is a fool the spiritual Man is mad Hos. 9. 7. Worldy Policy not to prejudice the truth of a good Conscience RAchel having stollen her Fathers Idols when he pursued her and came to search for them in the Tent she having hid them in the Camels litter and sitting upon them entreated him not to be angry though she rose not up to him For she was sick as she pretended and said It was with her after the manner of Women If by the custome of Women she would be understood to be in travell then she told a flat lie but if by a trick of mental reservation she did use that ambiguous phrase with an intention to deceive then at the best she did but Equivocate and even in so saying and so doing she made a flat breach of Conscience Thus many amongst us desire to be at as little charge as may be possibly whether to the State or to the Church And therefore when they are pressed by or for either of these then they are politickly sâ—â—k in the purse make themselves poor and needy and will hardly part with a penny if they can but with common civility or shamelesse impudency keep it which favors not onely of unthankful hearts to God but shews that they have most wretched Consciences caring not what they do so as they may keep that which falsly they call their own Holy duties call for holy Preparation DAvid washeth his hands in Innocency before he compasseth Gods altar Psal. 26. 6. and Iob intending to sacrifice unto God on the behalf of himself and his Children sends to them solemnly to prepare themselves chap. 1. v. 5. Nay the very Heathens themselves would not admit any to come to their Religious services unlesse they were first prepared as that of Aeneas to his Father Anchises upon his returrn from the Warrs Tu genitor cape sacra manu therefore they had one that cryed out to the People Procul hinc procul este prophani All you that are unclean and prophane depart hence and come not near us And shall Christians then who have learnt better things touch holy things with unholy hands or unholy hearts No they must not they ought not Holy Duties call for holy Preparation they must be sanctified within and without before they come to the performance of any holy duty It is true that the duty sanctifies but it is as true that the duty seldom sanctifies unlesse Men be sanctified for the duty And they get most holinesse from the duty who are most holy before they come to it Attention in Hearing Gods Word commanded and commended MAny there are in our days that delight to have Rings and Jewels hanged at their ears and they account it a great ornament unto them whose Vanity the Poet long since in a scoffing manner answered It is saith he because they have no fingers on their hands as if the fingers not the ears were made for Rings However this may be said that if we had the richest Iewels the East or West could afford us if we have not an ear bored through to the Heart a hearing ear to hear the Word of God they are no better then Iewels in a Swines snowt Oh the excellency of the Iewell of attention when audire terminates in obedire when we hear the Word of God and do it when we understand believe and practise what we hear Worldly Policy not to be in any thing prejudiciall to commutative Iustice. KIng David was very Politick in contriving how to work himself out of the shame of Adultery and his child by Bathsheba out of the shame of bastardy and therefore he so closely carried it that Uriah was slain and then he took her to Wife but because it did not stand with Justice first to deprave the Wise then to deprive the husband this his supposed Master-piece of folly and Worldly policy is amongst many other good characters brought in as a cressebarre in his arms and a foul blemish in his Coat Thus it is that few of us make any Conscience at all of that Iustice which is commutative due unto our Neighbour Do we not sometimes swear and lie and swear falsly and lay our Foundation in the bloud of the Innocent rather then we will not build and enlarge our Houses Yea Are not many of our buildings raised out of the ruines of Sâ—on What care we to take advantage of our brothers simplicity We look upon Inferiors with contempt and scorn use them but as stirrops to mount up into the saddle of our own private ends or like so many ladders to reach our designs and when we have got so high as they can help us then no matter though ladder-like they be hung up by the walls As for Superiors we either not know or will not acknowledge any living like the Locusts as if we had no Supream Authority no Law no Government to the great prejudice of the place wherein we live The best of Men not free from Sin in this life AS a Man who in the Morning washeth his hands and goes abroad about his Worldly businesse though he doth not puddle in the mire or rake amongst dunghills yet when he returns home again at dinner or at night if he wash he finds that he hath contracted some uncleannesse and that his hands are foul There 's no Man can converse with an unclean and filthy World but some uncleannesse must needs fasten unto him Even so it is with the Souls of Men such is the universal corruption of human Naâ—ure that the Souls of the best of the purest of the holiesâ— though they do not rake in the dunghill and wallow in the mire of Sin basely and silthily yet they do from day yea from moment to moment contract some filth and uncleannesse they may be clear from sinning wilâ—ully and with delight in which sense it is said He that is born of God sinneth noâ— and free from scandalous sins whereinto many of Gods dear children have through inadvertency fallen but they can never acquit themselves from Sins of infirmity such as do inevitably and inseparably cleave unto the best of Men especially considering the state and condition wherein they are having corrupt flesh and bloud about them Children of persons excommunicate to be Baptized ST Augustine writing to a young busie Bishop called Auxilius on the behalf of one Classicanus saith That for the offence of the Master of the house whom he had excommunicated before he should not therefore exeommunicate the rest of the Family and deny them the benefit of the Sacrament For saith he herein the Man may perish that is a Friend and the Devil be glad that is an Enemy Thus in a manner do they offend who refuse to baptize the Children of those that are excommunicated and such as are born in Fornication because their Parents are impenitent as though
Learned he made scruple of committing not onely the least known sin but of embarking into any action which was questionable amongst those that love the truth in sincerity This was in him a good frame of spirit and it were heartily to be wished that Mens actions were sutable to their professions that they would consult with God in all things that as they carry a Bible in their hand so they would make that their Master to direct them not listening to the close whisperings of the Iesuite in one ear for matters of Religion or to Nicholas the Florentine at the other ear in point of Policy but in all the changes and chances of this mortal life commit themselves to Gods guidance and so they shall be sure to prosper Minding of the great day of Judgement a meanes to live Godlily WHen Sapores King of Persia raised a violent persecution against the Christians Usthazanes an old Nobleman a Courtier that had Sapores Government in his minority being a Christian was so terrified that he left off his profession But he sitting at the Court-gate when Simeon an aged holy Bishop was leading to prison and rising up to salute him the good Bishop frowned upon him and turned away his face with indignation as being 〈◊〉 to look upon a Man that had denyed the faith Usthazanes fell a weeping went into his Chamber put off his courtly attire and brake out into these or the like words Ah how shall I appear before the great God of Heaven whom I have denyed when Simeon but a Man will not endure to look upon me if he frown how will God behold me when I come before his Tribunal The thought of Gods Iudgement seat wrought so strongly upon him that he recovered his spiritual strength and dyed a glorious Martyr Thus did but Men consider that they must one day stand before the bar of Gods Tribunal they would then be casting up how things stood betwixt him and their own Souls Would any man loyter away the day when he knows that he must shew his work to his Master at night Let every Man then in all his doings remeâ—ber his end and so he shall never do amiss remember that all must come to a reckoning in that great day and that though here in this world a Man may wear white gloves upon foul hands and a crooked body may be bolstered under a silken gown yet when they shall consider that these gloves shall be plucked off in that day and the body be shewed naked before God with whom they shall then have to do it will be a meanes to order and regulate their lives so that their appearance may be with comfort The great power of faith seated in the heart of Man THe Philosoper when he would perswade the King to settle his Court and place of residence in the heart of his dominion laid before him a Bull hide ready tan'd upon which when he stood upon any one side of it and so kept down that the other side would rise up when he removed to the side that rose up and kept down that then the side he came from would rise as high but when he stood in the middle he kept down all alike Thus Faith is this great King which being seated in the Heart makes provision against every Rebellion keeps down every mutiny marshals and orders every action and affection takes a Man off from all servile dependances and by-respects and makes him profess Gods name boldly evenly and without halting it cleanseth the whole heart seasons every affection alters the taste of every appetite strengthens every propension to good and fortifies the Soul against all evill Blasphemous language condemned CAto being very much struck in years would by all means study the Greek tongue and being asked by one Why in his old age he would set upon such an exotick language O said he I am informed that the Greek is a copious and fluent tongue and withall such a tongue as the Gods speak in I would therefore learn it that I may be able to converse with the Gods in their own Dialect This was Catoes conceit in those darker times of Nature but there is a generation amongst us in these clearer times of Grace Ranters Roaring boyes such as are great proficients in all manner of blasphemous language such as belch out nothing but oathes and direful execrations in the very face of Heaven What can this else be but to practise here on Earth what by a sad Prolepsis they are sure to come to hereafter that is to be roaring boyes and girls in Hell to all eternity Drowsiness in Prayer to be avoided IT is reported of Queen Katharine Dowager of King Henry the eighth that in her devotions to God she was poplite flexo nudo c on her bended knees naked upon the bare floore it was without doubt that she might be the more watchfull over her heart which otherwise might be apt to slumber and take a nod in the performance of so holy a duty It is not hereby meant to take away the use of Cushions but to mind us that we do not lay cushions of sloath under our knees nor pillowes of idleness under our elbowes nor to be drowsily devoted but to be active and sprightly upon the bended knees of our hearts when we approach unto God in the spirituall exercises of Prayer and heavenly meditation The least measure of true faith rewarded A Man having many Children and one amongst the rest a small undergrowth a very weakling Doth he cast off this child doth he cease to be a Father therefore No his bowels are the more enlarged he provides for it supports it cherisheth it more than all the rest till in some measure it be enabled to help it selfe Thus God if we be weak in faith though we be but as younglings of Christ's flock we must not therefore be discouraged he will take care of us not cast us off he hath a Crown for the least works if there be but singultus fidei a sob or a sigh of faith nay which is less if but a pant of faith present it self Surgam dicit Dominus c. I will up saith the Lord help them and set them at rest yet further which is the least of all though the pulse of faith beat not at all though David be like a deaf Man that heareth not or as one that is dumb not opening his mouth yet God will look down from his Sanctuary and make deliverance for David as he did also for tâ—e poor Man sick of the Palsie Mat. 19. 2. Hypocrisie the generality of it THe Emperour Frederick the third who when one said unto him he would go find some place where no Hypocrites inhabited he told him He must travell then far enough beyond the Sauromatae or the frozen Ocean and yet when he came there he should find an Hypocrite if he
will grow mad and then they tear their own flesh and rend themselves in pieces And it is so with the unbelieving Reprobate with all wicked men if they do but hear the noise of afflictions the very sound of sorrowes approaching how do they fret and fume and torment themselves nay by cursing and swearing how do they reâ—d the body of Christ from top to toe in pieces Malice and Envy not fit guests for God's Table ST Augustine could not endure any at his Table that should shew any malice against others in backbitings or detractings and had therefore two verses written on his Table to be as it were monitors to such as sat thereat that in such cases the Table was not for them Quisquis amat dictis absentâ—m rodere famam Hanc mensam vetitam noverit esse sibi Thus Englished He that doth love an absent friend to â—eer May hence depart no room is for him heer And how much lesse will the Lord endure any at his Table that come thither with malice and hatred against their brethren If love be required at our own Tables how much more will God require it in those that come to His Table When one man's heart swells with envy against another when a second is filled with malice and hatred this is not to eat the Lord's Supper but to eat one another this is not to sit at the Lord's Table but to be a guest at the table of devils Preparation to religious Duties must be free from worldly distractions IT was said of Sr. Wil. Cecill sometime Lord Treasurer of England that when he went to bed he would throw off his Gown and say Lye there Lord Treasurer as bidding adieu to all State-affairs that he might the more quietly repose himself So when we go to any Religious duty whether hearing or praying comming to the Lord's Table or in any other religious addresses whatsoever we should say Lie by world lie by all secular cares all houshold affairs all pleasures all traffick all thoughts of gain Lie by all adieu all We must now be as those that have nothing to do with the world for the time we must separate our hearts from all common uses that our hearts may be wholly for our God Dangerous to interpose with a divided People IT was once said to Luther when he was about interesting himself in seeking Reformation of those bad times Abi in cellam dic miserere nostri O Luther rather get you into your Cell and say Lord have mercy upon us And another being once asked why he did not write his judgment about the controversie of the time answered Cui usui Reipublicae cui bono mihi To what purpose it would not help the cause but much hazard him that should meddle And most true it is he that meddles with the divisions of the times may expect to be divided himself to have his name his repute cut assunder and thrown this way and that way It hath ever been an unthankfull work to meddle with a divided people a man may with as much safety put his hands into a nest of Hornets as to enterpose in the midst of such wild and unruly divisions as are now amongst us A good man is bettered by afflictions THe Bee is observed to suck out honey from the Thyme a most hard and dry herb So the good and faithful minded man sucketh knowledge and obedience from the bitter potion of adversity and the crosse and turneth all to the best The scouring and rubbing which frets others makes him shine the brighter the weight which crusheth others makes him like the Palm-tree grow the better the hammer which knocks others all in pieces makes him the broader and the larger In incude malleo dilatantur They are made broader on the Anvill and with the hammer although it be with the hammer yet dilatantur they are made to grow the wider The triall of faith is the enlargement of faith EXamination and tryall of a good Scholler hurts him not either in his learning or in his credit nay it advanceth him much in both his very examination rubs up his learning puts much upon him and sends him away with the approbation of others And thus in the tryall of faith there is an exercise of faith faith examined and tryed proves a faith strengthened and encreased Some things sometimes prove the worse and suffer losse by triall but the more faith is tryed the more faith is enlarged Unprofitable hearers of the Word described A Mariner when he takes his leave of his friends on thâ— shore sees them a while but when he is failed a little further then they are quite out of sight and he sees onely the houses then failing a little further he sees nothing but steeples and such high places but then sailing a little further nihil est nisi pontus aer he sees nothing but aire and water So it is with too too many unprofitable hearers of the Word it may be that when they are gon home from the Church there are some things fresh in memory but on the next day they have lost some but there are some other things that do yet present themselves before them and then they lose more and more till they have lost the sight of all no more of the Word appears then as if they had heard nothing at all All divisions are against Nature PHilosophers say Non datur vacuum there cannot be vacuity in the world the world could not stand but would be dissolved it every part were not filled because Nature subsists by being one if there were the least vacuity then all things should not be joyned in one there would not be a contiguity of one part with another This is the reason why water will ascend when the aire is drawn out of a pipe to fill it this is to prevent division in Nature O that we had but so much naturalnesse in us that when we see there is like to be any breach of union we would be willing to lay down our self-ends our self-interesâ—s and to venture our selves to be any thing in the world but sin that so we may still be joyning still uâ—iting and not rending from each other The hell of a guilty Conscience PHilo Iudaeus telleth that Flaccus plaid all the parts of cruelty that he could devise against the Iewes for their Religion's sake but afterward when the doom if Caligula fell upon him and he was banished to Andros an Island neer Greece he was so tormented with the memory of his bloody iniquities and a fear of suffering for them that if he saw any man walking softly neer to him he would say to himselfe This man is devising to work my destruction If he saw any go hastily Surely it is not for nothing he maketh speed to kill me If any man spake him fair he
a man cuts down his chiefest timber-trees it is an argument that he intends to part with his land And hath not God of late cut down many of the tallest Cedars in this our Lebanon And what can we expect such and so many are our wickednesses but that he will either part with or depart from this sinfull Nation of ours It is high time therefore to lay hold upon him by faith saying Help Lord for there is not one godly man left c. Psal. 12. 1. Neutrality in Religion dangerous THere is mention made of a kind of bastard-Eagle that hath one leg like the Goofe close at the foot the other open and armed with talents like that of the ordinary eagle with the close foot she swimmeth on the water and dives for fishes there with the open foot she soareth into the air and seizeth on her prey there But so it is that participating thus of two severall natures her strength is weakened and she her self made at last a prey to every ordinary crow Thus fares it with all Neuters all Hermophrodites all Ambo-dexters in Religâ—on such as have one close foot for sea and land for the world and worldly things and another open-foot for the aire above for heaven and heavenly things so that they may not be seen to float on the sea of this world altogether they take themselves to their wing and will seem to be religious and make some small fluttering up of their hearts towards Heaven but all in vain for being divided in their thoughts the act of their souls being not set upon the onely object God and the powers and faculties thereof not contracted to Himward no marvell if they wax faint in their duty and weak in all holy performances so that the devill like the ordinary crow set upon them conquer them and lead them captive at his will The Devill most busie in time of Prayer IT is an usuall custom that two being at law together when the suit comes to tryall the Plantiff by his Counsell labours all that he can to hinder the Defendant that the Judge may not hear him speak out what he is to say in his own defence So the devill the common plantiff and accuser of all mankind when he sees us upon our knees in addresses unto God who is the Judge of all the earth pleading for our selves by prayer and seeking the favour of God in the remission of our sins by the merits of his Son Christ Iesus then doth he stir most to interrupt us by weakening our evidence by throwing strange thoughts into our hearts so distracting our devotions that we may not be heard in what we pray for Sense of sin is from God onely AS when the pool of Bethesda was troubled the poor Cripples that lay there for cure did absolutely conclude that it was not any naturall motion of the water but an Angell that came down at a certain season and did it So when the heart of a sinner is troubled for his sin let him know for his comfort that this shaking of his soul ariseth not from any principle of corrupt nature that will defend it self nor from the devill he will not destroy his own Kingdom but from some seeds of grace sown in the heart which the Spirit of God greatly breathing upon the soul is thereby made sensible of sins and transgressions committed Leud Ministers what they are like unto LEud debauched Ministers whose doctrin and lives are as distant as the two Polar Lines cosmographically described on the Globe terrestriall are like those statuae Mercuriales on the road that point out unto a man which is the way to London but move not a foot thitherward themselves like those Carpenters that built the Ark to save others and were drowned themselves or like Porters of great mens gates that let in others but lodge without themselves So that what was said of Christ falsly and malitiously may be spoken of them really and truly He saved others himself he cannot save For 〈◊〉 as another by his good life sets a seal to his doctrin he by his bad life puts a lie upon the truth his words prove unprofitable because his life is abominable Not to admit of impediments in our way to Heaven A Certain Heathen making an Oration as he was sacrificing to his god in the midst of his devotion word was brought him that his onely son was dead whereat being nothing at all moved he made this answer Scio me genuisse mortalem I did not get him to live for ever and so went on with his businesse Thus when we are entring into the sight of Gods favour it may so please him to try us by afflictions there may newes come of a ship wrack'd at sea of a chapman broke in the country of the death of friends and allies c. Yet ought we not for all this to leave off our course in the service of him but rather whatsoever comes crosse make it as it were a Parenthesis an ornament not remora an hinderance in our progresse to Heaven But one sure way to Heaven THe Phrygian Fabulist hath a story of a Fox and a Cat as they wâ—re discoursing their evasions in the midst of danger I saies the Fox have many holes to earth in if hindred of one I have another to run to Let me alone to shift for my self to save my life and sleep in a whole skin Well saies the Cat I must do as well as I can I have but one way to save my life and that 's to climb for it As they were thus conferring the toiles were laid the dogs began to open the hunt was up and the Fox for all his cunning for all his tricks and devices was torn in pieces by the hounds whilst the Cat getting up into a tree secured her self from danger Thus there may seem to be many waies to Heaven but there is one onely true safe way There 's many a man in these daies that thinks to go to God by the way of two Religions one at home another abroad one publick another private And whilst he is thus divided and halting betwixt two the Hunt is up that roaring Lion the devill laies hold upon him and devoures him Whereas the true reall well-affected Christian cleaving close unto one God one Faith one Baptism gets upon that scala coeli and so by prayer and meditation climbs up to Heaven where the enemies gun-shot shall never be able to reach him Love of the World enmity to God THere 's no one sublunary thing in the World can make an Eclipse of the body of the Sun but the interposition of the Earth betwixt it and the Moon So there 's nothing can eclipse the Sun of Righteousnesse Christ Iesus but the Earth the love of earthly things the love of this world being Enmity to God If then our Conscience
universally received the truth of the Gospell so to the last it may continue constant for the truth that every man would stand up for the truth fight and die for the truth and happinesse it will be found in the end thus to suffer for so good a friend as truth is to continue truth's friend who ever he be that shall become an enemy therefore Kingdom of Christ a peaceable Kingdom A Captain sent from Caesar unto the Senators of Rome to sue for the prolonging of his Government abroad understanding as he stood at the Councill-chamber-door that they would not condiscend to his desire clapping his hand upon the pummel of his sword well said he seeing you will not grant it me this shall give it me So when the Citizens of Messana despising Pompeys jurisdiction alleadged ancient orders in old time granted to their Town Pompey did answer them in choller what do you prattle to us of your Law that have swords by your sides And thus it is that Mahomet dissolveth all Arguments by the sword and thus all Tyrants and Potentates of the World end all their quarrels and make their Enemies their foot-stool by the sword But the Scepter of Christs Kingdom is not a sword of steel but a sword of the Spirit He ruleth in the midst of his Enemies and subdueth a People unto himself not by the sword but by the word for the Gospel of peace is the power of his arm to Salvation Recreation the necessity thereof IT is reported of a good old Primitive Christian that as he was playing with a Bird two or three youths as they were passing by observ'd it and one of them sayes to the other See how this old man playes like a child with the bird which the good Man over-hearing calls him to him asks him what he had in his hand A bow saies he What do you with it and how do you use it said the other whereupon the young Man bent his bow and nock'd his Arrow as if he had been ready to shoot then after some short time unbent his bow again Why do you so said the holy Man Alas sayes the young Man If I should alwaies keep my bow ready bent it would prove a slug and be utterly disabled for any further service Is it so said the good old Man Then my son take notice that as thy bow such is the condition of all human Nature should our thoughts and intentions be alwaies taken up and the whole bent of our minds set upon the study of divine things the wings of devotion would soon flagge and the arrows of Contemplation fly but slowly towards heaven And most true it is that there is Otium as wel as Negotium a time of taking pleasure as well as a time of taking paine neque semper arcum tendit Apollo the bow that stands alwaies bent will become unserviceable And let but the frame of this body of ours want its naturall rest the roof will be soon on fire Recreation is a second Creation when weakness hath almost annihilated the spirits it is the breathing of the Soul which otherwise would be stifled Lawfull Recreation such as that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Philosophers strengthens labour and sweetens rest and the blessing of God may be expected therein as well as in doing the work of our Calling The great benefit of Devotion at bed time OVens that have been baked in over-night are easily heated the next morning The Cask that was well seasoned in the Evening will smell well the next day The Fire that was well raked up when we went to bed will be the sooner kindled when we rise Thus if in the Evening we spend our selves in the examination of our hearts how we have spent the time past and commit our selves unto the good guidance of God for the time to come we shall soon find the spirituall warmth thereof making us able and active for all good duties in the morning and by adding some new fuel to this holy fire we shall with much facility and comfort cause it to burn and blaze in all Christian and religious duties To accept the event of things with Patience THe Censurers of the World by way of Apologue being met together consulted about the redress of divers enormities One with the countenance of Heraclitus was ever weeping for the disorders another with the face of Democritus was ever laughing at the absurdities a third of a more pragmatical spirit was busie where he had no thanks They all studied and plotted how to reform the ataxie of things and to bring the World into some peace and order Princes were implored Philosophers consulted Physitians Souldiers the eminent in all Professions were convented many stratagems were devised still the more they projected to stil the worlds troubles the more troublesome they made it One would have it this way another that the next differs from both a fourth opposeth them three a fifth contradicteth them all So that there was nothing else but crossing one another Physitians with their Recipes Commanders with their Precipes Iesuites with their Decipes all the rest with their Percipes could do no good at all At last a Grand-father in a religious habite presented them an hear◠of such soveraign vertue that when every one had tasted of it they were all calm and quiet presently The herbs name he called Bulapathum the herb Patience And let but this be our dyet continually and we shall find a strange alteration in our selves No troubles abroad nor discontents at home shall break our peace if we be but armed with patience The Church and People of God are thrown upon sad times Blessings are not denyed though they be not presently granted Some while God is not fit to give the time for his greater glory is not yet come Another while we are not fit to receive the time of our preparedness and capacity is not yet come The Lord looks to be waited on Psalm 27. 14. To be carefull in the prevention of Danger THe Boare in the Fable being questioned Why he stood whetting his teeth so when no body was near to hurt him wisely answered That it would then be too late to whet them when he was to use them and therefore whetted them so before danger that he might have them ready in danger Thus as Demosthenes advised the Athenians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they would not expect till evill came but prevent it and to deal with dangers as Men do with Serpents and vipers of which though happily they never have been stung or bitten yet seeing any of them they tarry not till it sting or bite but before harm done forthwith seek to kill it to crush the Scorpion at the first appearance not waiting and gaping after event the School-master of fools as Fabius calls it but ante bellum auxilium and ante tubam tremor to be affected with
notwithstanding Mans provocations SUppose a Man should come into a curious Artificers shop and there with one blow dash in pieces such a piece of Art as had cost many years study and pains in the contriving thâ—reof How could he bear with it How would he take on to see the workmanship of his hands so rashly so wilfully destroy'd He could not but take it ill and be much troubled thereat Thus it is that as soon as God had set up and perfected the frame of the World Sin gave a shrewd shake to all it unpin'd the frame and had like to have pull'd all in pieces again nay had it not been for the promise of Christ all this goodly frame had been reduc'd to its Primitive nothing again Man by his Sin had pull'd down all about his ears but God in mercy keeps it up Man by his Sin provokes God but God in Mercy passeth by all affronts whatsoever Oh the Wonderfull Mercy O the Omnipotent Patience of God! How it is that there may be partial desertions of Spiritual Grace in the Souls of Gods dearest Children but never totall nor final ones AS it was with Sampson when his locks were cut off his strength was gone and therefore though he thought to go out and do great things as formerly he had done yet by woful experience he found there was no such matter he was become even as another Man So it is with the best and dearest of Gods Children When God is gone their locks are cut their strength is gone as not lying in their hair but in their head yet this is but a partial a temporary not a total and final desertion of divine assistance and Spiritual Grace in the Soul For God may forsake a Man in respect of his quickning presence and leave a Man to such barrennesse flatnesse deadnesse of his Spirit for a time that the Soul cannot pray hear meditate do any thing as formerly it hath done And God may forsake a Man too in respect of his comforting presence he may eclipse his joyes damp his comforts withdraw the beams of his Countenance and leave him in daâ—knâ—sse and trouble yet for all this God never forsakes such a Man in respect of his supporting presence then it is that in the saddest condition in the darkest night in the stormiest day the Soul hath support from him As he told S. Paul so he tells all Men all of the election of Grace all that love and fear him His strength shall be seen in their weaknesse and his Grace is sufficient for them i. e. sufficient to bear them up in the tryall and sufficient to bring them out of all tryalls whatsoever Compleat Christian duty IT was the speech of Mr. â—radford That he could not leave a duty till he had found communion with Christ in the duty till he had brought his heart into a duty-frame He could not leave Confession till he had found his heart touched broken and humbled for Sin not Petition till he had found his heart taken with the beauties of the things desired and carried out after them nor could he leave Thanksgiving till he had found his Spirit enlarged and his Soul quickned in the return of praises just like that of S. Bernard who found God in every duty and communion with him in every Prayer This was true sincere compleat Christian duty And thus it is that the Soul taken with Christ desires converses with him in prayer in hearing and meditation And such too is the Genius of a Soul taken up with Christ that duty doth not content it if it find not Christ in the duty so that if the end of a duty hath not left it on this side Christ it hath left it so far short of true comfort Directions for both strong and weak in Faith how to demean themselves as to the matter of Gods Providence WEe may read that Ulysses when he was to passe the coast of the Syrens he caused his Men to stop their ears that they might not be inchanted by their Musick to destroy themselves But for himself he would onely be bound to the Mast that though he should hear yet their Musical sounds might not be so strong as to allure him to overthrow himself by leaping into the Sea Thus there are some of Gods people that are weak in Faith so that when they see Gods outward proceedings of Providence seemingly contrary to his Promises they are apt to be charmed from their own steadfastnesse It were therefore good for them to stop their ears and to shut their eyes to the Works and look altogether to the Word of God But for those that are strong such as in whom the pulse of Faith beats more vigorously they may look upon the outward proceedings of God yet let them be sure to bind themselves fast to the Mast the Word of God lest when they see the seeming contrariety of his proceedings to the Promise they be charmed from their own stedfastnesse to the wounding of their own most pretious Souls and weakning the assurance of their eternal salvation How it is that the strength of Imagination perswades so much out of the way in matters of Religion IT is observable that when some Men look up to the Rack or moving clouds they imagine them to have forms of Men of Angels of Armies of Castles Forrests Landskips Lyons Bears c. where none else can see such things nor is there any true resemblance of such shapes And some there are too that when they have somewhat roules and tumbles in their thoughts they think that the ringing of bells the beating of hammers the report that is made by great Ordinance or any other measured intermitted noyse doth articulately sound and speak the same which is in their thoughts Thus it is that a strong Imagination or Fancy becomes very powerfull as to perswasion in the matters of God and Religion Hence is it that most of those that are unlearned and unstable wrest the Scripture thinking they find that in it which indeed is not there perswading themselves that it representeth to them such and such formed opinions when questionlesse they do but patch and lay things together without any reason at all from whence have proceeded the senselesse dotages of Hereticks in elder times and of late in the ridiculous papers of some Dreamers that have flown about and bring Scripture with them but no sense fancying the holy Word of God to strike to ring or chyme to their tunes to eccho out unto their wild conceits and joyn with them in their rude indigested notions How it is that so many deceive themselves in their not rightly searching the Scriptures AS the Apes in the story who finding a Glo-worm in a very cold night took it for a spark of Fire and heaped up sticks upon it to warm themselves by but all in vain So do they lose their labour that in the
To whom Selymus replyed Wouldst thou Pyrrhus that I should bestow other Mens goods wrongfully taken from them upon works of Charity and devotion for my own vain-glory and praise Assuredly I will never do it Nay see they be given again to the right owners which was forthwith done accordingly What a shame then is this to Christians who minding nothing lesse then Restitution make ex rapina holocaustum out of a world of ill-gotten goods they cull out some small fragments to erect some poor Hospitall having cheated Thousands build Alms-houses for some few and then set a glorious Inscription in the Front whereas this one word Aceldama would be far more proper But this is not the right way of Alms-giving Take â—eed how you do your Alms saith our Saviour where the word Alms is in the Syriack Justice shewing that Alms should be of things well gotten when a Man is able to say This by the blessing of God is the fruit of my own labours And then too He that gives Alâ—s to the poor must do it with discretion omni petenti non omnia petenti to every one that doth ask but not every thing that he doth ask Vnanimity the excellency thereof DAvid and Ionathan had but one heart Eusebius and Martyrâ—ut â—ut one name Pilades and Orestes but one life Ruth and Naomi but one affection Basil and Nazianzene of whom it is said that anima unâ— erat inclusa in duobus corporibiu there was but one Soul shut up in two bodies And there was a whole Multitude but as one Man O the excellency of Unanimity Unanimity of Truth not of Error Happy dayes were those when amongst the People there was Corâ—unum via una One heart and one way to walk in when they were all but as one Man which made their very Enemies to say of them Ecce ut invicem se diligunt See how these Christians love one another how they knit and cloze together But now it is come to Ecce ut invicem se oderunt behold how they hate one another divide and separate one from another the Master to the Church the Mistress to the Chamber the Servant to the Fields yet all in one house some to the Sacrament some to breaking of bread and some to neither yet all in one Parish their hearts are divided the cord of Love is untwisted they may sing and say Come holy Ghost but no marvail that he comes no faster they are not of one mind Accord is wanting and therefore not fit for the Spirit to come into them The formal Christian described IN the History of the World encompassed by Sir Francis Drake it is recorded that in a certain Island to the Southward of Celebes among the Trees night by night did shew themselves an infinite swarm of Fiery-seeming worms flying in the Ayr whose bodies no bigger then an ordinary fly oâ—d make a shew and give such light as if every twigg on every Tree had been a lighted Candle or as if that place had been the starry sphere This was but a semblance but an appearance no more is that of all Formal Christians but a flaunt but a flourish their knowledge is but a form their Godlinesse a figure their Zeal a Flash all they do but a shadow of what they should do They make use of God for their own purposes and care onely to make divine Authority a colour for their own hypocritical designs In whose silent faces are written the characters of Religion which their tongues and gestures pronounce but their hands recant whose mouthes belye their hearts and fingers oppose their mouths God afflicting his Children to try their sincerity AS a Father will sometimes crosse his Son to try the Childs disposition to see how he will take it whether he will mutter and grumble at it and grow humorous and wayward neglect his duty to his Father because his Father seemeth to neglect him or make offer to run away and withdraw himself from his Fathers obedience because he seems to carry himself harshly and roughly towards him and to provoke him thereunto So doth God oft-times crosse his Children and seemeth to neglect them to try their disposition what mettall they are made of how they stand affected towards him whether they will neglect him because he seemeth to neglect them cease to depend on him because he seemeth not to look after them and say with Ioram's propnane Pursivant This evill is of God and why should I depend upon him any longer or whether they will constantly cleave unto him though he seem to cast them off and say with Esay yet will I wait upon God though he hide his face from us and I will look for him though he look not for us And with Iob Though he slay me yet will I trust in him And with the Heathen iratum colere numen to worship even an angry God and with the Cynick to his Master Antistenes Nullus tam durus erit baculus c. There shall be no cudgel to be found so crabbed as shall beat me from you The Original and excellency of the Hebrew Tongue THere are three Tongues that are in a more especiall manner famous all over the World The Latine Greek and Hebrew The first propter Regnum because of the Monarchy of the Romans who as they subjected the people which they did conquer to their Laws and Customs so did they force them to learn their Language The second propter doctrinam because in it the great Philosophers and wise Men of the World left the Monuments of their Wisedome dome and Learning to Posterity The third propter Deum because in it God delivered his Law and the interpretation of it by Moses and the Prophets to the People of Israel his chosen The Latine is a common tongue the Greek a copious tongue but Hebrew the most ancient and holy tongue For antiquity the tongue of Adam for sanctity the tongue of God In this tongue God spake to the Prophets and Patriarks In this tongue the Angels spake to Men In this tongue the Prophets wrote the Old Testament And in this tongue as is thought shall the Saints speak and sing praises unto God in Heaven Justice commutative to do as we would be done by SEverus the Emperor had that sentence of our Saviour often in his mouth Quod tibi nonâ—vis fieri alteri ne feceris Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them Matth. 7. 12. and commanded it to be proclaimed by the Cryer whensoever he punished such of his Souldiers as had offered injury to others And without all doubt For a Man to do as he would be done by is the Royall Law the standard of Equity the golden Rule according to which we must square and frame all our actions and transactions with others And were but Men as Faithful
Lord hast taught me this That I should go to my meat as to a Medicine he meant as not to satisfie his appetite but to repair Nature Thus it hath been the care of all Gods dearest Servants to keep down their bodies to club them down so signifies the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 9. 27. to deny contentment to the Flesh not making the least provision for it so that they have in their severall generations become eminently instrumental to Gods glory whereas they that cater onely for their bellies have their brains sunk down into the quagmire of their bellies so that their parts those gâ—fts of understanding they were wont to have are as the light of a snuffe fallen down into the socket even drown'd with the filth of their Intemperance being fit for nothing Consideration of the shortnesse of life to be a Memento of Death IT is reported of the Birds of Norwey that they flie faster then the Fowles of any other Countrey not because Nature hath given more nimblenesse or agility to their wings but by an instinct they knowing the dayes in that Climate to be very short not above three hours long do therefore make the more haste to their nests Thus should every one of us do and strange it is that we do not so Shall birds make such use of their observation know their appointed time Ier. 8. 7. Then let us practically knowing the shortnesse of our lives by a speedy and seasonable Repentance make haste to our home the house appointed for all living Iob. 30. 23. Practice of the Law abused FErdinando King of Spain when he sent Pedrarias to be Governor of the Western Islands forbade him to take any Lawyer or Advocate along with him his reason was that they migâ—t noâ— sow the seed of suits where there were none before And it was usually put on by K. Iames in a cautionary way upon the convention of any Parliament that they should have a care of the wrangling Lawyer and another sort of peevish People in a more especiall manner not but that the Lawes are right but the practice of them is much abused God and Men have made them Righteous but the Lawyers have found out inventions They are Virgines in calamo pure Virgins as they were first penned but Meretrices in foro prostituted whores as they are pleaded Lawyers being now like the Physitians in Christs time on whom the poor Widow had spent all that she had and was never the nearer to her health so Men may spend their money and lose a great deal of preâ—ous time in running after Lawyers and in the end be in a far worse case then they were at the beginning Flesh and bloud not to be hearkned unto IT is reported of a Young Man that had devoted himself to a Religious life whereupon his Parents dislâ—king that way wrote divers letrers unto him to disswade him but he being resolved to go on when any letters came afterwards directed to him he would not so much as open them but threw them into the fire And thus it is that a Man is no sooner entred into a trade of Godlinesse and shall give up his name unto Christ but Flesh and bloud will be ready to come in and say Spare your self What need you to do thus and thus you may do well enough at last This now is destructive Counsel pleasing damnation hearken not to it throw away these letters these carnal suggestions do not by any means answer them but be resolved in thine heart and say I know in whom I have believed I did not choose this way rashly but I felt the power of God upon my heart before I made my choyce and I had grounds and Arguments for my so doing and whatsoever can be suggested to the contrary I will not give ear unto it The benefit of Meditation as to the mollifying of the Heart WAx when it is laid in cold places becomes so hard and stiffe that it will break rather then bow but being laid in the Sun becomes soft and plyaâ—le fit for any impression So when we neglect the duty of Meditation on good things our hearts being changed from God wax hard and obdurate but when by Meditation we draw nigh unto him the beams of his favour shining upon our hearts do make them soft and flexible and fit for any holy impression that he shall be pleased to stamp upon them A good Wish to good Government PTolomy King of Egypt feasting on a day seven several Ambassadors requested each of them to name three of the best Customes that they had in their several and respective Common-wealths And first the Roman Ambassador said We do greatly reverence our Temples We do faithfully obey our Governours And we do severely punish all lewd livers Secondly the Carthagenian said With us the Nobles are ever warring The Commons ever labouring And the Philosophers ever teaching Thirdly the Sicilian said With us Iustice is exactly kept Merchandise is truly exercised And all Men accompt themselves equall Fourthly the Rhodian said With us old Men are honest Young men are shamefast And Women are silent Fifthly the Athenian said With us Rich men are not factious Poor men are not idle Governours are not ignorant Sixthly the Lacedemonian said With us Envy reigneth not for all Men are equall Covetousnesse corrupteth not for all Goods are common And Sloath dwelleth not for all that can do labour And lastly the Syconian said With us Voyages are not permitted left they should bring home new fashions Physitians are not suffered lest they should kill the sound And Orators are not entertained to maintain and plead causes lest they should make the good evill and the evill good Here now are Governments of all sorts and it is to be heartily wished that the Civil Magistrate and such as are intrusted with the Peoples interests would truly imitate what is good in any of them that when the Governor of all Governors shall come to Iudgment he may say unto them Euge boni servi Well done ye good and faithfull servants enter into your Masters joy The wayes of Godlinesse more comfortable then Worldly Men can imagine PEter Martyr in his Sermons on 1 Cor. hath a passage which occasioned the Conversion of that Noble Marquesse Galeacius Vico If â—o be sayes he one should see a Company of Musitians that are playing and dancing according to their art upon some Hill a great-way off he would think that they were a company of Mad-men out of their wits but if he come nearer and nearer and hear the melodious sound of the Musick and observe their art in all they do how the Musitians keep their time and the Dancers their measures then he will be of another mind And so Men of the World look upon the wayes of Godliness as very uncomfortable and upon the People of God as afar off
Faith sure from losing and his Heart from the self-procured blows of Contention and so hold for ever his dear espoused Wife the beautifull daughter of the King Gods everlasting goodness and mercy Minding of the day of Judgment an excellent means to prevent Sin IT is reported of a certain Christian King of Hongary who being on a time marvailous sad and heavy his brother that was a resolute Courtier would needs know what he ailed Oh brother quoth he I have been a great Sinner against God and I know not how I shall appear before him when he comes to Iudgment These are said his brother Melancholly fits and so makes a toy of them as Gallants use to do The King replies nothing for the present but the custome of that Country was that if the Executioner of Iustice came and sounded a Trumpet before any Mans door the Man was presently without any more ado to be had to Execution The King in the dead of the night sends for his Deaths-Man and causeth him to sound his Trumpet before his brothers dore who seeing and hearing the Messenger of Death springs in pale and trembling into his brothers presence and beseeches the King to tell him wherein he had offended him Oh Brother replies the King Thou hast loved me and never offended me and is the sight of my Executioner so dreadfull to thee And shall not so great a Sinner as I fear to be brought to the Iudgment seat of God Thus did but Men stand in S. Ieromes posture alwaies hearing the Trumpet sounding in their ears Surgite mortui venite ad judicium they would make more Conscience of their waies they would then strike upon their thigh and cry out quid faciam What shall I do And thus in all their doings remembring their latter end they would never do amisse Man and Wife to be speak one another kindly SUch was the spiritual hatred of the Iews to the Lord Iesus that they would not vouchsaâ—e to give him his name when they talked of him or with him and to shew the utter dislike they had of him they used to say Is this be Art thou be that wilt do such a thing Whither will he go that we shall not find him They would not say Is this Iesus Christ or the Son of God This now was a spitefull kind of speaking and did bewray abudance of malice that lay hidden in their hearts and so it sometimes falleth out betwixt Man and Wife contempt disdain anger and malice will not suffer the one to afford unto the other their names and titles least they should be put in mind of such duties as those names and tiâ—les require whereas the very names of Husband and Wife doth greatly help to perswade the mind and to win the affections yea the very mention of these names doth often times leave a print of duty behind in the Conscience Ioh. 7. 11. 15. 35. The experimental Christian the undaunted Christian. HE that hath been at Sea and often escaped the many dangers of wind and weather even then when both conspired to make a wrack of himself and the ship he went in is the more bolder and readier to entertain a â—ew Voyage And why because he hath by the assistance of his God made way for deliverance in times of such eminent danger such an experimentall bold Logical Christian was David when he made a Lyon his Major a Bear his Minor He that delivered me from the Lion and the Bear will also deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine 1 Sam. 17. 34. And such are all good Christians upon whom the Cross hath layen the heaviest upon whose shoulders the persecuting plowers have made the deepest furrows whose feet have been often in the stocks and into whose Sculs the Irons have made a deep impression they having had from time to time the experience of Gods deliverance from and assistance in the time of their trouble are as bold as Lyons and ready to meet death in the face though it come in the most gastly figure or shape that may be conceived Sin the strange nature thereof IT may seem strange which is written of the Nature of Thunder and Lightning that it bruiseth the tree yet breaks not the bark it cracketh the blade yet never hurteth the scabbard melteth the money in a Mans purse yet never toucheth his Person Such a thing and of such a Nature is sin it will bruise and wound the heart but never harm the eyes or the ears or hands it will â—iâ—rce and afflict the Conscience but never hurt the outward Man it is even a Plague unto the Soul yet a pleasure to the body Gods goodnesse Mans unthankfulnesse IT is observeable that there are but three main Rivers in this Land whereof that of Thames is held the best Insomuch that when a Courtier gave it outâ— that Queen Mary being displeased with the City of London threatned to remove the Term and Parliament to Oxford An Alderman asked Whether she meant to turn the channel of Thames thither or not If not saith he by Gods grace we shall do well enough And in truth that River is such a prosperity to that Ciâ—y it is such a loving Meander that it winds it self about and shews its silver arms upon her sides ebbing slowly eight but flowing merrily four hours as if she longed to embrace her beloved City with rich presents of Mâ—rchandise But what râ—turn doth the City make what thanks for all this Love She sweeps all the dirt of her streets in her face and chokes her up with soyl and rubbish This is Man's case God crowneth him with protectethâ—im â—im with his power carries him on from Mercy to Mercy c. sed uâ—i fructus The swelling River of Gods favours by the surfet of a tide doth no sooner bring in the encrease of outward things but that encrease doth breed in his mind another swelling and in his body another surfetting he swells in Pride and surfets in Wantonness And thus Peace breeding Wealth Wealth breeds Pride and Pride makes Contention and Contention kills Peace and by this meaâ—s a Civil War is raised to the ruine both of Church and Common-wealth Popish Miracles condemned IT is recorded that at Amesbury in Wiltshire when Q. Elianor the Wife of King Henry the third lay there a Man that feigned himself to have been long blind came to her and told her that he had now his sight restored at the Tomb of the King her deceased husband The Mother easily believed it but her sonne King Edward the first knowing this Man that he had ever been a dissolute Wretch and a vile Impostor disswaded her from giving Faith unto it protesting That he knew so well the Iustice of his Father that if he were living he would sooner put out both the dissembler's eyes then restore sight to either of them So without doubt those Saints to the Virtue of whose dead bones they of
he is certainly called it matters not much for the time when nor the place where both of them being so uncertain The Ministers Calling full of labour and toil THe Vocation of an Husbandman admits of little or no Vacation from his daily labour the end of one work is but the beginning of another every season of the year bringeth its several travel with it And the harvest Labourers are of all other the sorest Labourers no labour more toilsome then theirs Such is the Calling of every Faithfull Minister Hath he broke up the fallow ground of his Peoples hearts then must he sow the pretious seed therein Hath he sowed seed then he must water what he hath set and sowed yea tares and weeds will grow and soon sprowt up sleep he never so little and therefore great need of daily weeding so that surely the sweat of the Ministery be it followed as it ought exceeds the sweat of other Callings and with the sorest labour doth the Minister eat his bread in the sweat of his brows his Calling is not easy but painfull and laborious as it is an honour so it is a burthen and such an one too as requireth the strength of Angels to bear it True brotherly Love scarce to be found HIstories make mention of one Ursinus a Christian Physitian who being to suffer Martyrdome for the Gospell of Christ began to waver and faint Which when Vitalis a holy Man saw he step't to him And though he knew it would cost him his life comforted and encouraged him saying Whaâ— have you been heretofore so industrious to preserve Mens bodies and will you now shrink at the saving of your own Soul Be couragious c. For which Faithfull Counsell he also was condemned to death and suffered accordingly But now so it is that brethren have forgot that they are brethren and almost every Man stands aloof when necessity requires his succour they flinch away as Demas and others did from Paul leaving him to answer for himself Few such Friends as Vitalis are to be found that will lay down their lives or hazard them to the relief of their distressed brother Men to be Compassionate one towards another And why so IT is observed of the Bees that aegrotante unà lamentantur omnes when one is sick they all mourn And of the Sheep that if one of them be faint the rest of the flock will stand between it and the Sun untill it be revived Thus it is that God hath hewen us all out of one Rock tempered all our bodies of one â—ay and spirited all our Souls of one breath We are all Sons of one Father members of one body and heirs of one Kingdome in respect of which near linking together there should be Compassion and sympathy betwixt us If one Member do but grieve all suffer with it When a thorn is got into the foot how is it that the back bows the eyes pry into the hurt and the hands are busied to pluck out the cause of the anguish And we being Members of one another should bear with and forbear one the other the not doing whereof will stick as a brand upon our Souls that we are of the number of them that have forsaken the fear of the Almighty Ioh 6. 14. Men to be at Peace one with another IT is reported of two Noble Lacedemonians that being at mortall hatred were met by Archidamus their King in the Temple of Minerva he requires them to put the matter to an indifferent Umpire They choose the King himself He makes them swear to abide his order which accordingly they do Now saith the King I order that you shall not go out of this Temple untill you be Friends And so they patted Friends For an Oath taken in that Temple was unlawfull to be broken Now it were heartily to be wished that we who are the Temple of God and such as usually meet in the Temple of God and there partake the holy things of God would keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace not to be unpeaceable with the peaceable which argues a devillish mind not unpeaceable with the unpeaceable which argues a corrupt mind nor yet content our selves in that we are peaceable with the peaceable which argues but a civill mind but if it be possible and as much as in us lyeth to be peaceable with the unpeaceable which is that that argues onely a true Christian and Heroicall mind And so should we make it good that we are endowed with true Grace and are true Subjects of that Kingdome which is the Kingdome of Peace whose King is Peace Men to labour that they be Regenerated S. Augustine relateth of the Serpent that when she groweth old she draweth herâ—self through a narrow hole and by this means stripping off her old skin she reneweth her age Thus it is our Saviours directions to be as wise as Serpents Math. 20. 6. and if in any thing then sure it is in this that we should follow their Wisedome that forsaking the bâ—oad waies of vices we may passe through the narrow and strait way of Repentance and leaving off our old Coat of Sin we may be cloathed anew with the Rich garments of Righteousness and so become new Men in Christ Iesus The Ministers and Magistrates duty in the suppression of Vice IT was a good Christian resolution of S. Basill who writing to Amphilochius Bishop of Iconium hath these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The People through ambition are fallen into grievous Anarchy Whence it comes to passe that all the exhortations of the Rulers are in vain No man will submit but all would reign being puffed up with pride growing from ignorance Shall I then keep silence I may not Though some supplant others insult over me being down and the rest applaud them that do insult How can it be otherwise since Charity is decayed Hence some sit no lesse implacable and bitter examiners of things amisse then unjust and malevolent Iudges of things well-done so that we are become more bruit then the very beasts for they are quiet amongst themselves but we wage cruel war against each other Shall I then hold my peace Charity will not suffer me The Children in Babylon discharged their duty though they were but three Having God then for my Patron and Protector I le not be silent c. And thus it is that both Minister and Magistrate in their respective places are to beat down the vices of the time Where the reins of Government lye â—lack upon the People shoulders there they must needs be straitned Where wickednesse and Sin have put on a Whores forehead it is high time to unmask them Nay if Gods people and the house of Iacob will be doing that which is not right it is the Ministers duty to set up his throat and tell the one of
to use her endeavours to gather and to glean it and bear it out too when shee had gleaned it Thus God gives grace and the knowledg of his Truth as Boaz gave Ruth corn not but that he can if it so please him give knowledg by immediate Revelation and Grace by immediate infusion yet he will have us to use the means of hearing reading conference c. and so leave the issue of all our labours and endeavours to his good Will and pleasure The great benefit of Hearing and practising Gods Word AS we see in the siege of some strong hold when Men have been long coop'd up and have not had meat to eat they have come out like so many dead carcases as it were so many Sceletons so weak so poor with such gastly looks as it were enough to scare any Man with the sight of them But now eating mends all this upon eating follows strength to walk and strength to work upon eating follows fatnesse and goodnesse of Complexion And thus it is upon eating of the Word when Men with râ—adinesse and forwardnesse receive the Word of God and practise what they hear then it is that they have strength in their Souls to walk in the wayes of God then it is that they grow up as Calves of the stall full of good fat and flourishing and then it is that they have fair and good complexions their Wisedome and other Graces cause their faces to shine in the fair and lovely carriage of their lives and conversations Meditation the difficulty in the first entrance thereupon AS in the heating of an Oven the Fewel is set on fire yet not without some pains to blow it up into a flame but afterwards when the Oven begins to be somewhat hot the Fewel will catch and kindle of it self and no sooner is it thrown in but it is all in a blaze on a sodain Such is the difficuâ—â—â— of Meditation at the first When there is but as it were a little spark of Love in the heart it will cost a Man some pains to blow it up into a Flame but afterwards when the heart is once heated with those flames of Love then it will enflame all the thoughts and set the affections on fire In so much that the duty of Meditation will not be onely easie and delightfull but so necessary that a Man cannot tell how to avoid it Sathan's subtilty to ensnare THere is a story of an excellent Painter that to shew the rarily of his Art drew a white line so small that it could hardly be discerned Whereupon another that was looked on as a very able Artist to shew that he could excel him drew a black line through the middle of it so exactly that it required an exquisite sight to discern either Thus it is that the Devill slily insinuateth into and craftily worketh upon the hearts of the sons of Men the thread of his Policy being so finely spun the train of his subtilty so privily laid and the black line of his Temptations made so small that it is almost impossible to discover the secret destruction that runs through the plausibility thereof Purity of Heart no comfortable sight of god without it AS the eye that hath dust in it without or thick vapours stopping the nerves within cannot see except it be cleansed from the one and purged from the other And as the Glasse on which there is a thick mist does not represent ones face clearly before it be wiped off So neither can we see God in his Creatures in his Word in his Sacraments or in those secret inward and sweet manifestations of comfort and joy whereby he often reveals himself even in this life to them that love him so long as there is any impurity cleaves to us The pure in Heart are the onely ones that shall see God Matth. 5. 8. It is not Learning nor a clear understanding not Religious education not any one of these not all of these together but holinesse and purity of Heart that fits a Man for such a blessed Sight at God is Active Christian the best Christian. PLutarch speaks of two Men that were hired at Athens for some publique work whereof the one was full of tongue but slow at hand and the other blanck in speech yet an excellent Workman Being called upon by the Magistrates to expresse themselves and to declare at large how they would procâ—ed When the first had made a large speech and described it from point to point the other seconded him in few words saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye Men oâ— Athens What this Man hath said in words that will I Make 〈◊〉 in true performance And as he was adjudged the better Artisan so is the Man of action the better Christian It is not the Man of words but the Man of deeds not the learie but the fruitfull not the discoursing but the doing Christian that shall be blessed here in this world and happy in that which is to come The good Christians Hope at the death of a Child of God AS Papinius Statius reports of the old Arcadians That mourning all night for the setting of the Sun they were comforted notwithstanding at the break of day when they saw him in his sphere again And as the People enraged at the death 〈◊〉 â—omulus were quieted by and by with Proculus his newes that he saw him in glory riding up to Heaven So it is that such as are without Hope are extreamly troubled at the death of their intimate Friend and acquaintance as if he were lost and they should never see him again but the good Christian remaines full of Hope at the death of any Child of God well knowing that Mors janua vitae he had no way but by this Mortality to cloath himself with Immortality and that as he is gone before into glory they shall both meet in Heaven with comfort Blessing of God attendant on People listning to the doctrine of their own Minister PHysitians say That the Mothers milk though not so weighty as anothers if no noxious humour be tasted in it is more proper for the Child then any strangers can be because it is more natural And certainly it would not be an error if a Man should say as much of the milk which the Minister gives to his own Flock and that a People conscientiously lying at the breasts of their own Minister if the milk he gives be wholesome the doctrine preached be sound and Orthodox may expect the blessing of God for their nourishment though it hath not so much lushiousnesse to please the curious raster so much of Rhetorick to tickle the itching car as some others have State of Nature an absolute state of impotency IF a Ship that is lanch'd rigg'd and with her sayls spread cannot stirre till the wind comes fair and fills them much lesse
can the Timber that lyes in the Carpenters Yard hew and frame it self into a Ship If the living Tree cannot grow except the root communicates its sap much lesse can a dead rotten stake in the hedg which hath no root live of its own accord And thus if the Christian's strength be in the Lord as most certainly it is and not in himself then the Christlesse person must needs be a poor impotent Creature void of all strength and ability of doing any thing of it self towards its own salvation If a Christian that hath a spiritual life of Grace cannot exercise that life without strength from above then surely one void of that new life dead in Sins and trespasses can never be able to beget it in himself or any way concur to the production of it so helplesse is the state of unregeneracy so impotent the condition of every Man by Nature The state of Nature for all its specious out-side a state of Friendship with Hell AS it is with the fighting of two Fencers on the Stage you would think at first they were in earnest but observing how wary they are where they hit one another you may soon know they do not intend to kill one another And that which puts all out of doubt when the prize is done you shall see them merry together sharing what they have got from their deluded Spectators which was all they fought for Thus you shall have a carnal heart a Man in the state of unregeneracy make a great bussle against Sin by complaining of it or praying against it so that there seems to be a great scuffle betwixt Sathan and such a Soul but if you follow him off the Stage of duty where he hath gain'd the reputation of a Saint the prize he fought for you shall see the Devil and him sit as Friendly in a corner as ever The Sinner's desperate madnesse TErtullian stood as it were amazed at the folly of the Romans ambition who would endure all manner of hardship in Field and fight and run through any difficulty whatsoever and for no other thing but to obtain at last the honour to be Consull which he aptly calls Unius anni gaudium volaticum a joy that flits away at the years end Desperate then must needs be the madnesse of all wretched sinfull Men who will not endure a little hardship here but entayl on themselves the eternal wrath of God hereafter for the short Feast and running-banquet their lusts entertain them here withall which often is not gaudium unius horae a joy that lasts an hour nay so transient that it hardly feems to be at all The difference betwixt Sermons preached and Sermons printed THere is as much difference between a Sermon in a Pulpit and printed in a book as between milk in the warm breast and in a sucking bottle yet what it loseth in the lively taste is recompenced by the convenience of it The book may be had at hand when the Preacher cannot And that 's the chief end of Printing that as the bottle and spoon is used when the Mother is sick or out of the way so the book to quiet the Christian and stay his stomach in the absence of the Ordinance yet he that readeth Sermons and good books at home to save his pains of going to hear is a Thief to his Soul in a Religious habit he consults for his ease but not for his profit he eats cold meat when he may have hot He hazards the losing the benefit of both by contemning of one offering sacriledg for Sacrifice in robbing God of one duty to pay him in another The bare enjoyment of Church-priviledges doth not make up a true Christian. VVHen a Statute was made in Q. Elizabeths reign that all should come to Church upon penalty of being looked upon as in a way of Recusancy and so punishable by Law The Papists sent to Rome to know the Popes pleasure He returned them this answer Bid the Catholiques in England give me their Hearis and let the Queen take the rest And withall a dispensation was granted so that very many came to Church but it was more for fear then love more for the saving of their purses then any thought at all of saving their poor deluded Souls And thus it is that as Christ had his Saints in Nero's Court so the Devill his servants in the outward Court of his visible Church so that a Man must have something more to entitle him to Heaven then living within the pale of the Church and giving an outward conformity to the Ordinances of Christ There must be an inward conformity of the mind to the laws of God a subjection to the Scepter of Iesus Christ and a readinesse to be led by the guidance of the blessed Spirit otherwise he may be of the Church but not in the Church a Partaker of Church priviledges but no true Proprietor of the Graces and benefits thereby accrewing Acknowledgment of Mercies received the ready way to have them further enlarged IT is and usually hath been the manner of great Men such as from basenesse and beggery have ascended to Kingdomes and Empires and from sitting with the hirelings and dogs of the flock have been seated on Thrones of State and Tribunals of Justice to be delighted to speak often of their poor and mean beginnings to go and see the low roof'd Cottages where they were first entertained and had their birth and breeding yea there was one of late years that being got by desert into the Divinity chair did without superstition hang up in his Closet some part of that mean apparell wherein he first saluted his Oxford Mother A good way no doubt and being done with a good mind the ready way to have Mercies and blessings enlarged It would not be unusefull therefore for the Christian to look in at the grate to see the smoaky hole where once he lay to view the chains wherewith he was laden and to behold the snares of Sin and Sathan wherein he was once entangled but then to open his mouth with thanks unto God who will be sure to fill it with his tender and loving kindnesses The excellency of Christ Jesus IT is observeable that when some great King or Potentate draweth near unto his Royall City the Dukes Marquesses Earls Lords and others of the Nobility and Gentry ride before him Now if a stranger standing by should ask Who is this Man and who is that What power hath that Man at Court What place hath this What means hath a third It would be answered This is my Lord Duke that such an Earl the other such a great Lord such a one is the Lord Treasurer that the Lord Admirall and that other the Lord Chancellour c. but when the King comes he saith no more but onely That 's the King And why so And why no more but so because in
torment the Wicked 73. Afflictions if any thing will make us seek God 455. A good Man is bettered by his Afflictions 74. 174. 445. A true Christain the more he is Afflicted the better he thriveth 79. Afflictions and crosses not to be sleighted 84. Afflictions crosses c. a surer way to Heaven then pleasures 85. How it is that afflictions lye oft-times so heavy 632. Afflictions to be looked on as coming from God onely 93. Afflictions lead to Heaven 97. 452. Afflictions add unto the beauty of a Christian 105. God by afflictions drives us to Heaven 114. The thoughts of Gods omnipresence a great comfort in affliction 118. Afflictions follow the godly Man close in this World 159. Gods tryall of his children by afflictions 202. 215. God afflicts his Children for their good 227. Afflictions happen both to good and bad but to severall ends 241. God onely to be eyed in the midst of afflictions 286. Not to be daunted at afflictions 296. Not to rejoyce at the afflictions of others 308. God afflicting his Children for the improvement of their graces 325. Not to be troubled at afflictions because God intends good by them 356. God afflicting his Children to try their sincerity 403. Gods children afflicted to make them perfect 406. Men to be prepared for Afflictions crosses c. 408. When lighter Afflictions will not serve God will send heavier 410. Afflictions the comfortable use that is to be made of them 441. Christ the best shelter in time of Affliction 530. Afflictions Gods Love-tokens 599. Not to wait Gods good time in Afflicting us dangerous 609. Not to be altogether taken up with the sense of Afflictions 633. Afflictiâ—ns though grievous yet profitable 660. Not to murmur under Afflictions and why so 662. Comfort nearest when Afflictions are at highest 669. How it is that Age becomes truly honorable 331. The dissolution of all ages past to be a Memento for Posterity 100. Get but God and get all 47. All things come from God who is therefore to be praised 181. All sin to be repented of and why so 315. Almsâ— giâ—en to the poor are the givers gaâ— 31. Alms-giving how to be regulated 402. Ambition proves its own ruine 41. The poysonous nature of Ambition 82. The great heat of Ambition 622. Anabaptistical spirits their madnesse 416. Angels ministring unto Gods people for their good 322. God is not to be provoked to Anger 16. Not â—o answâ—r one angry word with another 305. Not to be angry with our brother 485. Not to take notice of every angry word that is spoken 547. Not to contiâ—ue angry 72. 165. 196. How God is said to be angry with his children 86. Antinomians compared to Thieves 46. Their madnesse 576. The great danger of Apostacy 619. Wantonnesse in Apparrel â—eproved 167. Excesse of Apparrel condemned 192. 642. Christian Apparrelling 280. Men and Women not to wear each others Apparrel 292. The vanity of gay Apparrel 446. The great â—olly of costly Apparrel 594. Apparrel whether richer or plainer the necessity thereof 646. No Appeal from Gods tribunal 141. The poor distressed Man's comfort by his appeal unto God 198. Gods comfortable appearance to his people at the time of their death 554. The whole Armour of God to be put on 115. The best Christian is the best Artist 137. Not the Assurance but the joy of Salvation gives content 81. Assured Christians must be patient Christians 351. God so ordering it that few or none of his people live and dye without assurance of their salvation 352. Assurance of Gods love the onely comfort 370. Atheism advanced by the distractions of the Church 152. Atheism condemned 243. Atheism punished 242. Aâ—heism will unman any Man 303. Atheisticall wicked men at the hour of death forced to confesse Gods Judgments 476. The great danger of relying upon forraign ayd and assistance 580. B. BAptismal water the power and virtue thereof 186. Bapâ—ism renounced by the lewdnesse of life and conversation 321. Children of persons excommunicate to be baptized 470. How it is that Godfathers and Godmothers undertake for children in Baptism 495. Infant-baptism asserted 557. To be careful of our Vow made in Baptism 605 Better live amongst beasts then beastly-minded Men 161. God to be consulted at all times but more especially in the beginning of all publique concernments 1. The paucity of true Believers 398. Bitter spirits are no gracious spirits 21. Blamelesnesse of life enjoyned 113. The sins of Blasphemy and swearing the commonnesse of them 122. Blasphemous language condemned 230. A good Neighbour is a great blessing c. 6. Governors as they are qualified are a curse or a Blessing to a People 9. A little with Gods blessing goes far 11. Blessings turned into curses 63. The blessing of God more to be eyed then our own endeavours 70. The Ministers blessing after Sermon to be attended 71. Gods blessing upon the means doth all 92. 581. Outward blessings do not alwayes make a blessed Man 107. A blessed thing to have God for our Lord 136. God hath a peculiar blessing for his children 169. Gods spiritual blessing upon a Mans employment in his calling 200. To rely upon the blessing of God notwithstanding all opposition 611. The blessing of God attending on people listning to their own Minister 638. To blesse God for all 453. The Devils aym to strike every Man with spiritual blindnesse 12. The Sinners wilfull blindnesse condemned 281. Spiritual and corporal blindnesse their difference 414. The naturall Man's blindnesse in spirituall things 485. The guilt of innocent Bloud crying to Heaven for vengeance 19. Bloudy-minded Men condemned 130. A Caveat for bloudy-minded Men 611. The greatest boasters the smallest doers 434. More care for the Body then the Soul condemned 11. 552. The Sinner's care is more for the Body then the Soul 171. Deformity of body not to be contemned 193. Young Schollers to mind their books 40. Scandalous and seditious books and pamphlets fit for the fire 295. Books of Piety and Religion testimonial at the great day of Judgment 476. The several books of God sleighted and neglected by the most of Men 656. The bountiful goodnesse of God to his children 606. The exceeding bounty of God 119. The borrowers duty and comfort 612. The sin of Bribery condemned 332. 373. The word Brother how far extended 172. Not to be over-carefull for the place of our buriall 592. Busie-bodies condemned 136. 147. A busie-body described 285. C. THe great danger of taking up a false perswasion of our effectual Calling 353. The certainty not the time of our spirituall Calling to be so much looked into 260. 612. The necessity of Catechising 119. Weak ones how to be catechised and instructed 133. Catechising an excellent way to instruct Youth 422. Distrustâ—ull cares reproved 125. Censurers condemned 20. Not to censure others but look to our selves 46. Censures not to be regarded 69. The Worlds hard censure of the godly Man 128. How it is that one Man censureth another 225. To
Magistrates to look to their attendants 144. To be Men of understanding 523. To stand up in Gods cause 541. 545. Not to be found guilty of that which they forbid in others 531. Magistrates Ministers c. their rule to walk by 573. Their death to be lamented 575. Malice and Envy not fit for Gods table 73. The great danger of Malitious turbulent spirits 79. Not to be malitious in the exercise of holy duties 102. Matter enough within us to condemn us 154. A good Man denominated from the goodness of his heart 555. The sad condition of Man falling away from God 298. Man's being is from God 37. Man the best and worst of Creatures 216. The fall of Man described 216. Married Men better Common-wealths-men then Batchelers 203. Marriage to be sought of God by prayer 256. Children to have a care how they marry without consent of Parents 441. Marriage not to be made for money onely 527. The Martyr's welcome to Heaven 450. Good meanings of bad men destructive 621. Good means how to be used 114. Gods blessing upon the means doth all 92. Want of matter not to hinder Meditation 435. Natural wants not to hinder divine Meditation 434. The great comfort of Heavenly Meditation 191. 430. The necessity of divine Meditation 431. The beginnings thereof very difficult 432. 636. The excellency thereof 660. God the proper object of Man's Memory 62. To blesse God for our Memories 63. Repetition of good things helpfull to Memory 96. Memory must be active 106. Memory ought to be the treasury of all goodnesse 149. The difference betwixt a good and bad Memory 335. The excellency of a good Memory 547. The generall badnesse of Memory in good things 548. Gods Mercies to the worst of sinners repenting 651. Gods Mercy above his Justice 144. To be mercifully-minded is praise-worthy 163. To sin against the Mercies of God is to double our Sins 177. V Vorks of Mercy very rare to be found amongst us 306. Not to be put off from one to another 307. God as he is God of Mercy so he is a God of Judgment and therefore not to be provoked 328. The consideration of Mercies formerly enjoyed an excellent means to bear up our spirits under present affliction 355. Mercies of God in Christ Jesus the danger of dallying with them 425 The mercies of God to be particularly recorded to posterity 449. God shewing mercy even for Christ Jesus sake 451. Mercies of God to be recorded to all posterity 512. The great tenders of mercy to Repentant sinners 620. Acknowledgment of mercies received the ready way to have them further enlarged 640. A great exceeding Mercy to be one of Gods Children 662. A good Man merciful to his very beast 513. Merit-mongers condemned 269. 412. Ministers to be active and vigorous in reproof of sin 544. The Ministers Calling to be owned from God 546. Ministers not to be verball but reall in their expressions 547. A non-resident sloathfull Minister worthily discouraged 586. The Ministers calling full of labour and toyl 613. Ministers to preach plainly as well as learnedly to the capacity of their Hearers 281. The madnesse of Ministers Magistrates c. not to be guided by that counsell they give to others 299. 411. To see a necessitated Minister is matter of great grief 321. How it is that Ministers find so little success in preaching the Gospel 326. Ministers to be accomptable to God for what they have received 337. Ministers not to be afraid of the faces of Men 59. Ministers of all Men to be painfull in their calling 219. Ministers how to preach profitably 220. Leud Ministers what they are like unto 221. Ministers to be encouraged and protected against the plots of wicked Men and why so 253. The Ministers duty 274. Ministers to be painfull in the discharge of their duty 275. Ministers of Gods Word to be constant in the preaching thereof 276. Ministers to preach the Gospel notwithstanding the discouragements of their Auditory 457. Ministers to be wise Master-builders 28. To be Men of knowledg and understanding 624. Young raw Ministers blame-worthy 30. 513. The Ministers authority to be as much looked on as his sufficiency 35. An ill-lived Minister is a scandall to the Gospel 56. A fearful Minister is a Soul-murthering Minister 60. Ministers and Magistrates to be diligent in in their places 63. Young Ministers to be well principled 64. A Minister to be able and well furnished 64. Ministers to be Men of merciful dispositions 76. A Minister is to distinguish his Auditors 103. Every Minister to speak a word in season opportunely 110. A Minister to be carefull in the delivery of Gods Message 11. Ministers to cry down the Sins of the time 141. Ministers to teach as well the practice as the knowledg of Religion 176. The Ministers labour though insuccessefull yet rewarded by God 176. To be acquainted with the state of Mens Souls 517. Ministers to live according to that doctrine they teach unto others 189. To be Men of gravity and experience 468. The Minister and Magistrate to go hand in hand together 367. To be Men of courage 429. Ministers to be of godly lives and conversations 421. The painfull Ministers joy at the time of his death 471. Negligent Ministers advised 514. Every Minister to keep close to his Text 525. Ministers to be as they are called spirirual Men 542. To be earnestly Zealous in the Preaching of Gods Word 543. A Factious-spirited Man unfit for the work of the Ministry 21. Great safety in attending to the Ministery of the Word 205. The honour and dignity of the Ministery And why so 212. A wanting Ministery will soon become a contemptible Ministery 224. Men of other Callings not to meddle with that of the Ministery 239. The least Man in the Ministery not to be contemned 366. Four sorts of Men undertaking the work of the Ministery 549. Miracles why ceased 39. Popish miracles condemned 597. Moderation little set by 178. The fore-runner of peace 622. Christian Modesty commendable 296. Morning-prayers commended 292. Mortalitie's memorandum 108. 211. The greatest of Men subjects of Mortality 123. Mortality of the sinners life to be considered and deplored 126. All men and things subject to Mortality 194. Sin mortified the Devils terrour 2. Mortification of sin brâ—edeth sense of sin 127. Mortification the excellency thereof 391. The great necessity thereof 401. A great fault in Mothers not to nurse their own children 426. The greatnesse of Motherly affection to an onely son 532. Every Motion towards God is not a true motion towards God 16. The godly and ungodly their different motions in goodnesse 129. Murmuring at Gods doings the prejudice thereof 558. Uncertainty of the Multitude 36. The inconsiderate Multitude 167. The Multitude not to be guided by them 426. The Multitude always desirous of change in government 467. The Vanity of an unguided Multitude 606. The giddy uncertain disposition of the Multitude 629. Tyranny oppression Murther c. not longâ— lived
377. Riches the grâ—at danger of them if not well used 401. The great danger that attends them 497. Very dangerous in getting of them 583. Riches honours c. the different use that is made of them 570. The uncerâ—ain comfort of Riches 601. Riches their uselesnesse in point of calamity 646. The dangerous use of Riches 651. Riches of Christ inexhaustible 652. A Rich Man had rather part with God then his gold 39. A Rich Fâ—ol described 71. A vain Rich Man 125. A Rich Man is Gods Steward 129. Rich poor Men 165. The unprofitable Rich Man 242. Rich Men to consider their beginnings and be thankfull 334. The wicked Rich Man's sad condition at the time of death 376. Rich Men to be mindful of what they have received 456. How to be made truly rich and truly Honorable 463. An uncharitable Rich man no Heavenly-minded 482. Better to be honestly then hastily rich 496. A Rich Man pleading poverty condemned 531. Riot and excesse condemned 291. Rulers and Governors are the supporters of a Common-wealth 29. Rulers actions exemplary 32. Rulers sins hasten the ruine of a State 38. A good Prince or Ruler no advantage to a bad People 106. Rulers and Men in Authority subject to many failings in Government 405. Rulers Magistraâ—es c. to be men of publique spirits 651. S. SEven Sacraments of the Papists not of divine Institution 27. A special sacrament-Sacrament-duty to blesse God for Christs death 76. Sacramental Bread and Wine how better then ordinary 104. How to receive benefit from the Word and Sacraments 149. How to benâ—â—â—t by the Sacraments 152. Worldly thoughts to be set aside before the Sacrament 171. Sacramental Bread and Wine how differenced from others 267. The great danger of Sacriledge 51. 438. Sacriledge never thrives 60. Sacriledge cursed with a curse 61. Sacriledge condemned by the example of Cyrus 70. 588. Sacriledg justly rewarded to take heed of it 311. Sacrilegious persons condemned 671. The safety of Gods people 480. A singular Saint is a pretious Saint 14. Saints in glory what they hear and see 189. Invocation of Saints and Angels condemned 554. Salvation is the Lords 172. No salvation but by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus 423. Sanctification not perfected all at once 94. Sanctification not wrought all at once And why so 144. Sanctification wrought by degrees 181. The Schismaticks abuse of Scripture 59. The excellency of the Scripture in its fulnesse 70. Scripture-knowledge the onely necessary knowledg 89. Speciall places of Scripture marked with Gods speciall authority 103. Harmony of the Scriptures 116. The excellent connexion of the Scriptures 138. The holy Scriptures not to be jested withall 145. The power of Gods Word the Scriptures 158. How to read the Scriptures and Books Apocryphall 160. The Scriptures Rhetorick 160. Manna the Heavenly food of Gods Word how to relish it 114. Severall varieties to be found in Scripture 220. The Scriptures are but a dead letter without the operation of the Spirit 220. The Papists abuse of Scripture by Traditions c. 223. Scripture-comforts the onely true comforts 264. Scripture-knowledge to be put in practice 266. 283. Excellency of the Scripture-phrase 280. The great usefulnesse of Scripture-phrase 282. Scriptures not to be plaid withall 302. True comfort onely in the Scriptures 325. The holy Scriptures to be made the rule of all our actions 373. To be valued above all other writings 436. How it is that so many deceive themselves in their not rightly searching the Scriptures 384. The Scriptures discovering sin and Satan in their colours 392. The Scriptures onely to be rested on 510. The Books of Scripture to be preserved above all other books 535. To blesse God for the revelation of himself in Scripture 537. To keep close to the Word of God especially in troublous times 549. And in seeking after Christ 643. Men and Women to be knowing in the Scriptures 605. The great danger of not keeping close to the Scriptures 625. The praise-worthiness of reading and enquiring into Scripture 653. Scholers not to be unthankful to the University that bred them 78. Scholers to mind their books 40. No personal Security to be had in the time of publique danger 9. 170. Security in time of danger condemned 101. The great danger of security in times of danger 116. God chastiseth his Childrens security 142. Carnal security reproved 249. Security the cause of all calamity 570. The Secrets of Gods Counsâ—ls not to be pry'd into 27. Dangerous to pry into Gods secrets and Counsels 162. Not to consult with Gods secrets but his râ—â—vealed Word 335. Curious inquisitors into Gods secrets deservedly punished 554. The Sectarian schismatical seducers to be avoided 629. Sectarian subtiâ—ty Diabolicall delusion 630. The doctrine of seducers dangerous 227. Selfishnesse condemned 33. Self-praises condemned 35. Self-examination required 53. Self-tryal smooths the way to all other tryals 112. Self-conceited Men blame-worthy Men 129. Self-conceitednesse condemned as dangerous 151. The giving up our selves an acceptable sacrifice unto God 154. The folly and danger of self-conceitednesse 180. The benefit of Self-examination 207. The danger of self-confidence 275. Self-seeking Men reproved 277. 375. Men of self-ends condemned 278. How it is that the self-conceited vain-glorious Man deceives himself 336. Self-conceitednesse in matters of Religion condemned 340. How far Self-safety may be consulted 543. Self-denyall the excellency thereof 635. No Man a loser by giving himself up to God 645. Men to be careful in the choyce of servants 483. God hardly accepting of late service done him And why so 678. Men created for the service of God 652. Backwardnesse in the service of God reproved 398. No worldly thing must hinder the service of God 575. How it is that Men fail so much in the service of God 626. Service performed unto God must be personal 589. Service to God must be like Himself 58. Rash inconsiderate service of God condemned 340. Service of God is persect freedome 378. The Ministers repetition in Sermons warrantable 82. The difference betwixt Sermons preached and Sermons printed 110. 639. A Sermon preached many years before may be the means of Salvation many years afâ—er 115. A good Sermon not to be so much questioned as practised 183. A Sermon not done till it be practised 253. How to recover spirituall sight 82. Sicknesse immediately inflicted by God 506. Commendable Silence 332. 668. The Silent Christian is the sound Christian 23. Silence in the cause of Gods honour condemned 478. The Simonist discovered 627. Slandering of our brother the danger thereof 134. Slanders of Wicked Men not to be regarded 238. Slanderers discovered 286. Not to be â—econciled to God before we sleep is very dangerous 83. The great danger of sleeping out Sermons 552. The sloathfull Christian described 217. Sloathfulâ—esse and luke-warmnesse in Religion fore-runners of evill to come 334. Spiritual sloath in the wayes of God reproved 398. Man to be a sociable communicative Creature 316. The different conditions of Men in