Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	angel_n	earth_n	prayer_n	2,072	5	5.8252	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

downe into the soule Though we cannot command or forbid the raine to water the earth as Eliah did if we can water and mollifie the earthen hearts of men with the supernaturall raine of heavenly Doctrine and make a dry and barren soule beare fruit to God Is not this as great a wonder as the other Though we cannot cause nor command the thunder as Samuel did to terrifie the people for their sinnes yet God hath his Boanerges his sonnes of thunder still that by ratling from heaven the terrible judgements of God against sinne and sinners are able to make the stoutest and the proudest heart upon earth even tremble and quake and fall downe before the presence of God and is not this as great a miracle as that of Samuel to bring an unhumbled sinner upon his knees and make glad to cry God mercy for his sinnes In a word though wee cannot cast out devils out of mens bodies as the disciples of Christ could doe if we can cast the devill out of mens soules by the powerfull Gospell of Iesus Christ is it not as great a wonder Beleeve it brethren the conversion of a sinner to God and bringing of a soule to heaven is absolutely without comparison the greatest miracle the greatest wonder in the world And these be the miracles wherewith it pleaseth God to grace the Ministers of the Gospel therefore ye observe that the Collect for Ministers runnes thus Almighty God which onely workest great marvels c. When a soule is sicke to the death with a surfeit of sinne is recovered and revived againe by that same healthfull spirit of grace which God together with his Word doth breathe into the soule it is so great a marvell so rare a wonder that the Angels of heaven rejoyce to see it I have held you over-long in the former part of Eliahs prayer which brought the judgment heare now in a word or two the Reversing of the judgement and I have done And he prayed again the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit It well becomes the Prophets of God to be mercifull Good Eliah had not the heart to hold the people too long under a judgement when hee saw hee had done enough to humble them he desires God to reverse the judgement As it is observed of the good Angels in the old and new Testament when they appeared to any either man or woman their method and manner was this Primò terrent deinde laetisica●t they first terrified them and put them into feare then presently comforted them and put them out of feare Thus did Eliah with this people thus did Moses with Pharaoh that good man had not the heart to hold wicked Pharoah alway under a judgement but upon the least entreaty made suit to God to reverse it So dealt the Prophet with Ieroboam 1 Reg. 13. 6. when he had smitten him with a judgment and had him at the advantage that his hand was withered Ieroboam was glad to submit and say Intreate now the face of the Lord thy God and pray for me that my hand may be restored me the man of God had not the heart to deny him but immediatly besought the Lord and the Kings hand was restored and became as it was before When a judgement comes then Prophets are in season Abraham is better than a King in this case Gen. 20. 7. 17. Restore the man his own for he is a Prophet and he shall pray for thee and ver 17. Abraham prayed unto God and God healed Abimeleeh c. Goe to my servant Iob saith God to his friends Iob 42. 8. and my servant Iob shall pray for you for him will I accept So Act. 8. 24. When Peter had denounced a curse on Simon Magus he was glad to crouch and cry unto him Oh pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me Thus ye see that judgements and plagues will bring Prophets into request men commonly deale with their Ministers as boyes do by Walnut-trees and other fruit-trees in faire weather throw cudgels at us in foule runne to us for shelter In the dayes of peace and prosperity we are past over as superfluous creatures of whom there is little use and lesse neede but when the wrath of God falls on the naked soule when the conscience is wounded within and body pained without then the Minister is thought on I say no more if you desire their prayers and that God should heare them praying for you in your extremity do not slight them doe not wrong them in prosperity Remember how Ahab and all Israel were glad to be beholden to Eliah to reverse their judgment and you doe not know how soone the case may be your owne therefore as you love your soules love those that have charge of them And he prayed againe c. When I looke into the Story 1 Reg. 18. I can finde no direct prayer that Eliah made for raine But I ●iud there a twofold prayer that he made 1. A virtuall 2. A formall prayer 1. A virtuall prayer not for raine but for their conversion Oh Lord saith Eliah bring backe or b●ing home the heart of this people unto thee vers 73. and this includes all other prayers that can be made A prayer for Conversion is a prayer for every thing Ier. 31. 18. When Ep●ratm prayes for conversion Turne thou me and I shall be turned saith God I will surely have mercy upon him c. Such is the goodnesse of God that he will with-hold no good thing be it raine be it plenty be it any thing that is good for them from them that are converted and brought home by true repentance to him Therefore if thou standest in neede of any temporall mercy pray first for conversion and all other good things shall be super-added and throwne in unto thee or if thou prayest for any child or for any friend to doe him good indeed pray for his conversion and thou prayest for every thing that one prayer is instar omnium insteed of all the rest If hee be in an ill way desire God to bring him backe and for future things take no care 2 A formall prayer when he saw that the people were truely humbled and that their hearts were indeed brought home to God insomuch that they cried out with an ingemmination The Lord he is God the Lord he is God then hee buckles his head betweene his knees to shew the humble prostration of his soule and falls a praying to God for raine After humiliation any prayer comes in season Esay 1. Wash ye make ye cleane put away the evill of your doings c. And now come saith God and we will reason together now let us parle now let us confesse now pray and I will heare you Iud. 10. 17. When the Israelites put away their strange gods and turned themselves to the true God by sincere repentance and reformation the text saith

8. postulaa me c. desire of mee and I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance c. If hee that was sole heyre of Heaven and earth haeres ex toto asse as the Romans used to stile them could no otherwise come by his inheritance but by way of petition to desire it afore he had it much more so is it with us where no desire it looke for no gift no prayer no grace We see in Esay God makes a gracious promise to his people that he would put away all their sinnes take them all into his favour as though they had never sinned but marke the condition for all these things I will be sought unto saith God So though God offer his grace to men hee will not force it upon them against their wills hee will have them sue for it hee will have them desire it or they may thanke themselves if they goe to hell without it and God may justly complaine of them as David did of Naball 1. Sam. 25. 21. All is in vaine that I have done for these men Seeing then there is no backwardnesse in God to make deniall of his grace but hee is willing to bestow it upon all that are desirous to imbrace it oh be not wanting to thy owne mercy ne deficias doe not faile of it 2. Seeing that grace is the Lords nè superbias be not proud of it doe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Iames his word is cap. 3. 5. doe not magnifically lift up thy selfe aboue thy brethren whose graces are not so eminent as thine but rather as the eares of corne and the bowes of trees the more they are laden with fruit the lower they hang to the earth so the more God hath laden thee with his graces and favours be thou so much the more lowly in thy owne eyes and thinke not scorne to doe as thy God doe who though his Glory bee above the heavens saith David Psal 113. ● yet hee doth Abase himselfe to behold the things that are in the earth and as the more direct the Sunne is over us the shorter and lesser is the shadow so the more that Gods grace is over thee and in thee the lesser let the shadow of pride bee seene to come from thee for consider saith the Apostle what hast thou that thou hast uot received or what is that thou canst properly call thine owne but mendacium peccatum lying and sinne as our Saviour said of the devill Iohn 8. when hee speaketh a lye hee speaketh de suo of his owne God never put that into him so for thy sinnes thou must thanke thy selfe or rather indeede beshrewe and blame thy selfe for they are thy owne but if thou hast any grace or any vertue in thee thanke God for that for it is not thine it is the Lords seeing then thou art but a Tributary to God and hast nothing that good is but what thou art beholding and must be countable to the Lord for it nè superbias be not proud of it 3. Seeing Grace is the Lord to bestow on whom he pleaseth nè invideas doe not envie it let not thine eye be evill because God is good nor thinke the worse of another man because God is better to him then unto thee for Gods grace is his owne he may give it to whom he will When God shall take of his grace and of his good spirit as Samuel said to Saul shall give it to a neighbour of thine that is better then thou what cause hast thou to be envious at this and not rather to humble thy selfe and thinke that as Daniel told the king cap. 5. 27. God hath weighed thee in a ballance and found thee minus habens wanting to God and to thy selfe and therefore hath justly with holden his favour from thee and given it to one that will use it better for his glory and for the Churches good farre be it from any child of God to Cherish in his brest the spawne of that old serpent the divell for envy is no better as the learned have well observed there is so neere a resemblance betwixt an envious man and the divell that in the booke of God the one is taken for the other so the divell is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an envious man Mat. 13. 28. an envious man is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a devil Iohn 6. 70. How farre better would it become us in this respect to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the Angels of heaven who now at Christmas time when they saw that our Saviour would in no wise take their nature which was far better then ours but tooke our nature upon him which was farre worse then theirs and which was most of all and would have gone most against our stomackes commanded them to worship it Heb. 1. 6. they were so farre from envying or taking offence at this as that elder brother did in the Gospel when the yonger was received to grace after his riotous course that even then they sung an Anthem for the joy of our happinesse and even to this day Saint Peter tells us 1. Pet. 1. 12. they doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stoope downe as it were in duty and love to honour the mistery of Christs incarnation and to admire the grace and favour of God to mankind In a word then seeing that the Honouring of Gods grace wheresoever it lights is a quality so Angelicall and the contrary so diabolicall let it bee thy practise evermore to reverence him that hath it to judge thy selfe unworthy of it seeke it in Gods name and get to bee partaker in it but in any case ne invideas doe not envie it 4. Seeing that grace proceedes from so holy a fountaine as is the Lord ne Abutaris doe not abuse it doe not vitiate nor staine it with sinne as Lot entreated the men of Sodome Gen. 19. 8. that they would not abuse the Angels of God seeing they were come to shelter themselves under the shadow of his r●ofe so let me entreate you all in the name of Christ that you would not abuse the graces of God seeing they are come from heaven to take shelter and harbour in your brests and bosomes The Apostle speakes of some Iud. 4. that turne the grace of God into wantonnesse and that 's a woefull kinde of Alchymie as one saith singularly well would we not esteeme that man prodigally foolish and mad that would spend all his time all his substance and all his industry to finde out a perverse Philosophers stone that should turne all the gold it touched into lead and drosse even such are they that pervert the grace of God and turne it into wantonnesse into lasciviousnes into all manner of scurrility and deboistnesse and never lin till they have made a poyson of an Antidote and baned themselves with that which would have beene their blisse lucerna dei in spiritu hominis saith Salomon Pro. 20. 27. The

Signe of the Greene-dragon 1635. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Mr. VVILLIAM BIRD Doctor of the Civill Law my most worthy Friend and Benefactor RIGHT WORSHIP WHen J consider the manifold favours and courtesies that J have found at your hands J am ready to say unto my selfe as Ruth said once to Boaz Ruth 2. 10. Quare inveni gratiam Why have J found grace in your eyes that you should take knowledge of me seeing J am a stranger For mine owne part J can impute it to nothing but unto Gods goodnesse and your owne worthinesse And my onely ambition is to make you this acknowledgement 〈◊〉 the world may for though J 〈◊〉 p●●re 〈…〉 N●● 〈◊〉 Ioa●●is●t ●is●t to David 〈…〉 Sam. 24 3. so wish J to you The 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 ●●t● your ●●tate how much soever it be an hundred fold and that your eyes may see it and your heart may rejoyce in it all the dayes of your life Thus prayes Your poore unworthy 〈◊〉 IOHN GORE A SVMMER SERMON IAMES 5. 17 18. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not raine and it rained not on the earth by the space of three yeares and sixe moneths And he prayed againe and the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit THe sum and drift of this Text is to set forth the efficacie or rather omnipotencie of earnest and fervent Prayer There be two graces of God in man that may iustly be termed Omnipotent or Almighty graces God himselfe being pleased to shew his Almighty power and goodnes in them and they are Faith and Prayer 1. For the first Mat. 15. 28. O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt What a large unlimited Grant and Patent was this for a poore sinner to aske what she would and have promise of acceptance Mark 9. 23. to him that beleeveth all things are possible Looke what a beleever cannot doe himselfe God himselfe will doe it for him and yet it shal be accounted as his act and deed Phil. 4. 1● I can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Not meaning that he could do all things in generall and at large as to walke on the waters or flie in the aire c. but all things that belonged to his calling all things that concerned his Ministery and all things that pertained to the right way of pleasing God and of saving his owne soule He could pray well Preach well live well he could want and he could abound he could conforme and apply himselfe to all estates whatsoever All this he could doe not by any power or abilitie of his owne but by the strengthning grace and faith and vertue of Iesus Christ I can doe all things through Christ that strengthneth me As on the contrary Our Saviour saith of himselfe Marke 6. 5. that he could do nothing worth speaking of in his own Country 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or mighty w●rk● no worke of wonder in respect of what he could have done onely because of their unbeliefe and marke that it is not said Hee would doe no such workes there but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He could not doe them not that Christ was unable for want of power but he saw it was unavaileable through their lacke of faith For the power of God and the faith of men are like the spirits and the sinewes in the body the one moves and stirres and workes within the other if there be no faith in us there can be no expectation of any power or any helpe from God 2 The other omnipotent grace is Pr●y●r and that you may be assured it is so marke but that expression Exod. ●● 10. Let me alone saith God to Moses that I may conf●●●● them and I will make of thee a great Nation What a word was this to come from the mouth of Almighty God to bid a poore weake creature let him alone it shewes that Moses by his prayer did even as it were ●ver-power the Lord that the Lord had not the power to revenge himselfe on that provoking people as long as Moses interceded for them Such a powerfull man with God was Eliah here in my Text His mouth as a Father saith was Franum Coeli the very bridle of heaven he could even rule the heavens with his prayers as a man rules a horse with a bridle Now least you should thinke he did thus prevaile with God rather by the priviledge of his person then by the vertue of his prayers The Apostle tells us for that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee was a man subject to the s●m● passions that we are and yet his prayer tooke such good effect Eliah was a man subject c. In my Text there are two generall points to be considered 1. The condition and quality of Eliahs person He was a man subject ●o like passions as we are 2. The condition and quality of his prayer that like a two-edged sword it cut both wayes and prevailed in both kindes both to bring a judgement and to bring a blessing upon the people His first prayer like a burning fever entred into the bowels of the earth and scorcht and dried up the Rivers and Lakes and Springs and le●● no moisture in them and so brought a judgement of drought and dearth upon the land His second prayer went up into the clouds above and fetcht an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a heaven-dropping dew a happy and a heavenly raine that moystned and fatned and refreshed the earth againe He prayed againe and the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit 1 The co●●ition and quality of Eliahs person what manner of man Eliah was My text saith hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A man subject to the same passions to the same frailties and infirmities that we are Hence you may observe that no profession of holinesse no practise of piety no degree of grace and sanctification in this life can exempt or free or priviledge a man from common passions and infirmities Eliah was a man of God a mortified and a sanctified man and one of the greatest favorites in the Court of heaven and yet a man subject to passions What shall I neede to multiply examples to prove this point when we know the Apostle affirmeth even of our Saviour himselfe That he was in all things like unto us sinne excepted set but sinne aside whereof his blessed person was uncapeable for as no rust can take hold of burning and ●●aming iron no more could any ●●me or corruption take hold of his pure and precious soule set but that aside and our Saviour Christ was as Eliah is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man subject to the very same 〈…〉 and passion● of anger and feare and sorrow and sadnesse that we are and happy was it for us that so hee was for by this meanes he became as the Apostle saith Heb. 2. 17. Amercifull High-Preist one

our petitions to the divine Majestie and is never weary of it come when we will he is at leasure to heare us It is a prety observation that S. Augustine makes out of the parable proposed by our Saviour Luke 11. where he that knockt at midnight to borrow bread of his neighbour found all the whole family asleepe onely the master of the house was awake and he answered and opened and gave him that he craved though it was at an unseasonable time Nullus de janitoribus respondit none of all the porters none of all the servants none of all the children made him any answer they were all asleepe onely the master was awake and heard him when hee called Iust so it fares with us when wee knocke and call at the doore of heaven for any mercie none of all the Prophets nor Apostles none of all the blessed Saints departed make us any answer alas they heare us not they sleepe in peace and are at rest from their labours onely God Almightie who is the Master and Maker of that blessed familie hee and onely hee doth heare and answer at what time soever we cry unto him Hee that keepeth Israel neither slumbreth nor sleepeth call when we will God is alway awake to heare and helpe No time unseasonable to seeke God Secondly but more particularly for one that desires to prosper there is a choise time and season to seeke the Lord above all the rest and that is early in the morning 'T is a pretty conjecture that the Hebrewes make upon that saying of the Angel to Iacob Gen. 32. 26. Let mee goe for the morning appeareth I take it the true reason was because Iacob should not be too curious in looking and gazing upon that humane shape wherein this great Angel Christ appeared for he it was that wrastled with Iacob but their conceit is that the Angell which wrastled with Iacob all night desired to depart when the morning appeared because hee was now to goe to the rest of the blessed company and quire of Angels to sing their morning-hymne unto God 'T is but a conjecture but we may apply it thus We all hope to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the Angels in heaven let us be like them on earth too and how ever we are imployed at other times when the morning appeares let us hasten to God and aske him blessing every morning as our children doe us and no doubt but God will blesse us the better all the day after Iob 8. 5 6. If thou wilt seeke unto God betimes and make thy supplication to the Almighty surely now he will awake for thee and make thy habitation prosperous I make no doubt but a many of you are early risers that are up before the morning watch I say before the morning-watch i before the day-starre or the Sunne appeare and 't is possible for a man to be early up and never the neere but hee that riseth early to pray and seeke the Lord shall be sure not to lose his labour for he shall prosper the better all the day If thou wilt seeke the Lord c. Yea but there 's a place of Scripture that seemes to crosse and contradict it Prov. 1. 28. They shall seeke me early but they shall not finde me Is the Scripture contrary to it selfe Doth God say in one place If ye seeke me early ye shall finde me and in another place Though you seeke me early you shall not finde me How shall we know which to beleeve which to build upon I answer There 's a two-fold early Gods early and mans early Gods early is to seeke him in the first place Ante omnia adoremus Deum was the old rule before we eate or drinke before we worke or play before we doe any thing doe that first first seeke the kingdome of God and that 's Gods early Mans early is at the beginning of trouble the beginning of sicknesse the beginning of sorrow and then the wickedst wretch upon earth will seeke the Lord but then perhaps he shall not finde him hee that will not seeke him in peace shall hardly finde him in trouble hee that will not seeke him in health shall not easily find him in sicknesse yea though he seeke him early at the very first at the very beginning of it as Ioab fled to the Altar in his perplexity but it saved not his life because he never came at it in his prosperity to offer upon it So that you see if wee take mans early to seeke God we may chance to misse him but if wee take Gods early we shall be sure to finde him You then that desire to prosper remember Gods early the first thing you do in the morning let it be seeke God never thinke your selves drest till that be done let thy soules have a morning draught as wel as thy body I mean a morning prayer to fence it against the infectious ayre of the world Salomon gives the reason Prov. 27. 1. For who can tell what a day may bring forth 'T is a Metaphor taken from a wombe when a woman is in travell who can tell what shee will bring forth till shee be delivered may be a sonne may be a daughter may be a monster so when the wombe of the morning is in travell who can tell what a day may bring forth may be albus may be ater dies may be a white a happy a comfortable day may be a blacke a dismall a dolefull day wee doe not know what a day may bring forth whether judgement or mercy whether good or bad events therefore to prevent the worst 't is good to make sure worke for our owne safetie namely to seeke the Lord in the morning and then come what will come all shall be for the best God will turne it all to good Omnia cooperantur c. Rom. 8. All things worke together for good to them that love God He then that would be prosperous and speed well let him be religious and pray well for he that prayes well can never speed amisse and therefore if you see one that followes his calling and is not followed with Gods blessing it may justly be suspected that such a one restraineth prayer from Almighty God as Eliphaz told Iob in another case Iob 15. 4. Now 't is just with God to restraine prosperity from them that restraine their prayers from him 't is just with God to withhold his blessing from those that have not the care nor the grace to aske it So much for the time and order of our seeking of the Lord. Fourthly where or in what place wee must seeke God Generally wee are to seeke him every where for God is omni-present in all places to be found of them that seeke him faithfully as David saith Psalme 139. 3. Thou art about my bed and about my paths and spiest out all my wayes We little thinke when wee lie downe in our beds as a dogge lies downe in a kennell

thee more than this so say I to him that trembles at the inundation of debt upon him cannot God if hee were sought unto give an issue out of this cannot God I say if the stumbling-blocke of thy sinne were taken out of the way by a sound and serious humiliation cannot God give thee even more than that thou owest cannot God doe more for thee than thou art aware of assure thy selfe he can nay assure thy selfe he will Take not my word for it but take the Apostles word Phil. 4. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be nothing carefull so we translate it but the word signifies be not distracted or troubled in minde and what is there in the world what worldly thing I meane that more distracts and troubles an honest-minded man than the thought and consideration of his debts and dangers well but is there no remedie is there no reliefe for one in such a case yes there is one universall remedie for all evils whatsoever and that is humble prayer that is the harbour we must put into in all our ill weather and that is it the Apostle directs unto in the place-forecited be carefull for nothing but in every thing let your request be made knowne unto God in supplication and prayer and giving of thankes and the God of peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall keepe and guard your hearts as Kings are kept and guarded from all annoyances This doe then thou that art perplexed and intangled in a labyrinth of debt that thou canst find no outgate no passage no way to escape down upō thy knees to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chrysostome speaks unclaspe thy conscience before God lay open thy grievances to him unloade thy cares and wants and feares into the bosome of Iesus Christ and ifany meanes under heaven will ease and helpe thee this will doe it Beleeve it brethren all worldly policies without this are but Arenasine calce sand without lime they wil never hold together when wee have most neede of them but like untempered morter will fall asunder let earnest prayer be joyned with frugalitie skill and industrie and then expect with comfort the end that God will give and this is the way to make a poore man prosper I have but one thing more to move you in before I leave this point and that is this that you whom God hath already prospered and blest and enabled to doe good would be pleased and perswaded to give something out of your plentie to the poore and pious uses according as God hath prospered you it is the Apostles own word 1 Cor. 16. 2. He would have every one lay up in store by him to bestow on the poore and needy according as God hath prospered him for the quantitie God hath left it to every mans conscience onely in generall he is directed 2 Cor. 9. to doe as God hath prospered him we should doe therefore in this case as the Iewes doe in another case who because they know not the precise time when the Sabbath should begin and end they beginne it an houre the sooner and end it an houre the later this they call Additionem de prophano ad sacrum an addition from prophanenesse to holinesse I will not dispute the lawfulnesse of that act in particular but generally in such cases as this it is good for every man to doe rather with the most than with the least Quantiscumque sumptibus constet lucrum est piet at is nomine facere sumptus Whatsoever cost a man is at for pious and charitable uses it shall be a gaine unto himselfe We finde 1 Chron. 22. 14 when David had bestowed all his cost in preparation for the Temple a hundred thousand talents of gold a thousand thousand talents of silver thus he exprest it Ecce in paupertate meâ this saith he I have done according to my poverty as if he had said if I had beene able to doe more I would have done more but this was as much as I could reach to and this I trust God will accept say not then in thy heart if I were rich If I were able I would doe thus and thus but doe as God hath prospered thee if thou canst not doe according to thy minde doe according to thy meanes and that is all that God requires we read Mat 21. when our Saviour came riding to Ierusalem some strewed their garments in the way and some cut downe bowes and branches If thou beest not able to strew thy garments in the way of Christ that is to cloath his poore naked members then cut downe bowes and branches at least speake comfortable words to them plead for them and what thou wantest in substance make up in prayer You know the poore widdowes case in the Gospell that put her two mites into the poore mans box our Saviour Christ affirmed that she gave more than all the rest because shee gave all that shee had which testified as one saith not only her liberality to God but her confidence in God that she did verily beleeve though shee left her selfe nothing she should not lacke whereupon Saint Augustine saith Divites largiuntur securi de divitiis pauper securus de Domino a rich man gives and feares no want because hee knowes he hath enough at home a poore man gives and feares as little because he knowes he hath enough above there is one above will supply his wants Beleeve it brethren he that gives any thing with a true intent to relieve the poore and to maintaine the distressed shall doe himselfe more good than he doth them whom hee releeves and I will prove it out of Deut. 15. 7. 10. If there be amo●g you a poore man one of thy brethren within any of thy gates thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand upon thy poore brother but thou shalt surely give him and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall blesse thee in all thy workes and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto Contrariwise he that is so gripple and so base that he will part with nothing to the poore let him know that in so doing he makes a forfeiture to God of all his goods and God will be a severe exacter of it at his hands when hee comes to judgement We have a president for it in the Gospell of the man that had a talent given him and did not use it as hee ought there came an extent from God first upon the talent Take away his talent from him thē there came an extent upon his person too Take away the unprofitable servant bind him and cast him into utter darkenesse As S. Peter told Simon Magus Thou and thy money perish together it had beene happie for him if nothing but his money had perished but there comes an extent from God against all Hee and his money must perish together As the Idolater as one said of

embraced and entertained him as God doth all repenting sinners yet his elder brother would not owne him but called him in disdaine This thy sonne not this my brother but this thy sonne as if hee had beene nothing of kinne to him because he was growne into poverty and driven by necessity to make bold with his friends had he come home richly attired or bravely attended or sufficiently monied then no doubt hee should have beene his brother as welcome to him as to his father but because hee was beggerly bare and poore he was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this thy sonne O nimis inimica amicitia saith a father Oh the too friendlesse friendship of this world that want of meanes should cause want of love that a man should be valued not according to that which hee hath but according to that which he hath not I beseech you take it into your consideration whether it be not a hard matter for a man to be well contented that shall see himselfe despised and undervalued and then judge whether a man hath not reason to pray as Agur did Lord let me not come to poverty propter infamiam for the contempt and scorne that poore men are subject to 4 Lastly propter imbecillitatem for the frailty and weakenesse of our corrupted nature which is such that if our mean●s begin to faile us our faith in God is ready to faint and faile us too Though God would have us live by faith Heb. 10. 38. yet alas we count that but a poore kinde of living and as long as we can either live by our meanes or live by our friends or live by our wits or live by our shifts as long as we can live any way we will hardly be brought to live that way to live by our faith in Iesus Christ It fares with us for the most part as it did with Hagar Gen. 21. 15. as long as her bread and her bottle held out so long she was reasonably well content we heare no complaint no moane that she made but as soone as ever these were wasted and spent and done presently she falls a crying out she was undone she and her child must die there was no more hope Thus it fares with us as long as our meanes and monies hold we can be indifferently well content God Almighty seldome heares of us but if these be exhausted and gone we are presently out of heart wee thinke there is no way but one with us we and our children must perish there is no other hope unlesse God open our eyes as he did the eyes of Hagar to see the fountaine of his goodnesse that is ever at hand to supply the poores necessities and when we are quieted Beloved it is an easie matter for a man to pray for his daily bread when hee hath it in his cupboard but when our owne provisions faile us then to rely and rest upon the provisions of God that is the triall of a Christians faith It is an easie matter to swim in a warme bath every weakling every impotent body can doe that but he that can hold up his head in a dangerous sea when every wave is ready to absorpe and swallow him up that is the triall of a mans strength and life so it is an easie matter to be content in a plentifull estate where there 's no want no lack of any thing but for a man to be cast as it were into a sea of troubles where so many wants like so many waves come daily beating and breaking in upon him then to hold up his head with content and confidence in God there 's the touchstone of an undissembled faith indeed You that never yet felt any want little doe you know what plunges poore men are driven to in the time of need therefore since God in mercy doth not make you to know their miseries by experience I would have you to know it by fellow-feeling that you may learne of Agur to desire of God not to bring you to poverty propter imbecillitatem for the weakenesse of humane nature that can hardly hold out in the want of earthly meanes Thus you have heard the inconveniences of poverty which is one extreame of this vertue heare now in few words the inconvenience of Riches which is the other extreame both enemies to a mans contentment Give me neither poverty nor riches By Riches doubtlesse Agur meanes such Riches as our Saviour cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mammon of unrighteousnesse Luke 16. 9. Riches ill gotten by unjust unrighteous meanes for otherwise Salomon tels us Prov 10. 22. That the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it intimating that they which grow rich and not by Gods blessing but by such meanes as God hath accursed the Lord doth adde such a deale of sorrow and care and vexation with it that they were as good or better be without it Such riches they were that Abraham rejected at the King of Sodoms hand Gen. 14. 23. when he offered him goods and spoiles enough to have enriched him and all his houshold no saith Abraham I will not take so much as a ●hred or a shooe-latchet because it shall never be said the King of Sodome hath made me rich men shall never say that Abraham was made rich not by Gods blessing but by the King of Sodomes meanes God shall make Abraham rich or I am content still to be poore It is reported of Nevessan a better Lawyer than honest man that he should say He that would not venture his bodie shall never be valiant nor he that will not venture his soule be rich Let them that make no reckoning of their soules venture them at their perill but let all that desire contentment here or heaven hereafter make their prayers to God as Agur did From such kinde of riches good Lord deliver us And great reasons may be given for it 1 Quia onerant because such kind of riches load and clog the soule Heb. 2. 6. Woe be to him that increaseth that which is not his and to him that ladeth himselfe with thicke clay How long Marke what a base terme God gives the wealth of this world he cals it densum lutum thicke clay because it bemires and clogs us too He that increaseth that which is not his but hookes it out of other men by evill meanes he must needs be bemired must needes have a foule conscience an uncleane heart to God ward and he that ladeth himself with thicke clay must needes be clog● in his minde must needes go heavily and slowly on to heaven if ever he come there with such a lading And marke how the Prophet addes Vsque quo How long and there makes a stop to shew the indefatigablenesse of covetous men though they have enough to load them they can never have enough to tyre them though he load his house his bags his wits his memory and his conscience yet is he never weary with all

him doe whatsoever seemeth good unto him for whatsoever seemeth good to him cannot but be good howsoever it seemes to us Doe but thus thinke thus beleeve thus conceive of God and that 's the way to be content I have done with the first generall part of my Text which was disciplina pacis the discipline of peace and therein you may learne what a happinesse it is to be Content or as the world signifieth to be selfe-sufficient I come now to the second and that is pax disciplinae the peace of this discipline or the profit of this learning and therein you shall see how I for my part you for your parts and every one for his owne part may doe to attaine unto this happinesse and learne for our owne particulars to be contented with our owne estates My Text you see is generall and comprehensive and doth extend and enlarge it selfe not to any one estate or condition of life but to all conditions and to all estates whatsoever For if contentment consisted or rested onely in nobility and greatnesse what should become of the meaner multitude how should they be Content if it consisted in ease and pleasure how should they be content that worke and labour if in costly apparell and dainty fare what a case were they in that goe poorely and fare hardly In a word if contentment were limited and confined to any one condition if it were included and shut up in any one estate what should become of all the rest But the comfort is that God in mercy hath so divided and dispersed and diffused this grace into all estates of men that in whatsoever state a man is in through Gods blessing and his owne endeavour he may be contented with the poore man as content as the rich man the husbandman as the Gentleman and the subject as content as the King I have learned saith S. Paul like a t●tragonismus or a Die that falls square which way soever it lights In whatsoever state I am therewith to be Content Thus farre in generall I come now to particulars As God charged his Prophet Ezek. 14. 4. to answer them according to their Idols goe no further than their owne case and speake home to that so give me leave to lay before you certaine particular cases of discontent which are or may be your owne cases in particular and when I have answered you according to them when I have satisfied and shewed you how they may be borne with a contented minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have done The cases are fixe 1. Moses case to be crost in ones wife as he was by Zipporah 2. Elies case to be crost in ones children as he was by ●●ophni and Phin●has 3. Iosephs case to be crost in ons reputation as he was by his mistresse 4. Mephibosbeths case to be crost in ones friends and meanes as he was by Ziba 5. The Cripples case Iob. 5. to be crost in ones preferment and hopes as he was for he lay at the poole of Bethesda 38. yeares yet still one or other crost him and stept in before him 6. Hezechias case to be crost in ones departure out of this world to be called to dye as he was at such a time when a man desires most to live These six in my opinion are the principall cases and the chiefest causes that are as Aristotle speakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the makers and breeders the provokers and procurers of greife displeasure and discontent I will but strike these severall slints with a touch and away and I hope in God that each of them will afford you a sparke to inlighten my Text and to shew you the way to be content As Jacob when he blest the sonnes of Ioseph Gen 48. blest them with a crosse crossing his armes as you may see by the Text so the greatest blessing that ever came into the world came by a crosse the crosse and passion of our blessed Lord and Saviour and there is no man living so blest of God in this world but he hath some crosse or other to keepe him humble and the most usuall are these 1. Moses case to be crost with a Zipporah with an ill-tongued wife or Abigails case to be crost with a Naball with an ill-conditioned husband we wil put them both together because this crosse is like an Amphisbaena a Serpent with two heads which bites both wayes and stings at both ends and there must be a redresse on both sides or there can be no contentment on eyther As the Poets feigne of Venus that she brought forth a sonne and called his name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love this sonne of her● would never thrive nor come to any growth till shee had brought forth another sonne and she called his name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as you would say love for love Thus stands the case betwixt a man and his wife they are like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of the one will never grow nor thrive without the love of the other if there be not a reciprocall affection a mutuall endeavouring to give each other content their life will proove rather Conjurgium than Conjugium as one said rather a watfare then a welfare and they shall live in the family as Iacob and Esau did in the wombe and doe nothing but wrestle and struggle for superiority which is a hatefull life both to God and man Well but if it be thus that a man or woman be thus crost what is to be done in such a case I answer there is no way but one and that 's it my Text speakes of onely to learne to be Content But yet there is a course to be taken for that and it is this David tells us in the Psalme that it is God that maketh them that are in one house to be of one heart if therefore any discontent arise in a family the onely way is to have recourse to heaven by humble and earnest prayer and God will worke a peace twixt man and wife Wee see in Genesis as long as Adam and Eve lived at one with God they lived at one among themselves but so soone as they were divided from God by sin they became divided among themselves by discord Adam falls a blaming of Eve and accusing her to God in whom before he rejoyced as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh So marke it where you will seldome doe man and wife fall out among themselves but first they are fallen out with God and seldome agree except God hath a hand in it The Hebrewes observe that Gods Name Ichovah and mans and womans name Ish and Ishah begin both with one and the same letter now if you takeout the first letter of Gods name from a mans and womans name nothing remaines but Esh which signifieth fire This is the true reason why there is so much fire I meane so much unkinde and unnaturall flames of contention betwixt

unawares as the Apostle speakes Gal. 6. 1. besides the purpose of his heart and against the intention and desire of his soule that mans sinnes are sinnes of infirmitie which by the mercy of God shall never be laid to his charge Contrarily when a man shall hang in ●quilibrio in an even ballance as it were betwixt wickednesse and goodnesse and shal be equally disposed to sinne or not to sinne as occasion shall offer it selfe or which is worse shall doe like him Psal 36. 4. shall set and settle himselfe in a way that is not good resolving with himselfe that this sinne ●its my turne and pleaseth my humour and I will not part with it or which is worst of all when a man shall draw iniquity with cords of vanity as the Prophet spaketh as if the devill were backward and sinne would not come fast enough upon him of its owne accord shall fish and angle for it and hunt after ill company and draw himselfe and others into sinne as Fish and Fowles are drawn into a net to their ruine and destruction this mans sinnes are farre beyond the sinne of infirmity for they are sinnes of iniquity and sinnes of obstinacie and such as will cost him many a sigh many a groane many a teare before ever he shall attaine to this comfortable perswasion that there is compassion with God and salvation with Christ for his soule 2. A sinne of infirmity is knowne by the consequents of it or that which followes after it it leaves such a sting behind it in the soule that a man can never be at quiet in his owne conscience till he hath made his peace with God by a sound and serious humiliation and reconciled himselfe againe to Iesus Christ Yea it never leaves a man till it hath brought him to that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Indignation which the Apostle speakes of 2 Cor. 7. 11. that a man shall even fret and vexe and fall out with himselfe for offending and provoking so good so gracious a God It will make a man upbraid himselfe for a very beast and a foole as David did Psal 73. So ignorant was I and so foolish even as a beast before thee And it is a sure rule that of Saint Augustin peccata non nocent si non placent if a mans sinnes doe not please ●im they will never hurt him Whereas on the contrary when a man can carry away his sinnes as lightly as Sampson carried the gates of Azz● that they are no burthen to his 〈…〉 e or if they doe beginne to trouble him shall doe as Saul did betake himselfe to musicke and sport and merry company to drive it away as if one sinne could drive out another and not rather drive it farther in beleeve it this mans sinnes are no sinnes of infirmitie but they are sinnes of an higher nature and such as will cost a man deare ere hee can be acquitted of them in the sight of God And this I dare confidently affirme that there is no man that sinnes of infirmity but he i● afterward the better for his sinne it makes him the more jealous of himselfe the more watchfull over his wayes the more carefull to serve and please God than ever hee had beene in former times Whereupon saith Saint Austin upon those words of the Apostle Rom. 8. Omnia cooperantur c. All things worke together for good to them that love God Etiam peccata Domine Even our very sinnes O Lord for by sinne we have experience of our infirmitie our infirmity brings us downe to humility humility brings us home to God and in God every man hath his quietus est a happy discharge from all his sinnes This being done one thing onely remaines and that is this A man that hath sinned of infirmity will labour to bring forth that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Iohn Baptist speakes of Mat. 3. 8. the worthy fruits of repentance for you most know that repentance is one thing and the fruit of repentance is another it is not enough to repent and be sorry for what a man hath done so did Iudas so did Ahab but he must honestly and unfainedly endeavour to bring forth the fruit of repentance and that is the reformation and alteration of his life and conversation in the sight of God and men If it he thus with thee take comfort in Gods name from this comfortable Doctrine that thou art no other then Eliah was a man subject to passion It followes Eliah was a man subject to passions yet hee prayed Hence wee may learne never to be so dejected at the view of our frailties and imperfections as to forbeare our resorting to God in prayer For no man living hath so much neede to pray to God as a man subject to passions It was one part of Salomons request to God 2 Chron. 6. 29. When any one shall perceive and feele his owne sore his owne griefe and the plague of his owne heart as he termeth a mans owne corruption what shall he doe Shall hee despaire shall he be driven backe from God as Iordan was driven backe at the persence of the Arke no let him this doe let him downe upon his knees to God and spread forth his hands to heaven and the Lord which dwelleth in heaven will heare him and when he heares have mercy It was an amazed and unadvised prayer that of Simon to our Saviour Luke 5. 8. when he cried out Lord goe from me for I am a sinfull man as if a Patient should say to the Phisitian depart from me for I am sicke The sicker a man is the more neede he hath of the Phisitians presence and the sinfuller he is the more neede to draw neere to his Saviour as a man that shivers of an Ague creepes nearer and nearer to the fire You know our Saviours gracious call Come unto me all y● that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you Now as Saint Bernard saith every Christian is Animal onerif●rum a burden-bearing creature not a Christian upon earth but hath some crosse or other to clogge him some corruption or other to burthen him at times and lies heavy upon his heart what then is to be done Shall he lie downe like Issachar and couch betweene his burthen Shall he be disheartened and discouraged from resorting and approaching to God God forbid let him in Gods name come to Iesus Christ that calls him with teares in his eyes with true griefe and Godly sorrow in his heart with humble confessions and prayers in his mouth and he hath promised in verbo servatoris in the word of a Saviour that hee will release and ease him of it One thing I must tell thee by the way when thou prayest to Christ for ease thou must promise him obedience and service as the Israelites did to Rhehoboam 1 Reg. 12. Ease us of our burthen and we will be thy servants for ever Thus doe and then let thy burthen be never so

〈◊〉 then bee chargeable or burthensome to any friend or stranger and by this meanes it came to passe that what he wanted at home he found it abroad and Gods grace that was with him did ever supply him with that which was enough and sufficient for him Is it so with thee Thou that art a poore man art thou also an industrious and a painefull man that as Iacob got the blessing in the garment of Esau which signifieth Working so dost thou worke and take paines to get the blessing of thy God dost thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good that thou mayest rather bee charitable then chargeable to him that needeth and will not thy honest labour maintaine thee nor suffice the charge that daily lies upon thee Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee and let not thy wants nor thy necessities dismay thee for there is a God above that hath sufficient for thee contrarily if thou beest one that live in pleasure as Saint Paul saith of that widow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she was dead even while she lived one that spendest thy time in this world no otherwise then that Leviathan doth in the sea onely by taking thy pastime therein or like those lyllies that our Saviour speakes that neither labour nor spain but onely make a faire shew as long as it will hold Then as Iehu said to Ioram What peace so may I say to thee What grace or what favour canst thou looke for at the hands of God 4. Saint Paul was Homo in aerumnis a man full of cares I doe not meane of carnall or worldly cares or such as Martha's were for the things of this life for these he had cast upon God and had learned in whatsoever estate he was therewith to be Content but I meane of spirituall divine religious cares for the health and welfare of the soule such as he commends in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7. 11. as being the first fruits of Grace and godly sorrow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What carefulnesse it hath wrought in you how much it wrought in them I know not but sure I am it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care and that of the better kinde first an immediate care for himselfe and his owne soule least after he had preached unto others himselfe should be a cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. secondly a charitable and that a Catholicke and universall care for all Churches Christian soules under the cope of heaven 2 Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in ecclesias quantumvis remotas affectus quam si illas humeris gestaret as Beza said of Calvin hee was no lesse tenderly affected for those Churches that were remote and far-off than if he had borne them upon his owne shoulders and carried them as nurses doe their babes in his owne bosome But his third and most especiall care was for the soules and saving health of his little children as he calls them Gal. 4. 20. Of whom he traveiled in birth till Christ was formed in them His care was greater for them than either for himselfe or any others and he gives his reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for saith he I stand in doubt of you Good Parents the more they love their children the more they stand in doubt of them least they should fall to any defection or decline to any corruption or come to any disaster when they themselves are dead and gone This made Saint Paul in such perplexity for them and yet were they but his spirituall children what care then may we thinke would he have taken for them if they had beene his naturall children too then might he justly have used that word and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am in doubt of you for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke signifieth both dubius and pauper doubtfull and poore for none have so much reason to be doubtfull of their childrens welfare as they that are poorest and have least to leave them They may justly feare as the woman of Tekoah said to David 2. Sam. 14. 7. least their coales should bee quenched for so shee calles her child her coale for as coales either warme or burne as they are used so doe children either comfort or crosse their parents as they prove now when a poore man shall dye and leave his coales I meane his Orphans behind him such is the world that where you shall light of one good body that will bee a meanes to cherish and maintaine and keepe them alive there be twenty to that one so unchristianly and uncharitably minded that they care not how they use them yea though they quench and crush and put them cleane out And hence come those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those perplexities and doubtfull cares of tender-hearted parents for their children Hast thou therefore many little ones and little to leave them and doth thy heart even yearne with care and feare to fore-thinke what shall betide them when thou by death art taken from them I will give thee the same counsell that I desire of God to take my selfe and that 's this Cognovisti Gratiam Dei saith our Apostle Colos 1. 6. Thou knowest the Grace of God thou knowest that to bee a sure stay when all other props and stayes are done away That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breakes Make tryall of that Doe by thy Children as Saint Paul did by his brethren Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God and to the word of his Grace Lay them downe at the feet of Iesus Christ as they in the Primitive Church laid downe their money at the feet of the Apostles desire God to bee their Father Christ to be their Guardian the Holy Ghost to bee their Guide and when thou hast don● so then as David saith Psal 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem Returne unto thy rest O my soule then settle and assure and resolve thy selfe that Heaven shall want mercy and earth meanes before any of those that are under Gods protection and patronage shall want maintenance Never bee in doubt what shall become of them knowing that His Grace is sufficient for them I might adde hereunto many particulars as that Saint Paul was homo in vinculis a man in bonds but the grace of God unloosed them all that he was Homo in necessitatibus a man in wants but the Grace of God supplyed them all that he was Homo in periculis a man in many perills and dangers but by the Grace of God he escaped them all that he was Homo in tentationibus a man mightily troubled with temptations but by the Grace of God he overcame them al All these I purposely overslip which perhaps might comply with many a mans condition and conduce to his comfort but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the rest that S. Paul was as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee and every Christian soule to be 5. Homo in Caelestibus a man of an Heavenly disposition though his bodily abode was upon earth yet his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soules commerce and conversation was in heaven Phil. 3. 20. no marvell then that being so much acquainted with God as hee was and so conversant in heaven which is Gremium Gratiae the lap and bosome of Grace if as t is said of Saint Iohn that leaning in the bosome of Christ he thence suckt out his heavenly knowledge so S. Paul being so intimate and so entire with God who is the God of all Grace whatever else hee wanted could not possibly want Grace sufficient for him In a word then Is it so with thee though in a farre inferiour degree Art thou as every good Christian is and ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Citizen of heaven dost thou account that thy home and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time and as our Saviour set his face to goe to Ierusalem Luke 9. 51. dost thou set thy face to goe to heaven doth thy heart stand heaven-ward art thou bound for that coast as Paul went bound in the spirit to Ierusalem Acts 20. I meane dost thou set thy affections upon things above upon God and his Grace and not on things below upon the world and her goods which drowne mens soules in perdition Art thou one of that same Generis Aquilini of that Eagle kinde whereof our Saviour speakes Mat. 24. where the body is thither will the Eagles resort the body of thy Saviour thou knowest is in heaven and doth thy soule resort often thither dost thou wish as Macarius did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thy soule might goe up into heaven with thy prayers and there abide for ever with God Then what Nathan said to David in a case of conviction I dare apply to thee in a case of comfort Thou art the man whom God delighteth to favour and therefore as the Patriachs are sayd Heb. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even to kisse and embrace the promises of Christ so doe thou even claspe and hugge this promise of Grace to thy selfe and let neither thy wants nor thy weaknesses dismay thee for both in life and death thou shalt finde Gods Grace to be sufficient for thee which God of his mercy grant unto us all c. Amen FINIS