wise men after the flesh c. But God hath chosen the â—oolish things of this world c. REFLECTION How inexcusable then art thou O my Soul and how mute and confounded must thou needs stand before the bar of God in that great day Thou hadst a Talent of natural parts committed to thee but which way have they been improved I had an Understanding indeed but it was not sanctified a Memory but it was like a Sieve that let go the Corn and retain'd nothing but Husks and Chaff Wit and Invention but alas none to do my self good Ah! how will these rise in judgment against me and stop my mouth What account shall I give for them in that day Again Are men otherwise prudent and skillful such sots and fools in spiritual things Then let the poor weak Christian whose natural parts are blunt and dull admire the riches of God's Free grace to him O what an astonishing consideration is this That God should pass by Men of the profoundest Natural parts and chuse me even poor me whose Natural Faculties and Endowments compared with theirs are but as Led to Gold Thus under the Law he past by the Lion and Eagle and chose the Lamb and Dove O how should it make me to advance Grace as Christ doth upon the same account Matth. 11. 25. I thank thee Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes And let it ever be an humbling consideration to me For who made me to differ Is not this one principal thing God aims at in calling such as I am that boasting may be excluded and himself alone exalted THE POEM One thing doth very much affect my mind To see the Sea-man husband every Wind With exc'llent Art he shifts the Sails and knows How to improve the barest VVind that blows If a direct or fore-right gale he want A side-wind serves his turn tho' ne'r so scant And will not this one day in judgment rise Against your Soul Ah! can you be so wise In smaller matters what and yet not know How to improve fresh gales of Grace that blow Fast mor'd in sin your wind-bound Souls can lie And let these precious gales rise blow and die Sometimes on your Affections you may feel Such gracious breathings Ab but hearts of steel They move you not nor cause you to relent Though able like Elijah's VVind to rent The Rocks asunder If you do not prize Those breathings other VVinds will shortly rise And from another quarter those once gone Then next look out for an Euroclydon A dreadful storm how soon no Man can tell But when it comes 't will blow such Souls to Hell CHAP. IX If Sea-men lose a gale there they may lie The Soul when once becalm'd in sin may die OBSERVATION SEa-men are very watchful to take their opportunity of Wind and Tide and it much concerns them so to be The neglect of a few hours sometimes loses them their passage and proves a great detriment to them They know the Wind is an uncertain variable thing they must take it when they may they are unwilling to lose one flow or breath that may be serviceable to them If a prosperous Gale offer and they not ready it repents them to lose it as much as it would repent us to see a Vessel of good Wine or Beer tapt and run waste APPLICATION There are also seasons and gales of Grace for our Souls golden opportunities of Salvation afforded to men the neglect of which proves the loss and ruine of Souls God hath given unto men a day of Visitation which he hath limited Heb. 4. 7. and keeps an exact account of every Year Month and Day that we have enjoyed it Luke 13. 7. Ier. 25. 3. Luke 19. 42. The longest date of it can be but the time of this Life This is our day to work in Iob 9. 4. and upon this small wyre the weight of Eternity hangs But sometimes the season of Grace is ended before the night of Death comes the accepted time is gone men frequently out-live it Luke 19. 44. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Or if the outward means of Salvation be continued yet the Spirit many times withdraws from those means and ceases any more to strive with Men and then the Blessing Power and Efficacy is gone from them and instead thereof a Curse seizeth the Soul Heb. 6. 7 8. and Ier. 6. 29. Therefore it is a matter of high importance to our Souls to apprehend these seasons How pathetically doth Christ bewail Ierusalem upon this account Luke 19. 42. O that thou hadst known at least in this thy day the things of thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes If a company of Sea-men be set a-shore upon some remote uninhabited Island with this advice to be a-board again exactly at such an hour else they must be left behind How doth it concern them to be punctual in their time The lives of those men depend upon a quarter of an hour Many a Soul hath perished eternally the Gospel leaving them behind in their sins because they knew not the time of their Visitation REFLECTION What golden Seasons for Salvation hast thou enjoyed O my Soul What Halcyon-days of Gospel-light and Grace hast thou had How have the precious Gales of Grace blown to no purpose upon thee and the Spirit waited and striven with thee in vain The Kingdom of Heaven being opened in the Gospel-dispensations hath suffered violence Multitudes have been pressing into it in my days and I my self have sometimes been almost perswaded and not far from the Kingdom of God I have gone as far as conviction of sin and misery yea I have been carried by the power of the Gospel to resolve and purpose to turn to God and become a new Creature but sin hath been too subtil and deceitful for me I see my resolutions were but as an early Cloud or Morning-Dew and now my heart is cold and dead again setled upon its Lees. Ah! I have cause to fear and tremble lest God hath left me under that Curse Rev. 20. 11. Let him that is filthy be filthy still I fear I am become as that myrie place Ezek. 47. 11 that shall not be healed by the streams of the Gospel but given to salt and cursed into perpetual barrenness Ah Lord wilt thou leave me so and shall thy Spirit strive no more with me Then it had been good for me that I had never been born Ah if I have trifled out this Season and irrecoverably lost it then I may take up that lamentation Ier. 8. 20. and say My Harvest is past my Summer is ended and I am not saved Every Creature knows its time even the Turtle Crane and Swallow know the time of their coming Ier. 8. 7. How brutish am I that have not known the time of my Visitation O thou that art the Lord of Life and Time command one gracious Season more for
me and make it effectual to me before I go hence and be seen no more THE POEM A fresh and whisking Gale presents to day But now the Ship 's not ready Winds must stay And wait the Sea-mens leisure Well to morrow They will put out but then unto their sorrow That Wind is spent and by that means they gain Perchance a Month's Repentance if not twain At last another offers now they 're gone But e're they gain their Port the Market's done For every work and purpose under Heaven A proper time and season God hath given The Fowls of Heaven Swallow Turtle Crane Do apprehend it and put us to shame Man hath his season too but that mis-spent There 's time enough his folly to repent Eternity's before him but therein No more such golden hours as these have been When these are past away then you shall find That Proverb true Occasion 's bald behind Delays are dangerous see that you discern Your proper seasons O that you would learn This Wisdom from those Fools that comes too late With fruitless cries when Christ has shut the gate CHAP. X. By Navigation one place stores another And by Communion we must help each other OBSERVATION THE most wise God hath so dispenced his Bounty to the several Nations of the World that one standing in need of anothers Commodities there might be a sociable Commerce and Traffick maintaintain'd amongst them all and all combining in a common League may by the help of Navigation exhibit mutual succours to each other The Staple-Commodities proper to each Country I find thus expressed by the Poet Bart. Coll. Hence come our Sugars from Canary Isles From Candy Currans Muskadels and Oyls From the Moluccoes Spices Balsamum From Aegypt Odours from Arabia come From India Gums rich Drugs and Ivory From Syria Mummy Black Red Ebony From burning Chus from Peru Pearl and Gold From Russia Furs to keep the Rich from Cold. From Florence Silks from Spain Fruit Saffron Sacks From Denmark Amber Cordage Firs and Flax From Holland Hops â—orse from the Banks of Rhine From England VVool all Lands as God distributes To the VVorld's Treasure pay their sundry Tributes APPLICATION Thus hath God distributed the more rich and precious Gifts and Graces of his Spirit among his People Some excelling in one Grace some in another though every Grace in some degree be in them all even as in Nature though there be all the Faculties in all yet some Faculties are in some more lively and vigorous than in others some have a more vigorous eye others a more ready ear others a more voluable tongue so it 's in Spirituals Abraham excell'd in Faith â—ob in Patience Iohn in Love These were their peculiar excellencies All the elect Vessels are not of one quantity yet even those that excel others in some particular Grace come short in other respects of those they so excelled in the former and may be much improv'd by converse with such as in some respects are much below them The solid wise and judicious Christian may want that liveliness of affections and tenderness of heart that appears in the weak and one that excels in gifts and utterance may learn Humility from the very Babes in Christ. And one principal Reason of this different distribution is to maintain fellowship among them all 1 Cor. 12. 21. The Head cannot say to the Feet I have no need of you As in a Family where there is much business to be done even the little Children bear a part according to their strength Jer. 7. 18. The children gather wood the fathers kindle the fire the women knead the dough So in the Family of Christ the weakest Christian is serviceable to the strong There be precious Treasures in these Earthen Vessels for which we should trade by mutual communion The preciousness of the Treasure should draw out our desires and endeavours after it and the consideration of the brittleness of those Vessels in which they are kept should cause us to be the more expeditious in our trading with them and make the quicker Returns For when those Vessels I mean the Bodies of the Saints are broken by Death there is no more to be gotten out of them That Treasure of Grace which made them such profitable pleasant and desirable companions on Earth then Ascends with them into Heaven where every Grace receives its adolescence and perfection And then though they be Ten thousand times more excellent and delightful than ever they were on Earth yet we can have no more communion with them till we come to Glory our selves Now therefore it behoves us to be enriching our selves by communication of what God hath dropt into us and improvement of them as one well Notes We should do by Saints as we use to do by some choice Book lent us for a few days we should fix in our Memories or transcribe all the choice Notions we meet with in it that they may be our own when the Book is called for and we can have it no longer by us REFLECTION Lord How short do I come of my Duty in communicating to or receiving good by others My Soul is either empty and barren or if there be any Treasure in it yet it is but as a Treasure locked up in some Chest whose Key is lost when it should be open'd for the use of others Ah Lord I have sinned greatly not only by vain words but sinful silence I have been of little use in the World How little also have I gotten by communion with others Some it may be that are of my own size or judgment or that I am otherwise obliged to I can delight to converse with But O where is that largeness of heart and general delight I should have to and in all thy People How many of my old dear Acquaintance are now in Heaven whose Tongues were as Choice silver while they were here Prov. 10. 20. And blessed Souls how communicative were they of what thou gavest them O what an improvement had I made of my Talent this way had I been diligent Lord pardon my neglect of those sweet and blessed advantages O let all my delight be in thy Saints who are the excellent of the earth Let me never go out of their company without an heart more warmed quickned and enlarged than when I came amongst them THE POEM To several Nations God doth so distribute His bounty that each one must pay a tribute Vnto each other Europe cannot vaunt And say Of Africa I have no want America and Asia need not strive Which of it self can best subsist and live Each Countries want in something doth maintain Commerce betwixt them all Such is the aim And end of God who doth dispense and give More Grace to some their Brethren to relieve This makes the Sun Ten thousand times more bright Because it is diffusive of its Light Its Beams are gilded gloriously but then This property doth gild them o're agen Should Sun Moon
oath to walk in Gods law And so 2 Cor. 1. 23. I call God for a record upon my soul. And the usual form in the Old Testament was The Lord do so to me and more also Now hereby God hath the Glory of his Righteousnes and Justice given him by the Creature and therefore it is a â—hoice part of the Divine Worship or of that homage which a creature oweth to his God And if this â—e so then how easily may the sin of rash and proâ—ane Oaths be hence argued and aggravated The more excelleâ—t any thing is by an institution of God â—y so much more horrid and abominable is the abuse â—hereof O how often is the dreadful Majesty of Heaven and Earth called to witness to frivolous â—hings and oft to be a witness of our rage and fuâ—y as 1 Sam. 14. 39. Is it a light thing to rob him of his peculiar Glory and subject poor souls to his â—urse and wrath who has said He will be a swift witâ—ess against you Mal. 3. 5. Your tongues are nimble 〈◊〉 committing this sin and God will be swift in punâ—shing for it Arg. 3. It is a sin which God hath severely threatnâ—d to punish and that with temporal and corporal â—lagues For by reason of Oaths the land mourns Hos. â— 2 3. That is it brings the heavy Judgment of God upon whole Nations under which they shall â—ourn And in Zech. 5. 2 3 4. you have there 〈◊〉 Roll of cuses i. e. a Catalogue of judgments and â—oes the length thereof twenty Cubits i. e. ten yards â—o set out the multitude of woes contained in it it 's a long Catalogue and A flying Rill to denote the swiftness of it it flyes towards the house of the Swearer it makes haste The Judgments that are written in it linger not but are even in pain to be delivered And this flying Roll full of dreadful Woes flyes and enters into the house of the Swearer and it shall therein remain saith the Lord it shall cleave to his family none shall claw off these woes from him And it shall consume the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof i. e. bring utter subvertion ruine and desolation to his House O dreadful sin What a desolation doth it make Your Mouths are full of Oathes and your Houses shall be full of Curses Wo to that wretched Family into which this flying Roll shall enter Wo I say to the wretched Inhabitants thereof The Curse of the Lord saith Solomon is in the house of the wicked but He blesseth the habitation of the just Prov. 3. 33. Tuguriolum i. e. saith Mercer his poor little Tenement or Cottage There is a Blessing the promises like Clouds of Blessing dwell over it and drop mercies on it but a Curse is in the house of the wicked Ah how many stately Mansious are there in which little other language but Oathes and Curses are heard and these are as so much Gunpowder laid under the foundation of them which when Justice shall set fire to Oh what work will it make Wo to the Inhabitants thereof Well then break off this sin by Repentance unless you intend to ruine your Families and bring all the Curses of God into your Houses If you have no pity for your selves yet pity your Posterity have mercy for your Wives and Children don't ruine all for the indulgence of a lust Arg. 4. But that is not all It brings Soul-judgments and spiritual plagues upon you It brings Helâ— along with it And if thou be not afraid to sin yet methinks thou shouldst be afraid to burn if the love of God can work nothing upon thy brawny heart yet methinks the Terrors of the Lord should startle and affright it To this purpose I beseech you weigh these Scriptures and methinks unless God hath lost all his Authority with you and Hell all its Terrors it should startle you The first is that dreadful Scripture James 5. 12. But above all things my Brethen swear nat neither by Heaven neither by the Earth neither by any other oath but let your yea be yea and your nay nay lest ye fall into Condemnation O view this Text seriously Methinks it should be like the â—ingers that came forth and wrote upon the wall that dreadful Sentence that changed the Countenance of a King and that in the height of a frolick humour and made his Knees smite together Mark Above all things a form of vehemency and earnestness like that Ephes. 6. 16. But above all taking the shield af Faith As Faith hath a prelation there before all the Graces so Swearing here before all other Vices Swear not i. e. vainly rashly profanely for otherwise 't is a lawful thing and a part of Gods worship as I have shewed but swear not vain Oaths by the Creatures Heaven or Earth c. Which is to advance the creature into the room of God A sin to which the Jews were much addicted But Let your yea be yea and nay nay i. e. accustom your selves to short and plain Affirmations and Negations to a simple and candid expression of your minds And the thundering Argument that backs it is this lest ye fall into Condemnation i. e. lest for these things the Judge of Heaven and Earth pass a Sentence of condemnation to Hell upon you Oh Sirs Dare you touch with this hot iron Dare you from henceforward commit that Sin that you know will bring you under the condemnation and judgment of God Do you know what it is for a soul to be cast at Gods bar Did you never see a poor malefacter tried at the Assizes and observe how his face gathers paleness how his Legs tremble and Death displays its colours in his cheeks when sentence is given upon him But what 's that to Gods condemnation What is a Gallous to Hell Another Text I would commmend to your consideration is that Exod. 20. 7. The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Where vain Oathes are especially included Now what doth God mean when He saith He will not hold him guiltless The meaning is plain his sins shall be reckoned and imputed to him they shall lie upon his Soul he shall be bound over to answer God for them O terrible sentence What Soul can bear it or stand before it Blessed is the man saith David to whom the Lord imputeth not inquity Surely then cursed is that man to whom God will impute them And to the Swearer they shall all be imputed if he break not off his sin by repentance and get a Christ the sooner O Soul How dar'st thou think of going before the Lord with the guilt of all thy sins upon thee When Christ would administer the very spirit of Joy in one sentence to a poor Sinner Matth. 9. 4. He said Son be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven And when God would contract the sum of all misery into one word He saith His sins shall lie down with him in
the meek and to proclaim liberty to the â—aptives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound Come now and knock off those fetters of unbelief Oh set my soul at liberty that it may praise thee For so many years Satan hath cruelly tyrannized over me oh that this might be the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of the salvation of my God! Lord thou wast lifted up to draw Men unto thee and indeed thou art a drawing Saviour a lovely Jesus I have hitherto slighted thee but it was because I did not know thee mine eyes have been held by unbelief when thou wast opened in the Gospel but now I see thee as the chiefest of ten thousands Thou art the glory of Heaven the glory of Earth the glory of Sion and oh that thou wouldst be the glory of my Soul I confess I am not worthy that thou shouldst look upon me I may much rather expect to be trampled under the feet of Justice than to be embraced in thine arms of Mercy and that thou shouldst rather shed my polluted blood than sprinkle thine own upon me But Lord what profit is there iâ— my blood Wilt thou pursue a dryed leaf Shall it ever be said that the merciful King of Heaven hang'd up a poor soul that put the rope about its own neck and so came selfcondemningly to him fot mercy O my Lord I am willing to submit to any terms be they never so hard and ungrateful to the flesh I am sure whatever I shall suffer in thy service cannot be like to what I have suffered or am like to fuffer by sin henceforth be thou my Lord and Master thy service is perfect freedom be thou my Priest and Prophet my Wisdom and Righteousness I resign up my self unto thee my poor Soul with all its faculties my body with all its members to be living instruments of thy glory Let Holiness to the Lord be now written upon them all let my tongue henceforth plead for thee my hands be lifted up unto thy testimonies my feet walk in thy ways Oh let all my affections as willing servants wait upon thee and be active for thee Whatever I am let me be for thee whatever I have let it be thine whatever I can do let me do for thee whatever I can suffer let me suffer for thee O that I might say before I go hence My beloved is mine and I am his Oh that what I have begged on Earth might be ratified in Heaven My Spirit within me saith Amen Lord Jesus say thou Amen FINIS Erasmi Chiliad p. 299. The smallest Pore is a Leak wide enough to let in Death and sink thy Vessel In Nubia quae est Aethiopia venenum est cuâ—us grani unias decima pars â—ominem vel unum granum decem homines Dan Senert Hypom Phys. Cap. 2. p. 47. Ignis Gehenne lucebit miseris ut viâ—eant undeâ— doleant Insid de sum bon l. 1. Terror ubique tremor timor unâ—eque undique terrari Ovi Mundi creatio est Scriptur a Dei Clemens Vniversus mundus est Dâ—us explicatus See Mr. Whatelie's Care-Cloth Ariftot secund◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 5. Mr. Gurnal Correction Instruction page 182. * See the Turks Letter to the Emperour of Germany lately published by Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morning-Exercise p. 651. Turbution capitis subversio sensus tempestas linguae procella corporis naufragium virtutus amissio temporis insâ—nia voluntaria blande daemon dulce venenum suave peccatum quam quihabet seipsum no habet quam qui fecit peccatum non fecit sed ipse totus est peccatatum Aug. ad lacr Viginis Qui dedit aquam dedit vinum * Columb de re Anat. Infinitae morborum generâ—â— indenâ—scuntur Appleâ—â—â— Paralyses Arâ—â—rides c. Ille opâ—imus me dicus sibi qui modicus cibi Aug. Ames de conâ—â— p. 139. Guber Dei lib. 4. salv Sine Cerere Baccho frigeâ— venus Mr. Lockyer on Col. 1. p. 113. * There is a double resurrection of Mercy A resurrection of Mercy in Mercy and a resurrection of Mercy in Wrath. It is the first I now labour for and that to prevent the second 〈…〉 Mr. Tho. Goodwin Case of Consc. * Iohn 1. 12. a Iohn 3. 36. b 1 Cor. 1. 30. c 1 Acts 4. 12. d Acts 12. 29. e Isai. 45. 22. f Acts 2. 37.
impatiency and unbelief of the heart appears Matura vexata prodit seipsam When the Water is stirred then the mud and filthy sediment that lay at the bottom rises Little saith the afflicted Soul did I think there had been in me that pride self-love distrust of God carnal fear and unbelief as I now find O where is my Patience my Faith my Glory in tribulation I could not have imagined the sight of Death would have so appalled me the loss of outward things so have pierced me Now what a blessed thing is this to have the heart thus discovered Again Sanctified Afflictions discover the emptiness and vanity of the Creature Now the Lord hath stained its pride and vailed its tempting splendour by this or that affliction and the Soul sees what an empty shallow deceitful thing it is The World as one hath truly observed is then only great in our eyes when we are full of sense and self But now Affliction makes us more spiritual and then it is nothing It drives them nearer to God makes them see the necessity of the Life of Faith with multitudes of other benefits But yet these sweet fruits of Affliction do not naturally and of their own accord spring from it No we may as well look for Grapes from Thorns or Figs from Thistles as for such Fruits from Affliction till Christ's sanctifying Hand and Art have past upon them The reason why they become thus sweet and pleasant as I noted before is because they run now into another channel Jesus Christ hath removed them from Mount Ebal to Gerezim they are no more the effects of vindictive Wrath but paternal Chastisement And as Mr. Case well notes A teaching affliction is to the Saints the result of all the Offices of Iesus Christ. As a King he chastens as a Prophet he teacheth viz. by chastening and as a Priest he hath purchased this grace of the Father that the dry Rod might blossom and bear fruit Behold then a sanctified affliction is a Cup whereinto Jesus Christ hath wrung and prest the juyce and virtue of all his Mediatory Offices Surely that must be a Cup of generous Royal Wine like that in the Supper a Cup of Blessing to the people of God REFLECTION Hence may the unsanctified Soul draw matter of fear and trouble even from its unsanctified troubles And thus it may reflect upon it self O my Soul what good hast thou gotten by all or any of thy afflictions God's Rod hath been dumb to thee or thou deaf to it I have not learned one holy Instruction from it My troubles have left me the same or worse than they found me my Heart was proud earthly and vain before and so it remains still They have not purged out but onely given vent to the pride murmur and atheism of my heart I have been in my afflictions as that wicked Ahaz was in his 2 Chron. 28. 22. Who in the midst of his distress yet trespassed more and more against the Lord. When I have been in storms at Sea or troubles at home my Soul within me hath been as a raging Sea casting up mire and dirt Surely this Rod is not the Rod of God's Children I have proved but dross in the Furnace and I fear the Lord will put me away as dross as he threatens to do by the wicked Psal. 119. 119. Hence also should gracious Souls draw much encouragement and comfort amidst all their troubles O these are the fruits of Gods fatherly love to me Why should I fear in the day of evil or tremble any more at affliction though they seem as a Serpent at a distance yet are they a Rod in hand O blessed be that skilful and gracious hand that makes the Rod the dry Rod to blossome and bear such precious fruit Lord what a mystery of love lies in this dispensation That sin which first brought afflictions into the world is now it self carried out of the world by affliction Rom. 5. 12. Isa. 7. 9. O what can frustrate my Salvation when those very things that â—eem most to oppose it are mad subservient to it â—nd contrary to their own nature do promote and â—urther it THE POEM â—Tis strange to hear what different censures fall Vpon the same affliction some do call Their troubles sweet some bitter others meet Them both mid-way and call them bitter-sweet But here 's the question still I fain would see Why sweet to him and bitter unto me Thou drink'st them Dregs and all but others find Their troubles sweet because to them refin'd And sanctifi'd which difference is best By such apt Siâ—ilies as these exprest From Salt and Brackish Seas Fumes rise and fly Which into Clouds condens'd obscure the skie Their property there alter'd in few hours Those brackish fumes fall down in pleasant showers Or as the dregs of Wine and Beer distill'd By Limbeck with ingredients doth yield A Cordial water though the Lees were bitter From whence the Chymist did extract such liquor Then marvel not that one can kiss that Rod Which makes another to blaspheme his God O get your troubles sweet'ned and refin'd Or else they 'll leave bitter effects behind Saints troubles are a Cord let down by love To pully up their hearts to things above CHAP. XV. The Seas within their bounds the Lord contains He also Men and Devils holds in Chains OBSERVATION IT is a wonderful work of God to limit and bound such a vast and furious Creature as the Sea which according to the judgment of many Learned Men is higher than the Earth and that it hath a propension to overflow it is evident both from its nature and motion were it not that the great God had laid his Law upon it And this is a work wherein the Lord glories and will be admired Psal. 104. 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth Which it's clear they would do were they not thus limitted So Job 38. 8. 10. 11. Who shut up the Seas with doors when it breake forth as if it had issued out of the VVomb I brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud VVaves be staid APPLICATION And no less is the glorious Power and Mercy of God discovered in bridling the rage and fury of Satan and his Instruments that they break not in upon the Inheritance of the Lord and destroy it Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain Psal. 76. 10. By which it is more than hinted that there is a World of Rage and Malice in the hearts of wicked men which fain would but cannot vent itself because the Lord restrains or as the Hebrew Girds it up Satan is the envious one and his rage is great against the people of God Rev. 12. 12. But God holds him and all his Instruments in a
Chain of Providence and it is well for God's People that it is so They are limited as the Sea and so the Lord in a providential way speaks to them Hitherto shall you go and no further Sometimes he ties them up so short that they cannot touch his people though they have the greatest opportunities and advantages Psal. 105. 12 13 14 15. VVhen they were but a few men in number yea very few and strangers in it when they went from one Nation to another from one Kingdom to another people He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine Anointed and do my Prophets no harm And sometimes he permits them to touch and trouble his People but then sets bounds and limits to them beyond which they must not pass That is a pregnant Text to this purpose Revel 2. 10. Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and ye shall have trihulation ten days Here are four remarkable limitations upon Satan and his Agents in reference to the People of God A limitation as to the Persons not all but some A limitation of the Punishment a Prison not a Grave not Hell A limitation upon them as to the end for trial not ruine And lastly as to the Duration not as long as they please but ten days REFLECTION O my Soul what Marrow and Fatness Comfort and Consolation maist thou suck from the Breast of this Truth in the darkest day of trouble Thou seest how the flowing Sea drives to over-whelm the Earth Who has arrested it in its course and stopt its violence Who has confin'd it to its place Certainly none other but the Lord. When I see it threaten the shore with its proud furious and insulting Waves I wonder it doth not swallow up all but I see it no sooner touch the Sands which God hath made its bounds but it retires and as it were with a kind of submission respects those limits which God hath set it Thus the fiercest Element is represt by the feeblest things Thou seest also how full of wrath and fury wicked men are how they rage like the troubled Sea and threaten to over-whelm thee and all the Lord's Inheritance and then the floods of ungodly men make thee afraid yet are they restrained by an invisible gracious hand that they cannot execute their purpose nor perform their enterprize How full of Devils and devillized Men is this lower World Yet in the midst of them all hast thou hitherto been preserved O my Soul admire and adore that glorious power of God by which thou art kept unto Salvation Is not the preservation of a Saint in the midst of such hosts of enemies as great a Miracle though not so sensible as the preservation of those three Noble Iews in the midst of the fiery Furnace or Daniel in the Den of Lions For there is as strong a propension in Satan and wicked men to destroy the Saints as in the fire to burn or a Lion to devour O then let me chearfully address my self to the faithful discharge of my duty and stand no longer in a slavish fear of creatures who can have no power against me but what is given them from above Iohn 19. 11. And no more shall be given than shall turn to the glory of God Psal. 76. 10. and the advantage of my Soul Rom. 8. 28. THE POEM This World 's a Forrest where from day to day Bears Wolves and Lions range and seek their prey Amidst them all poor harmless Lambs are fed And by their very Dens in safety led They roar upon us but are held in Chains Our Shepherd is their Keeper he maintains Our Lot Why then should we so trembling stand We meet them true but in their Keeper's hand He that to ranging Seas such Bounds hath put The mouths of ravenous Beasts can also shut Sleep in the Woods poor Lambs your selves repose Vpon his Care whose Eyes do never close If unbelief in you don't loose their chain Fear not their strugling that 's but all in vain If God can check the VVaves by smallest Sand A Twined Thread may hold these in his hand Shun Sin keep close to Christ for other evils You need not fear tho' compast round with Devils CHAP. XVI To Sea without a Compass none dare go Our Course without the VVord is even so OBSERVATION OF how great use and necessity is the Compass to Sea-men Though they can coast a little way by the Shoar yet they dare not venture far into the Ocean without it It s their Guide and directs and shapes their Course for them And if by the violence of Wind and Weather they be driven beside their due Course yet by the help of this they are reduced and brought to Rights again It is wonderful to consider how by the help of this Guide they can run in a direct Line many hundred Leagues and at last fall right with the smallest Island which is in the Ocean comparatively but as the head of a small Pin upon a Table APPLICATION What the Compass and all other Mathematical Instruments are to the Navigator that and much more is the Word of God to us in our course to Heaven This is our Compass to steer our course by and it is truly touched he that orders his conversation by it shall safely arrive in Heaven at lasâ— Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this rule Peace be on them and mercy This Word is as necessary to us in our way to Glory as a Lamp or Lanthorn is in a dark night Psal. 119. 105. This is a light shining in a dark place till the day dawn and the day-star arise in our hearts 2 Pet. 1. 19. If any that profess to know it and own it as a Rule miss Heaven at last let them not blame the Word for misguiding them but their own negligent and deceitful hearts that shuffle in and out and shape not their course and conversation according to its prescriptions What blame can you lay upon the Compass if you steer not exactly by it How many are there that neglecting this Rule will coast it to Heaven by their own Reason No wonder such fall short and perish in the way This is a faithful Guide and brings all that follow it to a blessed end Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory Psal. 73. 24. The whole hundredth and nineteenth Psalm is spent in commendation of its transcendent excellency and usefulness Luther profest that he prized it so highly that he would not take the whole World in exchange for one Leaf of it Lay but this Rule before you and walk accurately by it and you cannot be out of your way to Heaven Psal. 119. 30. I have chosen the way of truth or the true way thy Iudgments have I laid before me Some indeed have opened their detracting blasphemous mouths against it as Iulian that
that the body may be more fit and expedite for duty Prov. 31. 7. But further no man proceeds without the violation of Sobriety When men sit till Wine have inflamed them and reason be disturbed for Drunkenness is the privation of reason caused by immoderate drinking then do they come under the guilt of this horrid and abominable Sin To the Satisfaction and refreshment of nature you may drink for it is a part of the Curse to drink and not be satisfied but take heed you go no further For Wine is a mocker strong Drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise Prov. 20. 1. The Throat is a slipery place how easily may a sin slip through it into the Soul these sensual Pleasures have a kind of inchanting power upon the Soul and by custom gain upon it till they have enslaved it and brought it under their power Now this is the sin against which God hath delivered so many Precepts and denounced so many Woes in his Word Ephes. 5. 18. Be not drunken with wine wherein is excess Rom. 13. 18. Not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness Isa. 5. 11. Wo to them that rise early in the morning that they may follow strong drink that continue until night till wine inflame them with many other of dreadful importance Now to startle thee for ever from this abominable and filthy lust I shall here propound to thy Consideration these ten ensuing Arguments and oh that they might stand in the way as the Angel did in Balaam's when thou art in the prosecution of thy sensual Pleasures And the first is this Arg. 1. It should exceedingly disswade from this Sin to consider that it is an high abuse of the Bounty and Goodness of God in affording us those sweet Refreshments to make our Lives comfortable to us upon earth In Adam we forfeited all right to all earthly as will as heavenly Mercies God might have taken thee from the Womb when thou wast a Sinner but of a span long and immediately have sent thee to thine own place thou hadst no right to a drop of water more than what the bounty of God gave thee And whereas he might have thrust thee out of the world as soon as thou camest into it and so all those days of mercy thou hast had on earth might have been spent in howling and unspeakable misery in Hell Behold the Bounty and Goodness of God in thee I say behold it and wonder He hath suffered thee for so many years to live upon the earth which he hath prepared and furnished with all things fit for thy necessity and delight out of the earth on which thou treadest he bringeth forth thy food and VVine to make glad thy heart Psal. 104. 14 15. And dost thou thus requite the Lord Hath Mercy armed an enemy to fight against it with its own Weapoâ—s Ah that ever the Riches of his Goodness Bounty and Long sâ—ffering all which are arguments to lead thee to repentance should be thus abused If God had not been so bountiful thou couldst not have been so sinful Arg. 2. It degrades a man from the honour of his Creation and equalizeth him to the beast that perisheth Wine is said to take away the heart Hos. 4. 11. i. e. the wisdom and ingenuity of a man and so brutifies him as Nebuchadnezzar who lost the heart of a man and had the heart of a beast given him Dan. 4. 32. The heart of a man hath is generosity and sprightliness brave vigorous spirit in it capable of and fitted for noble and worthy actions and imployments but his lust effeminates quenches and drowns that masculine vigour in the puddle of excess and sensuality For no sooner is a man brought under the dominion of this Lust but the government of Reason is renounced which should exercise a coercive power over the Affections and all is delivered up into the hand of Lust and Appetite and so they act not by discretion and reason but by Lust and Will as the Beasts do by Instinct The spirit of Man entertains it self with intellectual and chast Delights the soul of a Beast is onely fitted for such low sensitive and dreggie Pleasures Thou hast something of the Angel and something of the Beast in thee thy Soul partakes of the nature of Angels thy Body of the nature of Beasts Oh how many pamper the Beast while they strave the Angels God in the first Chaper put all the Creatures in subjection to thee by this Lust thou puttest thy in self Subjection to the creature and art brought under his power 1 Cor. 6. 12. If God had given thee the feet or head of a beast Oh what a misery wouldst thou have esteemed it And is it nothing to have the heart of a Beast Oh consider it sadly Arg. 3. It is a Sin by which thou greatly wrongest and abuseth thine own Body The Body is the Souls Instrument it is as the Tools are to a skilful Artificer this Lust both dulls and spoils it so that it 's utterly unfit for any service of him that made it Thy body is a curious piece not made by a word of command as other Creatures but by a word of counsel I am fearfully and wonderfully made and curiously wrought saith the Psalmist Psal. 139. 14. or as the Vulgar Ace pictus sum Painted as with a Needle like a Garment of Needlework of divers colours richly embroydered Look how many members so many wonders There are Miracles enough saith one betwixt head and foot to fill a volume There is saith another such curious workmanship in the eye that upon the first sight of it some Atheists have been forced to acknowledge a God especially that fifth Muscle in the eye is wonderful whereby as a learned Author observes Man differeth from all other Creatures who have but four one to turn the eye downward a second to hold it forward a third to move it to the right hand a fourth to the left but none to turn it upward as a man hath Now judge in thy self did God frame such a curious piece and enliven it with a Soul which is a spark a ray of his own light whose motions are so quick various and indefatigable whose flights of reason are so transcendent did God thinkest thou send down this curious piece the top and glory of the Creation the Index and Epitome of the whole world Eccl. 12. 2. did God I say send down this picture of his own perfection to be but as a striner for meats and drinks a spung to suck in Wine and Beer Or canst thou answer for the abuse and destruction of it By this excess thou fillest it with innumerable diseases under which it languisheth and at last thy life like a lamp extinguisnt being drowned with to much Oyle Infinite Diseases are begotten by it saith Zanch. hence come Apoplexies Gouts Palfies sudden Death trembling of the hands and legs herein they bring Cain's
Scriptures among many others Prov. 5. 2 3 4. Acts 5. 29. Rom. 1. 24 29. Rom. 13. 13. 1 Cor. 6. 13 14 15 16 18. 2 Cor. 12. 21. Gal. 5. 29. Ephes. 5. 3. Col. 3. 5. 1 Thes. â— 2 3 4 5. Heb. 12. 16. Heb. 13. 4. All these with many others are the true sayings of God By them thou shalt be tryed in the last day Now consider how terrible it will be to have so many words of God and such terrible ones too as most of those are to be brought in and pleaded against thy Soul in that day mountains and hills may depart but these words shall not depart Heâ—ven and Earth shall pass away but not one tittle of the Word shall pass away Believe it Sinner as sure as the Heavens are over thy head and the Earth under thy seet they shall one day take hold of thee though we poor worms who plead them with thee die and perish Zech. 1. 5 6. The Lord tells us it shall not fall to the ground Which is a borrowed speech from a Dart that is flung with a weak hand it goes not home to the mark but falls to the ground by the way None of these words shall so fall to the ground Arg. 3. It is a sin that defiles and destroys the body 1 Cor. 6. 18. He that committeth adultery sinneth against his own body In most other sins the body is but the Instrument here it is the Object against which the sin is committed that body of thine which should be the Temple of the holy Ghost is turned into a stye of filthiness yea it not only defiles but destroys it Iob calls it a fire that burneth to destruction Iob 31. 12. or as the Septuagint reads it a fire that burneth in all the Members It is a sin that God hath plagued with strange and terrible diseases that Morbus Gallicus and sudor Anglicus and that Plica Polonica whereof you may read in Bolton's four last things page 30. and Sclater on Rom. 1. 30. These were judgments sent immediately by Gods own hand to correct the new sins and enormities of the world for they seem to put the best Physicians besides their Books Oh how terrible is it to lie groaning under the sad effects of this sin As Solomon tells us Prov. 5. 11. And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed To this sense some expound that terrible Text Heb. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge i. e. with some remarkable judgment inflicted on them in this world if it escape the punishment of men it shall not escape the vengeance of God Ah! with what comfort may a man lie down upon a sick bed when the sickness can be looked upon as a Fatherly Visitation coming in Mercy But thou that shortenest thy life and bringest sickness on thy self by such a sin art the Devils Martyr and to whom canst thou turn in such a day for comfort Arg. 4. Consider what an indelible blot it is to thy nature which can never be wiped away though thou escape with thy life yet as one says thou shalt be burnt in the hand yea branded in the forehead What a foul scar is that upon the face of David himself which abides to this day He was upright in all things save in the matter of Uriah And how was he slighted by his own Children and servants after he had committed this sin Compare 1 Sam. 2. 30. with 2 Sam. 12. 10 11. A wound and dishonour shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away This is to give thine honour to another Prov. 5. 9. The shame and reproach attending it should be a preservative from it Indeed the Devil tempts to it by hopes of secresie and concealment but though many other sins lie hid and possibly shall never come to light until that day of manifestation of all hidden things yet this is a sin that is most usually discovered Under the Law Cod appointed an extraordinary way for the discovery of it Numb 5. 13. And to this day the Providence of God doth often very strangely bring it to light though it be a deed of darkness The Lord hath many times brought such persons either by terrors of Conscience Phrensie or some other means to be the publishers and proclaimers of their own shame Yea observe this saith Reverend Mr. Hildersham on the Fourth of Iohn even those that are most cunning to conceal and hide it from the eyes of the world yet through the just judgment of God every one suspects and condemns them for it this dashes in pieces at one stroke that Vessel in which the precious Oyntment of a good name is carried A fool in Israel shall be thy title and even Children shall point at thee Arg. 5. It scatters thy substance und roots up the foundation of thy state Iob 31. 12. It roots up all the increase Strangers shall be filled with thy wealth and thy labours shall be in the house of a stranger Prov. 5. 10. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a morsel of bread Prov. 6. 26. It gives rags for its Livery saith one and though it be furthered by the fulness yet it 's followed with a morsel of bread This is one of those temporal Judgments with which God punishes the unclean person in this life The word Delilah which is the name of an Harlot is conceived to come from a root that signifiesâ—to exhaust drain or draw dry This sin will quickly exhaust the fullest estate and oh what a dreadful thing will this be when God shall require an account of thy Stewardship in the great day How righteous is it that that man should be fuel to the wrath of God whose health and wealth have been so much fuel to maintain the flame of Lust Oh how lavish of their estates are sinners to satisfie their Lusts If the Members of Christ be sick or in Prison they may there perish and starve before they will relieve them but to obtain their Lusts Oh how expensive Ask me never so much and I will give it said Sâ—echem Gen. 34. 12. Ask what thou wilt and it shall be given thee said Herod to the daughter of his Herodias Well you are liberal in spending treasures upon you lusts and believe it God will spend treasures of wrath to punish you for your Lusts. It had been a thousand times better for thee thou hadst never had an estate that thou hadst begg'd thy bread from door to door than to have such a sad reckoning as thou shalt shortly have for it Arg. 6. Oh stand off from this sin because it is a pit out of which very few have been recovered that have fallen therein Few are the footsteps of returners from this den The longer a man lives in it the less power he hath to leave it It is not only a damning but an