divine Excellencies Do they not take the Wings of the Morning and fly to the utmost end of the Earth in their musings and thoughts to find out riches that will not profit in the day of wrath when their Essaies to Heaven are as weak as the Grashoppers who give only a small slirt upwards and then falls down to the Earth again O that I could with plenty of tears bemoan that monstrous Ataxie and perverseness which sin hath wrought in the most noble parts of man Was not that agility of mind given unto him by God that he might have his Conversation in Heaven though his abode was on Earth And that he might enter into the holy of holies not like the High Priest once in a year but in every prayer and duty like a winged Angel behold the face of God and look into those things that are within the Veil But now alas he can only like that lapsed Angel compass the earth to and fro in his thoughts and descend as low as hell in his lusts but cannot raise himself above the world to the performance of the least good I feel O my God continually the sad change which sin hath made in me not so much destroying my Faculties as perverting them I have not lost the use of them but the rectitude of them I am no more weary of sinning than a swift stream of running the same weight of sin that hinders me from running the race which is set before me hurries me to evil and makes me through the impulsions of Satan to gather strength by an accessory impression In the births of sin I am like the Hebrew women lively and quick of delivery but in the bringing forth of whatever is good like a slow Egyptian that needs the aide of a Midwife l therefore beg of thee holy Lord to heal my distempers by thy grace and to renew me in the spirit of my mind that I may run the way of thy Commandments when thou hast enlarged my heart Meditation XXXVII Vpon a Sun-Dyal and a Clock THese two Artificial measures of time give one and the same account of its motions but in a very differing if not contrary manner The Clock doth it by a motion of its own but the Sun-Dyall while it self is fixed by an extrinsick motion of the Sun upon those Lines drawn upon it effects the same thing And this occasioned me to think in what a differing way the same services and duties of Religion are done by those that profess it Some like Clocks have a Spring of motions in themselves and the weight that quickens and actuates it is love They pray confer exercise holiness in their Conversation in a progressive manner Salvation being nearer to them than when they first believed Others again are like Sun-Dyals that are as useless posts in a gloomy day and are destitute of all principles of motion The Sun moveth upon them but they stand still The Spirit comes upon them as it did on Saul but themselves are not in the least moved by those duties that others may think they profit by There is a light and shine which passeth upon their gifts and abilities that may render them useful as well as visible unto others but it effecteth no alteration in their hearts to the bettering of themselves What divine Visions and Prophesies did Balaam both see and utter concerning Israel And how remarkable is the Preface which he sets before them The man whose eyes are open hath said yet his heart is fixed to his lust of Covetousness and he is so far from taking the least step towards their Tents which with admiration he beholds to be goodly as that he gives Balack counsel how to destroy them Let not then any rest in a bare illumination or transient work of the Spirit upon them as if that such things would be sufficient evidences of the goodness of their conâ—ition Light may make a good head but it is heat and motion that must make a good heart without which all profession of Religion is but an unsavoury Carkass Be wise therefore O Christians and build not the foundation of your eternal happiness upon such uncertain principles May not the Spirit assist where it never inhabits May it not move upon him whom it never quickens Were not many workers of iniquity who were workers of miracles Were not many famous for their Prophesies who were infamous for their Profaneness Are not such things made by Christ the plea of many in the last day for their admittance into heaven whom he will not know Why then should any be so foolish to make that a Plea to the Judge which he knows beforehand will be rejected The best way to discern our condition is not to argue the goodness of it from the light which the Spirit darts in upon us but by the motions which it produceth in us As many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God in a constant way of progression from grace to grace from vertue to vertue Such light as it is sudden in its Eruptions so it is also in its Interruptions the one oft times are as speedy and momentary as the other Look therefore to the attractions of the Spirit by which you are moved drawn to walk in holy waies rather than to such motions of the Spirit which pass only upon you but do not beget any motion or stirring in you Meditation XXXVIII Vpon the payment of a Pepper-corn LOgicians have a Maxime that Relationes sunt minimae entitatis maximae efficaciae Relations are of the smallest Entity and of the greatest efficacy The truth of which may appear in the payment of a single Pepper-corn that Freeholders pay to their Landlord they do it not with any hope or intent to enrich him but to acknowledge that they hold all from him To effect the one it is of too mean a value yet it preserves the Lords right as fully as a greater Rent and aggravates the Tenants folly to withhold more than if the demands had been higher To such an one may be justly said what Naamans Servant spake unto him If the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it How much rather then when he saith to thee wash and be clean If the condition which meer bounty happily hath made so easie had been by the same hand and power restrained to a more costly and â—mple homage ought it not to have been performed How much more when nothing is required but what may witness a dependency and not burden it How inexcusable then must the ingratiâ—ude of those men be who receiving all their blessings from God withhold that Pepper-corn of praise and honour from him which is the only thing that they can pay or that he expects To câ—st the least Mite into his Treasury which may adde to its riches is beyond the Line of men or Angels for if it could admit an increase the abundance of it
THis Lemma or Title may happily as much affect such who make Gold their God as the sight of the Star did the Wise Men hoping that it will be both a light and guide to the discovery of that rare and matchless secret of turning the more base and inferiour Metralls into the more noble Iron into Silver and Brass into Gold and so Enrich them with an Artificial Indies But I can scâ—rce resolve my self whether the Philosophers Stone which is thus framed for wonders be not rather a Speculation than an absolute reallity or an attempt assayed by many rather than an Atcheivment attained by few or any How many have melted down Ample Revenues in their Crusibles and while they have with much labour sought the Sublimation of Mettals have sunk themselves into the deepest beggery and how have others consumed their time if not wasted their Estates in a fruitless pursuit of it and yet have seen no other change then what age and care hath made in themselves by turning their golden hair into silver hair or at the best have gleaned up some few Experiments onely which have not Compensated their cost and travel But what if any Man after long search and study can Archimedes like cry out joyfully that he hath found Yea what if every Man who have busied his thoughts and imployed his time in diving into this Mystery should be able to effect such a Change and to multiply his Treasure as the Sand yet how worthless and inconsiderable would such productions of his Philosophical Stone be found if compared with the noble and transcendent effects of the Divine or Theological Stone which Christ promiseth in the Revelation to him that overcometh whose worth as it is far greater so the way to obtain it is more facile and certain it being not a work of labour but a gift of grace This Stone is of such power and energy that whosoever is possessed of it can have nothing befâ—l him which it changeth and turneth not to his good it turneth all temporal losses into spiritual advantages all crosses into blessings all asflictions into comforts it dignifies reproach and ignomy it changeth the hardship of a Prison into the delights of a Pallace it is an heavenly Anodyne against all paines and makes the Soul to possess it self in patience in every condition It is a Panacea an universal Salve for every Sore to all acciâ—ents that can befall a Man It is as the Seal to the Wâ—x putting upon them a new stâ—mp and figure and making them to be what they were not before and what they never could have been without it Such it is that he who hath it hath all good and he that wants it whatever else he seemes to possess hath little less then nothing Who then can without mourning as well as wondering think at the prodigious folly of those Men who labour in a continual fire to effect the Stone of the Transmutation of Mettalls and yet deem this Divine Stone scarce worth the begging of God in a Prayer Is this wisdom to toile in the refining of Clay and to be able to make a dull piece of Earth to shine and then to value our happiness by it is this wisdom to set a low rate upon what God hath promised to give and highly to esteem what we can do O Lord if this be the Worlds wisdom let me become a fool I had rather have this Divine Stone of thy Promise then all the Treasures that Nature and Art can yield Let the Mountains be turned into Gold the Rocks into Diamonds the Sands into Pearles yet this Stone with the New Name written in it is to me more desirable then all as being a sure pledg of life and happiness in heaven Meditation XIX Vpon a Greek Accent ACcents are by the Hebrews aptly called Sapores Tastes or Savors because that Speech or Words without the observance of them are like Jobs White of an Egg without Salt insipid and unpleasant In the Greek they derive their name from the due tenor or tuning of words and in that Tongue words are not pronounced according to the long or short vowels but according to the accent set upon them which directs the rise or fall the length or brevity of their pronunciation now what accents are in the Greek to words that methinks circumstances are to sins which as so many Moral accents do fitly serve to shew their just and certain dimensions and teach us aright to discern how great or small they be and he that without respect had unto them doth judge of the bigness of sins is like to erre as much as a Man that should take upon him without Mathematical Instruments to give exactly the greatness of the Heavenly Bodies and to pronounce of Altitudes Distances Asspects and other appearances by the scantling of the Eye Is not this the Scripture way to set out Sin by the Place Time Continuance in it and repetitions of it doth not God thus accent Israels sins by the place in which they were done they provoked him at the Red-Sea where they saw the mighty workes of his power in making the deep to be their path to Canaan and the Aegyptians Grave They tempted him in the Wilderness where their Food Drink Clothes were all made up of Miracles the Clouds yielding them Meat the dry Rock Water and their Garments not waxing old Dotâ— he not aggravate them by the long space of their continuance in them in saying that they grieved him fourty years doth he not number the times of their Reiterated Murmurings and Rebellions and make it as a ground for his Justice to destroy them Necessary therefore it is that in the duty of Self-examination and reviewes of the Book of Conscience we do not only read over the naked Facts which have been done by us but that we look into those Apices peccati little dots and tittles which are set upon the heads of many sins the Circumstances I mean with which they were committed or else we shall never read that book aright or learn to know what sins are great or what small The Fact and the Circumstance are both noted in the Journals of Conscience though they be not haply equally legible and he that is truly peniâ—ent will make it a chief part of his work to find out one as well as the other as being the best meanes both to get the heart broken for sin and from sin What shame what fear what carefulness what revenge will a serious sight of the several aggravations that meet in the perpretation of a sin move and stir up in the heart of a sinner will he not say what a beast am I to â—in thus against so clear light to break so often my own vowes to defer so long my Repentance and Rising again what revenge shall I now take of my self to witness my Indignation what carefulness shall I exercise to evidence the truth of my return what diligence shall I use to redeem
were not infinite but to adore its fulness and to acknowledge that from it they derive theirs is the duty of all that partake of it This is the only homage that those Stars of the Morning and sons of God who behold his face do give in heaven and this is it which the Children of men should give on Earth But alas from how few are those sacred dues tendred to God though all be his debtors Doth not the rich man when wealth floweth in upon him like a river forget that the Lord only giveth him power to get riches And sacrifice unto his Net and burn Incense unto his Drag Is it not the sin that God chargeth all Israel with that they rejoyce in a thing of nought and say have we not taken horns to us by our own strength Yea doth he not expresly say thar he will nor give his glory unto another Shall any man then take it unto himself And yet what stoln bread is so sweet to any taste as the secret nimmings purloynings of Gods glory are unto the pallate of most If any design be effected they think that their wisdom hath brought it about if any difficulties be removed they ascribe it to their industry if success and victory do build upon their Sword it is their own arm and right hand that hath obtained it O how great is that pride and unthankfulness which reigns in the hearts of men who affect to rob God rather than to honour him and to deny him to be the Author of what they possess than to acknowledge their Tenure that they hold all in Capite Stealing from men may be acquitted again with single or double with fourfold or sevenfold restitution But the filching from Gods glory can never be answered for who can give any thing to him which he hath not received Others may steal of necessity to satisfie their hunger but such violate out of pride and wantonness the Exchequer of heaven and shall never escape undetected or unpunished Consider therefore this all ye who are ready to kiss your own hands for every blessing that comes upon you to what danger you expose your selves while ye rob God whose name is Jealous who will vindicate the glory of his neglected goodness in the severe triumphs of his impartial Justice It is Bernards Expression Uti datis ut innatis est maxima superbia to use Gods gifts as things inbread in us is the highest arrogancy and what less can it merit than the very condemnation of the Devil Whos 's first sin as some Divines conceive was an affectation of independant happiness without any respect or habitude unto God I cannot a little wonder that the blackness of his sin and the dreadfulness of his Fall should not make all to fear the least shadow and semblance of such a crime in themselves as must bring upon them the like ruine Look upon him ye proud ones and tremble who are abettors of Nature against Grace and resolve the salvation of man ultimately into the freedom of his Will rather than into the efficacy of Gods Grace who in the work of Conversion make the Grace of God to have only the work of a Midwife to help the Child into the world but not to be the Parent and sole Author of it Is not this to cross the great design of the Gospel which is to exalt the honour of God and Christ that he that glorieth might glory in the Lord. And is not every tittle of the Gospel as dear to God as every little of the Law Can then any diminish ought from it and be guiltless Oh fear then to take the least due from God who hath threatned to take his part out of the Book of Life and out of the holy City and from the things which are written in the Book of God Non est devotion is dedisse prope totum sed fraudis retinuisse vel minimum It is not devotion saith Prosper rightly against his Collator to acknowledge almost all from God but accursed theft to ascribe though but a very little to our selves Lord therefore whatever others do keep me humble that as I receive all from thee so I may render that tribute of praise which thou expectest from me both chearfully and faithfully and though it can adde nothing to thy perfection no more than my beholding and admiring the Suns light can encrease it yet let me say as holy David did Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy name be the glory for thy mercy and for thy truths sake Meditation XXXIX Vpon the Bucket and the Wheel THe saying of Democritus which he spake concerning Philosophical truth that it did latitare in juteâ— hide it self and take up its abode in a dark and deep Well may much more be affirmed of Theological truth when the whole Doctrine of the Gospel is called the Mystery of Christ and the great Mystery of Godliness that there should be three distinct Persons in one Essence and two distinct Natures in one Person That Virgiâ—ity should conceive Eternity be born Immortality dye and Mortality rise from death to life Are not these and many more of the like intricacy unparalelled mysteries May we not then justly say as the Samaritaâ— woman did to our Saviour when he asked water of her Puteus profundus est the Well is deep and who can descend into it or fathom it And yet such is the pride and arrogancy of many men as that not contenting themselves with the simplicity of believing many make Reason the sole standard whereby to measure both the Principles and Conclusions of Faith for which it is as unapt as the weak Eye of a Bat to behold the Sun when it shineth in its full strength or the Bill of a small Bird to receive into it the Ocean These high mysteries are not to be scanned but to be believed the knowledge and certainty of which doth not arise from the evidence of reason but from the revelation made of them in holy Scriptures the mouth of God who is truth it self and cannot lye hath spoken them and therefore it cannot be otherwise But must then reason be wholly shut out as a useless thing in the Christian Religion or must it be confined to the agenda matters of duty and morality in which it cannot be denied to be both of necessary and constant use Surely even the Credenda also the Doctrines and points which are properly of Faith do not refuse the sober use of Reason so it be imployed as an Handmaid and not as a Mistress I have therefore thought that Faith is as the Bucket which can best descend this deep Well of mystery and that Reason is as the Wheel which stands over the mouâ—h of it and keeps alwaies its certain and fixed distance But yet by its motion is instrumental both to let down the bucket and also to draw it up again Faith discovers the deep things of God and then reason teacheth us to
submit our selves and it to the obedience of Faith that so it is But it never becomes more foolish and dangerous then when it busies its self in inquiries and makes Nicodemus his question How can these things be then it turnes giddy and loseth its self in distracted rounds and motions Alass â— how unlike would the wayes and Counsels of God be unto himself if they were no other but such as the Wisest of Men could trace out How little glory would Faith also give to God if it did not put forth its strength in asserting his Power to effect greater things then can fall within the compass of Natural disquisition Yea how should the Gospel in its Institutions Doctrines and Worship be acquitted of the Jewes stumbling at it as dishonourable to their Law and the Gentiles deriding of it as absurd in their Philosophy if that Reason must be the measure of its Mysteries Nature is so far from finding out what the Gospel discovers as that it cannot yâ—eld unâ—o it when it is revealed without a spirit of Faith to assist iâ— Be wise therefore O Christians and set bounds to your Reason beyond which it may not pass as Moses did to the Israelites whilest Faith descendeth into the deeps of Gospel Mysteries which Angells with strerched out necks have more desire to pry into then ability perfectly to understand Now the boundary of Reason is Confâ—rre inferre to confer one Scripture with another and to infer Conclusions and to deduce Instructions thence by a clear Lâ—giâ—il Discourse But if it go further to gâ—zâ— it may justly fear to be smitâ—en of God and like a Pyoneer or bold Miner which digs in too far for his rich Veine of Ore â—eet with a damp which choakes him My Prayer therefore shall be that of the Apostles to Christ Adde nobis fidem Lord increase our faith For if my faith do not exceed my reason though advanced to as high a pitch as ever Solomon had yet might I well be numbered among those whom St. Peter saith are blinde and cannot see afar off Meditation XL. Vpon Banishment EXile is a Change of place that brings no evil with it but in opinion a Complaint and affliction wholly imaginary is the description some have made of it But it seemes to me to be rather a Stoicks vaunt than a Christians just estimate of the evils of that condition What trial else would it have been of Abrahams Faith to leave his Country Kindred and Fathers House and to go to a Land God would shew him or why did God injoyn Israel to pitty Strangers because themselves had been Strangers in the Land of Aegypt Why have Legislators deemed it as a punishment for grand Crimes and next to Capital or why have many looked upon it as worse than death chusing rather the lot of the Goat that was to be Sacrificed then the lot of the Scape Goat which was to be sent into the Wilderness is it not because as Philo saith death is the full end of all evils but Banishment the beginning of many new ones Want Scorn Oppressions Unjust Jealousies are the daily hard Measures that Exiles must expect to meet with he must thank him who demands his Coat that he asketh not his Life and he must oft times redeem his Life with that little Money which he hath that should buy him Bread to preserve it He must be armed with nothing but patience least he be apprehended as one that hath in design the death of some other And yet how many Arguments of comfort can my thoughts suggest to such Christians who for the Truths sake either dread this Cross or feel it They break forth so on the right hand and on the left as that methinks I may say Sing O ye Banished cry aloud for more are the comforts of the desolate than the comforts of those that sit under the shadow of their own roof I will not tell you that you have the same Sun and Moon to shine upon you that Kings have that the Stars appear unto you in the same greatness and beauty which they do to others That you enjoy the same common Elements that all do These and such like topicks are to be plentifully found among the Moralists But all their Precepts and Sentences are like Arrowes that fall short of the Mark They could never reach that solid contentment they levelled at Hear then ye dejected Christians what your comforts are whose Crâ—sses are no more than others and whose supports are farr greater Are you Banished from your Native Country what other condition do you undergo then Abraham did the Father of the Faithfull and the Friend of God and will you murmur if God deal with you no worse then with his Favorite if you are out of your own Land do you not still tread upon your Fathers ground is not the Earth the Lords and the sullness of it did never any thrive in a strange Soyle and like transplanted Trees gain by the Change have ye forgot what God did for Joseph in Egypt or for Daniel and his Associates in their Captivity who like Stars when they set in one Hemisphere did rise gloriously in another But if still you be impatient and in dislike with your Estate let me ask you if the best of a wicked Mans condition be not worse Is it not better to hunger and thirst for righteousness sake then to fare deliciously every day with the rich Glutâ—on in the Gospel Is it not more eligible to be an Israelite in the Wilderness then to be a Courâ—ier in Egypt can you not speak better of your Miseries then wicked Men can do of their Mercies you may say blessed Hunger blessed Poverty blessed Mourning blessed Persecutions and Revilings Christ himself having blessed your Afflictions and also cursed their enjoyments He hath entailed an eternal woe upon all those things wherein they place their welfare their Riches their Fullness their Mirth their Applause and Credit with all Men and he hath promised to them that endure temptations a Crown of Life when they are tried Be not therefore dismayed O ye of little Faith who have every bitter thing at present sweetned with Promises and within a little while shall have all the hardships of a desart turned into the Plenty of an Heavenly Canaan And yet methinks some there be who are still unsatisfied and ask if it be nothing to part with dear Relations and society of Friends and to be cast upon strange Faces and Languages that they understand not to be at once in great measure both deaf and dumb not hearing what others say to them and being also unable to speak the least word to others That these are sore evils I shall not make it any part of my task to deny But yet how many are there who have exposed themselves to all these evils and have undergone them voluntarily which you suffer out of constraint have not some for curiosity sake and a thirst of â—nowledg travelled
importance with it is it not that he gave her some portion of Land that was well watered as the low valleys for the most part are And that he gave also such Springs that by their high lying were apt to convey their stream to the enriching of other parts that stood in need of such helps to make them fruitful Now what is it that can more commend a Spring than a free diffusion of its waters and the spreading of its moisture not only to grounds that are near but to such as are at a distance from it and what can more conduce unto this commodious usefulness than the Springs rise from some hill or place of ascent Another Spring may haply serve to water some little spot of ground to benefit some private Garden but an upper Spring will greatly advantage a large Inheritance Such a like difference methinks there is in the moral Well-springs of grace and holiness as is between the natural according to the diversity of subjects in which they are seated Grace in a poor man is as a nether spring which is not less useful through a defect of water but through an incapacity to make any large communication of it in regard of those circumstances in which he stands His wants his paucity of Friends the little notice the world takes of him the slightings that Poverty exposeth most men unto are all great obstacles to the eternal diffusions of his grace though not to his intrinsecal fulness of it But grace in a great Person is like an upper Spring which may convey it self far and near because of the many advantages which he hath above others His Counsels will be sooner harkened unto his Reproofs will over-awe more his Conversation will win more his Example having the force of a Law So willing have many been to make Greatness their pattern as that they have imitated their infirmities Dyonisius his Courtiers affected to seem to be purblind and justle one against another that so they might be like their Prince Alexanders Followers would imitate him in their gesture and go as if their shoulders were one higher than the other because there was some inequality in his Among the Persians they were wont highly to esteem a long and narrow head and were industrious to fashion the heads of their new-born Infants to such a shape because some of their Kings heads were of that figure O what pity is it then that greatness and goodness should be ever out of Conjunction together or be as Stars of a different Hemispheer that are never seen shining at the same time Yea why should not those who are the highest among men affect also to be the best that so they might bring a beauty and shine into the world that they might allure others not only to behold it but also to imitate it by conforming themselves to their happy example It is the saying of Plutarch that rare Moralist That God is angry with them that counterfeit his Thunder and Lightning his Scepter and his Trident and his Thunderbolts he would not have any to meddle with He loves not that any should imitate him in absolute Dominion and Soveraignty But he delights to see them darting forth those amiable and cherishing beams of Justice Goodness and Clemency Without these things be conveyed down unto others by those who have the reines of Power and Government in their hands though they look upon themselves as Gods on earth yet they are as unlike to the God of heaven as a blazing Comet is to a bright and glorious Sun or a deceitful Glow-worm to an heavenly Star What low thoughts Solomon himself hath of Soveraignty when put into an ill hand we may read in his Book of the Preacher where he tells us that better is a poor and a wise Child than an old and foolish King who will not be instructed to manage his power and authority for the good of those that are under him It is wisdom that makes a mans face to shine but most of all those that are in highest places Good in them is most conspicuous and both more applauded and Imitated than in others What evil cannot a King forbid whose wraâ—â— is as the roaring of a Lion What good can he not encourage whose favour is as a cloud of the latter rain which promiseth an harvest of blessings I cannot but wonder at the great changes which the Scripture reports to have been made by godly Princes in the midst of a general Apostacy such as Asa Jehoshaphat Ezekiah Josiah who purged the Land from a spreading Idolatry and restored Sabbaths Ordinances and Temple-worship to their power and purity who have bowed the hearts of the people towards them like to the top of a fishers Angling rod this way or that way as it pleaseth them Who but Princes that had grace in their hearts and power in their hands could have ever effected such things as might well seem to be of insuperable difficulty O that I could therefore suggest such Considerations that might prevail with all whose conditions God hath raised above others to be accordingly instrumental in the doing of good to others that move in a lower spheer Shall I say God expects it from you If I do it is no other than what himself hath spoken when he saith He will get him up to the great men for they have known the way of the Lord and the Judgement of their God Or shall I say God signally commands it from you above others Is it not to you that he particularly calls Be wise now O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the earth Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way Do you think that greatness doth rather exempt from than oblige to obedience or that you shall have a more favourable Audit at the last Day when every man must give an account of himself unto God Be not deceived God will enquire what you have done more for him above others as he hath for you above thousands and woe be unto you if you be found too light Your Exaltation in this life will serve only to make your casting down to be the more dismal in the other and to confirm the truth of that Proverb Inferni pavimentum fit ex magnatum galeis Sacerdotum capitibus That Hell is paved with the Corslets of Noblemen and the skulls of Priests Meditation L. Vpon the vanity of Wishes TRue and perfect happiness is a good which neither the light of Nature can discover nor its endeavours obtain it being as impotent to the acquiring of it as it is blind to the beholding of it And yet there is nothing in which man less apprehends himself at a loss than in this of fully contriving at least if not effecting his own happiness Who is it that is not confident that if he might have the liberty of his options to wish whatever he would and to have them turned
its own concernments If there were but a clear insight into that Blessedness into which Peace of Conscience doth Estate a Believer it could not be but that it being laid in the Ballance with the health of the Body it should as far over-weigh it as a full Bucket a single drop or as the Vintage of Wine a particular Cluster True it is that health of Body is the Salt of all outward blessings which without it have no relish or savour neither Riches nor Honours nor Delights for the Belly or Back can yield the least Pleasure where this is wanting So that the enjoyment of it alone may well be set against many other Wants And better it is to enjoy health without other additional-comforts then to possess them under a load of Infirmities And yet I may still say Quid Palea ad Triticum What is the Chaff to the Wheat Though it be the greatest outward good that God bestowes in this Life it is nothing to that Peace which passeth all understanding Sickness destroyes it Age enfeebles it and Extremities imbitter it But it is the Excellency of this divine Peace that it worketh joy in Tribulation that it supports in Bodily languishments and creates confidence in death Who is it that can throw forth the Gauntler and bid defiance to Armies of Trialls to persecution distress famine nakedness peril and sword But he whose heart is established with this Peace the ground of which is Gods free love the Price of which is Christs satisfaction the Worker of which is the Holy Spirit and the Subject of which is a Good Conscience This was it that filled old Simeons heart with joy and made him to beg a Dimission of his Saviour whom his eyes had seen his armes embraced and his Soul trusted in What a strange thing is it then that there should be so few Marchant-men that seek this goodly Pearl which is far above all the Treasures of the Earth that are either hid in it or extracted from it Many say Who will shew us any good but it is David onely that Prayes Lord lift up the light of thy Countenance upon us Others like the scattered Israelites in Egypt go up and down gathering of Straw and Stubble when he like an Israelite indeed in the Wilderness of this World seeks Manna which his Spirit gathers up and feeds upon with delight and then cries out Thou hast put gladness in my heart more then in the time that their Corn and their Wine increased It is the love of God shed abroad in the heart that doubleth the sweetness of prosperity and sweetens also the bitterness of asfliction A wonder onely therefore it is not that few should seek but a much greater that any in this World should live without it Can any live well without the Kings Favour either in his Court or Kingdom And yet there are many places wherein such Persons may lie hid in his Dominions when the utmost ends of the Earth cannot secure them against Gods frownes But if any be so profligate as Cleopatria-like to dissolve this Jewel of Peace in his Lusts and to drink down in one prodigious draught that which exceeds the World in its price and yet think they can live well enough without it let them consider how they will do to die without it Sweet it is in life but it will be more sweet in death â—t is not then the Sun-shine of Creatures but Saviourshine that will refresh them It is not then Wine that can cheere the heart but the Blood of Sprinkling that will pacifie it The more Perpendicular Death comes to be over our head the lesser will the shadow of all Earthly comforts grow and prove useless either to asswage the paines of it or to mitigate the feares of it What is a fragrant posie put into the hands of a Malefactor who is in sight of the Place of Execution and his Friends bidding him to smell on it or what is the delivering to him a Sealed Conveyance that Intitles him to great Revenues who hath a few minutes onely to live But O what excess of joy doth fill and overflow such a poor Mans heart when a Pardon from his Prince comes happily in to prevent the Stroak of death and to assure him both of Life and Estate This is indeed as health and marrow to the bones And is it not thus with a dying Sinner who expects in a few moments to be swallowed up in those flames of wrath the heat of which already scorch his Conscience and cause Agonies and Terrors which imbitter all the comforts of life and extract cries from him that are like the yellings of the damned I am undone without hope of recovery Eternity it self will as soon end as my misery God will for ever hold me as his enemy and with his own breath will enliven those Coles that must be heaped upon me Of what value now would one smile of Gods Face be to such a person how joyfull would the softest whisper of the Spirit be that speakes any hope of Pardon or Peace would not one drop of this Soveraign Balm of Gods favour let fall upon the Conscience heal and ease more then a River of all other delights whatsoever Think therefore upon it O Christians so as not any longer through your own default to be without the sense of this Blessing in your hearts that so in life as well as in death you may be filled with this Peace of God which passeth all understanding If Prayer will obâ—ain it beg every day a good look from him the light of whose Countenance is the onely health of yours If an holy and humble Walking will preserve it be more carefull of doing any thing to lose your Peace then to endanger your health remember that Peace is so much better than health as the Soul is better then the Body But Grant Holy Father however others may neglect or defer to seek Peace with thee and from thee yet I may now find thy Peace in me by thy Pardoning all my iniquities and may be found of thee in Peace without Spot and blameless in the great day Meditation LV. Vpon a Looking-Glass VVHat is that which commendeth this Glass is it the Pearl and other precious stones with which the Frame that it is set in is richly decked and enammelled or is it the impartial and just representation which it makes according to the Face which every one that beholds himself brings unto it Surely the Ornaments are wholly forraign and contribute no more to its real worth then the Cask doth to the goodness of the Wine into which it is put or the â—ichness of the Plate to the Cordial in which it is administred That for which the Glass is to be esteemed is the true and genuine resemblance which it makes of the object which is seen in it when it neither flatters the Face by giving any false Beauty to it nor yet injures it by detracting ought from it To