womb the Hebrew word Shuach mentioned in Gen. 24. 63. which our Translation Reads to Meditate the Septuagint the Geneva Translation and Tremellius in his Marginal notes upon it reads it to pray the word signifies both which showes they are near a-kin lying in the same word as twins in the same womb they consort well together for Meditation is a blessed Improvement of Meditation you may suppose Isaac had his Oratory in the field this private place for secret Prayer now upon this Important occasion of Marriage quasi marrage he uses deep Meditation to make servent Prayer thus ought you to do now as the Patriarch Isaac did then and as the Prophet Daniel did afterwards first open the windows of your Soul by Divine Meditation and then kneel down to praying work Dan. 6. 10. There practice is your Pattern when you have fill'd your water-Pot to the full by Meditation then draw out by prayer as Joh. 2. 7 8. 2. As Faith is call'd the best of graces so Prayer is call'd the best of duties if other duties be pennies this is a pound in many respects First as it gives God the glory of his three great Attributes 1. It gives him the glory of his Omnisciency that he knows all your wants that he whose Throne is in Heaven yet hears all your Petitions presented to him upon Earth 1 King 8. 30. 2 Chron. 7. 14. yea when you pray only heart prayer which man heareth not knoweth not as Moses Exod. 14. 15. The Lord said wherefore cryest thou unto me when he spake not a word so Hannah 1 Sam. 1. 13. Psal 38. 9. all my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee 2ly it gives him the glory of his Omnipotency it presupposes that God is able to supply all your wants you spread before him Eph. 3. 20. The very act of Prayer saith to God as Job I know thou canst do every thing Job 42. 2. 3ly It gives him the glory of his merciful goodness or bountiful benevolency that he is willing as well as able to supply your wants Divine might and Divine mercy are the two Pillars that the House of Prayer stands upon as the Temple of Solomon stood upon Jachin and Boaz. 1 King 7. 21. which signifies stability and strength 2 Chro. 3. 17. Exod. 22. 27. 3. The second respect that makes Prayer the best of duties is that a kind of Omnipotency is ascribed to it as Luther said when 't is the Prayer of Faith and so acted by that best of graces you may stand and wonder what the Scripture attributes to Faith and Prayer or Prayer of Faith It can do more then all the Witches in the World can do for it can set God at work whereas they can but set the Devil at work none knows what Prayer can do but those that know what God can do in this sense Prayer is said to be Omnipotent as it sets Omnipotency at work it hath had command over all the four Elements as 1st Over the Air in Elijah Jam. 5. 17. to whom God gave this Key to open and shut up Heaven at his pleasure 2ly Over the fire which the same Elijah fetchs down at pleasure by his Prayer one time in a way of wrath 2 Kin. 1. 16. and another time in way of mercy and merciful acceptance 1 Kin. 18. 37 38. 3ly Over the water in Moses Exod. 14. 15 16. And 4ly Over the Earth in the same Man of God who by his powerful Prayer first cleaves the Sea asunder to save Israel and then the Earth asunder to destroy the complices of Korah Numb 16. 29 c. Psal 106. 17. As those two great consorts of Christ on Mount Tabour Moses and Elias Math. 17. 3. had command over the four Elements So Joshuah over the Sun it self Josh 10. 12. as by Moses Prayer he had command over Amalek before Exod. 17. 11 12. Yet higher Elishah by Prayer hath command over the Angels fetching them out of Heaven for his Protection and comfort 2 Kin. 6. 17. but yet higher than that over god-man the Angel of the Covenant the Lord of Angels in Jacob. Gen. 32. 24 25 26. Who as Sckindler Interprets Hos 12. 4. Bacah wept and Supplicated Jacob saying let me go for the day dawneth Gen. 32. 25. 4. The Lord Christ there askes him his Name as if he had said thou art such a fellow as I never met withal and therefore he confers the honour of Knight-hood as it were upon him in saying to him kneel down Jacob rise up Israel having power with God and prevailing Thus also the Lord Christ was overcome by the power of the Canaanitish womans Prayer of Faith Matth. 15. 26 28. Insomuch that he gives her the Key of his Treasury and bids her go in and take what mercy she pleased he turns her loose as it were into his fullness and all sufficiency and not only his own Omnipotency is at her beck but also Devils and all must stoop to her if she pleased O woman great is thy Faith in Prayer be it unto thee even as thou wilt You must know How Jacob as this Syrophaenician woman outwrestled Christ for 't was his wonderful condescension to put forth more of hiw own strength in Jacob against himself then he did in himself against Jacob. This redeeming Angel as Jacob calls him Gen. 48. 16. held him up with one hand as he strove against him with the other and voluntarily yeilded himself as conquered by the Patriarch's Prayer otherwise the same Divine power that disjointed Jacobs thigh could as easily have unclasped his hands O how can you but admire this glorious vouchsafement 5. Lastly God himself speaketh as if his hands had been tyed up by Prayer Exod. 32. 10. Let me alone c. As if Moses had held him from his purpose and had laid fetters and restraints upon Omnipotency and as Austin glosseth upon the place brings the Almighty to bespeak his own freedom yea indenting with Moses and offering him a Composition for his silence and his own liberty saying if so I will make of thee a great people as if Moses's Devotion had been stronger then Gods Indignation which shews that great is the power of Prayer 't is able after a sort Fifthly another gloss to transsuse a dead Palsy into the hands of Omnipotency this cannot be through the prevalency of Human power against Divine but through the condescension of Divine grace to poor Mortals bidding us concerning the work of his hands to command him Isa 45. 11. Which is a wonderful expression rather to be admired with an holy Reverence then strained into a rude blasphemy undoubtedly it would be no less then black blasphemy in us to say so had not God himself said it for us and Gen. 19. 22. 6. All this shews you both the excellency and the efficacy of right Prayer the Apostle James tells you it avails much Jam. 5. 16. Yet doth not tell you how much you
Gentile ended in this New and Honourable Name which before was promised to Sion as above There was a Coalition of Jew and Gentile into one Church and by Consequence an abrogation of the differing Names Hence this common Name was given to both believing in Christ by God himself according to his promise but Oh what a shameful thing it is that this New and Honourable Name should be at this day a Name of Reproach amongst the Papists in Rome and Italy by whom it is usually abused to signify a fool or a dolt as Dr. Eulke on Act. 11. in his Annotations upon the Rhem. Testam plainly proveth out of their own Authors Thus those same who have changed Gods glory into their own shame as to things in their Superstition and Idolatry have done no less as to Names in their ignorance and debauchery by a righteous Judgment of God upon them 2 Thes 2. 11. 35. But you must know that a Worthie Title is put upon you an Honourable Name is given to you in your becoming and being a Christian which signifies the Anointed of the Lord even the sacred Name of Christ of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named Eph. 3. 15 is called upon you A name that will honour you if you honour it and that will highly exalt you if you exalt it Austin tells of one who had a Crown set upon his head consisting indeed of many Crowns as he was an Emperour yet he made not all this the Crown of his rejoycing but prefer'd this as a greater Crown that the name of Christ was called upon him this he accounted his greater honor and the Title to Psalm 118. shews you that David accounted it a greater honour to be the servant of the Lord than to be the King of Israel The highest Title or name upon the Earth is nothing to this no though it should endure so long as the Earth endures here 's Eternity of Honour and such an Honour as reaches from Earth to Heaven 36. The great difficulty you will find is to Answer this Name to honour and exalt this Name that it may honour and exalt you 't is an easy matter to be a Christian in name but to be a Christian indeed there 's the difficulty to have our natures to Answer our name as to have self to crucify self is no easy work if you be but almost a Christian as Agrippa you shall be but almost happy too You will not find it easy to offer an holy violence upon your self even to the plucking out of your right Eye and the cutting off of your right Hand Yet this you must do if you will Answer your name and be a Christian indeed and enter in at the strait gate by an holy violence your heart is Weak Ezek. 16. 30 as well as your hand and no less than the mighty hand of God can enable you for this mighty Work 37. Therefore I must tell you the Holy Scripture owns none to be Christians but such as be according to Christ and as the Anointed of the Lord there is a powerful influence in true Christianity that must spread it self over three things 1. Over your Conscience Heb. 13. 18 and therefore there must be the answer of a good Conscience 1 Pet. 3. 21. 2. Over your Communication Prov. 10. 20. your Tongue must be as choice Silver having a good Sound by a tincture of the Spirit of Christ upon it And 3. over your Conversation Eph. 4. 1. you must be of a Christ-like Conversation walking worthy of that high calling Phil. 4. 13. Of a Religious Godly and Christian Conversation in the General CHAP. II. 1. AS all those three names aforesaid to Wit Religion Godliness and Christianity do joyntly agree in this one great truth that man must serve his Maker both in heart and life according to his revealed Will not only in the harsher dispensation of Moses whose first Miracle was the turning water into blood but also and that especially in the sweeter dispensation of the Messias whose first Miracle was the turning of water into Wine that cheers the heart of Man and therefore Christianity the last of the three doth contain in it the whole duty of Man to God yea in the nearest and dearest Relation to wit in Christ even so the last of those three to which Christianity communicates an effectual influence to wit conversation may in its Latitude comprehend the concerns of Conscience and communication also as appears by the Sequel 2. The Apostle Peter tells you of all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15 and of all holy Conversation 2 Pet. 3. 11. Those two Expressions are extensive comprehending the whole duty of Man Relating to God to himself and to others in thought word and deed all conversation and all manner of conversation There is one conversation of your thoughts another conversation of your words and a third conversation of your deeds and all respecting either your God or your self or others in wharsoever capacity or Relation you stand either in Church or World 3. Touching your conversation in the general before I descend into particulars you must know it must be a worthy conversation worthy of that sacred name that is called upon you the more unworthy that a Christians conversation is the greater pollution is cast upon that Sacred name which is put upon him the more Sacred his name is the greater is his guilt and the more accursed Such an one is the basest of Men and like a wither'd Vine good for no use Ezek. 15. 4. Or like Unsavory Salt not so much as good for the dunghil Matth. 5. 13. but to be trodden under foot 4. 'T is a good conversation that commends a Christian and that only heart-service doth indeed please God best but never without life-service too which honours God most Matth. 5. 16 where the heart is made Suitable to Gods nature there the life will be Subject to his Law If Christ have his throne upon your Conscience his Scepter will appear upon your communication and upon your conversation also Thus an holy conversation doth not only commend a Christian before God Angels and Men but it also commends the God of the Christians to the World they glorify their Father Matth. 5. 16. Esa 61. 9. Peil 2. 15. 5. Besides your Christian conversation must not only commend you for a Christian but it must prove you to be a Christian It would not be Miracles if you could work them nor Revelations If you could be dignified with them nor signes and wonders if such a power were given from above to you that could any or all severally or joyntly prove you a Christian All those have been given to workers of Iniquity and such as have cast out Devils have been cast out to Devils themselves at last as Judas who was a Devil himself Matth. 7. 22 23. Joh. 6. 2 70. So then 't is the conversation which is all in all and justifies before Men
telling of Divine truth which is the only Currant Coin in the Court of Heaven 17. Alas poor Soul if you do so I cannot say of you as Christ once said of Lazarus Joh. 11. 12. If he sleep he shall do well but the contrary if you sleep in an Ordinance you both do and will do very ill you can neither take nor tell even saving truth when it is told out to your hand and to your heart As the Apostle faith what have you not Houses to eat and to drink in 1 Cor. 11. 22. So I say what Have you not Houses to sleep in But you will shame your self and despise the Church of God Shall I praise you in this I praise you not O little do you know what drops of the Divine unction that flows from the two blessed Olive-Trees Christ and his Spirit Zech. 4. 2 3 12 14 Runs by your Vessel while you shut the mouth of it by your falling asleep Spare-diet on that day is a good Antidote against that evil and sure I am a truly thirsting Soul that followeth hand after Christ Psal 63. 1 2 8. hath the right Spiritual Antidote as spare-diet is the natural against it Such as wake much in Taverns and Ale-houses will be sure to sleep much in the Ordinances and they that dare do so and can be pleased with themselves in so doing may justly suspect their own state and standing God-ward Such as sleep to God God will sleep to them and 't is just saith Mr. Robert Bolton that such be plagued with some sudden vengeance from Heaven for neglecting so great Salvation Hebr. 2. 3. to become Examples to others 'T is Gods great mercy Gods plagues are suspended God will sooner or later send out his Summons for sleepers 18. Fourthly you must attend the word without weariness as well as without drowsiness those two very often go together If Nero were so angry with Vespasian for being weary of and falling asleep at his Musick O what will the great God be if you both be weary of and fall asleep at his sacred Ordinance you must shake your self from sluggishness as Sampson did Judg. 16. 20. and not cry out O what a weariness is it Mal. 1. 13. and when will the Sabbath be over Amos 8. 5. as if in the stocks all the while you sit there but consider how Christ standeth and knocketh at the door of your heart and this he hath done many days and weeks and mongths and years yet is not weary Revel 3. 20. although the posture of standing be a wearisom posture and the action of knocking a wearisom action yet his leggs ake not with standing nor his hands wearied with knocking Esa 59. 1. shall the Master wait and wait long upon the servant without weariness and dare the servant be weary with waiting a while upon his Lord and Master Such as have maintenance from the Kings palace or are salted with the Kings Salt in their Salaries as Ezr. 4. 14. Must not be weary with waiting in his Service 't is the brand of the Child of Perdition to have eaten of his Masters bread and yet lift up his heel against him Psal 41. 9. Matth. 26. 23. 19. How many lift up their heels to go away from Christ in the Ordinance if they do not lift up their heels to war against him know you not saith the Apostle that the Saints shall Judg the world 1 Cor. 6. 2. but alas the very Ox and Ass doth Judg such persons by their knowing and waiting on their Masters Crib better then they Esa 1. 4. Some cannot sit above an hour as if all spoke after were unsanctified matter and born out of due time Surely 't is easier to hear with the ear then to cry with the voice there is straining and stretching of both lungs and sides in this but none in that yet the Worshippers of the Idol Diana could cry out with an extended voice for the space of two hours great is Diana of the Ephesians Act. 19. 34. yet some cannot hear with the ear above one hour O Consider your Lords Heaven and Happiness for which you are hearing and which is prepared for all that hear aright is more then of an hour long and shall man make the Ephah of his makers Worship so small Amos 8. 5. when his Maker hath made the Omer of his Wages so great Our work is not the tenth part of our Wages Exod. 16. 36. Shall the Cedar of Lebanon woo and suit the Thistle in Lebanon for a Marriage as 2 King 14. 9. And can the poor Thistle be weary of such beseechings 20. Fifthly you must attend the word without wandrings as well as without weariness you must serve the Lord without distraction 1 Cor. 7. 35. as before David loved the word of God so much that he hated all vain thoughts that would have distracted him in it Psal 119. 113. he as it were shrinks out of himself into his God when the wicked one touched his heart with wandring thoughts alas the Plaque of Flies is upon the fal'n nature of Man as it was upon the land of Egypt from Beelzebub the God of Flies pray the Lord so to expel them as not one may be remaining Exod. 8. 31. 10 19. Those flocks may not feed before the Mount of God Exod. 3. 4 3. and those Fowls may not rest on your heart as 2 Sam 21. 10. that as Haman would ravish the Queen the Soul even in the Kings presence Esth 7. 8. hang them Ver. 10. Gen. 15. 11. 21. The second duty in the Act of hearing is Intention as before Attention there must be Intention of the heart as well as Attention of the ear first Luke 19. 48. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pendebat ab ore ejus the people there were so intent and earnest in hearing the word of Christ that they did as it were hang their ears at Christs mouth and tied them to his very Tongue Thus you should hear as for your life and as for your last just as Prisoners hear their Prince that Judgeth them at the Bar when every word he speaks to them is either life or death Or as Benhadads servants did hear the King of Israel whom they expected to find a merciful King 1 King 20. 31 32 33. How did they watch every Word and how did they catch at the word brother you must hang on God in his Ministers as the Babe doth upon the breast and as the Bee doth upon the flower 2. Open your hearts Acts 16. 14. God bids you open your mouth wide and he will fill it Psal 81. 10. This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your narrow Soul and your narrow Faith will spoile you in this Ordinance you should bring large Sacks and such as will open wide when you come for the Corn of Heaven to the Lord of Heaven and Earth as the Patriarks did when they went in a Famine for Corn to the Lord of the land of Egypt Gen. 42. 2
Ananias goods to God it is dangerous to keep back any part of it for your own use Act. 5. 1 2 5 10. and not keep it wholly and in every part of it holy to the Lord. 17. The fifth Direction is make this day a day of your delights as before a day of desires delight in the day and in every duty of the day account the Sabbath not only your duty but also your priviledg not only your work but your wages too Isa 58. 13. Call the Sabbath your delight and if it be not so you may not call it so surely it was not so to those Worldly wretches that cryed when will the Sabbath be over c. Amos 8. 5. as if they had been in the stocks all the while they were keeping a Sabbath The Greek word for delight is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuag Psal 37. 4. c. Which comes from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that signifies Paradise or place of pleasure to intimate the Lord and his Sabbaths may not be as stocks to you but as a Paradise and a place of pleasure you should take as much delight therein as in walking the Round in the choicest Spring-garden O how should you bless God for the Sabbath as Neh. 9. 14. and rejoice in it as in the day the Lord hath made for Spiritual delight Psal 118. 24. counting it so and making it so not only a delight but also holy and honourable and because holy therefore honourable O may you but be in the Spirit on this Lords day as Rev. 1. 10. and tast how good the Lord is Psal 34. 8. in the dainties of holy duties and in his heart refreshing and Soul-ravishing Ordinances you will find most incomparable pleasure therein and far-far exceeding all the dirty delights of sensualists and Sabbath breakers Prov. 14. 10. Job 27. 10. 18. The sixth Direction be not weary of it before it be over The whole Sabbath should be spent without weariness in works of Piety mercy and necessity and in none else here 's variety to prevent nauseating in works of Piety you may pass from one Ordinance to another as the Bee flys from one flower to another and not be weary and from works of Piety you may go to works of Charity and from thence to works of necessity for your own natural nourishment O then here is no need of crying out what a weariness is it as Mal. 1. 13. or when will it be over as Amos 8. 5. as if in little ease all the while Carnal hearts know not indeed how to wear out the Sabbath 't is such a weariness to them and therefore they wish it over full loth would they begg Davids office out of his hand of being a door-keeper in the house of God who must be first in and last out Psal 84. 10. and what would they do to spend an everlasting Sabbath in Heaven that are so troubled and tyred with a short one on Earth not without a world of wilful distractions but the Spiritual heart that is rapt up and ravished in Spirit Rev. 1. 10. and is in the fear of the Lord and in the comforts of the holy Ghost all the day long Prov. 23. 17. can wish with Joshuah that the Sun stood still on that day for more killing of Sin and quickning of grace 19. The seventh Direction is be sure you make it a right day of restraint to you as it is called Deut. 16. 8. Jomegnatsereth diem Interdicti a day of prohibition from all Improper work the same word is used Numb 16. 48. and the Plague was stayed or restrained by either 1 Intreaty as 2 Sam. 24. 21. or 2 By Authority and Commands or 3 By strength and force all these ways you should Remember to keep the Sabbath if you keep not your heart with all keepings Prov. 4. 23. You can never keep the Sabbath holy The Plague of your heart mentioned 1 King 8. 38. will not be stayed or restrained unless you 1 Offer upon Christ your Altar Heb. 13. 10. Your Intreaties to God with David 2 Sam. 24. 21. and 2 Unless you lay Gods charge and command upon your extravagant heart to keep within compass Cant. 2. 7. Yea and 3 You must use holy force and Violence going but in Gods stregth Psal 71. 16. to restrain your loose slippery and treacherous heart both from wicked and from worldly work on that day for in the former work you keep the day to Satan and in the latter to your self but not to your Saviour in either besides every wicked work is cursed Sin any day but 't is doubly so on the Lords-day the season being a great aggravation of the Sin like that in Est 7. 8. 't is a ravishing the Queen of days before the very face of the King of Kings and every Worldly work done on Gods-day can never expect Gods blessing but will be a Canker and may say with Jacob I shall bring a curse and not a blessing Gen. 27. 12. he that did but gather a few sticks a small business some may say was paid home with stones because he did presumptuously on that day Numb 15. 30 32 35 36. If you must do no manner of work save only the three works of Piety Charity and Necessity no manner of Worldly work much less wicked work O do not eat forbidden fruit when you may eat of all the Trees in the garden on your six days do not your own works but cease from them Heb. 4. 10. nor speak your own words on this high and holy day Isa 58. 13. Exod. 31. 14. 20. The eighth Direction is never satisfie your Soul with spending one Sabbath without enjoying something therein of the Lord God of Sabbath never content your self with Elijahs Mantle without the Lord God of that Mantle 2 King 2. 14. O let it not be enough to you as it was not enough to Absolom to live in Jerusalem 2 Sam. 14. 32. without seeing the Kings face cry with David in every duty of the day O when will God come unto me Psal 101. 2. To miss of a good friend is sad to meet him is joyful Psal 73. 25. If you miss of this your best friend this will justly fadden you as it did even Saul himself 1 Sam. 28. 15. If you meet him and miss him not If your friend the King of Saints Rev. 15. 3. Sit at your Table then your Spiknard will send forth the smell thereof Cant. 1. 12. Such a sign of sweet friendship and fellowship must needs fill your heart with joy unspeakable and full of glory as it reminds and represents your Communion in Heaven and make the Sabbath a delight indeed to you then shall you delight your self in the Lord and he will not only cause you to ride upon the high places of the Earth but also upon the heights of the Heavens where you shall keep an everlasting Sabbath in which all Sabbaths meet and whereof there is no evening Is
2 Cor. 6. 10. when you have got the Divine Art of contentment Phil. 4. 12. O Remember how the great Architect of the World had not a house to put his head in though he was the Carpenter Mark 6. 3. and the builder of all Heb. 11. 10. Math. 8. 20. Phil. 2. 7. 2 Cor. 8. 9. and how those great Favourites of Heaven wandred about in Sheep-skins c. Heb. 11. 37. 38. Having no certain dwelling place 1 Cor. 4. 11. Suppose you have none or but a mean one on Earth yet have you one and that a Magnificent one in Heaven 2 Cor. 5. 1. 6. The second Direction is having an habitation appointed you of God be sure you make the Lord your Counceller about a yoke-fellow whether you be Male or Female if you have a call thereunto Marriage quasi Marre-age or Merry-age 't is the making or marring of you for your whole life of all your civil affairs there is none of the like Importance as this having an Influence upon all your days you live in the World 't is like a stratagem in War that cannot be recal'd when you will according to your choice of a good or evil Spirit you bring into your bed and bosom you make your house a lasting Heaven or Hell You are mine and I am yours brevis quidem est Cantiuncula longum vero Epiphonema is a short Song but it hath a long undersong therefore an Errour herein being Irrecoverable you have need of Argus his hundred Eyes as well as Briareus his hundred hands and of Gods Counsel above all that you lay not the foundation of a lasting sorrow thereby and that your Conjugium prove not a Conjurgium a continual crossing instead of comforting one another when two are in one yoke and each draws contrary ways to the other Hereupon some say that Adam in his deep sleep was praying for a meet help Gen. 2. 21. and the Scripture saith expresly that Isaac went out to confer with God in Prayer and Meditation about this weighty matter Gen. 24. 63. a good Wife is from the Lord Prov. 19. 14. And so is a good Husband 7. The third Direction is let not that Doctrine of Devils that forbids to Marry 1 Tim. 4. 1 3. hinder you as if it were better to live upon the Common or as if the unmarried estate were more honourable without regard to the proper and peculiar gift 1 Cor. 7. 7 9. for Marriage is honourable unto all c. Heb. 13. 4. and God himself not Cecrops Lycurgus or Numa was the first Author and Institutor of it and that in Paradise yea and before the fall Gen. 2. 22. hence 't is cal'd the Covenant of God Prov. 2. 17. and though Paul the unmarried qua talis as 't is said went up to God which was a great honour yet Moses that was married had God to come down to him which was greater honour despise not this Divine medicine which if rightly applyed is your Arrival at the fair Haven marriage quasi merry-age the sweetest passage of your life a rest and center of your affections Ruth 3. 1. that it may be well with you this is desireable as well as honourable in both Sexes for the man misses his rib and would recover it and the woman the rib would be in her place under the Arm again 8. The fourth Direction is be careful to enter in by Gods way into Gods Covenant not as some that enter into Gods Ordinance to wit Marriage by the Devils portal to wit fornication so lays the Foundation of a curse and not of a blessing the Apostle faith let them marry only in the Lord 1 Cor. 7. 39. you must not marry in Pluto the God of Riches nor in Venus the Goddess of pleasure as the Heathens feigned but in the fear of the Lord the Rabbins observe that in the names of Ish and Ishah the Hebrew names of Man and Woman is included Jah the name of God and that if you take out Jod and He whereof the name Jah consists there remaineth nothing but Esch Esch which signifies fire fire the moral of it is good signifying that if you marry in any manner but in the Lord whose name is Jah Psal 68. 4. there will be nothing but fire fire nothing but brawling and doleful dissention a fire that burneth to the fire of Hell but if you marry in the Lord you marry also with the Lord and he cannot be absent from his own Marriage it was Christs presence at a marriage that turn'd water into Wine Joh. 2. 2 9. Jesus must be Invited to your Marriage as the principal guest but by no means invite the Devil quasi do-evil who is Abaddon and Appollyon Rev. 9. 11. the destroyer of all good Except the Lord be with you to build your house even in your foundation work which is always serious and weighty work all your indeavours will be but Arena sine Calce sand without lime that cannot hang together but like untempered Morter will fall asunder and you build in vain Psal 127. 1. 2. Except and except c. 'T is vain and 't is vain c. Should found in your Ears 9. The fifth Direction is if God have made you the husband of a Wife especially of such a one as hath the seven qualifications of a good one to wit grace race face arts parts portion proportion then 1 Be thankful to your God for so great a blessing Psal 116. 12. this was one of the first real and and royal gifts that God bestowed on Adam and that upon deliberation of Divine wisdom Gen. 2. 18. the Trinity in the unity had consulted before about mans first being let us make man c. Gen. 1. 26. Now the Unity in the Trinity consults about mans well-being and determins 't is not good for man to be alone I will make him an help-meet for him a piece so exactly cut out for him as answers him rightly in every Joint no such glorious Creature could Adam find among all the Creatures that passed before him hence the woman is the glory of a Man 1 Cor. 11. 7. O bless God for such a glorious Creature and rejoice at the recovery of your lost Rib Cant. 3. 11. Rejoice in the Lord the giver of that mercy 1 Cor. 1. 31. for marriages are made in Heaven before they be Solemnized on Earth 't is the work of God the Creator to provide an help-meet for Man his Creature Gen. 2. 18. Prov. 18. 22. Prov. 19. 14. And 2 Live with your Wife that God hath graciously given you as a Man of knowledg 1 Pet. 3. 7. where should knowledg and wisdom be but in the head if you have found by seeking God in Prayer as Isaac did a Wife that is a good Wife as name is used Eccles 7. 1. for a good name and Wool Esa 1. 18. for white Wool you have found a good thing a fit and faithful yoke fellow is a singular blessing and you have
is a work that is wages to it self as you will find within Psal 19. 11. In as well as for keeping Gods commands there is great reward 'T is verily as the work of glorified Saints and of glorious Angels it being of the same nature with theirs whose work is their wages O then you may rationally conclude with your self from hence What a shame it is that I who am created to an Eternal being and that do possess an Immortal Soul should spend 20. 30. 40. or 50. Years in Vanity if not in Villany all the time wearing the livery of a cursed Master being a Slave to Sin and Satan and never look up to God the best Master and the Supreme good Alas you may hop from Mountain to Hill Jer. 50. 6. And go Satans round Jab 1. 7. yet find no rest with Noah's Dove for the Soles of the Feet of your Soul until you come to the Ark of this blessed work your Soul is Created with such vast Capacities as nothing bears proportion either to ' its being or to ' its wants below God no Created being hath Room enough in it to entertain so ample and so endless a guest 't is of such unlimited desires that nothing but the Immortal God can satisfy an Immortal Soul Secondly Observe the method which is first general in the whole duty of Man to God this is held out in those three general Names 1. Of godliness 2. Of Religion 3. Of Christianity Together with the necessity of each then Secondly you have more particularly the many good duties of Man to God both personal and relative Treated upon and that with as much perspicuity and plainness as so little a Book would admit of If you meet with any passage that seems obscure ascribe it to the Curtnes of my stile who indeavours to say much in a little and after some acquaintance herewithal with a little pondering you will be able through grace to understand the darkest Sentence If you desire direction in natural and civil Actions c. As well as in Religious I refer you to my little piece called the Crown and glory of a Christian If either in that or in this any thing may be blest to your Soul and bring you further of from Sin and nearer God which is the best thing in the World Psal 73. 28 both for Living and Dying let God have all the glory for the gift how mean soever bestowed on me how unworthy soever 2 Cor. I. II. And let me have the Relief of your Prayers for further abilities and your faithful Improvement of those poor performances which I commend to your Candour and your Soul to God and to the Word of his grace Subscribing my Self to be Yours in the best Bonds Christopher Nesse London this 10th of April 1678. Short Rules for your general Direction Let your Thoughts be Divine Awful and Godly Talk be Little Honest and True Works be Profitable Holy and Charitable Manners be Grave Courteous and Cheerful Dyet be Temperate Convenient and Frugal Apparel be Sober Neat and Comly Will be Ready Obedient and Constant Sleep be Moderate Quiet Seasonable Prayers be Short Devout and Frequent Recreations be Lawful Brief and Seldom Mind be Suitable to your Means Memory be Of Death Judgment and Glory Conscience be Void of offence to God and Man Task be Always doing or receiving good Conversation be In Heaven while your commoration be on Earth Latter-End be That of the Righteous Hopeful in the Lord not Hopeless in Sin A well-wish to your weal in both Worlds Utinam Saptres Praeterita Malum Commissum Bonum Omissum Tempus Amissum Intelligeres Praesentia Vitae Brevitatem Salvandi Difficultatem Salvandorum Paucitatem Praevideres Futura Mortem quâ nihil inevitabilius Judicium quo nihil terribilius Infernum quo nihil intolerabilius I wish you would First make a wise use of things past to wit evil committed good omitted and time lost and gone Secondly consider things present to wit the shortness of life the difficulty of Salvation and the fewness of those that are to be saved Thirdly Foresee things to come to wit death than which nothing is more unavoidable the day of Judgment than which nothing is more terrible the pains of Hell than which nothing is more Intolerable A Christians Walk and Work on Earth c. CHAP. 1. 1. YOU must know that Man is the master-piece of the Worlds ' Maker God calls as it were a Counsel in Heaven saying Let us make man Gen. 1. 26 Us all us the whole Wisdom of the Trinity was exercis'd in the making of Man The consultation and deliberation therein plainly demonstrates that there was then the bringing forth of a piece of work of greatest moment and importance and therefore what is said of Behemoth He is the chief of the ways of God Job 40. 19. may more eminently be said of Man he is the chiefest of the ways and of the works of God The Sun Moon and Stars are but the work of Gods fingers Psal 8. 3. But man is the work of his hands Psal 139. 14 15. Job 10. 3. 8. Hence David speaking of Man first wonders and then speaks and when he hath done to speak he hath not done to wonder Psal 8. 1. 9. 2. Every Creature of God is indeed a wonder yea little Creatures those Decimo-sexto's of the Creation are great wonders as well as the great Behemoth and other large Folio's thereof for the infinite Wisdom and Power of the Creator is manifest in couching up both life and motion in such a little compass as in Insects Flies Ants c. But Man is the greatest wonder as having the excellency of all other Creatures in him he is the abridgment of all wonders You believe that God is a Spirit and you see that the World is a Body Man is an Epitome of both 1. Of God in respect of his Spirit And 2. of the World in the composition of his Body as if the great Jehovah on purpose to set forth a plain mirrous of himself and his work designed to bring into this one narrow compass of Man both the infiniteness of his own nature and the vastness of the whole world all together 3. The soul of Man resembles the circumference of Heaven as being everywhere over the little world his brain the Sun that gives light to this little world and the senses stand round about it as so many Stars His heart represents the Earth in its Center his liver is as the Sea from whence flows the blood in all its circulations the like correspondency you may easily imagine in all other parts too long to particularize Hence is it that Tertullian calls the World a great Man and Man a little world Man the Microcosm is Gods Text as it were and all other Creatures in the Macrocosm or great world are as so many plain Commentaries upon that dark Text. 4. You may learn a little further herein if you would have yet more
Religion is a great Nation Deut. 4. 7 and desolate Nations may say as Mary said in another case Oh Religion if thou had been here our Nation had not dyed nor been destroyed Though every shower on our land were a shower of gold every stone in it a pearl every beggar therein an honourable Senator every fool as wife as Solomon every weakling as strong as Sampson yet wealth honour strength and wisdom yea all is gone when this Ark Religion is gone you may then sing a doleful lamentation with Phineha's wife 1 Sam. 4. 21. the Glory is gone from England Oh you would not live to see Religion dye better you dead and gone a hundred times than Religion be dead and gone 18. Religion to wit in the power of it gives both a Relative and a real worth to your self in particular as it gives beauty and safety to your Nation in General 1. Real worth it makes you of Gods treasure Exod. 19. 5. of Gods jewels Mal. 3. 17 whereof the world is not worthy Heb. 11. 31. This makes you of the Blood Royal of Heaven not only in Alliance but in Union though never so poor in the world 2. Relative-worth this makes you more excellent than your neighbour though never so great and honourable if irreligious Prov. 12. 26. Hereby Abraham was a Prince among the Hittites Gen 23. 6. When others are in Scripture call'd vile you are precious others chaff you wheat others reprobate silver you refined gold others briars and thorns you a noble vine though your condition be never so mean in the world A living dog in this sense is better than a dead lyon Eccles 9. 4. The Jews say Those seventy souls that went down to Egypt with Jacob were of more worth to God than all the seventy Nations that were in the world besides They are the excellent of the earth Psal 16. 3. better Gentlemen as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Act. 17. 11. truly honourable Isa 43. 2 3. the very Chariots and horsemen of Israel One religious man saves a land Zech. 12. 5. Job 22. ult Jer. 5. 1. And if God could have but found ten righteous and religious persons in five wicked Cities he would not have destroyed them 'T is remarkable Abraham lest begging before God left baiting he might possibly have brought God to a lower number yea if but one in Jerusalem Jer. 5. 1. he would have saved it 19. You must therefore put an high estimation on Religion 't is the field wherein the pearl of great price lyeth and you are a wise merchant if you purchase that field Matth. 13. 44 45. Whatever it cost you you cannot pay too dear for this gold nay for this that is better than gold yea than the finest gold Job 28. 15. five several sorts of gold are there mentioned intimating if there be one sort of gold finer than another as indeed there is yet the finest thereof is not comparable to this heavenly wisdom yea 't is more precious than Rubies Prov. 3. 13. 8. 10 11. Solomon by his advantage of sublime wealth and wisdom had even ransacked the whole Creation to find out the most exquisite excellency of all created beings yet he proclaims the vanity and insufficiency of them all and prefers this above them all and Paul that great trader by sea and land 2 Cor. 11. 23 25 26. counts all but dung and dross yea dogs-meat as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Phil. 3. 8. in comparison of the unsearchable riches of Christ Eph. 3. 8. If the mountains of the earth were all pearl and the might rocks thereof were Rubies yea if the whole Globe of the Earth were one sparkling Diamond yet all this could not be weighed against the worth of Godliness one grain of grace is better than all the vast Entrado's of Spain then the gold of Ophir yea than all the riches of both Indies 't is better to be rich in faith than in gold and a man with a gold-ring is not comparable to a man with a gracious heart faith is more precious than gold 1 Pet. 1. 7 3 3 4. Gold is indeed the King of mettals and outshines them all on Earth as the Sun outshines all the Stars in Heaven yet is it but the shadow of this spiritual thing Zech. 4. 12. Exod. 25. 17. Cant. 5. 11. Revel 21. 18. Now there must be more worth in the substance than in the shadow therefore do not think you make a bad bargain though you part with all your treasure to purchase this field of treasure 20. In a word 1 'T is your best inheritance that hath most satisfaction and most duration in it and therefore must you say with Naboth God forbid I should part with my inheritance 1 Kings 21. 3. 'T is just so much the best of blessings as much as God is the best of beings hold it then as your life 2 'T is your best friend that will not only abide with you in this world for there are no bankrupts herein that ever truly received its power but 't will also accompany you into a better world Rev. 14. 13. Your first friend Riches cannot do so though desired that can only give something towards the journey to wit a winding-sheet and a Cosfin your second friend Relations can only bring you a little on the way to wit accompany you to the grave But this third and best friend Religion will go along with you to your journeys-end and stand before the Lord as being recorded in Gods Book of Remembrance 3 'T is your best teacher teaching you 1 to own the Lord as your right owner and true proprietary you had not your being from your self but from the first of beings and so your being must be for God as it was from God you are not your own 1 Cor. 6. 20 but you are his not only by Creation but also by choice purchase and conquest 2. To acknowledg him your just governour 't is meet the Artificer should govern his own workmanship however he deal with you and he is too kind to do you harm and too just to do you wrong 3. To avouch him your best benefactor more than a friend a master a father or a husband yea a God that gives you a being and well-being too Oh cry with David The God of my mercy Psal 59. 10. Therefore Religion must be your business all other things but your by-busines Aristotle studied Philosophy as his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the morning Eloquence as his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the evening only No concern like Salvation of the Soul 21. The second Name is Godliness this hath life and power in it There may be many carcases and forms of Religion but there is but one life one power ther is a forme of knowledg Rom. 2. 20. and a forme of godliness 2 Tim. 3. 5. yet both may want the power you may live by a
yea and glorifies God too 6. Our Lord saith thus of himself if I do not the works of my Father believe me not Joh. 10. 37 his works should testify of him what he was Luk. 7. 20 21 22. His works must be the standard by which they must measure him whether he were the Christ or no and so a fit Foundation for their Faith Christs Vicar the Pope who causelesly calls himself so will not say thus as Christ said but will have all his precepts dispatched not disputed obeyed not examined though we be bid to try the Spirits 1 Joh. 4. 1 and although by his evil Example he drew thousands to Hell yet none must say so much as what dost thou 7. Whereas works must be the standing standard whereby all Men as well as Christ yea the Pope himself must be measured whether they be in Christ and Christ in them If you do not the works of Christ to wit such as he hath proposed for your Example Imitable works 't is a vain belief yea a mere conceit only to think your self a Christian and you do but put an everlasting cheat upon your own Immortal Soul your works tell the World what you are for those the World sees and hears and by them you either glorifie your Father in Heaven or give clear evidence that you have denied the Lord that bought you 2 Pet. 2. 1 and would Redeem you from a Vain Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 18 2 12. 8. T is true you may be a Christian in truth though something of Sin remain in your heart yet then it must not be liked there Rom. 7. 15. and although something of Sin remain in your life yet then it must not Reign there Rom. 6. 14. And for the main course of your life you must be chast modest temperate meek gentle kind and pittiful You must bridle your passions mortifie your inordinate affections and in a word exercise all the graces of his Spirit in you and Godliness 1 Tim. 4. 7. 9. Your practice must be answerable to your profession You who carry Christs name that Sacred worthy name how exactly should you carry your self and what manner of person ought you to be 2. Pet. 3. 11 even a person to admiration as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies how accurate and how elevated above the Ordinary strain You must have your feet where other Mens heads are Prov. 15. 24 the way of life is above to the wise you must be a choice person as you have a choice name that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him 2. Thes 1. 12. This glory of Christ shall rebound unto your glory and Christ accounts himself glorified therein 10. You must therefore be Holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. your very civility must favour of Sanctity and your common commerce relish of Religion Holiness to the Lord should be Writ upon your Bridle when you Ride and upon your Cups when you Drink Zech. 14. 20 21 you should as 't is said of a Reverend Divine Eat and Drink and Sleep Eternal life Those very common Actions are as so many Steps in your Christian walk and way and therefore you should not despise them but with all seriousness refer them to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10. 31 do all to God and his glory 11. Such as name the name of Christ should depart from Iniquity 2 Tom. 2. 19 and this loose professours not doing doth exceedingly promote Atheisme There is nothing enlarges the Gulf of Atheisme more then that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wide passage between the profession and the practice of pretenders to Christianity how can the profession of that be looked upon by others to be Honourable the practice whereof is not looked on by themselves to be so If the Sum of Christianity be good why do they not practice it and if it be not good why do they so much as profess it 12. See then that your Conversation may be in Heaven while your commoration is on Earth Phil. 3. 20 't is so Ish Exemplarily while you are Writing by Heavens Copy and 2dly Analogically according to Heavens Rule living by Heavens Laws yea 3dly Theologically going about your Earthly matters with an Heavenly mind which a carnal heart that makes Earth his Throne and Heaven his footstool can never do a Fly cannot make that of a flower that a Bee doth The Carnal man is like to the Duke de Alva that said he had so much business upon Earth that he had no leisure to look up to Heaven but you must have so much business in Heaven as to have no time to look down so as to love the vain and vexing things hereupon Earth 13. You must set Christ before you as the most perfect pattern of an Holy and Heavenly Conversation who as Athanasius said of him while he went about doing good upon Earth carryed about him every-where an Heaven you must resemble Christ If you be a Christian and walk as he walked you must live as one that comes down from Heaven to Earth and expects to go up from Earth to Heaven Christ did his Fathers will upon Earth and it was meat drink to him to do so Joh. 4. 34 as the Angels doth it in Heaven you must Imitate Christ and though you cannot do so in his Miracles yet you may and must in his Morals you must walk in Christs steps here or never expect to rest in Christs bosome hereafter 14. You must be the true Picture of Christ as every true Christian ought to be Every dawber cannot draw the Kings Picture some such make strangers think strangly of the Kings Person because of his dawbed ill-favoured pourtraiture And shall those dawbers be punished for Exposing a Mishapen Picture of the Kings person to open View then what shall become of those titular yet loose and licentious Christians whose lives should be a lively Representation of Christ If by their Carnal careless and scandalous Conversations they do cause the Name of Christ to be blasphemed among Unbelievers that do Judg of him by this counterseit mishapen Representation Surely Christ will not own those workers of Iniquity Though they have prophesied in his Name and eat and drunk in his presence Matth. 7. 23. Men use to hang out their well-drawn Pictures of some special friend in the most conspicuous place that it may appear to all beholders they rejoyce in it as a grace and ornament to them So must you shew forth the praises of him that hath called you 1 Pet. 2. 9. If the Image of Christ be stamped upon your heart you must shew it in your life in a good Conversation Jam. 3. 13. 15. Thus you ought to aske your own heart whose Image and Super-scription is this Is it Christs or is it Satans God forbid that Satan should Imprint his limbs and lineaments upon your Soul unrased out by Christ you have born the Image of the
that I refer you to that Religious Duty of Meditation which followeth here there is another Conversation of your Tongue as to that I refer you to that Religious Duty of Conference which followeth also in ' its place here As to your Conversation in natural and civil Actions which is not my present Work I refer you to my Crown and glory of a Christian from Page the 78. to Page 121. Wherein you have directions to guide you therein 2. Religious Duty in the Walk of a Christian is therefore a comprehensive Word and contains in it the All of mans duty both to God and to Man as the first Table in the Decalogue is before the second Table First in Order because first in nature and Excellency I shall begin therefore with your duty to God in Religious Actions And first with Meditation which is a Scripture duty Phil. 4. 8 that all the Sons and Daughters of Abraham should live in the practice of as Isaac did Gen. 24. 63 the heir of Abraham you must walk in Abrahams and in this Son of Abrahams steps in this World If you would lodge in Abrahams bosome that Synonymon of Heaven in the World to come alas those licentious times have almost Antiquated the power and practice of this Religious Duty in which you should be conversant all your days This holy Patriarch was not of so loose a mind as those in our loose times that would spend the evening of the Sabbath in Sports and pastimes for he spent the Evening in holy Meditation 3. The Word Shuach in the Hebrew Signifies to speak with a low voice as in the heart and the Word in the Septuagins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Signifies a satiating Soliloquy as if Isaac had his fill of Divine talking both with his God and with his own heart It was his holy Exercise and Recreation thinking the latter part of the day as fit for Acts of Holiness as the former part was It was a pleasant and delightful pastime as the Greek Version is to the Patriarch and he found more heart-Ravishing complacency in it then can be found in all the delights of the Sons of Men and no less it was to the Prophet who professes he found more transcendent sweetness in Meditating on the Word then in the honey or in the honey-comb Psal 19. 10. 94 19. 139. 17. 119. 103. he found marrow and Gold yea better in it 4. Oh then do you account it your duty and your priviledg to take a few turns daily upon this Mount Tabor of Divine Contemplation which is an Heaven upon Earth a beginning of the beatifical vision an Employment as it is in a manner without the body plainly Angelical 't is an handsel of Happiness and a Foretast of Heavenly Joy Oh who would not but be an Anchorite to be pent up in the Voluntary Prison-walls of this Religious Action and to say with Peter 't is good being here No doubt but Moses was ravished in Spirit all the 40. days he conversed with God yet longs he still for more crying I beseech thee shew me thy glory Exod. 33. 18. 5. Objection but you will say how can such a duty be so delightful that is so difficult to this I Answer by Similies difficulty and delight may be found in one and the same Action there may be difficulty in the beginning and delight in the progress and ending the root may be Bitter and the fruit Sweet 1 Simile 'T is in this duty as it is in the heating of an Oven the first kindling of the fire in it may be not only difficult but painful the fewel must be set on fire and then it must be blown up with labour into a Flame after that the Oven begins well to warm the fewel will then catch and kindle of it self no sooner is a stick thrown into the Oven but presently 't is all on a blaze So where there is but a little sparke of grace in the heart at first it requires some paines to blow it up into a Flame but when the heart is once heated with the true Flames of Love then doth it enflame all the thoughts and sets the affections on fire insomuch that then this duty will not only be without difficulty but with much delight 6. 2 Simile 'T is with your heart as it is with that wax which hath been laid in cold places it thereby becomes hard and unpliable to your hand insomuch that it will break rather then bend but if laid a while in the Sun or by the fire or if wrought a while in your warm hand then doth it soften and become pliable and so capable of any Impression Thus will it be with you in this Divine duty the greatest difficulty lyes in your entrance into it for corrupt nature and carnal principles will put forth a repugnancy against it and therefore flesh must be put to silence in this blessed duty which is mainly the exercise of the Spirit in you the experience of all ages tells you as well as your own 3 Simile that the entrance into Learning is attended with difficulties and discouragements but when once the Nut-shell is crack'd and the sweetness of the Kernel tasted then do youth pass through all difficulties with delight till at last they become Famous Instruments in Church or State 7. 4 Simile This duty is indeed as the climbing upon some high Tree Monument or Mountain all hard Work but then there is a blessed compensation for all your paines at the top of all these First at the top of this Tree of life there be the choicest fruits to nourish up your Soul to eternal life Secondly at the top of this Monument of mercy you have the most lovely and Soul-refreshing and heart ravishing prospect even transforming and transfiguring you into the glory of it Thirdly at the top of this Mountain of God and of Holiness you may behold not only the Kingdomes of this lower World and the Vanity of them quite contrary to the Devils land-skip showed to your Lord but also the glories of a better World as Moses from the Top of Pisgah the upper land of Canaan that transendently flows with Milk and Honey Digging in Mines of the Earth a pressing of grapes in the Wine press c. Are both hard works yet finding fine Gold in the Mines of the Scriptures by this Spiritual digging and a rich Wine flowing from this blessed Wine-press of Divine Meditation will make a satisfactory Amends for all your paines at last 8 Having removed this Objection out of your way as Amasa's body was out of the Armies way that their March might not be hindred 2 Sam 20. 12 13. Let us now proceed to shew as I st how pleasant this duty is so 2ly how profitable both to your self and to others 1. Io your self upon a twofold account 1. For preventing evil Belzebub that Prince of Flies cannot Fly blow your heart so long as it is boiling a good matter
Psal 45. 1. Hobr. in Divine Meditation Flies will not touch honey while it is Teething hot 2 For promoting good hereby you may obtain more familiar Acquaintance with your God and a more distinct understanding of your self both which are worth a Kingdom 2ly 'T is profitable to others for Meditation makes a Man a full Man it makes him accomplished to serve out his Generation and to be a blessing to every Relation round about him It fully furnisheth him for every good Work 1 Tim. 4. 15. 2 Tim. 3. 17. 9. As this duty is pleasant and profitable So 't is 3ly a necessary duty as necessary as chewing the Cud is to beasts of that kind and as a due retaining of food is to man as well as beast 't is a general Observation that such persons as do cast up their meat by vomit or cast it out by stoole as soon as they have eaten it be always ill-thriven persons for though the stomack may catch hold of some small parcel of the food and thereby maintain a life such as it is for a time yet is it no better then a life-less life 't is a life so filled with distempers that it becomes a burden to it self whereas when the food is retained and a due fermentation is wrought in the Stomach to a compleat concoction then is nourishment Ministred as Col. 2. 19. to all the parts which makes a strong healthy and well-liking constitution As it is thus in the life natural So 't is in the Spiritual Psal 119. 11. Luk 9. 44. Job 8. 37. Gods word hid and sunk in the heart that has a Room for it makes a thriving fat Christian 10. Meditation as it is a pleasant profitable yea a most necessary though much neglected duty is two-fold 1. Occasional 2. Appointed First occasional wherein all occurrences of Temporal objects occasionally met with affords you some Spiritual Considerations Note first this requires a Spiritual heart to make a Spiritual improvement of every Temporal object that Divine providence presents to your Eyes ears and outward Senses David made a profitable prospect of the Heavens crying Lord what is man Psal 8. and Christ at the Well of Shilo he who was Jacobs Shilo speaks there of the water of life Gen. 49. 10. Joh. 4. 10. c. A good heart makes every external object a Divine blessing the Husbandmans plowing sowing and reaping c. The Trades-mans buying and selling his weighing and measuring c. may afford you sundry Spiritual instructions And note secondly If you gain no more by them then a bare beholding of them with the Eye the very brutes gain as much as you If you content your self with a bare natural use of the Creature without a Spiritual Improvement thereof you get not the one half of that advantage by the Creature for which the Creator gave it you the Beasts of the field and the Birds of the Air have so much themselves you do not use the Creature as Lord of the Creatures so God made Adam Gen. 1. 26. unless you find your Lord in the Creatures 11. Every Creature preacheth to that Man in whom the Spirit of God first inwardly preacheth Note thirdly you never need to want matter if you want not an heart you may be cast into such a Condition as whereby you may be hindred from good Actions as by sickness Imprisonment c. But there is nothing in all the World save a naughty heart can hinder you from good Meditations go to the Ant O sluggard saith Solomon do you see how busy she is in the Summer to make provision for an hard Winter how much more ought you to concern your self in your Summer of health and strength before the Winter of death and Eternity come upon you do you behold the Spider in your window Spinning clammy threeds out of her own bowels and weaving cunning Webbs to catch and entangle the silly Flie laying snares for her life then consider with a sigh O how doth Satan all this and much more against my pretious Soul and all out of himself too though you had not a desperately wicked heart Jer. 17. 9. to assist him when he speaketh a lie he speaketh it of his own Joh. 8. 44. 'T is the Devils cursed disposition 't is as impossible for Satan to do good as it is for a Toad to spit Cordials 12. Note fourthly 'T is richly worth your Observation also that this Spiritual limbeck Divine Meditation doth not spoile the earthly Subjects that it extracts Heavenly Instructions out of as material limbecks do plants c. Put in them leaving them Sapless and useless save only for burning As the laborious Bee flies over a field of Flowers sucks Honey out of each of them yet leaves them all as fresh and as fragrant as before it found them So you in extracting Coelestial Meditations out of your Terrestrial Employments and Enjoyments which is the Sublimest Mellification in stead of hurting or hindring them you do verily both advance them and advantage yea enrich your self Note the fifth In a word you may not be like the foolish Child when you look on the Book of the Creature only to behold the gawdy Pictures and Babies therein or to gaze upon the gilded leaves and cover there of but you must mind your lesson that every Creature doth especially learn you the Stork Crane and Swallow know their Seasons Jer. 8. 7. the Ox knows his owner and the Ass his Masters Crib Esa 1. 3. and will not you learn from hence to know yours 13. As to your further improvement of the Book of nature with ' its 3. leaves of Heaven Earth and Sea I refer you to my Crown and glory of a Christian From Page 125. to 145. I now pass from occasional to Appointed Meditation which is the Souls setting of it's self apart silently and seriously to work out some profitable Meditations upon some chosen Subject out of its own heart throughly at a fit time and in a fit place thus Isaac went out into the field to Meditate as above Gen. 24. 63. That which concerns matter of knowledg for finding out truth doth chiefly belong to Students Schollars Ministers of the Gospel but matters of affection for inflaming our loves to God in Christ and for abasing our selves to a self-abhorrency this is of Universal concernment the work of every Christian 14. This blessed duty hath ' its beginning in the head but ' its ending in the heart 1. 'T is a pondering some Divine truth in your mind until you be well acquainted with it until you be seasoned with the Savour of it until it settle and take rooting in your Spirit until it beget in you good affections and fire your Soul in love to that truth 2. 'T is like the rubbing of a Man in a Swoon it as it were chases in the Oile of grace with a warm hand or rather with a warm heart 3. 'T is like the selvedge that keeps all the
must find out that both by your own experience and by the Experiences of others It certainly availeth much though happily it availe not always God hath indeed said that the Children of Moab shall go into his Sanctuary to pray but shall not prevail Isa 16. 12. But he hath avowed before all the world that the Children of Sion shall not do so Isa 45. 19. They shall not seek the Lord in vain their Prayer shall be like Jonathans bow it shall never return empty God ever hears their Prayers always ad Salutem as Anstin saith though not ever ad Voluntatem he always hears their Prayers according to their well when he doth not hear them according to their Will 7. First the manner of Prayer Now that your Prayer may be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a throughly-wrought effectual and available Prayer to work wonders in Heaven and Earth Jam. 5. 16. yea after a sort Omnipotent as Luther said take these following Directions for managing this duty aright first before duty as to the manner of it before in and after it First of those that are Antecedent or before Prayer Direct 1. You must be New born a New Creature until the Child be come out of the womb it cannot Cry no more can you Cry Abba Father so long as you are in the womb of a natural state Rom. 8. 15. God first accepts the person and then the Action or offering Gen. 4. 4. Heb. 11. 4. your person must be accepted as Abel was and then your Prayer will be acceptable you must be Righteous in Christ 't is the Prayer of the Righteous that prevaileth Jam. 5. 16. as it is the Character of the unrighteous that they call not upon God Psal 14. 4. Paul was never said to pray till Converted from his Pharisaical State Act. 9. 11. So if at any time they do pray their Prayer is an Abomination Prov. 21. 27. and therefore 't is not accounted Prayer The long Prayers that Paul had while a Pharisee were not reckoned Prayer at all you must first be a Temple of the Holy-Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. and then you will be an House of Prayer for so the Temple is called Naturalists tell us of a Jewel that when put into a dead mans Mouth loseth all its Vertue So prayer a pretious Jewel in it self in the mouth of one that is dead in Sin hath no force nor efficacy God will not hear Sinners Joh. 9. 31. he will not take them by the hand Job 8. 20. Margin Hebr. and Geneva Biblt 't is but a Multiplying lies daily Hos 11. 12. a compassing God with lies to call God Father when we are not his Children and while we are without Christ You must pass through the merits of the Son into the mercies of the Father 8. The second Direction before duty is prepare to meet your God in duty Amos 4. 12. The Jews had their preparation for the Passeover Joh. 19. 31. So should you have for prayer setting some time apart as well to prepare for Prayer as for prayer it self 't is coming to duty with a common Spirit and with an Ordinary frame of heart that makes us lose many a duty 2 Chron. 12. 14. Ezra did better then Rehoboam herein Ezr. 7. 10. the latter lost all the former sav'd all hereby Labour therefore your heart into a praying frame before prayer this is done by getting First the Majesty of the great God before whom you are going wrought truly and throughly upon your heart Consider seriously he is a great King Mal. 1. 6 14. and a God that will be Sanctified of all that draw nigh to him Levit. 10. 3. this may help you to a God sanctisying frame of Spirit David prepared with all his might why the reason is rendred The Temple was not to entertain man but God therefore must it be more Magnificent and he more exact in all preparations for it 1 Chro. 29. 1 2. Christ tells you he is gone to prepare a place even a Temple a Mansion of glory for you Joh. 14. 2 3. and will not you prepare a place for him in that poor heart of yours Consider also Secondly his purity that the God with whom you have to do in prayer is a God of purer eyes then to behold Iniquity Hab. 1. 13. he cannot look upon it but he must loath it he cannot behold it but he must punish it this calls for a reverential heart Psal 2. 11. Before him who is in Heaven and you on Earth Eccles 5. 2. cover your face if Angels do so that are holy and blessed Esa 6. 2. Much more you that live in an House of clay and drinks up iniquity like water Job 4. 19. 15. 16. Tremble to bring along with you any Sin unrepented of unpardoned lay aside all filthiness Jam. 1. 21. as the Serpent her poison when she goes to drink yet with this difference she after drinking reassumes it again you may not do so with the Poison of Sin when you have been drinking of the Rivers of Gods favour this is to return with the Dog to his Vomit 2 Pet. 2. 22. you must know it again no more Gen. 38. 26. nor have so much as a leering look towards it Psal 66. 18. much less allow of it or wallow in it 9. Would you have leave with God in prayer then leave Sin and that for ever you may not say concerning your Sins as Abraham did concerning his Servants and the Ass which he left at the foot of the Hill Gen. 22. 5. saying I will come again to you but you must take an everlasting farewel of your Sin when you come to your God and with David keep your self for ever from your Iniquity Psal 18. 23. and as he wash'd his hands in Innocency when he did compass Gods Altar Psal 26. 6. So must you wash your heart in that fountain that is opened Zech. 13. 1. Thus Ruth did wash and anoint her self before she went up to Boaz. Ruth 3. 3. and Esther purified and persumed her self for acceptance with Ahasuerus Esth 2. 9 12. and the Captive Damosel was to pair her nails c. Before she became a fit bride for an Israelitish Bed Deut. 21. 12 13 14. and the Rabbies say that a Man might not come into the Mountain of the House of God with his staff nor with his Shoos nor with his purse nor with dust upon his Feet hence Lavers were set at the door of the Tabarnacle for washing off defilements at their entrance thither Exod. 30. 18 19. and Bernard used to say at his entrance to his publick Devotion O wordly thoughts ad templi Januam manete vos stay ye here at the Church door alluding to Abrahams words Gen. 22. 5. and to Moses deed Exod. 3. 5. as above in Meditation Thus also Solomon saith keep your foot when you enter into the House of God Eccles 5. 1. that is look well to your affections those feet and out goings of the Soul
Prayer As this review of your frailty in Prayer may humble you so it may help you against both resting in and trusting to your Prayer alas in so doing you have been drawing nigh to Prayer not drawing nigh to God which is the true notion of Prayer and you do verily rest in it and trust upon it when your admiring thoughts do after duty run out more upon your prayer then upon your God hearing prayer Psal 65. 3. you must forget your Prayer and remember your God can you but Consider the iniquity of your holy things then Prayer will be your nothing and Christ your all and in all Col. 3. 11. If it stand for any thing It must be only for an Evidence not a Saviour 32. The second rule or direction is wait patiently for an Answer to your Prayer When David had Marshald as the Hebr. Gnarach signifies his Petitions and set them in good Order in Battel-aray then did he Saphah look up Speculando Spectavit as a Spy on the Watch-Tower to see whether he carryed the day and prevailed Psal 5. 3. you must mind your Arrow you shoot up to Heaven whether it fall short or over as Jonathan did his 1 Sam. 20. 21. what becomes of your Rich-Ship you adventure to the Cape of good hope as the Merchant doth his how it fares with your precious seed so Prayer is called Psal 126. 6. that you sow upon the Throne of grace a far more fruitful Soil then that of Isaac which brought forth an 100. sold Gen. 26. 12. as the Husbandman doth with his Noah minded what tidings his Dove brought him and every Man minds what message his messenger brings him you may not cast the Angling rod of Prayer into the vast Ocean of Divine love and never observe what it brings to your hand if rightly hooked and bated you may not be as Pilate who scoffingly asked what is truth but waited not for an Answer Joh. 18. 38. 33. You must therefore look up after Prayer and observe what becomes of your Prayer what access it hath to God what acceptance it hath with God and what returns it brings from God If you believe that God hearkens what you speak to him Mal. 3. 16. there is much Reason that you should also hearken what God will speak to you Psal 85. 8. you must look out of yourself and up to God that looks out of himself and down to you Psal 113. 6. and though this posture of looking up be a wearisom posture yet must you not be weary of it wait patiently Psal 40. 1. as those that wait for the morning Psal 130. 6. in due season you shall Reap if you faint not Gal. 6. 9. for God waiteth on you that he may be gracious in the best season Isa 30. 18. your waiting on God is there called blessed work and if the great God wait on such a worthless worm as you tantus tantillum Job 25. 6. how much more must you wait on him and not offer up Bethulian Prayers as in the Apocryphal Judeth Chap. 7. 30. limiting God to 5. days or give up all which ought not to be done Psal 78. 41. to limit God is but to Tempt him his delaying is not denying 't is but a commending his mercy you beg to you Cito data Vilescunt Mercies lightly Obtained are but lightly esteemed and it may be God stays to bring a great many mercies together and you will surely look up and not lose that mercy which long waiting hands in to you 34. The third Direction is work diligently in the use of the means that leads to the end ora labora is the Christians Rule and the very Heathens could say admotá manu Invocanda est Minerva you must do your part if you expect God to do his David will set a Watch over his lips Psal 39. 1 2. though he beg of God to do it for him Psal 14 1. 3 the duty is yours but the ability is the Lords the care of the means belong to you but the care of the end to God and 't is not only careless oscitancy but a plain tempting of God to neglect any means that God gives you to accomplish the end you may not expect to stumble upon mercy you do not so for the body sometimes overusing means why should you for your Soul You are bid to Aske seek and knock Matth. 7. 7. you must Aske with confidence seek with diligence and knock with perseverance In the sweat of your brows you must eat your Spiritual bread as well as Corporal as you lift up your hands in Praying for the end so you must lift up your hands in practising the means that have a tendency to the end be sure you do not first pray against your Sins and then go away and Sin against your Prayers this is but a mocking of God and he will not be so Gal. 6. 7. 35. The fourth Direction is wear thankfully all that you win by Prayer what you win by Prayer you must wear with thanksgiving as you have made Prayer your refuge so must you make praise your Recompence Davids Psalms were not all Hosannah's or Prayers to God but he had his Hallelujahs also his Psalms that were praises of God as before Prayer is the seed of praise and ' its pity that when the joy of harvest which is paralel to the joy of Marriage and to the joy of Victory doth come that the God of all joy and comfort should not have his thank-offering God took it unkindly from Hezekiah that he Rendered not to the Lord according to his loving kindness to him 2 Chron. 32. 28. and he took it kindly from David that he made it his Spiritual Study and project how to render to the Lord what shall I Render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me Psal 116. 12. the blessed Man was in an holy Extasy and in a deep demur with himself what he might do best for so good a God He had nothing to give so faith what shall I Render and he had nothing good enough to Render to him who is the chiefest good Ten Lepers cryed for healing Luke 17. 12 17. But when all were healed but one returned to praise Christ and he is praised of Christ God hath but the tenth of praises and 't is ten to one whether you practice his praise 1 Pet. 2. 9. Of Hearing the Word CHAP. V. 1. THe third Religious duty wherein you must serve God is the Hearing and Reading of his Word that you have the word of God to Read and Hear you must prize as a precious priviledg and praise the Lord for it with your heart lips and life God hath deposited a Rich Treasure with you in lending you his Word and Gospel You might have been begging drops of mercy in Hell at this time when behold God offers you Oceans of grace on Earth in his Word and Gospel O what would the damned give even ten thousand Worlds if they
3 6 25. Your Joseph your Jesus I dare assure you will be kinder to you if you so come unto him then ever that Joseph was to his Brethren whose rough words were indeed somewhat discouraging but his smooth deeds were wonderfully encouraging he sent them laden home not only with Corn but with their Money too Gen. 42. 7 27. 44. 1. Food as much as they could carry 22. Thirdly bring Enlarged hearts The greater your Vessel is and the wider mouth it hath 't is not only the sooner filled but you carry so much the more water home from the Conduit also Joh. 4. 7 28. Christs Ministers that beseech you in Christs stead 2 Cor. 5. 20. are compared to Clouds Jude 12. Upon a three-fold account 1. As they are driven to and fro 2. As sustained like Clouds full of water by the mighty power of God 3. As dropping down refreshing rain upon the droughty Earth now as the dry ground gapes for Rain so should you for the word Hebr. 6. 7. Deut. 32. 2. Ezek. 21. 2 They waited for Job as for the Rain Job 29. 23. Which in those hot Countrys was heartily longed for and highly prized and they opened their mouth wide to him as for the latter Rain That is they listened as for life and gaped as if they would have eaten his words Such a Divine thirst Davids Soul abounded with in his dry and thirsty land Psal 63. 1. 42 1. 2. 119. 20 81 And the Spouse Cant. 2. 4. Crying stay me with flagons 't is not a drop or a spoonful or a little Cup full that will quench her thirst but she must have whole Flagons You should come to an Ordinance just as Behemoth came to Jordan in his thirst Job 40. 23. The Elephant is such a thirsty Creature that he swalloweth abundance of water at one of his Mighty draughts he fancies when he comes to drink he can drink up a River and draw up great Jordan at one draught into his mouth and so great is his thirst that he is said to take the whole River with his Eye Ver. 24. his belly is better fill'd it seems then his Eye O that you could come with such an intent Soul to the Ordinance as if you could swallow up the whole blessing of the Ordinance your Self and drink it all up at one draught Suppose you could thus Monopolize and appropriate the blessing yet this would be no damnifying of others there is no envy in Spiritual things which may be divided in Solidum in the whole each Soul may have a whole blessing without wronging one another 't is otherwise in Temporals the World admits not of Rivals as being conscious of ' its own scantness and not having enough for all 23. Fourthly Be Reverent as to God The over-grown Heathen though a King Eglon shames and condemns many hearers in our day no sooner doth he hear Ehud say I have a Message from God unto thee O King but presently he arose from off his seat to receive it with Reverence though it proved a sad Message Judg. 3. 20. Yet the worshippers of the true God do not now raise up themselves nor raise up their hearts to receive a Message from God to them though it be not a Message of death and destruction as that to Eglon was but a Message of Life and Salvation Fisthly be earnest you must hear the word of God earnestly as blessed Baruch is said to repair the Wall of Jerusalem earnestly Neh. 3. 20. That is with all his heart Soul and strength being vexed with himself that he had begun no sooner The Hebrew word Hicherah hence the Latin Ira for Anger signifies there he burst out into an heat as being angry at himself that he had done no more and at others also that they had done so little Hereupon in an holy sume and fervency he finishes two parts and that quickly while others were busy but about one piece a ready heart makes riddance of Gods work and will kindle ' its own heat from other Mens coldness and quicken it self from others slothfulness what you do you must saith Solomon do with all your might Eccles 9. 10. If every Civil work much more this Spiritual which is of greatest Importance the strength of your affections must be here as well as in Prayer 24. In a word Sixthly to hear with Intention is to have your heart affected with that you hear so as it may not only burn in your heart as theirs did Luke 24. 32. but also melt kindly under it as Josiahs tender heart did at the hearing of the Law 2 Chron. 34. 27. yea and rejoyce greatly when you are made to understand it as the people did Neh. 8. 12. your heart leaping within you at it as the Babe sprang in Elizabeths womb when not the Lord himself but The Mother of our Lord spake to her Luke 1. 41. not only hear but feel Gods voice 1 Joh. 1. 1. 1. You must desire earnestly to hear Gods voice as well as hear Mans God saith in this Ordinance to his Angels of the Churches as he said at the Creation as some sense it to the Angels that left not their first state and habitation Jude Ver. 6. let us make Man Gen. 1. 26. So here let us both join together to make Sinners Saints Ministers of God are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellow-labourers with God 1 Cor. 3. 9. and who would not but labour heartily with so sweet a companion he joins his Spirit to their word and makes them Preach all sorts of Sinners into another even the Divine Nature you may not then be satisfied till you feel God speak as well as hear man speak till God speak to your heart with a strong hand as he did to the Prophet Isa 8. 11. till he Single you out from others and speak to you with efficacy Many hear a Noise of Christ that do not hear the voice of Christ Act. 9. 7. with 22. 9. Eightly mix Faith with the word be sure you mingle the Word with Faith those two meeting together makes a precious Confection a blessed mixture Heb. 4. 2. 25. The third particular is retention of memory the Word 1. It must be laid up in the head you hear must not be like breath upon steel that is soon on and as soon off again nor as day flies call'd Ephemerae that are bred at noon and dead at night Nor as the morning-dew that soon goeth away Hos 6. 4. The Sun arising soon licks it up from off the Earth In the hearing of the Word a blessed dew falls from the drops of it Deut. 32. 2. but it should not go away as the dew If you cannot stay it but it will go away then pray that however some Manna may still remain as Exod. 16. 14 15. the Manna did come down with the dew Ver. 13. Christ that bread of life Job 6. 32. comes down in the Ministry of the word Psal 110. 3. the dew covered