I shall not onely know but know all things what I had by study inspection I may now have by inspiration and thus I need not complain for want of bookes Besides having deprived me of books had they left me a Peripatetick not having a chamber so well furnished as Elisha's was at Shunem having in it a bed stoole table or candlestick their mercy would then have lessened my misery yet herein my comfort is that I shall lie no worse then my master did who had not whereon to lay his head and the remembrance of this my conformity to my Master and Saviour shall make any lodging as easie as a bed of Downe though it seeme as hard as Jacobs pillowes of stone Yet besides these losses of bed and bookes there had been some mercy in their crueltie if they had not deprived mee of house and means but in this my God is my comfort for the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof so that though I am dispossessed of one place the worlds widenesse and the Lords goodnesse can yeeld me another But if I have no further lot ordained for me on earth heaven also is the Lords and there are many mansions and I am assured he will provide a place for me there CV AS we ought not desire afflictions and losses before they come so we ought to pray that they may be sanctified unto us when they come upon us Now they are never truly sanctified to us till we see God in them and our selves altered by them Many men that are non-proficients under the word of God become well learned being a while under his rod. They who onely heard of God before with the eare will now see him with the eye As for my own part I ingenuously confesse that what I have preached to others I could never truly practise till now I have delivered to others many speculations of the use of afflictions of the life of faith in them now I find in my self experimentally true what I taught I am with the Apostle made able to comfort others which are in any trouble by the same comfort wherewith I am comforted of God 2 Cor. 1.4 In briefe I find these afflictions so far sanctified to me that I can say w th David It is good for me to be afflicted yea can say with him that said * Themistocles Periis sem nisi perussem I had been undone unlesse I had been undone True it is what Luther sayes is required to make a good Divine viz. Meditation Prayer Tentation CVI. VVHen I read of the beginning and end of Job I know not whether to admire the mutable insufficiency of the creature or the immutable sufficiency of the Creator We all know our beginnings but our ends are hid from us The Lord maketh rich and poore he setteth up on high and he casteth down The estate of Job at first consisted of seven thousand sheep and three thousand Camels five hundred yoke of Oxen and five hundred shee Asses Besides his own issue was seven sons and three daughters Here was an estate seeming impossible to begained by one man but more impossible being lost to be repaired in one mans time Yet we read that the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more then his beginning for his former substance was at the last doubled unto him in all things save onely his children they also as some think Conra Dieteric ex Aug. were multiplied so many being in heaven with the Lord as were on earth with him This should also bee my judgement were not my doubt that which was their fathers that they might at last curse the Lord in their hearts O Lord thou hast brought mee as low as Job and thou canst advance me as high as thou didst him I beleeve what thy Prophet told Amaziah that the Lord could give him much more then this However if thou dost not increase my substance with Job increase and continue in me the patience of Job CVII IT hath been the usuall proceeding of Beleevers for the acting of their faith on some difficult thing to reflect on some former act wherein the Lord demonstrated his power Thus did Abraham confirme himselfe in the faith of Isaacs resurrection because he was by the power of God raised to him from a barren wombe as a figure Heb. 11.29 And Job from the resurrection of his body argues the possibilitie of the raising of his estate Iob 19.25.26 27. Now there be two demonstrations of Gods power which being applyed by any beleever may keepe him from casting away his confidence in the greatest extremitie or distresse and povertie The first is Gods removing his sinne from him for there 's more evill and obliquitie in sinne then can be in any affliction or judgement for sinne and therefore why may not the same God remove the one that removed the other The second is the resurrection of their bodies at the last day which if they truly beleeve they cannot doubt of the raising their estates now Ezek. 37 That God that can make dry scattered bones reunite can make scattered goods come together he that shall raise the bodies of his people from the dust can also raise the poore and needie from the dunghill and set them with Princes That God who is a God pardoning iniquitie sinne will he so gracious as to remove mountains of trouble For he that can make the cause to cease can make the effect to discontinue CVIII TOo many there are that make hast to be rich I feare more hast then good speed and have nested themselves on high with more celeritie then sinceritie T is the end which most ayme at not regarding the means of attaining it they care not how bad the meanes be so the end be great Yet is it not unusuall to see men decline faster then they were raised and poverty to come upon them with more hast then their wealth did The higher the rise is the swifter and more precipitate is the fall If riches be my end I will choose the most right and plainest wayes and use the fairest and most lawfull meanes and if my corruptions drive mee on too fast I will slack my pace by faith He that beleeveth doth not make hast thus though I have waited the longer for an estate it shall stay the longer with me CIX OUr Saviour having sent forth his Apostles unprovided to see too without staffe scrippe money demands of them at their returne what they wanted and they said nothing A strange answer considering the length of their journey the diversitie of their hearers and the contrarietie of their new doctrine to flesh and bloud yet that they should be accommodated with every thing No question but they were truly welcome to many and it might appear so by their entertainment yet such a worke as they went about might want a supply of many things Christ told them That the labourer was worthy of his hire but many might thinke then as now in our dayes preaching to be scarce worth the hearing much lesse paying Surely in this worke of Christ Christ was with them in a more speciall manner His fulnesse was enough to supply all their wants at least to make them content in all estates not murmure at their pay so their worke went on Lord as thou wast with them so thou hast promised to be with thine till the end of th e world Goe thou forth therefore with me thy servant who is to goe forth emptie as they and then at my return their answer to thee shall be mine to others I want nothing CX VVicked men are the rod of Gods anger Isa 10.5 and the staffe of his indignation so call'd by the Prophet where 't is worth the observing where 't is said the staffe i.e. the power in their hand is not their indignation but Gods Now the anger of God is but for a moment theirs is implacable and if therefore they are Gods rod wee must not so much look to the instrument as to the hand that useth it They cannot give a blow more if God lay downe the rod and when the childe is chastised and amended the rod is cast into the fire The rod of the wicked may fall on the lot of the righteous but it shall not rest there Judgement may begin at Gods house but it shall be but a little while Isa 10.25 the indignation of God shall cease in ungodly mens destruction ISA. 33.1 WOe to thee that spoylest and thou wast not spoyled and dealest treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with thee when thou shalt cease to spoyle thou shalt be spoyled and when thou shalt make an end to deale treacherously they shall deale treacherously with thee FINIS
Interna habeo Eterna habebo Externa habui reposita 1. Tim 4.8 THE GAYNE of LOSSE OR TEMPORALL LOSSES SPIRITVALLY IMPROVED In a Centurye one Decad of Meditations Resolves By John Warner M. A. sometimes of Magd Hall in Oxo one of the Ministers of the London Brigade in the late Western Expedition 1644. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch in Paedag Isai 42.24 Who gave Jacob for a spoyle and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned London Printed by M. S for H. Blunden at the CasÌ„tle in Corn-hill 1645. The Approbation I Have perused this Treatise intituled Temporall Losses spiritually improved In which finding nothing but what is pious sound and profitable I allow to be printed Novemb. 27. 1644. Iohn Downam TO HIS HONOURED FRIEND that pious Gentleman Mr. John Ash a worthy Member of the honourable House of Commons in this present Parliament Worthy Sir HAnnibal being to encounter with Minutius in the vale Liv. hist Polyb. was not so much daunted with the present enemy as with Fabius Maximus who faced him on a mountain in the Reare and therefore said hee feared that cloud hovering aloft would ere long poure down upon him It was not our enemies neer at hand I feared being over-powered by our Forces as that Western cloud which like Elijahs of a handfull increased so as to overspread the face of our countrey and against the expectation of the wisest poured downe our next * Munk. â—on Ferdy in Wilts adjacent hill and as a confluence of many waters drove all resistance before it Hereby it came to passe that the place where I lived became like that place to which Paul his companie were driven Acts 27.4 where two seas met so that by the stronger waters the Bark of my estate was with some of my best neighbours in a moment swallowed up and carried away Yet in this danger notwithstanding the earnest enquirie of the enemy after me and as earnest pursuit God gave me my life as a prey to my selfe Now after my escape having got into a private Sanctuary my sad spirit unfit for publick exercises studied this Text which the enemies had given me and from my losses by them gained this Manuell of Meditations usefull for my selfe and others in these times of losing which were composed by me in as much danger as Archimedes was in drawing his lines when the city was befieged * Made by me at the siege of Glocester Admire you may at first my boldness why considering my small acquaintance with you I should dedicate this poor peece unto you but if you consider all you might otherwise admire my unthankfulness For Sir you may remember unless the multitude of your liberality to others make you forgetfull how that some years since I did largely partake of your bounty wherein I know not whether your gift or the manner of giving exceeded which was so farre from ostentation that I dare say your left hand knew not what your right hand did seeing you had no distinct knowledg of the receiver nor would you be known to be the giver till some moneths after an earnest desire of shewing my selfe thankfull prevailed with the messenger to discover such a hidden friend unto me But besides private respects your activenesse for the publick good as well in the City as Countrey and your patience under great private losses doe challenge all respect from your Countreymen As you have done much for Christ so have you suffered much not only by the Prelates heretofore but by their supporters now In these evill times few great men are good and therefore good great men should be great in the esteem of others Sad experience demonstrates how too many of the nobler richer sort endevour to make themselves by undoing others and strive to erect a Babell of their own estates by the ruine of many families It was an observation of the Historian speaking of the Civill warres of Caesar and Pompey Cluver Oros ii 6. c. 4. c. 4. that Nemo sanctus injuriam privatam patriae subversione vindicandam duceret Yet how few such men or such behaviours are to be found among us our countries in the West doe lametably shew which by the continued * Cres cente per rapinas stud to voluprate rapiendi Cluveri Hist mund p 230. rapine and cruelty of those sons of Belial of a Garden of Eden are made like a desolate wildernesse The Lord of Hosts did lately raise an Army for the help of those parts but he denied his blessing on the designe not onely because the instruments were unworthy to deliver but because the country was unfit for deliverance especially that Heathenish country of Cornwal where God did break our arm of flesh who are a people that ever since the light of the Gospel did first break out among us under the reigne of * Camb den Britan. Lucius our first Christian King have hated to be reformed and therefore have openly opposed * They did ever give voyce for the Papall continuance Speed Histor p. 1090. col 2. line ult all publick Reformation of the Church as not long since that in Edward the sixth his dayes so this now as if that malignant spirit against the Gospel and their blind zeale for their Diana were traduced to them from their progenitors Our hope and comfort is that when the Ephah of the enemies sins is full the harvest ripe that then the Lord will put in his sickle and avenge himselfe of his adversaries that though an Eastern wind could not cleare the countrey of those Locusts yet a Northeast under God shall twice did Israel flie before Benjamin but the third time they prevailed Goe on therefore worthy Sir and doe worthily in Ephraim and be more famous in Bethlehem with draw not your shoulder from upholding the tottering frame of this Kingdome and you may assure your selfe of what that good Patriot Nehemiah desired viz. that the Lord would remember him for all the good be did to that people Encouragements hereto you have enough if you consider how God hath blessed you with blessings of heaven above with blessings of the earth beneath with blessings of the breast and womb Perhaps the Lord may borrow some of these blessings of you but doubt not of his repayment the promise whereof is a hundred fold with tribulation here and hereafter eternall life This I beleeve you will account as performed when the Lord shall turn our captivitie drive out those Canaanites and bring us to our countrey again till which time and for which mercy incessantly supplicates Your obliged servant in the Lord John Warner TO ALL CHRISTIAN READERS Especially the Plundred exiles of the West Countries BEing now in a strange place Heb. 13.14 and having no certain dwelling Cirie or Countrey but seeking and expecting one it should be the care of every beleeving soule to get this time of pilgrimage sanctified to
to take us to be his inheritance and can we think our selves poore that have God to our inheritance 'T was the honour of the tribe of Levi that they had no portion among their brethren but that the Lord was their portion Every beleeving person is of Gods * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 5.3 Clergie and portion and therefore if God be his God his lot is fallen in a faire ground he hath a goodly heritage O the humilitie of our blessed God that can denominate us to be his inheritance that have nothing in us good but what is from him O the happinesse of that soule that can truly say The Lord is my portion for that thou art Gods doth nothing benefit God but that God is thine is all in all to thee This is the onely abiding this the abounding portion If any one think not this enough Let his portion be in this life Psal 17.14 And then when times of losing come it shall be said of him This is the man that took not God to his portion X. GOD being Lord over all even of the earth and its fulnesse hath an universall soveraigntie over all an independent royaltie in all things so that whatsoever man doth injoy is by his dispensation Now if among men estates are incident to such forfeits as their Land-lords may by Law deprive them and reenter why may not the supreame Lord of heaven and earth deprive us of that which is his when we break our Covenants with him and run into so many forseits and arrearages And if in such a case none dare aske a Prince or Landlord why he doth it so here neither dare any one open his mouth against his Maker seeing he may doe what he please with his own To him that hath that is useth well what he hath shall more be given and from him that hath not i. e. useth not or abuseth what he hath shall it be taken away O Lord what I have is thine by right and dominion thine by my forfeit and self-deprivation mine onely by usurpation at most by dispensation I blesse thy mercy for the forbearance of thy right so long I blesse thy justice for depriving me of that right at last The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. XI GOD as he is the author of all the good wee partake so he hath a hand in all the evill we suffer His holinesse denies him to be a cause of the evill of sinne his justice forceth him to inflict the evill of punishment Is there any evill in the Citie and the Lord hath not done it This Job knew when he saith The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away not onely the Chaldeans and Sabeans though they were the theeves what they did was by Gods permission Who gave Jacob for a spoyle and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord God concurreth in every evill action though not in the evill of the action The substance of it may be of God when the obliquitie is of man God hath an over-ruling hand over all mens wills yet those wills may have contrary motions of their owne Foolish men are they then who being afflicted either look upon the evill and not the cause or if the cause either the wrong or more immediate causes as misfortune malice of man want of discretion I will therefore look not so much on my affliction as on my afflicter and that not subordinate but supreame so shall I finde my suffering to be the more sweet as proceeding from a gracious father whose hand as it casts down will raise up as it woundeth will heale Thus in looking up to him the agent he will look down on me the patient and either remove the evill from me or make mee able to beare it XII GOd as he made man good so hee made every thing good for man Man was made uncapable of corruption and they of alteration If man had not fallen from God his Maker they had not fallen from man their owner Thus by one man sinne death corruption alteration came into the world It is sinne which separateth God from man man from man soule from body man from his goods his goods from himselfe Sinne corrupteth not onely the soule but the body not onely the body but the earth whence he came and the heavens whither he should goe It breedeth a moth in our garments a worme in our provision rust in our silver it exposeth all to the theese It setteth not only God at enmity against man but man with man yea beast with beast yea and makes one man be a beast a Wolfe a Lyon to another So that if wee lose the creature it is because wee have made it lose its primitive nature Now there 's no other way to gain this permanency either to our selves or others but by righteousnesse as this corruptibilitie came by unrighteousnesse But on the earth dwelleth not this righteousnesse nor durablenesse but we look for a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth not onely righteousnesse but perpetuitie and never fading happinesse XIII THe Lesson of the creatures corruptibilitie is that which the word of God doth still dictate and which this world doth daily demonstrate Wee have the volume of holy Writ and the large volume of the creatures to teach us this The Word says All is vanitie The world sheweth wherein this vanitie lyes Wee see men daily taken from their goods and their goods from them Wee see corruptions and alteration of things and yet wee dreame of such an unalterable condition in all things which may reach to eternitie Imaginary continuance of things is in our heads when reall changes are before our eyes Every creature groanes out this and yet wee heare not its voyce Wee build Castles in the ayre and upon the sandy foundation of our owne speculations promise to our selves an estate above the reach of enemies whereas the next storme that riseth doth not onely discover the weaknesse but overthrow the foundation of this imaginary fabrique The foole in the Gospel well so called hugg'd himselfe with this conceit that he had enough laid up for many dayes and therefore bid his soule take its repose whereas the next night his soule was taken from him Had his soule not been taken his goods might God though he had not destroyed his corn in the field yet he could have sent devourers into his barns yea if he had still brought his corne into his mouth he could have sent leanenesse into his soule Teach me O Lord to know not onely my selfe but all flesh to bee as grasse and all things to be vanity so shall I use the world as if Iused it not so shall I enjoy my goods and not bee enjoyed by them Thus the longer I possesse my riches the more I shall know them and the lesse shall be not onely my affection to them but my affiance in them XIV WEre Riches ever tokens of Gods love
for good they would afflict mans heart w th as much sorrow in lofing as they doe affect it with joy in possessing But we see that sometimes God gives some their wealth as Ebud did the present to Eglm with a dagger to destroy them or as God gave Israel a King in his wrath or as Saul gave David his daughter to ensnare him This God doth out of justice to satiate their exorbitant desires till furfeit of the creature comming thereby causeth some greater evill He puts this knife in these mad mens hands whereby they will destroy themselves and others Of such David sayes Their table shall be made a snare So that if we are brought to low commons we are delivered from the snare of the Fowler the snare is broken and wee are escaped If thy wealth then proceed out of Gods love it shall be as durable as comfortable but if it be given thee out of wrath it will either be an occasion of misery and vexation for the present or of thy ruine at the last The wealth of the ungodly is either a snare to entangle their soules or else a thiese to steale them away XV. COuld the creatures vexation be separated from its substance it would bee a desirable object but experience shewes that to be impossible We see men vex and trouble themselves to procure wealth thinking then to be eased of trouble when they are laden with substance whereas in stead of their desired content they find abundance of unexpected cares Looke upon a worldling either sleeping or waking standing or going at home or abroad and you shall find that his distracted countenance his needlesse fears his jealous imaginations his corroding cares to get more and keep what he hath doe plainly demonstrate this Now God is pleased there should be this medley to embitter these dugges to cause these prickles about these Roses to intermingle our joyes with sorrowes and interlace our commodities with discommodities that we may bee weaned from them and seek for such treasures above which are not onely without mixture but without measure even at the right hand of God for evermore XVI MAn being a reasonable creature doth not in any thing shew himselfe more unreasonable then in this to thinke that any thing in the world hath that in it which is proportionable to the capacitie of his soule This appeares in those persons whose desires seeming for a while to be satiated with severall objects supposing that this or that thing being obtained will terminate their appetites and settle their roving soules with a sweet repose as if there could be a nil ultra to seek for whereas indeed in the prosecution of more the soule loseth what it hath and thinking to gain more abundance is deprived of the true use and comfort of what it enjoyes For the hope of what such a one may have swallowes up the comfort of what he hath So vast and capacious a thing is the soul the sooner shall the barren womo be satisfied yea sooner wil the mouth of hell be filled then it be satisfied with the greatest confluence of outward things and therefore sooner will the Sunne be weary and stand still in its course then it in the prosecution of earthly objects The reason hereof is because the world yeelds nothing proportionable to the soules nature its nature is divine infinite immortall but things of this life are earthly finite perishing Now that which is earthly savours earthly things and is satisfied with them but that which is spiritual savours spiritual things and can bee onely satisfied with them You may fill a Chest with money but not with wisdome knowledge grace And so may the soul be filled with knowledge and grace but not with money for the one hath dimensions the other none so that in one the thing contained may equalize the thing containing but not in the other That then which satisfies the soule is onely that which created it redeemed it So that after all the rovings and disquisitions of the mind it can finde no true rest till it pitch on God in Christ Like Noahs Dove it being sent about the earth finding no place to light on it must returne to the place from whence it came Thou O Lord who didst endue my soule with such capacious faculties fill them with they selfe for after its manifold wandring in the circle of this world it find no adequate satisfactory object but in thee its center in whom all fulnesse dwels and who art not onely above all and in all but All in All. XVII GEN. 33.19 wee read strange sentence dropping out of Esau's mouth I have enough Afterward vers 13. Jacob is in the same tune I have enough or as some translations have it I have all i.e. both temporall and spirituall Out of the fulnesse of the heart the mouth speaketh and out of the fulnesse of pride of heart might Esau say thus in that he scorned to be beholding to Jacob or else out of a fulnesse of modesty in that he would not seem to receive any of his Hee that could in an outward forme even with teares say Hast thou not a blessing for me might rest unsatisfied with temporall blessings His rough hands were not onely tenacious of what he had but as fit to receive more hold more Lautent Anat. The Anatomists observe one speciall Artery to passe from the heart to the tongue to shew that Nature would have the tongue to be the hearts Oratour to express the same thing moving in the same motion Yet we see where the heart is not right the tongue is not uniforme this Artery suffers a distortion Many men with Esau say I have enough but it is either because they know not how to get more or use more Give me O Lord the blessings of Jacob the blessings of thy right hand and then my voyce shall be the voyce of Jacob I have enough yea I have all XVIII FOolish men that spend their labour for that which satisfieth not and expend their money for that which is not bread that let loose their thoughts which like Noabs Raven returne not againe but rove about after the carrion of this world It was the complaint of Jeremiah that they who are cloathed with skarlet lie on the dunghill and and how may wee complain of them who are highly deseended yet doe seeke onely things below 'T is true that every man is placed here on the earth as a treasurer of his own soule the godly lay up a good foundation the wicked also even in treasuring up the world doe treasure up wrath and oppression How abundantly then soever my estate comes in I will never bid my soul be at rest till it finde it in Christ nor will I ever think I have much laid up for many dayes unlesse it be in heaven with the Ancient of dayes XIX LVke 10. wee read of the respect that two sisters bore to Christ the one to his person the other to his
word Martha's care was to entertain Christ delicately Mary's was to heare him diligently Such a guest as hee was was worthy to be entertained exquisitely and such an Orator as he was that spake as never man spake was worthy to be heard attentively Yet we see that our Saviour had rather bee entertained in us by his Word then by us through our service yet how many are there as farre behinde Martha in the duty of serving as she was behind Mary in the duty of hearing Make me O Lord to know the one thing which is needfull so shall I not be troubled about many things Thus shall Ibe a brother to Mary and a stranger to Martha XX. AMong the evils which Solomon saw under the Sun this was one Eccles 5.19 A man to whom God hath given riches wealth honour so that be wanteth nothing yet God giveth him not a heart and power to eate thereof but a stranger eateth it A disease it is indeed and almost Epidemicall For how many see we whose Barns are full Fat 's overflow yet fare coursly themselves have costly wardrobes yet not power to put it on have silver and gold in abundance yet die to save charges Thus the Lord makes them treasurers for other men hee gives them the creature but reserves the comfort and use of it for others So that such in a manner have no more benefit or comfort by their Corn and Wine then the Barnes and Cellars that hold it nor of their money then the Chests that contain it Thus though they have their goods yet in Jobs words Their good is not in their bands i. e. the use and comfort is not in their power When ever I begge for a temporall blessing I will adde this to my prayer that this blessing may goe along with it even a heart to use it Thus a stranger shall not intermeddle with my joy XXI BUt there is another evill which is this that as many have much but not hearts to use it so many have much yet have hearts to use more As evill a disease it is to have a mind exceeding ones means as means exceeding ones minde The power which many have to abuse the creature is as common as the want of power to use it The Moralists say that prodigalitie comes neerer the mean then covetousnesse how ever it cannot come to the nature of a vertue He then that hath this heart to carry him to a profuse spending of what he hath is as much to be pitied as hee that wants this heart to make use of what hee hath And if either of these drawneere the mean God must give the one a heart and renew it in the other It shall be my endevour so to use what I have as not to abuse it and so to apply to my selfe the comforts of my substance as not to deprive my selfe of the substance it selfe Otherwise I shall at last repent of having both a heart and riches for when all is thus spent the comfort vanisheth the guilt abideth XXII RIches have wings Pro. 23. now what is winged will keep no constant abode unlesse it bee straitned or its wings imped and in shortning the wings of riches wee set them flying neither can they so be caged up but at some time or other they will leave us or be taken from us Some birds being let loose may bee lured back again yet not all birds nor at all times If then my riches will once fly from mein possession my safest way is to flie above them in affection Thus shall I light upon a better object if they light upon another subject XXIII THis earthly globe is that dug and breast which the children of this world lie sucking at and which they will not leave so long as there is any sweetnesse in it God therefore to wean them from it doth with his Marah imbitter this dugge that so the present bitternesse may make them forget all former sweetnesse Lord though since I came into this world nothing could content me but this breast nourish me but its milk quiet me but its sweetnesse yet seeing now I see it imbittered by thee make me to behave my selfe as a weaned child cause me to suck at the breasts of consolation let those breasts satisfie me XXIV COmmonly one affliction to Gods people is the forerunner of another Job and no sooner heard of the losse of his Oxen and Asses but before that sound was out of his eares hee heares of the losse of his sheep and after that of his servants and sonnes The smaller losse doth usually usher in the greater Thus many are the troubles of the righteous many blowes must bee given before we are squared and made fit stones for the spirituall Temple In this troubled Sea wave will follow after wave one depth call for another till we are come to our haven I will then after one affliction look for another prepare for another thus shall I be not onely forewarned but forearmed if God reserve another tryall for me he will renew my strength to overcome or my patience to beare it My comfort is that as my tribulations doe abound my glory shall abound After all these sad messages God will send me some good Ahimaaz that will bring me good tidings of great joy XXV THe Prophet reproveth them that trusted in broken Cisterns Ier. 2.13 that would not hold water and forsooke the fountaine of living water All the comforts of this life are waters yea cistern waters and therefore not so fresh as others being standing neither so continuing as others being in broken cisterns Whatsoever I enjoy then shall be in God the fountaine and in his promises the streames so shall my comfort be ever savoury everlasting when that which others enjoy in cisterns shall be both unsavoury and unconstant Iob. 13 For a Summer will come when such waters shal make them ashamed When their bottles faile with Hagar they shall wish for death and then will the Lord discover unto me a fountaine of living water XXVI WEE see in Cities where space of ground is precious that the buildings are more high and lofty making more bold with the ayre and things above when they are scanted of earth and things beneath This may teach something and edifie us in our spirituall building When our lot falls out in a small portion of land here to seek for a larger inheritance above in heaven where is roome enough for us all and whither wee may boldly goe Lord seeing my portion is slender my estate narrow build me up some stories higher in grace and goodnesse that so the lesse I have in earth the more I may have in heaven thus shall I be brought the neerer to thee and receive more from thee Had I more scope here below I should not tend upwards or mind heavenly things XXVII THe onely Sanctuary in mans extremitie is Gods all-sufficiency Psal 84.11 The Lord is a Sunne and a Sbield
same time See this in David who when Ziglag was burned 1 Sam. 30.6 himselfe plundered of his goods and wives did at first weep till he could weep no longer and he was greatly distressed thus farre he let loose the reignes to nature and passion yet see how his spirit upheld it selfe hwen he presently encouraged himselfe in the Lord his God Davids case is now common to the seed of David where fire and sword prevaile the present apprehension thereof may empty our heads of teares but not our hearts of courage When our adversaries are increased our strength failes us our burdens increase our estates decrease so that wee can take pleasure in no earthly thing yet then may wee encourage our selves in the Lord nad joy in the God of our salvation The seed of David as they are heirs of Davids sufferings so also of his consolations XCVIII VVEE are apt to observe and take notice of what the Lord takes away from us but not of what he gives us thus minding one crosse more then many favours Did wee thus diligently look to our Book of accounts with God we should finde that wee are indebted to him and not he to us For when the Lord takes away a blessing from his hee gives them as good or better here onely is the mistake that when the Lord doth not pay us in our own coyn and in the same kind of blessing we think he is behind hand with us as if he that borrowed so much in silver but returnes the summe in a few pieces of gold were still indebted God took away Elijah from Elisha but hee doubled his spirit upon Elisha Christ did withdraw his bodily presence from his Disciples but hee sent them the Comforter The Lord takes from us temporall goods but then hee gives us content in a lower estate and faith for a better I will not be troubled if God deprive me of outward gifts so hee restore them unto me in inward graces None that ever had trading in heaven can say he is a loser unlesse hee mistake his accounts XCIX IMpatient people think God hath forgotten to be gracious if hee deliver not in their time and by their meanes The Lord doth therefore hide the meanes and time from us that his wayes of deliverance may be the more mysterious God doth not alwayes deliver from the trouble but from the evill of it nay sometimes hee delivers by the trouble making that to bee the meanes which is our present misery Thus is there a deliverance when suffering the lesse wee are freed from the greater as many are delivered by death temporall from death eternall by losses of the death from the losse of heaven If therefore our condition in suffering be so strange that we know not what to doe yet the Lord knowes how to deliver The Lords thoughts are not as our thoughts but as farre surpassing as the heavens doe the earth That sea which Israel thought would have been their grave was their high way And if the suffering be long and tedious yet when the time of deliverance is come the Lord will not only answer us for our praiers but for our patience and time in waiting C. SKin for skin and all that a man hath wil he give for his life life being better then goods Now what bargain I should have made for my life the same hath God yeelded me my life upon as he hath given my goods as a prey to the enemies so he hath given my life a prey to my selfe Livelihood is good but life is better Laban did Jacob much hurt in his estate but God suffered him not to hurt his person And now O Lord as thou hast given me this life by thy own inspiration by thy Sonnes redemption by this last preservation so being not mine own but thine I desire to live not to my selfe but to thee Henceforth to mee to live is Christ he that hath his life preserved from an imminent danger should not live onely to live but to God and his glory CI. VVHen I heare the enemy with Saul breathe out threatnings and slaughter saying Kill slay hew them pistoll them quarter them I know not whether doth exceed their fury or their folly seeing that which is an act of enmity in the persecuter is an act of amity to the persecuted for hereby they are the sooner dispatched to heaven and wait the lesse time for their inheritance Could they destroy the soule with the body or separate the soule from God as easily as they can divide it from the body it were a high degree of revenge But this belongs to the Lord onely to whom vengeance belongs I will not therefore fear him that can kill the body onely but him that can destroy body and soule Thus though they destroy this earthly tabernacle my spirit shall return to God that gave it and thus to die would bee to mee gaine yea such gain that if the enemy knew it his envie would bee as great to my soule separated as his enmity was to it united CII ALL the comfort of a child of God is in this that God is his God for all good is in God in a more eminent manner and fuller measure then in any creature Now as God is his God so all in God is for his good If God be ours all things are ours but if he be not ours though we had all yet when losses come nothing would be ours Nothing is so much ours as God is ours for by his being ours all things else are ours Here also is the glory and crown of rejoycing in a Christian that when all things else leave him hee neither loseth his interest in God nor God his interest in him CIII VVE read of Jobs losses that they fell out not at the same time though one came in the neck of another Parallell in manner to Jobs were mine For when the Sabeans came they dealt fairly to see to taking the one halfe that lay open leaving me the other that lay hidden thankes rather to their blindnesse then their goodnesse Yet at last that which lay hid did appeare to them perhaps by Chaldean wisdome Thus that which the Locusts left the Caterpillers have eaten My comfort is that my best estate is so hidden and laid up where such Theeves cannot break through and steale such is that hidden meat and Manna they know not of or if they did know would not trouble themselves with it but let who will take it for them CIV VVHen the remembrance of my losses over-clouds my heart with a multitude of thoughts yet even then have I a multitude of comforts from God to refresh it Every depth of my misery is accompanied with a depth of mercy Amongst all my losses though not exceeding yet the most affecting was that of my Library which as for variety was good so for value was not small herein my comfort is that now the Lord may give me a double portion of his Spirit whereby
him for the accomplishing whereof the performance of two Christian duties are most helpfull The first is prayer and supplication and this is a duty that must not onely respect our selves but the publick Psalm 122.6 even those Countries which now are as Aceldama's fields of blood Though God had decreed the restitution of Israel from captivity Ezek. 36.37 Ier. 29.11 yet for it he would be enquired of by the house of Israel Though God doth not conferre mercies on us because of our duties yet he will not conferre them without our duties O then if you would have the Sun arise on that land of darknesse in the West Cant. 2.8 Mal. 4.3 pray that Christ would come skipping over the mountains arising with healing under his wings and enlightning them that have a long time sate in darknesse Luke 1.79 Dan. 6.10 and the shadow of death Look towards them as Daniel did towards Jerusalem out of his chamber beseeching the Lord to perfect his own praise and their deliverance that the Lord would save his people from the West country Zach. 8.7 that so they might feare his name from the West Isai â—9 19 The time of the desolations of Israel was known to Daniel by his books Dan. 9.2 v. 3. then being informed of it he sets his face to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication Now though we cannot have such a distinct knowledge of the time of deliverance for a motive to our praiers as Daniel had yet it is an infallible signe that the Lord doth hasten to deliver when he enlargeth the hearts of his people with a mighty spirit of supplication As therefore we may be confident Psal 102.13 that there is a time appointed when the Lord will have mercy upon Sion so we may be assured that the Lord will observe his time and keep his day * See Exod 12.41 Hab. 2. Psal 5.8 In the mean time we must stand upon our watch by prayer and hearken when the Lord will speak peace to his people The second duty is more particular concerning our selves viz. Meditation Hereby a soule acquaint it selfe with God out of his word or works either of mercy or judgement A dejected mind is hereby set on wing and made to look above sufferings and danger Want of calling place and usuall accommodation doe sad the spirits of many and by Satans concurrence fill the hearts of many with discontent murmuring repining It is the Devils policie having impaired our outward estate to endevour to deprive the inner man of true comfort It should be our care therefore to cast out such fretting carefull vexing thoughts and put on heavenly meditations A true Christians glory is inward unseen to the world his happinesse is above which is * Psa 45.13 reserved for him and for which he is * 1 pet 1.4 1 pet 1.5 kept it being beyond the reach of the men of this a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epictet l. 3 cap. 22. Aliae divitiae nec verae nec vestrae Bern. de bono desert 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aeneas Gaza Epist 5. world so that all which his enemy can deprive him of is only accessory to his wel being not essentially required to his being Raise up therfore thy meditations to contemplate on thy high calling and the high price of that calling and then in these times of losing thou mayst say with that Philosopher who when the Citie was plundered and hee turned out naked being asked what hee had lost answered Nihil perdidi b Seneca de Sap. Const e. 6. What though the Lord takes all from thee and gives thee more of himselfe c Perdiderat omnia quae Deus dedit sed habuerit ipsum qui omnia dederat manet qui dedit abstulit quod dedit Deus substraxit data nen datorem Aug. in Psal 66. Omnia perdidit Iohus plenus erat Aug. de divers 12. That man growes rich to whom God draws nigh and from whom the world withdrawes Hee only hath lost all that hath lost his God Now if God bee thine thy country and dwelling is thine or else a better Psal 42.12 Psal 45.4 It was not the Sword or Bow of our Fathers that did plant them there at first but the right hand of God and the same right hand of God may teach him as terrible things by replanting us Till which time if this Manuell of Meditations may as a Flaggon taken from the Lords Cellar stay thy fainting soule Cant. 2.5 it shall be the happinesse of the Auther that he hath comforted others with the same consolations wherewith hee was comforted 1 Cor. 1.4 Yours and his Countries in the Lord John Warner Temporal Losses Spiritually improved I. SUch is the degenerate nature of some spirits that in meane losses they discover great impatience but if the losse of their estates befall 〈◊〉 they cannot but therewith â—â—â—e themselves also The love of the world doth herein strongly appeare when not onely the fruition of things present doe ravish mens hearts with joy but the imagination of them absent overwhelmes them with more sorrow The Mammon of this world is a God and is served by the men whose portion is only here in a most affectionate obedientiall manner for if the world and the things thereof keep neere them they serve and love it if it leave them they follow and pursue it with as much earnestnesse as Laban did his gods It should bee our care then that when wee lose our goods wee may not lose our wits and that when they leave us and take the wing to pursue them with a godly hope and moderate endevour not with an immoderate sorrow or desperate behaviour II. PHilosophers observe that the higher the Element is the purer it is Bac. nat hist water purer then earth aire then water fire purer then aire And it is the observation of a Naturalist that by Art water may be conveyed as high as the Fountain from whence it did arise O my soule remember from whence thou art inspired from how high and holy a place remember also of what a divine nature thou art made partaker dwell not therefore on these earthly objects but let the consideration of thy heavenly nature cause thee to contemplate on heavenly things or if thou busiest thy selfe about these things below let it bee to extract some divine quintessence from them God hath removed these perishing things from thee that thou mayst seek for and think of thy incorruptible inheritance The soul which is confined to earthly meditations forgets whence it came and whither it should goe A heavenly spirit hath its conversation in heaven III. VVE read of some of the wisest Heathens that cast away all and became voluntarily poor Some might impute this to pride others to madnesse others to wisdome and discretion as if two objects were too large to busie the minde on with profit Mat. 16 24. Our Saviour
there 's a viall reserved for him in the hands of God which he must drinke to the bottome O Lord I know that to flesh and blood this cup is bitter even as the waters of Marah cast in the sweet wood of thy grace or else let this cup passe from me XXXIV LIght is sown for the righteous Psal 97.11 and joy for the upright in heart saies David Now that which is sown doth not presently appeare but may lie covered with clods and a long time is required before harvest come in the mean-while the husband-man waiteth patiently O then though I see no light yet I may expect it for t is not cast away but sown and being sown is not buried but covered there 's hope it will sprout again What then though I have sown in tears I shall reap in joy and though I have gone out weeping I shall bring my sheaves with me though all I have be sown nay cast on the waters yet shall it return after many dayes I will be content with all sorts of weather so my harvest be seasonable and fruitfull let my heavinesse be all the night yet joy shall come in the morning and this I need not doubt of for though it be midnight now shall I therefore conclude the Sun will never rise or that it is not neerer its rising XXXV WHerefore doth a living man complain Lam. 3.39 40. a man for the punishment of his sin In which words the Spirit of God coucheth a three-fold argument against murmuring under our sufferings First we are men creatures and what impudence is it for such to complain against their Creator who may place us in what condition he pleases Secondly we are sinners so that what wee suffer is our demerit and wages and what madnesse is it to accuse the just Judge of Heaven and Earth with injustice Thirdly we are living men and therefore God hath punished us lesse then other sinners as wee are on this side the grave and hell and what unthankfulnesse is it to repine against that hand that hath punished us in mercy These reasons well applyed may stop the mouth of any murmurer for as thou art a man God hath power over thee as a Potter over his vessel to make thee for honour or dishonour As thou art a sinner t is Gods mercy thou art not consumed for sin being finished bringeth forth death As thou art yet alive so praise the Lord and murmure not against him who might as justly have turned thee into hell as he hath turned thee out of thy house and might have deprived thee of thy life as hee hath of thy livelihood XXXVI VVHy art thou cast downe O my soule and why art thou disquieted within mee Still trust in God Here David reproves and directs himselfe The spirit of a man is a tender part and yet a strong part As there is nothing more sensible and apt to be cast down so nothing is more strong being upheld by divine power For the spirit of a man will sustaine its infirmities but a wounded spirit who can beare Extremities and pressures may for a while deject disquiet it but falth will raise it up and quiet it So much unbeliefe as is in it so much weakness and so much faith as is in it so much boldnesse Why are yee fearfull Oyee of little faith says our Saviour there wee see the excesse of feare arose from the defect of faith So farre as my heart is evill it is unbelieving and as farre as 't is unbelieving it departs from God and as farre as it departs from God it departs from true peace and comfort To prevent this Davids own counsell must be mine Still trust in God Distrust in God is the cause of all disquietnesse in our selves XXXVII IN the world yee shall have tribulation Ioh. 16.33 but be of good comfort I have overcome the world saith Christ The world as it is a Christians prison and tormentor so it is also his captive Yet notwithstanding the world be overcome it opposeth though it be crucified it strugleth The world is the way and therefore may be foule as well as faire We are strangers here and therefore are spectacles to the men of this world the objects not onely of their admiration but indignation That dogge which fawnes on the inmate may not only bark at but bite a stranger Our happinesse is that as we suffer here we conquer here yea we conquer whiles we suffer and doe overcome whiles we are overcome Yea wee are more then conquerers through him that loved us and this is our victory that overcometh the world even our faith XXXVIII VVHen beleevers are pensive and sad by reason of outward crosses they must examine and try the object of their faith and the grounds of their beleeving For usually sorrow is there excessive where faith is little and too much sorrow for outward crosses doth commonly argue too much confidence in outward goods Above all persons a true beleever may alwayes rejoyce and then most when it goes worst with him For his God is the God of consolation the fruit of Gods Spirit is joy unspeakable and glorious it is one of Christs offices to comfort his people The Ordinances yeeld strong consolation by the communion of Saints their joy is made more full and the fulnesse of joy they are assured of hereafter T is Satan therefore onely that makes these consolations of the Almighty seeme light for the Devill in the overthrowing the outward estate aymes chiefly to impaire the inward In the spoyling of Jobs goods it was his endeavour to rob him of his comfort and make him curse God XXXIX IT is observable that Paul though he had as much as any to glory of yet he gloried in nothing so much 2 Cor. 12.5 as in his infirmities reproaches necessities distresses for Christs sake in his bonds and chaines for Jesus Surely there was something in those bonds that made them so precious it was the name of Jesus which like a precious Jewel fixed in these bonds that did so endeare them to him Yet wee see what was Pauls glory is others shame when some glory in their wealth others in their power others in their wisedome none glory in the Lord such glory in their shame But how much glory then have the persecutors conferred on Gods people Surely did they know that to be honour which they confer on them as shame they would dispose of it elswhere Why art thou then ashamed O my soule of that which others did glory Know that to these bonds is a crowne annexed and if with the Apostle thou art layd in them there is laid up a crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge hath not onely given Paul but will give to thee and to every one that loves his appearing 2 Tim. 4.8 XL. A Sin poverty 't is hard to keep under our nature and bridle our mouths from expressions of discontent and murmuring so it is
Son Isaac not Ishmael take him thy selfe and seek no other executioner take him presently and delay not the time I le not allow thee a day or houre to conferre with or comfort thy distracted heart Get thee into the land of Moriah three dayes journey so long shall thy soule be in suspence When thou comest thither slay him having slaine him burne him to me in sacrifice so many wayes did the Lord exercise his faith Thus our most delectable things are those wherein the Lord tryeth us 'T is wisdome then not to be too much endeared to that in affection which wee would still keepe with us in possession I will therefore endeavour to take off my heart from those things which God may take from me LXXX SOme there are who in prayer for temporall things are importunate beggers as if such things were absolutely and in their owne nature good But I know not whether to admire in them their folly or their sawcinesse Had the Lord made an absolute promise of temporalls it would be a sufficient ground for such prayers But oftentimes those things which seeme good prove ill unto us so that by desiring them we wish evill to our selves So farre as temporall things may doe us good so farre God hath promised them and we may expect them The Lord knows what to give and what we want better then we our selves But as for spirituall things wee may be as bold beggers as we will either in manner or measure These are simply good and are simply desirable When ever therefore I pray for a temporall thing I will first say Thy will be done and then Give me my daily bread LXXXI I Have learned in whatsoever estate I am therewith to be content Phil. 41.11 saith the Apostle A lesson which though Paul the Master had learned his Schollers may be to learne Mens estates rise and fall ebbe and flow now the art is to make our spirits have the same cadence with our estates For herein a mans minde and estate resemble the scales of a Ballance which when one ascends the other descends Sometimes our minds are higher then our means otherwhiles our means are higher then our minds greater and requiring other behaviours Now nothing can exactly poize these but a contented minde If God set us low and give us povertie we must know how to be abased and to be hungry if he send us plentie and abundance then to know how to be full and to abound The difficultie lyes herein that when some are brought low they are overcome with impatience unbeliefe murmuring if they are set on high and have all things at full they prove either forgetfull of God or unthankfull to God or unkinde to others Now this knowledge and art of contentation orders our conversation a right in both God gives some plentie but withholds this knowledg from them thus their rising proves to be their fall God gives others povertie and teacheth them this art of contentment and then they have more comfort in a low estate then they had in a high O Lord I am brought very low make me know how to be abased and if ever thou settest mee on high teach me how to abound Let me not sinke being now poore nor swell if ever I be rich LXXXII GOdlinesse with contentment is great gaine 1 Tim. 6.6 No godlinesse without contentment and no true contentment without godlinesse He that hath enough may very well be content but a godly man hath enough he hath all he hath both things present and things to come he is an heir of the promises and he may bee sure of their performance because faithfull is he that promiseth A sufficiencie hee shall have here a satietie hereafter If any one say he is religious and is not content he hath but the form of godlinesse he denieth the power Godlinesse is of it selfe gain but with contentment it is great gain LXXXIII WHat way soever a Christian looketh hee may fide something to forward him in this art of contentation If hee look under him he sees what he is dust and ashes that from whence hee come and to which he must returne If within him he shall find nothing but unworthinesse whereby hee is lesse then the least of Gods favours If without him hee may see many better then him poorer and lower then himt If above him hee may see the place whither hee shall goe and where is fulnesse of joy Thus both heaven and earth our selves and others teach us the lesson of contentment If thou art therefore discontent with thy estate thou forgettest whence thou camest whither thou must goe what thou art what others are I will never murmure at my condition seeing others have lesse I am lesse then it seeing earth is my beginning and heaven my end LXXXIV GIve me neither poverty nor riches Pro. 30.8 was Agurs prayer A prayer which savours as much of modesty as wisdome of modesty seeing beggars ought not to be chusers of wisdome seeing a mean estate is the best estate he that knowes the inconveniences of a low or high estate will chuse a meane They that wil be rich fall into many temptations and they that are poore fall into them likewise Either of these extreames are fit baits for Satan and our corrup hearts but he that likes and keeps the mean is freed from both As I would not be a shrub of the vallies to be trampled on by all so I would not be a Cedar of the mountains to be envied at by most I have read a meane estate to be compared to the glasse of a window which keeps out a storme and admits the light such and estate is best as frees a man from the stormes of the world and admits the light of Gods countenance A great estate like a great wall may keep off the injuries of the world but not let in a beam of this light As I will not pray then for poverty so neither for riches but for a convenient estate LXXXV IT is written Psal 4.5 Man shall not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God The Word doth not only sanctifie our bread but satisfie us in stead of bread when the staffe of bread failes us the staffe of the Word upholdeth us They that think to live only by bread without the word may for the present abound but they that can live by the Word when they have no bread are sure never to want Carnall men may deride this kind of life but at destruction and famine they shall laugh the surest way to injoy our food is in the promise I will satisfie her poore with bread The heaven may with-hold its rain and the earth not yeeld her increase but before one word or tittle of Gods promise shall faile heaven and earth shall passe away Lord I should perish in my affliction but thy Word quickens mee Thy House is the house of bread the true
Bethlehem thy Word is the bread of life I will feed on it live by it so shall I never want when I am at thy finding LXXXVI I Will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted poore people Zeph. 3.1 that shall trust in the name of the Lord. Gods people though they are a poore people yet they are a trusting people And how can they be a poore people that are a trusting people Doth not the Apostle tell us that they are rich in faith And we read of the riches of full assurance 't is only in the worlds eye and in worldly things that they are poore none possesse more then they none can shew a title to more All they injoy is in God and they injoy all things in God When the plunderers have deprived them of all the hand of faith will receive more from God or lay hold on all in God It shall be my glory to be one of Gods poor afflicted people so I may have this grace to be one of his trusting people LXXXVII GReat is the use of faith glorious things are spoken of it It is called a shield and as heretofore many have done valiantly with this shield so also may we now By faith wee may be inabled with Abraham to leave our own countrey with Moses to forsake the pleasures and preferments of this life yea that which in these dayes is endeavoured to be done by strength of hand may be done assuredly by the strength of faith We may hereby subdue kingdomes and not only escape but learne how by faith to handle the sword faith making one of weak become strong and wax valiant in fight All our hope ariseth from and is stirred up by faith In trouble faith stirreth up prayer prayer stirreth up God God stirs up the means Faith will with Jacob make us continue wrastling with God till he blesse us Faith wil draw water from the wells of salvation it will not only support us in trouble but bring us out By faith I will be rich when I am poore strong when I am weak joyfull when I am sorrowfull By it I will conquer even when I am conquered Let the Lord give me this grace of faith and take away all that I have yet by it I shall have as much as I had more then I had all that a God can yeeld is then mine LXXXVIII IT is the nature of faith in its workings to suspend the soule from reflecting on its own weaknesse and other difficulties directing it to look up to the Lord in whom its hope is and from whom its help must come In affliction we should not onely consider how unable we are to beare them but how able God is to help our infirmities Afflictions and troubles are manifold but God is one and the same and a true faith can make use of one God to conquer twenty troubles one promise to support him in many dangers Sense presenteth many enemies but faith seeth more with it then are or can be against it What rule and course the Apostle Heb. 12.13 prescribeth to lay aside any weight of sinne viz. To look up to Jesus the same must we take to be eased of any weight of affliction LXXXIX IT is written The just shall live by faith Now faith lives on the promise and the promise lives and abides because God lives and abides the same for evermore The life of a beleever is not maintained by any mutable perishing thing and therefore it cannot suffer mutation When we have no other feeding then faith can be our bread when wee have no other stay faith can be our staffe and when temporall things are removed from us yet if faith apprehend a promise it hath plenty enough one promise supporteth faith more then many thousands per annum Hee then that hath a large faith hath a large living That onely which causeth discomfort in a Christian walke is the suspension and intermission of faiths actings For if wee would let faith have its perfect work it would support us in all wants Now faith doth its work best alone having a higher principle then the life of sense Faith acteth upon a faithfull promise and an Almighty God Now as faith will not leave God so God will not faile faith The dutie then of beleeving onely is ours the worke of helping is Gods XC THe sight is the quickest of all the senses for it can ken from earth to heaven in a moment and is also the largest for it can behold the whole Hemisphere by one act of viewing Most fitly therefore in the Scriptures doth the Spirit of God set forth the acts of faith by seeing beholding looking Hereby Abraham is said to see afarre off whereas unbeleevers are by S. Peter described to be such as cannot see afarre off O then let us labour for a large faith as we have a large object for wee can never be straltned in our God unlesse we be straitned in our faith If wee had a thousand times more faith we might receive a thousand times more blessings of God When the Prophet came to the widows house as many vessels as shee had were filled with oyle The reason why so many abide under wants is because they cannot see more in God nor receive more from him For to them all communicable good that they see in God belongs unto them XCI IN Christ dwelleth all fulnesse a fulnesse not onely of sufficiency for himselfe but of redundancy for us A fulnesse not of a vessell which will hold no more and of which a little being taken its fulnesse is diminished but a fulnesse of the Ocean which though it be still emptying it self is still full A fulnesse of the Sun which though it diffuseth daily light and heat hath never the lesse Though all the Saints in heaven partake of Christs glory and all the Saints on earth of his grace yet hath he never the lesse glory or grace There is in Christ a fulnesse of power to protect of wisdome to direct of truth to confirme us of love to comfort us of life to quicken us Of all yea and more then all wee can aske or thinke Now of this fulness I may receive grace for grace for if I am a member I must partake of the heads fulnesse If I am a Spouse I must partake of my husbands fulnesse to supply all my wants I will therefore never complaine of emptinesse and wants as long as there is in Christ not onely a fulnesse but a freenesse to communicate For as sure as Christ is mine his fulnesse is mine Iam. 1.5 He gives to all men and yet he gives liberally which no rich man in the world is able to doe because as he gives to others himselfe decreaseth XCII OUr communiion with Christ is that which may comfort us in the disunion of all outward comforts from us for our nearenesse with him assures us of his compassion under them and his helpe to beare them If then I have