of thy Sonne in whom say vnto my Soule and seale it vnto mee by thy holy Spirit that thou art my Saluation Lord increase my faith and accept my Repentance MEDIT. IX Of Faith and Hope and the effects of them both and of the glorie to come FAITH HOPE the maine Pillars whervpō are builded all other Diuine Vertues are the meere gift of God without which I doe acknowledge I cannot be saued Saint Paul writing vnto the Hebrewes describes the faith whereby I beleeue in Christ not to be a dead but a working faith knowne by the effects whereof are many Examples Rom. 11. And whereby many most worthy men approued themselues to bee of God and to bee beloued of God who by their faith apprehended things absent and vnseene to their vnspeakable comfort as really and truly a◠if they had beene present and visible confirming thereby that faith is the ground of things which are hoped for and the euidence of things which are not seene By this our faithfull Fore-fathers saw Christ long before he came in the flesh and beleeued him to come to bee the Messiah Moses saith Christ saw my dayes So did the Prophets Dauid and many other who hoped for that which they saw not yet at length obtained the visible glorie of the same Sonne of God by whom and in whose bloud to bee shed they were saued Without faith howsoeuer a man may liue in a seeming sincere course of life before men though he bee obserued to doe no man wrong yet if hee take not hold of Christ by this liuely faith if hee imbrace not his Word lay it vp in his heart if he bring not forth fruits worthy amendment of life he pleaseth not God for in nothing is GOD pleased but in and by his Sonne and is delighted is none but in such as seeke him and serue him in and by his Sonne I cannot come vnto God without Christ nay I cannot beleeue that God is but by Christ. I cannot hope to receiue the good things of Heauen not with patience abide for them but that Christ hath purchased the same for me and promised the same vnto me And therefore I beleeue them to bee certaine and sure though yet but in expectation therefore I wait with patience The Husbandman wayteth for the Haruest many dayes after his chargeable and laborious committing the Seed vnto the earth if the Haruest were instant vpon the casting away of the Seed there were neither Patience nor Hope in the Seedes-man And if by experience hee found not that the Seed cast into the Earth would render recompence hee would either forbeare to cast it away or being sowne neuer hope for fruit So I wretched man though I deserue no other fruit to reape then I haue sowne namely of the flesh corruption yet I hope to reape what I haue not sowne namely of the Spirit euerlasting life and that through Iesus Christ who and not I hath cast the Seed of the Spirit into my Soule the fruit whereof I shall reape at the generall Haruest to mine owne euerlasting vse as if the Seed had beene mine owne for which I hope with patience in Faith As the Light followeth the Sunne so Hope followes Faith But if I beleeued not God in Christ and in him had assurance through Faith of the performance of his promise of future glorie I might well say with Saint Paul I were of all men most miserable for to endure here miseries crosses enemies labours anguishes and perplexities of bodie and minde and to bee also frustrate of future comfort my case were worse then the Bird in the Ayre the Fish in the Sea or the brute Beast of the Field But glorie bee to God in Christ who hath assured mee of a Kingdome to come an inheritance immortall Edifie your selues saith Saint Iude in your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost and keep your selues in the loue of God looking for the Mercie of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life Eternall life then being the end of my Hope I will with patience abide it for comming I know it will come And the delay of mine enioying it is but the try all of my faith which yeeldeth me that assurance that to mee is much more precious then Gold that perisheth and shall bee found to my glorie at the appearing of Iesus Christ whom though I haue not seene yet I loue him beleeue and reioyce in him with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious and shall receiue the end of my Faith euen the saluation of my soule after this death It may bee demanded Is it so easie a matter to obtaine eternall life To beleeue onely no I beleeue not that simply to beleeue can obtaine saluation But if I confesse with my mouth the Lord Iesus and doe beleeue in my heart that God raysed him vp from the dead I shall bee saued It may bee againe obiected Here is yet but faith of the heart and confession of the mouth If this bee all that is required to saluation it is not so hard a thing as it is conceiued to obtaine it I hold in deed that the bare confession of Christ and to beleeue that Christ is though I beleeue him to bee the Sauiour of the World and yet doe not apply his merits and death vnto my selfe my Faith profits mee little and my Confession nothing at all Thou beleeuest saith Saint Iames that there is one God thou doest well the Deuils also beleeue and tremble and therefore barely to beleeue that there is a God and a Christ to confesse as much is no more then the Deuils doe Therefore this Faith and this Confession is not sufficient to my saluation for then should the Deuils that beleeue bee also saued but they beleeue and tremble I beleeue and hope desiring to shew my Faith by my workes Abraham indeed was iustified by his faith that before the attempting of the offering of his son But by the offering of his sonne hee shewed that his faith was not a naked and bare faith but a faith accompanied with obedience good Workes for his workes preceded not his iustification but beeing first iustified he beleeued and obeyed Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse Faith being the gift of God brings forth good Works which in Abraham grew not by nature but by the free mercie of God wrought and working by the Holy Ghost whose fruits they were yet in Gods mercie imputed as the fruits of Abraham so what-soeuer good thing proceedeth of my faith in Christ I assume it not as mine though through Christ so imputed I beleeue that true and sauing Faith cannot bee without good Works for without good Works faith is dead And I also beleeue that there may bee works of themselues good and yet without true faith not onely not acceptable to God but rather condemned of him for
that are in the heauens where no base or corrupt thing commeth The Sunne is a creature that shall be darkned yet who is able firmely to fixe his eyes vpon the glorie thereof How much more glorious may I thinke is he that made it whom neuer mortall man could euer see and liue Moses seeing as it were but the shaddow of his glorie receiued yet such a trāsplendencie of glorie in his coūtenance through that litle sparke of Gods glorie as the Children of Israel could not behold the brightnes of it What glorie then shall I thinke the Elect of God shall receiue from GODS al-fulnesse of glorie which is so vnspeakeable as cannot bee conceiued But as the Iron partaking the feruent heate of the fire becomes like vnto the fire so I with the rest of Gods Saints shall so partake of his glorie as this my corruptible bodie when it hath put on incorruption shall become totally glorious through the transplendencie of his glorie The bodie of man is a beautifull visible workemanship yet it is of the earth earthie how much more beautifull is the inuisible soule of the regenerate man which is of heauen heauenly spirituall and inuisible Seeing then that earthly and visible creatures be so glorious as they doe administer great contentment and delight vnto the carnall eye How much more will Gods inuisible works delight the spirituall sense of Gods elect when they shall at full partake of them Who then will not long and desire to see them much more to be partake◠of them especially of that glory which whosoeuer inioyeth shall bee delighted with no other obiect And I verily beleeue that one day I shall see it and say with Dauid As I haue heard so haue I seene in the Citie of our God and shall not but acknowledge that it exceedes all that I haue heard with mine eares seene with mine eyes or conceiued with my heart by infinite degrees So gracious is God as he giueth greater things then man can conceiue by his promises although I cannot as yet sufficiently conceiue much lesse speak of the surpassing excellencie of that glorie yet will I meditate thereupon the more to make the pleasures of this life of no account and the more to kindle in me a desire to be dissolued to enioy that vnspeakable glorie which cannot be attayned vnto but by death The word Glorie imports matter of dignitie and I see the whole multitude of humane creatures desire it bending all their studies and endeuours to obtayne it But alas what is it is it not like Ionahs Gourd growing vp and withering all in a day What man then of ordinarie vnderstanding will be so earnest eager in atchieuing this moment any and so remisse and carelesse in seeking to obtayne that perpetuall glorie for I see that this worlds glorie is ful of suspicion care feare troubles and dangers euen in the best estate subiect to change but the future shall be free full of all constant happinesse and absolute content and therefore more to be desired then all humane greatnesse it fades not as did glorious Salomons and other temporall Potentates and Princes who yet may truely challenge condigne glorie aboue others in this life through their morall vertues yet not thereby truely glorious without the assurāce of that which is to come which nothing shall be able to blemish as doe enemies sicknesse and crosses dishonour and eclipse the earthly honored Gods iudgements also doe often fall vpon the vnduely dignified not vpon the truely honourable as they are honored by men but as they are men offending the GOD of glorie Who exalteth the humble meeke and casteth the insolent and proud euen Princes downe to the ground The glorie to come shall no man or matter blemish or diminish which glorie I see now but as through a vaile as in a glasse much imperfectly but when I shall be dissolued when my earthly and spirituall parts shall be made one againe then I verily beleeue that I shall see at ful and freely enioy that inestimable glorie namely my glorified Redeemer face to face and shall be transformed into the same glorie so that nothing shall bee left in mee but that which shal be wholly glorious O how hath the Lord magnified his mercie towards me He hath raysed mee from the dust hee hath deliuered my soule from hell and assured mee to sit with him in glorie and to be filled with the ioyes that are at his right hand to eate at his Table to drinke of the Riuers of his pleasures and in his light I shall see light and bee changed by the sight of his countenance The faces of the iust shall shine as the Sunne in the firmament when the glorie of God shall shine vpon their soules and bodies together changed from corruption and made partakers euen of the diuine nature Can the tongue of Man or Angels then expresse the aboundant felicitie that the Saints of God shal enioy no it confoundeth al the imagination of man to conceiue the vnspeakeable glorie that there will appeare now darkely apprehended through faith One torch giueth light to the whole roome where it burnes but where there are many burning the light is farre the greater If one Sunne in the firmament giue light to so ample and spacious a world as we here liue in and the face of euery iust man shal shine as the Sunne what a glorious light and beautifull sight will there bee in the heauens where millions of millions of glorified Men with Angels Archangels Seraphins and Cherubins shall shine as so many bright and beautifull Sunnes together all taking their light from that all-shining Light of lights the Sonne of the liuing God all knit together in the band of one Spirit in so sacred a communion and vnion that euery one of them shall account the glorie of another the augmentation of his owne ioy contrarie to the course and condition of the worldly glorious who emulate and enuie all others that exceede or equalize them in glorie Moreouer with what spirituall ioy shall I behold my most louing Redeemer and Sauiour Iesus Christ sitting as absolute Prince of Glorie by whose Merits I haue obtayned this surpassing glorie MEDIT. XI The glorie to come makes the the godly willing to dye and the rather for the crosses of this life NOw then seeing so great a weight of glorie set before the eye of my faith why should I be afraid to lay downe this my mortall bodie in the graue although I know it shall there rot putrifie turne again to dust yea to more vile Earth then whereof it seemeth now to bee made Were my beautie as Absaloms it shal become a stinking Carrion lothsome and filthie To what end then should I so vnnecessarily respect it as to adorne it with superfluous needles Ornaments Why should I couet to fill and feed it with daintie and delicious fare And why
feare him then that feare being blessed and sanctified â—restraynes mee from sinne to walke in the wayes of God therefore I feare and walke because I am blessed and not blessed because I either feare or walk in his wayes for God by his blessing which is his grace giues mee the will without which the deede cannot follow so both the will and the deede the desire and the worke in me are of God He that feareth the Lord will neither speake nor do euill because both speaking doing good comes from the feare of doing euill which holy feare being the gift of God hath great commendation in the Scripture It is the beginning of wisedome saith Salomon and wisedome the end of all heauenly perfection and tendeth not only to restraine from euill for feare of Gods Iudgements as it wrought in Dauid when he said My flesh trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraid of thy Iudgements But to retayne me in the loue and fauour of God Iob was reputed a iust and vpright man because he feared God and in fearing God he eschewed euill Satan himselfe confessed that God preserued Iob blessed all that he had for that he feared God The feare of God then is that true rule of wisedom which directeth vnto a godly life a godly life an infallible forerunner of a happie death and to die in the Lord is chiefest blessednesse the passage from a miserable mortall to a blessed immortall being This feare then being the first steppe to a godly preparation to liue well and to die blessed is that true most precious Iem and Iewell which I seeke and desire to obtayne at the hands of God whose gift it is And therefore according as Salomon hath defined this feare of the Lord I will indeuour to abandon euill and to abhorre sinne Dauid also teacheth and I will desire to practice the same feare in keeping my tongue from euil and my lips that they speake no guile I will seeke to eschew euill and to doe good to seeke peace and to follow it for Who hath euer continued in the feare of the Lord and hath beene forsaken of him in life or in death A Prayer for the feare of God and wherein I may so liue as I may not be afraid to die The Prayer O Lord my God who hast made mée and fashioned mee of the dust of the earth and hast breathed into me the breath of Life here to trauaile vpon the face of the earth during a time appointed by thy Prouidence which I shall not passe for thou hast set down the number of my dayes which how many they shall bée I am vtterly ignorant giue me therefore a holy â—eare that I may thinke euery day to bee the day appointed for my death that I may so much the more warily walk in the wayes of true wisedome in a holy and sincere conuersation before the sons of men and in the sanctification of the inner man lest I be found more formall before men then faithfull in thée I beséech thée hearken to the prayer of thy Seruant who desireth vnfaynedly so to feare thée as I may not feare or be afraid of death Giue me that holy feare of thy Name which thou hast commanded that I may not erre from thy wayes nor harden my heart from thy feare for I know that great is thy goodnesse which thou hast layd vp for them that feare thee Knit my heart therefore vnto thée that I may fear thy Name and may receiue grace to serue thée so that I may so please thée with reuerence and feare that I not only may not feare to die but desire it rather passing all the time of my dwelling here in continuall meditation of thy future life sanctifying thee the Lord God of Hosts who art euermore my feare for thou only art able to kill and to make aliue to cast downe and to raise vp therefore art thou only to be feared like vnto whom there is none among al the gods so glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises and doing wonders I thanke thée gracious Father in Jesus Christ that in and by him I haue receiued the Spirit of re conciliation adoption whereby I am enabled to crie Abba Father and am freed from the spirit of seruile feare from the feare of Satan by thy Spirit Though for a little while O Lord thou maist séeme to forsake me and leaue mee to the spirit of bondage yet with great compassion according to thy wonted mercies I finde thée euer readie to receiue mee againe For a moment thou hidest thy face from mee but with euerlasting mercie thou wilt haue compassion vpon mee and after this my mortalitie receiue mee to eternitie who art my Lord my God my streÌ„gth and my Redéemer Lord increase my feare of thee my faith in thee and loue towards thee Amen MEDIT. IIII. Watchfulnesse THE second point of my preparation is to bee watchfull and that for three especiall causes The first for that I haue an Aduersarie who is maliciously watchfull therefore ought I to be religiously watchfull The second because death will steale suddenly vpon me as a Thiefe The third because of my generall account to which I know I shall be called as soone as my soule is gone from my bodie if then I bee not able to yeeld a â—ust reason how I haue spent the time of my life here I shall be cast into prison neuer to bee redeemed First then to apply my watchfulnes to the watchfulnesse of mine enemie it behoueth me euer to haue an eye vnto the thoughts motions and affections of my corrupt heart for from my heart proceed all the euils that by any part or member of my bodie are actually committed and all the thoughts of my heart are euill euermore yet thence is my tongue moued to speake how then can my words be holy proceeding from so polluted a fountayne I am often violently carried whither the thoughts of my heart doe moue me and am often incited to commit those things howsoeuer euill which my corrupt heart hath conceiued And mine enemie Sathan that thirsteth for my confusion takes aduantage by the inclination of my heart manifested by mine accustomed actions to frame his bayts according to my corrupt appetite coueting euer to draw actual euils out of the polluted puddle of sinne conceiued in my heart This do I find by the experience of his long practice and inferâ—all stratagems for vpon my committing of some sinne and hartily repenting the same with a resolution neuer to commit the like I haue as it were sensibly felt and plainly obserued how by little and little he hath endeuoured to lay snares to draw me to the same euil not as with a violent hand but as it were stealing vpon me like a flattering and deceitefull Theefe whose policies I haue no power to preuent but only by that promise which GOD made vnto
whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne And therefore the opinion of meritorious works and works of supererogation I beleeue cannot be grounded on a true sauing faith for to assume selfe-power to doe good and there-by to merit saluation is meerely against Christ and his merits as is also the pretēded propitiatorie sacrifice of the Masse and the reall being of Christs flesh in the Eucharist not onely not necessary to enter into my beliefe but rather that I beleeue that the death of Christ once for all apprehended by a liuely faith and his merits applyed for the pardon of my sinnes to my vnderstanding 〈◊〉 is a 〈◊〉 sufficient for the washing away of the sins of as many as doe truely beleeue and earnestly repent and doe receiue in that faith the sacramentall signes of the breaking of his body and sheading of his bloud vpon the crosse namely bread and wine faithfully I beleeue that Christ cōtinues really in heauen sitting at the right hand of God a continuall and alone Mediator euen for me and that the heauens shall so contayne him vntill his second comming vntill which time the Sacrament is left vnto all beleeuers to be a remembrance vnto them of his death which is a sufficient propitiation for the sinnes of all beleeuers I doe therefore beleeue that the holy Ghost possessing my heart at my participation of that holy Sacrament worketh faith in me which faith looketh backe vnto the death of Christ vpon the crosse beholding as it were by the eye of the same faith the breaking of his bodie and the powring out of his bloud euen then sacramētally represented vnto mee by the bread broken signifying his bodie and by the wine powred out signifying his bloud which I corporally eating and drinking I doe as verily taste of the vertue of Christs death in my heart by faith as I do taste in my mouth the bread wine And this I beleeue to be the true vse of this holie mystery whereof all faithfull receiuers do no otherwise partake of Christs bodie now crucifyed then the faithfull Iewes did partake of him in eating the Paschall Lambe prefiguring the death of Christ to come as now we solemnize the commemoration of his death past but that they had it vnder a more darke vayle which now being taken away appeareth to vs most perspicuously and cleerly MEDIT. X. Christ elected none for foreseene workes I Doe not beleeue that GOD elected me for the foreseen good works that I would doe for I disclayme all inherent goodnesse by nature and doe belieue that God giues me both will and the power to doe good and all the good that I doe I acknowledge to be of God and the euill that I doe to bee of my selfe therefore the good that I doe I doe not beleeue to be the cause but the effect of mine election I confesse that God did foreknow I would doe good not but that hee likewise forepurposed to indue me with his owne Spirit whereby I should doe it therefore is not the worke mine but the Spirits that God hath giuen me for if I should beleeue that God foresaw the good that I setting the Spirit of God aside should doe and therefore did elect mee were it not to beleeue that mine own workes were the cause of mine election and so assume vnto my selfe power to worke mine owne saluation which God forbid God giues the wil and the power to worke and rewards the worke not as a debt hee owes mee for my worke but as he first gaue me the will and the power freely so hee rewards not my work but manifesteth his mercie wherein hee likewise as hee freely elected mee so hee freely bestowes vpon me his saluation through his owne meanes and therefore I rather vtterly condemne my best works then to expect any meritorious reward for them I feele the force of mine owne corruption daily and that appeares in the whole course of my life by the fruits which of them-selues are euer euill which I cannot suppresse but by the grace of GOD in Christ. If I knewe nothing by my selfe to yeeld me cause of doubt yet were not I thereby iustified But I know no good in my selfe what shall I say then am I condemned God forbid for as God did freely elect mee so hee freely iustifies mee not for mine owne good workes the best of which are imperfect but of his owne free mercie by imputing Christs righteousnesse and merits vnto me in whom and with whom a Crowne of glorie is laid vp in heauen euen for mee from whose fulnesse I receiue euen here grace for grace whereby and not by any meanes of mine owne I doe grow and increase and the elder I waxe in Christ the more I fasten my roote and the more I flourish in the Spirit for They that are planted in the Courts of the Lord shall flourish in their age and bring forth fruit and happy are they that are in Christ Iesus whom neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come shall separate from the loue of God Shall not Death then separate me from Christ no it shall not only not separate me but it shall bring me into his Real and Royall presence into his Kingdome of glorie new Ierusalem where I shall see his Maiestie as farre to exceed the glorie of Salomon in the day of his magnificent Coronation as the Sunne exceedes in brightnesse the darkest and blackest cloud Is this then the hurt that Death can doe vnto mee and shall I feare it will a wise man refuse a rich possession for not passing to it by an ordinarie bridge by which hee hath seene millions goe before him And shall I desire to dwell in this base and beggerly cottage this ruined and rotten house of clay in labour trauaile care feare trouble enuie griefe and a thousand miseries rather then passing by the ordinaire way of death to inherit a glorious Kingdom God forbid I desire farre rather to be with CHRIST in glorie which glorie I beleeue farre surpasseth both what is or can be spoken or conceiued of it The very Angels that presently partake of it cannot expresse it nay the holy Ghost though hee doe assure vs that it is prepared for all Gods elect yet the very fulnesse of it is not reueiled words cannot so sufficiently declare it as that the most illuminate man can expresse it not Paul himselfe though hee were taken vp into the third Heauen where hee heard and no doubt sawe wonderfull things yet could hee not discouer them to the full apprehension of any mortall But by the glorie that God hath reueiled in his works by the Firmament the Sunne the Moone the Stars the Seas the Earth the order and course of all his creatures visible may leade vs to iudge by way of comparison That if the things for the vse of mortall men here bee so wonderfull and glorious what are they
punishments But in stead of ouer-pressing mee with troubles hee mitigatâ—s euen the small corrections that hee sendeth nay rather which I draw as it were vpon my selfe And among other dangers I find pouerty and want not the easiest to bee borne neither can my debts bee long borne withall for I see a necessitie inforceth that which my will is readie but I am vnable to performe And therefore no small portion of affliction oppresseth mee for as I acknowledge my selfe worthily inferior to other men in Vertues so in greatnesse for as by birth I had no pricefull patrimonie so hath not the World affoorded mee a gaiâ—full facultie yet labour I though I lacke What shal I say or thinke Is God only gracious vnto the worldly-glorious and hath he not regard to such as are of a meane estate in this life Doth the Holy Ghost visit the soules of the wealthy with comfort in their carnall fulnesse and delights and leaueth hee the poore forlorne and comfortlesse here Nothing lesse but as Christ had meat to eat that his Disciple knew not of so the poorest of Gods Children haue their inward and spirituall consolation such as worldly and carnall men know not of But what is this to the satisfaction of the World can my inward and spirituall wealth pay worldly debts It may bee a good meanes thereof for God hath promised vnto the faithfull that hee will bee their helping Father what they want he will in his 〈◊〉 supply though hee delay the performance of his promise the more to occasion mee to pray yet iâ— his promise yea Amen as truly to bee performed as if it were already done But saith the fleshly minde it is long looked for And it is but foolish idlenesse of a curious braine that seekes not timely meanes by right or wrong to releeue his wants nay that indeuours not his owne aduancement in this life as doe such as are carefull to prouide for themselues and their posterities Thus the worldly man speaketh to his own heart not vocally but by his present greedinesse of thiâ— lifes fulnesse Soule take thine ease thou hast enough to whom againe the poorest true and faithfull child of God may answere that in his meanest estate hee resteth as well content and hath through the blessing of God a sweeter and more refreshfull Dinner and Supper with a morsell of Bread or a dish of Roots and Herbes in his poore base and beggerly Cottage yea in a Prison or Dungeon then hath the couetous Glutton faring deliciously euery day It may be said vnto me Why doe I then complaine I answere Not for that I am not rich in Reuenewes in Gold Siluer Iewels Sheepe and Oxen Men-seruants and Maydeseruants nor for that I equallize not others in worldly glorie but for that necessitie a great and powerfull Commander hath me vnder her foot keeping mee low that I cannot rise nor attaine vnto meanes by mine honest endeuours to to pay what I owe only my heart earnestly desireth to owe nothing to any man but loue But this dischargeth mee not of the burden of my Creditours clamours and of the conceiued shame that my penurie procures mee What then what remaineth that I should doe Surely I will waite on God who neuer leaueth those that are his without helpe in their greatest need I will indeuour to satisfie all men their due and my desire shall be in all good conscience to discharge mine vttermost dutie and then I doubt not but God in his Christ will excuse all my enforced defects and although man will not God will accept the will for the deed MEDIT. XII Gods Prouidence sufficient for the faithfull man I Haue learn'd that man liueth not by bread only but by the Word of God which contayneth such and so many sweet promises of Gods presence with mee and of his Prouidence ouer mee as I laying them vp in my heart by Faith am fed with that blessed sacietie of spirituall and inward comforts which maketh the new man to grow daily in all fulnesse of heauenly contentment drowning and swallowing vp all superfluous cares of this life wherein I am indeed seene to liue and yet I speake as I desire I wish to haue my conuersation totally in Heauen As I haue a corporall being so I conuerse in the Earth and earthly things but I haue also a spirituall and so I haue my conuersation spirituall namely in Heauen from whence I receiued my spirituall life And where after this life I know I shall liue euer The true Child of God liues here but in shew of his bodily presence his inward part which is his regenerate minde is alwaies coÌ„uersant in heauen which is his home but the carnal and vnregenerate man hath both his visible and inuisible parts set especially on worldly things conuersant with the vanities of this world in spirituall darknesse Heauen I confesse in respect of the locall situation thereof is farre aboue the apprehension of my naturall eyes yet by the grace of God I apprehend such spirituall comforts from heauen as I beleeue they are euen here the very true earnest of that ioy which I shall hereafter receiue at full and though this earnest bee not the quantitie yet it is of the qualitie of the heauenly ioy there laid vp for mee after this life when and where all corporall miseries shall haue an end and I shall become a free-man of that heauenly Citie where I shal want nothing that is good nor bee oppressed with any thing that is euill But who can bee perswaded of this my happie estate to come considering my hard estate here I cannot in my bodie which is corrupt and sinfull shew anie visible token of the assurance of glory to come as it were from heauen as sanctified Steuen did whose face did shine before his Persecutors as the face of an Angell Such a confirmation of inward comfort in mine afflictions by celestiall visible tokens now needes not for that I striue not to seeme a Saint or to bee so reputed in or of the world though I doubt not but I am so wherein the more sincere I seeme to shew my selfe so much the more procure I the contempt of the world The Kings daughter is all glorious within so the children of God howsoeuer base and abiect they may seeme to the world they are beautifull within They may be outwardly as was poore Lazarus beggerly and full of corporall diseases as was holy Iob in his miseries and were not the doctrine of the bodies resurrectioÌ„ true that I beleeued it could I with patience vndergoe the harsh entertaynment that the world imposes vpon me as crosses miseries emulations enuie pouertie labour with contempt and al sorts of discontents domesticke and forraigne within without in body and minde In all which the assurance of my bodies resurrection to glorie which none but mine owne heart feeleth is the
him and reuiling of him yet did not Dauid rayle vpon or reuile him againe neither would he permit any reuenge to be inflicted vpon him but with patience endured it imputing his malicious speeches though they proceeded from his owne enuious heart to be sent from God to trie him and to put him in mind of his murder and other sinnes that hee peraduenture had forgotten conceiuing the cause to be as indeede it was that God had bidden this wicked Shemei to rayle on Dauid euen for Dauids good God powreth contempt euen vpon Princes Though Dauid were a King hee was not yet free from base malicious enimies much lesse thinke yee to bee especially if yee bee vertuous But let it not trouble you the praise remaineth for you for it is a righteous thing with God to render vnto you that are troubled rest with the Saints but to them that trouble you tribulation If your enemies lay snares to trappe you or digge pits for you seare them not for they them-selues shall bee snared and fall into the pits that they prepared for you As the Gallowes that Haman set vp to hang guiltlesse Mordecai was his owne destruction as was the fire prepared for the cōsuming of the three children and the Lyons for Daniel the confusion of the false accusers so shall all the euils that the wicked practise and intend against you fall vpon them-selues They may trauaile with wickednesse hauing conceiued mischiefe but the fruit of their breath shal be their owne confusion Saluation belongeth vnto the Lord and his blessing is vpon all them that trust in him And that encouraged Dauid hauing had experience of the loue power of God to say that if ten thousand of the people should rise against him and compasse him round as Pharaoh and the Aegyptians did Moses the Israelites he would not be afraid Such was his cōfidence in Gods ready defence who deliuered him at all times in all places from all dangers plotted against him by Saul Euen so hee deliuered Iacob from Laban his Vncle and Esau his brother Isaac from being sacrificed by Abraham Ioseph from his brethren and from the malice of Potiphars wife and Iob from the power and malice of Satan and thinke not ye that God was Dauids God and Iacobs God and Isaacs and Iosephs and Iobs God only a God of our godly Fathers and not our God and the God of all the faithfull to the end of the world Trust yee in him be doing good shun to doe euill and yee shall find him likewise your God and to worke for you and your children as great things for your defence and according to yours and their necessities as euer he hath formerly done for Hee was Hee is and for euermore will be a refuge for the poore and that in due time euen in greatest affliction yea euen in the very moment of neede hee will be neere you though hee may seeme sometimes to tarrie long and ye may thinke hee hath forgotten you be patient waite his leisure for comming hee will surely come and will deliuer you in time most conuenient Hee knoweth what yee want and the time fit to giue it you and therefore whatsoeuer and whensoeuer he giues you thinke it is the thing fittest for you the time most conuenient to giue it you in He is a Father of the fatherlesse and a Iudge of the widdowes cause hee knoweth what is fit for them all and will administer it in due time PART VIII Hypocriticall lowlinesse to deceiue IT is the nature of the wicked hypocritically to dissemble lowlinesse loue to the poore and needy to cause them to fall into their nets by heapes and so to sucke from them as is daily seene by experience their lands goods as Achab did Naboths vineyard and to draw you into their societies to the end you should followe their euill course of life A matter too frequent in our dayes Beware therefore of these kinds of fawnes and flatteries and flatterers for when they smile most vpon you they practise most to deceiue you and to betray you As Dauid complayned in his time of the flatterers in SAVLS Court who though they hated him without a cause spake deceitfully vnto him and with lying lips flattering tongues How did Absaloms by flattery insinuate into and gayned the hearts of the people Dauids subiects to supplant his Father and to gayne the Kingdom to himselfe Tertullus the Orator by flattering Foelix moued him against Paul Hee that slattereth a man spreadeth a net for his steps How did the Iewes flatter Christ when they went about to betray him about the giuing of tribute to Casar examples are infinite Take heede there are some that when they intend most mischiefe will be then most humble bowing themselues in a counterfeit curtesie before him they purpose to deceiue yet before hee perceiue it they will be vpon him and hurt him and although such flatterers be so weake as they can doe you no harme by violence yet will they seeke and when they find oportunitie they will doe you mischiefe As yee would therefore auoid flatterers not to bee deceiued by them so flatter neither your selues to thinke yee bee what indeed yee are not nor others to make them beleeue what yee meane not for none flatter but wieked men and harlots for the word can neuer be taken but in the ill part and therefore Dauid calls flatterie deceit They speake deceitfully saith he euery one to his Neighbour flattering with their lips speaking with a double heart and so vnder colour of cōfort they seeke to cōfound the poor making a mock of the confidence and trust that the poore haue in GOD hauing them in dirision in regard of their basenesse boasting themselues of their owne pride and of their owne hearts desire blessing themselues in their aboundance insomuch as they shew themselues contemners euen of God himselfe flattering him yet with their mouth and dissembling with him with their tongue and in their pride doe flatter themselues to haue no cause to seeke God nay they thinke indeed there is no God and so declare they by their actions My familiar friend saith Dauid whom I trusted which did eate of my bread hath lifted vp his heele against me It is better for you to bee rebuked of your friends then to bee flattered of your secret enemies therefore admit no flatteries or flatterers Be yee the same yee seeme to be neither to flatter nor be flattered Speake euer as yee thinke and thinke as yee speake and neuer speake or thinke but that which is good and truely profitable And vexe not your selues to see the wicked prosper by their crouching flattering though they become rich desire not to be like them that feare not God howsoeuer glorious they seeme neither desire their societies it is a