or sword or life or death yet the certainty of Gods love will support him And the Son said unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Now we come more particularly unto the words which are a Confession of sins made by this Prodigal unto his Father Wherein observe First the Matter of his Confession I have sinned Secondly the Circumstances as First to whom viz. to his Father Secondly the manner how And that was with Exaggeration Against Heaven c. Humiliation And am no more worthy c. The Reasons of this point are these First God cannot in Justice forgive except we make our Confession unto him If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins saith St. John But if there be no Confession then there is no promise How can God then without violating his Truth shew Mercy unto such And therefore saith Solomon He that hideth his sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have Mercy Such a one then as doth thus confess may look for Mercy and none else A Second Reason is Because there is no sound Repentance for sin where there is no true Confession of sin For the inward sight of sin would open our mouths and cause us to confess it When the Heart is pricked words will break forth the Tongue cannot forbear As we see in David who so soon as his heart smote him for numbring of the People cryed out I have sinned exceedingly in that which I have done Thus out of the abundance of the heart will the tongue speak as Christ saith These may be the Reasons The Uses follow And First seeing this is so That whosoever would have Pardon of sin must confess the same This serveth to Reprove such as look for Pardon on Gods part but will bring no Confession for their part Is this so that there is no Remission where there is no Confession Then let this Admonish every one that desires to have their sins remitted to see that they be truly and unfainedly confessed Conceal them not hide them not excuse them not defend them not and above all take heed of glorying in them Seek not with Achan to hide that cursed thing it will prove thy overthrow Be not Secretary to the Devil it is no good Office conceal not that which God commands thee to make known Sins that are smoothered will in the end fester unto Death Remember Remission is promised but upon condition of Confession suffer then no sin to go unconfessed which thou wouldst not have to go unpardoned And so I pass from this to a third Use which is for our direction For must Confession go before Remission then let every one look that as they confess so they make an upright confession Many have confessed yet found small comfort as Pharaoh Saul and Judas with many more if therefore we would speed better than they did we must look that our confession be better than theirs was Father Here we see to whom he makes confession It is not to the Servants nor to his Brother but to his Father Hence learn Confession of sin must be made unto the Lord. I acknowledged saith David my sin unto the Lord. The Reasons are these First All sin is committed against God True it is we may hurt and wrong men by our sins and bring much damage both to the Body and Goods of others by the committing of them as David to Vriah but the chiefest dishonour is against God whose Law is broken and transgressed Secondly God only can forgive sins and none but he It pertaineth only unto God to say I have Pardoned I will not destroy And Lastly Confession of sin is a special part of Divine Worship Now God will not give his glory to another he will not have any part stakes with him Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Now for Uses And first for that Auricular Confession held and maintained by that man of sin which upon pain of Damnation must be made in the Ear of a Priest by every one immediately before the receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper A cunning invention for the discovering of all states and for the upholding and enriching of that Covetous and Ambitious See Hereby they come to know the Hearts and Affections of Men and knowing them they can quickly tell what course to take for themselves either for bringing good or preventing mischief for the enriching themselves and impoverishing of others Is this so that confession of sin is to be made unto the Lord Then see thou fly unto him when thou hast offended and make known thy faults to him whom thou hast much dishonoured Against Heaven and in thy sight He doth not mince and extenuate the matter he saith not Father I have sinned but I had no bad meaning I knew not what I did Neither doth he plead the instability of his Youth to extenuate his fault but he aggravateth and enlargeth the grievousness of his sin and sets it out to the uttermost 1. I have sinned 2. Against Heaven 3. In thy sight All tend to the aggravation of his fault To break a Lawful command enjoyned by the Magistrate though of Ignorance is a fault wilfully to break it is a greater but to do it in his sight and presence argueth great Rebellion From the Prodigal his Practice let us learn Doct. That it is the property of a true Penitent not to mince or extenuate his sin but to aggravate and set it out in the worst and vilest manner that he can The Reason may be this Because the Eyes of a Penitent are in some measure opened so that he now seeth sin in its own colours and apprehendeth it as a deadly Enemy to Gods glory and his own Souls Health Now we know how ready we are to speak the worst we can of those who are Enemies unto us and to set forth their vile Practises to the uttermost Thus the hatred he beareth unto sin causeth him to think that he can never sufficiently display it and maketh him so disposed as that no malicious wicked man can so set forth the faults of his Enemy whom he deadly hates as he desires to set forth the loathsomness of his own sin Thus we have seen the Reason The Vses follow And is a Penitent thus qualified Is there such a disposition in him as that he will lay to his own charge as much as possibly he can Then what shall we say of such as study this Art of mincing and extenuating sin The sins of others they can enlarge they have both will and skill in setting open to the view of the whole World in every branch and circumstance the faults of others so that many times they appear to be greater than indeed they are But in confessing of their own sins they have no such gift nor faculty than they have not done
They may both be true in a different sense for the word dishonour may be taken two ways 1. To degrade or make one unhonourable that before was honourable but in this sense it is rarely if at all found in Scripture 2. To disrespect or slight one that is honourable and still remains worthy to be honoured In the former sense God cannot be dishonoured but in the latter he may even as Children by their disobedience do not render their Parents dishonourable but dishonoured Par. How can men in Justice become lyable to eternal punishment for sin committed in time and it may be in a short time Conf. They are committed against an Eternal God and therefore are always as it were in committing before and against him 2. If men might live eternally they would sin eternally and God punisheth according to the rebellion of their wills 3. Though punished in Hell they still retain their enmity against God and therefore justly is their penalty continued DIALOGUE V. Concerning Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience Also Of the Civil Magistrate and Church Censures Par. IF Christians must not be the Servants of men how come Rulers to have any power over us Conf. The meaning is not that we must not serve men at all for that would contradict the Verses immediately fore going and almost infinite other places but do not so serve men that it hinder you in the service of God Par. If every one must bear his own burden and be judged according to his works why should any man Magistrate or other trouble or interrupt him though he be Heretical or Blasphemous but leave him to God and his own Conscience Conf. The vilest sinner on earth may plead thus But the truth is that though the Principal and ultimate Judgment of every mans cause be left to Christ to be determined by him at the day of Judgment yet God out of his singular wisdom hath appointed that open wickedness whether it be matter of opinions or practise be judged and punished also by Authority Ecclesiastical and Civil and if either sort neglect their duty herein themselves become culpable Par. But what good is this restraint like to work but to make men either more violent when they see their Tenet opposed or else Hypocrites if they be restrained for God only can change the heart Conf. This also any notorious wretch may say for himself but trust reposed in men by God must be discharged and the issue left to him Par. But if my Conscience be erroneous what course can I take If I go against the truth I sin and if I go against my Conscience I sin also Conf. It is true and therefore the way is to pray and seek for satisfaction that your Conscience may comply and close with the truth DIALOGUE VI. Treating of the State of man after death and likewise of the Resurrection and last Judgment Par. HOW can a man comfort himself in the death of his profane Kindred Conf. He may quiet his heart with these Considerations following 1. God is ready to forgive those which repent at the last moment and for ought we know may work Repentance when the party is too far spent to express it 2. Gods Decree is unchangable and therefore they either were elected and are saved or Reprobates and could never have been saved had they lived a thousand years 3. Had such as are rejected of God lived longer their impenitent hearts would have caused them still to have treasured more wrath to themselves by proceeding further in wickedness 4. Our Relation to them the main cause why we are grieved for them ceaseth after this life 5. However it is with them God will dispose of all things for his own Glory which should be more dear to us than our Friends yea our own Souls Par. If the whole man soul and body sinned how can it otherwise be but the Soul must die as well as the Body Conf. Man in his actings is to be considered collectively not distributively and as sin is not acted by the Soul and Body in a divided sense but joyntly by the whole man consisting of Soul and Body as its constitutive parts So man dies not in a distributive sense as if the Body died by it self and the Soul by it self but as a Creature compact of both he dyeth or ceaseth to be what he was when the Soul which is the essential form of a man is taken away A Parliament when dissolved loseth its essence as such though all the members be alive so doth an house dimolished though all the materials remain whole So when the Soul and Body are disunited the man is dead howbeit the Soul lives either in Happiness or Woe Par. If there be no satisfaction of the Justice of God after this life which men having given shall be forgiven and saved how is it said Till thou hast paid the last mite or uttermost farthing Conf. This word till is often found in Scripture signifying or at least not excluding perpetuity and taken in that sense the force of it is thus much if thou be not reconciled to God in Christ before thy death thou shalt be cast into the Prison of Hell there to abide the exact justice of God for ever because thou never canst never so satisfie his wrath as to be acquitted from it Par. If every Soul when it leaveth the Body goeth either to Heaven or Hell immediately to what purpose is the Resurrection or day of Judgment Conf. There is very great reason for them as First That the whole Creation may be purged and delivered from the bondage of Corruption Secondly That the Soul and Body which suffered or sinned together may in the righteous day of the Lord be crowned or punished Thirdly That all hidden things yea the secrets of hearts may be discovered that thereby Gods righteous Judgment may be also revealed Fourthly That he may publickly right his people upon their enemies Par. Godly men are men still and Christ avoucheth That every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of Judgment How then can they be said to be discharged from all sin Conf. The meaning is not as if the godly shall be called to account for their idle words or any other sins but only thus much that the Judgment of God shall be so exact and severe that even so much as an idle word shall not pass him without full satisfaction to his justice on the Transgressor or his surety and that he which hath not his Pardon already procured by Christ shall be found culpable at that day and the sentence of Condemnation pronounced against him though he had only one idle word to answer for Par. Sir I thank you for your pains you have taken with me this day in resolving my several Queries but now at present I will trouble you no further Conf. The Lord give you then a heart to consider what hath been said and so for the
of Flesh CHAP. II. Of Christ's Examination and Condemnation NOW it was that they led him from Annas to Caiaphas and presently a Council is called of the High Priests Scribes and Elders these were the greatest gravest learned'st wisest Men amongst them and they all conspire to Judge him who is the great Judge both of quick and dead In their proceedings we may observe 1. The captious Examination of the High Priest 2. The Sacrilegious smiting of one of the Servants 3. The Impious Accusations of the Witnesses 4. The Sentence of the Judges 5. The perfidious denial of perjured Peter 6. The shameful Delusion and Abuses of the base Attendants 1. For the captious Examination of the High Priest The High Priest then asked Jesus of his Disciples and of his Doctrine 1. Of his Disciples what the Questions were it is not expressed but propably they might be such as these How many Disciples he had and where they were and what was become of them why he should take upon him to be better guarded than others of greater place and calling whether it did not savour of Sedition and disturbance of the State to lead about such a Crew of Disciples and followers after him and what was the reason of their flight whether it were not a token of their guiltiness of some disorder or of Riotous practises It is not for me to speak how many Queries the High Priest might make to tempt Jesus but certainly he was sifted to the bran Examined to the full of all such circumstances as either might trap Christ or in the least degree advance and help forward his Condemnation to this Question concerting his Disciples our Saviour answered nothing alas he knew the frailty of his followers he might have said For my Disciples you see one hath betrayed me and another will anon forswear me he stays but for the crowing of the Cock and then you shall hear him curse and swear that he never knew me and for all the rest a pannick fear hath seized upon their hearts and they are fled and have left me alone to tread the Wine-press 2. He asked him of his Doctrine what his Questions were of that are not set down neither but probably they might be such as these Who was his Master or Instructer in that new Doctrine he had lately broached why he did seek to innovate and alter their long practised and accustomed Rites and what ground had he to bring in his own Devices in their steads And to this Question our Saviour Answers but Oh how wisely I spake openly in the World saith he I ever taught in the Synagogue and in the Temple whither the Jews always resorted and in secret have I said nothing why askest thou me ask them which heard me what I said unto them behold they know what I said q. d. I appeal to the Testimony of the very Enemies themselves thou suspectest me to be a Seditious person and one that plots Mischief against the State in secret I tell thee truth I speak nothing in secret 2. For the stroke given Christ by that base Servant one of the Officers which stood by smote Jesus with the palm of his hand saying answerest thou the High Priest so That Holy Face which was designed to be the object of Heaven in the beholding of which much of the Celestial Glory doth consist that Face which the Angels stare upon with wonder like Infants at a bright Sun-beam was now smitten by a base Varlet in the presence of a Judge and howsoever the Assembly was full yet not one amongst them all reproved the Fact or spake a word for Christ Nay in this the Injury was heightned because the blow was said to be given by Malchus an Idumean Slave it was he whose Ear was cut off by Peter and cured by Christ and thus he requites him for his Miracle 3. For the Accusation of the Witnesses he is falsly accused and charged with the things that he never knew In his Accusation I observe these things 1. That they sought false Witnesses for true Witnesses they could have none Now the Chief Priests and Elders and all the Council sought false Witnesses against Jesus to put him to death They were resolved in a former Council that he should not live but die and now palliating their design with a Scheme of a Tribunal they seek out for Witnesses O wonder who ever heard that Judges went about to enquire for false Witnesses and suborned them to come in against the Prisoner at the Bar 2. Though many false Witnesses came in to testifie against him yet they found none because their Witness did not agree together O the injustice of Men in bringing about the Decrees of God! the Judges seek out for Witnesses the Witnesses are to seek for proof those proofs were to seek for unity and consent and nothing was ready for their purpose 3. At last after many attempts came two false Witnesses and said this fellow said I am able to destroy the Temple of God and to build it in three days They accuse him for a figurative speech a trope which they could not understand which if he had effected according to the Letter it had been so far from a fault that it would have been an Argument of his Power These were the Accusations of the false Witnesses to all which Jesus answered nothing he despised their Accusations as not worthy an answer and this vexed more But 4. Another Accusation is brought in Caiaphas had a reserve which he knew should do the business in that Assembly he adjured him by God to tell him if he were the Christ I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God The Holy Jesus being adjured by so Sacred a Name would not refulse an Answer but he confessed himself to be the Christ the Son of the living God And this the High Priest was pleased as the design was laid to call Blasphemy and in token thereof he rends his Cloaths prophetically signifying that the Priesthood should be rent from himself Vse We are taught in all this quietly to suffer wrong If my Adversary should write a Book against me surely I would take it upon my shoulder saith Job and bind it as a Crown to me it is impossible if we are Christ's Servants to live in this World without false Accusations Come let us take heart and in some cases say not a word since he that was most Innocent was most silent why should we be too forward in our Excuses I know there is a time to speak as a time for silence if it may tend to God's Honour and to the spreading of God's Truth and that right Circumstances do concur it is then time to open our mouths though we let in death So did our Blessed Saviour O let us learn of him and follow his steps 4. For the Doom or Sentence of these Judges Caiaphas prejudging all the Sanhedrim in declaring Jesus
this life saith the Prophet all the sweet he hath fore-goeth death after he hath a Portion indeed but it is a Portion of Fire and Brimstone of Storms and Tempests of Anguish and Tribulation of Shame and Confusion of Horror and Amazement in a fiery Lake from the presence of God in the midst of cursed Spirits Thus death must needs be terrible to him but as comfortable to the Godly for it makes his Crosses as short as the others Comforts The Wicked cannot promise to himself Comforts of an hours length nor may the Godly threaten himself with Crosses of an hours continuance Death in an instant turns the sinners Glory into Shame Pleasure into Pain Comfort into Confusion Death in an instant eases the Godly's body of all pain his Soul of all sin his Conscience of all fears and leaves him in an estate of perfect happiness And happy are they whose Misery is no longer than life but woe be to the wicked whose jollity ends when death enters and whose Torments survive death it self and so we leave Samuel to his rest Well Samuel is well himself but in what case doth he leave his poor Neighbours at Ramah that the Text now speaks and it is my trouble yet better one than all troubled that I must speak it so briefly Israel saith the Text Jacobs issue Gods people all Israel distributively taken that is of all sorts some were gathered in great Troops either by publick command or of their own voluntary accord or both ways First to lament according to the then custom in most solemn manner Samuels end and their own loss and next to honour him at his Burial in Ramah The Points which in a passage or two must be touched from this part are two the first is this Samuel a publick and a profitable man dieth Israel publickly mourneth you see what followeth Great and publick losses must be entertained with great and publick sorrows Sorrow must be suited to the loss as a Garment to the body a Shoe to the foot when the cause of Grief is great the measure of Grief must be answerable This is one Principle when a good man and Neighbour dies there is cause of great forrow this is another the inference will soon follow and result hence and that is our Conclusion Good men of publick use and place should never pass to the Grave unlamented their death should be considered and bewailed And indeed reason calls for it for we must mourn in respect of the cause of such mens deaths not private but publick sins too God never beheads a State a Country but for some Treason Reason 1. If Samuel die it is because God is angry with the people the sheep be not thankful nor fruitful therefore the shepherd is smitten Now should it be thus when useful persons die what then shall we say to these times wherein men have not put off Piety only but Nature also No marvel if the Prophet complain The righteous perish and no man considereth it in his heart The wife perisheth and the Husband doth not consider it the Parents perish and the Children do not consider it the Children perish and the Parents do not consider it few such Brethren as David to Jonathan such Husbands as Abraham such Children as Isaac such Fathers as Jacob. These long and long felt the loss of their dearest Friends but now one month is enough to wear out all thoughts of a Brother nay of a Child nay of a Mother nay of a Wife nay in the nearest tyes one in that space may be buried a second wooed a third married Hitherto in hardest pressures and worst measures David could go to Samuel in Ramah and there meet with good Counsel and Comfort but now both Samuel himself dies and poor David must flie Shall I beloved speak as the thing is In the fall of one Cedar of Ramah we have lost much shade and shelter in the splitting of one Vessel of price wherein we had all our interesses and adventures we are all losers what we have lost we shall better see seven years hence than now but losers we are all losers Wife Children Neighbours Friends Ministers People all losers so that here that is verified which was anciently uttered of another In one we have lost many a chast Husband a tender Father a religious Minister a kind Neighbour in few a Samuel Speak I this after the flesh to please No I speak it for use to profit I report my self to your hearts You tell me that you have a publick loss your mouthes have uttered it your faces speak it my Ears and Eyes have received it from you and if so then see what follows if we have Israels loss we must make Israels Lamentation Let us take up Davids words with Davids Affection I am distressed for thee Brother Jonathan very pleasant hast thou been to me thy love to me was wonderful passing the Love of Women Are we as David to Saul Isaac to Rebekah sons Are we as Jeremiah to Josiah Prophets As David to Abner Kindsmen Are we by any name entituled to this loss Mourn then mourn not as the Infidel desperately nor bitterly as doth the froward but soberly as did David when Abners Death put him to a Fast Let his dearest Yoak-fellow say Ah mine unthankfulness and unfruitfulness let Children say Ah our Disobedience and Stubbornness and Servants Ah our Idleness and Untrustiness and all Ah our Folly and Frowardness who could not see Vertves through Frailties and Corn through chaff till we had lost all These sins of ours have strip'd us of a Samuel and covered us with darkness He is gone the Arm and Shoulder is faln from this our little body the sooner for our sins let us see it or else what abides us In the Body what Medicines cannot do cutting must what that cannot burning must or else nothing saith the Master of Physick It is so in the Soul too Oh that we could see it In our Friends Sicknesses we have been Medicined in private distresses lanced but in the loss of Publick Persons the Lord proceeds to burning If these wounds upon the very Head of us strike us not down what shall next be smitten but our Heart it self Well Israel laments and it hath cause What do they next That next we must hear They bury him and the place and manner be observed For the place they bury him at his House in Ramah the Ancient and the Mannor House his Father dwelt there before him 1 Sam. 1. where also you may be informed touching the Town Whereas there were of Ramahs four or sive this was Ramah Zophim in Mount Ephraim which borrows his Name from the Situation of it it stood high and the name importeth no less In this Ramah Samuel sometime lived and here he is Interred For the Selemnity of the Funeral it is such as argues Israels love and Samuels worth they do him all the Honour that is possible First Israel the first-born of Men
that Ploughs his Ground and sows nothing upon it and he that Resolves but Executes not is yet more sottish for he is at all the cost and takes all the pains but reaps no Fruit of his Labours There is such a near connexion between Consideration Resolution and Execution and they are so Naturally consequent upon one another that as on the one side Consideration brings on Resolution and that Practice so much more on the other from a Mans Practice we may ordinarily pronounce of his Resolutions and from that certainly Calculate his Meditations But to the point in hand I saith the Prodigal have delayed too long already I may consider and make Resolutions and yet sit and starve it must be doing must Rescue me from my Misery So he arose And so doth the true Penitent and our of hand closes with Jesus Christ upon Gospel-terms But observe further The Prodigals Repentance is here termed a coming to himself as if he had been out of his Wits or besides himself before his amendment So then we may from hence draw this Doctrine viz. Doct. That a Man in his sins is out of his Senses he is a Mad-man and out of his Wits Sinners are Bedlems and Lunaticks void of Sense and Reason Methinks these words of the Prophet Esay may sufficiently prove this in the 46th Chapter Verse the 8th where he saith Remember this and shew your selves men bring it again to mind O ye Transgressors The words may be thus read Return to your minds O ye Transgressors Or Return into your Hearts as Calvin reads them observing this very point from thence that they were not well in their Wits before So Musculus Mentzerus with many others And indeed the words usually used for Repentance both Greek and Latine doth shew as much the Greek word is derived of another which signifieth Folly and Madness and is as much as after-wit And for the Latine word the Prophet in the former place cited seemeth to give the signification of it And it is no wonder for their Reason and Judgment are now corrupted through sin so that as our Saviour Christ and blessed St. Steven saith they know not what they do And is it not the very definition of a Mad-man to be without Judgment to follow his Fancy and to be led by appearances without Trial See for further Proof 2 Tim. 3.9 Luke 6.11 Let the uses of the point be these First it may inform our Judgments concerning sin and sinners Sin is Madness sinners are Lunaticks being possessed with a Spiritual Frenne and Madness Look upon them with a Spiritual Eye and their Actions will declare it Some run to and fro stark Naked and blush not tearing off and casting away the Garments of Holiness and Innocency Were they ashamed saith Jeremiah nay nay they were not ashamed Are Men ashamed of their flagitious courses which layeth them Naked both to shame and judgment Alas no! they glory in them never blushing for the committing of them Others though sometimes they keep within Compass and seem to be well governed as if they were no such Men being a little displeased or any thing crossed strait fall a playing of their Mad pranks raging and raving against Heaven and Earth cursing and banning all that speak to them infecting the very Air with their vile Speeches and horrible Oaths as if they would pluck God out of his Throne and again Crucifie the Son of God afresh Others foam at the Mouth their talk is Idle and Beastly savouring neither of Wit nor Honesty sparkles of Hell come forth from their lips whereat the Devil kindles fire of Dissention And again how deeply are others possessed with this spirit of Madness Who are never well but when they are Wounding Beating and Destroying of themselves and others wasting their Estates confuming their Bodies and pitifully slashing of their Consciences and Souls yea killing and destroying whoever they keep Company with drawing them into the same excess of Riot that so they may all perish together And in a word what Mad Property is to be seen in any Bedlem that is not to be found in a Wicked Man Oh! happy were it if the Rod of Discipline were better used then there would be hope of more Sobriety Secondly is this so that Sinners are Lunaticks Let it then admonish all such as are well in their Wits to keep out of their Companies Men Bodily Mad are kept bound and Chained and narrowly watched over that they cannot hurt and yet we are loath to come within their reach we never fear these Spiritual Bedlems of whom we ought to be most wary being they are at Liberty in every place and house in most Companies and many times have power to Hunt and yet the more is the pity how careless are we Oh! be more watchful you that Love your selves be more careful come not in their Company receive them not into your Houses unless Necessity compel What though they keep within Compass for a time in some Months Mad-men seem sober yet first or last they will have their Fits and much endanger your Souls and Bodies The last Vse shall be an Exhortation to such as are yet in the state of Nature to pity themselves and Pray for themselves that they may have their Senses restored to them When thou seest a Lunatick to rage and rave to rend and tear his Hair and Flesh thou canst not but pity and send forth a Prayer for him that God would help him Behold Oh Man thine own Estate such a one art thou void of all Sense and Spiritual Understanding who dost daily wound thine own Soul by sin be as Merciful to thy self as thou art to others bewail thine own fearful Estate cry to God for help and redress never give over till thou art brought to thy self and being once Cured commiserate the estate of others that are not Turn not their Mad pranks into a Jest as most do but turn to God by Prayer for their Recovery as few do But now let us in the next place see what are the Considerations the Prodigal entertains his thoughts upon in this his Afflicted condition and here we shall find these reducible to these following heads 1. He considers what the condition was he is fallen from and how Happy he might have been had it not been 〈◊〉 his own Folly How many hired Servants c.. q. d. I that am pinched with Want now felt none in my Father's House I was Liberally maintained Honourably treated wanted nothing but the Wisdom to understand my own Felicity and in this condition I might have continued for neither did my Father's Estate complain of the Burthen of my Accommodations nor was he strait-handed or abated any thing of his Fatherly Affections towards me it was nothing but my own Folly Ruined me And then He proceeds to deplore the sad Estate he is fallen into When I set out from my Fathers House in quest of Liberty did I ever dream of becoming a
Judgment shall be to us no day of wrath but a day of Redemption Thus we have seen the Point proved Now it remains to apply it And first this serveth then to condemn such as nip the bud so soon as ever it peeps forth and quench every spark that at any time appeareth yea wilfully set themselves to repell all good motions hasting to their cursed Company to chase away those which they call profanely qualms of Devotion sweet inspirements of Gods Holy Spirit So some have some kind of Remorse wrought at some times upon the hearing of a Sermon and seem to be much grieved and are a while perplexed but they soon quench this grief being not willing to torment themselves before the time and therefore run into merry Company and drink down sorrow not being willing to be overmuch disquieted with this melancholy And therefore in the next place let it serve for Admonition to thee and me and to us all that we beware how we suffer that blessed heat to slake which by Gods grace begins to be enkindled in our Hearts Suffer not that coal that holy motion which the Lord hath cast into thy bosom to die within thee but blow it up lay on more fuel add daily more and more matter to it and tremble to lose the least measure of Gods gracious gifts Be frequent in Spiritual exercises as in Hearing Reading Meditation Christian Conference Prayer and the like Let no means be neglected that God hath ordained for the working of establishment A second Doctrine that may hence be gathered is this Where spiritual life and new birth is once begun there will be a growth and an increase in Grace There will be no standing at a stay but a proceeding by degrees After a rising there will be a going First then let this serve for Examination Try thy self hereby see what growth of Grace is in thee what increase of Faith Love Zeal Patience and what strengthning of the inward man Doth Grace get more strength every day than other Doth it grow to some bigness Doth it shoot up in tallness and stature Surely then it is out of Question that Grace is true Grace and thou art made partaker of the New Birth But doth it remain still Infant-like and feeble without any stirring or shewing of it self Then hast thou cause to fear it is but the counterfeit and not true Grace indeed the withering of the blade is a shrewd sign of a stony ground Secondly this may serve to Reprove such as stand at a stay and go not forward but are like the George on Horse-back ever riding but never go a step further Where you leave them this Year there you may find them the next This is a fearful sign and a most uncomfortable thing In the third place let this Admonish every one to grow in Grace Let us forget that which is behind and endeavour to that which is before let us press hard towards the Mark for the price of the high calling of God Let us not be evermore as smoaking Flax or bruised Reeds or as new set Plants but let us abound more and more To my Father Not to my Brother or Fathers Servants or to my Harlots But to my Father Hence learn Relief is to be sought for only at Gods hands in time of Misery and Distress To him are we to betake our selves and to none but him Let this serve to Reprove such as betake themselves to other helps in time of Misery seeking to be relieved either by Saints or Angels in Heaven or by Conjurers Witches or such like unlawful means here upon the Earth This was King Ahaziah's sin who being sick sent Messengers and said unto them Go enquire of Baal-zebub the God of Ekron whether I shall recover of this Disease contrary to that charge which God doth give his People Regard not them that have Familiar Spirits neither seek after Wizards to be defiled by them I am the Lord your God Secondly let this teach us to betake our selves unto the Lord when sorrows and griefs assails us Seek help from him and that by means yet only by such Lawful means as he hath warranted in his Word and beware of trusting in the means that God hath warranted It is Lawful to seek to the Physitian and use of his help yet to trust in the help of the Physitian more than in the help of God and to seek first and rather to the Physitian than unto God is sinful And say unto him Father He doth here fore-think what he should speak when as he comes into his Fathers presence for as yet he was not From his Practise learn Not to come into Gods presence without preparation but consider what to say and what to seek before you speak Be not rash saith the Wise man with thy mouth and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God We must confer with our own Hearts and prepare them before we come into the Lords presence To this doth the Prophet Hosea seem to exhort Israel Take unto you words and turn to the Lord and say unto him And so our Saviour in his direction for Prayer sets not down the Petitions abruptly but beginneth with a Solemn Preface to shew that before we Pray there ought to be a disposition of our selves and compossng of the Affections to the Duty So Psal 108.10 57.7 8. The Reasons of this Solomon gives in the place before cited For first God saith he is in Heaven As if he should say God is full of Majesty and Wisdom He is both Lord and Judge it is not a Man nor an Earthly Power that you have to deal with but that God who hath the Angels attending on him and a thousand times ten thousands of Angels administring unto him at whose feet all Kings on Earth cast down their Crowns and Scepters Secondly thou art upon the Earth i. e. a weak unwise unworthy Creature infinitely inferiour in degree unto thy Creator And therefore it becomes not thee to speak unto him but with the greatest Fear Reverence and Advisedness And therefore First this serves to Reprove many who rashly come into Gods presence without any preparation or due meditation of what they are to say or crave Small is the number indeed of such as do Pray but smaller is the number indeed of such as prepare themselves to Pray In the Second place let this Admonish us to prepare our selves before we come to appear before the Lord to call upon his Name whether in Publick or Private You know Goodly Buildings have some Magnificence in the Gate and great Personages have seemly Ushers to go before them who by their uncovered Heads command reverence and way So should Holy Duties be undertaken Exod. 19.10 1 Sam. 16.5 2 Chron. 19.3 And thus much may be spoken of this point We are now to speak of the words themselves which he devised to speak Father I have sinned c. In these words of his acknowledgment
Faith embrace thee as a strong Hold Hope wait upon thee as a sure Defence Charity relieve thee in thy distressed Members and Patience bear thy Cross as her Crown of Glory 6. Of Self-denial There is nothing brings more Honour to God and Credit to Man than the Grace of Self-denial which is a Character of Gods own Teaching but few will take the pains to Learn it because they must first be untaught self before they can be taught the Art of Self-denial Men generally are apt to study Men and study Books both Divine and Moral to increase Humane knowledge and set up the Interest of Ambition and Covetousness that when Times change and Religion and Ambition come in competition they will steer their Devotions to all Winds to shelter them from the storms of Ship-wrack whereas a gracious Heart will endeavour to study that Chymical Wisdom to draw out the Spirit of Self-denial from the Limbeck of Heaven which indeed is the Quintessence of all the Graces and makes a Soveraign Antidote against all Malignant Tumors of Self-love it combates the passions of the Heart it allayeth the flateous Humours of Pride and Vain-glory it suppresseth the Earthy Vapours of Avarice which poysoneth the Heart and intoxicates the Brain it bridles intemperate Appetites which run like a Torrent having the wind of Satans Temptations and our own passionate inclinations to split the Ship of our Souls upon the Rock of Eternal Misery Preserve me O my God from such disasters by this Mysterous Vertue of Self-denial render me I beseech thee a Disciple capable of this Science teach me effectually to spell my frailty in this golden Alphabet place it as a Frontlet before the eyes of my Soul that I may continually read the out-strayings of my Heart with regret of spirit that I may change my Affections from the love of the World to the love of thy self that when the Bark of my Soul shall put ashore it may safely arrive at the Haven of Heaven 7. Of Patience Patience under the Cross is like Gold under the hand of the Finer when sufficiently tryed in the Fire of Affliction and ordered by the hand of Heaven becomes a Glorious Crown for a faithful Christian Lord if my Earthy heart be so impatient that it needs Refining purifie it I pray thee of its drossie quality that it may be brought into a better temper and be made tractable to thy gracious Designs 8. Of Contentment Contentment is a meek submission of a gracious Spirit to the will of God in every condition it puts the Heart into a Holy frame willing to subject and lay it self low to the frowns and stroke of Justice as well as to the smiles of Mercy Good is the Word of the Lord saith Old Eli. If the Lord say he takes no pleasure in me saith David let him do to me what he pleaseth Learning with Paul in every condition to be content This gracious disposition is like Wax capable of any impression or as Clay in the hand of the Potter which may be molded into any form or fashion Where there is a suitableness between the disposition and the condition a man will suffer all things endure all things with contentment Take from him as one saith his Wealth his Treasure is in Heaven cast him into Prison his Conscience is free take away his good Name his Innocency will vindicate him against all aspersions banish him his Countrey Jerusalem above is his City of Refuge Si fractus illabatur orbis impavidum seriunt ruinae vultus Though the Foundation of the Earth should shake he will not be moved It is the mind and apprehension that makes every condition better or worse Restraints and Confinements to some are as bad as Death but to others sweet Captivities places of more Liberty for the Service of God witness the rejoycings of Paul and Silas He that hath Christ dwelling in his Heart by Faith may truly say with the Philosopher Omnia mea mecum porto my Treasure is a hidden Treasure I carry all within me and that all I shall carry to Heaven with me Gracious Lord who hath the hearts of all men in thy hands to order and dispose of them to thy own design impress I beseech thee with the seal of thy spirit upon my heart this lovely Grace of Contentment that I may bear thy Cognisance in every condition mold it I pray thee to such an Holy temper as my submission to thy will may answer thy expectation If thou cast me into the Mold of Affliction let me come out thy contented Patient if thou take from me all that I have give me thy self and I shall enjoy all things Christus meus omnia If Christ be not wanting Contentment feels no want 9. Of Peace Peace is a gracious Acquiescence of the Soul in God it is one part of that joyful Tidings proclaimed by the Herald of Heaven Glory to God on Earth Peace good-will towards men yea it is that Royal Legacy left by the King of Glory to his Apostles My Peace I leave with you as it was his dying bequest so it was his reviving salute after his Resurrection Peace be unto you This is that Peace which passeth all understanding which keeps our Hearts in the knowledge and love of God It causeth a cessation of all our Lusts which War against God and our Souls it Uniteth God and Man together in a happy Union and sweet Communion in the Court of Conscience it puts an end to all strife and begets an harmonious Agreement between man and man Blessed Saviour who art the great Peace-maker between God and Man who stilleth the raging of the Sea and the madness of the People I beseech thee bridle the floods of my Passions that they run not over me with noise calm with the word of Peace the boisterous billows of my warfaring Members that they swell not over the banks of my soul sending forth mire and dirt And since there is a necessity of War in my heart Lord convert the enmity thereof against sin and Satan that the end of this War may be Peace 10. Of Love Love is a holy flame derived to us from the Altar of God who is Love it self whose property is to beget the like so we come to love God who first loved us Philosophy tells us that Love is grounded upon similitude Nature instructs sensible Creatures to love their young and God teacheth Parents to love their Children because parts of themselves and Children by a reflective relation to love their Parents as Authors of their being How much more ought we to love God who created both Soul and Body Our Love being but a part of his parental Affection who offered himself a Sacrifice for us through the flame of his Affection Assimulate O my God the soul of thy servant unto thee and let the fire of thy spirit burn up the pile of my sins purifying my heart and kindling my Affections that I may offer up
my soul a zealous Holocaust to the flame of thy Altar 11. Of Chastity This single Grace of Chastity will admit of no Cor-rival but God himself in her Virgin-heart in which she erects a Temple of Love for the Lords delight scourging out all uncleanness with the rod of Sorrow dedicating it wholly to the Service and Honour of the Lord where Love and Beauty God and the Soul are espoused together in holy affection and sweet communion Give me O Lord what wilt thou give a clean heart truly devoted to thy service Though the stains of impure Cogitations and verbal Transgressions may unwillingly and unwarily break in to defile thy Temple O may the rod of Repentance drive them out but shield it I pray thee from that great abomination of desolation those deathful wounds of actual pollution to make it a stink of all iniquity but deck and adorn it with the graces of thy spirit that it may be made a beautiful habitation for thy honours reception 12. Temperance Temperance is as a comly Matron which walks soberly and warily in the wholesom path of Mediocrity between excess and defect her actings are to the health both of Body and Soul avoiding in order to Food and Raiment Superfluity and Sordidness being fed with Frugality and clothed with Decency as to the Soul her Religion very Orthodox running a most even course between blind Zeal and open Profaneness like the Sun in its Aequinox between the Winter and the Summer Solstice hating Enthusiasm Papism and Atheism with other giddy opinions coyned out of the Mint of inconsiderate Brains which begetteth nothing but Division Contention and Disaffection Most holy Lord who art holiness it self and delightest in the beauty of holiness pious hearts as mansions where thy honour will please to dwell square my Religion to the straight rule of thy word and so fashion my Devotion as may be most agreeable to thy own mind neither ceremoniously superstitious or irreverently rude but zealously affected in a decent and orderly manner as may be most sutable to piety and the honour of thy Majesty 13. Of Obedience and Disobedience A good natured Child will grieve that he hath offended his indulgent Father whereas a more rugged disposition will not come into the School of Obedience without much swinging Make me O Lord a child of Obedience by the smiles of thy mercy rather than by the frowns of thy Justice draw me by the silken twines of thy Affections and not by the ruff Cords of thy Corrections but if I be so ill-natured that the rays of thy love will not mollifie my hard heart let the awful stripes of thy fear make it tender so shall thy rod and thy staff comfort me 14. Of Gratitude and Ingratitude Thankfulness is the tribute of our Affections which we pay as a Rent-charge to the great Lord of Heaven and Earth by which we acknowledge his property in us and our Loyalty to him for all his blessings both for Soul and Body and nothing can out us of Possession discard us of our freedom or cancel the obligation of his love to us but Ingratitude that monster in nature which was one of the grand sins which ejected Adam out of his Garden of Paradice into a wilderness of Sin transformed Nebuchadnezar from a man to a Beast till he returned better manner'd and smote Herod in his Judgment-seat because he gave not God the glory Great God! in whose hands are all the Corners of the earth and the fulness thereof in whatsoever possession of thy blessings thy goodness please to place me as Tenant for life O may I esteem it far beyond my deservings that I may learn to be thankful And suffer not I pray thee my nature so ill to degenerate into Ingratitude as to alienate thy affections from me to out me of the Eden of thy favour and let me not be so blockishly dull as not to acknowledge thy property or so arrogantly peccant to rob thee of thy honour lest deservedly I incur thy righteous displeasure but ingratiate my heart I beseech thee with so good a nature as I may render my self a more perfect Creature to give thee thy dues belonging to thy honour and my self the comfort of thy gracious dispensations towards me 15. Of Mercy and Justice Mercy and Justice are the righteous Ballances of Heaven poized by the Hand of Truth which weighs to every one the Rewards of Life and death Mercy is filled with promises of life Justice with wages of death Faith lays hold on the Scale of Mercy through the merits of a Saviour Infidelity draws down Justice as a Recompence for Iniquity So righteous art thou O Lord in thy ways and just in thy Judgments who dispensest to every one after their deservings Merciful Father though the magnitude and multitude of my Transgressions be so heavy to draw down the Ballance of thy Indignation upon me yet being Counterpoized with thy Sons merits in the Ballance of Mercy they shall be found too light to condemn me and my Faith of sufficient weight to save me 16. Of Faith Faith is the Souls Optick which discovereth things afar off as if near at hand though darkly as in a Glass yet far surpassing all the Opticks of Astrology which takes the dimensions of the Orbs according to the sense whereas Faith maketh search into Heaven seeth God Almighty with all his Attributes in the beauty of Holiness Jesus Christ his Son sitting at his right hand interceeding for us the Holy Ghost proceeding coming down like fire to baptize the Saints with all the Heavenly Quires of Saints and Angels singing Allelujah to the King of Glory yea it discovereth Hell afar off with all its monstrosity the reward of our Iniquity seeth Satan compassing the Earth in persuite of the Mother and her Child to devour them but overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Thus O my Soul with this Optick of Faith thou mayest survey all the wonders of God making things invisible to the eye of sense visible to the eye of Reason Thus beholding thee O my God in thy glorious perfections in thy marvelous works in thy gracious Attributes let me experiment thy spirit of grace quickning thy wisdom teaching thy power supporting thy love comforting thy Justice tenderly chastising and thy mercy saving me let the light of thy countenance the splendor of thy Majesty so dart upon my soul through this Glass of Faith that thou mayest be in love with thy own beauty Faith again may be said to be the compass of the Soul which centers one part upon God the other upon the heart of man rounding a Sphear of a new Creation with circles of love through which she draws a Diameter by the Rule of the word which is as a Jacobs Ladder by the hand of an Angel to convey the Graces of God to man and the Prayers of man unto God Scale O my soul by this Ladder of Faith the Battlements of Heaven contend with thy Maker and
only Ephesus but all Asia gave their Worship How much greater is the World 's Diana vanity that not only Asia but the World it self prostitutes its Devotions She is Attended with three Golden Idols as vain as her self Pride Concupiscence and Lust the Worlds Trinity which entertains all Suitors with variety of Honours Pleasures and Profits To this Lady of Honour the Ambitious spirit makes his acquist esteeming himself as nothing without a bended Knee a popular Applause and a turgent Title which his Fancy feeds upon as the Camelion upon Air but if crost in his designs by any opposite to his assention he grows as lean as Envy can make him like the Birds that fed upon Zeuxis Grapes with pecking at shadows Hither also resorts to this glaring shrine the Idolatrous Miser whose Hydropick thirst after Gold like the Horse-leach after Blood cries Give Give his Heart is always digging with the Mold in this Earthy Mine never satisfied till Death Robs his soul from his silver Mountain and his Mouth is bunged with courser Earth Finally the Luxurious Gallant makes Court to this Goddess of Beauty who prodigallizeth upon her Wanton all her sinful Favours which may indulge the Flesh and please desire with her deeds of Darkness Enter not my Soul into these their secrets which lead down to the Chambers of Death but skip like a Hart over these Mountains of Vanity Soar with the Wing of Contemplation into a higher glory let thy aspiring thoughts transcend this Airy Arrogance as far as Light surpasseth Darkness Heaven surmounteth Hell where thou maist Tribute thy Devotions to a more Beautiful shrine the Blessed Trinity from whence thou maist derive everlasting Comforts eternal Honours which flie not away upon the Wings of Time durable Riches where neither Rust doth canker or Thieves break through and steal torrents of Divine pleasure which shall continually chear and refresh thy spirits where thou maist behold with perpetual contentment the loveliness of Beauty the splendour of Saints and the glory of Kingly Majesty 24. Of Infidelity The Fool hath said in his Heart there is no God so consequently neither Heaven nor Hell which Atheistical Opinion is too rife in the Hearts of many who live as without God in the World without hope of Heaven or fear of Hell so willingly incredulous are they of their own safety or Ruine that though they have the two Testaments Nature and Grace the Light of Reason and the Word of God to inform them the one convincing their Consciences the other to enlighten their Understandings yet are they such Passionate Zealots over their Lusts that they violently court the embraces of Hell like Pliny the re-search of his scorning Vesuvius they will doubtfully experiment their own destruction As in Mercy O Lord thou hast given me a Rational being capable of Divine Light as a true born Christian let not I pray thee the Powers of Darkness or my indulgency over sin muffle my Soul in unbelief to make me an Atheist but impress upon my Heart with the Seal of thy Spirit the true cognizance of thy self that I may know thee who Created me to be my Almighty Father thy Son who Redeemed me my Blessed Saviour the Holy Ghost who Sanctifies me my gracious Preserver That I may know Heaven a place of Honour a Kingdom of incomparable Love Hell a place of Horror a Lake of intolerable dolour let the beauty of the one invite my Affections the danger of the other fright me from sin and both be objects of my Souls safety 25. Of Pride Pride is a gaudy Brat of a Monstrous Nature begot by the Father of Lies upon a Presumptuous Heart whose Towring thoughts and Devil-like Disposition could not soar higher or center lower than God himself It was the Serpents suggestion to the Woman Ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil A Temptation no sooner offered then embraced which brought a Curse upon her self her Husband and Posterity In sorrow shalt thou bring forth by the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat Bread The Serpent not exempted Dust shalt thou eat upon thy belly shalt thou creep So that the Serpent was punished for Lying Adam and Eve for aspiring and eating Strangle O Lord in Love to our Souls such spurious Conceptions of the Serpents Pride in our Lustful hearts that they may not come to the perfection of Birth which will bring forth death But if we will not keep within the bounds of thy Commands but will through too much Curiosity peep into thy secreet Decrees and intrench upon thy Negative Precepts thou wilt make us acknowledge thee Righteous in thy waies and Just in thy Judgments 26. Of Hypocrisie Hypocrisie is similata sanctitas Vertue in appearance when Vested in her Saint-like Habit under which sin and Satan doth shrowd themselves to deceive the Innocent not unlike the Earth in the midst of Winter when Cloathed in her white Raiment spurious Broods of Toads Nettles and Adders lie mantled under her snowy Breasts but when the Sun ariseth in its vigour her Nakedness is uncovered and her Deformity appears So is it with our Earthy Hearts which Naturally brings forth mishapen Brats of Lusts veiled through the Devils Policy under the Garment of Hypocrisie transforming them as himself into Angels of Light Discover O my God to the Eye of my Soul such dangerous Impostors as sin and Satan that I may behold them in their Monstrous shape with detestation as the great Enemies of my Salvation and arise thou Sun of Glory with thy beams of Love upon my Soul and thaw away this rimy Robe from my frozen Heart that I may appear what in truth I am the greater Object of thy Compassions 27. Of Envy This Torturing Passion is like Prometheus his Vulture which continually Tyrannizes upon the Heart where it takes possession it soveraignizeth over the rest of the Passions not enduring any Competitor in the Common-wealth of Prosperity subjecting all the Lusts to be subservient to it if Covetousness come in competition with it for greatness of Reward Envy will be thankful to the Angel for one Eye to make the Miser stark blind If graceful Vertue sit in the seat of Dignity Envy will endeavour by Ambition to pull her down If Love cannot win Lady Beauty by fair Treatment Envy stirs up Raging Lust to deflower her If Thrift grow up in the Garden of Prosperity Envy presently sendeth forth Extortion to crop it If true Valour bear away the Prize of Honour Cowardise and Vain-glory are employed to asperse it by detraction This Envy is Attended with two sullen Passions Hatred and Malice the one is a sad sedement of continued Anger which settles upon the spleen causing it to swell upon every occasion in opposition to its object of discontent The other is ever hatching Mischievous designs for Envy's Practice Envious detractor Malicious sinner Hateful maligner who not only Robs thy self of quiet but also Thieves away from thy Neighbour his Goods and good Name If
Redeemer who hast healing under thy wings for every disease cure I beseech thee my wounded heart being sorely bitten with the venomous Teeth of my Viperous Passions direct the eye of my soul as the Israelites to their Brazen Serpent to look up unto thee for my speedy Remedy that so passing through the briers of this wilderness of sin or sinful wilderness I may safely enter by the Conduct of thee my great Joshua into the promised land of Eternal Rest 39. Of the Earth When I look upon the Earth invellopt in her misty weeds methinks I see her sit as a disconsolate widow mourning the Suns absence to exhale those Vapours from her clouded brow by the vertue of his glorious beams So if my foggy Soul sit benighted under the dark Canopy of sin and Error Lord let the shining of thy Wisdom enlighten the eyes of my understanding that I may see thee in thy beauty to the great comfort of my Soul in the fruition of thy Spirit 40. Of Light Light is a comfortable emanation breath'd from the mouth of God Let there be light and there was light without which the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth was an abortive swadled up in the mantle of obscurity it distinguisheth Colours discriminates objects of various forms properties and qualities with their several dimensions it shews the great perfections of the Creator in the visibility of the Creatures especially in that choice piece called Man the model of the greater World whose intellective Soul is made capable of a twofold light like the Sun and Moon Grace and Nature the one giving shine to the Science of Divinity the other of Morality whereby we come to know God in us and us in him Lighten O Lord I intreat thee my dark heart which indeed is no better than a confused Chaos invellopt with the clouds of sin and ignorance shine upon it with the light of thy countenance which may discover unto me my deformity making me seek for better perfection in the knowledge of thy will and practice of thy word which is a Lanthorn to my feet and a light unto my paths 41. Of the Sun That glorious Lamp the Sun hath several Properties according to the Subject-matter it meets with it hardens Clay and melteth Wax its beams lighting on a stinking Dunghil causeth a noisom savour but darting on a fragrant Garden produceth a pleasant smell Cleanse my heart thou Son of Righteousness of the filth of sin by the vertue of thy precious blood that it may not be exposed to the influence of thy rays as a putrid substance but as a Nursery of graceful herbs not as stubborn Clay but as soft Wax capable of the Impresses of thy Image so shalt thou be unto it the savour of life unto salvation and not the savour of death unto Damnation 42. Of mans Heart The Heart of man came a rich soil out of the hand of God capable of bringing forth rare fruits of Righteousness but the wild Boar breaking in upon it so rooted and digged it that it became a Wilderness of sinful Weeds O may that gracious hand so husband my wild and barren heart pulling up those brambles of iniquity and sowing in it such seeds of Grace and plants of Vertue watering it with the dew of his spirit and fencing it with his blessing it may become a Garden inclosed fit for the Lords delight 43. Of Riches Riches are but golden balls which the world trundels before her Minions in the race of this life which they with Atlanta greedily snatch up to their utter undoing losing the benefit of a better prize the Graces of Heaven For earthly Riches do but clog the wheels of the Soul which drives Heavily on like the Chariots of Pharaoh to destruction not but that Riches are the Gifts of God and Instruments of much good if rightly stewarded but man being over apt to bless his soul in them he honours the Creature more than the Creator Admit O Worldling that thou couldst with Alexander compass the whole World and that thy Lordships were richly stored with all kind of Cattel feeding with more sober security than thy self thy Egyptian Granaries stuffed with Corn thy Coffers filled with Gold and Silver sumptuous houses promising perpetuity to thy Name and Posterity with all which thou mightest indulge thy soul for many years yet consider the casualties thy Goods may be driven away with Sabeans thy Barns eaten with Rats and Mice Thieves break in and steal thy Treasure the Elements enemies to thy Houses and Children and lastly death with the Fool in the Gospel robs thee of thy soul who then art of all men most miserable if thou hast not with Job laid up inward Riches in the Treasury of a good Conscience which will strongly fortifie thee against all Assaults and chearfully bear thy Charges to Heaven whereas other Riches as heavy Plummets will sink thee to Hell What got Midas in the Fable by his Grant from Apollo to make his fingers as Philosophers stones to convert by touch all things into Gold that when he would have taken pleasure in his glittering Joys his stomach craving more suitable meat was choakt to death with Golden Morsels Convert we then this Fable into a real truth which will afford us better profit Be thou avaritious in the pursuit of a better Treasure by thy Orisons summon Heaven to instruct thee in this Art of Conversion this holy Chimistry that thou mayest change all things into the Gold of Grace Art thou in love with rich Pastures Christ the Shepherd of thy Soul will feed thee in fair Meadows with running Rivers Doth full Barns delight thee make Heaven thy Store-house for Bread of Life Doth glittering Wealth steal away thy heart cast it upon the waters of Poverty and it will bring thee an income of everlasting Riches Doth costly Buildings take up thy heart lay thy Foundation on that Corner-stone where thou shalt have a building made without hands not to be devoured by the teeth of time Wouldst thou establish thy Name to all Posterity get that white stone in which is a new Name written to perpetuity And which beside all these external Accommodations superads that Joy which is unspeakable and full of Glory which will be lengthned out to Eternity 44. Of Honour Honour is as light as a Feather pufft up and down by a popular breath according to the ebbing and flowing Tides of inconstant Affections witness proud Haman who in his conceited thoughts did herauldize to himself his own Dignity in riding upon the Kings horse with Royal Habiliments How gloriously did the Sun of his Honour arise upon the sphere of Ahasuerus's favour and how suddenly was it blown amongst the clouds of his Displeasure by the breath of a Woman With what Admiration did Marcillus ride in his Chariot of Triumph after his great Victories and presently by the turning wheel of Providence his Reputation overthrown and Laid in the dirt So inconstant are the Felicities of this
Life like beautiful Flowers in the Garden of the World making a Rape up the beholders Eye courting all the senses to gather them which fades away in the space of a day Let not then O Lord the Magick of these outward Prosperities so charm my Senses as to idolize such fleeting objects which glide away as a water-brook but arrest thou my Thoughts upon a more permanent beauty the injoyment of thy self that when Death shall gloom me the light of this life thou mayst beam my Soul with eternal Glory 45. Of uncertain Friends Solomon tells us That Riches take wings and fly away so doth uncertain Friends follow after leaving their quondam Cor-rival a pitiful object of Misery and Poverty whose Affections doth ebb and flow according to the turning Tides of Prosperity and Adversity as if Nature created a new Metamorphosis in their souls But happily O forsaken man mayst thou find some sure Friend some faithful Achilles who will cleave unto thee in thy necessity whose love is grounded upon some better Principles than upon such afleeting Foundation of inconsistancy Sanctifie O Lord every Condition with Contentment unto me If in thy righteous Judgment thou take from me all outward support 〈◊〉 is that I may lean more surely upon thy self though the Gusts of Adversity storm the out-work of my Body let my Soul through thy Grace retreat unto thee as a stronger Fort. And be thou O Lord a faithful Jonathan to chear my Spirit in my extremity with thy oyl of Charity 46. Of Poverty There is no greater Tryal to a Child of God than to bring him to the Touchstone of Poverty which will discover him Christian proof or not whether his Graces be true or false Gold or Brass so was the Patience of Job proved by that grand Artist Satan whose Arguments to God was Doth Job fear God for naught wherefore God suffered him to touch Job in his Estate in his Children in his Body and all to try this Saints Patience and to defeat the Policy of the Liar If in wisdom O Lord for my Souls good thou take from me what I have it is but what thou freely gavest me at first If thou strippest my body of outward raiment clothe my Soul I pray thee with thy righteous garment If thou nippest my outward man with Winter Poverty Summer my inward man with the grace of integrity that so I may appear in thy gracious Eye a right-begotten Child and not a Bastard 47. Of Prosperity and Adversity Prosperity and Adversity are two great Engines with which the Devil useth to batter the heart of man to make it malleable to his designs If the scorching rays of Prosperity will not make man forsake his garment of Integrity he will endeavour by the boisterous blasts of Adversity to drive it from him both was experimented upon Job but in a different manner God gave Job Riches for his Uprightness but the Devil made him Poor by taking them away but not his righteousness to his sorrow leaving him an Addition of Boils and Botches which made his body as sore as his soul which was grieved with uncomfortable Friends So able art thou O Lord to preserve man in every Condition manger all the malice of Satan but since there is such danger in these extreams fix I beseech thee my unstable Soul in a middle Sphere that Prosperity may not make me forget thee nor Adversity forsake thee but feed me with Food convenient for me 48. Of Afflictions Some men are so licentiously wicked that having rioted away their Fathers blessing they make themselves miserable by demerit even to feed upon sharp and short Commons till by the scourge of Affliction they are made to retreat to their Fathers house for better Provision So God oftimes deals with his rebellious Children as a loving Father with his extravagant Son who will not give him according to his lavish Appetite to make him worse but with the Prodigals Father sends him abroad to feed upon the Husks of Misery till he return better qualified happily appointing him a Garden to relieve him from starving O merciful Father since my Exorbitances hath made me uncapable of a more immediate blessing from thy own hand yet bless me O my Father in that providential way thou appointest for me so I may have Food and Raiment I will thankfully be content not repining at the Prosperity of others whose better Ingenuity hath made them capable of a greater Portion but shall account it a happiness that thy offended Clemency doth place me in the lowest forme above my deservings and if thou shalt think it needful for me to feed upon the Wormwood of Adversity to quell my luxurious Appetite Oh! may it be as wholesome diet to prepare my stomach for the bread of Life As the waters of Marah could not be drunk by the thirsty Israelites they were so bitter till sweetned with a bough cut from a Tree so are the Waters of Affliction when seasoned with the Branch of Christ Jesus to comfort the Vitals of a sin-sick soul and is as a Julip to cool the fevorish distemper of our Concupiscence If thou Lord still please to hold forth a bitter Portion to me let me receive it by the hand of Faith and drink it as the Cup of my Salvation Some things in appearance seem Instruments of much Cruelty as the Caustick Saw and knife which being put into the hands of a wise Chirurgeon are of excellent use for the preservation of life in the cutting off a putrid member so are Afflictions in the hand of God to pare away the proud flesh from our sin-swoln hearts and to dismember us of our sinew-corruptions Wise God which knowest a Remedy for every Disease where my soul is festred with the Gangreen of sin let the Caustick of thy word be my Cure that so I may come to thee though halting with the loss of a right eye or right hand Experience teacheth That the nature of Thunder and Lightning is to purge the Air of hurtful Vapours which infests our Bodies Such are the Judgments of God to clear away the foggy Meteors from our clouded souls raised by the fiery suggestions of Satan Since thou the great Commander of Heaven and Earth directest the Intelligences for the health of our bodies how much more good art thou unto our souls the images of thee our Creator If the Lightning of thy Grace will not tender our obdurate hearts it is requisite that the Thunder of thy displeasure should fright us into obedience rather than that our souls should perish so shall it be good for us that we have been afflicted He that goeth out of the path of Gods Commandments forsaketh his own safety runs out of life into the shadow of death out of the Protection of the Almighty into the Liberties of Satan where his life is in hazard every hour through the wounds of sin without the mercy of a gracious Samaritan Lord if my unwary soul chance to stray
Earth Let 's never frown upon Friends departure but rather see if possible the Messenger of this good tidings and bless the Lord for our advancement in theirs Indeed beloved we weep too fast when tears deny sight of Mercies In the death of Samuel there is gain to him as well as loss to us both should be remembred I know many present to be sensible of the one I shall be wrongful to conceal the other Truth it is there is fallen a great Man in Israel But how fallen Like Abner upon a violent Hand Or dyed he like a Fool Was he unsensible of his Estate Were his Hands his Mouth his Heart tyed Was his end without Honour No Brethren he died in a ripe Age when the Lord had made the most of his Life he died in Peace he died with hopes of Life in his heart with words of Grace in his lips and his Sun did set in the highest point in greatest brightness time place manner company Men Angels God and all conspired together to do him all Honour in his death Bless the God of all spirits for this all ye that are Interessed in the same Profession and Religion Bless the Lord for this that he so died in such a place in such a time in such a sort as the Devil hath received a foil and Religion grace and honour by it And thus Israel hath done his part in Mourning in Burying Samuel at his House at Ramah And now the more particular Application of all this brings me directly to the sad occasion of this present Meeting even to lament the fall of that Choice and Excellent Person Mr. John Dunton in whose Death the Almighty testifies against us and even fills us with Gall and Wormwood I know you come hither to mourn so fully prepared for it that although I am but a dull Oratour to move Passion I may serve well enough to draw out those Tears wherewith your Hearts and Eyes are so big and full There is no need to call for the Mourning Women that they may come and for Cunning Women that they may take up a wailing to help your Eyes to run down with Tears and your Eye-lids to gush out with Waters The very looking down upon this Bier and the naming of the Man whose Corps is here placed and a very little speech of his Worth and our miserable Loss is enough to make this Assembly like Rachel not only to lift up a voice of Mourning but even to refuse to be Comforted Dearly Beloved I must needs confess I am this day called to speak of a Man so eminent and excellent so wise and gracious so good and useful whose Works so praise him in every Gate that if I should now altogether hold my Tongue the Children and Babes I had almost said the stones would speak upon whose Herse could I scatter the sweetest Flowers the highest Expressions of Rhetorick and Eloquence you would think I fell short of his worth you would say his very Name expresseth more than all my words could do Should I say of him as they of Titus that he was Amor Deliciae generis Humani Should I say of his Death as once the Sicilians upon the Grecians departure Totum ver periit ex anno Siciliano should I say he was not only as one of David's Thirty Worthies but one of the three one of the first three even the first and Chief of them the only Man in these Parts who Preach'd as he liv'd should I say our whole Land groaneth at his Death as the Earth at the fall of a great Mountain I might do it without Envy in this great Assembly Yea should I write a whole Book in his Commendation and Publish it many of you would say as a Philosopher once did who falling on a Book Entituled Encomium Herculis said with Indignation Et quis Lacedaemoniorum eum vituperat He thought it time ill spent to praise him whom none could blame And I believe your selves are resolved to make some such Monument of your high Esteem of him that after-ages as well as the present shall know you valued him above my words I know large Encomiastical praises of the Dead unless their Lives were Eminent in Goodness and free from any notable blot are much condemned by the most Judicious and godly Divines as a thing of very evil consequence because they often prove Confections of Poyson to the Living for many whose Lives speak nothing for them will draw the Example into consequence and be thereby led into hope that they may Press a Hackney Funeral Sermon to carry them to Heaven when they dye On the other hand it may be said that though common Graves deserve no Inscription yet Marble Tombs are not without some Epitaph Heroical and Vertuous Examples should not go with a common Pass but with a Trumpet Since then it must be so jacta est alea I shall impose upon my self this Law not to Build his Monument of common stones nor trouble my self and you to gather such Flowers to cast upon his Grave as grow in common Fields nor descend or stoop to any thing which is not worthy of your highest Imitation First then For his Personal Endowments he was certainly 1. A Person of a very sweet Nature and Temper so affable and Courteous and chearful that he gained upon all that conversed with him and if any tax'd him with any Pride or Moroseness or distantialness in his carriage it must be only such as did not know him he had so winning a way with him he might bid himself welcom into whatsoever House he enter'd Pride and Moroseness are bad qualities for a Man of his Employ and make men afraid of the ways of God for fear they should never enjoy a good day after 2. A Person of a very great Gravity and could carry a Majesty in his Face when there was occasion and make the least Guilt tremble in his presence with his very Countenance I never knew a Man better loved nor more dreaded God had given him such a spirit with power that his very frowns were darts and his reproofs sharper than swords he would not contemn familiarity but hated that familiarity that bred contempt 3. A Person of a very large Charity He had large Bowels and a large Heart a great dexterity in the opening of the bowels of others as well as his own to works of Mercy that I think I may say there is not a Church in England that hath more often and more liberal Contributions for poor Ministers and other poor Christians than this hath according to the proportion of their abilities 4. A Person of a wonderful Patience Notwithstanding the many Weaknesses and Infirmities which for a long time have been continually without ceasing as it were trying their skill to pull down his frail Body to the dust and at last effected it yet I never heard an impatient word drop from him When I came to visit him and asked him How do