below an heaven-born soul nay for such as profess to be enobled with a principle of Piety and to have their hopes above for them to have their hearts below how do they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 disparage their Heavenly Calling and spot their silver wings of Grace by beliming them with earth 3. Consider what a poor contemptible thing the world is it is not worth setting the affections on it cannot fill the heart if Satan should take a Christian up to the Mount of Temptation and show him all the Kingdomes and glory of the world what could he show him but a phancy an apparition Nothing here can be proportionable to the immense soul of man Iob 20. 22. In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in streights Here is want in plenty the creature will no more fill the soul than a drop will fill the bucket and that little sweet we suck from the creature is intermixed with some bitterness like that Cup which the Jews gave Christ Mar. 15. 23. They gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrhe And this imperfect sweet will not last long 1 Iohn 2. 17. The world passeth away The creature doth but salute us and is presently upon the wing The world rings Changes it is never constant but in its disappointments how quickly may we remove our lodgings and make our pillow in the dust The world is but a great Inne where we are to stay a night or two and be gone what madness is it so to set our heart upon our Inne as to forget our home 4. Consider what a glorious place heaven is We read of an Angel coming down from heaven who did tread with his right foot on the Sea and with his left foot on the earth Revel 10. 2. Had we but once been in heaven and viewed the superlative glory of it how might we in an holy scorn trample with one foot upon the earth and with the other foot upon the Sea Heaven is called a better Country Heb. 11. 16. But now they desire a better Country that is an heavenly Heaven is said to be a better Country in opposition to the Country where we now sojourn What should we mind but that better Country Quest. In what sense is heaven a better Country Answ. 1. In that Country above there are better delights there is the Tree of Life the Rivers of Pleasure there is amazing beauty unsearchable riches there are the delights of Angels there is the Flower of Joy fully blown there is more than we can ask or think there is glory in its full dimensions and beyond all hyperbole 2. In that Country there is a better dwelling house 1. It is an house not made with hands 2 Cor. 5. 1. To denote the excellency of it There was never any house but was made with hands but the house above surpasseth the art of man or Angel none besides God could lay a stone in that building 2. It is eternal in the heavens it is not a sojourning house but a Mansion-house it is an house will never be out of repair Wisdome hath built this house and hewn out her seven Pillars which can never moulder 3. In that Country there are better provisions in our Fathers house is bread enough Heaven was typified by Canaan which did flow with milk and honey There is the Royal Feast the spiced Wine there is Angels food there are those rare viands and dainties served in as exceed not only our expressions but our faith 4. In that Country is better Society There is God blessed for ever How infinitely sweet and ravishing will a smile of his face be the Kings presence makes the Court There are the glorious Cherubims in this terrestrial Country where we now live we are among Wolves and Serpents in that Country above we shall be among Angels There are the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Here the people of God are clouded with infirmities we see them with spots in their faces they are full of pride passion censoriousness in that Hierusalem above we shall see them in their Royal attire deck'd with unparallell'd beauty not having the least tincture or shadow of sin upon them 5. In that Country there is a better ayr to breathe in We go into the Country for ayr the best ayr is only to be had in that better Country 1. It is a more temperate ayr the Climate is calm and moderate we shall neither freeze with the cold nor faint with the heat 2. It is a brighter ayr there is a better light shines there The Sun of Righteousness enlightens that Horison with his glorious beams Rev. 21. 23. The Lamb is the light thereof 3. It is a purer ayr The Fens which are full of black vapours we count a bad ayr and unwholesome to live in This world is a place of Bogs and Fens where the noxious vapours of sin arise which make it pestilential and unwholesome to live in but in that Country above there are none of these vapours but a sweet perfume of holiness there is the smell of the Orange-tree and the Pomgranate there is the Myrrhe and Cassia coming from Christ which send forth a most odoriferous smell 6. In that Country there is a better soil the Land or Soil is better 1. For its altitude the earth lying low is of a baser pedigree the Element which is neerest heaven is purer and more excellent as the fire that Country above is the High Country Psal. 24. 3. it is seated far above all the visible Orbs. 2. It is a better Land for its fertilness it bear a richer Crop The richest Harvest on earth is the golden Harvest but the Country above yields Nobier Commodities there are Pearls Caelestial there is the Spiritual Vine there is the honey-comb of Gods love dropping there is the Water of Life the hidden Manna there is fruit that doth not rot flowers that never fade there is a Crop which cannot be quite reaped it will be ever reaping time in heaven and all this the Land yields without the labour of ploughing and sowing 3. It is a better Land for its inoffensiveness There are no bryars there the World is a Wilderness where are wicked men and the best of them is a bryar Mica 7. 4. They will be tearing the people of God in their spiritual Liberties but in the Country above there is not one bryar to be seen all the bryars are burned 4. It is a better Land for the rareness of the prospect all that a man sees there is his own I account that the best prospect where a man can see furthest on his own ground 7. In that Country is better union all the Inhabitants are knit together in love The poysonful weed of malice doth not grow there there is harmony without division and charity without envy In that Country above as in Solomons Temple no noyse of Hammer is heard 8. In that Country is better imployment while
him to be silent the Spouse being sick of love her tongue was as the pen of a ready writer Cant. 5. 10. My beloved is white and ruddy his head is of fine gold c. If Wine be in the house the Bush will be hung forth and where there is a principle of godliness in the heart it will vent it self at the lips the Bush will be hung forth How can they be termed godly 1. Who are possessed with a dumb devil They never have any good discourse they are fluent and discoursive enough in secular things they can speak of their wares and drugs they can tell what a good crop they have but in matters of Religion they are as if their tongue did cleave to the roof of their mouth There are many persons if you come into their company you cannot tell what to make of them whether they are Turks or Atheists for they never speak a word of Christ. 2. Whose tongues are set on fire of Hell Their lips do not drop honey but poyson to the defiling of others Plutarch saith speech ought to be like gold which is then of most value when it hath least dross in it O the unclean malicious words that some persons utter What an unsavoury stench comes from these dunghils those lips had need have Davids Bridle that gallop so fast in sin Can the body be healthful when the tongue is black Can the heart be holy when the devil is in the lips A godly man speaks the language of Canaan Mal. 3. 16. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another 4. A godly man is heavenly in his Operation The motions of the Planets are Caelestial A godly man is sublime and sacred in his motions he works out salvation he puts forth all his strength as they did in the Olympicks that he may obtain the Garland made of the Flowers of Paradise he prays fasts watcheth he offers violence to heaven he is divinely acted he carries on Gods Interest in the world he doth Angels work he is in his Operations Seraphical 5. A godly man is heavenly in his Expectation his hopes are above the world Tit. 1. 2. In hope of eternal life A godly man casts Anchor within the vail he hopes to have his fetters of sin filed off he hopes for such things as eye hath not seen he hopes for a Kingdome when he dies a Kingdome promised by the Father purchased by the Son assured by the Holy Ghost as an Heir lives in hope when such a great Estate shall befall him so a Childe of God who is a Co-heir with Christ hopes for glory This hope comforts him in all varieties of condition Rom. 5. 2. We rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God 1. This hope comforts a godly man in affliction hope doth lighten and sweeten the most severe Dispensations A Childe of God can laugh with tears in his eyes the time is shortly coming when the Cross shall be taken off his shoulders and a Crown set upon his head A Saint at present is miserable with a thousand troubles in an instant cloathed with Robes of Immortality and advanced above Seraphims 2. This hope comforts a godly man in death Pro. 14. 32. The righteous hath hope in his death If one should ask a dying Saint when all his earthly comforts were gone what he had left he would say the Helmet of Hope I have read of a Martyr Woman who when the Persecutor commanded that her breasts should be cut off she said Tyrant do thy worst I have two breasts which thou canst not touch the one of Faith the other of Hope A soul that hath this blessed hope is above the desire of life or the fear of death Would one be troubled to exchange a sorry Lease for an Inheritance that will be for him and his Heirs Who would care to part with life which is a Lease will soon be run out to be possessed of a glorious Inheritance in light 6. A godly man is heavenly in his Conversation he casts such a lustre of Holiness as adorns his Profession he lives as if he had seen the Lord with bodily eyes what zeal sanctity humility shines forth in his life A godly person doth emulate not only the Angels but imitate Christ himself 1 Iohn 2. 6. The Macedonians celebrate the Birth-day of Alexander on which day they wear his picture about their necks set with Pearl and rich Jewels so a godly man carries the lively picture of Christ about him in the heavenliness of his deportment Phil. 3. 20. Our conversation is in heaven Use 1. They must needs be cast over the Bar for ungodly who are eaten up with the world godly and earthly is a contradiction Phil. 3. 18 19. For many walk of whom I now tell you even weeping that they are the Enemies of the Cross of Christ whose god is their belly who mind earthly things We read the earth swallowed up Korah alive Numb 16. 32. This Judgement is on many the earth swallows up their time and thoughts and discourse they are buried twice their hearts are buried in the earth before their bodies How sad is it that the soul that Princely thing which is made for Communion with God and Angels should be put to the Mill to grinde and made Mancipium terrae a slave to the earth How is the soul become like the Prodigal chusing rather to converse with swine and feed upon husks than to aspire after Communion with the blessed Deity Thus doth Satan befool men and keep them from heaven by making them seek an heaven here Use 2. As we would evidence our selves to be born of God let us be of a sublime heavenly temper We shall never go to heaven when we die unless we are in heaven whilest we live That we may be more Noble and raised in our affections let us seriously weigh these four considerations 1. God himself sounds a retreat to us to call us off the world 1 Iohn 2. 15. Love not the world We may use it as a posie of flowers to smell to but it must not lie as a bundle of myrrhe betwixt our breasts Rom. 12. 2. Be ye not conformed to this world do not hunt after the honors and profits of it and as Gods Precepts so his Providences are to beat us off the world Why doth he send War and Pestilence What means the heat of this great anger Surely dying times are to make men die to the world 2. Consider how much below a Christian it is to be earthly-minded We laugh sometimes at Children when we see them busying themselves about toys blowing bubbles in the ayr out of a shell kissing their Babies c. when in the mean time we do the same at death what will all the world be which we so hug and kiss but as a Baby of Clouts it will yield us no more comfort then and to be taken up with these things how far is it
bury our Talents but trade them this is to put out our mercies to Use a gracious heart is like a peece of good ground that having received the seed of mercy thrusts forth a crop of obedience 6 Then wee are rightly thankful when we can have our hearts more enlarged for spiritual mercies than for temporal Eph. 1. 3. Blessed be God who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings A godly man blesseth God more for a fruitful heart than a full crop hee is more thankful for Christ than for a Kingdome Socrates was wont to say hee loved the Kings smile more than his gold a pious heart is more thankful for a smile of Gods face than hee would bee for the gold of the Indies 7 Then wee are rightly thankful when mercy is a wheâ— to duty it causeth a spirit of activity for God Mercy is not as the Sun to the fire to dull it but as oyl to the wheele to make it run faster David wisely argues from mercy to duty Psal. 116. 8 9. Thou hast delivered my Soul from death I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living It was a saying of Bernard Lord I have two Mites a soul and a body and I give them both to thee 8 Then wee are rightly thankful when we excite others to this Angelical work of praise David would not only bless God himself but calls upon others to do so Praise ye the Lord Psalm 111. 1. That is the sweetest musick which is in consort when many Saints joyn together in consort then they make heaven ring of their praises as one drunkard will bee calling upon another so in an holy sense one Christian must bee stirring up another to the work of thankfulness 9 Then we are rightly thankful when we do not only speak Gods praise but live his praise It is called gratiarum actio then wee give thanks when wee live thanks such as are mirrours of mercy should be patterns of piety Obad. 17. Upon Mount Sion shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness To give God orall praise and dishonour him in our lives is to commit a barbarism in religion and is to be like those Iews who bowed the knee to Christ and then did spit upon him Mark 15. 19. 10 Then wee are rightly thankful when wee do propagate Gods praises to posterity we tell our children what God hath done for us in such a want hee supplyed us in such a sickness he raised us in such a temptation he succoured us Psa. 44. 1. O God our Fathers have told us what work thou didst in their daies in the time of old By transmitting our experiences to our Children Gods name is eternized and his mercies will bring forth a plentiful crop of praise when wee are gone He man puts the question Psal. 88. 10. Shall the dead praise thee Yes in this sense when we are dead we praise God because having left the Chronicle of Gods mercies with our Children we put them upon thankfulness and so make Gods praises live when we are dead dumque aurea voluet astra polus Memori semper celebrabunt cantu Use 3 Let us evidence our godliness by gratefulness Psa. 29. 2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name 1 It is a good thing to be thankful Psal 147. 1. It is good to sing praises to our God 'T is ill when the tongue that Organ of praise is out of tune and doth jar by murmuring and discontent but it is a good thing to be thankful it is good because this is all the creature can do to lift up Gods name and it is good because it tends to the making us good the more thankful we are the more holy while wee pay this tribute of praise our stock of grace increseth in other debts the more we pay the less wee have but the more wee pay this debt of thankfulness the more grace wee have 2 Thankfulness is the quit-rent wee owe to God Psa. 148. 11 13. King of the earth and all people let them praise the name of the Lord Praise is the tribute or custome to bee paid into the King of heavens Exchequor Surely while God renews our Lease we must renew our rent 3 The great cause we have to be thankful 't is a principle grafted in nature to be thankful for benefits The Heathens praised Iupiter for their victories What full clusters of mercies hang upon us when we go to enumerate Gods mercies we must with David confess our selves to bee nonplussed Psal. 40. 5. Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done they cannot be reckoned up in Order And as Gods mercies are past numbring so they are past measuring David takes the longest measuring line hee could get hee measures from earth to the clouds nay above the clouds yet this measure would not reach the heighth of Gods mercies Psal. 108. 4. Thy mercy is great above the heavens O how hath God enriched us with his silver showers a whole constellation of mercies hath shined in our Hemisphere 1 What Temporal favours have wee received every day wee see a new tide of mercy coming in the wings of mercy have covered us the breast of mercy hath fed us Gen. 48. 15. The God which hath fed mee all my life long to this day What snares laid for us have been broken what fears blown over the Lord hath made our bed when he hath made others grave he hath taken such care of us as if he had none else to take care for never was the cloud of providence so black but we might see a Rainbow of Love in the cloud we have been made to swim in a sea of mercy and doth not all this call for thankfulness 2 That which may put a string more into the instrument of our praise and make it sound louder is to consider what spiritual blessings God hath conferred upon us he hath given us of the upper-springs he hath opened the Wardrobe of Heaven and fetched us out a better garment than any of the Angels wear he hath given us the best robe and put upon us the Ring of faith whereby wee are married to him These are mercies of the first magnitude which deserve to have an Asterist put upon them and God keeps the best Wine till last here hee gives us mercies but by retail the greatest things are laid up here are some Hony drops and fore-tastes of Gods love the Rivers of pleasure are reserved for Paradise well may we take the harp and viol and triumph in Gods praise who can tread upon these hot coals of Gods love and his heart not burn in thankfulness 4 Thankfulness is the best policy there is nothing lost by it to bee thankful for one mercy is the way to have more 't is like powring water into a Pump which fetcheth out more Musicians love to sound their trumpets where there is the best Eccho and
drink no wine for Jonadab the son of Rechab our Father commanded us saying Ye shall drink no wine neither ye nor your sons for ever Solon among the many Laws he made one asked him Why he made no Law against disobedient Children he answered because he thought none would be so wicked God hath punished Children who have refused to pay the tribute of obedience Absalom a disobedient son was hanged in an Oak betwixt Heaven and Earth as being worthy of neither Manlius an old man being reduced to much poverty and having a rich son he entreated him only for an alms but could not obtain it the son disowned him as his Father and gave him reproachful language the poor old man let tears fall as witnesses of his grief and went away God to revenge this disobedience of the son soon after struck him with phrensie he in whose heart godliness lives makes as well Conscience of the fifth Commandment as the first 6. He is godly who is good as a servant Col. 3. 22. Eph. 6. 5. Servants be subject to them who are your Masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling The goodness of servants lies 1. In diligence Abrahams servant made haste to dispatch the business his Master intrusted him with Gen. 24. 33. 2. Chearfulness Servants must be Free-willers Thus the Centurions servants Luke 7. 8. If I say to one go he goes 3. Faithfulness which consists in two things 1. In not defrauding Titus 2. 10. Not purloyning 2. In keeping counsel it argues the badness of a stomack when it cannot retain what is put into it and the badness of a servant when he cannot retain those secrets which his Master hath committed to him 4. Silentness Titus 2. 9. Not answering â—â—gain 'T is better to mend a fault than to mince it and that which may quicken a servant in his work is that encouraging Scripture Col. 3. 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the Inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. If Christ should bid you do a piece of work for him would ye not do it While you serve your Master you serve the Lord Christ If you ask what Salary you shall have Ye shall receive the reward of the Inberitance Use 1. Is this the Grand Sign of a godly man to be relatively holy 〈◊〉 â—hen the Lord be merciful to us how few godly ones are to be found Many put on the Coat of Profession they will pray and discourse of points of Religion but what means the bleating of the sheep They are not good in their Relations How ill doth it sound when Christians are defective in Relative Piety Can we call him godly who is a bad Magistrate He perverts equity Psalm 58. 1. Do ye judge uprightly O ye sons of men You weigh the violence of your hands in the earth Can we call him godly who is a bad Parent He never teacheth his Childe the way to heaven He is like the Ostrich which is cruel to her young Iob 39. 19. Can we call him godly who is a bad Master Many Masters leave their Religion at Church as the Clerk doth his book they have nothing of God at home their houses are not Bethels but Beth-avens not little Temples but little Hells How many Masters at the last day must hold up their hand at the Bar though they have fed their servants bellies they have starved their souls Can we call him godly who is a bad Childe He stops his ear to his Parents counsel you may as well call him a good subject who is disloyal Can we call him godly who is a bad servant He is slothful and wilful he is more ready to spy a fault in another than to mend it in himself To call one godly who is bad in his Relations is a contradiction it is to call evil good Isa. 5. 20. Use 2. As we desire to have God approve us let us show forth godliness in our Relations Not to be good in our relations spoils all our other good things Naaman was an honourable man but hee was a Leaper 2 King 5. 1. That But spoiled all so such an one is a great hearer but he neglects relative duties this stains the beauty of all his other actions as in Printing though the Letter be never so well carved yet if it be not set in the right place it spoils the sense so let a man have many things commendable in him yet if he be not good in his right place making conscience how he walks in his relations he doth hurt to religion There are many to whom Christ will say at last as to the young man Luk. 18. 22. Unum deest yet lackest thou one thing thou hast miscarried in thy relative capacity as therefore we tender our salvation and the honour of religion let us shine forth in that Orb of relation where God hath fixed us SECT XXI 21 A godly man doth spiritual things in a spiritual manner Phil. 3. 3. Wee are the Circumcision which worship God in the spirit Spirit-worship is Virgin-worship 1 Pet. 2. 5. Ye are built up a spiritual house an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices not only spiritual for the matter but the quality a wicked man either lives in the total neglect of duty or else dischargeth it in a dull careless manner in stead of using the world as if he used it not hee serves God as if hee served him not a godly man spiritualizeth duty hee is not only for the doing of holy things but for the holy doing of things Quest. What is it to perform spiritual duties spiritually Answ. It consists in three things 1. To do duties from a spiritual principle viz. a renewed principle of grace let a man have gifts to admiration let him have the most melting ravishing expressions let him speak like an Angel dropped out of heaven yet his duties may not be spiritual because he wants the grace of the spirit whatever a moral unregenerate person doth is but nature refined though he may do duties better than a godly man yet not so well better as to the matter and elegancy yet not so well as wanting a renewed principle a Crab-tree may bear as well as a Pippin the fruit may be bigger and fairer to the eye yet it is not so good fruit as the other because it doth not come from so good a stock so an unregenerate person may perform as many duties as a childe of God and these may seem to be more glorious to the outward view but they are harsh and sower because they do not come from the sweet and pleasant root of grace a true Saint gives God that wine which comes from the pure grape of the spirit 2 To perform duties spiritually is to do them with the utmost intention a Christian is very serious and labours to keep his thoughts close to the work in hand 1 Cor. 7. 35. That ye
our eyes shall indeed be opened to see God The third promise is Rev. 2. 17. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it This Promise consists of three branches 1 I will give to eat of the hidden Manna This is mysterious it signifies the love of God which is Manna for its sweetness and hidden for its rarity 2 I will give him a white stone that is absolution it may be called a precious stone saith Hierom. 3 And in the stone a new name That is Adoption he shall be reputed an Heir of Heaven and no man can know it saving he who hath the privy seal of the spirit to assure him of it The fourth promise is Rev. 3. 5. he that overcometh the same shall bee cloathed in white raiment and I will not blot his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels The persevering Saint shall bee cloathed in White This is an Emblem of joy Eccles. 9. 8. He shall put off his mourning and be cloathed in the white robe of glory and I will not blot his name out of the book of life God will blot a Believers sins out but he will not blot his name out the Book of Gods Decree hath no Errataes in it But I will confess his Name he who hath owned Christ on earth and worn his colours when it was death to wear them Christ will not bee ashamed of him but will confess his Name before his Father and the holy Angels Oh what a comfort and honor will it be to have a good look from Christ at the last day nay to have Christ own us by Name and say these were they who stood up for my truth and kept their garments pure in a defiling age These shall walk with mee in white for they are worthy The fifth promise is Rev. 3. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall goe no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God Here are many excellent things couched in this Promise I will make him a Pillar in the Temple of my God The Hypocrite is calamus a Reed shaken with the wind but the conquering Saint shall be columna a glorious Pillar a Pillar for strength and a Pillar in the Temple for sanctity and he shall go no more out I understand this of a glorified state Hee shall go no more out that is after he hath overcome hee shall go no more out to the Wars hee shall never have sin or temptation more to conflict with no more noyse of Drum or Cannon shall bee heard but the Believer having won the field hee shall now stay at home and divide the spoil And I will write upon him the Name of my God That is he shall bee openly acknowledged for my Childe as the Son bears his Fathers Name How honourable must that Saint bee who hath Gods own Name written upon him And I will write upon him the Name of the City of my God That is he shall be enrolled as a Denison or Citizen of the Ierusalem above hee shall bee made free of the Angelical society The sixth promise is Rev. 2. 26. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the nations this may have a double mystery either it may be understood of the Saints dwelling upon earth they shall have power over the nations their zeal and patience shall over-power the adversaries of truth Act. 6. 10. or principally it may be understood of the Saints triumphing in heaven they shall have power â—ver the nations they shall share with Christ in some of his power they shall joyn with him in judging the world at the last day 1 Cor. 6. 2. Know ye not that the Saints shall judge the world The seventh promise is Rev. 3. 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me upon my throne 1 Here is first the Saints dignity they shall sit upon the throne 2 Their safety they shall sit with Christ Christ holds them fast and none shall pluck them out of his throne the Saints may be turned out of their houses but they cannot be turned out of Christs throne men may as well pluck a star out of the sky as a Saint out of the throne The eighth promise is Rev. 2. 28. I will give him the morning-starre Though the Saints may be sullied with reproach in this life they may be termed factious and disloyal St. Paul himself suffered trouble in the opinion of some as an evil doer 2 Tim. 2. 9. yet God will bring forth the Saints righteousness as the light and they shall shine as the Morning-star which is brighter then the rest I will give him the morning-star This morning star is meant of Christ as if Christ had said I will give the persevering Saint some of my beauty I will put some of my splendid raies upon him he shall have the next degree of glory to me as the mornning Star is next the Sun O what soul-ravishing promises are here who would not persevere in godliness he that is not wrought upon by these promises is either a stone or a bruite CHAP. X. The third Vse referring to the Godly Use 3. LEt me in the next place direct my self to those who have a real work of godliness upon their hearts and I would speak to them by way of 1 Caution 2 Counsel 3 Comfort 1 By way of Caution that they do not blur these Characters of grace in their souls though Gods children cannot quite deface their graces yet they may disfigure them too much carnal liberty may weaken their evidences and so dim their lustre that they cannot bee read These Characters of the godly are precious things the gold and christal cannot be compared with them O keep them fair written in your hearts and they will be so many living comforts in a dying hour it will not affright a Christian to have all the signs of death in his body when he can see all the signs of grace in his soul he will say as Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace 2 By way of Counsel you who are inriched with the treasures of godliness bless God for it This flower doth not grow in natures garden when you had listed your selves under the Devil and taken pay on his side fighting against your own happiness that then God should come with converting grace and put forth a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a loving and gentle violence causing you to espouse his quarrel against Satan when you had lain many years soaking in wickedness as if you had been par-boild for Hell that then God should lay you