his lading but still desires to take in more As a ship may be over laden with gold and silver even unto sinking and yet have compasse and sides enough to hold ten times more so a covetous man though he hath enough to sinke him he never hath enough to satisfie him As a dog may have his stomack cram'd usque ad vomitum till he cast it up againe and yet his appetite is stil unsatisfied for he presently returnes to his vomite againe so a covetous miser though he cramme his chests with gold his garners with corne his deskes with bils and bonds yet his lust is never satisfied his minde is never wearied which makes the Lord even to wonder at it and aske usque quo How long Ther 's no end of a covetous mans desires he never leaves clogging and lading himselfe till he and his load perish together Take heede therefore of ill gotten riches Quia onerant because they load the soule and hinder it in its passage to heaven and in that sence are an enemie to mans contentment 2 Quia corrumpunt because ill-gotten riches corrupt a mans conscience and make him worse than otherwise he would or could be 1 Tim. 6. 9. They that will be rich fall into many temptations snares and lusts which drowne men in perdition and destruction Marke that he doth not say they that are rich for a man may be divinitùs dives divinely rich or rich to God I meane rich and godly too as Moses is said to be divinitus venustus divinely faire or faire to God Act. 7. 20. so the originall hath it Neither is it said They that would be rich if God so pleased to blesse them by just and honest wayes But they saith the Apostle that will be rich that set downe this for their resolution Rich they will be by right or by wrong they are those that corrupt themselves and runne the hazzard of their soules It is the conceit of Tertullian that even Iudas carried himselfe honestly and rightly Vsque ad loculorum officium till he came to carry the Bagge that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Evangelists word is the purse or tongue as it signifieth For Iudas thought as all covetous men doe that the purse is the best tongue a man can use to speak for himselfe upon any occasion when once he came to that to be a master of money he grew into such a devilish humour of covetousnesse that rather than h◠would be out of takings he would sell his very Saviour and a faire match he made for as Austin saith Iudas sold his salvation and the Scribes and Pharisees bought their damnation and all for a little money No marvell the Apostle cals the love of money the roote af all evill t is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the matter of money but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of money that is the Roote of all evill And why the roote I thinke for two causes 1. Because a roote is of a spreading of a growing nature specially if planted in a fruitful soyle Such is the corrupt heart of man if Satan can but once fasten that wicked roote of covetousnesse in a mans heart water it as he will with suggestions t is wonderful how it wil spread and grow and encrease continually more and more Or secondly some say it is called the Roote because it is with a man as with a tree in winter ther 's sap and life in the roote when ther 's little or none to be seene in the branches So in old and frosty age when other vices and lusts decay then covetousnesse holds life in the roote and a man will be covetous when he hath not strength to be other wayes vitious But why is it called the Roote of all evill for t is not the roote of prodigality ryot c. I take it the meaning is of all gainefull evils if so be that ryot and prodigality were as gainefull evils as basenesse and misery a covetous man would be as inclineable to the one as to the other Labour then to pull up this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Roote of bitternesse and desire God to plant the sweete and comfortable grace of true contentednesse in your hearts that you may be so farre from being carried away with the love of money that you may account it as the Apostle speakes but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but drosse but dung but offall but filth and garbage in respect of Christ and a good conscience 3. Quia cruciant because they vexe and greeve and paine the soule Our Saviour Christ compares them to thornes thornes you know are painefull things painefull in the piercing but more painefull in the pulling out so are ill-gotten riches painefull in the getting but most painefull in the going out when these thornes come to be pluckt out by the hand of death that a man and his riches must part then is the paine then is the woe for now mens hearts are hardned their consciences seared they have as the Apostle saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde of hornyhoofe growne over their soules like the brawny hardnesse that growes upon a labourors hands or a travellers feete that makes them insensible of any paine Oh but when death comes to pare off this crustinesse and leaves nothing to stand betwixt a mans soule and his sins then is the anguish of ill-gotten goods when he is searched to the quicke and his life lies a bleeding then let him say whether ungodly riches be not paineful things Zophar gives them a worse Epithet than thornes and likens them to poysons Iob 20. 12. Sugred poysons goe downe pleasantly Oh but when they are downe they gall and gnaw and gripe the very heart-strings asunder if there be not extraordinary remedy So do ill-gotten goods go downe like sugred poysons and so please the palats of covetous men that they cannot forbeare them nor will they Oh but there will come a time of wringing and ruing for all this They say the Italians will give a man a poyson that shall not kill him till a long time after such poysons are ill-gotten riches would you know the reason why they doe not trouble mens consciences now itis because the poyson doth not yet work when God in judgement sets this Poyson a working which they themselves have taken long agoe then as the Prophet Esay saith Chap. 3. 9. Woe be unto your souls for they have rewarded evill to themselves If a man should have a Diamond curiously cut into sharp angles in his body or in his bladder no man would account him a rich man but a miserable and a dead man even such is the state of him that hath swallowed downe the guilt of ill-gotten gaine it will one day torment him more than ever it enriched him so that the pleasure of the one shall never countervaile the paine of the other Take heede therefore and beware of ill-gotten riches Quia cruciant though
the Righteous here spoken of and they are mercifull lenders that lend according to our Saviours counsell looking for nothing againe that is for nothing but their owne againe no advantage no gaine no use or their lending but they lend in meere compassion and mercie to releive their poore brethren in their need and necessitie He is ever mercifull and lendeth and marke what followeth His seede is blessed That which worldly-minded men thinke and imagine to be the onely meanes to make their children poore and miserable I meane liberalitie and sending to the poore that the Holy Ghost saith is the onely meanes to make them rich and blessed and is so farre from empoverishing and impairing their estates upon earth that it is the onely way to draw downe Gods blessing out of heaven upon them As the Prophet Ieremy told Iahojakin Ier. 22. 15. So long as thy father did helpe the oppressed and shew kindenesse to the poore and needy did he not prosper was it not well with him so that as Chrysostome saith We may not thinke that God made rich men onely for the profit of the poore but God made the poore as well for the profit of the rich Make yee friends saith our Saviour of the unrighteous Mammon as if rich men should one day finde that the poore were their best friends when they come to be received into everlasting habitations By these and the like examples and instances you may easily conceive who they be that are counted Righteous in Gods acceptation Therefore as Elisha spread himselfe upon the Shunamites child 2 Reg. 4. 34. and applied his mouth to the childs mouth his hands to the childs hands and his body to the childs body till the child began to neeze and to revive so you shall doe well to apply your selves to these patternes and presidents to see what correspondence and agreement there is betwixt 〈◊〉 lives and theirs and if your disposition be the same with 〈…〉 your acceptation shall be the same as theirs was and if you be partakers of the same righteousnesse you shall also be partakers of the same happinesse as it followeth in the text you shall never be deserted nor forsaken of God I never saw the righteous forsaken c. As for the unrighteous and ungracious that first forsake God no marvell if God in Iustice forsake them againe according to that anciently received rule Deus nunquam deserit hominem nisi prius ab homine deseratur God never forsakes any man till that man doe first forsake his God But for the righteous that cleave close unto the Lord and hold them fast by God as David speaketh and will not if they can possibly let go their holdfast beleeve it God will be a steadfast friend to them and will never faile them nor forsake them neither in life nor in death but while they live he will be with them and when they day they shall â—e with him 1 In life the righteous are never quite forsaken nor left utterly destitute of food provision and such other comforts which God in his wisedome seeth to be most expedient for them Thus saith the Lord Esay 65. 13. Behold my servants shall eate but you that is the wicked Idolaters for to them he speaketh you shall be hungry my servants shall drinke but you shall be thirsty my servants shall rejoyce but you shall be ashamed so that what ever be tide the wicked when the dayes of evill come God will take order for the righteous his servants shall be sure to be provided for In the dayes of famine they shall have enough Psa 37. 19. that is enough to content them though not enough to enrich them and if their own meanes chance to faile them at home God will provide them meanes and friends abroad as he told Elias 1 Reg. 17. when he was in great distresse at the river Besor and had neither meate nor drinke to sustaine him The Word of the Lord came unto him saying Arise get thee to Sareptah which is in Sidon and tarry there for behold I have commanded a widdow woman to sustaine thee there Elias knew not the widdow neither did the widdow know him but God who knew them both had given her a secret charge and commandement that shee should sustaine his Prophet and so she did Thus will God 〈…〉 than his owne shall want give secret charges to those we 〈◊〉 not aware of to sustaine and supply us at our need as in Pauls case Act. 17. when the ship was broken in peices which they thought should have carried them to land the Lord cast them and conveighed them safe to shore upon such boards and plankes as they did not nor durst not expect so when those helpes faile us which wee most relied upon God will so provide that somewhat else shall come in and bring us helpe which we never thought nor dreamt of Let the consideration of this teach us to take out that Lesson of the Apostle Heb. 13. 5. Let your conversation be without covetousnesse and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee If God have said it we may sweare it and pawne our lives and soules upon it that if wee live according to his will hee will never leave us nor forsake us while there is breath and life within us 2 As they are ever sustained in life so they are never forsaken in death but in their last extremity when their life is in extremis labris God is alwayes present with them either to relieve or to receive their soules 〈…〉 Iust man saith David and 〈◊〉 the upright for whatsoever 〈◊〉 beginning be yet the end of that maâ— is peace And againe Follow after righteousnesse and doe the thing 〈…〉 for that shall bring a man peace at the last It was promised as a blessing to good Jasiah 2 Reg. 22. ult that he should be gathered to the grave in peace and yet we finde in the story that Iosiah died in warre How then was this promise made good I answer thus though he died in warre outwardly yet he died in peace inwardly his conscience was at peace with God and his soule was pacisied and discharged from the trouble of all his sinnes so that whatsoever his death was yet hee died in peace And such is the happinesse of all the righteous some die by fevers some by the sword some by the fire yet all through Gods mercy die in peace Therefore saith Balaam Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like unto his for though it be decreed in heaven that the Righteous must die as wel as the unrighteous yet there is as great a difference betwixt the manner of their dying as betwixt the passage of the Egyptians and the Israelites through the same red sea which was Alijs sâ—pulâ—hrum alijs vehiculum a sepulcher and a grave to the one to drowne them in perdition and
An old disciple that is to be a â—ollower of Christ from ones youth and to continue Christs faithfull servant to ones age Age is a crowne of glory saith Salomon Prov. 16 31. When it is found in the way of righteousnesse that is when an old man is found to be a just and a righteous man then he truely deserves reverence but when a man hath lived to those yeares that he comes to have Caput album and cor nigrum a head white with hoary haires and the heart blacke with wicked deeds it is the most lamentable incongruity and disproportion in the world It is observed out of Gen. 25. 8. that Abraham was the first in all the Scripture that is called by the name of an old man and yet there were many before him that were much elder in yeares and had lived a longer time in the world than he had done why then should Abraham be called an Old man rather than any of his elder ancestours Philo gives this to be the reason that it was propter canitiem virtutum not so much for the age of his body as for the antiquity of his vertue though they were elder in yeares than he yet Abraham was elder in grace and vertue than they and had beene a vertuous a religious man and had served and feared the Lord a longer time than any of his predecessours and for this cause was he written the first old man in the Register of Almightie God And so at this day not he that is first Christened but he that is the first and best Christian is the eldest man in Gods account and comes nearest unto him who is the Ancient of dayes Whereas he that is full of dayes and empty of grace that hath attained bonum seâ—ectutem as one saith a good old age but wants the maine of all which is Bonum senectutis the goodnesse of old age who when the harvest of his yeares is come doth not bring forth that fruit unto God of devotion and piety of wisedome and gravity of temperance and charity that is to be found in men of fewer yeares Most wretched and miserable is his condition for he comes as it were to the borders of Canaan to the very point of time wherein Gods children make their happy transmigration into heaven but by reason of his sinnes is thrust backe againe so that when he should die and ascend to the place of eternall blessednesse he dies and descends to the pit of utter darkenesse where is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth Such is the miserable condition of that man or woman whose body is declining to the grave but his spirit hath not learned to ascend to God that gave it You therefore that are aged persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ready and ripe for the grave learne to resemble the Sunne whereof the Prophet David speaketh Psal 104. Sol novit occasum suum the Sun knoweth his going downe and therefore before his setting sends forth the brighter and the clearer and the sweeter beames so you cannot but know that it will not be long ere the sunne of your life goe downe therefore before the night of death come upon you send forth some beames of light some good prayers to God some good deeds to the poore shew some token for good before your death that it may appeare that your soules are gone the way of life And then looke how the Rivers when they come neere the sea the tide comes forth to meete them so when your soules come neere to heaven your God and Saviour shall meete you in the way and receive you into those eternall mansions which himselfe hath prepared for you So much for the Time how long David had beene an observer and an eye-witnesse of Gods Providence sc from his youth to his age I come now to the observation it selfe Non vâ—di justum derelictum I have not scene the righteous forsaken Wherein are two things remarkeable 1. The persons priviledged and they are the Righteous 2. The priviledge of those persons and that is they are never forsaken 1. The persons priviledged to wit the Righteous Here the question will be where any such persons are to be found for it is certaine that a Righteous man is Rara avis in terris as this world goes The Prophet once cried O yee heavens drop downe righteousnesse When Righteousnesse saith a learned man was taken up into heaven and the earth was utterly devoid of it But we trust in God the world is not altogether now so bad but that by Gods grace there are some though not many righous persons to be found amongst men but who be they that deserve to be so called and so accounted Ans I will shew you some particular instances out of the Booke of God what kind of persons went under the name of Righteous men in the dayes of old and leave the application to your selves â— The first that ever went under the name of a Righteous man was Abel of him you shall read Heb. 11. 4. That he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Caine by which he obtained witnesse that he was righteous God himselfe testifying of it Now wherein did Abels righteousnesse consist or what was it for which Abel was accounted righteous the text sheweth it was for that he offered uberius sacrificium a richer a fuller a better sacrifice than Cain for Caine also offered a sacrifice to God such a one as it was but it was a pinching sacrifice and the fruits that he offered were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the refuse of that he had that which he cared not for himselfe that he offered to the Lord but Abel made choise of the best and offered the most so that his sacrifice was both more and more excellent than Caines it was better and bigger too and for this he obtained testimony from God that hee was a righteous man Hence I note that they which are voluntary and free in their offerings to God that are willing God should have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the best and principall part of all their substance that hold it in scorne as David did that it should be said they should worship the Lord and be at no cost these are they in the first place that deserve the name of righteous men Contrariwise they that are of a base and niggardly disposition to God-ward that thinke as Iudas did every thing to be perditio to be waste and lost that goes to the maintenance of the worship and service and Ministers of God they are farre from Abels disposition and consequently farre from being Righteous in Gods account 2 The next Righteous man was Abraham of whom the Apostle speakes Rom. 4. 3. Abraham beleeved God and this was counted to him for righteousnesse Now wherein did Abrahams righteousnesse consist the text saith in his faith in his beleefe of God God Almighty called him out of his owne Countrey and made him leave all his friends and meanes behind him
spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord it implyes that a man naturally walkes in darkenesse which is full of error and full ofterrour till God in mercy set up a candle in his soule I meane endues him with knowledge and grace from heaven that hee may shew him the path of life and to avoyd the snares of death Now you know that a candle naturally burnes upwards if you take it and turne it the wrong way and hold it downewards is dyes and goes out alone so fares it with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graces and gifts of God as Witt and Wisedome Knowledge and Learning and all these are the candles of the Lord and are purposely given us to light us up to heavenward but if wee take Gods candles and hold them downeward turne them the wrong way and apply and abuse them to sinne it is much to bee feared the light of God will goe out and thou shalt be left at the length in a place of utter darkenesse Therefore as thou tenderest the favour and good-will of God and the eternall welfare of thy owne soule deale not with the graces of God as Iehu dealt with Iehorams messengers 2. Reg. 9. doe not turne them behind thee and make them serve against their owne masters but remember that if the sonnes of Iacob would not endure to have their sister abused Gen. 24. vlt. how dost thou thinke thy God will endure to have his grace abused and to be prostituted to every sinne In a word as Ruben said to his distressed brethren Gen. 42. 22. did not I speake unto you saying Sinne against the child and ye would not heare Oh be not you like them monitoribus asperi so carlesse and regardlesse of divine admonition but remember that you have beene spoken unto that you have beene warned of God not to sinne against your owne soules in this too common kinde but if the Lord have betrusted you with his grace labour to cherish it and as the Apostles word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 1. 6. to blow it or stirre it up as we doe a dying fire to kindle and quicken it by the use of good meanes but in any case ne abutaris abuse it not 5. Lastly seeing thou hast to doe with the grace and favour of God ne diffides doe not distrust it doe not make any doubt or question of it but it will bestead thee and befriend thee and be firme and sure unto thee at any time of need It is the Apostles owne advertisement 1. Pet. 1. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trust perfectly on the grace that is revealed and brought into the world by Iesus Christ It is a thing that a man may leane his whole weight upon and venture his whole estate upon and paune his life and soule upon the certainety the truth and the infallibility of Gods heavenly grace to all that make their peace and put their trust in him Feare not Mary said the blessed Angel to the blessed Virgin for thou hast found favour with God as if he had said Let them feare that are out of Gods favour let them be distrustfull that are wicked and deceitfull that make no conscience of their waies but live in the displeasure of an angry God paveant illi let them feare but noli tu feare not thou be thou stead fast unmoveable in thy affiance to God for why Invenisti gratiam thou hast found favour with him in whose favour is life and whose grace will bee thy guid unto the day of death In a word then to close up this point As I said before so I say it over againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gird up the loyues of your mindes and trust perfectly to the Grace of God doe it not in any wavering or timerous or unconfident manner as if God were like the Poets â—enedos Statâ—o malesida carinis a trustles Anchor-hold to the seabeaten travailer or like those deceitfull Iewes Ioh. â— 24. to whom our Saviour durst not commit himselfe though they seemed to beleeve in his name Oh let not thy heart entertaine the least suspition the least jealousie of the faithfulnesse and fidelity of thy God but try him by thy prayers and trust him by thy faith and urge him with this Text that now is preached unto thee as S. Austin saith his mother Monica did Chyrographa tua ingerebat tibi Lord saith he shee urged thee with thy owne hand-writing tell him but how hard the world goes with thee and then say ere God have done with thee if thou dost not finde his Grace to be sufficient for thee And so I am come in the third place to shew you the efficacy and vertue of the Grace of God how and wherein the sufficiency thereof doth consist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text My Grace is sufficient The principall things whereunto the Grace of God and besides Gods Grace nothing else under heaven is available or sufficient are these that follow 1. Ad Condonandum to pardon and forgive us all our sinnes which would bee the bane and destruction of all our soules Grande est barathrum peccatorum meorum saith a Father sed maior est Abyssus misericordiae dei Great is the gulfe and whirlepoole of my sinnes but greater and deeper is the bottomlesse sea of Gods Grace and mercy see that place Rom. 5. 20. where sinne abounded Grace did much more abound Hast thou abundance of sinnes let not that disharten thee God hath abundance of Grace if thy sinnes be great his Grace is greater than thy sinnes and farre more sufficient to justifie than all thy sinnes are to condemne thy soule Onely ne desis be not thou wanting to God in thy prayers and repentance and his Grace shall never bee wanting to thee in thy pardon and forgivenesse What a golden sentence is that of S. Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou dost not thou canst not so much desire to have thy sinnes forgiven thee as God doth desire to forgive thy sinnes unto thee I forgave thee all thy debt because thou desiredst me said that gracious Lord to his ungracious servant Mat. 18. 32. intimating unto us that if God doe not forgive us ous debts if he doe not pardon and remit our sinnes we may thanke our selves the fault is our owne because wee doe not desire him for if we desired him he would doe it In a word then As our Saviour asked the â—riple Iohn 5. 6. Wilt thou be made whole so wilt thou bee made holy and cleane and fit for absolution from God dost thou desire in sincerity and truth to have thy sinnes remitted and thy soule absolved by the blood and death of Iesus Christ to have all thy misdeeds expunged and blotted out that they may be as if they had nevâ—â— beene Then take the Prophet Esaies counsell Esay 43. 25 26. put God in remembrance of these things it is a pregnant place I pray reade it and remember it I even I
〈◊〉 then bee chargeable or burthensome to any friend or stranger and by this meanes it came to passe that what he wanted at home he found it abroad and Gods grace that was with him did ever supply him with that which was enough and sufficient for him Is it so with thee Thou that art a poore man art thou also an industrious and a painefull man that as Iacob got the blessing in the garment of Esau which signifieth Working so dost thou worke and take paines to get the blessing of thy God dost thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good that thou mayest rather bee charitable then chargeable to him that needeth and will not thy honest labour maintaine thee nor suffice the charge that daily lies upon thee Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee and let not thy wants nor thy necessities dismay thee for there is a God above that hath sufficient for thee contrarily if thou beest one that live in pleasure as Saint Paul saith of that widow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she was dead even while she lived one that spendest thy time in this world no otherwise then that Leviathan doth in the sea onely by taking thy pastime therein or like those lyllies that our Saviour speakes that neither labour nor spain but onely make a faire shew as long as it will hold Then as Iehu said to Ioram What peace so may I say to thee What grace or what favour canst thou looke for at the hands of God 4. Saint Paul was Homo in aerumnis a man full of cares I doe not meane of carnall or worldly cares or such as Martha's were for the things of this life for these he had cast upon God and had learned in whatsoever estate he was therewith to be Content but I meane of spirituall divine religious cares for the health and welfare of the soule such as he commends in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7. 11. as being the first fruits of Grace and godly sorrow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What carefulnesse it hath wrought in you how much it wrought in them I know not but sure I am it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care and that of the better kinde first an immediate care for himselfe and his owne soule least after he had preached unto others himselfe should be a cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. secondly a charitable and that a Catholicke and universall care for all Churches Christian soules under the cope of heaven 2 Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in ecclesias quantumvis remotas affectus quam si illas humeris gestaret as Beza said of Calvin hee was no lesse tenderly affected for those Churches that were remote and far-off than if he had borne them upon his owne shoulders and carried them as nurses doe their babes in his owne bosome But his third and most especiall care was for the soules and saving health of his little children as he calls them Gal. 4. 20. Of whom he traveiled in birth till Christ was formed in them His care was greater for them than either for himselfe or any others and he gives his reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for saith he I stand in doubt of you Good Parents the more they love their children the more they stand in doubt of them least they should fall to any defection or decline to any corruption or come to any disaster when they themselves are dead and gone This made Saint Paul in such perplexity for them and yet were they but his spirituall children what care then may we thinke would he have taken for them if they had beene his naturall children too then might he justly have used that word and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am in doubt of you for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke signifieth both dubius and pauper doubtfull and poore for none have so much reason to be doubtfull of their childrens welfare as they that are poorest and have least to leave them They may justly feare as the woman of Tekoah said to David 2. Sam. 14. 7. least their coales should bee quenched for so shee calles her child her coale for as coales either warme or burne as they are used so doe children either comfort or crosse their parents as they prove now when a poore man shall dye and leave his coales I meane his Orphans behind him such is the world that where you shall light of one good body that will bee a meanes to cherish and maintaine and keepe them alive there be twenty to that one so unchristianly and uncharitably minded that they care not how they use them yea though they quench and crush and put them cleane out And hence come those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those perplexities and doubtfull cares of tender-hearted parents for their children Hast thou therefore many little ones and little to leave them and doth thy heart even yearne with care and feare to fore-thinke what shall betide them when thou by death art taken from them I will give thee the same counsell that I desire of God to take my selfe and that 's this Cognovisti Gratiam Dei saith our Apostle Colos 1. 6. Thou knowest the Grace of God thou knowest that to bee a sure stay when all other props and stayes are done away That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breakes Make tryall of that Doe by thy Children as Saint Paul did by his brethren Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God and to the word of his Grace Lay them downe at the feet of Iesus Christ as they in the Primitive Church laid downe their money at the feet of the Apostles desire God to bee their Father Christ to be their Guardian the Holy Ghost to bee their Guide and when thou hast don◠so then as David saith Psal 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem Returne unto thy rest O my soule then settle and assure and resolve thy selfe that Heaven shall want mercy and earth meanes before any of those that are under Gods protection and patronage shall want maintenance Never bee in doubt what shall become of them knowing that His Grace is sufficient for them I might adde hereunto many particulars as that Saint Paul was homo in vinculis a man in bonds but the grace of God unloosed them all that he was Homo in necessitatibus a man in wants but the Grace of God supplyed them all that he was Homo in periculis a man in many perills and dangers but by the Grace of God he escaped them all that he was Homo in tentationibus a man mightily troubled with temptations but by the Grace of God he overcame them al All these I purposely overslip which perhaps might comply with many a mans condition and conduce to his comfort but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the rest that S. Paul was as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee and every Christian soule to be 5. Homo in Caelestibus a man of an Heavenly disposition though his bodily abode was upon earth yet his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soules commerce and conversation was in heaven Phil. 3. 20. no marvell then that being so much acquainted with God as hee was and so conversant in heaven which is Gremium Gratiae the lap and bosome of Grace if as t is said of Saint Iohn that leaning in the bosome of Christ he thence suckt out his heavenly knowledge so S. Paul being so intimate and so entire with God who is the God of all Grace whatever else hee wanted could not possibly want Grace sufficient for him In a word then Is it so with thee though in a farre inferiour degree Art thou as every good Christian is and ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Citizen of heaven dost thou account that thy home and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time and as our Saviour set his face to goe to Ierusalem Luke 9. 51. dost thou set thy face to goe to heaven doth thy heart stand heaven-ward art thou bound for that coast as Paul went bound in the spirit to Ierusalem Acts 20. I meane dost thou set thy affections upon things above upon God and his Grace and not on things below upon the world and her goods which drowne mens soules in perdition Art thou one of that same Generis Aquilini of that Eagle kinde whereof our Saviour speakes Mat. 24. where the body is thither will the Eagles resort the body of thy Saviour thou knowest is in heaven and doth thy soule resort often thither dost thou wish as Macarius did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thy soule might goe up into heaven with thy prayers and there abide for ever with God Then what Nathan said to David in a case of conviction I dare apply to thee in a case of comfort Thou art the man whom God delighteth to favour and therefore as the Patriachs are sayd Heb. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even to kisse and embrace the promises of Christ so doe thou even claspe and hugge this promise of Grace to thy selfe and let neither thy wants nor thy weaknesses dismay thee for both in life and death thou shalt finde Gods Grace to be sufficient for thee which God of his mercy grant unto us all c. Amen FINIS
out of the water thus it fares with an hypocrite saith Iob when he is taken as it were with the Angle of God I meane with some mortall sicknesse that God begins to pull at his soule and twitch it out of his body whether he will or no then quaenam spes where is the hope of the Hypocrite alas his hope is gone The like expression you have Luke 12. 20. God Almighty saith to the rich man Thou foole this night they shall fetch away thy soule as if he had said I know thou art loath to part with thy soule loath to forgoe it but that shall not serve thy turne there will come those that will take it by force and fetch it from thee whether thou wilt or no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shall never aske thee leave but shall wrest and wring it I am thee into such a place such a company such a condition as I am afraid to mention I have not now time as the Greekes say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to beate this Oake for any more Acornes nor to sift my text for any more observations onely in a word If you desire to die contentedly let your care and endeavour be to live conscionably then let death come when it will it shall be no otherwise than a mid-wife aâ— Naz. speakes to deliver you and helpe you out of the paines of earth into the joyes of heaven then when you die you shall live when you goe from men you shall goe to God when your eyes are closed on earth they shall be opened againe in heaven Thus according to my weake ability I have done with my text and shewed you the way to be content God of his mercy give a blessing unto it for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be given and ascribed all honour and glory be done and performed all service and duty this day and for ever Amen FINIS THE Way to Well-doing OR A SERMON OF FAITH AND GOOD WORKES Preached in the Chappell of Buntingford in the County of Hartford at the beginning of their publike Lecture By John Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex Printed at London by Thomas Cotes for Thomas Alchorn and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the Signe of the Greene-dragon 1635. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Master John Mountford Doctor of Divinity and one of the Residentiaries of Saint Pauls my most worthy friend and Benefactour Right Worshipfull I Remember a Motto of your owne which was this Lunae radijs non maturescâ—t Botrus That the beames of the Moone are too weake and too invalid to ripen a tender grape and bring it to maturitie unlesse the sun also adde his heate and cast his vitall beames upon it How well this sutes with men of my ranke that are Inferioris subsellij sacerdotes J shall not neede to tell you Alas what are all a poore mans labours in the ministry but as the Beames of the Moone some light they may give in a darke place but to ripen any worke for the publike good or to gaine any credit or estimation in the world they are farre too weake and unsufficient unlesse some man of worth that is instar solis in stead of the Suune to so poore a starre will be pleased out of his owne goodnesse to cast some beames J meane some favour and friendly countenance upon him Vouchsafe me therefore your gracious aspect upon my weake endeavours and the God of Heaven preserve your life that you may continue like Eliakim Esay 22. 23. As a fastened naile in a sure place still to doe good workes in Gods Church on earth till you be received up into glory with his Church in heaven Thus prayes Your poore unworthy Servant IOHN GORE THE WAY TO Well-doing Titus 3. 8. This is a faithfull saying and these things I will that thou affirme constantly that they which have beleeved in God might be carefull to maintaine good workes these things are good and profitable unto men NOT to trouble you with any preface it being not Taâ—ti not worth the while may it please you to observe in the Text three generall parts which may be reduced to three Heads and bee thus expressed 1. The Preachers direction 2. The peoples duty 3. Every ones desire As thus This is a faithfull saying and these things I will thou affirme constantly there is the preachers direction 2. As many as have beleeved in God must bee carefull to maintaine good workes there is the peoples duty 3. These things are good and profitable unto men there is every ones desire for that which every man desires that which every man aymes and drives at in his calling and in his course of life is to doe those things that may redound to their profit and their good and therein my text complyes with every mans desire assuring them that these things are not onely good and pleasing to God but good and profitable also unto men God hath onely the glory of our well-doing the profit and the good is all our owne In the first generall part observe two particulars 1. A commendation of the text this is a faithfull saying 2. A command to the Teacher these things I will that thou affirme constantly 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a faithfull saying I suppose you beleeve there is not a saying in all the booke of God but it is a true and a faithfull one all proceeding from the mouth of him that is a true and faithfull God a God that cannot lie nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips yet some sayings in Gods booke are by way of Eminence or of excellence called by the name of faithfull sayings it pleaseth the Holy Ghost himselfe to set that note of dignity upon them either because God would have us in a speciall manner to build our faith and our affiance upon them as if he should say whatever other saiyngs of scripture ye doubt of never make any doubt of these for they are faithfull sayings you may pawne your lives and soules upon the truth and certainetie of them or rather as I take it they are termed faithfull sayings because they are such as doe more neerely concerne the faithfull then any others being purposely directed and intended Omnibus Christi fidelibus to all Christs faithfull people wheresoever for as Saint Paul said of Timothy Phil. 2. 20. I know no man like minded who will naturally care for such matters as these Tell a carnall or a worldly man of faith and good workes surdo canis you doe but as it were tell a tale to a deafe man he minds not what you say if you will talke to such a one you must tell him of the prizes of corne the practise of husbandry the rising and falling of the markets or perhaps some forraine or Domesticall newes then he understands you you speake to him then in his owne Idiome in his owne language but tell
downe into the soule Though we cannot command or forbid the raine to water the earth as Eliah did if we can water and mollifie the earthen hearts of men with the supernaturall raine of heavenly Doctrine and make a dry and barren soule beare fruit to God Is not this as great a wonder as the other Though we cannot cause nor command the thunder as Samuel did to terrifie the people for their sinnes yet God hath his Boanerges his sonnes of thunder still that by ratling from heaven the terrible judgements of God against sinne and sinners are able to make the stoutest and the proudest heart upon earth even tremble and quake and fall downe before the presence of God and is not this as great a miracle as that of Samuel to bring an unhumbled sinner upon his knees and make glad to cry God mercy for his sinnes In a word though wee cannot cast out devils out of mens bodies as the disciples of Christ could doe if we can cast the devill out of mens soules by the powerfull Gospell of Iesus Christ is it not as great a wonder Beleeve it brethren the conversion of a sinner to God and bringing of a soule to heaven is absolutely without comparison the greatest miracle the greatest wonder in the world And these be the miracles wherewith it pleaseth God to grace the Ministers of the Gospel therefore ye observe that the Collect for Ministers runnes thus Almighty God which onely workest great marvels c. When a soule is sicke to the death with a surfeit of sinne is recovered and revived againe by that same healthfull spirit of grace which God together with his Word doth breathe into the soule it is so great a marvell so rare a wonder that the Angels of heaven rejoyce to see it I have held you over-long in the former part of Eliahs prayer which brought the judgment heare now in a word or two the Reversing of the judgement and I have done And he prayed again the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit It well becomes the Prophets of God to be mercifull Good Eliah had not the heart to hold the people too long under a judgement when hee saw hee had done enough to humble them he desires God to reverse the judgement As it is observed of the good Angels in the old and new Testament when they appeared to any either man or woman their method and manner was this Primò terrent deinde laetisicaâ—t they first terrified them and put them into feare then presently comforted them and put them out of feare Thus did Eliah with this people thus did Moses with Pharaoh that good man had not the heart to hold wicked Pharoah alway under a judgement but upon the least entreaty made suit to God to reverse it So dealt the Prophet with Ieroboam 1 Reg. 13. 6. when he had smitten him with a judgment and had him at the advantage that his hand was withered Ieroboam was glad to submit and say Intreate now the face of the Lord thy God and pray for me that my hand may be restored me the man of God had not the heart to deny him but immediatly besought the Lord and the Kings hand was restored and became as it was before When a judgement comes then Prophets are in season Abraham is better than a King in this case Gen. 20. 7. 17. Restore the man his own for he is a Prophet and he shall pray for thee and ver 17. Abraham prayed unto God and God healed Abimeleeh c. Goe to my servant Iob saith God to his friends Iob 42. 8. and my servant Iob shall pray for you for him will I accept So Act. 8. 24. When Peter had denounced a curse on Simon Magus he was glad to crouch and cry unto him Oh pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me Thus ye see that judgements and plagues will bring Prophets into request men commonly deale with their Ministers as boyes do by Walnut-trees and other fruit-trees in faire weather throw cudgels at us in foule runne to us for shelter In the dayes of peace and prosperity we are past over as superfluous creatures of whom there is little use and lesse neede but when the wrath of God falls on the naked soule when the conscience is wounded within and body pained without then the Minister is thought on I say no more if you desire their prayers and that God should heare them praying for you in your extremity do not slight them doe not wrong them in prosperity Remember how Ahab and all Israel were glad to be beholden to Eliah to reverse their judgment and you doe not know how soone the case may be your owne therefore as you love your soules love those that have charge of them And he prayed againe c. When I looke into the Story 1 Reg. 18. I can finde no direct prayer that Eliah made for raine But I â—iud there a twofold prayer that he made 1. A virtuall 2. A formall prayer 1. A virtuall prayer not for raine but for their conversion Oh Lord saith Eliah bring backe or bâ—ing home the heart of this people unto thee vers 73. and this includes all other prayers that can be made A prayer for Conversion is a prayer for every thing Ier. 31. 18. When Epâ—ratm prayes for conversion Turne thou me and I shall be turned saith God I will surely have mercy upon him c. Such is the goodnesse of God that he will with-hold no good thing be it raine be it plenty be it any thing that is good for them from them that are converted and brought home by true repentance to him Therefore if thou standest in neede of any temporall mercy pray first for conversion and all other good things shall be super-added and throwne in unto thee or if thou prayest for any child or for any friend to doe him good indeed pray for his conversion and thou prayest for every thing that one prayer is instar omnium insteed of all the rest If hee be in an ill way desire God to bring him backe and for future things take no care 2 A formall prayer when he saw that the people were truely humbled and that their hearts were indeed brought home to God insomuch that they cried out with an ingemmination The Lord he is God the Lord he is God then hee buckles his head betweene his knees to shew the humble prostration of his soule and falls a praying to God for raine After humiliation any prayer comes in season Esay 1. Wash ye make ye cleane put away the evill of your doings c. And now come saith God and we will reason together now let us parle now let us confesse now pray and I will heare you Iud. 10. 17. When the Israelites put away their strange gods and turned themselves to the true God by sincere repentance and reformation the text saith
David did observe this priviledge that they were never forsaken and they were the righteous onely I never saw 〈◊〉 righteous forsaken 3. The continuance and succession of Gods favour and mercy that it doth not rest onely upon the righteous themselves but extendeth and eâ—la geth it selfe to their posterity and their seed nor their seed begging their bread Of thâ—se in their order and first of the time how long David had observed Gods dealing with the righteous namely from hi youth to his age â— I have beenâ— young Here first you may take into your consideration the holy minority of the Prophet David that in his young time he began to enter into religious thoughts and meditations touching Gods proceedings with his servants That time which other young folkes waste and melt away in folly and vanitie or in the pleasures of sinne that did he dispend and employ in a more serious and more sacred manner in devotions and divine contemplations of the manifold wisedome and workes of God To be a patterne and a president to all young â—olkeâ— that should come after him to begin betimes 〈◊〉 God and follow goodnesse Remember thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth saith Salomon Eccles 12. 1. before evill dayes come Old dayes are evill dayes in respect of young dayes â—t be the young that be the good dayes if young folkes had but grace to make good use of them It was Gods Ordinance Levit. â— 14. that in their Meate-offerings of first fruits they should offer greene eares of corne or corne beaten out of greene eares To intimate unto us that God loves wee should dedicate and consecrate our greene and tender yeares to his service and not put it off as too many doe to the very Autumne and fall of their lives It is witten in the Gospel that when Christ heard a yong man say He had kept the Commandements from his youth thâ— Text faith He began to 〈…〉 to shew how God loves these timely beginnings of grace and goodnes Yea I dare say it that God makes more account of a little goodnesse in a young body â—hâ—n of a great deale more in one that is of greater age as you read 1 Reg. 14. 13. When 〈◊〉 childe was sicke the Prophet sent him word from God that he only of Ieroboams house 〈…〉 goe to the grave in peace because in him was found some good thing toward the Lord. There could not be much goodnesse in him being but a child and bred in Idolatry yet because there was some goodnesse ye see how God tooke liking to him and shewed his acceptance by that extraordinary favour towards him Let this be an encouragement to all young persons that are as the Poet speakes Aurorae filij sons of the morning that have day and life before them to learn of David and Ieroboams son to begin betimes to set forward to heaven and make choise of Christ to be their Guardian in their youth so shall they be sure never to come to want nor beggery in their age It was the honour and the happines of Andronicus and Iunia as we read Rom. 16. 7. that they were in Christ before Paul and it is the happiest priviledge and priority in the world to be the first in Christ and in the Covenant of grace for he that is the formost in Christianity upon earth shall be sure to have preferment according to his time both in grace and glory in the heavens Be ambitious therefore ye young men of this high honour and preferment get into Christ as soone as possibly you can for if you linger like Lot in Sodome and stay till you have gotten an habite and an haunt in wickednesse you would noâ— beleeve how hard a matter you shall finde it then to dispose your mindes and frame your lives to goodnesse Stampe Garlicke in a new morter and it will smell of it ever after let the devill get possession of a child he will hardly be removed when he comes to riper yeares as we have an example Marke 9. 20. There was an evil spirit had gotten such hold of a yong mans body that the Disciples with all their power and prayers could not cast him out whereupon our Saviour perceiving with what extremity he came forth with what wallowing and foaming and renting of the possessed He demanded how long that had happened unto him answer was made of a child if Satan get but handsell in child-hood he will plead prescription in age Therefore let all parents take heed they doe not deale with their children as those wicked ones did 2 Reg. 17. who offered their children to Molock first they carried them round about the fire and that was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wheeling about their death and destruction secondly they caused their children to passe through the fire this was called Lustratio a purging by sacrifice thirdly they put them into the belly of Molock which was an hollow Image of brasse and burnt them quicke this was Vivi-comburium burning alive Too many such gracesâ—sse parents there are in the world who first initiate their children to the devill when they correct them 〈◊〉 this is as it were to carry them about the fire of hell secondly when by their evill example they teach them villany as the young 〈…〉 of the old Lyon to catch the prey 〈◊〉 9 this is as â—t were to make them passe through the â—â—â—e they not onely teach them evill by their evill example but applaud and allow them in their wickednesse and as the Apostles word is Rom. 1. 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take delight and pleasure in their lewdnesse that is to put them as it were into the armes into the belly of the devill This is a wofull training up of children God forgive and amend all them that use it and God give all such children grace to doe as Salomon adviseth the young man Prov. 2. 16. â—urto se eripere to steale themselves â—ut of the hands and bands of sinne and Satan and to bind themselves Apprentices to God in their youth so shall they be sure to be potected and preserved and provided for in their age I bave beene young saith David and now am old c. Now am old You have heard the beginning of Davids pietie now marke his proceeding and continuance in well-doing he was no changeling you see neither in Religion nor in affection to God-ward but held on in a constant setled course of godly-mindednesse Iâ—a ut cano placerâ—t quod Juveni complaceâ—aâ— as one said so that that goodnesse which pleased him in his youth pleased him no lesse in his elder yeares yong and old he was still the same still bent and set his heart to serve and to observe the Lord. It was the commendation given to Mnason Act. 21. 16. that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an old disciple and it is the greatest honour that can be given to man or woman to be truely stiled as he was
who are meant by the seed of the Righteous Secondly whether none of the Righteous seed ever â—ame oâ— ever shall come to beggery 1 The Scripture speakes of a twofold seed Genesis 3. thâ— seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent that is an holy seed and an unholy seed by the one are meant the Generation of the Righteous by the other the Generation of Vipers as Iohn Baptist calls such Reprobates Matthew Chapter 3. verse 7. who like Vipers eate out the very bowels of their Parents that is waste their substance grieve and gnaw their hearts and are a meanes as Iacob said Gene. Chap. 44. verse 31. to bring downe their hoary head with sorrow to the grave Now it seemes to mee that this Sâ—mâ—n in my Text this seed here spoken of is principally if not solely and onely meant and to be understood of the Holy seed of the Righteous generation that is of such children as are of the same Religion and of the same righteousnesse that their parents were For if you marke the Scripture you shall finde that wicked and ungracious children though they be begotten of righteous and religious parents yet they are not esteemed nor accounted as their seed As you see Gen. 16. 12. that Ishmael that ungracious younster whose hands was against every man and every mans hand against him Hee is called the seed of Hagar not the seed of Abraham though hee came out of his loynes as well as out of her wombe onely because the promise of blessing was not made to him but to Isaac who is therefore called the child of promise and Rom. Chapter 9. verse 7 8. Wee have an expresse place for to prove viz. That the children of the Promise onely are counted for the seede Others though they come of righteous parents according to the flesh yet in Gods account they are not reckoned for their seed And therefore Cajetan hath a good conceit upon that promise of God to Abraham Gene. Chap. 13. verse 15. The land which thou seest I will give unto thee and to thy seed for ever It is saith hee as if the Lord had said quandu erit semen tuum c. as long as they shall bee thy seed I will give them this land therefore when they beganne to degenerate from Abraham both in faith and in good life and were not his right children as our Saviour told the Iewes Ioh. 8. but rather by their wicked manners the children of the devill God was no longer tied to his promise but did disinherit them of that good land which they might still have enjoyed had they continued to be Abrahams seed and followed the stepps of his righteousnesse The like place we have Psal 132. 11 12. The Lord swore unto David of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy Throne that is one of thy children shall still succeed thee in thy kingdome but marke what kinde of children God meant onely such as should keepe his Covenant and doe as their father had done If thy children will keepe my Covenant saith God and my Testimony as thou hast done their children also shall sit upon thy Throne for ever-more so that the promises of blessing though they seem to be made promiseuously to all the children of the righteous yet are they peculiarly restrained to such onely as tread in the steps of their parents vertues Therefore in the Iewish Talmud an ungracious sonne is called Ben ve lo ben filius non filius a sonne and no sonne as an Eunuch is said to be a man and no man and a Batt a bird and no bird and a Pumise a stone and no stone so a disobedientâ— childe is a childe and no childe a childe according to the flesh no childe according to the Spirit a childe in mans account no childe in Gods It is storied of Augustus Cesar that hee had three untoward sonnes whom he used to terme tres vomicas tria carcinomata his three impostumes or his three ulcerous cancers they were such an eye-sore and an heart-sore unto him so may all ungracious children be truly termed as being no better than ulcers and cancers to those that breed and bring them up as Esau was to Rebeccah Gen. 26. ult So that on the one side whereas it is said God will visite the sinnes of the fathers upon the children it is meant onely of wicked children such as do patrizare and follow the tracke of their parents wickednesse and so draw upon themselves their just-deserved punishments so on the contrary whereas it is said in my text that God will never forsake the righteous nor their â—eed it is meant onely of good children that follow the coppy of their Parents righteousnesse and so bring themselves within the compasse of their parents happinesse It is indeed a great happinesse to be borne and bred of righteous parents for as manie a good child smarts for his fathers wickednesse so many a bad one fares the better for his fathers goodnesse as Cham was saved in the Arke not for his owne but for his fathers sake And I doe verily beleeve that the more vertuous predecessours a man hath the greater mercies he shall receive as the blessings of Abraham Isaac and Jacob all three together were more availeable for their posterity than if there had beene but one single of them therfore Iacob saith to Joseph Gen. 49. 26. The blessings of thy Father shall be stronger than the blessings of my elders for he had his fathers blessing and all the rest concurring therewith as on the contrary I feare that the more evill Ancestours one hath the greater punishment he shall receive if his owne sinnes be also added to theirs Therefore let all children that have good parents thanke God for them be obedient unto them and take heede they doe not degenerate from them for as it little benefits a river to come from a cleare spring if it selfe be muddy or as it little benefits a blinde man to say that his parents could see or a feeble man that his parents were strong so it s little comfort and lesse credit to any young person that his parents were worthy and vertuous if he himselfe be unworthy and vicious for this blessing which is here reported of the seede of the righteous belongs you see of â—ight to none but to the righteous seed that is to such children as are righteous and religious as their parents have beene for the other in Gods account aâ—e none of their seed 2 The last question is whether none of the Righteous seed ever did come or ever shall come to beggery because David saith He never saw their seed quaerentes panem seeking or begging their bread I dare not but say that this generall Rule may admit of som exceptions for we know that Lazarus was a Righteous man for immediatly upon his death his soule was conveied by Angels in Abrahams bosome and yet he lay begging at Dives gate So was Bartimeus no
am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes there 's a gratious promise but marke the condition in the next immediate words put me in remembrance saith God and I will doe it and not otherwise for though God remember all our sinnes and can tell them better than our owne soules yet he doth not remember them to our comfort but rather to our confusion unlesse we tell him and put him in remembrance of them so that the onely way to put our sinnes out of Gods remembrance is to put them into his remembrance the onely way to make God forget them is daily and hourely to declare them and put him in minde of them If therefore thou canst not be so good as thou wouldst be not ashamed be not afraid to tell God how evill thou art tell him how ungodly how unthankefull how unprofitable a servant thou hast beene unto him and desire God to mend thee and make thee such a one as he would have thee And as Ioseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the body of Iesus so goe thou to God and begge the Spirit of Iesus even that spirit of Grace and Supplication which the Prophet speakes of Zach. 12. 10. which will come downe from heaven and bring into thy soule first Supplications to prepare thee secondly Grace to assure thee of the free and full forgivenesse of all thy sinnes And then let thy sinnes bee what they will be sinnes of death sinnes of blood sinnes of hell if thou canst finde in thy heart to pray God will finde in his heart to pardon for his Grace is sufficient to doe it That 's the first 2. The second thing whereto the sufficiency of Gods Grace doth belong is Adconsolandum to comfort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted I should have fainted saith David Psal 27. 13. for all my worldly comforts but that I steadfastly beleeved to see the Lords good grace in the land of living that is to see it before he dyed therefore we reade 1. Sam. 30. 6. when he was in great distresse had neither house nor home to shelter him neither wife nor child nor friend be any to comfort to him but his owne very souldiers began to takle of stoning him Then saith the text David comforted himselfe in the Lord his God Heare this thou poore disconsolate man that art as thy Saviour was said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sad round about thou that lookest into thy purse and there is no comfort money is gone that lookest into thy cubbord and there is no comfort provision is gone that lookest into thy barne and store-house and there 's no comfort corne and wares are gone that lookest in thy heart and ther 's no comfort cheerefulnesse and joy is gone Then looke up to God and there is comfort to bee had if there bee any water it is in the sea if there bee any light it is in the sunne if there be any comfort it is in God Therefore the Apostle justly calleth him The God of all consolation 2. Cor. 1. because when all other comforts faile theres's comfort to bee found in God For beleeve this for a truth there is no mans case no mans estate no mans soule is desperate to God but when they are at the lowest ebbe at the rest stay at the most forlorne hope then doth God speake peace unto their soules then doth hee draw out those same vbera consolationes those breasts or dugges of consolation which the Prophet speakes of Esay 66. 11. and drops downe that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that sincere milke of heavenly comfort to revive the spirit of the humble and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart The Hebrewes observe that one and the same word nakam signifieth first to repent and then to comfort and it may bee well applyed to this purpose that true comfort belongs to none but such are truly penitent So our Saviour tells us that the holy Ghost whom he calles the comforter when he commeth the first thing he will doe is to convince the world of sinne that is first put men quite out of comfort in themselves then put them into comfort by their Saviour In a word then forasmuch as comfort cannot be had without repentance nor repentance bee endured without comfort nor either of these bee attained without God it remaines that as the daughter of Caleb besought her earthly father Iud. 1. so we beseech our heavenly Father to give us the springs above as well as the springs beneath I meane that Irriguum superius the spring of grace comfort from above as well as that Irriguum inserius the spring of sorrow and repentance from beneath and then let our discomforts and discontents be what they will wee shall have grace sufficient from God to countervaile them al and as Philip said to our Saviour Iohn 14. 8. Lord shew us the father and it sufficeth us so though our sinnes confound us and our consciences condemne us Lord shew u◠thy favour as t is sufficient for us 3. The third is Ad sanandum His Grace is sufficient to cure and heale us of all those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those bodily ailements and infirmities which God for sinne doth inflict upon us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from those scourges and roddes as the holy Ghost termeth sore diseases Luc. 7. 21. for indeed they are the very rods which God useth to chasten and correct us for our follies I say there is no rod so sharpe no disease so sore but Gods Grace is sufficient to heale it and to take it off I am Ropeca saith God Exod. 15. penult I am thy Physitian or I am the Lord that healeth thee and if God be the Phisitian his Grace is the Physicke for whosoever be the instrument of our health God is the Authour his Grace is it that doth the cure Therefore in common speech when any outward malady doth befall us whereof we know no second cause wee use to say and we say well that it came by the Grace of God now if thou beleevest that it came by Gods Grace beleeve this also that by the same Grace it shall in Gods good time be remedied and removed and done away for as S. Iames saith in another case God giveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace and sheweth more favour to heale those that are sicke and broken in heart than to breake their hearts with sickenesse that were well and whole both are from the same Grace but the one more especially the other But then the maine point for satisfaction will be this seeing it is in the power of Gods Grace to cure all infirmities and that in a moment with a word-speaking as the Centurion said Speake but the word and my servant shall be whole Why will God suffer so many of his owne Patients that have no Physitian but
desire of God as it is in the Collect That his speciall Grace may ever more prevent and follow us first that God would prevent us with his Grace to put into our hearts good motions good thoughts and good desires and secondly that it may follow us too as the water of the Rocke followed the Campe of the Israelites to the Land of Promise 1 Cor. 10. 4. so that Gods Grace may follow accompany and goe along with us in this world and never leave us never forsake us till it hath brought us to the end of our Faith which is the salvation of our soules according to that Psal 109. ult Dominus ad dextram c. the Lord is at the right hand of the poore to save him from all them that would condemne his soule where note that he doth not say the Lord is at their left hand which is as I may terme it the lazy hand to save men in their negligent and idle courses But hee is at their right hand which is the working hand to save all them that worke for their salvation and carefully use the meanes to save themselves which thing if thou make a conscience to doe though thy sinnes and thy enemies should conspire to condemne thee Thy God and his Grace will be sufficient to save thee And so at length I am come aboard the last and long-desired part of my text which containes the application of all in particular which hath beene spoken and delivered in generall drawne out of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Grace is sufficient for thee so that as it is said of our Saviour Mat. 21. 45. that his doctrine was so punctuall and clapt so close to the consciences of his Auditors that the Pharises knew he meant them so by that time I have done with my text neither will I bee long in doing it I trust you shall perceive that Gods meaning was to you when hee spake to Saint Paul and told him that His Grace is sufficient for him Briefly than see what Paul was and say what thou art if your case bee the same your comfort is the same for God is no accepter of persons his Grace is as sufficient for the one as for the other 1. Saint Paul was Homo in Christo he was a man in Christ as you may see by the second verse of this chapter I knew a man in Christ that was taken up into the third heaven Art thou such a one I meane art thou regenerate and become a new creature for he that is in Christ is a new creature 2. Cor. 5. 17 dost thou daily renew thy repentance and renew thy obedience and renew thy duty and devotion to God and is it a griefe to thy soule that so much of the old leaven thy old corruption remaines still in thy heart Then take this holy Scripture to thy comfort and assure thy selfe though thy conscience disquiet thee Gods Grace will be sufficient for thee contrarily if thou beest an old weather beaten sinner an old rusty drunkard swearer and that standest at a stay and gatherest sinne like an old tree that stands and gathers mosse I must say unto thee as Peter said to Symon Magus Act. 8. thou hast neyther part nor portion in this priviledge thou art not a man in Christ and consequently canst claime no interest in the grace and favour of God 2. Saint Paul was Homo in Cruce a man upon the crosse Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ and elswhere Colos 1. 24. I fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh whereupon saith a father quid deest passioni Christi nisi uâ— nos similâ—a patiamur what is or what can be wanting to the sufferings of Christ but that as he tooke up his crosse so we take up ours and follow him for vae portantibus crucem non sequentibus Christum woe to them that are crucified not with Christ that bare the crosse and follow not Christ but turne from him cleane another way It is well knowne that afflictions go under the name of crosses now a crosse was a peece of wood for a malefectour to die on there was no other use of a crosse but that Affliction therefore is called a crosse because it should have the nature and power of a Crosse that is it should be a meanes to crucifie and mortifie all carnall lusts and affections in us that the more we are afflicted the more we should dye to sin and the lesse life and power should our corruptions have in us Thus it was with Saint Paul is it so with thee dost thou wish and desire the death of thy sinnes dost thou make this use of thy afflictions even to die daily as the Apostle speakes dost thou every day drive one naile into the body of sinne I meane one sigh or grone to God against it dost thou labour to draw blood of thy soule as they drew blood of thy Saviour I meane the teares of true repentance and is it a death to thy heart that thou canst not die unto sinne and live unto God as thou shouldest and oughtest to doe Then looke no further for Harts-ease but to the words of my text and assure thy selfe what ever Crosses be upon thee Gods Grace in Gods good time shall bee sufficient to ease thee Contrariewise if thou beest one that dost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Setphen speaketh Acts. 7. â—1 one that dost fall crosse and contrary to all but to thy sinnes and art indeede a very crosse to God himselfe and to his good Spirit by thy perverse ungodly courses I must say unto thee as the Prophet Esay saith Esay 3. 6. Woe bee unto thy soule for thou hast rewarded evill unto thy selfe thou forsakest thy owne mercy and deprivest thy selfe of the comfort of Gods grace in the time of neede 3. Saint Paul was Homo in negotiis a laborious man a man full of imployments 1. Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more then all my fellow Apostles saith hee yet not I but the grace of God which was with mee there 's an honest acknowledgement by whom he profited and elsewhere hee tells the Corinthians 2. Cor. 11. 9. When I was with you and wanted non obtorpui I was not chargeable nor burthensome to any man The learned observe that word hath his weight from Torpedo which signifieth a Cramp-fish a fish they say that hath such a benumming quality that the cold of it will strike from the hook to the lyne from the line to the goad from the goad to the arme from the arme to the body of the fisher and so benum him take away al use and feeling of his limmes His meaning is that he was none of those idle drones that by their lazinesse and lewdnesse doe even chill and benumme and dead the charity of well-disposed people but as he laboured in preaching so hee wrought in his calling too and put himselfe to any paines
sinfull soules and bodies These thoughts came in upon the by and therefore I will not stand to enlarge them but hasten to the next general part of my text as it followeth in the next place Spargit pruinam sicut cinereÌ„ he scattereth or sprinkleth the hoary frost like ashes 2. This I termed the Diligence of God He that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor â—leepeth but when we are a sleepe God is awake when we are at rest God is at worke when wee are taking our ease within then is our God taking paines abroad to sprinkle the hoary Frost in the evening for our health and welfare in the morning The consideration hereof should move us not onely to praise God for his Day-mercies as David did Seven times a day will I praise thee saith he Psal 119. because hee knew that so and more than so often he was beholding to God every day that came over his head but also wee have just cause to remember God for his Night-mercies for his preservation and protection for his custody and care that hee hath of us in the night as well as in the day time Have I not remembred thee on my bed saith David elsewhere and thought upon thee when I was waking Psal 63. 7. So if thou hast forgotten God at thy board remember him on thy bed if thou hast not thought upon him in the day thinke upon him the more in the night and when at any time God holdeth thy eyes waking as he did Davids often then consider and call to minde Gods mercies and thine owne sinnes be thankefull for the one be humbled for the other and then lie downe in the peace of Iesus Christ And in the morning when thou walkest a broad and seest the hoary frost lie upon the ground like ashes then thinke with thy selfe this is the worke of Gods owne hands God hath surely beene in this place and I was not aware of it Now marke the manner of Gods working Spargit prâ—inam he sprinkleth the hoary frost that is hee doth it in such a secret insensible invisible manner that no man living can perceive it till God have done his worke and finished it and even so it pleaseth God to worke and bring to passe the regeneration of a sinfull soule my Father worketh saith our Saviour and I worke and yet both worke after such a secret way that untill a man be converted the worke of Gods grace cannot be imagined nor perceived as it was with our Saviour at his resurrection when he was risen he appeared and shewed himselfe but the manner of his rising or how or which way he arose and got out of the Sepulchre no man living saw or could conceive as Salomon saith that the way of a ship in the sea is not to be knowne or found a man may stand upon the shore and see the ship and the sea and the ship going on the sea but the way of a ship in the sea is unknowne and undiscernable even so the wayes of God in translating men out of the state of sin and death into the state of grace and life are sine vestigijs unsearchable and past finding out Many a one is troubled that he knowes not the very instant of his conversion and regeneration to God and therfore makes question of his Christian calling but you know there is great difference betwixt a man that is suddenly converted as Paul was like a brande snatcht out of the fire as Saint Iude speakes in the very heate of their sinnes and such as have the grace of God wrought in them by degrees as Timothy had sensim sine sensu now a little and then a little by the secret supplies of the Spirit of grace now it is an easie matter for the one to set downe the time and manner of their regeneration not so for the other But the effect of all is this if a man can finde in himselfe the markes of the Lord Iesus aâ— the Apostle speakeeth I meane the infallible signes and symptomes of grace as a desire to feare God a â—are to please him and a kindly repentance when he hath done amisse let him never make question of his owne conversion but take it as an undoubted evidence to his soule that God hath received him into the state of mercy wherein he will reserve him for ever unto Iesus Christ No man makes question how the frost is gendred when he sees it lie upon the earth because hee knowes it is the handy worke of God And so is this Againe â—pargâ—â— pruinam Looke how God doth with the hoary frost how he scatters it upon the grasse that no one spot of ground hath it all but every pile of grasse hath some sprinkling of it so he doth with all his heavenly gifts and graces no man ever was so happy to have the fulnesse of grace save only our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ All we have but our sprinklings a sprinkling of faith a sprinkling of zeale a sprinkling of repentance and other graces some more some lesse as God is pleased to distribute it Hence the grace of God is compared unto two things in Scripture which are both things of sprinkling namely Salt and Seed Our Saviour compares it unto salt Marke 9 ult Have salt in your selves and be at peace one with another Now you know They that season meate doe not lay their salt all on a heape but scatter it and sprinkle it all over that every part may be made savoury by it So doth God distribute to every man a measure of grace that his soule may be seasoned and all his services be made savoury to the Lord that he may smell in them as he did in Noahs sacrifice Odâ—rem quietis a Savour of rest Saint Iohn compares the grace of God unto Seed 1 Ioh. 3. â— Hee that is borne of God cannot sinne meaning sinne unto death Why quia semâ—n dei because the seede of God abideth in him Now you know no sower layes his seede all on a heape but scatters and sprinkles it all over his land that every furrow may have some part of the feed and yeeld him againe some fruite of increase Thus doth God sow the seede of eternall life in the mindes and hearts of all faithfull people there is no one that hath all grace and there is no one but hath some some sprinkling of every grace For this cause I suppose the bloud of Christ is called the bloâ—d of sprinkling Heb. 12. 24. in allusion to the Passeover where the bloud of the Pascall Lâ—mâ—e was sprinkled on the posts of the doore to save the house from the deadly stroke of the revenging Aâ—gel So is the bloud of Iesus Christ sprinkled as it were by the â—inger of God upon the soules and consciences of all peniâ—â—nt sinners to save their soules from death and to take out the blots and staines of all our sinnes Looke how Aqua fortis takes out the blots of Inke out of a
paper so doth this precious bloud take out the blots of sinne out of the soule and blessed of God is that man that 〈◊〉 sprinkled with it All those sprinklings of 〈◊〉 in the Law of Moses were all but types and shadowes of this bloud of sprinkling which speaketh better things than that of Abell because Abel bloud cried for revenge but the bloud of our Saviour cries for mercy and drownes the cry of our deadly sinnes that â—ry and roare for vengeance And therefore iâ—â—â—ou hast not had the grace to keepe thy 〈…〉 spotted of the world but rather for want of grace 〈…〉 hast bestained and bespotted thy selfe with filthy lusts and sinneâ— then let me advise thee thus to doe as Ioseph of Arimaâ—hea went to pitaâ—â— and begged the body of Iesus Ioh. 19. â—8 So doe thou goe to God and begge the bloud of Iesus and desire the Lord to sprinkle it upon thy soule that thy sinnes may be done away and thy iniquities may be seene nâ— more for even this kinde of sprinkling is as easie to God as that whereof my Text here speaketh He 〈◊〉 or sprinkleth the hoâ—râ— frost like ashes Sicut cinâ—râ—m like Ashes Wee read Exod. â— 8. That Moses by Gods appointment tooke ashes from off the furnace and sprinkled them towards heaven and they bred botches and boyles and blames upon man and beast If God should sprinkle such ashes among us or if the hoary frost should bring forth such effects what a wofull case were we in How much cause therefore have wee as the Prophet speakes Hos 3. 5. to feare the Lord and his goodnesse in that being so unthankefull and so evill as wee are yet God is pleased out of his owne goodnesse and mercy not because we please him but because mercy pleaseth him Micha 7. 18. to doe us good and no harme all our dayes and to sprinkle such wholesome healthfull frost as shall doe every man good and no man hurt It is said Exod. 16. 14. That Manna which was called Angels-food not because the Angels did eate it but because the Angels did prepare it and bring it and make it ready for the peoples eating this Manna lay upon the ground like the hoary frost in the morning Doubtlesse it was to intimate that Manna is no more to God than ashes are to us and that if neede were rather than his people should famish God can turne the hoary frost into Angels food that we might live upon the one as the Israelites did upon the other forty yeares together David was driven to a low ebbe when hee said Psal 102. 9. Cinerem tanquam panem manducavi I have eaten ashes like bread I take it it was not so much out of necessity as to testifie his humility that hee did esteeme himselfe so vile a sinner that hee was not worthy to feede upon any better food and that dust and ashes were too good for him And so in the dayes of old they were wont in times of sorrow and sadnesse to sprinkle dust and ashes upon their heads from whence I take it our Ashwednesday hath its name being dies cinerum a day wherein men humbled them before the Lord in dust and ashes this they did to expresse the humiliation and deepe abasement of their soules that they thought themselves not worthy to be above ground but to be vnder earth in the grave dead and dissolved into dust and ashes I will not here presse the imitation of the ceremony but onely the observation of the substance of that act which concernes us as neerely as it did them and that is I would have you be as humble as sorrowfull as dejected and as pensive for your sinnes as vilely and basely and meanely conceited of your selves as they that strawed ashes upon their heads or as they that eatâ— ashes in stead of bread and mingled their drinke with weeping And so I come to the third generall point of my Text 〈◊〉 it followeth in the third place 3. Procijcit ejus glaciem sicut buccellas He casteth forth his iâ—e like morsels Me thinkes the Ice hath some resemblance of the state of this world which is dangerous two wayes 1. For slipping 2. For breaking 1. For slipping so the Fathers call the sinnes of the godly by the name of Lapsus slippings because like men on Ice they slipt and fell ere they were aware of it And David saith of the men of this world Psa 73. that God hath set them in slippery places Now a man that walkes in a slippery place had neede walke very circumspectly and very warily least he get a slip unawares that he cannot rciover himselfe without hurt and danger So the Apostle adviseth all good Christians to see that they walke Circumspectly Ephe. 5. 15. not as fooles but as wise A foole will venture to runne headlong on the Ice as if he were upon firme ground but a wise man will be very circumspect and wary and take heede to every steppe hee takes because he knowes the danger So should a Christian take heede to his wayes and if he finde himselfe going that he is ready to slip and fall from God into any sinne or to be carried headlong by the strength of his owne corruption or other temptation into any dangerous or wicked action let him then call unto the Lord as David did Psal 119. 117. sustenta me c. stay thou me up and I shall be safe like a man ready to fall he prayes God to uphold and stay him up For it is certaine a man hath not any power of himselfe to stay himselfe but that as Hanna tels us in her song 1. Sam. 2. 9. It is God that keepeth the feet of his Saints and staies them when they are going into an evill course And Moses tels us Deut. 33. 3. That God hath all his Saints in his hands as a Nurse hath her child and will not suffer them to fall into their own mischiefe and therefore our care must be by daily prayer to put our selves into Gods hands and desire God to leade us by his grace and his good Spirit and not leave us to our selves for then we shall surely slip and fall into evill That child that cares not to be led but will goe of himselfe gets many a knocke and many a shrewd fall but the child th at is fearefull and will cry to be led that child scapes many a broken face Therefore David desires God to leade him Psal 5. 8. Whereupon saith Musculus Duci caeâ—orum est puâ—rorum infirmorum c. to be led is a thing that properly belongs to such as are blinde and to children and impotent persons now if a blinde man or a child should goe upon the Ice without some guide to leade them what a dangerous case were they in even such are we without the guidance of God The Ice is dangerous and so is the world take heede of slipping 2. For breaking many a one we have knowne and heard