further from thee CHAP. XI THE fourth and last branch of our secular burdens is the burden of difficulties that follow the duties of our callings The callings themselues whether superiour or inferiour whether in a priuate house or in an ample Citie in the whole kingdome or in the Church of God are the ordinances of God as Paul saith of the magistrate The powers that bee are ordained of God and as might be shewed for all other callings from the highest to the lowest Therefore they are honorable and in them we serue the Lord as so many officers in his house And the offices that we are tied to performe by the nature condition of our callings they are inioyned vnto vs to euery calling distinctly by God himselfe in his word wherein is set downe what the King the Iudge and euery Maiestrate what the Minister the husband the wife the father the childe the Maister and seruant must doe and therefore those officers are holy The ends of them are the glory of God the peace of the kingdome the edification of the Church and the prosperitie good of euery priuate person and therefore it is honorable to vs to be imployed in those callings and to performe those good offices for in those callings and offices we serue God whose seruice is perfect freedome while others neglecting to serue in these callings and to performe these offices serue their owne lustes the world and the Diuell to their dishonour Yet those offices so holy and so honorable by reason of certaine difficulties that accompany and follow them doe bring a heauie burden of troubles vpon vs. Sometime wee are vnsufficient for those callings and vnable to performe those offices And that happeneth either by our own fault or by the fault of some others By our owne fault either in our entrance ambitiously or couetously thrusting into callings for the honor and fee of them that we were neuer fit for or after our entrance losing our gifts through sloth and idlenes and so growing vnsufficient as an instrument that is become rustie for want of vse By the fault of others when they which had power to call and admit vnto any place perhaps authoritie to impose hauing a goâ—…d opinion of thy gifts haue singled thee foorth somewhat too soone being willing rather to wait for a suller growth of thy gifts then to lose a man of so great hope In all these cases of our insufficiencie thâ—… duties of our callings proue a heauie burden vnto vs. Sometime wee are sufficient for the seruice that our callings bind vs vnto and we vse faithfull diligence but some froward men oppose against vs as Elimas the sorcerer with-stood the preaching of Paul By meanes of which opposition crosse working of those men it commeth to passe that either thou canst not bring to prosperous issue the good things that thou labourest in or thou effectest them with much more labour This maketh the seruices of thy calling to be much more heauie vnto thee Sometime thou art sufficient and art diligent and hast effected things happily to thy minde but then enuious men misconstrue mistake wittingly and misreport thy doings as the Scribes and Pharises mistake and mis-reported the holy and most absolute workes of the Lord Iesus And then insteed of loue and commendation which thou didst looke for thou art blamed and insteede of reward and incouragement which thou didst deserue thou art in danger to be punished this proues a great burden In all these cases yee see how heauie burdens grow from honorable and honest callings besides the continuall care that euery good man hath to doe his dutie in his place Let vs see how we may cast these burdens vpon God to be eased If thou be insufficient through thine owne fault ambitiously or couetously intruding into thy calling to possesse thy selfe of the honor of the place or of the fee that belongeth vnto it without examining thy strength how able thou were to doe the seruice of it or not regarding though thou knowest thy strength to be altogether insufficient of which sort are many men both in the common wealth and Church Such are many antient men that hauing plentie of wealth and pâ—…nury of wisdome that for their worship make meanes to be in the commission for the peace hauing no knowledge or very little of the lawes of the kingdome to helpe to compound the controuersies of the people And such are young gentlemen brought vp in idle pleasures that being younger brethren for their better maintenance make suite to haue the charge and leading of companies for the war would be Captaines the first day hauing neuer yet beene good souldiers they knowe how to behaue themselues in the house and among friends but they know not how to behaue themselues in the field and against enimies And such are many ignorant and slothfull men that seeke to be admitted into the ministrie and to get a good benefice that they may liue easily and eate the milke of the flocke hauing no abilitie to seede the flocke yea no care thereof These men when they are called and vrged to the seruices of their places then begins their burden to waie heauie and their insufficiencie makes them subiect to danger and disgrace How shall these men cast their burden vpon God for their ease If thou be not very far from sufficiencie but that counsell from others thine owne studie and trauell the view of other mens doings some practice made by thy selfe and other like good meanes blessed of God whose helpe thou must pray for may bring thee vnto some reasonable dexteritie in time vse and apply all these meanes and let prayer be vsed with euery other meanes and remember what thou hast vndertaken and that thou canst not without danger neglect the worke of the Lord and God will second thy desire and trauaile with his blessing The twelue when they were first called and admitted of the Lord Iesus were not so fit for their places as afterward they proued I speake not these things to imbolden any man to thrust into â—… calling without due preparation but onely to aduise for the best those that are already entred themselues being hitherto very vnreadie Let them vse good meanes and make triall of Gods mercie It hath fallen out that men very raw at their first entring by diligence after vsed haue growne very fit while others of good fitnes at their entring by negligence and idlenes haue lost their giftes and become very vnprofitable But if thou be far from sufficiencie so that after thy entrance all thy diligence assisted with prayer vnto God cannot inable thee at least in some mediocritie to doe thy dutie then know that God hath not called thee to that place Then the onely way of casting thy burden vpon God iâ—… in the feare of God to giue ouer that calling to resigne that place and no longer either for honors sake
euen the best regenerate man that feareth God and loueth righteousnesse that hath both his vnderstaÌ„ding enlightned his will sanctified so that he wanteth neither knowledge zeale nor humility yet can neither doe the good that gladly he would nor leaue vndone the euill that his soule abhorreth This is no smal burden to the man that wold please God and doe his dutie that hee becomes his owne troubler against his owne will and crosseth himselfe by corruption in that wherein he taketh pleasure by sanctification This made Paul the Apostle to crie out in these words O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death It was death to him that such corruption was so preualent in his fraile body And in another place he calleth the same law of sinne a pricke in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet him because it was euer seruiceable to satan and armed his hand against the holy feruant of God so that whensoeuer the Apostle did set his heart to doe well the diuell did beat him with the weapons of his owne corruption This is no small burden to an honest minded man The second ranke of these spirituall burdens are accusing thoughts checkes and terrors of conscience the worme in thy bosome gnawing thine heart This burden often followeth the former as Zophar speaketh When wickednesse was sweet in his mouth he hid it vnder his tongue and fauoured it and would not forsake it but kept it close in his mouth then his meat in his bowels was turned the gal of aspes was in the middest of him That is at first sinne in the committing of it is sweet as ratsbane poison often is goeth downe merrily and is meate and drinke to the sinner and he can not bee wonne from it because it is his delight but at last the time commeth according to the saying of God in the Psalme I wil reprooue thee and set them that is thy sinnes in order before thee According to this saying God mustereth his sinnes together and presenteth a view of them before the soule of the sinner where the diuell as a great officer in that campe setteth them forth in their colours that al the contempt of God and of his commandements all their vnthankfulnesse and forgetfulnesse of their duty all the violence filthinesse fury and disorder that accompanied their sinnes appeareth fresh to the sinners vnderstanding and what wrathin heauen what shame on earth and fire in hell he hath made himselfe worthy of and must now looke for And this turneth the meat in his stomack into 〈◊〉 this is more deadly then the poison of aspes can be then feare increaseth nope decreaseth then the wicked are confounded and could wish â—…illes and mountaines to fall vpon them to couer them from the face of God and thinking to flie deserued destruction they oft times cast themselues into eternall destruction and with Saul Achitâ—…phel and Iudas kil themselues Yea the best seruants of God when it pleaseth him to lay this burden in any tollerâ—…ble measure vpon them are exceedingly affrighted for a time Dauids words being pressed with this burden shew the heauy load of it There is nothing sound in my slesh because of thine anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinne For mine iniquities are gone ouer my head and as a waighty burden they are too heauy for me His affliction was great when the griefe of his minde changed the health of his body and left no soundnesâ—…e either in flesh or bones And so was it with the Prophet and the only cause of this so great disease was the remembrance of his sinnes and the feare of Gods angeâ—… by those sinnes deserued Another time laden with this burden as he was before he complained of his load as he had done before saying Innumerable troubles haue compassed me my sinnes haue taken such hold vpon me that I am not able to looke vp yea they are more in number then the haires of my head therefore my heart hath failed me Needes must the assault of innumerable troubles follow the remembrance of innumerable sinnes and these troubles where they lay hold doe depresse the heart that the ouercharged waight cannot looke vp to the mercy feat of God Yea where faith wageth battaile against fear and keepeth the field well strengthened with many promises and in the end preuaileth restoring peace to the conscience yet there for a time vntil the houre and power of darknesse passe ouer terrors are great when the charge of sinne lieth vpon the soule See it in him that had the greatest assurance of all the sonnes of men when the glorious sonne of God our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ for our redemption was to take vp and beare the burden of our sinnes it did put him to vnspeakable paine and was vpon his mighty shoulders a mighty burden Hence came that tripled praier O my father if it be possible let this cup passe from me neuertheles not as I wil but as thou wilt Thence came that agony that Saint Luke speaketh of that being in an open garden and kneeling on the bare ground about the middest of night in a cold season of the yeere he fell into a great sweat and his sweat was like drops of blood trickling downe to the ground Thence came that crie vpon the crosse which was not the singing of a Psalme but the true dittie of sorrow and of a depressed soule speaking as was before prophecied of him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me All these grew from the burden of our sinnes laid vpon him that he bearing our sinnes in his body vpon the tree we might be deliuered from sinne to liue in righteousnesse The burden therefore of sinne when accusing thoughts once presse and charge the conscience citing vs to appeare and answer before God for our offences is a most heauy burden the burden of the humble and broken hearted man these are the two rankes of spirituall burdens Now vnder these six rankes fower of secular burdens two of spirituall I suppose all those burdens may be comprehended which lie heauy vpon vs in this world and cause feare care and griefe vnto vs first care of the world secondly domesticall troubles thirdly troubles more remote fourthly the difficulties that follow the duties of our callings fiftly the sinfull lusts of our flesh fighting against our soules lastly accusing thoughts breeding terrors of conscience CHAP. V. YOu haue heard what the burden is now let vs consider what it is to cast this burden vpoÌ„ the Lord. And hereof I will speake first generally without relation to any particular sort of these burdens and then particularly with relation to the particular sorts of burdens before named and in such order as they were named but first generally What it is to cast our burden vpon the Lord we may see by the words of Saint Peter repeating this
of God and seeking to establish their owne righteousnes haue not submitted themselues to the righteousnes of God A single good intent without knowledge is the deuotion of fooles it hath no true comfort tied vnto it it saueth not from destruction it leadeth men blindefolde and sleeping into hell But when men haue learned out of the word of God what hee requireth and what is their duety vnto that knowledge ioyne a true desire to doe their duetie then vnfained desire is before God esteemed a perfect worke Therefore doth Saint Paul say That loue is the fulfilling of the Law And in another place The end of the Law is loue out of a pure heart and a good conscience and of faith vnfained The Law requireth no more but loue which will neuer be idle and that obtained the Law hath attained his true end in vs. And to him that thus loueth as much is due as vnto him that perfectly fulfilleth the commandement Thirdly to him that thus in heart desireth while he liueth here full perfect and absolute holinesse being grieued that the lusts of his flesh should stand vp in his way with such strength as they doe that which hee desireth shall in due time be granted with increase of grace in the meane while For when death comes in which hee pulleth off sinfull flesh he shal put off sin al corruption togither with the flesh and thenceforth hee shall offend his God no more nor be in any danger of offending him For the Apostle truely saith He that is dead is freed from sinne both from the act of sinne and from all lusting after sinne And when he shall receiue his bodie againe in the resurrection hee shall receiue it cleansed and purged from that corruption that was in it before For so doth Saint Paul testifie saying The body is sowne in corruption and is raised in incorruption By which incorruption he vnderstandeth not onely an estate of strength and health whereby it shall be freed from that decaying that it was subiect to before in regard whereof we haue relieued it with daily food to repaire the daily decaies and also freed from sicknesse and paine that it suffred here before in regard whereof wee take much physicke to ease the paine of it and to maintaine the health of it but he vnderstandeth rather by incorruption an estate of purenesse holinesse whereby it shall bee freed from sinning and offending God and shall stand and remaine for euer purged and cleansed from all sinfulnesse and in as perfect sanctitie as the blessed Angels of God And our true holinesse begunne heere shall be consummated and become perfect holinesse there These are matters of comfort to cheere his heart that is grieued with the burthen of his owne corruptions not suffering him to serue God as hee would his defaults displeasing him shall not bee laid to his charge His loue and true desire shall be accepted as if his life were without fault and hereafter in due time he shall be wholly freed from all corruptions And these comforts are some ease of his burthen that though his lusts be still as strong as they were yet his g◅iefe for them is not so much as it was But let vs see further how a man may cast this burthen vpon God to be eased of it and get masterie ouer his lusts For the casting of this burthen vpon God these are good rules and profitable seruing to procure case and whereby strength against the corruptions and lusts of the flesh is obtained First let him be diligent in the study of the word of God which Dauid calleth A lanterne vnto our feete and a light vnto our paths Because in the spirituall darkenesse which ouershadoweth our souls in this world so that of our selues wee cannot see nor finde out the paths of righteousnesse wherein wee should walke if wee take vnto vs the word of God it like a shining light will reueale vnto vs the old way which is the good way that we may goe forward in it It will teach vs what to doe and what to leaue vndone and will guide vs aright against the dangerous seducings of our owne euill lusts And great force it hath to keep vs in our way euen in those men in whom their lusts and corruptions are most strong As for example in yong men in whom there is more pride of wit and more stubbornnesse of wil then in men of other ages in them the word of God is powerfull to make them aduised and to humble them Dauid asketh this question Wherewith all shall a yong man redresse his wayes and hee giueth answer in the next words saying In taking heed there to according to Gods word Such an excellent help against the seducing lusts of the flesh is the word of God for the redressing of our waies So that if a man burdened with his corruptues desiring to obtain strength against them doe giue himselfe to study the word of God and do take heed vnto it though he were as prowd witted and as stubbornely wilfull as were those yong men the sonnes of Iacob that cōmitted the outrage at Shechem yet the word of God will bring downe his prowd wit reclaime the forward wils of the very dissolute gallants of the world And this doth Dauid being yet but a yong man out of experience in himself affirme saying By thy commandements thou hast made mee wiser then mine enemies for they are euer with me that is I am a continuall student in thy commandements I haue more vnderstanding then my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation that is my minde is alwayes vpon thy testimonies I vnderstand more then the ancient because I haue kept thy precepts that is age teacheth much by obseruation and experience but Gods word teacheth more So that while a man is carefull to study the Scriptures as Dauid was and maketh them his meditation hee shall soone become more wise then his teachers and more able to direct himselfe then the ancient that think themselues able to giue councell There shall not moue nor stir a corrupt lust in his heart attempting to draw him aside to sin but he being exercised in the study of Gods word shal presently be able with iudgement to checke that desire of his heart to oppose against it Gods owne will Secondly let him frequent the company of good men in whom hee seeth great power to subdue keepe vnder disordered lusts then is in himselfe and let him obserue imitate their behauiour this will helpe him much For if the word of God on the one side giue him a rule how to keepe vnder his raging lusts these men on the other side will be vnto him an example patterne shewing him how to doe it and a very simple workman when he hath not onely rules giuen him to direct his iudgment but a patterne also laid before him to direct his hand will very