when sown again yeelds more increase or like a stream that hath met with a dam that runs with greater violence when the sluce is opened that 's the fourth The 5. Principle that beleevers should walk by is this That there is the greatest vanity in all created excellency If this truth were more beleeved this world would be lesse beloved A Lady being told that the world in all its glory was but vanity true saith she Solomon said so but he tryed it before he said it and so will I. Thus many beleeve not a Toad to be poysonous till themselves are envenomed with it He that knocks at the creatures door will find but an empty house kept there All the rivers run into the Sea yet the Sea is not full Eccles. 1. 7. All the golden streams of worldly profits though they may run into the hearts of men yet they cannot fill up the hearts of men Did you never heare a rich man complain of the want of riches though he hath enough to support him yet he hath not enough to content him The eye is not satisfied with seeing If there be not enough in the world to satisfie the sences of men how should there be enough in the world to satisfie the souls of men The earth it s not a substance that is filling but a shadow that is flying The fashion of this world passes away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 7. 31. The most excellent and flourishing Tamen ista divites nihil movent quia aureus fulgor ecce cavit eos Bzovius Conc. 28. p. 272. peeces of the whole creation are continually posting to dissolution We are commanded to use the world as though we used it not because whilest we use the world it is not The tide that so floatingly brings in the ship suddenly leaves her in the mud The higher the Sun of prosperity is in its shining the nearer it is to its setting Have you not seen some who have begun their lives in a Palace to end their lives in a Prison The golden Chains about their necks have been turned into iron fetters about their Nondescen det tecum in puteum interni aurum splendidum non lapides coruscantes non servorum caterva non agrorum latitudo Bzov. loco citato feet The substance of this life is but for the season of this life All creature felicity will become a prize to mortality You who feed upon golden dust will have all your gold turned to dust and the short Summer of your prosperity will usher in the long Winter of your adversity You who doe rejoyce in the world ere long will have no world wherein to rejoyce Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest because it is poluted it shall destroy you even with a sore destruction Micah 2. 10. Hearts ease is a flower that grows not in the worlds garden Where doth that fish swim that will not nible at that hook on which there hangs a golden bait How many perish for the having of that which doth perish in the using Why dost thou seek for wealth seeing the greatest Rulers are laid as naked on their dusty pillow as the poorest beggars The faster you grasp the world in your hands the sooner it slides between your fingers What is a man prosited if he shall gain the whole world and Hoc loco notantur duo 1. Inutilitas temporalis lucri 2. Irrecuperabilitas spiritualis Damni Gorr in Loc. Quid expedit concervar◠aurum lapides et gemmas et cum his in interitum pute◠inferior is demorgi Bzovius ubi priu◠lose his own soul Matth. 16. 26. He that bought this ware knows its worth The World if it be gained may be lost againe but the soul if it be lost can never be gained again There is a way to keep a man out of hell but no way to get a man out of hell It s as easie for a stone to lodge in the aire as it s for a man to rest in the earth The glory of this world its like a rotten post that never shews bright but when it is in the dark How few are there that clime the Staves of honor but they leave a good conscience at the bottom of the Ladder Beleevers themselves would surfeit of the worlds sweet-meat if God should not call them away from the banquet Creature comforts they are like sweet dews when they water the branches of the Tree they leave the root dry Why should Christians be found magnifying what * Diogenes et Abdolonymus de quibus loquitur Curtius l. 4. inenis et lib. 2. juxta finem Heathens have been found vilifying The world its rather a sharp Bryar to prick us then a sweet flower to delight us Poyson works more furiously in wine then it doth in water and corruption betrays it self more in a state of plenty then it doth in a state of poverty Gerhard compares this Praeciosa nux apparet haec vita exteriús sed sicultro veritatis aperias videbis quod nil nisivermes et putredo sintinterius Gerhard Medit. 38. life to a beautiful Nut which how fair soever it seems is full of nothing but wormes and rottennesse The earth it is for a Saints passage but heaven is for a Saints portion the former is for a beleevers use the latter is for a beleevers choice Every thing below is too base for the soule Nobility and too brittle for the souls Eternity Who would set that vessel under the droppings of a Cistern that 's able to drink in the waters of the Ocean A Professor stuffed with the world is but like a Bladder filled with the wind They that put on at the first for the world are put off at last with the world Son remember thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things These Blossomes will fall off from our Trees when death shakes the boughs The world it s got with cares and kept with fears and lost with groans We see the outside of a great estate but not the inside of it You behold the field of Corn Mundi honores divitiae et voluptates sunt tanquam uxae acerbae etpoma viridia atque immatura sed specaem anium et viriditatem Diabolus ostendit acerbitatem tacet Stapl in Dom. 1. Quadr Tex 8. but not the Tares that are mixed with it you see not their clouds and nights but their day and Sun The world pretends to be a Nurse but if you draw her breasts in the one you will find the water of vanity in the other the wind of vexation of spirit It s counted miraculous to find a Diamond in a Vein of Gold but it s more miraculous to find a Heavenly Christ in the bosome of an earthly Christian When we have the least of creature enjoyments we should then bless God for them When we have the most of creature injoyments we should not then bless our selves in them Thē world it doth us
6. 21. him as one that is in bitterness for his first born Zach. 12. 10. The nailes that pierced his hands shall now pierce their hearts they shall wound themselves with their sorrows which have wounded him with their sins That they have grieved his spirit it shall grieve their spirits A beleiver puts on his mourning garment for puting off his wedding garment As the Suger-loaf is disolved and weeps it self away when it s dipt in wine so do our hearts disolve and melt themselves away in the sweet sence of Divine love and our refusals of it O that ever I should be so bad a child to him that hath been so good a Father Of sin because they beliive not in me John 16. 9. Unbelief it s a sin that least visible and yet a sin that 's most damnable Not to fetch our lives from Christ is to bring the greatest death upon Christ Insidelity is the greatest robbery it frustrates not onely all the actions of Christ in doing but all the passions of Christ in dying Other persons are like Lapwings that flutter most at the greatest remoteness from the nests if they have teares for their outward losses but none for their inward lusts they can mourn for the evil that sin brings but not for the sin which brings the evil As Pharoah more lamented the hard strokes that was upon him then the hard heart that was within him Esau mourned not because he sold the Birthright which was his sin but because he lost the blessing which was his punishment This is like weeping with an Onion the eye sheds tears because it smarts A Marriner casts over those goods in a Tempestuous season that he courts a return off when the winds are silenced many complain more of the sorrows to which they are born then of the sins in which they are born The venome of sin is not ever distastful when the vengeance of sin is affrightful The sinners in Sion are affraid fearfulness hath surprised the Hypocrites Why what 's the matter Who amongst us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongsts us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isai 33. 14. They fear corruption not as it is a cole that is blacking but as it is a fire that is burning A stroke from Justice brake Judases heart into despaire but a look from mercy melted Peters hearts into teares There are two things in our sins There 's the devillishness of them and the dangerousnes of them Now take a Saint and a sinner Quid feci quò me praecipitaveram nisi mihi Dei misericordia subveniret Cal. inst l. 3. c. 3. sec 15. the one saith what have I done the other what must I suffer the one mourns for the active evil that hath been committed by him the other mourns for the passive evil that shall be inflicted on him The former grieves because his soul is defiled The latter grieves because his soul is condemned Water may gush from a Rock when is smitten by a rod But such heartless humiliations are hearty dissimulations Did sin bring sorrow into the world O let sorrow carry sin out of the world Whilst the vessel is leaking the Pump is going it s too early to wipe Tota vita vestra poenitentia sit haec enim vita locus est poenitentia Stel. in Luc. 3. 3. away tears from your eyes till God sweep away dust from your hearts It s better to go to heaven sadly then to go to hell securely Give me a melancholy Saint rather then a merry devil nothing can quench Magni igitur constat poenitentiae Ferrar. the fire that sin hath kindled but the water which repentance hath caused Did the rocks rend when Christ dyed for our sins and shall not our hearts rend that have lived in our sins If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to clense us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1. 9. Do but you acknowledg the debt and he will cansel the bond Is it not better to be savedby Divine mercy then to be sued by Divine Justice do you open the Offensum se Deus obliviscitur si nos offensi cum dolore recordemur Drex Christi Zod. p. 115. ulcer that is paining and he will apply the plaister that is healing till we are opressed with our own burdens we shall never be eased by Christs Shoulders Where misery passes undiscerned there mercy passes undesired behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Rev. 3. 20. Christ doth many times come unto the door when he doth not come into the house but how willing is he to be received who is unwilling to be denied as you knock at his doors for audience so he knocks at your doors for entrance if you shut out his person he will shut out your Prayers the onely way to have our will of God is to do the will of God A Saints tears are better then a sinners triumps Lachrymae poenitentium Bern. serm 30. super Cant. sunt vinum Angelorum A sinners repenting is the Angels rejoycing and give me such a mourning on earth as creates Musick in heaven if you would not sin in your griefs then grieve for your sins Why should God shew him mercy that doth not acknowledge himself guilty how many are there that are battered as lead by the hammer that were never bettered as gold by the fire Look to it least your repentance of dead works be not it self a work that 's dead that you shed such tears as need no tears for the sheding of them Usually that repentance that begins in the fears of hell ends in the flames of hell that 's the eighth 9. Singular thing is to keep our hearts lowest when God raises our estates highest charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches 1 Tim. 6. 17. Sinful arrogance doth usually attend sinful considence Worldly wealthyness is a great quill to blow up the bladder of high-mindedness when mens estates are lifted up then mens hearts are pussed up Oh how proud is thin dust of thick clay Pride breeds Thus Romulus secundis rebus elatus tumidus m nime serendam superbiam contumaciam sumebat Pâ—â—t in vita Rom. in great estates as wormes do in sweet fruits but Christians if you be poor in the world you should be rich in faith but if you be rich in the world you should be poor in spirit the way to ascend is to descend the deeper a tree is in its rooting the larger a tree is in its spreading The face of prosperity shines brightest through the Mask of humility As none have so little but they have matter for blessing so none have so much that they have matter for bosting shall the stage-player be proud of his borowed robes or the
He that promises to cover the sincere souls infirmities threatens to disclose the Hypocrites impieties O remember Judas who purchased nothing by his deceitful dealing but a halter in which his body was hanged and a fire in which his soul was burned that 's the tenth 11. singular thing is to be more afflicted with the Churches heaviness then we are affected with our own happiness When we suffer not from the Enemies of Christ by persecution we should suffer with the friends of Christ by compassion wherefore the King said unto me Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick Nehemiah 2. 2. Sadness is the fruit of sickness What sad when the Kings cup bearer and wine so neare the third verse informes you the reason why should not my countenance be sad when the City the place of my Fathers Sepulchres lieth wast and the gates thereof are consumed with fire Let not Sions sons be rejoycing whilst their mothers mourning are not her breaches like the Sea and there 's none to heal them though you cannot make up her breaches yet let your hearts break for her breaches Have pitty upon me have Non oportet nos laetari in malis proximorum sed compati Stel. in Luc. 1◠3. pitty upon me O me my friends for the hand of God hath touched me Job 19. 21. It s observed of the Bees that if one be sick the other will lament Christianity strips no man of humanity some observe in Swine that there is a sympathy when one is killed the rest are troubled and shall that be lost amongst men which is found amongst Swine Will you see the Church bleed to death and never ask balm to cure her wounds how can such rejoyce in her standing that do not mourn for her falling Others what they do not feel by sence that they will not feel by Sympathy Nero could be playing when Rome was burning we may Suet. in vit Ner. Thus the killing of the infants was Spectaculum Herodi jucundum quia luctuosum Bap. Ferra. Orat. 5. draw up that charge against many persons Amos 6. 4 6. They lye upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the flock and the Calves out of the midst of the stall that drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief oyntments but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph They can weep for the◠dying groanes of a child but not for the dying grones of a Church their love unto their relations transcends their love unto their Religion But he that hath a stock going in the Churches ship cannot but lament at every storme I should be jealous that thats but a silver eye in the head an Ivory tooth in the Mouth a Wooden Leg in the body that is unsensible of its sorrows I will know that the Churches Enimies though they may be Waves to toss her yet they shal never be rocks to split her It s only such fabricks as are bottomed upon the sands that are overturned by the wind he that is a well of water within her to keep her from fainting is a wall of fire about her to keep her from hurting Though he may scoure his plate and his Jewels yer ye will throw such wispes on the dunghills yet Enemies will be found pushing as far as their short hornes are reaching Sion like a bottle may be dipt in the water but she shall never be drownd in the water Many had rather see a Churches Expiration then see a Churches reformation they had rather view her as one thats nullified then view her as one that 's purified they care not how many Tares spring up amongst Gods Wheat When the Churches adversaries make long furrows upon her back we should cast in the seed of tears Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Thus the head cryes out in heaven whilst the Toe is trod upon on earth Jesus Christ though he hath altered his condition yet he hath not altered his affection Death took away his life for us but it did not take away his love from us he that loves to see the face of his Church beautiful eare long will wipe away those bloody teares that run trickling down her cheeks the prise of her redemption is already paid and the Lords will not require that debt again Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40. 2. When we see the Church pledgin her beloved in the cup of affliction we should drink to her in the cup of consolation a heavy burden is easile born by the assistance of many shoulders others they are like Galeo that care for none of those things Nay when they should be Sympat hisers with them in their miserie Temerarium judicium est quod ex levi conjecturâ levibusque signis colligitur Stapl. in Dom. 1. post Pent. they are Censurers of them for their misery they judge the golds not good because it s tryed and the grounds is naught because it s plowed It s dangerous smitting them with our tongues whom God hath smitten with his hands Christ himself because he suffered for transgressors was therefore numbred with transgressors What 's this but to give the sharpest Vinegar where we should give the sweetest wine Pour out thine indignation upon them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them Psal 69. 24. But what 's their sin 26. verse for they persecute them whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded Sympathy is a debt which we owe to sufferer and creature comforts will fit those seasons no better then a Silver lace would do a Mourning sute a particular loss it s but like the putting of out a candle which brings darkness to a room but a general loss is like the Eclipsing of the Sun which overshadows the whole Hemisphear Pliny tels us of two Goats meeting together on a narrow bridge when the one could not get forward nor the other go backwards the one lay down that the other might go over him How much of men were there in these beasts but how much of beasts are there in some men It s better to be in the humble posture of a mourner then in the proud gesture of a scorner Have mercy upon me O Lord thou Son of David my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil Mat. 15. 22. The childs malady was the parents misery the tortures of the daughter was the torment of the mother as if the one had been possessed till the other was dispossessed The righteous When Alexanders Army was ready to perish with thirst he himself refufed water that was proffered to him with this Heroick Ipeech Nec solus bibere sustineo nec tam ex iguum dividere omnibus possum Quin. Curt. l. ◠Sect 5. perish and no man lays it to heart Isa 57. 1. Sympathy with others makes an estate
heated in the Mid-night of adversity Afflictions are not a fire that 's consuming but a flame that 's refining they are like the prick at the Nightingales breast that awaken her and put her upon her delightful singing Many Saints are like Topps that goes best when they are lasht most For Ireckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Romans 8. 18. These fall as far short of glory as the smallest fraction of the greatest number or as the least filings of Gold of the riches of the whole Indies If the early glimmerings of our Lord Jesus Christ shroud so much joy and strength within their own beams as over-powers the cross what will his Meridian Rayes of glory doe when they are revealed Will you cast them both into the scales of the Sanctuary 2 Cor. 4. 17. For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory How light is a dram of reproach to a weight of glory and how short a Minute of pains to an Eternity of pleasures He said excellently Bene fertur Calumina cúm acquiritur Corona He need not be weary of the Crosse that 's sure of the Crown After the Cup of affliction comes the cup of salvation The Wine-presse prepares for the Wine-cellar After the pangs and throws comes the child birth O clear up your interest in God A pardon may be past the Princes Seale that is not put into the Prisoners hand Things that are exceeding sharp calls for much Sugar to make them sweet Death is a thing that hath the most ungrateful taste to the creatures pallate Now Grace is baptized with a double name It 's called The first-fruits of the spirit Romans 8. 28. It 's called The earnest of the spirit 2 Cor. 1. 22. It 's a tast to shew us the sweetnesse of eternal life and it 's a pledge to shew us the sureness of eternal life Our Heavenly Physitian will keep us no longer in Physick but till we are thorowly purged Our merciful refiner will detain us no longer in the Furnace but till we are sufficiently purified Patience for sowing the seeds of sorrow on earth shall reap a golden crop of joy in Heaven We may talk of the greatnesse of our future recompence but we shall never know the weight of our Crowns till they be set on our heads nor the worth of our Robes till they be worn on our backs then the pricking Thorn shall be turned into a precious Gem. As darknesse is the absence of light when the Sun is removed from its Horizon so is death the privation of life when the soul is removed from its Prison we have here but jus ad rem there we shall have jus in re Here we have an expectation of our fruitions there we shall have the fruition of our expectations Chear up brave spirits your Wildernesse Nunc deprimuntur et calcantur electi ut olim assurgant et extollantur ad instar palmarum Drex Christian Zod. Sig. 5. p. 42. journeys will soon be periodized The cloth must be cut in peeces before it can be made up in garments The hewing of the timber is for the erecting of the structure The new corn that lives in Summer is produced from the old corn that dyed in the Winter We should willingly embrace death though we should not desperately rush upon it you will be like Civet that 's when it 's taken out of the Box leaves a sweet savour behind it Shall Christ willingly come down from Heaven to earth to dye for us and shall not we willingly go up from earth to Heaven to live with him A Saints loathnesse to expire doth not spring from this root because they judge that death is not good enough for them but it 's a sprig that grows upon this root because they judge thēselves not good enough for death But remember the edg of this keen sword is blunted since the sides of Christ was the scabbard in which it was sheathed When the Ship is in the Haven its Erras mi Christiane erras sicogitas te integrum et non bene contusum perventurum ad coelum Drex loc citat past all storms but by induring storms it at last arriveth at the Haven When we come to Glory there will be no temptations to endure but it s by enduring of temptations that we come to glory When the body and the soul shall part asunder the soul and God shall meet together The sharper your sorrows are here the sweeter will be your joyes hereafter let me allude to that Psal 68. 13. Though ye have lien among the Pots yet shall ye be as the wings of a Dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold All the Grapes in Christs Vineyard must passe thorow the Wine-presse Health is most acceptable after the sharpest sicknesse and liberty most sweet after a rigorous bondage and the harbour most welcome after turbulent storms How pleasant soever a sinners beginning is his ending is dolorous how troublesome soever a Saints beginning is his ending is joyous The fresh Rivers of carnal pleasure run into a salt Sea of despairing tears when the wet seeds-time of a pious life ushers in the Sun-shiny Harvest of a peacefull death When Craesus askt Solon who he Dicique beatus ant◠obitum nemo supremaque funera debet Horat. thought happy he told him one Tellus a man that was dead Happinesse doth not goe before death but death goes before happinesse It 's storied of Adrianus that seeing many Christians put to such cruel and bitter deaths he askt some of them what it was that they suffered such cruel torments for to whom they answered Speramus illa bona quae oculus non videt auras non audivit in cor hominis non ascenderunt We hope for those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive They who are born blind are unable to judg of that glory that dazles the very eyes of the Angels One smile in Gods face will dry up all the tears in their eyes When beleevers change earth for Heaven they do not loose their blessednesse but compleat their blessednesse as fishes dropping out of the narrow Brook into the wide Ocean do not leave their Element but are more in it then they were before A beleevers dying is resembled to a burnt-offering now in a burnt-offering when the ashes falls to the earth the flame ascends to Heaven Thus have I set twenty Diamonds in your Golden Ring And so much for the first thing Namely The erection of singular Principles I come now to the last stage for the direction of singular practises Here I shall spread but six Sails and make to the shoar 1. Would you do more then others then you must know more then others I may say of Divine
he carries with him The Disciples of Christ as they are more then others so they should do more then others A Heathen may move beyond a Sodomite but a Christian must move beyond an Hypocrite Though the naturally dead can do nothing yet the spiritually dead may do something Though they can do nothing as to the obtaining of the grace of life yet they may do something as to the using of the means of life Cicero complains of Homer that he taught the gods to live like men but grace teaches men to live like gods Great persons they are like bells which whilst they are rising strike apace but when they are up are set and strike no more or like flowers which by change of soil degenerate into weeds Thus the highest mountains are the barrenest grounds It s sad that we should live so long in the world and do so little good or that we should live so little in the world and do so much evil All creatures have their several essences according to the creatures essence is the creatures actings Trees are in their bearing as they are in their being Other creatures are not more below a sinner then a Saint is above a sinner Man is the excellency of the creature the Saint is the excellency of the man Grace is the excellency of the Saint Glory is the excellency of Grace Believers are among others as Saul among the Israelites higher by the head and shoulders They are but base-born to them that are twice born What is the lowest shrubs in the bottom of the valleys to the highest cedars on the tops of the mountain Stars that are placed in the highest orbes give the clearest lights Trees planted by the rivers of water yield the choycest fruits They who look for a heaven made ready should live as though they were in heaven already Grace doth not only make a man more a man but it makes him more then a man The primitive Christians were the best of men though they were but men at the best None were more lowly in their dispositions and none more lovely in their conversations Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation Gen. 6. 9. He was not a sinner amongst those that were Saints but he was a Saint amongst those that were sinners Who would ever have looked for so fair a bird in so foul a nest In a field of wheat there may spring up tares A Saint is not free from sin that 's his burthen a Saint is not free to sin that 's his blessing Sin is in his soul that 's his lamentation his soul is not in sin that 's his consolation And the Lord said unto Satan Hast thou considered my servant Job Job 1. 8. Why what was there in Job that was so considerable there is none like him in all the earth Though there was none so bad as Job in heaven yet there was none so good as Job on earth He was a man so like unto God that there was never another man like unto him Beleivers in the world they are the Non-such's of the world It was the saying of a gracious soul hearing of the far goings of Hypocrites Let Hypocrites go as far as they can in that which is good I will follow them and where they can go no further I will go beyond them A Christian is not only to do more then all other men will do but he is to do more then all other men can do Whatsoever is not above the top of Nature is below the bottom of grace Some there are that believe and work not others there are that work and believe not but a Saint must do both He must so obey the Law as if there were no Gospel to be beleived and so believe the Gospel as if there were no Law to be obeyed It s by faith that our works are justified but it s by works that our faith is testified A Christians work doth not lie in beleeving or in doing but in beleiving and in doing There are Four sorts of things First Some things that are neither good nor pleasant as envy and detraction The eclipsing of anothers sun will never make our own to shine with brighter beams O pare off those envious nails that are ever scratching those faces that are fairer then your own Why do you wound your selves with those plaisters that are laid upon your brethrens sores Or weep at every showre of rain that falls besides your own corn Who would grudge an Ox its fat pasture which doth but fit it for the slaughter Or the Malefactors progress through the meadows which conducts him to the gallows Thou hast never the less for others having of the more and others have never the more for thy having of the less Leahs fruitfulness was not the spring of Rachels barrenness Secondly Some things are pleasant but not good as sin and transgression This Bee carries honey in its mouth but a sting in its tail When Jael brings forth her milk and her butter then beware of the nail and the hammer Death is in the pot whilst you are tasting of the broth The fish by leaping at the bait is catcht upon the hook If the cup be sinful we must not taste it if the cup be lawful we must not carouze it Reason forbids either the tasting of known poyson or the being drunk with pleasant wine Sin it is like a river that begins in a quiet spring but ends in a tumultuous sea Thirdly Some things are good but not pleasant as sorrow and affliction Sin that 's pleasant but unprofitable sorrow that profitable but unpleasant God by affliction separates the sin that he hates so deadly from the soul that he loves so dearly They are not to take our spirits out of our flesh but to take our flesh out of our spirits They are not to pull down the tabernacle of Nature without us but to rear up the temple of Grace within us Waters are purest when they are in their motion and Saints are holiest when they are in affliction A foul feskue may point us to a fair lesson Some children never learn their books but when the rod is on their backs By the greatest affliction God doth give the sweetest instruction Though you may resist the Judgements that are laid before you in the word yet you cannot resist the Judgements that are laid upon you by the rod. The purest gold is the most ductible that 's a good blade that bends well without retaining its crooked figure Fourthly Some things that are both good and pleasant and they are gracious operations A Beleivers bed of graces is more fragrant then a bed of spices He that gives his Image to us he loves his Image in us Finally my brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things Phil. 4. 8.
Conduit is walled in how shall we judge of the Spring but by the water that runs out of the pipes A Sinner may shew the good he wants but a Saint cannot hide the good he hath When Saul was made a Soveraign he had another spirit poured out upon him a spirit of Government for a place of Government When a sinner is made a Saint he hath another spirit poured out upon him As he is what he was not so he does what he did not It s reported of a Harlot when she saw one with whom she had formerly committed folly she renewed her inticements to whom he answered Ego non sum ego though she was the same woman she was yet he was not the same man he was For him that is more then a man to do no more then a man where is the Christian Are ye not carnal and walk as men 1 Cor. 3. 3. If men act like beasts God will call them beasts and if Christians act like men he will stile them men There is no passing for currant coyn on earth without having of the stamp of heaven That 's the sixth 7. The Disciples of Christ are to do more then others because they are to be judges of others If you consult sacred Records you shall find that both God and Christ and the Saints are said to judge the world the ordination is Gods the execution is Christs the approbation is the Saints When the Apostle would stop the sinful suits among the Corinthian brethren that did not want men of Eminency to put a period unto controversie Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world and if the world shall be judged by you are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters 1 Cor. 6. 2. If you shall judge in causes between God and man how much more in causes between man and man if about matters that are eternal then about matters that are external fellons may be jovial in the prison but they tremble at the Bar. When wicked men come like miserable captives out of their holes how shall the Saints rise out of their graves like morning suns Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied saying Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgement upon all Jude 14 15. This shall no more derogate from Christs Office then the Session of the Justices doth from the authority of the Judge they are Co-operators though not Coadjutators in that peculiar act When the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel Matth. 19. 28. Now the world judges the Saints but then the Saints shall judge the world the act of the head is imputed to the members and the act of the members is acknowledged by the head Now shall there be no difference between him that sits on the Bench and him that stands at the Bar How will you be able to pass a righteous sentence upon others for those evils you are guilty of your selves In maxima fortuna minima licentia In the greatest majesty there is the smallest liberty As he said to Caesar Caesari cum omnia licent propter hoc minus liceat Seeing all things are lawful for Caesar to do it is therefore the less lawful for Caesar to do them By faith Noah built an Ark by which he condemned the world Heb. 11. 7. The Saints judge the world not only by their faith but by their facts In the innocency of your lives you should shew the world the filthiness of theirs Thou art more righteous then I. What is the usual prejudice that the world hath against Religion but this that it makes no man better though it makes some men stricter Do not we see that they who profess against pride more then others are themselves as as proud as others These people they often meet together to be better but they are never the better for their often meeting together do but take away their profession and you take away their Religion They have nothing of the sheep but the skin Do but see how the God of Israel doth upbraid the Israel of God Hath a Nation changed their gods which are yet no gods but my people hath changed their glory for that which doth not profit Jer. 2. 11. Here is a professing people out-gone by a people that made no profession The Heathens if they take up their gods they will keep up their gods They were true to their false gods when these were false to the true God Hear O heavens and be astonished O earth Isa 1. 2. Why what is the matter the ox knoweth his own and the Ass his Masters crib but my people doth not know and Israel doth not consider God did not call down a Jury of Angels to condemn them but empannels a jury of Oxes and Asses to pass sentence upon them O that Oxes and Asses should be more religious then those who do profess Religion In their kind they are more kind for if the owner feeds them the owner rides them That is the seventh 8. Reason why the Disciples of Christ should do more then others because they expect more then others And every man that hath this hope purifies himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 3. 3. Hope its too pure a plant to grow in an impure soil You must not look to dance with the Devil all day and sup with Chrâ—â—â— at night or to go from Dalilahs lap to Abrahams bosom If falvation were easily come by it would be slightly set by It s the not raigning of sin in our mortal bodies which makes way for the raigning of our immortal souls Grace is such a pilot as without its stearage you will suffer shipwrack in your voyage Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Matth. 5. 8. A dusty glass will not represent the face We do not look for a Turkish Paradise but for a sinless state nor to bathe our selves in carnal pleasures but to be consorts of the Immaculate Lamb. Giving thanks to the Father who hath made us meet partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. You season the vessel with water before you trust it with wine God will season the vessel with the water of grace before he pours into it the wine of glory It s hard to say whether God discovers more love in preparing of glory for Saints or in the preparing of Saints for glory Beleevers let youâ— present deportment be suitable to your future preferment There is no living a life that is vicious and then dying a death that is righteous As Justice crushes none before they are corrupted so Mercy crowns none before they are converted Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. Holiness though it be that which a sinner scorns yet it s that which a Saviour crowns The soul of man that is the cabinet
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8. 9. A drop of his blood is worth a sea of ours and yet he died our death that we might live his life and suffered our hell to bring us to his heaven He was conceived in the bowels of his mother that we might be received into the bosom of his Father His love began in his eternal purposes of grace and ends in our eternal possessions of glory Why was the Bread of life an hungry but to feed the hungry with the bread of life why was Rest it self weary but to give the weary rest why did he hang upon the cross in mount Calvary but that we might sit upon the throne in mount Sion His face was covered with spittle that ours might be enamelled with glory Why did this Jonah cast himself into the sea of his fathers wrath but to save the ship of his Church from drowning Christians you are not vessels in which the waters of life are lodged but pipes through which it is to be conveyed If the mountains overflow with moysture the valleys are the richer but if the head be full of ill humors the whole body is the worser Happy are those persons that God will use as besoms to sweep out the dust from his Temple that shall tug at an oar in that boat where Christ and his Church are carried For David after he had served his own Generation by the will of God fell asleep Act. 13. 36. Davids service was not swallowed up in the narrow gulf of self He did not Advertite aâ—iâ— um popusi capâ—ta atque à â—avid distite quid cor vestrum a peâ—ere deâ—eat Mâ—ndâ—â—uâ—us fallaci uâ— oâ—iâ—us inâ—iaâ—e â—â—◠〈◊〉 decet Sibel ubi supra draw al his lines to the ignoble center of his own ends Such birds are bad in the nest but worse when winged to fly abroad He served his own generation not the generation that was before him for they were dead before he was living nor the generation that was behinde him for they were living after he was dead Every gracious spirit is publick though every publick spirit is not gracious God may use the Midwifery of the Egyptians to bring forth the children of the Israelties An Iron key may open a golden treasury and leaden pipes convey pleasant waters I saw a great wonder in heaven a woman cloathed with the sun and the moon was under her feet Rev. 12. 1. Though carnal blessings may be communicated to a man that is spiritual yet spiritual blessings shall not be communicated to a man that is carnal When the Moon is waxing she hath her shut end towards the earth and her open end towards heaven but when the moon is waining she hath her open end towards earth and her shut ends toward heaven They that live most downwards they dye most upwards Meteors whilst they keep above in the firmament yield a glorious lustre but if they decline they fall to the earth and come to nothing If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy Psalm 137. 6. Old Ely mourned more for the loss of his Religion then for the loss of his relation his heart was broken before his neck was broken If the Church be lost we cannot be saved if the Church be saved we cannot be lost Augustus Caesar carried such an intire love to his Country that he called it Filiam suam his own daughter therefore refused And this he had with the consent of all Patris patriae cognomen universi repentino maximoque consensu detulerunt ei Suet. p. 101. to be called its Master but would be called its Father because he ruled it non per timorem sed per amorem Not by fear but by love The people at his expiration used this bitter lamentation Vtinam aut non nasceretur aut non moreretur Macrob. O would to God that either he had never lived or else that he had never died The worth of good Rulers is best seen in the want of good Rulers As we see more in the discomposure of a Watch then when its wheels are set together Such whose lives deserve no prayers their deaths deserve no tears A self-seeker he breaths unrespected and he dies unlamented When once a man becomes a God to himself he then becomes a devil to others and cares not who sinks in the sea so he arrive but safe at the shore Those wretches in the Acts rather then a few shrine-makers should lose their gains cared not though a whole City lost their souls It s reported of Agrippina the mother of Nero who being told that if ever her son came to be an Emperor she would find him to be her murderer she answered Peream ego modo ille imperet Let me perish so he may be Emperor There is many such who though they do not utter it with their tongues yet harbour it in their breasts Pereat Religio modo ego imperem Let Religion perish so I may flourish Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation Exod. 32. 10. But the affection of Moses as a Ruler quencht the affections of Moses as a Father And such was the noble disposition of Joshua that he first divided Canaan into several parts and portions for the Tribes of Israel before any provision was made for his own family Give me such carvers as lay not all the meat upon their own trenchers That 's the fourth 5. Singular thing is to have the beautifullest conversations among the blackest persons A wicked man as he poysons the air in which he breaths so he pollutes the age in which he lives The putrid grape corrupts the Principis mores mirâ vi in populuÌ„ transsunduntur Stapl. pro. mor. p. 57â— sound cluster Joseph by living in the Court of Pharoah had learnt to swear by the life of Pharoah A High Priests hall will instruct a Peter how to disclaim his Master The sweet streams lose their freshness by gliding into the salt seas They which sail amongst such rocks may quickly split their own ships When vice runs in a single stream it s then a passable shallow but when many of these meet together they swell a deeper channel I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed Gen. 3. 15. There must be no harmony where the chief Musician will have a jar It s better to have the enmity of wicked men then it is to have the society of wicked men By the former they are most hateful but by the latter they are most hurtful A good man in bad company is like a green stick amongst dry ones They may sooner kindle him
noise at the bringing forth of a child Well enough saith she for now I suffer for my sins but then I shall suffer for my Saviour There is more evill in a drop of corruption then there is in a sea of affliction In suffering the offence is done to us in finning the offence is done to God In suffering there is an infringement of mans liberty in sinning there is a violation of Gods authority The evil of suffering is transient but the evill of sin is permanent In suffering we lose the favour of men in sinning we hazard the favour of God The rose is sweeter under the Still where it drops then on the stalk where it sprouts The face of godliness is never so beautiful as when its spit upon The best corn is that which lies under the clods in snowy weather It was a brave saying of Vincentius to his persecutors Rage and do your worst you shall finde the Spirit of God more strengthening the tormented then the spirit of the devil can strengthen their tormentors Let but Professors do their best and then let persecutors â—eâ—cussâ—res nihil moraâ—amur praeseâ—tim â—um moriendum esse nobis sciamuâ— Justin 2. Defens ad Anâ—on 〈◊〉 do their worst Though you may feel their might yet you should not fear their malice Nil desperandum Christo duce auspice Christo It s storied of Hooper when he came to suffer O Sir saith one have a care of your self life is Thus the Proconsul perswaded and besought the noble German who suffered under Verus Vt quoniam admodum juâ—enis in flore esset sui ipsius misereretur Euseb Hist Eccl. cap. 15. sweet and death is bitter Ah saith he this I know but the life to come is more full of sweetness and the death to come is more full of bitterness A man may suffer without sinning but a man cannot sin without suffering When Philip asked Demosthenes If he was not afraid to lose his head No saith he for if I lose my head the Athenians will give me one immortal Do but listen to the language that drops out of the mouthes of those three children or rather of those three Vos occidere quidem potestis nocere non potestis â—ust ubi prius champions Dan. 3. 17 18. We are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up Either they must sin fouly or they must suffer sadly Either they must bow to a golden Image or burn in a fiery furnace Yet they were as far from worshipping of his gods as he Thus Polycarpe was assaulted by Herod and Nicetes who said Quidnam mali fuerit dicere Domine Caefar sacrificareque conservari But he answered Facturus non sum quod consulitis and chose rather a flaming fire then to consent unto their fawning words Euseb ubi prius was from worshipping of theirs And Daniel chuses the den of the lions before he will forsake the cause of the Lamb. Shall not we for his sake bear the wrath of man who for our sakes did bear the wrath of God Though obedience be better then sacrifice yet sometimes to sacrifice a mans self is the best obedience He that loses a baser life for Christ shall finde a better life in Christ Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin which are but for a season Heb. 11. 25. What is a cup of physick that takes away the disease to a cup of poyson that takes away the life They that live upon God in the use of the creature can live upon God in the loss of the creature It was a brave expression of one What I receive thankfully as a token of Gods love to me I part with all contentedly as a token of my love to him For a good man one will even dare to dye Rom. 5. 7. Will one dare to die for a good man and shall we be afraid to die for a good God And others were tortured not accepting Melius est mibi emori propter Christum Iesum quam imperare sinibus terrae Ign. ad Rom. deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Heb. 11. 35. Some would have used any pick-lock to have opened a passage to their liberty but they knew too much of another world to bid so high a rate for this world It is storied of Hormisdas a noble man of Persia who was degraded of all his promotion because he would not alter his professions afterward they restored them all again and sollicited him to deny Christ but he rent his purple robe and laid all his Honours at the feet of the Emperor saying Siideo me sperasti pietatem deserturam habe tibi donum tuum una cum impietate If you think to make me deny Christ for The like constancy and resolution you may read of in the noble Suenes and the zealous Benjamin both barbarously used by the same Prince Id. ibid. the obtaining of my honours take them all back again He thought that Christ without his honors was better then his honours without Christ It is storied of one of the Martyrs going to the stake a Noble man wisht him to have a care of his soul So I will saith he for I give my body to be burned to keep my soul from being defiled How many are there that had rather have sinful self satisfied then to have sinful self crucified As grace comes in at one door vice goes out at another as in a well when one bucket comes up full the other returns down empty The only way to have the house of Saul weakened is to get the house of David strengthned Those Philistims that could not stand before Sampson in his health how scornfully did they dance about him in his sickness O remember sin it is that which in this life doth debase us and it is that which in the next life doth destroy us Those whose end is damnation their damnation is without end No condition is so intolerably easeless as that condition which is unalterably changeless One seeing a woman going chearfully to prison O saith he you have not yet tasted of the bitterness of death No saith she nor never shall for Christ hath promised that they who keep his sayings shall never see death A beleever may feel the stroke of death but he shall never feel the sting of death The first death may bring his body to corruption but the second death shall never bring his soul to damnation Though the cross may be endured by them yet the curse is removed from them Though they may live a life that is dying yet they shall not dye a death that is
the King If you will needs be Judges sit upon your own benches I shall ever esteem such to be but lepers that care not for looking-glasses He that doth not mind what he hath done Self-examination is the beaten path to perfection its like fire which doth not only try the gold but purifies the gold The sight of your selves in grace will bring you to the sight of God in glory The Heathens tell us that Nosce teipsum was an Oracle that came down from heaven Sure I am it is Oracle that will lead us up to heaven The plague of the heart is not every mans plague but the plague of the soul is every mans plague though there be no vision that 's less pleasurable yet there 's no vision that 's more profitable till you know how deep the pit is in to which you are faln you will never seek to get out of it again The bottom of our diseases lies in not searching our diseases to the bottome so we have but some raggs to cover our nakedness we seek not a remedy to cure our naughtiness He that trusts his heart is a fool and yet such fools are we as to trust our hearts the heart it s that which God searches by his Omnisciency and its that which man should search by his industry if a man would know whether the sun shines it s better viewing its beams on the pavement then its body in the firmament The readiest way to know whither or no you are in Christ is to know whither or no Christ is in you for the fruit is more visible then the root that 's the Seventeenth 18. Singular thing is to set out for God at our beginning and to hold out with God unto our ending to be amongst the first that seeks God and amongst the last that serve him First to set out for God at our beginning remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Eccl. 12. 1. In the stilling of strong waters the first thats drawn is fuller of spirits then the rest that follows The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God Exo. 23. 19. The way to have the whole harvest of your lives sanctified by God is to have the first fruits of your lives dedicated to God I remember the kindness of thy youth the love of thine Espousal Jer. 2. 2. God prises a Christian in the bud and likes the blossomings of youth above the sheddings of age We should pay our tribute as soon as ever our money comes out of the Mint Is it not pitty that plant should grow in Egypt that will thrive so well in Canaan Your Naturalists tels us that the most orient pearls are generated of the morning due They who are in Christ before us are like to be in Christ above us The way to keep a field from overgrowing with weeds is to pluck them up in the spring If youth be sick of the will nots old age will dye of the cannots Under the law they who gathered not Manna in the morning found none all the day if when you have seasons and want hearts the time may come when you may have hearts but want seasons Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Ier. 12. 23. He is a bad husband that hath money to spend on company abroad but none to lay out for provisions to keep his family at home Yet one accustomed to Drunkenness will rather strarve his posterity then be bound in the cords of Sobriety It s hard casting off the Devils yoaks when we Quod in morbis accidit cum invaluere per longas moras ut Serò medicina paretur idem judicandum nisi quis a puero rectam viam meat et eidem assuescat Riveâ— in Ps 119. 9. have worn them long upon our necks can a man be born again when he is old grace seldome grafts upon such withered stocks An old sinner is nearer to the second death then he is to the second birth It s more likely to see him taken out of the flesh then to see the flesh taken out of him his body is nearer to corruption then his soul is unto Salvation Where the Enemy is the stronger there the victory is the harder Usually where the Devil pleads antiquity he keeps propriety As there 's none so old as that they should dispaire of mercy so there 's none so young as that they should presume on mercy if Gods To day be too soon for thy repentance thy To morrow may be too late for his acceptance Mercies clock doth not alwayes strike at our beck The longer poyson stayes in the stomack the more mortal Jesus Christ he had two Disciples whom he highly prized the one who was young for Comming so soon to him the other who was old for staying so long with him O how amiable are the golden apples of grace in the silver pictures of age God prizes a young friend but punishes an old Enemy Old sinners are like old serpents the fullest of poyson It s a rare spectacle to view the Antient of dayes in those who are not antient in days To see green peeces of Timber hewing and squaring that they might be laid in the celestial building when nature is in its minority to see grace in its sincerity Ps 119. 99. I have more understanding then my teachers Ex disci pulo doctorem me fecisti etiam eorum qui doctores meifuâ—runt Rivet in loc his youth was wiser then others age his dawning was brigher then their noon tyde and this was the more admirable because t was in his youth for when our lives are the most vigorous our lusts are the most boysterous You teach a dog whilst he is a whelp and break a horse whilst he is a Colt A plentiful harvest is the issue of an early seed time Thou writest bitter thing against me thou makest me to possess the sins of my youth Job 13. 26. Needs must that Iron gather rust that is not often filed Remember children your youthful sins layes a foundation for aged sorrows You have but one arrow to hit the mark and if that be shot at randome God will never put another into your bow I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending or as some the first and the last Rev. 1. 8. He that is the first and the last will be served from the first to the last you can never come to soon to him who is your beginning and you can never stay too long with him who is your ending The flower of life it s of Christs setting and shall it be of the Divels cropping But what 's seting out without holding out Mutability is at best but the badg of infirmity Letters ingraven in
carnal man and what he can do that he will not take a Christian man what he would do that he cannot Now impotency shall be pityed when obstinacy shall be punished God hath mercy for cannots but none for will nots Adams want was rather will then power but our want is rather power then will Psal 119. 5. O that my wayes were directed Emitto vocem cupientis et antrelantis Donec liberati simus semper clamabimus utinam Suspirabimus ex sensu imbecilitatis nostrae Donec gaudium plenum sit infruitione Rivet in loc that I might keep thy statutes A Saints will begins where his work ends Lord I beleeve help my unbeliefe Lord I see enlighten my darkness I hear but cure my deafness I move but quicken my dulness I desire but help my unwillingness I remember but remove my forgetfulness In the playing of a Lesson a single string may jarr and slip and yet the main be musicall It were a folly indeed to think our fields had no corn because there is chaff or that the pile had no Gold because there is Dross In Heaven there 's service alone without any sin In hell there 's sin alone without any service but on earth there 's sin and service in the same heart as there is Wine and Water in the same Cup. To condemn thy evil is good but to condemn thy good is evil Here beleevers are like the Israelites that in their darkest night had a pillar of fire and in their clearest day had a pillar of a cloud Above us there 's light without any darkness below us there 's darknesse without any light but here it s neither day nor night but in the evening it shall be light Though the lowest beleever be above the power of sin yet the highest beleever is not above the presence of sin It s in a living man that lust is mortified but it s in a dying man that lust is nullified When the body and the soul are separated by mortality sin the soul are separated to eternity though a forced compulsion is sufficient to testifie a Tyrant yet its ready obedience that proves homage to a King Sin never ruins but where it reigns It s not destroying where it is disturbing Lust its least hurtful where it is most hateful The more evil it receives from us the lesse evil it doth to us it s only a murderer where it is a Governour But the Rose is a fragrant flower though it be surrounded with prickles The Passover was a feast though it was eaten with sowre Hearbs There 's much of the wild Olive in him that 's ingrafted into the true Olive Our graces are our best Jewels but they do not here yeild their full lustre The Moon when it shines brightest hath its spots and the fire when it burns hottest hath its smoak I said in my hast I am cut off from before thine eyes nevertheless Intalem stupori excessum adductus fui ut mihi viderer projectus a conspectu praesentiae tuae tu verò exaudita mea oratione quanto ejus ad fuisti per subventionem et consolationem misericordiae tuae Titelman in Locum thou heardest the voice of my supplication Psal 31. 22. Who would have thought that ever those prayers should have had any prevalency that were mixed with so much infidelity Sin is an enemy at our backs but not a friend in our bosomes Although beleevers should be mournful because they have infirmities yet they should be thankful because they are but infirmities It is not the Interposition of a cloud that makes a night but the departing of the Sun Take the best beleever that breaths and he is fuller of his sins then he is of his prayers There is too much of earth in our imployments for Heaven But as he that drew Alexanders picture when there was a scar on his facedrew him with his finger upon the scar so Jesus Christ when he draws the picture of the Saints excellencyes layes his finger upon the scars of the Saints infirmities He looks over what is his and overlooks what is theirs Where there is no sins of allowance in them there shall be grains of allowance to them he will not throw away his Pearls for every speck of dirt Christ honours grace in its maturity yet he owns it in its minority O thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt They had faith enough to keep them from damning but they had not faith enough to keep them from doubting The least buds draw sap from the root as well as the greatest branches Though one Star exceed another in magnitude yet both are alike seated in the Heavenly Orbe Though one member of the body be larger then another yet each hath an equal conjunction with the head The Rind of good actions is tainted by infirmities but their Core is rotted by hypocrisie Jacob halted and yet was blessed as his blessing did not take away his halting so his halting did not keep away his blessing Hagar will have a room in Sarahs house till death turne her out of doors Death as it leaves the body soul-lesse so it leaves the soul sinlesse For if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8. 12. He doth not look that the Cock should run water when there 's none put into the Cistern Jesus Christ doth not put out a beleevers Vae nobis si secundum firmitatem fidei Deus nobiscum agere vellâ—â— Chem Har Evan cap. 83. p. 15. 85. Candle because of the dimness of its burning nor overshadow a beleevers Sun because of the watriness of its shining Though that Vice may be found in us for which he might justly damn us yet he hath not lost that grace by which he can as easily save us He comes not with water to put out the fire but with wind to drive away the smoak The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord Pro 15. 8. because the Incense stinks of the hand that offers it Not only the wickeds plotting against the Godly is sinful but also the wickeds praying unto God is sinful but what follows The prayer of the upright is his delight If the vessel of the heart be clean he will taste of the liquor that 's drawn from it O my Dove that art in the clefts of the Rocke in the secret places of the Stareâ— lee me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely 2 Canticles 14. That 's the ninth 10. Principle you should walk by is this That inward purity is the ready road to outward plenty That 's but a Hell-bred Proverb â—lain dealing is a Jewel but he that uses it shall dye a beggar Religion though it be against our ease yet it s not against our interest O what clusters of Grapes hang all along our way to
our life to a day Infancy is as it were the day breake youth is the Sun rising full growth is as the Sun in it's Meridian and old age is as the Sun setting by the light of the day let us doe the worke of the day O that thou hadst known in this thy day the things that doe belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Luk. 19. 42. The dews of grace is falling whilst the day of grace is dawning O how just is it that they should misse of heaven at the last that never seek for Heaven till the last That God should deny them his grace to repent that abuse his grace to sin It 's a Maxime Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum every thing hath an aptitude of returning into the Principle of its beginning as the Rivers that have their eflux from the Sea have their reflux to the Sea Out of the dust man was formed and therefore into the dust man is turned Sirs How much of your lives is gone and yet how little of your works are done You tender plants will you spend your youthfull lives in following of your youthfull lusts will you hang the most sparkling Jewells of your yeares as pendents in the Devils ears The Aegyptians sold their funerall balms in the Temple of Venus to shew that where they prayed for their nativity they might not forget their mortallity O you fresh pictures will you not be hung in Heavens gallery do you not know that the blossome is as subject to nipping as the flower to withering and the spark to extinguishing as the flame to expiring Veins brimmed full with blood may be emptied by an accident as soon as those that are leakish with old age As there 's none too old for eternity so there 's none too young for mortallity In Golgotha there are sculls of all sizes You are but green enough for reformation that are gray enough for dissolution tell me how wilt thou live when thou diest that art dead whilst thou livest every step that your bodies take it 's towards the earth O that euery step your souls take might be towards Heaven We sin as well in not doing the good commanded as in doing the evil prohibited The Vine that bringeth forth no Grapes shall be cut down as well as the Vine that bringeth forth wild Grapes There 's no countermining against the death of the body without us but by undermining of the body of death within us O how sad is it to be taken out of the world before we are taken off from the world To day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Heb. 3. 7. We have but a day wherein we are called to repent and therefore should repent whilest it is called to day None sings so sweetly as the Turtle upon the Churches Walls and all that he may even constram sinners unto himself He is the deafest Adder that stops his ears to the voice of the sweetest Charmer The Lord hath made a promise to late repentance but he hath not made a promise of late repentance If the Tap be not now thawed it may be for ever frozen A pardon is sometimes given to a Thief on the Gallows but he that Quòspectas quò te extendu Omnia quae ventura sunt in incertojacent Seneca ubi prius trusts to that sometimes hath a Rope for his wages Boast not of to morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27. Man is such a pur-blind creature that he cannot unerringly see a day before him O see the ending of one day before thou gloriest in the beginning of another Many a mans dayes deceives him they passe away like a shadow by Moon-shine that then appears longest when it s nearest to an end Thou mayest not have halfe a day to live Dum floret aetas dum viget animus operemur bonum cùm enim vita ista transierit auferetur tempus operandi Arbor in cap. 6. ad Gal. ver 10. who thinks thou hast not lived out halfe thy dayes up and be doing least you be for ever undone The night cometh wherein no man can work The Grave is a Bed to rest in but not a Shop to trade in There 's no setting up under ground for those that have lost their time above ground When the soul in death takes its flight from its loving maite they shall meet no more till the general Assises 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the acceptable Vide Gor. Arboreum in loc time behold now is the day of salvation Now is the time for grace to accept of you and now is the time for you to accept of grace Opportunities they are for eternity but opportunities they are not to eternity Mercies Clock doth not strike at the sinners beck Where the means of grace is greatest there the day of grace is shortest Thou mayest be unhappy all thy dayes for the neglect of this dayes happinesse It was the sad cry of one My life is done but my work is undone O that you would imploy the small remnant you have of opportunity for the obtaining of the whole peece of felicity Make Hay whilest the Sun is shining and hoyse up Sails whilest the wind is serving Let this be thy living day the next may be thy dying day Seek the Lord whilest he may be found call upon him whilest he is near Isa 55. 6. Sirs The sufferings of eternal death are but the Issue of the slightings of eternal life Methinks the worth of such Pearls of price should sparkle in your eyes Will you let such a Sun set on earth by the beams of which you should walke to Heaven No disease is more fatal then that which doth reject Cordials What asad thing is it that such rich Mines should be opened and not a penny of this treasure fall to your share Some are gone so far in the way of sinning that there 's small hopes of their returning How much time did God bestow upon you before ever you returned any of that time to him It 's good to have an Ark prepared before a Deluge come in which you may be overwhelmed Man must do what he can and leave God to do what he will Though you cannot create the breath of the Spirit yet hang out your Sails to entertain it Though you cannot make the Pool of Bethesda healing yet lye at its mouth and wait for its stirring The longer a building goes to ruin the more cost it requires for reparation Remember that God can as easily turn you into the dust as he could take you out of the dust Delayes are numerous O but delayes are dangerous Who will look for water from a drained River Or that wealthy Grapes should grow upon a withered Vine For a man to make his best work to be his last work what 's this but as if an Husbandman should be putting in of his Plough for the sowing of his