hell there David might have found him but there hee sought him not And this is the miserable end of a wicked mans prosperity The consideration whereof may be a stay unto us against that great temptation that troubled David and Ieremy and still troubles them that are weake in faith to see the prosperity of wicked men to see it goe well with them that be evill and ill with them that doe well Dost thou see an ungodly man laden with wealth honour and ease dost thou see an hypocrite and an evill liver blest as Esau was with the dew of heaven and the fatnesse of the earth dost thou see a gracelesse ruffin one that feasts without feare drinkes without measure sweares without feeling and lives without God and yet his body vigorous his coffers plenteous and his estate prosperous in a word dost thou see them prosper that seeke not the Lord but lie wallowing in that which God abhors and stand chargeable in their soules with that which separates and divides betwixt man and his God why be not discomforted at it be not disquieted with it do not fret thy selfe because of the ungodly neither be thou envious at evill doers but consider the end of those men that is the Apostles expression Iames 5. 11. You know the patience of Iob and what end the Lord made with him though he curst him at first yet he doubled his blessing upon him at last so stay till you see what end God will make with these men surely O God saith David Psal 73. 18. Thou hast set these men in slippery places thou castest them downe into destruction a man that stands in lubrico in a slippery place as on ice or glasse shall have much a-doe to keepe himselfe upright though no body touch him but if one should come upon him unawares and give him a sudden justle or a sudden rush he hath no power in the world to uphold himselfe but must fall and that dangerously and this is the case of wicked wealthy men they thinke they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unmoveable and fastned on a rocke that never shall be moved but they are deceived God that knowes their standing tels us hee hath set themon slippery places and it will not be long ere God send some death some judgement some evill angell or other to give them such a sudden justle such a sudden rush that without great mercy on Gods part and great repentance on their owne part they must fall inevitably into the pit of hell And this is the first point I desire to have handled namely that the right way for a man to prosper indeed is to serve and seeke the Lord whosoever prospers without seeking of God his prosperitie in this world shall be his ruine and perdition in the world to come Secondly the manner how one that desires to prosper must seeke the Lord and that is to be done two dayes 1. Humiliter 2. Veraciter Humbly and unfainedly sorrowfully sincerely First Humiliter as the blessed Virgin Mary told our Saviour Luke 2. 48. Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing They that would find the Lord must seeke him sorrowing with sad and heavie hearts bewailing and bemoaning their owne miserable estate through sinne before God as it is said of the Israelites 1 Sam. 7. ◠When the Arke of God was departed from them they lamented after the Lord the best and truest lamentation in the world is to lament after the Lord and a man hath never so just a cause to lament as when the Lord for sinne is departed from him We read in the story of Micha Iudg. 18. 24. that when the Souldiers had taken away Micha's gods he ranne crying and weeping after them as a man distracted and deprived of all his comfort the Souldiers hearing him turned backe and asked him what he ailed saith Micha Yee have taken away my gods and doe yee aske me what I aile can yee blame a man that hath lost his gods to be out of quiet If Micha could find in his heart to lament for the losse of a false god a god of his owne making as good gods as that lying at the backe of the fire warming a man or roasting of meate as Esay speakes shall a Christian finde in his heart to lose the true God the God of all comfort and consolation and that by sinne which is the worst losse of all and that not by any others taking away as in Michas case but by his owne act and wilfull default and not be grieved nay not moved a-whit breake none of his sleepe none of his wonted sports for it as if he reckoned God as good lost as found God forbid Certainely hee that can lament for the losse of his goods and cannot lament for the losse of his God is worthy to lose both his goods and his God for ever God was angry with the carnall Iewes Hos 7. 14. because they howled upon him for corne and wine but did not cry unto him with their hearts they howled because God had scanted them in his mercie but they never howled because they had scanted God in their duty they howled for want of meanes not for want of grace which is the greatest want of all observe therefore what a despicable contemptible terme God gives their prayers hee cals them ululatus howlings like the howlings of a Dogge or a Wolfe which is a most harsh unpleasing note in the eare of a man such are the prayers of obstinate sinners in their extremitie to God They howled unto me upon their beds but they did not cry unto me with their hearts t is not the howling of the mouth that God regards but t is the cry of the heart that pierceth heaven and entreth into the eares of Almighty God you may see it in Moses Exodus 14. 10. When the Israelites were straighted at the red Sea having the Sea before them their enemies behind them Rocks and Hils of each side of them the text saith The people cried and made a dolefull howling and lamentation to the Lord Moses held his peace and see the issue Populus clamabat non audiebatur tacebat Moses audiebatur The people cried and God heard not them Moses held his peace and hee was heard Vers 15. Why dost thou cry unto me saith God when he uttered never a word nor made any noise that we can read of onely his heart cried and that was it that God listned unto and therefore if anie man find himselfe to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of such a hard and dry and brawny temper that he cannot cry with his eyes let him cry with his heart and it is enough As it is said of our Saviour Heb. 4. 6. That in the dayes of his flesh he offered prayers and supplications 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with strong cries and teares unto God hee did not onely cry but he cried strongly he did even straine himselfe in this prayers with the greatest
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 laetisicaâ—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 â—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 bâ—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 Epâ—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
conscience to serve and seeke the Lord they that live altogether by usury and oppression by bribery and extortion by fraud and ill dealing that have not God in all their thoughts who prosper more than they I answer to that and I hope I shall make it appeare that a man that seekes not God may thrive in the world grow rich and gather goods and yet not prosper neither Wealth is one thing prosperity another A man never truely prospers till hee come to have Gaius his prosperity whereof you shall read in the third Epistle of S. Iohn vers 2. I wish above all things that thou maist prosper even as thy soule prospereth When a mans soule doth prosper in grace goodnesse inwardly together as his estate doth prosper in wealth substance outwardly that none but that is true prosperitie Againe many times it falls out so and a man in himselfe shall finde it so that his soule prospers best when his estate prospers worst Many a man is like the Pine tree of which they write that if the barke be peeled off it will last a long time else it rots so God sees that many a man if hee had his barke upon him if he had the wealth of the world about him it would rot him and make him worse therefore God is faine to barke him and peele him to keepe him naked and bare and poore that his soule may prosper the better Saint Augustine gives two reasons why it pleaseth God to withhold outward prosperity from them that inwardly prosper and to denie outward blessings to them whom he hath inwardly blest with grace first lest wicked people should thinke ob has colendum Deum that Gods servants did serve him onely for these things as the Devill accused Iob chap. 1. 10. Hast thou not considered my servant Iob saith God how upright he walkes and how carefully he serves me I cannot blame him quoth Satan that hee serves thee hee doth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his owne neede to serve his owne turne for thou makest such an hedge about him and so fencest him in with thine invincible protection that none of all his enemies can make the least gap to breake in upon him doe but put forth thy hand saith the Devill manum laesivam he meanes thy punishing thy vindictive revenging hand and touch him with that as the Spider toucheth the Bee touch him to torment him and thou shalt see Iob will turne another leafe and in stead of blessing thee will curse thee to thy face Yea dost thou thinke so saith God doe thou take him to doe I le give thee leave punish him afflict him doe any thing to him spare but his life and thou shalt see Iob will serve me no lesse than hee did before and so it fell out And the same mind doe all Gods faithfull servants beare prosper or not prosper thrive or not thrive rewarded or not rewarded all is one to them they will and are resolved to serve and seeke the Lord. Secondly Lest Gods servants should beare a mercinary minde and serve him onely to make a gaine of his service and so alwayes be looking and lingering after temporall favours this would turne patientiam in avaritiam Christian patience into carnall covetousnesse and make men carnally minded in their spirituall affaires that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speakes an affection of dishonour and would discover a kinde of basenesse in Gods servants to seeke him onely for their owne ends therefore God sees it best in some cases to restraine prosperity from them that seeke him and that alto consilio upon deepe advice and great reason as you see First to convince the world of their misopinion of Gods servants Secondly to rectifie the affection of them that serve him that they may learne not to linger after that which God in his wisedome sees good to hold them short of But for the prosperity of wicked and ungodly men to returne to that of such as seeke not the Lord but rather mingle their wealth with wickednesse and mixe their prosperity with blasphemy that set their mouth against heaven and say as 't is in Iob chap. 21. 15. Who is the Almighty that wee should serve him and what profit should we have if wee pray unto him Such men as these the more outwardly happy they are the more undoubtedly miserable that which wee count the felicitie and the happinesse of such men is indeed their ruine and their bane to thrive well by evill courses You know what God did to Hophni and Phineas that were as wicked wretches as the earth could beare God let them alone let them goe on and prosper and domineere over the poore people sent them no Crosse nor disease nor judgement to interrupt them but let them take their swinge in the very height of their rebellions Why would God suffer such flagitious villaines to have their will without controule God himselfe is pleased to give an account of it 1 Sam. 2. 25. Because saith the text he would destroy them this is the event and issue of a wicked mans prosperity I have seene the wicked in great prosperity saith David Psal 37. 35. flourishing like a greene bay tree Why like a greene bay tree rather than like a greene oke-tree or greene apple-tree I will tell you what I think the reason is The bay-tree you know is green all the winter long when oke-trees and apple-trees and all other farre more profitable and fruitfull trees do wither decay and shed their leaves stand naked and bare and looke as if they were rotten dead then doth the bay-tree flourish and looks as fresh and as green as it were in the midst of the spring when other trees decay that flourisheth So fares it with wicked men in such Winter-times of the world as we had the last yeare times of dearth and scarcity times of want and penury when many a poore Christian is faine to fast and fare hard and goe with many hungry meale to bed then doe you usurers oppressors corn mongers and such others those mercatores humanarum calamitatum as Nazianzen calls them those that make merchandise of poore mens miseries then doe they prosper then doe they thrive then doe they flourish like greene bay-trees when others decay then doe they flourish then is their spring their flourishing time They flourish like greene bay trees Well but what followes in the next verse After a while saith David I sought him but he could not be found as if he had said I sought on earth in his mansion in his dwelling-place thence hee was gone there he was not to be found afterward I sought him in heaven to see if I could finde him there among the Saints and blessed soules above there hee was not to be found Where was he then Verily he was gone downe as is said of Iudas Act. 1. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gone downe to his owne place gone downe to
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 facit exoriri no doubt there is many a one in the world that is such a Lueifuga a hater of light and lover of darkenesse whose deeds are so evill that the very Sunne in the heavens is even loth to cast his beames and shine upon him and there is many a plot of ground that is purchased and possessed by so wicked an owner that the very clouds of heaven are loth and unwilling to drop their fatnesse upon it but that God as it were makes them doe it Hence we see that God hath the disposing of all these temporall blessings if the Lord undertake to make a man all the world shall not marre him we may see it in Moses Exod. 7. 1. Pharaoh did what hee could to marre Moses and to expose him to ruine and obscuritie in his very infancie but God that undertooke to make him never left him nor gave him over till hee had made him a god to Pharaoh not a god whom Pharoah should worship but whom he should feare and stand in awe of a god to execute judgements and bring plagues upon him and to remove the same againe Hannah saith in her song 1 Sam. 2. 7. The Lord maketh poore and maketh rich it were as easie to God to make all rich as to make any poore againe it were all one with God to make all poore as to make any rich for he hath the making of both but in his providence and wisedome he hath made some of both sorts that the one might helpe themselves to heaven by supplying and relieving the necessities of the other And therefore for our owne parts if we have any making any promotion or prosperitie above our fellowes we must confesse with David That it is God that hath made us and not we our selves it is God that hath made us Men when hee might have made us Beasts it is God that hath made us Christians when he might have made us Infidels it is God that hath made us rich when he might have made us poore in a word it is God that hath made us to prosper when hee might have made us to perish Hee sought the Lord and God made him to prosper But that is not all the maine thing that I observe from hence is the benefit that ariseth to us by seeking of God namely that it turnes to our owne advantage our owne profit God hath onely the glorie but the gaine is wholly ours for it is a meanes to make us prosper as David speaking of the commandements Psal 19. saith that in keeping of them there is great reward no man shall be a loser by keeping of Gods commandements but a gainer and a great gainer too for in keeeping of them there is great reward if we be not rewarded on earth our reward shall be the greater in heaven In coelis reposita est major compensatio saith Calvin the greatest reward is reserved in the heavens Thus saith the Lord that teacheth thee to profit Esa 48. 17. Oh that thou haddest hearkened to my commandements then had thy prosperity beene as a floud and thy righteousnesse as the waves of the sea thy prosperity should have beene so large and plentifull that as a floud it should have run over the bankes and the reward of thy righteousnesse as the waves of the sea that is one reward should follow upon the necke of another as one wave followes upon the necke of another so Deut. 5. 29. Oh that there were a heart in this people to love me and feare me as they have said then should it goe well with them and their children after them not that I might be a gainer and you lose but that you and your children might reape the bene fit So that as our Saviour saith of the Sabbath that it was made for man not onely for Gods service but for mans profit so it is true of every Commandement it was made for mans that is for mans good and benefit therefore you have it so often repeated in Deuteronomy These are the Commandements that I have given thee for thy wealth and for thy good It is a pretty observation of Cajetan upon that saying of God to Moses Exo. 34. 1. Hew thee two Tables Dola tibi non mihi ego enim non indigio tua dolatione Hew to thy selfe not for me for I neede none of thy hewing nor yet any of thy tables it is for thy owne and thy peoples good that I bid thee hew them so it is for our good that God bids us seeke him God hath onely the glory of it but the benefit is our own for it is a meanes to make us prosper Therefore if we love our selves and desire to doe our selves good let us seeke the Lord. I know that naturally wee all love our selves too much but spiritually wee all love our selves too little for he that lives in sinne he doth not love himselfe for he goeth the way to undoe himselfe both here and ever 2 Chro. 24. 20. Why transgresse ye the Commandements of the Lord that ye cannot prosper We use to say of one that is of a good nature but an evill husband He is no mans foe but his owne and it is true of every one that lives in any knowne sinne not grieving for it nor striving against it not making conscience to reforme it he is his owne foe indeede for he doth not onely anger God but he hinders himselfe that hee cannot prosper Why transgresse yee the commandements of God that ye cannot prosper The like speech you have in Ezek. 18. Why will you die O house of Israel God doth not say Why will you sin O house of Israel but why will ye die O house of Israel as presupposing they might wel know if they wil needs sin they must needs die for death is the wages of sin and followes it as the shadow followes the bodie The Lord speaks it with indignation Why will ye die as wondring they should love themselves no better but even to seeke their own death by rushing into sinne as a horse rusheth into the battell that 's the expression that God useth Ier. 8. 7. They rush into sin as a horse rusheth into the battell And why as a horse rusheth into the battell and not as a man rusheth into the battell I will tell you what I thinke the reason is The horse when he rusheth into the battell doth not know that those whom he rusheth on be his enemies that they will hurt wound and kill him but he rusheth on them without feare or wit and rusheth upon his owne death so foolish men doe not know at least will not know This they willingly know not as Saint Peter speakes that sinne is such an enemie to them that it doth hurt kill and damne them thereupon they rush upon sinne without feare and so runne upon their owne destruction Therefore it is a good meditation of Saint Austin upon that prayer of David Deliver me O Lord
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 meanâ—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 â—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 clogâ— 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 tâ—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 â—â—ophni and Phinâ—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 herâ— 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
him a discourse of spirituall matters that concerne the right way of pleasing God and of saving his owne soule He is of Gallios temper Act. 18. 17. hee cares for none of these things he hath other gates matters to trouble his head withall But then come to a faithfull man one that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like-minded to God and his blessed Apostle one whose minde and whose affection stands that way and tell him of these things you cannot please him better that is the doctrine he desires to heare of he will care for it even naturally without any irkesomenesse or reluctation Therefore as a father said of Saint Lukes Gospel which hee dedicated to one Theophilus which signifieth a lover of God si Deum diligis ad tescriptum est If thou beest one that lovest God this Gospel is written to thee Thou art the Patron of it as well as He In like manner if thou beest a faithfull man this faithfull saying is spoken to thee this text is written for thee and thou must take it to thy selfe as if it concerned thee and none else but thee We reade 2. Reg. 9. 5. when the Prophet came to anoynt Iohn to be King over Israel and found him fitting among the rest of the captaines hee delivers his message indefinitely to one of the company not naming Iehu nor any man else I have an errand to thee O Captaine Iehu answered to which of all us The Prophet replyed To thee O Captaine when Iehu perceived that the message concerned himselfe hee rose up immediately and obeyed it In like manner when a preacher comes into the congregation and delivers his message indefinitely to the whole assembly thou must know that his errand is to thee he comes with a message sent from God to thee and thou must impropriate it to thy selfe as if it pertained to none but thee for this is that which frustrates all our sermons and makes all our preaching voyd and uneffectuall because men take our messages to be errands sent from heaven to others and nothing at all concerning or belonging to themselves Iust like little children when they looke in a glasse they thinke the face they see there is the babyes face and not their owne But I am perswaded better things of you my brethren that you are not in the number of those that doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 13. 46. put away the word of salvation from your selves to others and therefore let me use the words of Lydia if you desire of God to bee counted faithfull give heede and good regard to what is here set downe for the holy Ghost commends it to be a faithfull saying as if no other saying were so faithfull as this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is a faithfull saying But that is not all I had rather draw it another way and make another kind of use of it as thus namely that I and you and every one that beares the name of Christian would be perswaded to imitate this example to follow this patterne and to learne of God and his blessed Apostle to be faithfull in all our sayings that whatsoever we speake whatsoever we affirme it may be Bonafide as we say so honest and so unfained that wee may bee able to maintaine it without an oath This that we have spoken is a faithfull saying For I beseech you 〈…〉 what are all your bonds all your oathes all your Affidavits all your witnesse-bearing to mens words but proles humana persidiae the very issue and off-spring of mens unfaithfulnesse if men were but true and faithfull in their sayings all these things neede not be It was a sad complaint of David Psal 1 â— 1. Defâ—â—erunt fideles a filijs hominum we render it faithfulnesse is minished from the children of men Thankes be to Gods mercy we cannot say that faithfulnes is quite abolished or utterly cashered from the sons of men only this diminuta it is lessened it is abated it is minished exceeding much for by all report men are nothing neere so faithfull so honest so plaine dealing in their words and in their actions as they were in former times faithfulnesse is â—â—nished from the children of men And if it bee from the children of 〈◊〉 there let it rest and goe no further farre be it from the children of God to bee defective that way if the children of men I meane carnall unregenerate men the men of this world or the men of the earth as David termes them if they bee unfaithfull or unconscionable they doe but their kind their punishment though it be just it shall be lesse you know that blackenes in a Moore is no deformity as it is in another man but if the children of God that make profession and protestation of their faith to God shall make no conscience to deale treacherously and unfaithfully with men God cannot chuse but take it hainously and revenge it sharpely It is indeed an odious and hatefull sinne both to God and man Psal 101. I hate the sinnes of unfaithfulnesse there shall no such cleave unto me sinne you know is of a cleaving nature whatever sinne a man is given to he shall finde that it will cling like a burre unto him hee shall have much adoe to shake it off therefore the Apostle gives it the right terme and calles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12. 1. the sin that hangath on so fast but there is one finne above all the rest the sinne of unfaithfulnesse so harefull in a good mans eye that David vowed to himselfe that whatever other sinne stâ—â—ke by him hee would surely shake off that that odious infamous sinne should never cleave unto him I hate the sinnes of unfaithfulnesse there shall no such cleave unto me contrarily it is the glory and crowne of a christian man to bee accounted and approved a faithfull man as God gives this restimonie of 〈◊〉 Num. 12. He is faithfull in all my house c what ever businesse or imployment God set him about he 〈◊〉 it and did it faithfully what a deale of accounts what a deale of back reckonings might he spared if such 〈…〉 were but knowne to bee like those overseers of the â—emple I meane faithfull in thâ—it dealings 2. Reg. 12. 15. there was no reckoning made with the men into whose hands they delivered the mony for saith the tent they deals faithfully neither is it only a commend abit thing among men 〈◊〉 a thing wonderfull exceptable to God it is that indeede which is called by the schoolemen Gratia gratum sacies it is a grace of God that makes even God himselfe in love with a man A faithfull man may truely be termed Vâ—â—r Dei the very wife and spouse of God according to that saying of God himselfe Hos 2. 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse so that as a good natured husband will beare with any other weakenesse and winke at many just occasions of offence in his
of piety to God but when the poore and hungry come to them as Christ came to that Figtree hoping to pull some fruite of charity and mercy from them there is nothing to be found but leaves good words perhaps and that is all beleeve it such men are nigh unto cursing and it is Gods infinite mercie if hee doe not blast their estate as Christ did the Fig-tree that it shall never prosper to them nor theirs The other wonder of Christ that did any hurt was that Mat. Chapter eight The drowning of the Swine and yet that was the devils doing Christ onely gave way to these evill spirits which seeke the destruction of man and beast to carry them headlong into the 〈◊〉 as they would carry us too but that God above who stiles himselfe The preserver of men is pleased in mercy to keepe out of their clutches and this was symbolicall too to let us understand how God hates all those that are of a swinish disposition that is all drunken sots that like swine have neither wit nor grace to moderate themselves in the use of Gods creatures and all lazie beasts that mind nothing but their bellies as you know a Swine is one of the laziest creatures that a man can keepe it doth him no worke nor service at all or lastly All hoggish worldlings and miserable muck-wormes of the earth that never doe good till they come to die let all such tremble and feare and call to God for mercy least in his just judgement hee deliver their soules into the hands of those hellish Fiends to carry them headlong as they did the swine into the lake that burneth with fire and brimestone for evermore there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth These are the two severest wonders that ever our Saviour did or suffered to be done as for all the rest looke into the Stories of the Gospel which are the Acts and Monuments of Iesus Christ you shall finde to be all gracious all beneficiall all healing and saving wonders Never any man came to him for sight that went away blind never any came to him for hearing that went away deafe never any came to him for health that went away sicke In a word you shall never finde that ever any man or woman came to our Saviour for any help or mercy that ever went away confounded or disappointed of their hopes Now beloved Christ is the same Iesus still that then he was Coelum non animum as we say though he have changed his place he hath not changed his nature but is still as favourable as indulgent to mankind as ever he was if we doe but as truly seeke unto him for our soules health as they did for their bodies So you see the nature of these wonders is altered from that they were in Eliahs times the severity of the Law suites not with the lenity of the Gospel and we must now imitate our Saviour in works of mercy not follow Eliah in prayers for judgment We see Luk 9. 54. When the disciples fingers itched to be revenged on the Samaritans for their base discourtesie in not entertaining our Saviour Master said they wilt thou that we command fire from heaven and consume them as Eliah did We have a president for it it is a booke case Eliah did so let us doe the like these men deserve it as bad or worse than they with whom Eliah had to doe No saith our Saviour the case is altered ye know not of what spirit ye are the spirit of the Law required severity the spirit of the Gospel requires meekenesse and mercy Farre is it from the good Spirit of Christ and of God to stirre up any mans heart to private revenge not an Eagle but a Dove was the shape wherein that holy and healthfull Spirit made choise to appeare Let us therefore all that are called Christians follow no other president but our Saviour Christs whose onely lesson that ever he set us to learne of him was 〈…〉 and meeke and so doing we shall finde Requiâ—m animabus 〈…〉 owne soules The third and last reason that may warrant Eliah in praying for a judgement was 3. Necessitas rei the necessity of the thing it self that holy Prophet had spent his strength in vaine Sermon upon Sermon warning upon warning threatning upon threatning and when he saw that nothing would worke them to goodnesse then he prayes for a judgement not in a vindictive way to be revenged upon them but as a desperate remedy knowing that that or nothing would bring them to good as it is said 2 Chron. ult God sent his Prophets rising early and sending them and used all gentle meanes to reclaime them till there was no remedy then he sent destruction In this sence if a man have a child or a friend or any one that he wisheth well to his soule if he be growen to that passe so hardned in sinne that no perswasions no warnings no threatnings will worke upon him I am perswaded it were neither uncharitable nor unpleasing to God if a man should pray Lord smite him correct him lay some medicinall some healing punishment upon him that he may see the errour of his wayes and may returne and repent and so be saved Vpon these and the like grounds I suppose Eliah might with a safe conscience pray for a judgement but then the next question is Why hee should make choise to pray for this kinde of judgement of drought and dearth for want of raine rather than any other I will tell you what I think the reasons may be 1. Because it was an uncontrouleable a convincing judgement if Eliah should have brought any earthly or visible judgement as Sword or Pestilence c. they would have imputed it presently to some secondary meanes and causes now this was a heavenly an invisible judgement the stoppage of the cloudes the detaining of Raine and the burning and scorching of the 〈…〉 judgement from heaven and 〈…〉 needes confesse to be Digitus the 〈…〉 God not Aliqnid humani no handy worke of any mortall man For this was the fallacy which the Scribes and Pharises put upon our Saviour Mat. 16. 1. When they had seene all the miracles and wonders of Christ how hee cured the sicke c. they conceited that these things might be done by slight of hand by art Magicke by Beelzebub or by Conjuration c but say they Shew us asigne from Heaven and then we will beleeve They knew that a Magician or a devill might doe much upon earth but he could doe nothing in heaven therefore say they shew us a signe from Heaven and we will beleeve So here to prevent all misconceites Elias prayed and procures a judgement from heaven and that a convincing a cutting judgement for you must know that the people at that time left off to worship the true God and fell to worship Baall the Sunne the Moone and all the Hoast of Heaven trusting no doubt that these gods of
more by his friend than perhaps hee sees or perceives by himselfe Hence I take it the Prophet Gad is called Davids Seer 2 Sam. 24. 11. Wee know that David was a Prophet himselfe and had Revelations and Visions from God as well as Gad and yet even hee had a Seer deputed for him and doubtlesse Gad had a speciall inspection into Davids wayes and actions and saw more by him many a time than he saw by himselfe and brought backe many of his sinnes to his sight and remembrance which had formerly escaped him unseene and unrepented for this cause I suppose doth the holy Ghost entitle him Davids Seer So Num. 10. 31. when the Israelites were travelling in the Wildernesse towards the land of Promise though they had the Cloud to direct them by day and the Pillar of Fire to direct them by night yet they desired Iethro to be in stead of eyes unto them as the text expresseth it Why What need had they of Iethro to be eyes unto them seeing they had the infallible guidance and direction of the Cloud and Fire of God Yes for though these were guides unto them in generall yet for particular places and passages in the desart Iethroes direction was instead of eyes unto them because he knew the dangers of the wildernesse which they knew not So though a man for the generall course of his life and conversation may have the heavenly guidance of Gods holy Spirit and the blessed Guardianship of Gods holy Angels yet in particular cases and circumstances of a mans demeanour and carriage a Iethro a loving friend that will deale truely and plainely with a man may be in stead of eyes unto a man to informe him of what is a right and reforme him in what is amisse to shew him much good and save him from much evill that might befall him They say that a Mole is blinde all her life and never seeth till the very point of death for then the extremity of the paine breakes open the filme of her eyes and then she seeth but then her sight doth her no good Whether it be so or no I dare not affirme But so I have heard and so I have read and surely me thinks it is a lively resemblance of the wretched estate of some kinde of men that goe blindlings on in an evill course of life like the blinded Aramites 2 Reg. 6. that thought they had beene in the way to Dothan when they were in the midst of Samaria so these thinke themselves in the way to heaven when they are in the midst of Sathans kingdome and dominion till they come to die then the extremity of their paines may peradventure breake open the filme of their hearts to see their owne miserable estate through sinne before God but who can tell whether their sight doth then doe them any good and not rather torment them the more Happie therefore is that man that can meet with such a friend as Iob and Iethro was that will be instead of an Oculist unto him to open his eyes by sober admonitions and seasonable reprehensions that hee may see his sinnes in time and save himselfe from this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Peter termes it Acts 2. 40. this perverse untoward generation We read 1 Sam. 14. 27. that when Ionathan had tasted the hony with the top of his rod the text saith his eyes were opened and he saw that he had done amisse This in my conceit is a lively resemblance of loving reprehension the Rod you will say is an embleme of correction and castigation and the hony may well passe for an embleme of a sweet and loving disposition put both these together the Rod and the Hony Reprehension and love or sweet and loving reprehension if any thing in the world open a mans eies and make him see hee hath done amisse that will doe it And this may be one reason why David desired to be smitten to be reproved ut videat that he might see his sinnes 2 Vt doleat that he might grieve for his sinnes It is with many a man as it was with Iob who lost his cattle lost his children lost all the goods hee had yet all these losses never troubled him till there came a nuntio a messenger that told him of it then Iob rent his cloathes and humbled himselfe in dust and ashes thus doth many a man run on in a carelesse course of sinne till hee hath lost himselfe lost his soule lost the favour of his God and the hope of heaven by Christ yet all these losses never trouble him untill some nuntio come some good Minister or neighbour or messenger from God and tell him how the case stands betwixt God and his soule then he grieves then he grones then or never will hee humble himselfe before the Lord as Saint Paul told the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7. 8 9. Though I made you sorry with a letter I doe not repent me because your sorrow brought you to repentance So hee is a happy man that can make his friend sorry for his sinnes either by letter as Paul did here and Eliah elsewhere 2 Chron. 21. 12. who would not goe to Iehoram to reprove him to his face but left a letter or a writing to be sent unto him which was brought him afterward when Eliah was either absent or dead and a bitter one it was as there you may read I say either by letter or by word of mouth any way he that can make his friend sorry for his sinnes doth him an happy kindnesse because this sorrow may bring him to repentance repentance brings him home to God and in God every man hath his quietus est a happy discharge from all his sinnes And this may be another reason why David desired to be smitten yet more ut doleat that hee might grieve for his sinne 3 Vt desistat that he might leave his sinnes we read Num. 22. 34. that when Balaam for the wages of unrighteousnesse was riding on to curse the people of God and that God had opened his eyes to see the revenging Angel that withstood him in the way and saw that the Angel did not smite him with his sword as he might have done but onely smote him with his word and reprehended him the text sheweth how modestly how meekely he submitted himselfe and said Now Lord saith he if my way displease thee I will get me backe againe and goe no further In like manner when thy conscience shall tell thee and Gods Angel I meane Gods Minister shall make it appeare unto thee that thy way displeaseth God that thou hast led thy life in such a way as God doth not accept be not thou more obstinate more head-strong than Balaam who is generally holden to be a Sorcerer and a Witch but if thou hast escaped vengeance and art but fairely smitten with a rebuke resolve with thy selfe and say as Balaam did Lord I perceive my way is displeasing in thy sight
grace at the Court we meane he is in great favour there And it is a phrase no lesse usuall in scripture Gen. 6. 8. Noah found grace in the sight of God i. e. hee found favour in his sight and God Almighty saith of Moses Exod. â—3 12. Invenistâ— gratiam coram me Thou hast found grace in my sight i. d. favour and good acceptance And so the Angel greets the blessed Virgin Luke 1. 28. feare not Mary Invenisti gratiam Thou hast found grace i. e. thou art highly favoured of the Lord. So that the grace of God and the favour of God are as Ioseph said of Pharaohs dreams both one and the same Now the thing that I muse upon is this that the grace and favour of God is thus often if not alwayes exprest in the Bible sub termino inveniendiâ— under the name and terme of finding It is not barely said of Noah and Moses and the Virgin Mary fuerunt they were in grace and favour with God but Invenerunt they found it this phrase doth certainely seeme to imply as Oleaster well observes that the grace and favour of God is sometimes found as a poore man findes a treasure or a bag of gold non industriâ sed casu not by any industry or paines taking for it but meerely by casualty and Gods providence in it As when Iosephs brethren found their money in their sackes mouthes it inriched them and it ravished them too with wonder and admiration Gen. 42. 28. in like manner when a poore disconsolate wretch shall without all desert and beyond all expectation finde a sensible experiment of Gods favourable goodnesse towards him how can hee chuse but even blesse himselfe and say Lord what am I that such a favour should be cast upon me In a word as Iacob answered his aged father when hee questioned him about the matter of his venison Gen. 27. 20. How is it that thou hast found it so quickly my sonne saith he Because the Lord thy God brought it to my hand In like sort if any shall seeme to question the matter how it comes to passe that some one man findeth favour and riseth to preferment so easily and so quickly over that some others doe which to our thinking deserves it better In promtu ratio the Lord their God brings it to their hand when God brings a blessing to hand the labour is not long to finde it But that by the way I shall here take occasion to resolve you of two questions which doe offer themselves to your consideration the first is this when a man wants the grace and favour of God how shall he doe to finde it the second is like unto it when a man hath found Gods grace and favour at his need how shall he doe to keepe it that hee doe not forfeit it nor loose it againe I will answer you for both in a word Dost thou want the grace of God and fayne wouldest finde it Thou must doe two things for it First thou must depreciari teipsum it is Tertullians word thou must disparage and disgrace thou must humble and abase thy selfe before the face of God for if that bee true which our Saviour saith John 10. 35. non potest solvi scriptura The scripture cannot bee broken then no man living can finde Grace with God but he that is truely humble for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Let one example serve for all and it is a seasonable one for this time that of the blessed Virgin of whom wee spake before the Angel told her as you have heard that shee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highly or extraordinarily in favour with God for indeede she had such grace as never mortall woman had the like with God to bee made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God and to beare him in her body who in his body bare away the sinnes of all the world to give her owne Saviour sucke it was a favour beyond expression well but whence came this to passe that the Virgin Mary found this favour with God rather then any other virgin in Israel no doubt as our Saviour said in another case many widowes were in Israel in the dayes of Elizeus but to none was the Prophet sent save onely to the widow of Sareptah so many virgins were in Israel in the dayes of the virgin Mary yet to none was the Angel sent but to her onely And why to her and not to them shee that knew it best gives the reason herselfe in her Magnificat which we daily read My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour for why Respexit humilitatem saith shee Hee hath regarded the lowlinesse of his hand maiden It was not then for her lovelinesse but it was for her lowlinesse not for her hansomenesse but for her humblenesse that she found such grace and favour with God above her fellow virgins Other Virgins there might bee that were as chast as she as beautifull as shee and farre more wealthy and gay then she was but no Virgin in Israel nor in all the world was so humble nor so lowly as she was and this was the onely materia struendae misericordiae if I may so speake the matter that Gods mercy had to worke upon that that onely was the foundation and ground worke of all the grace and favour that she found with God In like manner if thou dost desire to bee partaker of the same mercy to finde favour with God as shee did thou must also be partaker of the same humility thou must bee humble and lowly as shee was doe as Benhadads servants did to Ahab 1. Reg. 20. 31. We have heard say they that the Kings of Israel are merciful kings let us goe then and put sackcloth upon our loynes and ropes upon our heads and so humble our selves before him peradventure wee shall finde favour with him that we shall not die but live so thou hast heard that the God of Israel is a mercifull God stand not then upon termes of ease or state if thou lovest thy selfe but goe and humble thy selfe unto him prostrate thy selfe before him pray and seeke his face in the lowliest the dejectedst the devotest manner that possibly thou canst expresse both with thy body and with thy soule and beleeve it for a truth if any thing under heaven bring thee into favour with the God of Heaven that will doe it deprectari teipsum to disparage thy selfe Secondly thou must Appropriare Christum thou must appropriate Christ unto thy selfe thou must shrowd thy selfe under thy Saviours wings thou must sue to God under his protection and patronage and as the Herodians Acts 12. made friendship with Blastus the Kings Chamberlaine to helpe them into favour with Herod so must thou make friendship with Iesus Christ for it is hee and onely he that can helpe thee into grace and favour with thy God Gratificavit nos in dilecto saith the
conference with thy God and beleeve it if there bee any meanes in the world to fasten and rivet the favour of God unto thy soule that will doe it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to walke aright with God I have done with the first generall part of my text concerning the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or what is meant by the Grace here spoken of Come we now to the second and that is the Author and Owner of this Grace exprest in the next word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God claimes it at his owne peculiar and calls it by a terme of propriety My Grace to shew that none hath to doe with the dispensing of that but himselfe alone Now if you marke the course of Scripture you shall observe that there is not any thing which belongs to man but in one place or other God claimes it for his owne Though he hath given the earth to the Children of men yet hath he not alienated it from himselfe but that still The Earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof whatsoever fulnesse the earth affords us whether it be Fields full of Corne Folds full of Sheepe Orchards full of Fruit Tables full of Meate c. all these fulnesses are the Lords who openeth his hand and filleth all things living with pleâ—teousnesse And not onely the earth in generall and the fulnesse thereof but the very Cattell and Beasts of the earth are all the Lords too Psal 50. 10. All the Beasts of the Forrest are mine saith God and so are the Cattell upon a thousand Hills The Beasts of the Forrest we know are ferae naturae of a wild unruly nature they know no Master acknowledge no owner are in subjection to no keeper yet because the Lord takes care of them gives them their being and provides them their food therefore doth he justly claime them for his owne and saith All the Beasts of the Forrest ar e mine and so are all the Cattell upon a thousand hills whether they be sheepe or goates Neate or Fowle there 's no man living hath any right unto them upon earth but he holds it in capite and hath his right from the God of Heaven Not onely so but the very Corne in our Barnes the Wine in our Cellers the Wooll upon our Sheepes backes the Lord claimes for his owne as yee may see Hos 2. 8 9. For God bestowes his blessings as the Sunne doth his beames in such a manner as that they depend still upon himselfe after he hath bestowed them Nay to come neerer yet the very money that is in our purses or coffers whether we keepe it close to hatch a purchase or put it out as the Lyon puts out his claw to rend and gripe the poore needy borrower wheresoever God findes it he claimes it for his owne Hag. 2. 8. The Silver and the Gold is mine and as little conscience as men make of their gaines they must one day be accountable to the Lord How they got it how they used it and how they wasted it All this is to let us understand to whom wee are beholden for our Lands for our goods and for whatsoever else we inherit or injoy in this world even to the Father of lights as Iames termeth him Iam. 1. 17 from whom both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both gifts and goods and all descend unto us therefore as in the sacrifices of old whosoever had the flesh God had the fat so whosoever hath the goods of this world let God have the glory for his they are and from him we have and hold them But there is one thing in my text for which wee are more beholding to God then for all the rest and that is for His Grace other things though they come originally from God yet they come mediately by the meanes of other instruments by Parents or friends or Benefactors but Grace is a thing that comes solely and onely immediatly from God as there was no corne to be had in Egypt but from the hand of Ioseph so no grace to bee had on earth but from the hand of God He is the God of all Grace as Saint Peter truly stileth him there is no grace whatsoever that is wanting in man but there is a gracious supply to be had in God which made David as it were in a rapture to cry out and say Oh tast and see how gracious the Lord is Psal 34. 8. First tast and then see because as a man can never truely tell the sweetnesse of honey till he have tasted it first so can hee never truely see nor perceive nor understand how gracious a God the God of Heaven is till he have first had a tast of Gods grace and an experience of Gods favour in himselfe and for his owne soul Tast then and see how gracious the Lord is Gracious in his Throne for it is the Throne of Grace Heb. 4. 16. gracious in his spirit for it is The spirit of Grace Zach. 12. 10. Gracious in his Word for it is the Word of Grace Acts 20. 30. and above all gracious in himselfe for Hee is the God of Grace yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The God of all Grace 1. Pet. 5. 10. And therefore dost thou desire wisedome Hee is the God of that Grace dost thou want patience hee is the God of that too dost thou stand in neede of Faith or Hope or Charity he is the God of all these Oh what a gracicious God doe we serve and what gracelesse beasts we are if wee serve him not seeing hee hath grace sufficient for all his servants My Grace saith God is sufficient for thee In a word then for asmuch as all Grace is of God that He and none but He hath the disposall and the dispensation of it to whom hee pleaseth take I beseech you into your consideration these briefe advertisements following 1. Nâ— deficias doe not faile of it It is the Apostles owne caveat Heb. 12. 15. Looke diligently least any man faile of the Grace of God God for his part is so gracious that he denyes his grace to none but offers it and I may say gives it to every one that will but aske and accept it as the Scripture saith of Araunah 2. Sam. 24. 23. when hee offered King David his oxen for a sacrifice and his threshing instruments for wood to burne them the text saith All these things did Araunah as a King give unto the King whereas we know he did not give them because David would not accept of them but his will was to have given them and that the holy Ghost accompts as a gift and so recordeth it In like sort God offers his grace in the Word and Sacraments his will is graciously and freely to bestow it if sinfull men were but like minded to receive it and to make themselves capable of so great a mercy by desiring it It was Gods owne proposition to his owne sonne Psal 2.
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. â— 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 râ—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
am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne sake and will not remember thy sinnes there 's a gratious promise but marke the condition in the next immediate words put me in remembrance saith God and I will doe it and not otherwise for though God remember all our sinnes and can tell them better than our owne soules yet he doth not remember them to our comfort but rather to our confusion unlesse we tell him and put him in remembrance of them so that the onely way to put our sinnes out of Gods remembrance is to put them into his remembrance the onely way to make God forget them is daily and hourely to declare them and put him in minde of them If therefore thou canst not be so good as thou wouldst be not ashamed be not afraid to tell God how evill thou art tell him how ungodly how unthankefull how unprofitable a servant thou hast beene unto him and desire God to mend thee and make thee such a one as he would have thee And as Ioseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the body of Iesus so goe thou to God and begge the Spirit of Iesus even that spirit of Grace and Supplication which the Prophet speakes of Zach. 12. 10. which will come downe from heaven and bring into thy soule first Supplications to prepare thee secondly Grace to assure thee of the free and full forgivenesse of all thy sinnes And then let thy sinnes bee what they will be sinnes of death sinnes of blood sinnes of hell if thou canst finde in thy heart to pray God will finde in his heart to pardon for his Grace is sufficient to doe it That 's the first 2. The second thing whereto the sufficiency of Gods Grace doth belong is Adconsolandum to comfort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted I should have fainted saith David Psal 27. 13. for all my worldly comforts but that I steadfastly beleeved to see the Lords good grace in the land of living that is to see it before he dyed therefore we reade 1. Sam. 30. 6. when he was in great distresse had neither house nor home to shelter him neither wife nor child nor friend be any to comfort to him but his owne very souldiers began to takle of stoning him Then saith the text David comforted himselfe in the Lord his God Heare this thou poore disconsolate man that art as thy Saviour was said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sad round about thou that lookest into thy purse and there is no comfort money is gone that lookest into thy cubbord and there is no comfort provision is gone that lookest into thy barne and store-house and there 's no comfort corne and wares are gone that lookest in thy heart and ther 's no comfort cheerefulnesse and joy is gone Then looke up to God and there is comfort to bee had if there bee any water it is in the sea if there bee any light it is in the sunne if there be any comfort it is in God Therefore the Apostle justly calleth him The God of all consolation 2. Cor. 1. because when all other comforts faile theres's comfort to bee found in God For beleeve this for a truth there is no mans case no mans estate no mans soule is desperate to God but when they are at the lowest ebbe at the rest stay at the most forlorne hope then doth God speake peace unto their soules then doth hee draw out those same vbera consolationes those breasts or dugges of consolation which the Prophet speakes of Esay 66. 11. and drops downe that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that sincere milke of heavenly comfort to revive the spirit of the humble and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart The Hebrewes observe that one and the same word nakam signifieth first to repent and then to comfort and it may bee well applyed to this purpose that true comfort belongs to none but such are truly penitent So our Saviour tells us that the holy Ghost whom he calles the comforter when he commeth the first thing he will doe is to convince the world of sinne that is first put men quite out of comfort in themselves then put them into comfort by their Saviour In a word then forasmuch as comfort cannot be had without repentance nor repentance bee endured without comfort nor either of these bee attained without God it remaines that as the daughter of Caleb besought her earthly father Iud. 1. so we beseech our heavenly Father to give us the springs above as well as the springs beneath I meane that Irriguum superius the spring of grace comfort from above as well as that Irriguum inserius the spring of sorrow and repentance from beneath and then let our discomforts and discontents be what they will wee shall have grace sufficient from God to countervaile them al and as Philip said to our Saviour Iohn 14. 8. Lord shew us the father and it sufficeth us so though our sinnes confound us and our consciences condemne us Lord shew u◠thy favour as t is sufficient for us 3. The third is Ad sanandum His Grace is sufficient to cure and heale us of all those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those bodily ailements and infirmities which God for sinne doth inflict upon us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from those scourges and roddes as the holy Ghost termeth sore diseases Luc. 7. 21. for indeed they are the very rods which God useth to chasten and correct us for our follies I say there is no rod so sharpe no disease so sore but Gods Grace is sufficient to heale it and to take it off I am Ropeca saith God Exod. 15. penult I am thy Physitian or I am the Lord that healeth thee and if God be the Phisitian his Grace is the Physicke for whosoever be the instrument of our health God is the Authour his Grace is it that doth the cure Therefore in common speech when any outward malady doth befall us whereof we know no second cause wee use to say and we say well that it came by the Grace of God now if thou beleevest that it came by Gods Grace beleeve this also that by the same Grace it shall in Gods good time be remedied and removed and done away for as S. Iames saith in another case God giveth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 4. 6. He giveth more grace and sheweth more favour to heale those that are sicke and broken in heart than to breake their hearts with sickenesse that were well and whole both are from the same Grace but the one more especially the other But then the maine point for satisfaction will be this seeing it is in the power of Gods Grace to cure all infirmities and that in a moment with a word-speaking as the Centurion said Speake but the word and my servant shall be whole Why will God suffer so many of his owne Patients that have no Physitian but
himselfe to lye languishing so long under his owne hand and seeme to take no notice of their miseies The best answere I can give is that of our Saviour to his Mother Iohn 2. 4. Nondum venit hora My houre is not yet come for you must conceive there are two kindes of houres wee have our houre and God hath his Houre As soone as wee begin to sicken that wee feele but any paine or finde the want of any ease then is our houre to be healed then doe wee cry out as t is fit we should Have mercy upon mee O Lord for I am weake Lord heale me for my bones are vexed Psal 6. 2. But God hath another houre and that you shall finde 2 Chron. 7. 14. When my people humble themselves and pray and seeke my face and turne from their wicked wayes that is when they are bettered and amended by my afflictions Then saith God will I heare in Heaven and have mercy upon them and heale their Land God complaines of that people in many places that their hearts were waxen fat that they would not see with their eyes nor heare with their eares nor understand with their hearts ne convertantur ut sanem Mat. 13. 15. lest they should be converted and I should heale them So that the time of our conversion is Gods healing-time First labour to be converted and then looke to be healed and not before So Acts 3. 19. Repent and be converted that your sinnes may bee blotted out and then and never till then looke for a Tempus refrigerij a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We read Numb 12. 14. When Myriam was strucken with leprosie Moses was importunate with God to heale presently out of hand Heale her now O Lord I beseech thee Heale her now No saith God I will not heale her yet shee shall stay the time that I have determined upon her for if her Father had but spit in her face should she not have beene ashamed and kept in for seven dayes c. So perswade your selves of this that there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an appointed time that God hath set downe with himselfe in heaven when and wherein his mercy shall appeare on earth for our recovery and till that time we must wait as David saith Psal 123. 2. As the eyes of a servant wait on the hand of their masters and the eyes of a mayden on the hand of her mistresse so doe our eyes waite upon the Lord our God untill that he have mercy upon us Marke that same donec misereatur untill hee have mercy that is though God shew thee not mercy this day nor to morrow nor the next day may be not till a long time after yet let not thy heart be dismayed but let thy soule truely wait upon God untill hee shew thee mercy let him shew it when he will In the meane time know thou art under the hands of a wise and gracious God who measures every dram ofsorrow that thou feelest who will not only be about thy bed but will ever make all thy bed in thy sicknesse and will so establish and under-prop thee with his Grace that though thy body lye in paine thy soule shall lye at ease though thy outward man consume and melt away for very heavinesse yet that same Interior cordis homo as Saint Peter speakes the inner man of thy heart shall bee so strengthened with might and armed with patience and guarded with peace that neither paines of death nor the powers of Hell shall ever be able to prevaile against thee In a word if ever it shall please God to cast thee downe upon that same Lectum languoris that bed of languishing which David speakes of Psal 41. 4. for that wee all must make account of though we now lie and laze upon our beds the time may come that wee shall lie and languish on our beds wishing as they did in Deuteronomy when t is morning would God it were evening and when t is evening would God it were morning If ever such a dolefull time should happen to thee I pray God of his mercy looke graciously upon thee and say unto thy bleeding soule as he did once to that forlorne Infant Ezech. 16. 6. Dixi in sanguinibus c. when thou wast in thy blood I said unto thee live yea I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood live If God doe but say thou shalt live though thou wert in thy blood though thou wert in thy grave his word shall fetch thee for his Grace if it stand with his glory is sufficient to heale thee 4. The last and chiefest thing whereunto the Grace of God and nothing else but Gods Grace is sufficient is Ad salvandum to save the soule of every one that hath it The Apostle calls it The Grace that bringeth salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 2. 11. for as the wickednesse of man bringeth destruction so the Grace of God bringeth salvation to every soule that entertaines it Saint Paul is direct Ephes 2. 5. By Grace yee are saved whether it be meant of the Grace of God within us which our Saviour compares to Salt Marke 9. 50. Habete salem in vobis c. have Salt in your selves and peace with one another because as salt preserves the flesh so doth Grace preserve the spirit from corruption and rottennesse in sinne or whether it be meant of the Grace of God that is over and above us I meane his favour and loving kindnesse which lightneth upon us from Heaven as we pray in our Liturgie let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee Take it either way it holds good and true for by the one we are prepared for salvation by the other salvation is prepared for us the Grace of God within us prepares us for salvation the Grace of God over us prepares salvation for us so both wayes t is our happinesse By Grace to bee saved It was Gods mercifull promise Deut. 11. 12. Mine eyes shall be upon this Land from the beginning of the yeare to the end thereof such is Gods goodnesse where hee bestowes his Grace such a care hath God of their soules that his eye is upon them from the beginning of their conversion to the end of their salvation and as his eye is upon them to watch over them so his hand is with them to conâ—uct them in the right way of pleasing God and of saving their own soules Deut. 33. 3. All his Saints are in thy hand as a Father leads his childe so doth God lead his Saints by his Grace and by his good Spirit from all things prejudiciall to all things profitable to his service and their owne salvation To conclude this point because as the Schoolemen say well Ad singulos actus desideratur Gratia a man hath need of Grace to every action that hee takes in hand and that he can doe nothing well without it let us all
〈◊〉 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