and openly affirme to his face that it was not lawfull for him to have his Brothers Wife and undoubtedly prov'd this by a continued and long discourse yet Herod heard him willingly Such and so great was Herods desire to heare the Baptist who did not spare the Tyrant did not cover his other sinnes with the Mantle of Silence Saint Luke witnesses as much where he sayes When Herod the Tetrarch was rebuked by him for Herodias his Brother Philips Wife Luk 3.19 and for all the evills which he had done Hence we may inferre that Saint Iohn did freely inveigh against Herods tyranny his many murthers and Tributes which he had coveteously collected and prodigally wasted upon his ungodly Lust yet for all this Herod heard him willingly So great was Herods patience at the rebukes of this Preacher that he was neither offended at his first Sermon which was more vehement neither at the second nor at the third nor at many others that followed but still heard him willingly Saint Iohn never seemd to Herod to have preach'd too often or too long neither was he condemned for his plaine expressions or blam'd for his sharpenesse in his bitter Invectives but Herod heard him gladly and did many things according to the Baptists instructions and if he had but persevered he should have had no cause to complaine of his unhappiness for the Truth was fully revealed unto him which stood him in no stead for want of perseverance Seneca once lamented the want of freedome in declaring the truth in his times Lib. 6. de Ben. I will tell you what great men stand in need of sayes he and what is wanting to those who abound in all worldly pleasures and contents They want a man to tell them the truth See you not sayes he there how a desire of regaining their lost liberty hurries some men into ruine whilest there is noâ— a man to be found who by his disswasions will divert them from posting to destruction But now asâ— that friends so call'd do frequently practise is to flatter and deceivâ— others by their soothing speeches and all for their owne ends and advantage Saint Iohn did not so by Herod but shewed himselfe to be a Monitor of so candid a brest and of so free an expression that to conceale the Truth and to tell a lye was all one to him He therefore daily and hourely sounded this in the Kings eares Herod it is not lawfull for thee it is not lawfull for thee c. where are now those delicate ones men of Itching eares who if they suppose themselves to be struck at but with one little word and that too wrested or not well understood they are ready to fly in the Preachers face and avoyd the Pulpit They are worse in this respect then Herod the parricide and Adusterer who did shun many a sin at the Baptists preaching which â—hey do not but contemne their miâ—â—isters Doctrine and shun their Sermons which might be a mediâ—ine to heale their vices thus did â—ot Herod by Iohn Baptist That man joynes hand with the Devill who is so proud that he thinkes he â—as no need of the hand of an helâ—er And he commends a Scholler â—o be taught by a fool who acknowledges none but himselfe for 〈◊〉 Teacher But whoever he be that â—s so wise in his own conceipt as â—hat he scornes to be taught by any â—ut himself that man shewes that â—he has more pride then wit Neither can there be in him the love of â—ertue in whom there is setled an ungodly hatred and neglect of that â—eavenly Doctrine which if heard with faith and good Attention is able to translate our soules to that â—lace from whence they came Aloaâ—hing to heare the word preached â—s the beginning or first step of our â—eparting from God Neither can â—e be said or thought to love God who rejects those wholesome precepts contained in his word Thâ— touchstone tryes Gold and thâ— thoughts of mens hearts are revealed by the Gospell of Christ Iâ— discovers unto us that we shall be judged not only by our workes buâ— also by our thoughts which if sinfull are breaches of Gods holy Commandements Delight therefore in Gods word heare and keepe it Treasure it up in thy memory and practise it in thâ— life SYMBOLVM VI. Auditio verbi Dei Audiens sapiens sapientior erit Prouerb 15. Embleme VII Almes-deedes And hee gaue euery man comande ment concerning his neighbour Eccle 17. v. 14. The seventh signe That a man is in the number of the elect is a bountifull and free heart shewing it selfe in Almes-deeds and mercy to the afflited This the Author sets out by a Plant which is call'd Tabaccus under it these words out of ECCLESIASTICVS 17.12 God hath given every man a Commandement concerning his Neighbour THis Plant hath many soveraigne vertues it is famous for it's cure of wounds and Vlcers Poverty is the bodyes Vlcer sore and grievous Sin is the Vlcer of the soule far more dangerous Almsdeeds joynd with faith in Christs merits conduce much to the curing both of our Bodyes and Soules Put on sayes Saint Paul as the elect of God bowels of mercy Col. 3. in which words he requires not only the hand of the giver but also the affection Psalm 41. Blessed is the man that considers the poor and needy the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble This is ratifyed and confirmed by a Syllogisme taken out of Gods word it is this He that borroweth is servant to the Lender but the rich and allsufficient Lord of Heaven and Earth in and by the poor borroweth of man The conclusion is evident The minor proposition is proved by Salomon Prov. 18. He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth unto the Lord which is the same with this the Lord borroweth of him that takes pitty of a poor man Saint Aug. in one of his Homilies presents Christ unto us thus begging an Almes Give me of that which I have bestowed on thee I desire only mine owne Give and restore I have bin thy benefactor now make mee thy debtor and let me find thee an Vsurer Thou givest to me of thy temporall Goods I will restore to thee eternall I will restore thee to thy self when I shall give my self to thee in glorifying thee hereafter both in soul and body Greg. Naz. Soares as high in a lofty expression Shew thy selfe a God to the distressed imitating Gods mercy for a man resembles the deity in nothing more then in being pitiful to the poor whom God has left and bequeathed to thy care that thou shouldst be to him as a God i. e. Iob. 29. an help and comforter I was a Father to the poor and when I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently I was an Eye to the blind and Feet to the lame So the holy man Job commends to us his charity for our imitation Tobit who was most deare to God sayes thus in
one who is ordained to eternall salvation is cast downe and depressed with continuall adversity is despised by all men and thought unworthy of that Grace and favour which the world dispenses to those men who have no bliffe and delight in any thing more then Riches and honour However the elect be contemned here on earth yet they are precious in the esteeme of God for that they shine inwardly with the lustre of grace and piety They feare to bee honourd and think not much to be dispis'd Their bodies may be pin'd with fasting and abstinence yet their soules are fat and replenishd with love and other vertues Their minds are alwayes prepared for suffering And being refolv'd to live and dye in their uprightnesse and integrity they rejoyce with exultation when they are loaded with scorne and Ignominy Truly the eternall and most provident Lord God uses not to pamper his servants with worldly pleasures and delights he tryes them by extremities hee hardens them by crosses and so fits and prepares them for himselfe yet so that in the meane time hee sustaines and upholds them with his promise VVhen thou passest through the waters I will bee with thee and the floods shall not overwhelme thee when thou walkest in the fire thou shalt not be burnt the flame shall not hurt thee Indeed God doth oft-tymes cast us into the water and fire he permits us to be dipt in the one and scorched in the other he makes a tryall of us by the summer heat of prosperity and the winter frost of adversity but yet those whom he has predestinated to life eternall he will not suffer to be drown'd in the water or consumd in the fire God is faithfull who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able 1 Cor 10. but will even give the issue with the tentation that you may be able to beare it Concerning this fifth note of predestination Ludov. Blosius in his book of spirituall Institution sayes excellently thus There is not one more certaine signe of Gods election then when one suffers affliction and whatsoever God shall inflict on him not with reluctancy but with patience and humility seeing that nothing can happen more profitable unto man then to be afflicted with any calamity This is that ring of inestimable price and value which God bestowes upon a soule betrothd unto him in a spirituall bond of Matrymony And it is a thing of so great worth to suffer the least trouble or persecution for God that St. Crys is bold to averre it for an undenyable truth that there is nothing better in the world then to suffer for the Glory of God Hom. 8. in c. 4. ad Ephes The Elect shall in this life drink of the Brooke in the way therefore shall they lift up their head with joy Now they are depressed and trod upon with scorne that hereafter they may be advanced to Glory in heaven like palme Trees which shoote up the higher in groth the more they are kept under and oppress'd God would have us understand with a cleare and settled knowledge that the good we seek and for which we take such paynes is not easily obtained but is hard and Infinite So that Marcus the Anchoret said not amisse God Almighty being conscious of our Imbecillity and knowing well the finfull infirmityes of our nature how that wee are prone to sloth and subject to fainting humours never bestowes any great blessing upon any unlesse he first sustaines the burthen of some calamity When Moses had obeyed Gods call and forsaken Pharaohs Court hee presently was assaulted as it were by Troopes with poverty contempt and treacheries from the King with the feare of death and therefore forced to fly for his life We see says St. Greg how that Gods elect live vertuously honestly and yet are persecuted they do well and suffer ill from whence we may collect with what severity the severe Judge of Heaven and earth will punish the ungodly and reprobate seeing that those whom he loves are by him so sharply correcttd Thou art much mistaken O Christian man if thou thinkst to goe to Heaven whole and sound without a bruise and not having a bone broken Looke about thee with an Eye of attentive observation and thou shalt perceive find that those who are rich in vertues abound for the most part in afflictions and those who abound in vices are stor'd with riches and other worldly Commodities T is true that those Beasts which are destin'd to the Shambles sport and tumble in fat-pastures whilst others are sweating under the yoke and toyling in other labours even so men who are assign'd by an eternall decree to heaven they sport not with wanton worldlings in the faire and pleasant medows of earthly delights but they lye here and there in corners bewailing their sins with sighs and grones Most true is that of Ludov. Blcsius whom God has decreed to translate to a better life and to crowne with glory and honour he uses not to wash with a soft and gentle hand but to plunge over head and eares in the salt Sea of Tribulation Galen and Hippocrates have taught us how to preserve life and maintaine it in health and strength Christ hath taught us to hate and lose it for his sake so that what Themistocles once said of himselfe all the the Saints and Martyres in heaven will hereafter confesse with joyfull and thankfull acclamation unlesse we had lost our selves we had beene lost and undone By loosing their lives for Christ many have obtaind salvation And undoubtedly many of those who are now at Gods right hand in Glory had for ever perishd and beene tormented in everlasting misery if God had not happily destroyed them here that they might be happy for ever and ever Hence it is that Paul when hee seemed lost to others found that he had made a great gaine by his losse I delight sayes he in my infirmities in reproches 2. Cor. 12. in necessities in persecution and in my distresses for Christ for when I am weak then I am strong Saint Bern. being as it were tired in his search and seeking for God at last brake forth into this expression I may O Lord with an unwearied diligence compasse heaven and earth the Sea and the dry-land yet I shall find thee no where but on the Crosse there thou sleepest there thou feedest there thou reposest thy selfe at noone-day Let us therefore follow Christ our Lord as servants do their Masters with constancy and patience in a holy Imitation of his heavenly vertues and we shall find to our everlasting joy and comfort that our light afflictions which we suffer here for a moment shall work for us an eternall weight of Glory When Athanasius was commanded by Iulian the Apostate to leave his Country he being ready to depart behoding his friends and fellow Christians to lament his banishment with bitter cryes and teares did solace them in these words Be
A Spiritual REPOSITORY containing Godly Meditations Demonstrated by 12. Signs of our Adoption to Eternal Glory By H. Drexelius And now Translated into English by R. W. of Trinity Colledge Cambridge Psal 119.97 95. O how I love thy Law T is my Meditation all the day The wicked have waited for me to destroy me but I will consider thy Testimonies LONDON Printed for R. B. to be sold by most Booksellers 1676. ZODIACVS CHRISTIANVS locupletatus Seu Signa XII Divinae PRAEDESTINA TIONIS Totidem Symbolis explicata Ab Hierem Drexelio è Societate Insv. COL AGRIPPINAE Apud Cornelâ—ab Egmond M.DC.XXXII THE EPISTLE TO THE READER THe multitude of Books that have already to too much plenared the World with a variety of notions hath been an Argument of no little prevalency to regulate my undertakings and more particularly when Imployed about a Concern of so great and of so good Importance by presenting unto the world a president for meditations but before I did proceed in my undertakings I thought it absolutely requisite to consult with grave Learned and worthy persons not only with a particular respect to the Author of this Ensuing Treatise that most Heroick and renowned person H. Drexelius but with a particular relation to this Treatise to whom when I had Imparted my Resolution they continued no longer my Incouragers but presently became my strict obligers and soon refuted my former objection and further demonstrated that this divine Treatise would he rather a Vniter then a discomposer of pious Meditations And now Christian Reader give me leave additionally to speak a word or two concerning the Author He was a person not only Epedemically Renowned in Learning but did Illustrate it in the three Theological graces Faith Hope and Charity and did continually endeavour to suppress that most crying sin of unsatiable Voluptuousness so that you see his whole pilgrimage upon this earthly Tabernacle was an Optick of Vertue and Piety And he that desires to know more of the worth of this Author Let him but read that most Excellent piece of his entituled Confiderations upon Eternitie and whosoever doth so I question not but he will be fully Convinced of the truth of what I assert and that it may be as seed sowed in good ground God out of his Abundant plentitude water it with the due from Heaven R. W. Approbatio R. P. Provincialis ZOdiacum Christianum locupletatum quem P. Hieremias Drexelius Societatis nostrae presbyter de duodecim Praedestinationis signis conscripsit atiquot ejusdem Societatis Theologis censum probatumque Ego Christophorus Grenzing Societatis Iesu per superiorem Germaniam Praepositus Provincialis facta mihi potestate ab admodum R. P. N. Generali Mutio Vitellesco in lucem dari permitto fidemque mea manu facio more Societatis consigno Monachii III. Idus Septembres Anno M.DC.XXI Christophorus Grenzing Embleme 1. Inward Light Thy word is a Candle vnto my feete a light vnto my pathes psalme 119. v. 106 The first Signe Internall Illumination OR Enlightning of the Understanding Set out by the Author by a burning Taper Under it these words of the PSALMIST Thy word is a Lanterne unto my feete and a light unto my paths Psal 119. BY that burning Taper is denoted that inward light which so clearly discovers unto us the benefits of God the vanity of the world the shortnesse of life the filthinesse of sinne and the fading shadowes of all worldly pleasures so that he who begins to apprehend them with the eye of reason cannot but earnestly gaspe after Heavens joyes and cry out with the Kingly Prophet Psal 42. My soule is a-thirst for God even for the living God VVhen shall J come and appeare before the presence of God There be many that say who will shew us any good Psal 4. Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us and in thy light we shall see light First Wee have a Master within us the sight of Reason which being as it were a bright beame darted from the splendor of his countenance GOD hath placed in the better and nobler part of man his soule This light doth not onely distinguish us from beasts but advances us to a more noble condition to a likenesse of God This light set up in the soule of man is as it were an indelible and speaking Sermon which ever and anon suggests this heavenly admonition Not to doe that to another which wee would not have done to our selves For whatsoever wee doe to another foe or friend wee must expect the like from him with what measure yee meete withall it shall be measurd to you againe Luk. 6.38 For this cause ought wee neither by force nor fraud to injure another either by robbing him of his goods or staining his reputation Sdly again this light demonstrates unto us both all things created and God Almighty the Creator though in a darke manner under a vaile wanting nothing most perfect most Happy The everlasting Father enrich'd with a full sufficiency of all good things which without want to himselfe hee imparts freely to all creatures The beginning the midle and end of our happines who dwels in light inaccessible who is both amyable and powerfull in his works and Graces whose will is his deed who is all Mercy and all Goodnes yet withall an holy severe and incorrupt Judge who cannot be seduced by smoothing flattery The same God is all justice whose magnitude forme or fashion farre transcends the best humane expression to whom nothing in the world may bee likened neither hee can by any thing we see here be truely represented In comparison of whose Excellency all the beauties and fairest things in this world are meere darknesse a shadow which is a thing without substance and reality To this most lovely and excellent beautie I meane God Almighty nothing is more acceptable then to be repay'd for all his benefits with the Tribute of our Love and Charitie Thirdly This light set up within us discovers unto us the workes of God our Maker such as are without us viz. the vicissitude of times of night and day the glorious greatnesse of the spangled Heaven the long journeys of the Sunne and Moone which they dispatch daily with a speedy motion the beauty of the earth decked with variety of flowers The spatious windings and turnings of Rivers the vast widenes and furious raging of the Sea the diverse kinds of beasts the great encrease and store of fruits all which God made not with hands nor any labour the onely cause they were made in that order Excellency as they are was Gods wil and pleasure Fourthly Moreover this light of reason enlightned by a cleare and lively faith discovers by an undenyable demonstration that mans felicity consists in this that hee attaine as much as is possible here to the likenesse of God his Maker which is the only means to purchase Gods love and favour for similitude or likenesse is
because they are minded to doe evill and no good They flatter and deceave themselves with a voluntary and pleasing ignorance they love to walk in crooked and by paths Such of this rank and number were yee O you Inhabitants of hell Ye would not understand that yee might doe well therefore now you may tyre your selves with howlings and bitter cries to all Eternity Ergo erravimus therefore we have erred and the light of Righteousnesse hath not shind unto us This is the Psalm and these the dolefull notes which shal be for ever chanted by those spirits in the infernall pit Attend then O ye Christians and lift up the eyes of your soules and delude not out of a wilfull blindnesse those rayes of Truth which God in his word hath manifested unto us â—â—rue 12. The Lord give us strength and enlighten our eyes By the vertue of this light it will bee apparent to us that men are not to bee more esteemd then God nor riches more than Conscience neither mans favour more than Gods It will moreover direct our judgements in the choice of what is best for us teaching us that no pleasure bee it never so delightfull is to bee preferred before heavens joyes no temporary things before those that bee Eternall and not subject to Natures law And truly sayes Chris there is not the thing in this world on which a man can fasten his affection who hath had a tast of heavens sweet delights wherewith hee shall be filled when he partakes of the beatificall Vision This light of the understanding our good and Gracious God was pleased to infuse in a full measure into the mind of Saint Austine l. 1. Conf. clo. I being advertis'd sayes he by Gods privy Monitor the Holy spirit to returne after my long wandring home to my selfe I entred into the closet of my heart where I beheld with the eye such as then it was of my soule the incommutable or unchangeable light of the Lord hee that knowes it or hath had a sight of it that man hath had a glimpse of eternity By that light so the Father goes on I found that I was farre remote from thee O God even in a Region of darknesse farre unlike to thee who art all light and most glorious From this light of the understanding and Justice little differs that light of devotion of which Saint Bernard thus Entreate the Lord sayes hee to give thee the light of Devotion a cleere day in thy understanding and that spirituall Sabbath of the soule by meanes whereof as a Souldier discharg'd by reason of Age in all thy labours thou mayst live without sense or feeling of thy labour and paynes taken in Gods service whilst thou dost run cheerfully Serm. 3. de Circ thy heart being enlarged with joy in the way of his Commandements And pray that what thou didst before with anguish or bitternesse of heart and restraint of thy will thou mayst ever after performe with delight and alacrity of spirit To this light of Devotion the Kingly Prophet David invites us Come sayes he and be enlightned Psal 33. tast and see how Gracious the Lord is This inward light of the soule is pleasant and lovely it is a slame full of comfort and delight which discovers unto man daily more and more the nature of the Deity As this light set up by God in mans brest growes greater and greater So what may seeme wonderfull to relate hee who is not capable of Augmentation may finde growth in our understandings hee may encrease even God who is immense without bounds and limitation our eternall and mercifull Creatour SYMBOLVM I. Lux interna Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum et lumen semitis meis Psal 118. Embleme II. A preparation to death I am in a straight betwixt two haueing a desire to depart to be with Christ phis i. v. 23. The second Signe A promptnesse or readinesse to die Set out by a Scull the Motto that of St Paul to the PHIL. 1.23 J am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ BY the scull is set out unto us a mind prepar'd and ever ready for what death soever And be ye saith Christ like unto men that expect their Masters returne from the wedding that when hee comes and knocks yee may open presently unto him The Lord then knocks so Saint Gregory when Hom. 13. in Evang. afflicting thee with some sore disease he denounces the neare accesse of death to whom we presently open if we entertaine him thus comming unto us by sicknesse with love That man does not willingly open to the Judge thus knocking who trembles to thinke of his exit from the body when he shall be haled by his executioner into the presence of that God whom hee remembers to have contemn'd whilst he lived the thoughts of standing one day before him as his Iudge this fills the sinners conscience with horrour and dread But contrariwise he whose mind is setled with the Anchor of a firme Hope and secured with the Conscience of his good works to man and piety to God that man opens without delay at Gods first knocke he rejoyces that hee is now called to his desired Haven of rest and for the glory of the future reward even the everlasting joys of the heavenly Paradise he rejoyces even in the midst of sorow when his eyes are water'd with tears Why doe wee not desire then to bee dissolv'd Phil. 1. Aug. de doctrina Christiana and to bee with Christ This no doubt is farre better then that the time of our sad sojourning here be prolong'd He cannot dy ill that hath liv'd well neither hee dye well who hath liv'd ill whose life hath beene a continued practise of impiety and profanenesse And what is that we so much feare should be taken and snatcht from us What is our life but a Scene of mockeries and follies a sea of miseries Be the shippe what it will wherein thou art carryed bee it made of Gold or of Silver of precious stones or Wood thou canst not avoyd the fury of the waves which will beate against it many rockes shalt thou meet with on many a shallow or shelfe wilt thou sticke Blessed and happy is the man who hath sailed over this Sea Blessed is hee who is escap'd the danger of it and is now in the heaven of security and rest If there bee any as there are many who in the middle or prime of their dayes are snatch'd out of this life by an unexpected death they ought no more to complaine of this then hee that hath soone and safely pass'd over the Sea Why then doe we feare death which is the end of our labours and the beginning of our rewards The sentence of death is pass'd upon all flesh by him who is the Iudge of Heaven and Earth None escap'd it in the former ages and none shall avoyd it in those that are
perswasion fool and deceive themselves This is not to offer Oyle but what Baruch by way of exprobration alleadges against the Jews Olive stones to God who did not respect Cain nor his oblations because he offer'd the vilest and meanest of all the fruits of the earth whereas he ought to have tendred to God the best Art thou so straitned in thy meanes that thou canst do but little it will suffice if thou wouldst do more God accepts the will for the deed Hast thou store of wealth that thou canst do much Beware that thy will move thee not to give a little If thou canst not for the present help the poor with mony feed him with hope of receiving good from thee or sustain his family with comfortable and sweet words if thou dost neither of these afford him the pity of thy heart by commiserating his fortune and distressed estate ' God rejected not those Israelites who having no better sacrifice offered fine flower or Goates haire but if they had Gold and offer'd those they had deserv'd sayes St. Chrys to be cursed for their wicked and deceitfull doings Again some others there be who give not with a wicked mind but infect and corrupt the oyle of their mercy with the filth of their luxury being as well prone to satisfie the desires of their lust as they are ready to releive the wants and heare the cryes of the needy A people in Cilicia call'd the Anazarbaei commit the charg and care of their Olive grounds to the custody of their Virgins renown'd for their chast behaviour who only there plant the Trees and gather the Olives And let us who be Christians perswade our selves that this Olive Tree of mercy and the Myrtle Tree of Venus are of so different a nature that they will not grow together That Almes is not allowed of by God which is attended with the filthy pleasure of the flesh A bountifull hand and a libidinous heart both those joyn'd together cannot please God There be others who are not drown'd as the former in the mud of carnall lusts but poure out their Oyle fruitlesly with this intent that they may be seen and commended But let me ask such men this question what they mean by not following our Saviours Injunction Why does the left hand know what the right hand doeth Job 15.33 Holy Iob compares such men to an Olive that doth cast her flowers And his comparison is very fit for as St. Gregory observes The Olive Tree though it bring forth abundance of blossomes yet if it be shaken with a strong and violent wind brings forth no fruit So he that is then only mercifull to the needy when he hath beholders or does it to be seen he looses the fruit of his good work by means of the blast of mens praise at which he aim'd in bestowing his Alines The elect servant of God when he helps those that want respects and cares for no other beholder but God only whose eye is spread over Heaven and Earth Neither doth he expect commendation or praise but from God alone who will be his reward and salvation Our charity to the poor as St. Chrys doth express it hath Golden wings but not Peacocks Feathers It has admirers here on earth but its rewarder is in heaven whether it mounts with its golden wings and there finds Christ an advocate to cover its defects who relieved him in his poor members Charity is so far from desiring to be known that if it were possible it would hide and conceal its doings from the eyes of the al seeing God indeed a man truly mercifull is not so carefull that others may know how much he gives as he is that God may know it who alone can make him a just requitall and full satisfaction Therefore St. Cyprian said well when he termed this bountifull mind to the poor and needy a certain pledge of our future safety for that by it we make God our debtor and engage Christ unto us who one day will be our Judge and Saviour At that great Assises of the world the day of Judgment there will be a strict enquiry made concerning our Almesdeeds and mercy Those whose hearts have been edgd with cruelty being hard and unmercifull to the poor Mat. 25. those shall hear to their endless woe horror Go ye cursed into everlasting fire But those whom God by an eternall decree has assign'd to be of the number of the Saints and to the company of Angels They relying upon the promise of God and merits of Christ may boldly challeng the reward of their service They may stand with cheerfullness in the presence of their Judg And thus bespeak God with confidence Give O Lord because we have given to those that belonged to thee and have had compassion on others therefore O Lord have mercy upon us We have in some measure done what thou hast commanded therefore we beseech thee repay what thou hast promised The Judge he cannot he will nor reject these demands but will readily confess that he is a debtor to those his Creditors Then the elect shall behold in Christs side that gaping and bloody wound and in this written as it were with Golden letters these words Come ye blessed inherit a Kingdom Whatsoever ye demanded ye shall obtain I acknowledg my promise which I will now make good by a reall performance I commend you for your mercy shew'd to my poor distressed members well have you done my good and faithfull servants receive now your wages the reward of your service a reward which is beyond all price and estimation Whatsoever you have done to any of mine you have done it to mee Your commiseration and pity has refreshed my body oft-times with meat and drink I was clothed with your Garments I was received as a stranger into your houses your love brok through the prison Barrs that you might visit me in my distress I lived by your mercy Therefore come ye blessed you broke your bread to the hungry Behold therefore an everlasting rich banquet is now provided for you you shut not strangers out of your doors my will is therefore that ye be Fellow-Citizens with my Angels in my celestiall Palace you have cover'd the naked bodyes of my poor Servants and warm'd them with your fleece come therefore and I will cloth you with the purple Garment of Immortality Come ye blessed O consider this all ye Servants of the Lord what a Merchandise how great a change wil this be for Raggs for Farthings for scraps of Bread to receive a Robe of Glory the treasures of Heaven and delightfull pleasures that shal never be ended Ecele 16.14 God sayes the Son of Syrach will give place to all good deeds and every one shall find according to his works These things as they are most true so if men would perswade themselves and beleeve they shall enjoy so in estimable rich blessings certainly there would none be so stupid and
of God and men and art most distastfull to the blessed Angels Thou art made up of Dust and Clay thou Son of Adam thou art compounded of corruption and yet thou castest forth the stench of Lucifers pride which will bring thee to speedy destruction If not only the sweet smell of the Cypresse but also its height and tallness be pleasing to thee if thou desirest to climb upon the staires of fortune Go Ascend but when thou art mounted on high let me give thee this caveat Despise none but thy selfe the subject of sin and the object of misery It argues a brave and noble spirit to be on high yet not to be advanced with an overweening conceit of that felicity He is the only brave one worthy of Admiration who when he is lift up can depress himselfe by an humble demeanour in his life and reaching Heaven with his faith and other heavenly vertues in his selfe estimation and lowly opinion of his owne parts creeps as low as earth and would fall lower to do God or his friend any service Saint Bern. saith that Humility is an individuall companion of Gods Grace which Humility has in it a kind of Sublimity it will not stoop to the bait of honour and preferment and never growes insolent by any acquired glory It is no great matter to be humble in an abject or mean condition Humility in honour is a great and rare vertue proper only to a Saint Heare ye this O ye Kings and. Princes and Potentates of the Earth and heare this all ye that are â—earn'd and proud ye that have riches and despise others Humility in honour is a great Vertue And this is the property of true humility by how much holier a man is even in the judgement of God to seeme more vile in his owne eyes and to judge himself the more wicked Abraham the freind of God most commended for his faith and holiness Gen. 18. yet seemes to himselfe but Dust and Ashes St. Peter who was eminent in graces confesses himselfe to be a finfull man nay the greatest of sinners St Paul a chosen vessell and the prince of the Apostles termes he not himselfe an Abortive a thing borne out of due time and unworthy to be called an Apostle To speak truly there is no better and easier way to be exalted then first to be cast downe and in a meane estimation of himselfe to be humbled Pride is the ruine and death of all vertues the downfall of men and Angels O God what a change once was there betweene Heaven and Earth The most beautifull Angell of all was thrown downe from Heaven and a poor most miserable Begger was carried by the Angells thither For from whence proud Lucifer fell thither did Lazarus poore humble Lazarus ascend whom we beleeve to have rather numbred his vlcers to have counted his boiles and botches rather this then to have cast up or made any Account of his vertues And I doubt not but that out of a Genuine contempt of himself his patience seem'd more glorious in others eyes then his owne Wittily well said he who affirmd that little was his strength who thought he was strong at all And no strength at all has he who thinks he has much to this purpose saith St. Bern. thus ' All things are wanting to him who conceives that he wants nothing We may adde that those men have no little or right to Heaven and belong not unto God who are pleasd with nothing but their owne gifts who are most proud Censors of other mens lives and partiall Iudges of their owne they are deceiv'd in other mens matters and bleare-ey'd in their owne assuming a voluntary and pleasing blindness Woe be to these selfe flatteries They will heare one day that heavy sentence Goe ye Cursed c Heaven admits of no such Peacocks who have long Tailes but shorter Crests great and swelling conceits of their owne doings but a bad opinion of other mens Those that are predestinate to eternall life censure no mens lives so rigidly as their owne and condemne themselves more often then they do others They are indulgent to all men never to themselves and are most severe in correcting their owne manners Wretched men that we are we are but Dust and as it were a shadow that departeth passing every moment to the region of darkness the Grave the mansion of the dead yet out of a vaine ostentation we run over our pedigrees we number up the names of our Progenitors as if they are the better men who reckon up most Ancestors Man is like to vanity sayes the Prophet David His dayes pass like a shadow c. Wheresoever we turne our eyes there we may behold matter of Griefe and teares if we look upward to Heaven there we shall see our Country afar off but our selves driven and banish'd from it Looke we downward to the earth there we shall see a Pit which the Earth threatns unto us when we are dead and though we now tread upon it with our feet yet after a little while our lofty heads shall be laid low in it Look we upon our selves we may behold a faire red Apple like that of Sodom in which notwithstanding its beauty there lurks a worme which in time will eat and consume that Apple at the heart filth and rottenness and Death it selfe harbours even in our very bowells Look we into our hearts do we unbowell our consciences there we shall find Cages of Vncleanness and dunghills of Impurity a nest of Snakes Toads and Vipers Alas we abound in sin and infirmities and yet we are not vile to our selves We are overwhelmed with miseries beset with folly and ignorance and yet we desire to seeme happy wise and searn'd and to be pointed at with the finger as if we were most eminent These considerations of our sinfull frailty beget in the elect a meane esteem of themselves and the more they consider their miseries the more humble are they and vile in their owne eyes And all things appeare unto them as they did to St. Paul Drosse and Dung because they themselves are so and worse in their owne opinion They easily despise all earthly things who have learn'd above all things to contemn themselves And whosoever desires to be happy let him inure himself to be contemn'd and learne to contemne all things but God and goodness which only is to be prizd and esteem'd in Gods Saints who have studyed and practised that excellent saying of St. Chrys It is as great a thing to think the most meanely of thy selfe Hom. 3. in Mat. as to do and Act the greatest things that may be Gods elect Children obey his voyce that said He that will be great among you shall be lesse in the Kingdome of heaven and whether he shall come there it is a question it is a place only for the humble and meek The way of humility they likewise know to be rough and ruggy and not easy at
and fixed Excell 〈◊〉 is that saying of Epictetus an heathen man I have sayes he so framed my will that in all things it is conformable to the wil of God Is it his will to scorch mee with a burning feaver I presently submitt and say so will I would he have me attempt any difficulty I wil. would he have me enjoy the goods of this world I wil. Not enjoy them but to be poore I will Is it his will I should die I will And seeing now my will is changed into Gods so that what he wills I will no man may will or hinder me from doing that vvhich is Good Oh! hovv may this brave spirit in an heathen put us to the blush vvhat a shame is it for Gospell not to discerne those things which are seene by those who were wrap'd up in the darke night of blindness and Ignorance Let us then as we outstrip them in knowledge so exceed them in Devotion and say Thy will be done Thine O our God thine not ours be â—â—ne by us in earth as it is in heaven wherefore a me your selves 1 Mac. 3.58 and be valiant men and be ready to fight against the Nations your sins and vices and encourage your selves in the fight and in all your distresses with the words of Iudas to his brethren As the will of God is in heaven so be it v. 60. The Towne clock or that which belongs to the Church is a president for all the rest in the Towne to go by by it they are set And why should not the wills of men like so many little Clocks move according to the direction of that great one in heaven Why should they not follow only the will of God It is beyond all thought and expression It cannot be said or Imagin'd how pleasing and gratefull a thing it is to God Almighty when a man renounces his owne will and makes Gods will the rule of all his Actions Acts 13.22 J have found sayes God David the Son of Iesse a man after mine owne heart who will do all things that I will It seemes by this Text that God had been long a seeking and that now he seeks to find a man of that will and affection who only loves that which God likes and wills and nills that which God willeth and forbiddeth Having found such a man God is much delighted and pleased with him and expresses his joy in that joyfull exclamation oh I have found a man After my long search I have a man which will do all things that I will and command And hence it was that Christ the only begotten Son of God subjected his whole will to his Fathers Ioh. 6. for so he sayes of himselfe I came down from heaven not to do mine owne will but the will of him that sent mee That man is farre from ordering and squaring his life Actions by the rule of Gods will revealed in his word who will neither come when God calls nor obey when he commands A wise man feareth and departs from evill Pro. 14. Pro. 30. but a foole goes on and is confident He eates and wipes his mouth and then saith I have done no evill He that is thus desperatly perverse and foolish hath pawned his foule to the Devill and yet laughs is merry he has lost heaven and is not sensible of his misery he spends his dayes in a wanton jollity as if he had lost nothing Thus like a fool that is going to the Stocks or house of Correction he playes and sports while he is posting to damnation But on the contrary those that are destin'd to eternall glory have their minds so confirmed and establish'd in good and the love of it that they dread even the very shevv of evill â—nd the shadovv of sin That vvhich displeaseth God shall in no vvise please them The bent of their soules is so carried to that vvhich is pleasing to him that they neither think nor speak of any thing else It is the subject of their discourse and object of their thoughts and though they displease all men by their performance of any good duty they vvill do it so long as they be certaine and sure it is pleasing to God And vvith out all doubt their vvills are so enflam'd vvith divine love that they can upon better grounds cry out vvith Epictetus My God my love be it farre from mee not to vvill that that thou vvillest or to nill that vvhich thou vvouldest not have me to doe Thy will is my will nay my will is no more mine but now begins to be thine and therefore thy will is now to be followed because it has begun to be mine It is my duty to will that which thou willest and O my God I do will it vvilt thou have me sick I will or poore I will Afflicted with tormenting paine and griefe I will Or loaded with Injuries and contumelious speeches This also O Lord I am willing to beare Is it thy will I should be contemned and despised This too willingly I 'le suffer although this is greivous to flesh and blood Wilt thou have me left like a Cottage in a Garden of Cucumbers destitute of all helps and comforts In this likewise I vvill subscribe to thy good vvill and pleasure for I knovv that I am in the hands of a mercifull and indulgent Father wilt thou have me suffer the pangs of a troubled mind vvhich are to the vvicked the previous flashes of Hell torments These deare God vvill I endure patiently and vvould undergoe this burthen cheerefully even till the day of Judgement if thou Lord do'st think it fit and convenient for me vvilt thou have me spoil'd and bereav'd of those things I love next unto thee my God I confess it is an hard task to relinquish in our affections and to sustaine the loss of those things on vvhich vve have set our hearts yet even this I vvill endure because it is thy vvill I should suffer Wilt thou have me die All difficulties we know strike saile and stoop to this at which Nature shrinks yet I refuse not to die an hundred deaths on this condition that I may breath out my last breath in the armes of thy divine will and be compassed with the embraces of thy mercy Wilt thou have me die before my time before the thread of life be spun out This I will too though nature be not willing to it Wilt thou have me go to Heaven and shake off the fetters of mortallity vvherevvith I am clogged and held fast in affliction I vvill O my Lord I will Wilt thou send me to Hell Ah good Iesus that thou shouldest will this I have deserved it by my wicked deeds whereby I served the De vill with that willingness as if I had a will to go to his place but O my sweet Iesu when thou did'st shed thy most precious blood for me thou plainly shewd'st that thou wert unwilling I should be
Heaven and the day of Iudgement were ever in his thoughts and therefore said to God I feared all my workes knowing that thou do'st not spare sinners Iob 9. as if he should say I suspect all my words and deeds yea and my very thoughts I set a watch before all these whil'st I remember daily Gods memorable Iustice The consideration and thought of which made that good old man Hilarion to tremble when he was dying and going to appeare before Gods Tribunal Hieron in vita illius c. 38. There was a little heat left which warmed his body neither was there any thing left of a living man but only fence and feeling and yet he spake chearfully to his fainting soule Get thee out my soule get the out doest thou now feare doest thou now doubt Thou hast served Christ these seventy yeares and doest thou now feare to die and approach to his presence This good mans Soule did not feare to die or be seperated from the body but was afraid when it thought of Gods severe Iudgement before which it was to stand and be examined consider this O ye Christians who lead sinfull and wanton lives If this Religious man did tremble for feare of failing of his Salvation do ye delight your selves in the vanities of this world going on securely in your sins and heaping up Gold and Silver Go to now teare and consume one another with the tooth of envy and malice hunt after Honours and let preferment and glory be the only ayme of your endeavours please your genius and flatter your selves in pleasures say as some worldlings have done The earth hath he given to the Children of men and we will inhabit it let others if they please labour to be Citizens of Heaven Go feed your eyes with pleasing objects give your thoughts the Raines and deny nothing to your raging and lustfull affections let them excurr and fasten where they please let them have what they desire imagine that to be lawfull which ye like and deny your body no pleasure that it wants and craves Take care only that you may live here voluptuously without any paine or griefe and walk in the sight of your eyes Eccle. 11. and in the wayes of your heart But know that for all these things God will bring you to Judgement And though a man live many years and rejoyce in them all yet shall he remember the dayes of darkness because they are many all that commeth is vanity Therefore labour by your Faith and good workes 2 Pet. 1. to make your calling and Election sure Ye have heard what be the signes of Predestination First not to love our friends only but also our Enemies 2ly To relieve the poor not only by our bounty but also with an affection of commiseration pity 3ly To suffer all adversity patiently relying upon Gods providence and submitting our selves to his will in all our extremities 4ly We must preferr the riches of Heaven before the goods of this world 5ly and 6ly We must not only attend to the outward admonitions of men but also the interior or inward instructions of God and yeeld obedience to both 7ly The sins and offences of our life past are so to be deplored and bewailed that ever after we for sake them for the time to come and never commit the same againe 8ly Let no man think that he pleaseth God unlesse he be displeasing to himselfe 9ly And let no man perswade himselfe that he loves Christ so long as he loves not his mysterious presence in the Sacrament 10ly We must resist our vitious affections in their first beginnings not suffering them to grow into a feirce unruliness He that doth this is an Emperour having the command over himselfe which is the best and greatest conquest 11ly Our wills must be set upon goodnesse otherwise they will waver and totter in the uncertaine and giddie motions of our desires 12. And lastly we must ever meditate on our last end for death when it is oft thought upon is less hurtfull and least feared That man will not die unwillingly who seriously thinks of dying daily And this is the way to attaine to that life which is immortall and shall never be closed up with death Now let every man put questions to his owne conscience let him search by a strict examination and inquiry whither he hath found in himselfe these signes of Predestination whereby he may beleive that he is in the way wherein the godly walke to Heaven The way of Sinners is plaine and smooth Ecclus. 21. but the end thereof is Hell and darknesse notwithstanding this so many and so great a company run to their destruction in this plaine and pleasant way that they make good by their practise the saying of Christ wide is the Gate and broad is the way that leads to perdition and many there be that enter in at that and walk in this certainly they are many we see that they are many It is delivered in the writings of many learned Authors that a certaine Anchoret being once in an Extasie did see the soules of men glide and drop into Hell like to Snow and Raine So that the damned Spirits may not unfitly demand as one affirmes they did whether the world did persevere and continue in that state in which it was for indeed so many soules go to that place of Torment that a man would scarce beleive there could be so many men living on the earth Vincentius Ferarius a Dominican Preacher discoursing out of the Pulpit concerning the small number of the predestinate confirmed all that he said by a remarkable passage Vid. Philip Disy To 5. his words were these or to this effect Before Christs comming into the world in our flesh there had passed above five thousand yeares it which time the whol woâ—ld being given to much wickedness peâ—â—shed in their sins excepting a â—ew Isâ—â—elites that were saved by the Covenant of faith whâ—â—â— God made with Abraham 〈◊〉 seed So now likewise in the time of the Gospel under Christ how many men women die are dâ—â—med for want of Faith Aâ—so how many Iewes Turkes how many Pagans and Infidells perish for want of the knowledge of Christ Besides these how many Christians be there vvho have pertaked of Baptisme and have an outvvard shew of godliness yet wanting the power of 〈◊〉 in their lives being proud and covetous and luxurious wanton livers Hovv many I say be there of these that never pertake of Heavens joyes Faith and Baptisme joyned with a good life will bring a man to salvation the way that leadeth unto it And to hope to be saved vvithout these going in this way is high presumption These things being so I will conclude this point with that exhortation of our Saviour strive to enter in at the strait gate The strait gate of Paradice is the Will of God we must squeese and contract our selves by repentance and humility wholly denying
in regard of sin Godly sorrow Present To come The signe or inward token which respects sins past is Godly sorrow which St. Paul fully describes 2 Cor. 7.10 It is the mother grace of many heavenly graces and it springs not from the Apprehension of Gods wrath but of his love and goodness It is that whereby a man grieves for sin as sin for that thereby his good God is offended and displeased Vpon which displâ—asure followes the loss of his Grace and favour which we feel and find in the desertion of our sad soules when they are afrighted with the ugly sight and horrour of our sins The Holy Ghost that we may not be deceived in judging the Truth of this godly sorrow hath seâ— down in the forenamed Chapter seaven fruits thereof or markes whereby it may be discovered Amendmenâ— of our lives is the Sum of all those particulars which are so many degrees and effects of true Repentance It is a sure mark that will never faile for sorrow for sin may faile and hatred of sin may faile and deceive us but Amendment never failes be that amendeth is only the true Convert Secondly That token which is in regard of sins present 2. The combate betwean the flesh and the Spirit is that Combat between the flesh and the spirit Gal. 5.17 and proper to those who are regenerate who are partly flesh and partly Spirit It is a fighting and striving of the Vnderstanding Will and Affections with themselves whereby so far forth as they are renewed they carry the man one way and as they remaine in part corrupt they hurrie him flat contrary Gen. 25 26. yet commonly Grace like Jacob taking hold on Esaues heel pulls sin backward and breaking out in holy resolution shewes it selfe in Godly actions and for the most part getteth the Masterie over sinfull provocations Of this Temper was St. Augustine who in one of his Sermons de Tempore confesses thus of himselfe to the glory of Gods powerfull grace Serm. 45. in Rom. 7. Canne servâ—o legi peccati dum concupiseam sed mente Servio legi Dei dum non consentiam i. e. with my flesh I serve the Law of sin whilst I covet and lust but with my spirit I serve the Law of God whilst I do not consent Thirdly 3. Care to prevent sin The token which respects sin that is in futurition or to come which lies hid or raked up in the Embers of our corrupt natures is a care to prevent it That this is a marke of Gods Children 1 Ep. 5 18 appeares by that testimony of St. John in his first Epistle 3 Ep. 5.18 He that is begotten of God keepeth himselfe and that wicked one toucheth him not This care of keeping our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the contagion of sin shewe it selfe not only in ordering thâ— outward actions of the body according to the rule of Gods will and Commandements but even also in regularing the very thoughts of the heart so as a righâ—eous man is afraid to think that which the wicked is not ashamed to Act. And this watchfullness over our thoughts so as they be chast and pure is an infallible note of the sincerity of our heaâ—ts The tokens which concern Gods mercy in Christ are specially two 2dly The first is when a man feeles himselfe distressed and loaded with the burthen of his sins The first token that concernes Gods mercy in Christ Luk 4.23 or when he apprehends the heavie displeasure of God in his Conscience for them then farther to feel how he stands in need of Christ our heavenly * Physitian and withall heartlly to desire yea to hunger and thirst after reconciliation with God in Christ and that above all things in the world that can be wished or desired this is an infallible signe that God hath chosen that foule out of the world Ioh 15.19 and to all such Christ hath made most sweet and comfortable promises John 7.38 Rev. 21.6 John 4.14 The Second mark which concernes Gods mercy in Christ is a wonderfull and strange affection if we respect the intensivenese of it wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God The 2d whereby a man doth so esteem and value and set so high a price upon Christ and his righteousness Phil. 3. â— that he accounts the most precious things that are to be as Dung in comparison of it So that he would not lose those sweet contents and ravishing comforts which he enjoyes in his Soul and Conscience upon the fruition of Christ he would not part with these 〈◊〉 not for a moment to gaine as much Gold as would lie in the Vast Concave between Heaven and Earth Indeed there is no comparison between a finite and an Infinite good between that which is fading and that which is everlasting Christ is an everlasting possession Rev. 1.8 The consideration of this kindled that holy flame in the brest of Saint Paul of which we read Phil. 3.8 whereby he set Christ upon the highest throne in his affections and trampled in scorn upon all worldly Commodities The loss of which did not moue him so long as he enjoyed Christ and the riches of his grace and goodness And those good Soules who are so affected to Christ and value all worldly goods at no more then their owne price they being nothing else but so many empty Vanities if compared with future hapiness such men ever have in them a love and longing desire to the coming of Christ This love and desire to the comeing of Christ is a Signe of the truth of our our affection to him whether it be by death or to Judgement and that to this end that their joy may be perfected by a full participation of bliss and fellowship with him in whom their Soul delights And such men when they lie upon their Death-beds retaining the comfortable memory of a well acted life behould death without dread and the Grave without feare and embrace both as necessarie guides to endless glory Thus much of the Inward Signes of our Election or Adoption by Christ J pass now to the Outward token after whose discovery and that with brevity I shall wind up all with certaine Corollaries or Qualifications of the former Doctrine for the establishment and comfort of tender Consciences The Outward Token of our Election is New obedience New obedience an holy frame of the Soul and such a temper of Spirit whereby a man in consideration of Gods great love unto him in making him a reasonable Creature a Christian and providing Christ and Heaven for him endeavours to shew his thankfullness by obeying God's Commandements and making these the Rule of his life and Actions 1 Ioh. 2.5 Hereby we know that we are in Him i. e. Elected by God in Christ if we keep his Commandements This Obedience must have have these qualifications to attend it otherwise it may be suspected as unsound and