and yet if we improve them and employ them as we ought they will become our own and we shall send them to heaven before us where they will be made up into a crown for us this is the only good they can do the soul but whatsoever is not thus improved is lost yea worse then lost for it will be put upon our account and required of us when we give an account of our stewardship It is a great mistake and so it will be found when men think they have an absolute propriety in what they enjoy and may dispose of it at their pleasure Christ bids the young man sell all that he had and give to the poor and he should have treasure in heaven Mat. 19.21 and rich men are charged to be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to give that they may lay up for themselves a good foundation against the evil day 1 Tim. 6.16 c. had rich men but Moses eye to see the wealth of heaven and the worth of it it were not hard for them to make such a choise as he did worldlings if they could have heaven without labour or cost they would accept of it if not they will not buy it at so dear a rate but Christians say as Mephibosheth let Zibah take all so I may enjoy the king oh my soul here is riches worth labouring for thou canst not buy this gold at too dear a rate the world thou maist and many do with the loss of the soul here thou canst not be disappointed whatever rate thou setst upon this treasure it is ten thousand times better lay hold upon this make heaven sure to thy self improve the world to a spiritual advantage then will thy riches encrease as the oyl in the cruse or like the bread in Christs hands or the water in a spring thy good works will follow thee to heaven when the world will leave her dearest minions oh my God let it be so say amen to my prayer let me have thee and I have all things necessary Upon mens misery labour and pains 73. Med. WHen I considered that man that was the chief of Gods workmanship and next to the angels the most glorious creature of the whole creation yea in his creation was made little lower then the angels and cloathed with honour and dignity Psal 8.5 and was made Lord over the works of Gods hands Gen. 1.26 yea God created him in his own image all these inferiour creatures were made for his sake and for his use and service he was their little Lord yea the angels themselves are ministring spirits sent out for the good of those that love God Heb. 1.14 the saints are the Church the spouse the bride the members of Christ and so seem to be in nearer union to him then the angels themselves some think the devils envied this and so fell from their own station thus you see how man in the creation was exalted to honour but on the other side I considered how man above all the rest of the creatures was more subjected to misery labour and slavery yea vexation of spirit then any other and many of them even worn out with carking cares and fretting fears with moiling toyling spending labour which tires their bodies breaks their sleep in the night when other creatures which were made for their use and are their servants rest secure and free from daily cares and nightly troubles many kindes of them are preserved without their pain all without their care or fore-cast the masters care for some and maintain them and God maintains the rest but it is not so with man he must eat his bread in the sweat of his brows how true is that of Joh chap. 5.7 man is born to labour as the sparks fly upwards all things are full of labour saith Solomon Eccl. 1.8 molestation and misery meet us at every turn the world saith one is a sea of glass for it is vanity mingled with fire for it is vexation Rev. 4.6 man is in a restless condition tossed to and fro like a football and here he hath no resting place when I sought out the cause of this why this noble creature should be thus subjected to trouble and sorrow more then any others I quickly found out it was Gods will and mans desert for had man continued in his primitive purity he had never had an aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to molest him but when he had sin'd God pronounced this sentence upon him in the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread which law never yet was reversed The beasts of the field never transgrest their makers law as man hath done and therefore never had such punishment threatned as man had though it is conceived they are sufferers for mans sin Rom. 8.20 had not sin gone before trouble and misery had never followed the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life and as sin brought death so also sorrow into the world
such a soul that when she is in a deserted and as she imagines a forsaken condition seems dead and withered yet at the return of Gods pleased face seems fruitful and flourishing where there is life in the root it will spring when t is really dead winter and summer all is a case but though the winter may be long and sharp yet the spring will come and shew a difference between the living trees and the dead and though God hide his face for a season and absent himself for a time to see how his spouse will bear his absence and to try her affections yet this sun of righteousness will shine again and then where life is in the root it will shew it self in the branches for God will not forsake any really that are not dead utterly for a little while saith God I hid my face but with everlasting kindness will I remember her Isay 54.8 sometimes the poor soul verily thinks she is forsaken when God doth but like a father hide himself for a while to try the childes affection and every sigh and sob and sorrowful tear goes to the fathers heart his bowels yearn and he cannot long conceal himself that it is so between God and his children see that pregnant place Isay 49.14 c. but Zion said the Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me can a woman forget her sucking childe that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me never was tender-hearted father or indulgent mother more careful of their only childe then God is of his children he will never forsake those that do not forsake him he will never give a bill of divorce to any that are not willing to leave him so that you see here where there is life in the root the spring will come when it shall again germinate and bud but if it be really dead it can never recover but by the assistance of an omnipotent arm no more can a dead soul till it be grafted into the living vine then that which was dead before shall germinate and spring and when once thus transplanted it shall never wither though sometimes it may be winter with it and it make but a little shew yet the root of the matter is in it and when the spring returns it shall break forth God will never leave them nor forsake them See the Apostles confidence Rom. 8.35 38 39. who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword nay in all these we are more then conquerors through him that loveth us for I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord these men of all others have cause to live merrily yea though it be but assurance of adherence those that Christ loves he loves to the end oh my soul is it so that grace may be hid in times of desertion as the sap in the root in the winter season or as fire under the ashes or as gold in the mine or as a little Jewel in a great heap of ashes despair not then neither be discouraged though sometimes thy grace be out of sight and thy God hide his face and the sun of righteousness be clouded and thy comforts ecclipsed remember with David the days of old and the time when God did smile upon thee and though it be now winter the spring will return whom God loveth he loveth to the end yea with an everlasting love oh my God clear up my evidences for heaven and make out such discovery of thy love to my soul that I may never be willing to leave thee and then that thou wilt never forsake me Upon a great tree tossed with the winde 85. Med. WHen I observed some tall spreading trees stretching forth their branches on every side and were grown top-heavy how they were tost and tumbled with the winde and storms when smaller shrubs and lesser trees were more free and secure because they lay under the winde or had but a little inconsiderable head I saw and observed that it often came to passe that if these great trees bare any fruit it was blown down before it came to maturity and seldome came to good nay not only the fruit but the leaves also were forced off by the violent gusts and windes and storms and sometimes the boughs and branches also yea the tree it self is often born down by the tempest when those that were less and lower were more secure and brought their fruit to maturity with less danger and hazard This Observation made me think that these trees fittly resembled great men that made some profession of religion but few of them bring their fruit to maturity for these lye more open to temptations and are more liable to dangers then others are and the devil hath a greater spight at them then at others for they may do him more mischief and therefore he is more unwilling they should break prison then others and hangs more fetters and irons upon them great Commanders are more narrowly watcht if they are prisoners and more dearly ransomed then private souldiers hence it was that Elymas the sorcerer by the devils instigation sought to turn away Surgius Paulus the deputy from the faith Act. 13.8 as knowing he was like to be a leading man which way ever he took If great men have but leaves they are invyed for the leaves sake and few of them ever bring forth fruit to maturity yea the leaves themselves their very profession are oft times born down by the storm I have seen some that I verily believed were well rooted and grounded who yet upon approaching storms have truckled under them have hid their religion dissembled their profession and stole away from their colours and all for fear of leaving or losing any part of their estates This hath given me occasion sometimes to bless God that hath freed me from some of those temptations that others lie under and hath given me Agars petition neither poverty nor riches but food convenient and hath kept me almost all â—hy days in a suffering condition I considered I have the same nature as other men have had I but the same temptations I know not but I might have been as bad a great estate as it hath many cares and cumbers so many temptations accompanying it and some men cannot bear it no more then some mens heads can much wine or strong drink it is not the cage that makes the bird sing nor it is not abundance always that makes the heart light a staff may help a traveller but a bundle of staves will
thou provided another habitation against this shall be disolved and moulder into dust when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved hast thou a building not made with hands but eternal in the heavens hast thou acted thy part well upon the stage of the world that thou maist go off with applause â—f not … s better thou hadst not been born for if death meet thee unprepared as thy body moulders into dust so must thou down to everlasting darkness there to suffer eternally the demerit of thy sin Oh my God! take me not away before I be fit to be lodged in thy bosome kill me not before my sin be killed if any thing that is necessary be wanting Lord give it in and let me not be deceived in so great a thing as the salvation of my soul Let my sins die and let my soul live Let me see the funeral of my vices before others see the funeral of my body Vpon a Tuft of green Grass 3. Med. WAlking into the Garden as at other times to take the ayr I fastened my eyes upon a green tuft of grass that grew besides me the sight of it brought to my remembrance what I had often heard and read viz. that the damned in hell should suffer exquisite torments such as the tongue of men or angels are not able to express and that for as many millions of years as there are grass-piles upon the earth sands on the sea shoar stars in heaven and motes in the Sun and yet after all this long tract of time their torments shall be no nearer to an end nor they to a delivery then they were the first day they were cast in This made me a little to consider the number of piles that was in this little tuft and when I found it too hard for me to number them I considered what was this tuft to one pasture or that to one Parish or that to one County or that to one Kingdome or that to the whole world this made me to cry out Oh Eternity Eternity who can conceive of thee who can fathom thee Oh the horrible nature of sin that provokes a mercifull God to lay such heavy strokes upon his poor creatures Oh the love and pains of our dear Redeemer what did he suffer to quench those flames and discharge those debts for his people in suffering what was due for their sins and oh the madness of men and my own folly that knowing there is such a remediless gulf before us run on so madly towards it and that for momentary pleasures deceitfull riches worthless honour or filthy sin do venture the soul upon the pikes of danger Oh the misery of poor unregenerate wretches what will you do in the latter end who amongst us shall dwell with devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burning Esay 33.14 Tophet is prepared of old even for the King it is prepared the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a river of brimstone doth kindle it Esaiah 30.33 Were a man compelled to lie upon a feather bed but one year without turning or stirring though other comforts were afforded how painful how tedious would that year seem but what is this one year to eternity or what is a featherbed to scalding lead and burning brimstone or what is that to hell torments Oh Satan how dost thou deceive us Oh world how dost thou insnare us Oh sin how dost thou bewitch us Oh heart how dost thou betray us to this deadly danger Oh earth how dost thou betray thy fastest friends and payest them off with pains for pleasure and buyest their souls for a thing of naught Oh Satan who would be thy servant if this be thy wages and yet how many fish come to thy net and how prosperous hast thou been when thou hast baited thy hooks with the world Oh my soul is Eternity such a fathomless gulf without bank or bottom how stands the case with thee art thou for everlasting joy or endless torment what interest hast thou in the one or what hopes to avoid the other what hast thou that a hypocrite cannot have or what dost thou that he cannot do God surely expects great difference in the work when there is so much in the reward give thy eyes no sleep nor thy eye-lids no slumber till thou hast some comfortable assurance of the love of God in the pardon of thy sins and the salvation of thy soul make peace with thy Creditour before thou art cast into prison otherwise there must thou remain till thou hast paid the utmost farthing If death surprize thee before thou art ready hell will be thy lodging get oyl trim up thy lamp get on thy wedding-garment that thou be not shut out into utter darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth Oh my God! make me such as thy own soul delights in give me in the qualifications thou hast made necessary to Salvation thou knowest my wants Lord supply them my debts oh forgive them my corruptions Lord subdue them and binde up my soul in the bundle of life write my name in thy book and at last lay me up amongst thy Jewels Vpon a barren plat of ground 4. Med. WHen I perceived one plot in my garden fruitful and another barren and observed the difference between the one and the other how lovely how amiable how pleasant the fruitful plat seemed to me how fresh and fragrant how green and ardent it was how it was diapred with various coloured flowers beautiful and lovely and how lothsome unseemly and unhandsome the other lookt where nothing appeared but briars and thorns weeds and thistles with stones and rubbish which was a fit receptacle for toads and serpents and other venemous vermine I began to consider it was yet possible to reduce this plot into a better form and turn it to a better use And hereupon I caused the rubbish to be stockt up the weeds to be pluckt up and the stones pickt out and after I digged and manured it and had an effect answerable to my expectation for when it was sown with better seed it brought forth better fruit The unlovelinesse of this plot when overgrown with weeds and rubbish produced this following Meditation I thought it lively represented a heart barren of grace and goodnesse but fruitfull of briars and thorns sin and wickednesse which is more odious to God then this plot was to me and yet how lovely a fruit bearing Christian is in his eye the one is like a loathsome muck-heap which stinks the other like a watered garden that yields a sweet favour like a garden of spices Cant. 4.14 the one brings forth fruit for Gods basket the other fewell for the devils fire all the seed sown upon it is lost and choakt with briars and thorns and all the rain that falls upon it doth but make the weeds more rank and flourishing their grape is the grape of Sodom and of the fields of
provided for thou art a thousand times in a worse condition then they are thou wast made for an higher end and fitted to do God better service but they never transgrest their makers will nor Creators laws as thou hast done and if thou art not regenerated and born again thou hadst better never have been born or else made a dog or toad or poor crawling worm whose misery ends with life when thine will begin at thy death these serve God better in their kinde then thou hast done Oh my God it was thy will there should be a difference between me and these irrational creatures thou hast indewed me with more noble faculties and didst create me in thy own image and madest me Lord over the work of thy hands but oh how soon was this image lost and I disabled for the work I was created for I became as a lost sheep O seek thy servant that I may be found I am the prodigal incline my heart to come home to my fathers house and open thy arms and heart to receive me give me in those qualifications that are necessary to thy service renew thine image in my soul pardon my transgressions and be favourable to my soul mortifie my corruptions then shall I be able to serve thee with chearfulness and shall have occasion to blese God that I was made a man and not a worm Upon an heap of Ants or Pismires 16. Med. FInding in the garden a heap of ants or pismires at the root of a tree which I look't upon as no friends but enemies to an orchard I disturbed them with my foot and they soon took the allarm whereupon I took notice how these painful creatures behaved themselves when thus disturbed they were all in a confusion some run this way and some that and no one knew where or how to settle and yet I observed every one laying hold of something and getting some burden upon his back though he knew not where to bear it I thought this confusion resembled a beseiged City when taken by the enemy or the Countrey when an enemy makes an incursion the inhabitants every one shifts for himself one runs this way another that to save himself and if it may be to secure his chiefest Jewels or that which he most values this minded me by the way that it was a Christians wisdome in all the incursions of satan and the inroads and assaults he makes upon us to secure the soul our chiefest Jewel and not leave it unguarded at his mercy this is our fort-royall which if taken we are undone but if safe though he take the out-works it matters not much if the castle be secure Let us store this therefore with provision and ammunition against the assaults of this treacherous enemy Again this confused stir that thus happened among these poor insects represented to me the hurlyburly that is abaoad in the world wherein are millions of men every one driving on some particular designe and yet go various ways to work some pursue after riches some honours and some pleasures and yet agree not on the way nor on the means to attain their end Those that aim at riches all tread not in the same steps some go a more plain way then others do and by labourious toiling carking care and pains seek to get it and are no ones foes but their own in spending so much time upon it that they neglect their greater concerns others by more subtill but less honest shifts cast their ground and think to take their prey before their neighbours these by lying cheating swearing forswearing cozening and circumventing make hast to be rich but cannot be innocent these ofttimes with the Eagle stealing meat from the altar bring a coal with it which fires their own nests ill-gotten goods seldome prosper and the third heir seldome enjoys them some in the pursuit of honour take the way of vertue and hunt after it by desert but these are but few yet this is the securest road others endeavour to ascend the steps of promotion by fawning and flattery and such indirect courses but though these are the most by far yet ofttimes they break their necks ere they come to the top of the ladder and are always set in slippery places the former way though least trodden and most painfull is the surest and safest for honour follows virtue as the shadow doth the substance others that pursue pleasure differ also some seek after more innocent delights others esteem none worth enjoying but what is the forbidden fruit and desperatly pursue such pleasures that perish ere they are budded and the end of that mirth is heaviness In a word some are building castles in the air and never live to finish them others are getting goods and know not who shall enjoy them others are raking together by hook or by crook and others are scattering abroad what is thus scraped together and spend all and know not who shall relieve them some are promising themselves content if they had a Lordship others if they had a Dukedome and some if they had a Kingdcm which if attained they are no nearer satisfaction then before and they are scarce warm in their places but death with a dash with his foot breaks the pitcher and spoils the sport and strips him of that in an hour that he hath been projecting for all his life and thus you see there is a confused hurly-burly in the world every man driving on his own designes and God all this while tacitly by this is a carrying on his designes perhaps quite contrary to theirs Or this tumultuous confusion amongst these little creatures may resemble a crowd in a market or fair some rush this way some that that he that stands at a distance and observes their motion thinks it is a confusion yet every man is carrying on some designe or other and moves accordingly Oh my soul lose not thy self thy pains thy precious time as many do in seeking honey in a wasps nest or that in the world which no man was ever yet able to finde there content satisfaction and happiness these are not sown in the furrows of thy field and therefore are not to be found in full bags and barns content grows not in natures garden and those that seek happiness beneath the moon are mistaken the enjoyment of God in glory is our compleat happiness and nothing else will give the soul content let the world say what it will to the contrary carking cares and fretting fears and Jealousies about earthly enjoyments are so far from being the way to it that it choaks the word which is the means to attain it the riches honours and pleasures the world affords which are the worlds Deity whereupon most men doat as much as the Ephesians did upon Diana's Temple bear no more proportion to true riches true pleasures and true honours then painted fire on the wall to true fire or a King upon a Stage to a King upon the throne
rather comfort It is not always those that can speak loudest that speaks best but he that speaks wisest the empty barrel makes the greatest sound that Sermon 〈◊〉 not always best that hath most gaudy notions and rhetorical flourishes but that which savours most of Christ and the divine Eloquence of his holy spirit he is the best preacher that woos for Christ and not for himself and would set the crown upon his head and not his own it is not the best physitian that speaks most latine greek and hebrew but he that gives the surest and safest directions to recover health it is not the tickling of the fancy a preacher should so much minde as to speak convincingly to the conscience oh my soul judge not by the outward but the inward qualification neither cover hypocrisy by a mask of seeming sincerity for God will ere long pluck off such vizors slight no man meerly upon the account of poverty for God thinks never the worse of them admire no man meerly for his riches for God thinks never the better of him this is but to worship a golden calf the time is coming that the king must leave his robes behinde him and the beggar his rags and it is the inward qualifications that must distinguish between the one and the other Dives and Lazarus when they come to stand on even ground shall by these be tried and so must all by what means or titles soever they have been dignifyed distinguished or called it is our works and worth not our wealth will follow us whereever tâ—ou seest Christ in any own him for God will own him esteem grace in the soul more then money in the purse and the robes of righteousness above the most costly jewels a drachm of grace is worth thousands of gold and silver for thy councellors take the wisest not the wealthiest for wisdom and wealth many times dwell not together in the same house esteem that preacher best that speaks home to the heart and conscience not him that seeks to tickle the ear and please the fancy he that woos for Christ and not for himself and seeks to put the crown upon his head and not his own esteem that Sermon best where thou findest most of Christ and not that which is drest with gaudy notions and rhetorical flourishes which serve to darken and not illustrate the matter and are as king James was wont to say like red and blew flowers fine to look upon good for little but pester the corn a diseased man had rather have medicum sanantem quam eloquentem one that will rather do well then speak well oh my God should I cover my prophanness or hypocrisy with the vizor of seeming holiness thou wilt soon discover it and unmask me for thou searchest the heart and triest the reins and all things are open and apparent to thee Lord give me sincerity and truth in the inward part for this is thy gift make me such as thy own soul delights in let me not be deceived by my own deceitful heart nor think to deceive others for I cannot deceive thy all-seeing eye Upon the constant supply the vegetables need 33. Med. WHen I seriously considered that these beautiful creatures which now adorn the earth with their flowers and enamel it with their various shapes and colours and enrich it with their odours vertues and operations yet without a constant supply of mans labour pains and diligence and also of the influences of the heavens they would soon wither die and come to nothing some of them must be yearly set or sown or transplanted others preserved both from heat and cold and all need some manure care and pains weeding watering fencing or other cares this minded me of the condition of all earthy delights or enjoyments they must be renewed or they will soon vanish all things by sin are become subject to decay there is a vicissitude of earthly comforts and a constant change Mans life cannot be preserved without food and physick and other necessaries the four Elements fire air earth and water are so necessary that if eâ—â—her be denied mans life is at an end the houses we dwell in must be repaired or they will soon come to ruine and fall about our ears The most famous fabricks that ever the Sun saw are come to ruine The Piramides of Egypt the walls of Carthage the tomb of Mansolus or if there were any thing more famous or more durable yet time hath consumed and brought it to a ruinous heap the most impregnable castle the most invincible strong-hold if not repaired by labour and industry time levels with the ground we cannot say now of our garments as Moses of Israels cloaths Deut. 8.4 thy rayment waxed not old neither did thy foot swell this forty years it was not the worse for the wearing but as some imagine probably it grew as their bodies did they needed not to trouble themselves with anxious thoughts what to eat or what to drink or wherewith to be cloathed God brought them food to their tent-doors and provided rayment without their care or pains but with us all such comforts must be renewed with care and diligence with a care of the head though not of the heart or they will quickly be gone this consideration made me think what a great deal of confusion sin had brought into the world and subjected all things to vanity and vexation of spirit every thing saith Solomon is full of labour for as it brought death into the world so likewise all other miseries had it not been for sin we had never had aking head or aking heart or loss or cross or any thing to molest us and now every thing becomes a trouble man is born to trouble saith Job as the sparks fly upwards yet alass how doth the world bewitch men that they had rather be drudges and savages here and moil and toil and cark and care and live as it were in a dungeon and work as in the very fire then die and come to God this they make their portion this is their delight and all that they care for they sell their ease their pleasure and their very souls oh earth how dost thou bewitch us O satan how dost thou infatuate us oh heart how dost thou deceive us what disappointments doth foolish men meet with here and yet will take no warning we never did finde content and yet we are always promising our selves happinesse here where never any yet could finde it alass what proportion is there between a piece of gold and an immortal soul Oh my soul canst thou love this sin which hath brought all this misery and confusion into the world canst thou hug this viper in thy bosome which will sting thee to eternal death if not kil'd and mortified and canst thou place thy happiness in these vanishing perishing and withering vanities will these serve thy turn or boot thy needs or make thee happy can they pay thy debts or save thy
for heaven and can no jog of temptation divert thee or make thee settle in a wrong point If so how comes it to pass that thou art so much taken with the worlds glory that not only thy eyes but thy heart goes after it why art thou so bewitched with her smiles and so cast down with her frowns why hast thou so few serious thoughts of God and so few glimps of him even in the ordinances were thy heart in order thou wouldst always have Christ in thine eye both in thy heavenly and earthly imployments and wouldst soon be sensible when the sun of righteousness was either clouded ecclypsed or set upon thee as these flowers are in the like case if thou art why dost thou not mourn and hang the head in his absence as they do in the like case they will another day rise up against thee and condemn thee as being more faithful to their benefactour then thou art to thy husband oh my God I am sensible of my guilt and the faithfulness of these flowers shames me for my unfaithfulness they have but a natural instinct to incline them to their benefactor and own him but I have reason and Scripture yea my vows are upon me and engage me to my husband Christ Lord divert my affections from the world which doth but flatter me to deceive me incline my heart to Christ that would save me and make me happy let neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord nor rend me out of his arms nor draw my affections from him Upon a rose among thorns 37. Med. WHen I beheld and considered how the rose grew and flourished and came to perfection amongst the thorns and prickles that surrounded it and was not hurt but rather defended by them and kept and preserved from their other enemies I thought it represented the Church here in the world for as here there are a thousand prickles for one rose and yet this rose is preserved so in the world it may probably be conjectured there are a thousand wicked men which are compared to thorns for one that is godly the Church in her militant condition while she is in the world is compared to the lilly among the thorns Con. 2.2 as the lilly among the thorns saith Christ so is my love among the daughters these are indeed as the Gibionits pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides yet not altogether useless wicked men are called briars Micah 7.4 the best of them is a briar and the most upright sharper then a thorny hedge and God threatens to fold them together as thorns and burn them as dry stubble Nahum 1.10 Isay 27.4 but these briars are not useless he hedges us about with them that he may keep us in compass he pricks us with these thorns that he may let out ill humours and happy thorns to us if they open a vein for sin to gush out his house of correction is his school of instruction Psal 94.12 whether the rose in the creation was thus guarded and fenced I know not some think these thorns also are a fruit of the curse yet sure I am before the fall the Church was not pestered with such thorns as now it is man before the fall had not the nature and property of thorns but as thorns by Gods providence are made serviceable for the defence of better fruit so the wicked often prove serviceable to the Church and a defence to better men but no thank to them but to the overruling providence of God God preserves his people from their rage and makes them dwell safe by them as lambs among wolves and not only so but makes one wolf to defend them from another or sets one wolf to worry another while the lambs escape the Gibionites though briars and thorns were yet usefull to Israel and the earth helpt the woman and swallowed up the flouds which the dragon cast out of his mouth after her Rev. 12.16 As the Persians and others drink up the floud which the Turk at this day threatens to overwhelm all Christendome with The Philistins though briars and thorns are a defence to David when he was persecuted by Saul and in a great strait being compassed round about by Sauls army in that nick of time they invaded the land and Saul and his army drew back 2 Sam. 23.27 wicked Pharaoh gave entertainment to Jacob and his family and made provision for them in the seaven years famine and David and his fellows were promoted by a wicked man so was Mordicai and the Jewes and the Barbarians shewed Paul no little kindness Acts. 28.2 and sometimes the sheep finde shelter under a thorny hedge yet the nature of wicked men is not to do good but to rent and tear but God alters their nature at least restraineth their rage for his peoples sake The Church of God is as a bush burning but not consumed for when potent Princes have sought their destruction God hath frustrated their designes sometimes by setting the dogs to worry one another the poor hare escapes so Geball and Ammon and the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroy each other when they had decreed to destroy Israel 2 Chron. 20.23 and the counsell could not agree against Paul Act. 23.7 God maintaineth Noah against a world of wicked men and Lot in the midst of Sodom and Israel in Egypt and Mordicai against Haman and all his enemys and oft gives them favour in the eyes of those that were they not restrained would become their mortall enemies and their bloudy persecutors God turning those thorns which would devour them into a defence for them and into a hedge for his peoples security Oh my soul admire the providence and wisdome of God that can bring light out of darkness order out of confusion good out of evill and can turn a curse into a blessing and make his Churches enemies to become their friends thou wast one of those thorns and thy nature was as bad and if God hath taken thee off the stock of nature and planted thee in that choise vine bless his name it was no thanks to thee If now thou art a rose though encompassed by a thousand thorns he will defend thee If thy ways please God thy enemies themselves shall be at peace with thee Pro. 16.7 sin is the only make-bate between God and the soul and if God have a controversy with the sinner all the creatures are presently up in arms to bring in the rebel and wait but for a commission to take away his life but if God be reconciled to thee no enemy can hurt thee no weapon formed against his Church shall ever prosper Esay 54.17 When Jacob had made his peace with God neither Laban nor Esau could quarrel with him though it is thought both came forth with murderous
blazing star ominous to the beholders and hurtfull to those that enjoy it and proves ofttimes the devils lime-twigs to catch his fowls meat and drink are necessary yet to many their table becomes their snare and by a plentifull table they come to be guilty of gluttony and drunkenness wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and he that is overtaken with it is not wise I fed them to the full saith God and they were as fed horses every one neighed after his neighbours wife learning and great parts are lovely endowments and many times it proves dangerous and deadly the greatest scholars oft prove the greatest enemies to Christ and the greatest adversaries to the power of godliness In a word those that have most of the world have frequently the least of heaven Son saith Abraham remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luk. 16.25 Wealth many times swells men into a tympany not easily cured I know there are some that follow Christs counsell and make to themselves friends of this Mammon of unrighteousness but most do but encrease their account by them and at the reckoning-day will prove bankrupts and owe ten thousand talents more then they are able to pay earthly enjoyments usually rock men in the cradle of security and lull them asleep that they never wake till hell fire flames about their ears thus the rich man Luke 12.16 and that also Luk. 16.19 c. when the moon is at full it is furthest distance from the sun and nearest to an ecclips and the world many times interposeth it self between the full soul and the sun of righteousness relations and carnal friends oft-times prove snares thus they were to Job to Spira and to many more the things that are in themselves lawfull blessings yet abused prove our licitis perimus omnes immoderately used prove a sin and a snare oh my soul thou walkest in the midst of dangers snares are laid for thee in every creature in every corner trust not therefore to any the most innocent will betray thee if not heedfully observed and wisely enjoyed the most harmless nay the most necessary enjoyments are not free from snares a serpent may lie under thy feet poyson may be in thy cup or dish many temptations are in poverty more in plenty pray therefore with Agar not to have poverty nor riches but to be fed with food convenient Pro. 30.8 as a shoe too big or too little suits not the foot so an estate too big is troublesome and to little pinches a staff may help the passenger in his journey but a burden of staves will be his hinderance oh my God are there so many dangers that attend me both in reference to my body and my soul oh what need have I of divine protection Lord be thou my defender keep me under the shadow of thy wings O let not Satan the world or my own deceitful heart ever betray me but let me be kept by the mighty power of God unto salvation Upon a Toad 45. Med. OBserving as I walked in the garden in an evening a loathsom foul and ugly toad crawling in my way hasting from me as from a deadly enemy to hide her head in a hole to save her life and that from one that she had never wronged this sight occasioned me this Meditation how nigh akin am I to this poor creature this dispicable loathed and abhorred wretch there is but the sheers between us nothing but the makers will she is my sister and may claim the right of primogeniture as coming into the world before me we have the same original the same father and the same mother we were made of the same matter by the hand of the same workman but she hath the precedency in nature and came of the elder brother both of us were of the same clay and fashioned by the same potter hewn out of the same rock and digged out of the same hole of the pit and had it pleased the workman I might have been the toad and this the man no thanks to me that it was not so and it had been no wrong to me if it had been so I might have been crawling into that hole to save my life from one that desired my death and fed upon such loathsom meat that she feeds on but my God hath bestowed more upon me and denied it to her even so Lord because it hath seemed good in thy eyes oh my soul what hast thou done more for thy God then this poor creature hath done doubtless where more is given more will be required thou hast received ten talents for one nay an hundred for one how hast thou improved them and God expects from man much more service then from any other creature in the world being only fitted for communion with himself But hath not this despicable wretch which thou thinkest is not worthy to live served God in her place better then thy self and answered the end of her creation better then man and never transgrest her masters will nor her makers law as thou hast done a thousand times she desires nothing more then life and what is necessary to maintain it and fears nothing more then death and what tends to it and doth no hurt but it is imagined good to mankinde unless hurt or provoked and if she have a noxious quality it is questionable whether the sin of man hath not procured it God hath given thee the use of reason and made thee capable of communion with himself and enjoying him for ever and laid upon her far more innocent this punishment of being hated and abhorred of all and her life is put into thy hands and whosoever killeth her thinks he hath not offended thou canst walk free from fear when every one that sees her desires her death and plots her ruine and destruction what cause then have I to bless God that I was made a man and not a toad and that I had the use of reason given to me and not made a bruit but if I be not regenerate and born again if I have not the image of God renewed in me which I lost by the fall if I answer not the end of my creation and redemption if my sin be not mortified and the power of my corruptions abated if grace be not implanted in my heart by the spirit of God if I have not an interest in Christ and a title to glory if the mistical marriage be not made between Christ and my soul and my affections set upon him if any thing in the world lie nearer to my heart then he doth and be beloved above him the time will come and it will not be long first that I shall wish would God I had been made the toad and this toad the man for then my misery would have ended with my life when now it is like to begin at my death and
think upon their accompts these are some but not all the drones we have amongst us oh my soul is idleness so detestable a vice take heed of it employ every talent God hath lent thee to thy Masters glory lest thou meet with the doom of the unprofitable servant spend all the time allowed thee in the world either in thy general or particular calling and spend time on nothing thou wilt be unwilling to hear of another day let not Christ when he calls for thee nor the devil when he tempts thee finde thee idle lest thou be not ready to open to the one or resist the other lest Christ reject thee and the devil vanquish thee and death usher thee into outer darkness oh my God I have much work to do and but a little time to do it in and it is work of great concernment and much time already hath been wasted by me Lord incline my heart to diligence and convince me of the necessity of working while it is called to day because the night comes that no man can work Upon the gaudy Wasp 56. Med. OBserving the wasp in her gaudy dress what an enemy she was to the painâ—ul and laborious Bee and was not content her self to be idle but robs also the Bees that do labour and feeds upon that which this painful and industrious creature hath laid up against winter and so oft-times exposes them to want and penury yea to death it self and if the poor bees make resistance kills them and spoils their habitation I observed also that this pernitious insect more hurtful then the drones before-mentioned making no provision for winter before it comes puts her head into a hole and dies the consideration of this occasioned this following Meditation I thought there were many such wasps amongst us that is such as have the nature and disposition of wasps that are hurtful to many helpful to none that live an idle life and live upon others labours and not their own and making no provision for death or eternity are then utterly destitute of what is necessary here with the rich man Luk. 16.19 c. they are cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fare deliciously every day and at last would beg a drop of water to cool their tongues but cannot obtain it but shall have punishment without pitty misery without mercy sorrow without succour crying without compassion mischief without measure torment without end and past imagination Among the rest of these gaudy wasps we may rank many griping Land-lords some Land-lords are of a better complexion but they are too few but too many are guilty of grinding the faces of the poor and the spoil of the poor is in their houses Esay 3.14 15. they make their tenants serve in the very fire and weary themselves for very vanity Hab. 2.13 and are like unto the Egyptian task-masters force the tale of their bricks and not allow them straw they pluck not only the meat from their mouths and the cloaths from their backs but the very flesh from their bones they drink not only their tears but their very sweat and bloud and all too little to satisfy their greedy humours they squeese so many tears from them in their life time that they have none left to shed for them at their death they by racking their rents and their cruel extortion draws many tears from their eyes and sobs from their hearts but God will put those tears into his bottle and those sobs into his book and will vindicate their wrongs how oft may we see greedy Land-lords force their tenants to feed their dogs with what should feed their own children a barbarous custome which will rise up in judgment against them another day They deal with their tenants as they do with their horses when they have tired them or rid them out of breath they call for a fresh one and shew not so much mercy on them as on their dogs whom they cherish if weak or weary but when the poor tenant with all his pains and diligence can no longer satisfy their greedy humours they turn them out of doors seize upon their estates perhaps cast them into prison till they have paid the utmost farthing to the ruinating of their families and exposing them to beggery and all this is to maintain their pride and luxury these men act as if they were the sole proprietors and must never give an accompt to any other Master but let such remember the parable of the man that owed ten thousand talents and would not forgive his brother a hundred pence but cast him into prison Mat. 18.23 he himself was cast in till he had paid the utmost farthing those shall have judgment without mercy that have shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 those that will not forgive others shall not be forgiven themselves let such remember the rich man Luk. 16.19 who 't is conceived refusing to give a bit of bread to Lazarus was himself denied a drop of water by Abraham But these are not all the gaudy wasps that trouble the laborious bees there are many rich men that undo their poor neighbours with unjust and vexatious Law-suits that oppress them with wrongs injuries and unjust vexations and make bold thus to do because they are too great for them to grapple with these great flies break through the net there being also too many of these wasps in places of Judicatory civil and Ecclesiastical I accuse not all and I think no wise man will justify all many Lawyers to maintain their state and garb knowingly undo their clients some by taking bribes to prevent justice some by unnecessary delays some for favour and friendship they either break the neck of a good cause or suck the clients dry before they tell them their cause is bad Ecclesiastical Courts are not much better some think far worse many officers there do as greedily prey upon the poor as ever a hungry fly did upon a galled horse back and many times make sores where they finde none and the greatest offences are not always punished with the hardest stroaks but preaching and praying is esteemed worse then swearing and cursing and that reformation of sin is not intended though pretended is apparent when poor adulterers are let alone who are not able to pay the fees of the Court when the richer are made offenders for a word Isa 29.21 let not any that are not guilty apply this to themselves but there are also too many in the Ministry that may reade their character Esay 56.10 c. but the time is coming these causes will be called over again and then it will evidently appear who are the troublers of Israel oh my soul is there such oppression such injustice in the world take heed of having a heart or hand in any such matter come not into their secrets and unto their assembly the time is coming that those that have been fed with sin will vomit up what they so greedily swallowed and those