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
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
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
eternity of torments will be little enough to pay the debt which I owe but her debts being nothing but death will be soon discharged oh my soul if God do not distinguish thee from wicked men by grace as well as from this toad by reason thy misery will be far worse then hers and thy condition more forlorn Oh poor man whither art thou fallen thou wast in the creation made the glory of this Universe and all the creatures to be thy servants yea the angels to be Ministring spirits for thy good and now if God assist not in a new creation the meanest and most despicable of the creatures is in a better condition then thou art Oh sin what woful work hast thou made among us and of what a bewitched nature art thou and how hast thou infatuated us still to doat upon thee and to think thee lovely oh my God how good hast thou been to me and how evilly have I requited thee for thy good and how foolishly have I behaved my self to my own soul thou createdst me after thine own image in knowledge righteousness and true holiness and gavest me dominion over thy creatures thou madest me little lower then the angels and crownedst me with honour and dignity Psal 8.4 5 6. such I was when I past out of thy hand but I have lost this image by the fall and this supremacy and now this poor creature is in a better condition then I am by nature and never transgress thy laws as I have done but Lord thou canst renew thine image in me and bring me to my primitive happiness Lord do it then shall I praise thee with unfained lips that thou hast made me a man Upon the coursing of a hare 46. Med. BEing occasionally present at the coursing of a hare and my affection being tickled with the sport to see what turnings windings shifts and cunning evasions she had to delude her enemy and make an escape but all too little for she after came to be their prey that sought her life and to suck her bloud when I felt my affections thus to heat and close with the sport I began to check my self for it and to expostulate the case thus with mine own heart vain man what art thou doing whither art thou going art thou in heaven or on the earth that thy affections are so pleased is it God or the creature that gives thee this content alass what poor fading perishing joy is this and canst thou finde more delight in it then in the service of God or in communion with Christ Nay but art thou sure that these delights are lawfull if not thou hast cause to bewail it the thing may be disputable was it not the sin of man that brought this enmity and antipathy between the creatures and made them thirst after one anothers bloud Reverend Mr Bolton tels us this is the judgement of the best Divines that it was a fruit of our rebellion against God now if this misery was laid upon them for our faults it should be rather matter of our grief then sport and taking pleasure in their bloud is a vexing of their very vexation and we discover those weeds and seeds of cruelty to be too rank and luxurious in the soul and we degenerate in this below the beast of the field who as it is observed take not content in hurting one another but in case of hunger or anger they satisfy their appetite and rage sometimes with bloud but never their eye or their fancy Is the fruits of our sin become the matter of sport this consideration might work in us a contrary effect and I think much better but grant for no body will deny it that we have liberty given us to make use of this antipathy for the destroying of hurtful creatures and the enjoying of those that are usefull as these now under consideration which no doubt are given to us for food as well as others and grant that they cannot be so well taken any other way and their flesh to be best when it is thus hunted and chased yet it still remains disputable whether their death were ever appointed by God to be a matter of sport or a lawfull recreation to us to kill them is no doubt lawfull but to sport our selves in their death seems cruel and bloudy to delight more in seeing the shifts the poor creature hath to save her life an instinct given her by nature and to see her in the mouths of her bloud-thirsty enemies rending and tearing her in peeces without mercy then they do in the flesh it self which should be I think the cheifest end in this action seems cruel and bloudy recreation suppose thou heardest such a poor creature giving up the ghost to speak after this manner for it is no absurdity to fain such a speech oh man what have I done to thee or what evil is found in me that like a cruel enemy thou sportest thy self at my death I have lived upon my fathers allowance and never transgrest my masters will nor makers laws as thou hast done If thou take away my life what needst thou make a sport at my death If a sparrow fall not to the ground without Gods providence surely he takes notice of my death and the manner of it and I am part of the goods thy master commends to thee as a steward and for which thou must give an account I am thy fellow-creature made of the same matter by the same hand it was not all the men on earth could have created me or given me life my life was given me by God and now it is taken away in sport to please man take heed vain man that thus dost satiate thy self with my bloud lest at last thy condition be worse then mine and thy account heavier my debt is now paid by my death and my own sufferings but thine will never be discharged by thy self to eternity this pleasure thou hast now taken will be dearly bought and this flesh of miâ—e must be satisfied for hereafter if Christ be not thy surety nay O man thou knowest not but there are some enemies if God restrained them not that do as earnestly thirst after thy bloud as thou hast done after mine and would be glad to wash their hands in it however the devil is a more cruel bloud thirsty enemy to thy soul then these dogs are to my body and goes about day and night like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and take heed lest those dogs which have now drunk my bloud and are too often fed with the poors portion and deserve death as well as I being every way as noxious do not rise up against thee another day c. Oh my soul spend no more time in recreation then thou canst afford and that is but a little till thy main work be done and then spend no more in recreation then thy state will afford and that will not be much take heed that the poors
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
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
despight of his enemies if they take away their meat saith the Martyr God can take away their hunger why not as well as he doth the life of other creatures and he will do it rather then his promise shall fail Elijah goes in the strength of one meal forty days and had God pleased it might have been forty years for he could have preserved the Israelites forty years in the wilderness without food as well as with food from heaven and as well as he preserved their garments from waxing old Deut. 29.5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness your cloaths are not waxen old upon you and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot they needed not to care what they should eat or what they should drink or wherewithall they should be cloathed for God made provision of all this they were maintained at Gods proper cost and charges methoughts also this cessation of action in these creatures in winter did much resemble sleep which if God pleased might be as long in other animals and were it not common would be thought wonderful and little differing from death it self and yet experience shews us that which seems to destroy nature doth restore and refresh it or it is like to a swoon when the symptomes of death are upon a man yea in some distempers the symptomes of life for many hours together are scarcely discerned but above all it resembles our lying in the grave and our rising again at the resurrection for the body sleeps in the dust till the last day as these creatures do in their holes till the winter is past and the spring approacheth and the silkworm never receives life till the Mulbery-trees leaves which is their food and then they shall be revived by the sun of righteousness and life put into them then these dry bones shall live This I know some question and some deny possibly because they cannot fathome the depth of this providence and were they not convinc't by yearly experience of the other they would deny that also and would think it could not be that creatures should have their life preserved the one half of the year at least without food because they know not how it should be But I think few articles of our faith are more clearly proved in Scripture then this of the resurrection but many men I fear are wilfully blinde their lives and conversations being so debaucht they would believe at least wish they could believe there were no resurrection of the body yea that the soul were mortal as well as the body and that the death of the one were the destruction of the other also but the time is coming they shall finde the contrary to their sorrow both scripture and reason speak plainly that the soul is immortal and that the body partaking with it in holiness or sin shall also partake with it in weal or wo and that there will be a day of retribution when those that now suffer for Christ shall then reign with him and those that sin shall suffer for their sin the contrary to this cannot stand with scripture-revelations the threatnings of the law the promises of the Gospel nor with divine justice it self and why should any think it impossible for God to gather our dust together and raise up our dead bodies at the last who do believe that there is a God and that he hath made not only man but the whole creation of nothing and that this God is just and will make good both his promises and threatnings and nothing is too hard for an omnipotent arm oh my soul distrust not Gods word question not his power he that can make all things of nothing can of thy scattered ashes raise up thy dead body to life and re-unite it to thy hould and he that saith he will do it will certainly perform it heaven and earth shall pass but not one tittle of his word shall pass till all be fulfilled call not in question the power and providence of God but labour to have a part in the first resurrection that the second death may have no power get fitted for death and judgement get sin pardoned and subdued which is the sting of death get grace implanted and thy soul married unto Christ then needst thou not fear death nor the resurrection oh my God strengthen my faith confirm my hope and encrease my love to thee and let me long for the time that I may enjoy thee in glory and lie for ever in the arms of my beloved Vpon beggers at the door 60. Med. WHen I saw some lusty able persons fit for service and other employment begging at the door I began to consider how disagreeing this course of life was to the word of God who had commanded men in the sweat of their brows they should eat their bread this is a law laid upon all sorts of men to sweat out a poor living brow or brain must sweat for it or our bread is eaten ere it be earned God would not have a begger in Israel and the Apostles will was those that would not labour should not eat 2 Thes 3.6 10 14. those that have enough to live on must not be idle much less those that have nothing yet many live like rats and mice only to devour what others labour for paradice that was mans store-house was also his work-house God set him to dress the garden and there should be none that like body-lice feed upon other mens sweat such idle persons often times are set on work by the devil for idleness is the hour of temptation and standing-waters are usually full of vermine Nay how disagreeing is this course of life with the laws of the land which making other provision for the poor stigmatize these wanderers by the name of rogues and appoint them to be stockt and whipt and sent back to the place of their birth or last abode and inflicts a penalty upon those that relieve them The great Turk that grand Seignior is not excepted for he hath a trade and is dayly to labour with his hands yea Divines in all ages ancient and modern and of all perswasions have exclaimed against this course of life and esteemed such persons to be the plague-sore of the Nation and not to be tolerated in a well-ordered Common-wealth they are a dishonour to the Church they live in and to the Countrey they inhabit and the heathens as well as the Christians have made laws to punish them These and the like considerations made me think correction to be the fittest alms and their restraint might hinder a great deal of sin acted by them and be a means to reduce them under government civil and Ecclesiastical which now live like lawless persons under none and neither fear God nor obey men but are the unprofitable burthens of the earth But on the other side when I considered how little provision notwithstanding in the law was made for the poor in most places and
for the holiness and integrity which he secretly hates and abhors and speaks well of God and his laws his ordinances and his people which in his heart he abhors The knowledge of the one and the other differ like that of a traveller that hath been at Rome or Venice or Jerusalem or Constantinople and hath seen those places and known those inhabitants and dwelt among them and his who hath only heard or read of them or spake with those that have seen them the latter perhaps may speak as much nay more of the scituation of the place the manners of the people the government customes and laws they are ruled by then the others can yet is not their knowledge alike the one is assured by ocular demonstration of what he speaks the other not these eyes saw it saith one these ears heard it saith the other so it is here one speaks what he knows the other what he hears Or it is like the difference between the knowledge of a diseased person and that of a physitian the latter can speak more of the causes signs and symptomes of the disease and more learnedly describe it but the other feels what he saith and knows the working of the disease in another manner of way then the physitian who hath only read of it or heard of it from others this is the difference of the knowledge between the sincere Christian and the hypocrite the one speaks knowingly experimentally feelingly truly the other speaks by rote like the parrat only what is taught him dissemblingly hypocritically and falsly pretending to experience that they do not oh my soul take heed of contenting and satisfying thy self with a bare notional knowledge without experimental heart-knowledge it is not that which floats in the brain but that which sinks down and seasons the heart and life that will do thee good the former a man may carry along with him to hell yea the devils have it in a greater measure then the most knowing man though bad words may yea will condemn thee if not repented of yet good words if any such can be without good actions and good hearts cannot save thee yea thou wilt be guilty of self-condemnation in justifying what thou dost not labour after if godliness and a holy life be good why dost thou not live thus if not why dost thou speak thus why doth not thy heart and tongue agree sincerity is the true philosophers stone it turns all into gold and makes weak performances acceptable hypocrisy turns all into dross oh my God grant me heart-knowledge as well as brain knowledge lest I go to hell with a candle in my hand such knowledge may serve to sink me not to save me to talk of the way and not walk in it little profits to speak of heaven and not enjoy will do me no good Lord let me be in substance what I am in shew yea Lord make me such as I ought to be in truth Upon a Kite kild by a Fowler eating his prey 66. Med. WHen I observed a kite that bird of prey how fiercely he struck at a trembling partrich carrying her away in her griping talons rending her in pieces in an instant when the poor innocent creature could make no resistance and none came to her rescue and devouring her yet alive all reaking in her blood and intombed her in his cruel devouring maw Methought it was as bloudy a spectacle as ever I beheld to see an innocent thus used that had never injured him but while I considered of the act behold a fowler undiscerned shot him dead upon the place in the height of his cruelty with the meat in his mouth so that he had sowr sauce to his sweet meat When I had awhile considered the matter I thought I had seen some such dealing in the world yea amongst men where one makes a prey upon another and like the fishes in the sea the great ones swallow up the lesser and feeds upon them as these birds of prey do upon those that cannot resist them The great ones of the world are like this kite good for nothing unprofitable burthens of the earth feeding upon the brains of their innocent neighbours how many cruel griping Landlords wring so many tears from their Tenants eyes in their life time that at their death they have not one more to shed how unreasonably do they rack their rents and extort unreasonable fines how do they oppress them by unreasonable impositions service and other covenants force them to do their work keep their dogs horses and such like when all this time they pay to the utmost farthing for what they have that were it not for their liberty it were as good for them live in Turky as where they do they cark and care and moil and toil and rise early and ly down late and eat the bread of carefulness they fare hard and work hard and deny themselves even necessaries yea can scarce get cloathes for their backs or meat for their bellies but moil like slaves or horses and yet all too little to satisfy their greedy Landlord who at length strips them of all they have seizeth upon their estates turns them out of house and harbour perhaps throws them into prisons where they end their misery while their families depend upon the courtesy of the parish In their poverty the Landlord deals with them as men do by their horses when one is tired they call for another and shew them not so much favour as they do their dogs for when they be wearied in their service they feed them and make provision for them Now all this cruelty is used to satisfy their insatiable avarice or to maintain their hawks and hounds and whores and other like debaucheries and all too little they suck their brains drink their tears and suck their bloud and if their Tenants or poor neighbours are wronged by them they may expect no more justice then the fox and ass in the fable that were to divide the prey with the lion they must give away their right for peace-sake part with all and think they speed well if they meet with no further mischief the laws themselves prove often like cobwebs they hold little flys but the great ones break through But the time is coming that the fowler death will strike these birds of prey to the heart and long it will not be before it be done and an impartial judge will make them vomit up the blood they have so greedily drunk and pluck the prey from between their teeth and make them know that they were the sole proprietors of what they enjoyed but that he lent it for other ends then they employed it in and now their condition will be worse then their poor Tenants and their accounts greater remember the story of Dives and Lazarus both in their life and in their death oh how good is it for men to live so as not to be ashamed to live nor afraid to dye and to keep
a little clog at her foot I took notice how when she endevoured to mount up she was always hindred and pluckt back again and all her endeavours proved vain as prisoners that are in for flagitious offences have fetters shackles and great store of irons clapt upon them to prevent their escape and hinder their flight so it fared with this poor bird she had a weight that she could not lift I perceived she had a will to be gone but power was wanting she was not content with her slavery â—ut how to remedy it she knew not endeavours were not wanting but a wished success succeeded not I thought this much resembled the state of the poor soul by nature who was taken prisoner by satan at the fall and ever since kept under restraint and the devil leads her captive at his pleasure and he hath to secure his prisoner shackled and fettered her ever since for fear of an escape from which she cannot free her self but remains still under bondage nay the unregenerate man is so fettered and clog'd and as it were lockt to a post that he cannot stir or so much as lift up his eyes or heart to heaven and so infatuated withall that he cannot heartily desire his liberry or pray for it Satan hath put such a force upon him that he is content to have his ear bored and to serve him for ever he is so acquainted with his service that he thinks there is no better Master nor no better work he is like a bruit beast still grovelling upon the earth and thinks there is no greater happiness he is like Ulisses his men fabled by Circes charmes to be turned into swine and being put to their choise were content so to remain and not assume their human shape again so these are so bewitcht by Satan that they are unwilling to be Gods free men they know no other happiness then to have their swill and to wallow in the mire and are angry with them that would help them out they finde more pleasure in their drinking and drabbing then ever they did in praying and hearing upon these we may write the Lord have mercy upon them for they have a plague-sore running upon them they are sick to death and yet feel nothing ailing them there is but one physitian in the world can cure them and that must be with a plaister of his blood but we pass by these as yet wholly at the devils command and in his power But there are another sort of men that have this clog at the heel and that is the regenerate that have the skales of ignorance in some measure wiped from their eyes and have a principle of life in them yet are not free from this clog though they are weary and fain would be free but cannot and though their clog be lightned and many of their shackles and bolts knockt off yet cannot they mount up as they desire they cannot content themselves with their earthly enjoyments fain they would have a better portion yet corruption hangs so fast on they have much ado to mount up to take a veiw of their heavenly mansion they dare not espouse their souls to any creature-comfort and yet can maintain but little communion with their husband Christ if they do mount upon the wings â—f contemplation and get a Pisgah-sight of heaven and a veiw of those invisible things at Gods right hand yet how soon are they down again and much ado to get a glimps of Christ they are like a man that is looking at a star through an Optick-glass held with a palsey hand it is but now and then they can get a sight their corruption therefore that remains unmortified makes them cry out with the Apostle Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Oh my soul is not this thy condition how comes it otherwise to pass that thou prayest so coldly and hearest so drowsily praisest God so faintly and performest every duty so carelesly is not heaven worth the having and all the pains thou canst bestow about it is not thy soul worth the saving and eternity worth minding canst thou be zealous about trifles and negligent in things of greatest concernment sure there are heavy clogs lie upon thy heels that thou runnest no faster why art thou such a stranger to divine Meditation thou canst think of the world without weariness though it be from morning to night why then are thy thoughts of heaven so few and forced why art thou so soon tired in duty so soon weary of ordinances and so overly in them that many times thou hast scarce a glimps of Christ in a duty and but little communion with him at best why dost thou feed upon the husks of duty and content thy self with the bare performance though thou meet not with Christ in the duty will this feed thee will it make thee fat how comes it to pass so many vain thoughts roving imaginations impertinent wandrings are mixt with thy holiest dutys and most solemn services do not those evidence to thy face that corruption remains strong in thee and grace weak and why contentest thou thy self with these fetters and strivest not prayest not more against them Oh my God when shall I be freed from these when wilt thou knock off these bolts and free me from these fetters and inlarge my feet that I may run the ways of thy commandments then will my soul mount up to thee with chearfulness then shall I serve God without weariness or distraction oh fit me for my change and then come Lord Jesus come quickly give me oyl in my vessel grace in my heart and the wedding-garment of sincerity for my soul and then come at what hour thou pleasest Upon birds observing their seasons of coming and returning 70. Med. WHen I observed the cuckoe the swallow and many other sorts of birds how exactly they observed their seasons both in coming and returning and all other birds in their building and breeding how exact they were and lost not the opportunity nor neglected the season It brought to my minde Gods complaint against Israel his own people and thought how justly it might be charged against us Jer. 8.7 The stork of the heaven knows her appointed time the turtle the crane and the swallow know the time of their coming but my people know not the judgments of the Lord as if he should say these silly birds by a natural instinct without the use of reason know the times and seasons of their going and returning but my people that have greater helps and furtherances yet take no notice of the seasons of grace and of the times of their visitation he complains likewise Esay 1.3 the oxe knows his owner and the ass his masters crib but Israel doth not know my people do not consider and is not this Englands case few consider the time of their visitation or take notice of the footsteps of Gods departure Christ also
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