friend no otherwise than hee loves his beast would not bee a true Moral act of love And again as plain a truth it is that where the act of love doth not bear some gradual proportion to the various excellencies of the object that it is conversant about neither can that Act have any Moral truth or goodness in it For Instance to love God or Christ with no higher love than wee love inferior persons whether Friends Relations or Superiors in the world This were not Sincerely to love either of them See 1 John 2.15 and Matth. 10.37 and Luke 14.26 I add in the last place which is no less evident than either of the former that where there are relations or offices Necessarily Invested in and Inseparable from the person beloved then if our love doth not respect the object as under those relations and offices it will bee far from being love in Sincerity Some Instances will clear this also beyond Contradiction Suppose a Woman that hath a Husband and shee loves him no otherwise than one friend loves another And the Case is the same between a Scholler and his Master a Servant and his Lord a Subject and his Prince If the affections bee without reverence obedience and loyalty will either of these bee reputed true love Why no more are such to bee accounted the sincere lovers of Christ who do not bear an affection to him in all his offices and relations And this I take to bee so demonstrative a truth and of such Necessary consideration in our present inquiry that nothing could bee spoken in Judgement thereto until wee had first made our way unto it and laid it down I am sure it will bee found fundamental to the right understanding the Nature of sincere love to Christ and the greatest part of the Characters which are laid down in the scripture of this grace It might now bee here expected and it 's almost necessary to give some account of Christs personal excellencies and also of his offices what they were and briefly to intimate what new qualifications each of them would put upon a Christians Intensive willing of Christ which is but the Substratum or matter of this grace But I am not now to discourse the nature of this grace at large and so much thereof as is necessary will come in when wee lay down some of the Characters of it and I have but two things more and then wee come to them 6. Proposition The love of the soul to Chrâ—st in sincerity is not any one Indivisible act or habit but a Holy frame of spirit made up of many gracious Inclinations carrying the whole soul along with it unto Christ for Vnion and Communion with him I told you in the beginning that it is used here by the Apostle as the periphrasis of a Christian a Brother a real Saint And therefore it is not a suddain and transient flash of the soul or any one act but Comprehensive of much of that wherein the nature of Christianity doth essentially lye This follows necessarily from the last proposition And Indeed to make faith or love to Christ such single Physical acts as many do as it renders the Doctrine of Christianity perplexed so doth it exceedingly tend to the amusing of the Consciences of weak Christians and I am afraid Ingender also to licentiousness It being too usual with such persons who presumptuously conceive themselves to bee Christians because they discern as they think those supposed particular acts to take up with them and to grow remiss and careless in other duties as essential to Christianity and necessary to Salvation as those graces themselves To conclude this Proposition you may note that as love to God is the soul of natural Piety and is Incorporated into every branch of it so is love to Christ the very Spirit that diffuseth it self through and animates all those duties which are required by the New Covenant and respect Jesus Christ as Mediator 7. Proposition When wee inquire after this Love by it's Genuine characteâ—s you are not to understand thereby only such special properties as argue the essence of this grace a posteriori But you are to know that we understand it in such a latitude as leaving Room for all those Arguments by which the conscience of a Christian may bee resolved whether this grace was ever truly wrought in his soul or not And these things premised the Characters which evidently discover whether wee love Christ in sincerity are these that follow 1. Character Wee may know it by our former Convictions and the rule is this Whe e love to Christ is sincere Esa 55.1 61.1 2 3. Matth. 11.28 there hath been a Conviction of the souls undone condition without him and of the sufficiency and willingness of Christ to recover the soul out of that condition And whereever this Conviction hath been fully wrought and the wound made thereby Regularly healed there dwells Sincere love to him I put this first as containing the originall birth of Evangelical love I dare affirm No conviction no love No contrition of heart for sin no affection in the soul for Christ 1 Pet. 2.8 Every degree of true Spiritual love saith a Divine that had well studied this point proceeds from a proportionable Act of saving Faith And to the same purpose saith Dr. Preston and hee presseth it earnestly two things must concur to beget love 1. The sight of Christs willingness and readiness to relâ—ive 2. His ability and sufficiency to help These two willingness and ability Cant. 3.11 are the Crown upon the Head of Christ when undone souls do first take delight in him they are the sweet oyntments of our Lord Cant. 1.3 which by their Savour do attract Virgin souls to betroth themselves unto him What ever men may vainly talk 't is brokenness of heart Act. 2.36 37. 9.5 6. Matth. 9.12 and a sense of approaching Ruine that gives the soul the first occasion of acquainting it self in good earnest with Christ and when faith hath thereupon found the suitableness of Christ to it self in its present State of misery then the fire of love begins to burn So that it is not a blinde casual passion but a matter of right Reason mature judgement and choyce It is not a frame of spirit that persons were delivered into they know not how but such whereof they that have it can give undenyable reasons so that if the question were put to any love sick soul as to the Spouse in the Canticles chapt 5.9 10. What is thy beloved more than another beloved shee could give an Account if not so Glossy and Rhetorical Cant 1.3.12 Chap. 2.3 yet as Logical and Rational as that which is there given Shee hath seen that in Christ so much Excellency in his person and so much readiness and sufficiency as resulting from his several offices which hath even ravished her and made him comely to her for delights yea the very
irrational to love Christ because his purpose and design is to take our hearts from the pursuit of all but God And until you know God to bee your happiness you will never understand the best reasons that I may not say the only that you have to love him That man loves Christ best that most fully knows God to be his eternal rest and blessedness and loves him as such 4. Direction Get a Gospel-knowledge of Christ both what hee was originally and what hee hath stooped and humbled himself to be for thy sake why hee came into the world how hee lived and dyed and what was the Covenant between the Father and him how hee is exalted and honoured by God and what great things are promised both by Father and Son to all that in Christ sincerely draw nigh to God Oh the sweet gales of affection which by spiritual Meditation upon Christ will begin to blow within us Wee cannot muse upon Christs dyiâ—g and rising again and inviting us to love him but the fire will burn A considering Faith in Christ will naturally bud and blossome into love 5. Direction Beleeve the reality of his love to theâ— I mean that hee did all that ever hee did for thee out of a hearty and real affection to thee and that hee still desires to have the match made up betwixt thy soul and himself This fond prejudice whereby souls put discouragements upon themselves is that which spoils many a match Do not weaken thy soul by making difficulties where there are none if thou hearest Christ inviting stir up thy self oh thou convinced soul as if thou heardest him even calling to thee by Name Beleeve it that Christ is never better pleased than when hee is loved and that hee came no less to procure thy love than to testifie his own The way to love Christ in good earnest is to beleeve that hee is so in his offers of grace to us 6. Direction Understand the world throughly and bee jealous of thy own heart therein Remember that of the Apostle who knew what it was to love Christ as well as any man ever did 1 Joh. 2.15 If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Wee may well enough add Nor the love of the Son We may offer to our Lord cor fractum or a broken heart but wee must not presume to desire him to accept our cor divisum or divided heart Remember that Christ and the World are two contrary each to other and the single stream of love cannot run two contrary waies at once If our hearts bee not crucified to the world the love of Christ will never live with in us 7. Direction Bee much in attendance on those means or Ordinances wherein Christ is evidently set forth and by his Spitit wooing souls to love him If Faith comes by hearing so no less certainly doth love Christ most commonly honours his own Ordinances and Officers in making up the match between himself and souls so hee did Paul 2 Cor. 11.2 8. Direction Go to God and Christ for love When you have gotten your hearts well warmed with the use of all the fore-mentioned means then go to God and Christ and turn thy Meditations into Petitions Plead hard and heartily all those moving Considerations which were set down to usher in these Directions God delights to honour prayer in this great work of his in drawing souls to Christ No Prayer no Faith And it is as true No Prayer no Love no Marriage to Christ I have done with the Directions of the first kind and have therein almost prevented my self from going any further it being a Rule in the spiritual as well as the natural growth that wee are nourished by the very same that gave us our first beings If wee know by what means wee came by our love at first and have but appetites whetted on to a further growth wee need little more And therefore having first perswaded you carefully to continue to practise over the fore-mentioned Directions I only add 1. Direction Consider much your own Experiences and the great advantages you have made by this grace I need not tell you what they are because yee know them well enough already and the sense of past advantage will best quicken to future diligence which is the second 2. Direction Bee constant in the exercise of that love yee have The best way to strengthen any habit is to bee often repeating its Acts. Wee cannot do any thing better to increase love than to be often acting love 3. Direction Get Faith more rooted and that will make your love to bee more inflamed If you would have fruitful branches you must keep the Root of the Tree fat and if you would have any Grace to thrive you must be sure to strengthen Faith 4. Direction Take heed you bee not willingly guilty of any known wickedness against Christ for this will cause Christ to withdraw it will occasion in thy heart a jealousie and that will bee an abatement of thy love Bee conscientiously diligent in all known duties 5. Direction Get thy heart daily more throughly crucified to the world and better acquainted with Heaven and the love of God The more you love God the more you will and must love Christ 6. Direction Bee much in the Communion of Saints and then especially when together with them thou mayest look on and admire the love of thy crucified Saviour in the Lords Supper They that are most where Christ is to bee enjoyed love him best And these are briefly the heads of Directions in answer to each of these Inquires They might have been more largely insisted on and pressed but this defect must bee supplied by your selves Remember again and with that I will conclude that it is not the knowledge of these Directions that will advantage you but the serious and diligent practice of them And so Grace bee with all them that in the diligent use of these means get and inflame their love to the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Wherein lies that exact Righteousnesse which is required between man and man MATTH 7.12 Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do unto you do yee even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets THese words being brought in by way of Inference from something said before wee must look back a little to finde out the relation of them to the former verses At the 7th verse Christ commands to ask of God those things which wee want to incourage us to ask hee promises wee shall receive to induce us to beleeve this promise hee puts a temporal case Our earthly Fathers which are evil give us good things when we ask them how much more easily may wee beleeve this of a good God of infinite goodness Now as wee desire God should give us those things wee ask so wee should do to others and not only so but universally in all other things what wee would
affections both in the desires in the affections in the use in the injoyments and moderate our cares and griefs in the losse and want of worldly things to have them as if we had them not to rejoyce in and for them as if we rejoyced not to grieve for the want of them as if we grieved not seeing they are to us as if they were not they are a scheame a representation that passeth away Gal. 6.15 Nay if the world be not crucified to us and we to the world we are still in danger of this gall of bitternesse this leaven of hypocrisie This is exemplified in the Jews in Babylon they would come to the Prophet and sit before him as Gods people with much seeming reverence and appearance of devotion and affection they hear thy words but they will not doe them for with their mouth they shew much love Ezech. 33.31 but their heart goeth after their covetousnesse Therefore as you love your souls beware of the love of the world and set not your affections on things below but on things above else you will not be able to avoid the guilt and danger of hypocrisie A not loving the Word of God a not receiving it as the Word of Sign 2 God when it comes as the Word of God in power It is the property of the Word of God to be quick and powerfull 1 Thess 1.5 sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 2 Cor. 10.5 to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ This is the Word of God and this it doth as the Word of God these are the properties of it Such a Word of God an hypocrite can not love because he loves this carnal sinfull self he loves his lusts which this Word opposeth He flattereth himself in his own eyes until his iniquities be found to be hatefull The Word in power will shew him that all is ill Psal 36.2 when he flattereth himself that all is very well Hast thou found me O mine enemy saith Ahab An hypocrite thinks he hath no greater enemy than a faithfull Minister because hypocrisie hath no greater enemy than the Word of Truth which will detect and make it odious 1 King 21.20 1 King 22.8 So Ahab hated Micaiah and his Ministry because he prophesied evil to him in his evil wayes he spake the Word of God the truth to him which Ahabs corrupt life Mark 6 17 18 20. and hypocritical heart could not bear Herod heard John Baptist gladly in other things but when he preached against his having his brothers wife when he came home to his conscience to his very darling fin then Herod stopt his mouth shut him up inprison Felix trembles and dismisseth Paul when he came so close Act. 24.25 an hypocrite may love to hear the same Minister on another subject The very notion of Religion is amiable and acceptable to ingenuous persons nay he may love the Word may come to others but to himself during the predominancy of hypocrisie that the powerfull Word neither read nor preached can be welcome because it applies it self to the cutting off of his right hand Mat. 5. and plucking out his right eye Sign 3 3. A long and continual unprofitableness under the powerfull Word of God is a fearfull sign of hypocrisie What warnings and instructions had Judas What convictions and reprehensions had Ahab and Herod and yet as to those things which the word opposed they were still the same men If men that hear much minde nothing if there be no change no alteration but they are still where and what they were where they are still as carnal as earthly as they were ten twenty years ago though they hear much and are as earth that drinketh in the rain nay though they have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if yet they bring not forth meet fruit for him that dresseth it that ground is rejected that heart is near to cursing and burning Heb. 6.7 8. there is some guile and hypocrisie there there would be some growing else When the word is precept upon precept line upon line i. e. 1 Pet. 2.2 very plentifull and yet no amendment there is hypocrisie they will fall backward Hos 6.4 5. be broken and snared and taken Oh 't is no small matter to be dead unprofitable unaltered hearers It is a fearfull sign of hypocrisie and that there are many hypocrites in the bosome of the Church 4. The principles and ends of mens actions and performances are a Sign 4 great discovery of the sincerity or insincerity of mens hearts If mens principles be no higher than good education Act. 26.5 Phil. 3.5 6. and being conversant with good or strict men which seems to be Pauls case or no higher than good nature and moral qualifications Mark 10. this seems to be the young mans case they are no farther than those were at that time in an ignorant and insincere condition He that is really and sincerely a good Christian doth all as from God and Christ he is all and in all Christ is wisdome and sanctification to him Col. 2.11 1 Cor. 1.30 He acts and performs duties not onely from strength of parts and acquired qualifications but from strength of grace and infused habits from God and for God from a new heart Ezek. 36.25 Rom. 11.24 â—er 21.33 Rom. 3.5 2 Cor. 5.19 2 Pet. 1.4 Eph. 3.17 2 Cor. 13.5 Ier. 32.40 from the Law written in the heart from the love of God shed abroad in the heart and constraining to love from the Divine nature communicated to the heart from Christ by his Spirit dwelling in the heart from the fear of God possessing and establishing the heart These be the springs and principles of a sincere Christians spiritual life and actions and where they act and bear rule it is no wonder if such motions and performances be produced as the world may admire hut not imitate Sauls life after his Conversion was a kinde of constant miracle so much he did and so much he suffered and so much denied himself that if he lived in these dayes his life would be a miracle but yet if we consider the principles that he was acted by the great wonder will be not that he did so much but that he did no more for saith he Christ liveth in me and the life that I live I live by the faith of the Son of God c. Gal. 2.20 And so the ends of a mans actions are a great discovery of sincerity or hypocrisie If a mans ends be lower than God himself and obeying glorifying walking with and injoying God if either praise gain reputation nay acceptation with good people nay if a
if he had said Go lead on my God behold I follow as neer as close as I can è vestigiò I would not leave any distance but pursue thy footsteps step by step leaning upon thine everlasting arms that are underneath me and following thy maunduction Lot had almost perisht in Sodom for lingring when his God hastned him away Gen. 19.16 But Sampson till then invincible awoke too late from the bosome of his Delilah when the Philistines had shaved his seven locks And he thought to go out and shake off their cords wherewith they bound him as at other times but the Lord was departed from him and they took him and put out both his eyes Judg. 16.20 21. A Christâ—an is more then a man when he acts in concurrence with his God â—sal 27.1 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid But if he resists the holy Ghost he doth not only grieve him but will if he go on resisting quench him and then he is all alone becomes heir to the curse of Reuben Gen. 49.3 4. he who was a while since the excellency of dignity the excellency of power is now weak as water and cannot excell The proverb tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is a great deale of Time in a little opportunity It is good striking while the Iron is hot and lanching out whilst wind and tide serve Open all thy Sailes to every breath and gale of Gods good spirit Welcome every suggestion reverence every dictate cherish every illapse of this blessed Moniâ—or let every inspiration find thee as the Seal doth the Waxe or the spark the tinder and then as the Spouse tels her beloved or ever thou art aware thy Soul will make thee as the Charet of * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a free and willing people Aminadab Step into the pool when the Angel stirs the water John 5.4 Keep touch with the motions of the spirit and all is well But if these three Rules are too generall and remote I shall now lay down some more particular and exact directions for checking the beginnings of sinne and these are of two sorts as Physitians have their Prophylactiques and their Therapeutiques Some for prevention of the fit and paroxysme others for the cure and removall when the symptomes of it are upon thee 1 Before the Paroxisme cometh prepare and antidote thy Soul against these lusts of the flesh by observing these advices Rule 1 The first is that noble counsell of Eliphaz to Job cap. 22. vers 21. Acquaint thy selfe now with God and be at peace Get thy heart fixed where thy treasure is have thy conversation in heaven and thy fellowship with the father and with his sonne Jesus Christ Flee to thy God to hide thee He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Aâ—mighty Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler Psal 91.1 3 4. Arise with thine arisen Lord and seek the things that are above Set thine affections there where Christ sits at the right hand of God If the Soul is not where it animates but where it loves awaken thinâ— and kindle it into holy passionate Extasies of love that thou mayest live in heaven all day long and which is the priviledge of the upright Psal 140 13. dwell in the presence of that God whom thy soul delighteth in The Tempter cannot reach thee there Be much in converse with God and the Devil will have litttle converse with thee or if he have it will be to little purpose How was the Majesty of King Ahasuenus incensed at that affront of Haman when he threw himself upon Queen Esters bed what will he force the Queen in our presence Esth 7.8 Keep but in the presence of thy Lord thy King thy Husband and the Ravisher will not offer to force thee there or if he do it wil be but in vain How secure is that Soul that lives under the deep and warme and constant sense of Gods being it's all in all What a munition of rocks is this against all assaults and incursions of the Tempter They are our tame and common Poultry whose wings sweep the ground as they flie and raise a dust but the generous Eagle soon mounts above this smoaky lower Region of the Aire till she makes the clouds a pillow for her head Put on Christian thy Eagles wings which are the same with those Doves wings which David pray's for Psal 55.6 and flee away that thou maist be at rest They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles c. Isa 40.31 When the soul is once but upon the wing heaven-ward O how easily then doth it soare away above this region of smoak and dust above this Atmosphaene of earnality and fleshly lustings into the pure free Aethereal aire the blessed serenity and rest of Gods life and kingdome which is righteousnesse and peace and joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 it is cold iron that shews its rusty scales they disappear when it is red hot Get but thine heart on fire heaven-ward be but ascending thither Eliah like in a flaming Chariot of holy longings and paintings after God and the lustings of the flesh shall no more appear to deform thy beauty then the rust of iron appears when the metal is Candent i. e. all over of a light and glowing ardour The Rule then is Be sick of love to thy dear Master and Lord and thou shalt not be sick of sin Stir up spiritual and holy lustings in thy soul after the love and favour the grace and image of thy God and thou shalt not fulfill the lustings of the flesh Study throughly the unchangeable natures the eternal laws and differences of moral good and evill To open this There are some things of a middle and indifferent nature neither good nor evill in themselves But if God commands or forbids any of these they are then good or evill indeed but only because or whilest he doth so The Ceremonial Law of the Old Testament stood in these things and is now abolished by the same Divine authority which enacted it And it is now the glory of Christian Religion that excepting the two Sacraments and a very few other positive institutions for great and weighty causes reserved the Evangelical Law of the New Testament consists of such preceps as carry their own Credentiall letters and are built upon morall grounds of everlasting equity and righteousnesse Wherefore the Romanists deserve very ill of Christian Religion nor are the Lutheran Churches to be excused who of their owne heads impose so many indifferent things now in the service of God under the Gospel and that for no
their souls from death James 5.20 and hide a multitude of sins Now the principal Objects of this excellent duty are such with whom wee converse such to whom wee are obliged and connexed by the bonds and links of nature office or vicinity of habitation Hence was it that our blessed Lord while hee walked in the valley of his Incarnation exercised his Ministry most part among his kindred relations and neighbours at Nazareth Capernaum Bethsaida neer the Sea of Tiberias at Cana and other Regions of Galilee in which parts hee had receive his Education Andrew when hee understood the call of Christ the gret Saviour of the world John 1.41 hee presently seeks out his Brother Simon to bring him to the Messiah Philip after the like manifestation looks out for Nathaniel and in a great extasie of spirit John 1.45 cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wee have found him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write There are many instances of this nature both in the Old and New Testament Abraham and Joshua were famous in their Generation for this work they counted it their principal business they made it their great care to instruct their families in the fear and service of the great God Psal 101.2 David also ingages to walk in his house with a perfect heart that by his exemplary pattern hee might gain over his family to the Lord. Luke 5.29 Matthew the Publican wee read did invite all the Tribute-gatherers that were of his own Fraternity and Profession to a great Feast that they might sit down with Christ and feed upon his heavenly Doctrine John 4.53 The great man in the City of Capernaum brings in his whole family to the beleef of the Truth Act. 10.24 Cornelius the Roman Centurion who was quartered at Caesarea calls his Relations together to hear the Doctrine of Faith and Repentance The woman in the Gospel having found the lost groat after great pains and diligence calls in her friends and neighbours to rejoyce with her Luke 15.9 Crispus and the Jaylor and Lydia and Stephanas are eminent Examples of this duty by whose conscientious care and procurement it may bee supposed that their whole housholds came under the roof of Christ because presently after that wee have heard of their own personal Baptism wee finde their families also washed in that sacred Layer I shall not insist upon Arguments to prove the incumbent necessity of this duty or Motives to allure you to the practice of it I might deduce it as an inference consequent from the Law of Nature to use our greatest indeavours that our Relations might obtain an union to the best and highest good I might draw it from the. Divine Injunction I might excite your diligence from the consideration of the dreadful danger following its neglect Psal 78.5 from the comfort that will flow into thy bosome upon the exercise of it since it is a notable evidence of the sincerity of Grace in thine own heart None but such as have seen and tasted can cry out to others with an holy affectionate vehemency O come taste and see that the Lord is good P1sal 34.8 The Wine of the Kingdome having once warmed the hearts of Saints sends up vivacious spirits and fills their mouths with a holy loquacity I might further provoke thee to this excellent work by the rich benefit in gaining such to love thee whose affections will exceed all natural love whatever and by the great reward that shall ensue in the life to come For they that turn many to righteousness Dan. 12.3 shall shine as the stars for ever and ever O Brethren if families were holy then Cities then Nations would quickly prove Mountains of Holiness and Seats for the Throne of God Wee are apt to cry out of bad times Alas those unclean Nests of ungodly Families have been the causes of all the wickedness in all Ages and Generations to this day Therefore whoever thou art on whom the Grace of God hath shined study that holy art of Divine Reflection and Re-percussion of that light on others hearts which bring 's mee to an useful and practical question Quest You I say What course shall wee take what means shall wee use what method will you prescribe that wee may bee able to manage this important and weighty duty that wee may bee helpful towards the conversion and salvation of our neer Relations that are in the state of nature I confess this Question is of grand importance and being properly solved may prove of great influence in all places where wee are cast by Divine Providence There is scarce a family scarce a person living who may not bee comprehended within the verge and limits of this discourse Ans In answer therefore to it I shall spend the principal part of my time and that I may handle it the more distinctly I shall rank such as may desire satisfaction and direction in this weighty and excellent case under three forms or orders Such as are either Superiours Equals or Inferiors But before I enter into the main body of the Answer I shall crave leave to premise three things 1. That this Question is not to bee understood of persons in publick capacity and concernment as Magistrates or Ministers but of Family-Relations Kindred Co-habitants Neighbours Friends and Acquaintance of such as have frequent converse together in Civil Societies and often commerce in dealings but principally of Oeconomical Relatives or such as are nigh to each other by blood or affinity 2. That Saving-Conversion is in the power of God alone to effect as being the primary and principal efficient cause of all those gracious works that accompany salvation There is none able to kindle Grace in the heart but hee who hath his fire in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Yet not withstanding all of us in our several stations as subordinate instruments may and must use all wholesome means that are of Divine Appointment conducing to such a blessed end 3. That there are different states conditions capacities and qualifications among such Relations whose conversion wee should endeavour Some being perhaps enormously and outragiously wicked others morally civil and yet further others possibly may bee conformable to the institutions of the external worship of God Of these I may speak Sparsim opere interâ—exto as the particulars will hear together with such other appendant cases that may hold some consanguinity with the General Question To begin then with the first branch Quest 1. What means Superiors principally in Family-Relations should use to draw on their Inferiors to rellish and savour the things of God True it is what Jerom saies fiunt Hieronym ad Laetam Tom. 1. p. 55. edit Lugd. 1530. non nascuntur Christian No man is born a Christian but an heir of wrath and divine justice For the obtaining of the New Birth thin in such as are committed to our charge I shall draw up directions under
chiefest of ten thousands and therefore shee both can 5.10 and doth claspe fast about him and takes him for her Physitian Husband King riest and Prophet Since hee is willing fit to bee my Saviour oh saith the soul I will bee his Disciple Servant Subject or any thing 2.5.5 4. Thus shee can hold no longer but falls downright sick of love And this is the first Character Take it now and ask thy soul didst thou ever yet finde thy self lost and undone not able to bear up against the Terrours of an accusing and condemning conscience even dying away for fear least Goâ— should spend all his arrows upon thee â—â—t 32.23 Job 6.4 Psa 38.2 and leave thee a Horrour 〈◊〉 thy self and an amazement to all about thee And was it in this daâ—k Valley that thou camest first seriously acquainted with Christ and didst thou see his bowels yearning to thee Jer. 31.20 Act. 9.5 and that hee was fully able to set thee in the light of the Countenance of that God whose Terrour was upon thee And under this conviction was it that thou didst first close with him why this is love not in pretence and complement but in Sincerity Whereas on the other side if thy pretended affection wants this foundation if it hath been alwaies alike neither more nor less if that senseless conceit runs through thy soul that thou hast loved Christ ever since thou wast born See Reynolds on Psal 110. p. 59. 60. c. and never didst feel the least stirrings of Enmity against him If Education Custome outward Communion bee all that thou hast to say to prove thy love in faithfulness to thy soul Iob 19.28 I warn thee to take heed of self-deceit for surely the Root of the matter is not in thee and if thou wilt still presume notwithstanding this confident denyal I have but one word more and that is to commend to thy serious perusal that Judicious tract of Mr. Pinke Tryal of a Christians Sincere love to Christ on this very Case and Text where these counterfeit grounds of love are fully convicted of Insufficiency and therefore I would not do it here again 2. Character Where love to Christ dwells in Sincerity there hath been some sensible Impression Taste and Feeling of the Fathers love to the soul in him Rom. 9.13 Rom. 8.30 I do not mean the Fathers love as it lyes in the womb of Election but as it hath broken forth in a powerful actual Vocation The pedigree of a Christians love to his Saviour is to bee fetcht from the Fathers love to souls in Christ Iohn 14 6. 1 John 4.19 Wee love him because hee loved us first Christ himself as mediator is but a means whereby Souls may come to God their final end and blessedness And therefore as the soul that loves him Iohn 14.9 15 23. loves the blessed God much more so before wee can fix upon him with full satisfaction some beams thereof must light upon us it being too great a difficulty for the soul to prevail with it self to trust all its concernments in the hands of a Crucified Christ and to bee fond of him until iâ— hath gained some sweet assurance of the Fathers love to it self in him And hence it is that our Saviour tells us John 6.44 No man can come to him except the Father that hath sent him draw him By coming to Christ I take it for granted may bee understood either Faith or Love And these cannot bee without the Fathers drawing what 's that morally it lyes in the clear discoveries of his willingness to bee reconciled to us in Christ 2 Cor. 5.20 when in Conformity to his being in Christ reconciling the World to himself hee is pleased to vouchsafe us his own beseechings of us to bee reconciled then hee draws us The promise therefore of reconciliation must first bee made known and by the sweet influence thereof the soul is allured with Cheerfulness to throw it self into the Arms of it's Saviour And this is love Try by this also Didst thou ever finde those Cords of a man those bonds of Divine and Ravishing love thrown upon thee Didst thou ever see God to bee thy happiness and offering himself to thee as such and so alluring thee Then thou art Married to Christ for this speaks thee United to God in love and the end must include the means and the greater the lesser 3. Character Wee then love Christ in Sincerity when that affection in us is qualified according to the various Excellencies that belong to the person of our Lord when it respects him according to the Manifestation made of him in the Gospel viz. not simply as a person who is Historically made known to us by such a Name but according to the true Character of him as God and man in one person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one filled with the spirit of God above measure by an ineffable Unction John 3.35 Phil. 2.6 7 8. as one admirably Condescending and laying aside his divine splendor and Majesty that hee might appear in the form of a Servant and bee obedient to the death of the Cross for the Salvation of Sinners and lastly as one raised from the dead by God made able Act. 5.30 and declaring his high satisfaction in the access of sinners unto God by him And so there are these four graces which are alwaies attendant upon and are as it were Incorporated into the nature of this evangelical affection 1. Humble and Reverent admiration 'T is an admiring Love Objects that are incomparably Excellent do alwaies first affect with admiration and though that affection dissolve into love yet doth it not usually wholly cease especially if the object bee not throughly Comprehended Cant. 5.16 Ephe. 3.17 'T is thus with thy soul Christian that art a sincere lover of thy redeemer and hast not set up some Image of an ordinary person in the place of him thou admirest him whom thou lovest as never being able to comprehend his Glory The Lord whom thou lovest being God as well as Man and Man as well as God John 1.1.14 1 Tim. 3.16 and all this in one person An object in whom Heaven and Earth are so admirably blended together that the acutest reason looseth it self stands amazed at the union Chrysostom whence wee finde one of the Antients thus speaking of it I know that the word was made flesh but how or in what manner this was done I know not Doest thou wonder that I profess my Ignorance why the whole Creation is Ignorant of it as well as I And another of them gives this advice if Reason go about to cavil Justin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Do not dispute but apply thy self to the common Refuge against cavils in matters of Faith even Faith it self God hath said it and therefore I must and will
beleeve it Thâ—se things considered I dare boldly tell thee that thou canst not love in sincerity but together therewith thou wilt be under a holy rapture of Admiration and together with thy love thy Admiration will be alwaâ—es increasing Cant. 2.3 2. Sweet and refreshing delighting 'T is a delighting rejoycing love love saith Aquinas est complacentia amantis in amato is the rest and satisfaction of the soul in the Object loved the nature of love lies much in delight Thou canst not Christian love thy Lord but thou wilt finde thy heart even ravished with delight in him as being one in whom the fulness of the God head dwells 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 or personally non per efficaciâ—m solum â—upassistentiam sed per Unionem Hypostaticum or not vertually or only in a way of external help and assistance and being also one that had such an Unction of the Spirit upon him Cap. 〈…〉 that hath fully fitted him for the delight of thy soul And hence it is that wee finde the Spouse in the Book of Canticles so often letting forth her heart in holy delight to her Beloved as is manifest by her many loving compellations and several other expressions Hee shall lye all night betwixt my breasts Cant. 1.13 too large and many to be mentioned here and therefore I refer you to the Book it self 3. Ingenious gratitude thankfulness 'T is a grateful and thankful love as that which is begotten in the soul by the sense of Christs unspeakable goodness and condescension and which is also ever after fed and maintained thereby Now the condescension of Christ lies in three things 1. In his voluntary undertaking the work of Reconciliation and Mediation with God for persons so unworthy Rom. 5.8 Heb. 2.16 Hee took not on him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham it was the cause of sinners which this great Lord undertook to plead 2 In his unwearied diligence and invincible patience in fulfilling the severe Law of Redemption which hee had submitted to Though the injury that was done him by man was so great and manifest and the terrour of the Lord against him also so severe and unspeakable yet hee opened not his mouth but was dumb even as a Lamb at the slaughter and as a Sheep under the hands of the Shearers Isa 53.7 Mat. 11.30 Rom. 10.8 9 10. Isa 1.16.17 18 3. In being willing to communicate the benefits purchased thereby to sinful and rebellious men upon such easie Terms bidding us do nothing else but turn to God by Repentance and Self-denial and beleeve in himself and then what ever our sins had been all the advantages merited by his death should be made over to us Now when all these are considered as by every soul that sincerely loves him more or less they are do they not sweetly affect with thankfulness as well as love Christian canst thou look upon such a Redeemer without some sense of an obligation laid upon thy soul thereby wilt thou think one single and separate affection enough for him or rather will not thy heart empty it self into the bosome of the Lord with love and thankfulness boâ—h at once and each of them contending which shall out-do the other 4. Supporting hope and confidence 'T is a hoping and confiding love 'T is not a languishing affection but that which brings life into the soul from the fulness of that Christ it feeds upon 1 Ioh. 4 17. Perfect love saith the Apostle casteth out fear There will not be so much as the shadow of fear upon the soul when this affection is ripened into perfect fruition And in the mean time as the degrees of it do increase so is the soul heightened in its hopes and tramples upon its former jealousies fears and discouragements And to this sense some interpret those words Rom. 8.38 39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ c. As if they were the exultation of Faith upon the view of Loves Conquest and victorious Triumph over all its enemies Love gives confidence of access to Christ and unto God by him and this confidence lies in the soul as a cordial against all its faintings and despoâ—dencies not that there may not be a sinking of spirits and a swooning away for a time but love will restore the soul again and knowing Christ to be good Cant. 6 1â— 13. as well as all-sufficient for its condition it will recover life and spirits again and nor suffer it utterly to faint under its own sad apprehensions And this is the third Character Take now all these four qualifications of sincere love and try your selves by them 4. Character If our love be sincere it 's an affection which respecteth not a naked Christ but Christ as Mediatour Or it is a hearty desire of and complacency in Christ in all his offices as King and Priest and Prophet And of such moment is the right knowledge of this Character that Christian I must desire thee principally to study it and pass a judgement upon thy self thereby For what-ever fondness and sudden flashings of love thou mayest finde within thee they wil not so clearly tell thee what thou art as the knowledge of thy self by this mâ—rk Take it for a clear Truth That if thou lovest not Christ as thy Sovâ—raign Lord if thy heart be not knit to him as thy High Priest with God if â—hâ—◠〈…〉 â—ot affectionately entertained him as thy Master and Teacher In a word if thou art not consecrated unto God by Christ if thou art not a loyal subject and a willing Disciple love in sincerity doth not dwell in thee Thou art still an enemy and wilt so be judged 'T is not fondness of expression nor any outward complement that men put upon Christ which reacheth the New Testament notion of love to Christ but when as loyal subjects Ioh. 14.15.21 15.8 10.21.23 24. 1 Iohn 5.3 Luk. 19.27 Heb. 10.28 Ioh. 14.23 24. and willing disciples wee are alwaies doing the Things that are grateful and are obedient to him This is love And hence it is that in so many places our Lord puts us upon trying our love by our obedience by keeping his words and Commandments And speaks of Libertines Infidels the carnally wise Rebels and Apostates as enemies and haters of him what-ever their pretences are to the contrary And verily so essential is this to sincere love that unless you understand it you will be able to give but a lame account of most of the Scripture-Characters thereof as if I had time I could easily demonstrate because they do all presuppose it If thou wouldst know therefore whether this Grace be in thee in truth take thy heart Christian to Christ in every office and try it by such Interrogatories as may result from the consideration of them and this will tell thee thy case distinctly Begin first with Christ as High Priest for this did lay the foundation of the
other two offices and if thou hast any love to Christ in sincerity it was the sight of him in this that first kindled it And thus bespeak thy self Didst thou ever oh my soul seriously consider what Christ hath undertaken in thy behalf with the jealous God whose face thou couldst not see and live wa st thou ever convinced that all thy prayers duties outward priviledges and devotions were little worth and could not have ought availed thee Heb. 10.10.12 1 Cor. 2.2 unless by his own blood hee had first entred within the vail and made attonement for thee And then with the same blood went afterwards to the right hand of God and put him in minde of his Covenant to procure actual Grace and Peace and Adoption for thee And is it a pleasure to thee as well as thy admiration to be alwaies musing and searching what such an Abysse of grace and goodness should mean And in the midst of thy musings was it that thy affections first took this holy fire and were even surprized into love Rom. 8.34 Phil. 3.7 8. Is it by his Mediation that thou findest thy expectations from God and thy delight in him supported And dost thou rejoyce in him as one whose goodness thou adorest and whose favour with God purchased by his own merit thou admirest And therefore art most willing to trust all thy concernments in his hands and in all thy addresses to God comest leaning upon the Arms of him Cant. 8.5 as thy Beloved Mediatour and Intercessor why thus to renounce our own Righteousness and â—â—â—â—el our hearts warmed into a further estimation of his to attributâ—â—â—l our acceptance with God to him Briefly to be intensively willing of Christ and to look upon him with full satisfaction of spirit in all his priestly Administrations This is sincerely to love Christ as our High-Priest And on the contrary to undervalue his blood either as needless by presumption or as worthless by desperation to be ascribing to our selves when wee receive any kindness or favour from God to doate upon our own worth and righteousness as that which is sufficient without either Christs Righteousness Satisfaction or Intercession Heb. 10.28 This is interpretatively to reject him from being our High-Priest and to hate the person of our Lord. Thus try your selves whether yee love Christ in his Priestly Office and when you have done with that take thy soul to his Prophetical Office and make a further trial by bespeaking thy self after the same manner Thus Didst thou ever oh my soul seriously consider that thou wast made for an eternal life and that none could ever chalk thee out the way thereto it being only to be learnt in the School of this great Prophet And thereupon hast thou wholly ceased from listening unto any other and as a loving Disciple hast thou found pleasure in seeking the Law even the word of thy Salvation at his mouth Doth thy heart throughly savour his Doctrine and dost thou like the Discipline of his School Dost thou make it thy study to know and lay it as a charge upon thy self to keep the words of this great Master and Prophet Ioh. 14.23 24. And even now that hee is gone to Heaven and hath left his word in the Scripture behinde him and hath sent his Spirit and set up under Officers in his School and precious Ordinances for thy guidance and direction dost thou value the Scriptures above all other writings in the world and witness thy esteem of them by thy daily perusal and study of them dost thou bear a Reverence in thy breast to all Christs Officers and Institutions Cant. 5.16 Psal 1.2 Heb. 2.1 Dost thou account the mouth of Christ most sweet and even delight to hear his voice in the Scripture and in every Ordinance and when thou hast heard doest thou lay up what thou hast been taught as the faithful counsel of thy dearest Teacher and rejoyce therein More particularly what is thy carriage towards his Spirit dost thou hear when hee calls and art thou tractable to all his Motions dost thou grieve him or art thou willing to be instructed and guided by him why thus to cease from leaning to our own understandings to give up our selves to Christ and his Spirit in the Scriptures and in all the Ordinances of the Gospel to be the serious and willing Disciples of Christ This is to love Christ as our Prophet in sincerity That is the second office Once more to make thâ—â—â—al by this mark Compleat and that will respect his Kingly office 〈◊〉 this is as easie as either of the former for our loyalty and voluntary Subjection to Christ as commanding and governing this is love And the hearts rebellion against Christ rejecting his dominion murmuring against his Laws finding fault with his administrations disturbing his subjects and disquieting the peace of his Kingdome envying him the multitude of his subjects and yeelding no obedience to his commands all these are several branches of enmity against Christ as King and Soveraign Put the case therefore home to thy own soul if thou wouldest not be mistaken and say Doth Christ rule within thee oh my soul or doth self and Satan Art thou glad with his Soveraignty or is it the yoak thou canst not bear do the Laws of his Kingdome bear sway within thee Rom. 6. or is it the Law of thy Members and carnal self when both come in competition whose command doest thou in the course of thy life most commonly fulfill whose Kingdome art thou most delighted in the advancement of Is it a pleasure to thee that thy Lord doth reign and that his Throne is more universally exalted or else doth thy heart rise against the advancement of Christs Kingdome In whom dost thou finde thy greatest delight is it rather in the company of Rebels that would pull the Crown from the head of Christ then in the humble and obedient subjects of thy Lord dost thou take Christ to be thy Prince and Soveraign and dost thou love the peace and glory of his Kingdome as becomes an obedient subject of so great a Lord why this is intensively to will Christum Regem or to love him as King And this is the third Office and the fourth Character If you would make sure work this is a Rule which will not deceive you 5. Character If wee have a fellowship with Christ in his honour and dishonours or in his joyes and sorrows then is our love not feigned unto Christ but in sincerity true-True-love if I may be allowed so to speak mixeth concernments my meaning is that it makes anothers joyes and sorrows to be mine as well as his they may write hatred upon themselves who are regardless whether it go well or ill with Christs interests in the world No communion with Christ no love Even the personal reproaches and abuses which Christ indured here below though so many hundred years since do yet affect them and they that love
and sable and her thoughts within her are full of horrour dejection and confusion shee goes up and down like a person almost distracted and every place is made to Eccho to her griefs and mournings shee goes from Ordinance to Ordinance and from one Watchman to another and proclaims to them all the sickness of her soul If peradventure shee may recover again the sight of her Beloved All this and much more with incomparable elegance you may read described in the Song of Solomon Thus as the Marigold opens to the Sun in the firmament so doth the heart of a Sincere Christian to the Sun of Righteousness Christ in Glory 8. Character Where Love is Sincere the soul will bee often on the wing of Meditation and busied in the contemplation of Christ It 's an old Rule and a true one Anima est ubi amat non ubi animat or The soul dwels as much where it hath fixed it's love nay more there than where it hath it's most natural operation Christ and the beleever that loves him live as if they had but one soul betwixt them 'T is not the distance between Earth and Heaven that can separate them True love will finde out Christ where ever hee is when hee was upon the Earth they that loved him kept his Company and now that hee is gone to Heaven and out of sight those that love him are frequently sending up their hearts unto him And indeed they never think themselves Intelligent in any thing that is worth the knowing until they have made their souls much acquainted and familiar with their Crucified Saviour 1 Cor. 2.2 9. Character 2 Sam. 13.2 1 King 21.4 Hest 5.13 There will bee a Willingness to part with all for him How many goodly things do persons of all sorts contemn for some one thing which they love Amnon Ahab and Haman are three great examples of this Take but one instance and it shall bee of a Covetous man why hee disregards all the learned accomplishments in the World for a little gain Hee thinks himself better when hee hath got that which comes out of the Bowels of the Earth hee treads on than that which comes from the Mansion house of God in the Heaven above him and therefore how familiarly and easily will he part with the one to choose the other Act. 20.24 no bonds of nature or religion are enough to restrain him 'T is the resolution of a soul that loves Christ that nothing shall part them they are habitually Martyrs already and if hee put them to it 't is not life it self that they will account too precious to lay down for the sake of him All the waters and floods of persecution temptation Matth. 10.37 Rev. 12.11 and affliction shall not quench their flames of love Cant. 8.7 Witness those words of Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. or let fire cross c. and all the torments which by men or beasts can bee Inflicted on my body yea and add to them what all the Devils in hell can do upon it if it were by solemn sentence of Excommunication delivered to them yet would I go through them all to come to the bosome of my Lord. 10. Character There will bee a willingness to stoop to the meanest offices for the service of Christ love wee use to say stands not with Majesty it did not do so in the person of our Saviour when hee washed and wiped his disciples feet Iohn 13.5.6.14 and those that love him will not think it much to conform to his example they will not think they can ever stoop too low for the sake of him John 21.15 11. Character If it sticks not barely in the person of Christ but reacheth to all that have an union with him if it bee to Christ mystical as well as personal Cant. 1.7 if you love their persons their graces their fellowship c. Tell mee saith the Spouse where thou causest thy flocks to rest at Noon Shee delights to be led forth with them into the green Pastures of his ordinances and to feed together with them If shee hath any thing it 's all theirs Act. 2.44.45 who have an equal interest in Christ with her self shee will make use of her graces substance and all that fellow-members may be refreshed It makes them of Catholick spirits The Apostle is peremptory and brandeth them all as lyars that pretend to the one of these without the other See 1 Joh. 4.19 5.1 John 13.34.35 12. Character Wee may know it by its Concomitants Sincere love goes not but in the company of every other grace It either presupposeth or strongly implieth and inferreth the whole duty of a Christian Diligere Christum saith Aquinas est Christo in omnibus se subjicere Joh. 14.15 regulam Praeceptorum ejus in omnibus sequi or to love Christ is to fulfil the whole Law of Christ 't is a most comprehensive grace 't is the abstract of the New Creature the whole Image of God in one word 't is the substance of the Divine Workmanship upon the soul They are but Ciphers and signifie nothing in Christianity who are without it Briefly to love Christ it is in some measure to partake of every grace and to be a Christian altogether These are the Characters some I have omitted and in others I have been brief because I would reserve a little room for the second Case Give mee leave but briefly to suggest a few things for satisfaction of one doubt and I shall presently come to that Will some say If this bee love in sincerity who then loves him aright It is no less dangerous to draw out the description of a grace so as none can finde it than to leave it so as none may suspect the want or absence thereof in themselves and upon that Rock they will tell mee I have splitted in the decision of this Case there being hardly any one that can go from Character to Character and say after a thorough search Now I know that I am a lover of Christ in sincerity For answer to which scruple I shall barely suggest a few Considerations 1. It is most certain and notorious that there is much counterfeit love abroad and it was not the least part of my design to unmask it Characters serve as well to convince the presumptuous as to establish the sincere and upright There is much in the world that looks like love that is not such are those Vagous affections that are to a Christ in general and not to him as King Priest and Prophet And those counterfeit affections which are to Christ upon the sole Arguments of Education Custome which are as truly in a Turk to his Mahomet and serve as well to justifie the Jew in his blasphemy against Christ as the Christian in his pretended love of him for love to Christ say Divines is not so much to bee measured by the degree and fervour as by the
towards the poor and necessitous ingenuity towards the ignorant and unskilful moderation towards all men 7. Where you have any doubt about the equity of your dealings chuse the safest part and that which will certainly bring you peace For not only a good conscience but a quiet conscience is to bee valued above gain Therefore in matters of duty do the most in matters of priviledge and divisions of right and proportions of gain where there is any doubt chuse the least for this is alwaies safe Thus I have layed down the Rule and explain'd it and have given as particular directions as I could safely adventure to do I must now leave it to every man to apply it more particularly to himself and to deal faithfully with his own conscience in the use of it Circumstances which vary Cases are infinite therefore when all is done much must bee left to the Equity and Chancery of our own breasts I have not told you how much in the Pound you may gain and no more nor can I A man may make a greater gain at one time than another of the same thing hee may take those advantages which the change of things and the providence of God gives him using them moderately A man may take more of some persons than of others provided a man use all men righteously hee may use some favorably But I have on purpose forborn to descend to too many particularities among other reasons for the sake of Sir Thomas Mores observation concerning the Casuists of his time who hee saith by their too particular resolutions of Cases did not teach men non peccare not to sin but did shew them quà m prope ad peccatum liceat accedere sine peccato how near men might come to sin and yet not sin The Uses I shall make of all this are these two 1. Use Let us not revenge our selves The rule is not wee should do to others as they do to us but as wee would have them to do to us as if it were on purpose to prevent revenge Saint Luke forbids revenge from this rule Luke 6.31 32. For if you love them that love you c. But love your enemies Revenge is the greatest offence against this rule for hee that revengeth an injury hath received one hee that hath received one knows best what that is which hee would not have another to do to him the nature of evil and injury is better known to the patient than to the agent men know better what they suffer than what they do hee that is injur'd feels it and knows how greivous it is and will hee do that to another 2. Use Let mee press this rule upon you Live by it in all your carriage and dealings with men let it bee present to you Aske your selves upon every occasion would I that another should deal thus with mee and carry himself thus towards mee But I shall press this chiefly as to justice and righteousness in our Commerce It is said that Severus the Emperour caused this Rule to bee written upon his palace Lampridius and in all publick places let it bee writ upon our houses and shops and exchanges This exhortation is not altogether improper for this Auditory you that frequent these exercises seem to have a good sense of that part of Religion which is contain'd in the first Table do not by your violations of the second marre your obedience to the first do not prove your selves Hypocrites in the first Table by being wicked in the second give not the World just cause to say that you are ungodly because they finde you to bee unrighteous but manifest your love to God whom you have not seen by your love to your Brother whom you have seen and if any man wrong his Brother hee cannot love him Do not reject or despise this exhortaton under the contemptuous Name of Morality Our Saviour tells us this is a cheif part of that which hath ever been accounted Religion in the World It is the Law and the Prophets and hee by injoyning it hath adopted it into Christianity and made it Gospel Wee should have an especial love to this precept not only as it is the dictate of nature and the Law of Moses not only as it is a Jewish and Gentile principle but as it is of the household of Faith When the young man told Christ that hee had kept the Commandements from his youth it is said Jesus loved him Mark 10.20 21 where-ever wee have learned to despise morality Jesus loved it when I read the Heathen writers especially Tully and Seneca and take notice what precepts of morality and Lawes of kindness are every where in their writings I am ready to fall in love with them How should it make our blood to rise in many of our faces who are Christians to heare with what strictness Tully determines Cases of conscience Offic. Lib. 3. and how generously hee speaks of equity and justice towards all men Societatis arctissimum vinculum est magis arbitrari esse contra naturam hominem homini detrahere sui commodi causâ quà m omnia incommoda subire This is the strongest bond of society to account it to bee more against nature for any man to wrong another for his own advantage than to undergoe the greatest inconveniences And again Non enâ—m mihi est vita mei utilior quam animi talis effectu neminem ut violem commodi mei gratiâ Nor is my life more dear and profitable to mee than such a temper and disposition of minde as that I would not wrong any man for my own advantage Again Tollendum est in rebus contrahendis omne mendacium No kinde of lying must bee used in bargaining And to mention no more Nec ut emat melius nec ut vendat quicquam simulabit aut dissimulabit vir bonus A good man will not counterfeit or conceal any thing that hee may buy the cheaper or sell the dearer And yet further to check our proneness to despise moral Righteousness I cannot but mention an excellent passage to this purpose which I have met with in a learned man of our own Nation Two things saith hee make up a Christian a true faith and an honest conversation Mr. â—ales and though the former usually gives us the Title the latter is the surer for true profession without an honest conversation not only saves not but increaseth our weight of punishment but a good life without true profession though it brings us not to Heaven yet it lessens the measure of our Judgement so that a moral man so call'd is a Christian by the surer side And afterwards I confess saith hee I have not yet made that proficiency in the schooles of our age as that I could see why the second Table and the Acts of it are not as properly the parts of Religion and Christianity as the Acts and observations of the first if I mistake then it is St. James
Because without this faith wee are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reprobates noâ— as opposed to the elect but denoting peâ—sons unsound and hypocritical It is also not a conjecture but a certain knowledge that wee are pressed to obtain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the word that the holy Ghost useth search make tryal as God tryed Abraham Gen. 22.1 That his love to God and fear of God appeared Prove as the Gold-smith doth his mettals in the fire or by the touch-stone because hee bids us prove it not so much by argument as experience for so the word is used Luke 14.19 Hee went to prove his Oxen and forasmuch as wee must prove our selves to bee in Christ wee must not leave it uncertain for what is uncertain after tryal is not proved A note of true Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fiscat in Loc. Besides that wee do beleeve wee might know by the Judgements valuing the wills chusing and the affections loving Christ above all 1 Pet. 2.7 To you that beleeve hee is precious Christ is an honour to the beleever and Christ is most prized and valued by the beleever And cannot a man know what hee prizeth most what hee valueth and esteemeth most what his understanding doth dictate to him to bee chosen above all and whether his will doth choose according to the dictates of the understanding and the affections love and desire are upon the wing to enjoy what the will doth make choice of and grief filleth the heart when hee cannot obtain it could not Ahab know that hee prized Naboths Vineyard when hee greived because hee could not get it and all that hee had was lessened by the want of what hee prized so much so doth the soul cry out riches is nothing without Christ and honour and friends cannot remove the grief of his heart till Christ comes in to his heart and manifests himself there cannot hee know it by his care to get by his fear to lose by his determining what to do in case hee must lose that which hee prizeth most or all other things besides hee will part with all though very desirable as a marriner will cast away his richest goods in a tempest to save his life * As Aristippus â—ast his gold into the Sea saying satius est ut haec per Aristippum quam propter haec pereat Aâ—istippus it is better these things perish by Aristippus than Aristippus by these things which think you doth hee prize most a woman if her house bee on fire suffers all her pewter to bee consumed in the flames so that shee may but save her childe is it not apparent which shee valueth most all shall go that thou mayest keep Christ if thou prize him most This is known by the delight of the heart in the enjoyment of that which a man valueth most in the want of other things thou canst delight in Christ in poverty affliction in the midst of troubles in the world So likewise for love is it not possible for a man to know that hee loveth Christ above all how else could Peter when asked three times by Christ whether hee loved him answer three times that hee did love him and did appeal to Christ that knew his heart that hee spake truly because hee knew hee loved him sincerely and this is observable that this was after Peters fall by which hee had learned to have a holy jealousie over his own heart and Christ doth not intimate any deceitfulness in his heart in thiâ— as he did before when hee said m Mat. 26.35.35 Sign of true love to God twice that he would not deny him By the effects of love wee may certainly know that wee love him 1. By thy unfeigned desires to bee like unto him wee love to imitate those whom wee dearly love love produceth assimilation if hee bee holy so wouldest thou bee if hee hate sin so dost thou 2. By thy hearty desire to bee united to him to have him with thee * Nihâ—l magis gregale quam antor omnilim rerum patichtissimus nisi solitâ—dinis societute gaudet extorquet consortem Nieremb De art Vo p. 333. his presence thou dost desire his absence thou canst not bear without mourning and complains and wishing oh that I could see him oh that I could meet with him and therefore thou goest from duty to duty from ordinance to ordinance from thy prayers in thy closer to the congregation if thou mightest finde him there from the word to the sacrament if thou mightest finde him there if hee come unto thee thou rejoycest if hee withdraw himself thy soul is troubled 3. By thy great care to please him fear to offend him and * Se a se ausert amans amato tradit resigning thy self to him When it grieveth thy heart to grieve thy Lord and it breaks thy heart when thou breakest his commands Joh. 14.15 If yee love mee keep my commandements Vers 21. Hee that hath my commandements and keepeth them hee it is that loveth mee 1 Joh. 2. cap. 3. And hereby wee know that wee know including this affection of love unto him vers 4. Hee that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandements is a lyer and the truth is not in him vers 5. But whose keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected hereby wee know that wee are in him 1 John 5 3. For this is the love of God that wee keep his commandements and his commandements are not grievous because of the love wee have to him that doth command 4. By the love that wee bear unto his Image in whomsoever wee do see it and love them that are like to Christ so much that wee could deny our selves of honours Amor eccho The soul that loves God doth eccho to God Commands Psal 27.8 when thou saidest my heâ—â—t said and profits were it necessary and God should call us to it to do them good as wee love Christ above all so wee love his likeness in others and the beleever for Christs sake above outward things that if hee bee in necessity wee do not only wish him well but part with something and if God and the Law of nature did not require us to lay it out first for necessary provision for our families could part with all to help them in their great n Act. 4.32 34.35 37 1 Joh. 3.16.17 necessity Now this sincere love to the people of God is an evidence of the goodness of our spiritual condition 1 John 3.14 Wee know that wee have passed from death to life How not by extraordinary revelation but by this rational argumentation because wee love the brethren and vers 18. My little Children let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth And vers 19. And hereby wee know that wee are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him But here the Papist doth not only cavil
but the drooping distressed Christian also questioneth all this because of the deceitfulness of the heart Alas the Scripture tells us that the heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitfull above all things o From Jer. 1.9 The Papists cavils the drooping Christian doubts who can know it and if the heart of man cannot bee known how can wee say wee beleeve or love God For this consider these four things 1. Another man cannot know it I cannot certainly and infallibly know whether another man be sincere or what his heart is for it is the prerogative and excellency of God to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that knows the hearts of all men Act. 1.24 2. A wicked mans heart is so wicked and there is such a depth of wickedness in his heart that hee cannot come to the bottome of it 3. If a man cannot know all the secret turnings and windings of his heart yet hee may know the general scope and frame of his heart 4. If hee could not do this of himself yet assisted by the spirit of God which all beleevers have received hee might know the frame bent scope inclination of his own heart Thus far the first proposition that a man may know that hee hath sincere faith in Christ and love to God Now wee proceed to the second 2 Proposition which shews the connexion between grace and glory Second Proposition is this that there is an infallible connexion between justifying faith unfeigned love and eternal glory The Apostle tells us of some things that may bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 6.9 things that accompany salvation Having or containing Salvation that are contiguous to salvation that the one toucheth the other this must bee proved for else though I know I do beleeve and love God sincerely to day I can have no infallible assurance of salvation because this may bee lost before to morrow or before I dye Now this I shall indeavour to prove by these three following particulars 1 From the verity of Gods promises 1. The undoubted verity of Gods promises proveth an inseperable connexion between sincere grace and eternal glory Faith is the eye of the soul with it through a promise as through a perspective-glass can the soul have a view of Heaven and glory What greater certainty or security can a man have than the infallible promise of that God who is truth it self who will not deny his Word but the same Love and free Grace that moved him to infuse Grace into thy heart and to make the Promise will move him also to give the thing promised Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that hee gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 5.24 Hee that beleeveth hath everlasting life Hee hath it in the Promise hee hath it in the first-fruits Rom. 8.23 But wee our selves also which have the first-fruits of the Spirit The Jews by offering their first fruits did testifie their thankfulness to God for what they had received and hopes of the full crop in due time Hee hath everlasting life then it must not end Mark 16.16 Hee that beleeveth and is baptized shall bee saved Hee that beleeveth not shall bee damned As certainly as the unbeleever shall be cast into outer darkness so certainly shall the beleever be partaker of the glorious Inheritance of the Saints in Light The Promise is as true as the Threatning Act. 16.30 31. There you see a poor convinced wounded sinner under the load of guilt that had a sight of his lost undone deplorable condition coming to the Apostles and speaking after this manner Yee men of God yee servants of the Lord if there bee any way for mee who have been so great a sinner that have done enough ten thousand times over to damn my own soul if there be any certain way to avoid damnation I beseech you tell mee if there be any means by which I might certainly be saved as you pitty my sinful soul my bleeding heart my wounded conscience tell mee what it is declare it to mee What is the Apostles answer Beleeve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved The Apostles speak not doubtingly perhaps thou shalt be saved perhaps thou mayest be damned If thou get Faith it may be thou mayest get Heaven Alas what relief peace satisfaction would this have been to his wounded conscience But they speak peremptorily beleeve and thou shalt be saved So that prove thou that thou hast Faith and these Scriptures prove thou shalt have salvation The Connexion therefore will not be questioned if I beleeve I shall be saved this God hath promised but shall not a beleever lose his Faith in Christ and lose his Love to God for the Remonstrants grant that a beleever qua talis as a beleever cannot fall away not come short of glory but qui talis est Hee that is a beleever may fall away totally and finally and so cannot have assurance of salvation because hee hath no assurance that hee shall persevere in his beleeving and state of grace To this I oppose these places of Scripture 1 Thes 5.23 24. And the very God of Peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body bee preserved blameless therefore preserved from Apostacy which is exceedingly blame-worthy till when till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is this a prayer and not a promise yea it is a prayer indited by the Spirit of God and hath a promise following it if you will read on Faithful is hee that calleth you who also will do it Here the Apostle that had the Spirit prayeth for perseverance and the Apostle that had the Spirit promiseth perseverance Certainty then of perseverance doth not make men careless in the use of means not prayers needless by praying a man obtains the thing promised and the certainty that hee hath by the promise of obtaining puts life into his prayers Phil. 1.6 Being confident of this very thing that hee which hath begun a good work in you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denoteth more safety than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will perform it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will finish it will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.5 Kept garrisoned by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation Joh. 10.28 30. 1 Cor. 10.13 But will with the Temptation make a way to escape therefore they shall persevere for to enable the beleever to persevere in all tentations is to make a way to escape the destruction and hurt the tentation tendeth to God doth promise this absolutely Jer. 32.38 40. And they shall bee my people and I will bee their God and will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from mee They shall not forsake God because God will not
so great God will not hear my prayers and heal my child for if indeed that were the reason of thy fearing that God will not hear thee thou wouldst rather feâ—r it as to thine other child since his death would be more afflictive Now the Saints have more reason to strengthen their Faith in the Omnipotence of God in Prayer than wicked men for because the things worldly men desire need not Omnipotence to do A creature may do what they desire except God will withdraw his common Providence for one that is worth an hundred thousand pounds can make a poor man rich and some Medicines in an ordinary way of Providence have vertue to cure many Diseases But the things the people of God desire cannot be done but by Omnipotence Eph. 1.19 IV. We must act our Faith upon his Goodnesse and Bounty for we must not only have high thoughts of Gods other Excellencies but of his Goodness also of his abundant willingness to do us good and loathness to afflict us for surely he never afflicts us but in case of necessity 1 Pet. 1. If need be you are in many tribulations When he afflicts us he only gives us necessaries but when he bestows mercies he gives us not only for our necessity but richly to enjoy When we go to a Covetous man for mony he parts with every penny as with a drop of bloud for us to think God parts so with his Mercies that he is hard to be intreated and that he is an hard Master either for work or wages are thoughts utterly unworthy and shamefully dishonourable to the Goodnesse of God If thy child whose finger if it should but ake thine heart akes should think thou grudgest him every bit of meat he eats thou wouldst think him a wretched child unworthy of thy tender affections and must it not be farre worse in thee to have such thoughts of God since tam pius nemo tam pater nemo Was it so great a grief to Peter to have Christ question his love John 21.17 though he had given but sad testimony of his Love but lately and can it choose but much offend God for thee to question Gods Love to thee nay his Goodness in it self when God hath given thee no cause of either Mal. 2.1 We should go to God with as much confidence of his Love and readiness to do us good as the child doth to the tenderest Parent as we do to the dearest friend we have in the whole world and much more abundantly If we do not believe that the goodness of God is as much above the goodness and love of our dearest friend as we account his Wisdom and Power above our friends we have unworthy thoughts of that Attribute which God hath most abundantly manifested and would have most glorified and the love our friend bears us is but a drop from and of that Ocean that is in God Doubtless God loves his enemies more then we love our friends he loves us more if we love him then we love our selves or him Surely God loves the weakest Saint on earth more than the highest Angel in heaven loves him for when God saith that he So loved the world it was such a Sic there was no Sicut for it it might not be said as the Angels loved God Ah we deal unworthily with God in having base low thoughts of his goodness he hath little deserved it at our hands he that hath done such wonders and miracles of Mercies for us and hath promised to do more Say that every mercy is too great for thee to receive but say not that any is too great for God to give Surely surely God is more willing to give than we are to receive mercies But you will say If God be so willing to bestow mercies why doth he not bestow them without prayers and such importunity I Answer God doth not thus because he is not willing but because we are not fit for Mercies for God waits to be gracious The tender Mother had rather give her child Cordials than bitter Pils but her child is sick By our Prayers we make not God more willing but we become more prepared for Mercies for our Prayers exercise and so strengthen grace and strong grace weakens and mortifies corruption and then we are fit for mercies God only stayes while he may blesse us indeed as Jabez phraseth it One that is in a Boat and pulls a Rope whos 's other end is tied to a Rock pulls not the Rock to the Boat but the Boat to the Rock so our Importunities move not God but us But you will say when we pray for others this reason holds not for their graces are not encreased by our praying for their deliverances from misery or danger or the Church from persecution I Answer It is true but our Prayers add to our reward for God is in goodnesse as Sathan is in badnesse and much more abundantly whereas whâ—n Sathan hath a Commission and intends to do some mischiefe he as oft as he can engageth Witches to put him upon doing that which he intends to do howsoeveâ— that he may involve them in the guilt as if they themselves or that he had not done it if they had not put him upon it So God that the Saints may have the reward of the good he doth to others as if they themselves had done it or as if God would not have done it wiâ—hout their Prayers puts them upon praying for those Mercies for others which he will do howsoever Esay 59.16 III. The Third Object of Faith are the Promises and there are three kinds some to Prayer some of Prayer some to the Person praying We are to act our Faith upon all but for brevity sake for I am forced to Contract I shall answer but one Objection The poor Soul will say I do not believe I have any Interest in the promises therefore I cannot pray in Faith I Answer To obtain the Mercies included in a promise it is not requried that we should believe our Interest in it but the truth not that God will perform to us but to those to whom it belongs though you do not believe it belongs to you for the promises made to Graces are made to them that have them not to them that believe as for example the promises made to Faith are made to them that have Faith though they believe not that they do believe and that poor Souls doubt that God will never make good any promise to them proceeds not from any doubt of Gods veracity or faithfulnesse but of their own unworthinesse and non-interest in them IV. The fourth and main Object of Faith which our Faith must eye in our Prayers is Christ in whom all the Promises are yea and Amen who hath reconciled the Person and Attributes of God and concerning Christ we are to believe I. The great love God bears to Christ which is doubtlesse greater then to the whole Creation for to which of the
they little think any such Legacies are left by Christ to them yet their ignorance shall not frustrate Christs Love nay though they will not for the present extend their hand of Faith to receive it yet God will and doth keep Mercy for Thousands untill they will receive it Exod. 34.7 II. The second Use is an Use of Exhortation 1. Put in thy Claim for Mercy for thy Claim will hold not according to thy sense knowledge or belief that thou hast an Interest but according to the Truth of thine Interest Suppose thou shouldest promise to give to every one of thy children such a gift if they were good children Suppose one of your children who had obeyed your commands and had been very inquisitive to know your will I say suppose such a child should sit weeping because he thought he had not obeyed your commands and because he thought you were angry with him and upon that account would not come for your promised gift would you not therefore give it him nay would you not only be pleased with his obedience but that he took so to heart your supposed anger So O poor Soul that sittest weeping with thine eyes full of tears and thine heart ful of sorrow under the sense of Gods supposed displeasure shall not God wipe all tears from thine eyes and give thee the Promises he hath made to thee though thou through the sense of thine unworthinesse doest not believe thou hast any Interest in them 2. The second advice is that thou shouldest endeavour to obtain the Graces to which the Promises are made viz. Fear and Love of God and uprightnesse of heart c. whilst others are examining and going from Minister to Minister to know whether they have those Graces be thou getting of them For 1. Thou shalt be sure to get an interest in the Promises for they are made to such as have the Graces not to those that know that they have those Graces and if thou hast a Title thou shalt have possession 2. By getting greater degrees of Graces the trouble of examination will be needlesse it will save thee that labour whereas otherwise thou wilt perpetually be put to examination As for instance Thou findest a spark of fire and coverest it up again and lettest it lye wet to morrow thou wilt be as far to seek and wilt as hardly find the spark and know whether there be any fire to morrow as to day Another knowing where to have fire close by knows she can as soon fetch it from her neighbour as find it on her own hearth if there be but a spark or two she therefore fetches some and blows up into a flame and she layes on fewel to keep in the fire So thou knowest where thou mayest have Gods Love viz. from God who is near unto them that call upon him they know they may have it sooner by Prayer then find it by examination this they blow into a flame and as when the fire flames we may be sure there is fire without poring to find it So when thy Graces are in an eminent degree they are so apparent that one that hath but half an eye may see them 3. By getting the Conditions to which the Promise is made thou shalt often get what is better then the Promise it self for the Promise is often Temporal when the Condition is Spiritual III. Study much or rather Meditate much upon these great Gospel Mysteries of Christs Satisfaction of Christs Interest in the Fathers Love and of the Fathers delight to honour the Son by giving mercies and pardoning sinners for his sake Know that thou greatly dishonourest Christ when thou goest timerously to God for any Mercy in his Name and it greatly argues thine infidelity Suppose thy friend that was bound with thee for some great sum of money and he hearing there were Sergeants to arrest thee should put himself into their hands to sâ—ve thee from prison and he should be carried to prison and pay the debt and send thee word that he had paid the debt every farthing if thou shouldest notwithstanding be afraid to see thy Creditor or stirr abroad would it not argue that thou believedst not thy friend had paid the debt IV. Go then with Confidence to God in the Name of Christ since Christ hath bid thee or else thou hast strange thoughts of Christ Suppose a friend of yours should bid you go to such a great man for such a Courtesie and should tell thee that he had spoken to him in thy behalf and bid thee not fear for he could have any thing of him that he spoke to him for and should bid thee go to him in his Name and tell him he sent thee if thou shouldest stand considering what to do and shouldest fear that for all thy friend professed he had so great an Interest in that great man you should not find it so when you came to him would not this show that you feared your friend boasted of more Interest then he had Christ hath plainly bid us go to the Father in his Name from him and that we shall have any thing whatsoever if we doubt whether when we go to the Father in his Name we shall obtain doth it not plainly argue our low thoughts of Christs Interest in the Fathers Love and that Christ hath higher thoughts of his Interest in his Fathers Love then indeed he hath The sense of thine own unworthinesse should by no means hinder thee except thou wentest to God in thine own Name for the Question in this case is not how God loves thee but how God loves Christ Thou hast thoughts high enough of Gods Love to Christ if thou knowest that God loves Christ more then he hates any sinner in the World Thy thoughts are not high enough of Christs Love to thee if thou thinkest Christ will deny thee any thing nor hast thou worthy thoughts of Gods Love to Christ if thou thinkest God will deny Christ any thing or any one that comes to him in his Name whom he bid so to do for in so doing he doth not so properly deny thee as Christ Of the cause of Inward Trouble and how a Christian should behave himself when Inward and Outward Troubles meet Gen. 42. v. 21 22. 21. And they said one to another yea but verily we are guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this distresse come upon us 22. And Reuben answered them saying Spake I not to you saying sin not against the child and you would not hear therefore behold also his bloud is required IN this Chapter we have the description of our Fathers the Patriarchs their first journey into Egypt for Corn to relieve their Famine in Canaan Herein is considerable 1. Their entertainment there it was harsh with much trouble more danger the great Lord Treasurer of Egypt would not know them but treats them roughly v. 7. takes
sight are often but as the uncertain twinkling star-light to us whereby to steer our course All that 's said of Moderation will more clearly appear if we consider it's Extreames from the nature of God's Commands which are of two sorts 1. Some are affirmative and those either general what we must do c. and imply the end for which and all the circumstances that necessarily attend our doing it Or particular and express the circumstances external as time and place and internal usually called the manner which comprehends the quality and the moral quantity or proportion we are speaking of which implies the intenseness frequency and duration of our actions These continually oblige us though not to continual practice but only when God requires the former by way of more absoluteness the latter more conditionally as depending thereupon 2. The other sort of precepts are negative some what we must not do and so consequently at once forbid all the concomitants of such actions as are prohibited others not forbidding us the object but rectifying us about it in the end we most do it for manner how c. both which obliges us to continual observance and in morals to the contrary duties By which it appeares in our not right proportioning our actions we sin in omission by not doing so fully as he commands in commission when we do those things that are our duty but exceed therein and go beyond the bounds God hath set us and this is formally immoderateness which is rectified by Moderation As for actions materially evil as Jonah's being angry with God hating virtue and loving vice c. which are absolutely forbidden no proportion is to have place but it and all other circumstances together with the action wholly avoided or suppressed because towards undue objects forbidden us there can be no defect in regard there should be no action and therefore no Moderation or government thereof For instance in those two great Commands on which hang all the Law and the Prophets as our blessed Saviour tells us Matth. 22.46 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self Luke 10.27 Here 's the grace of Love required to act towards God the manner exprest in heart soul strength mind the measure in the four all 's the New Testament adding one to the three of the Old Testament so far is the Gospel from detracting from duty here can be no excesse in regard we can never love him as he deserves not only in regard of what he hath done for us but is to us being our end and happinesse and towards our Neighbour the manner exprest as thy self i. e. truly and sincerely but not with all thy heart c. that 's only God's due who is absolutely to be loved for himself others for him Herein alas Grace is defective but never exceeds so that Moderation hath here no place for if we love any person or thing more than God Christ and our selves it is not the action of Grace but sinful affection which is to be moderated For he that with his natural affection loves Father or Mother Wife or Child which yet they ought greatly to love more then God or Christ is no◠worthy of them I am not ignorant all this while that this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is most frequently used in a forinsecal or Law sense more strictly the Moralists Schoolmen and Civilians borrowing it from Aristotle and restraining it to that particular Moderation of mitigating strickt Justice in the execution of humane Laws and so is rendred equitas equitie Which is either that of the Magistrate in his publick capacity and is so clementia clemencie and is opposed to cruelty the Magistrate being obliged as not to write his Laws in blood like Draco's so also not to execute them with cruelty though where requisite with severity but to moderate them by the Law of Nature other Laws former prcedents constant customs which hath the nature of Laws or the reason and end of the Law which is more equitable and more Law say some than the letter and amongst Christians by the written Laws of God that there may be convenientia poenae ad delictum or a proportioning punishment to the quality of the offence all circumstances which the Law cannot possibly foresee or provide for being duly considered This includes all Superiors Political Ecclesiastical Domestical c. and is frequently joyned with Justice and Judgement in Scripture as executed both by God and man Psal 98.9.99.4 Is 11.4 Prov. 1.3.2.19.17.26 Micah 3.9 c. Or secondly that of private persons or publick in their private capacity which is between party and party when according to the rules of equity we omit what the rigor of the letter of the Law would adjudge us thereby neither injuring our selves or others which is usually called probitas or honestas by us common honesty that should be 'twixt man and man And hence some borrow it and restrain it to that carriage the Law takes not cognisance of in our meeknesse and gentlenesse making it that single Vertue the Moralists call mansuetudo we meeknesse But though it be all these yet 't is also more these not reaching the latitude of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor the extent of the duty here in joyned the word being not used here in that strict sense the Philosophers use it as the learned Grotius well observes upon the place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesych 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Etymol 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scoliast in l. 1. Thucyd. but for that equalnesse of mind and spirit that becomes us in our conversation and diffuseth it self through many very many other actions than are proper to these Vertues and though sometimes restrained to this or that particular kind of Moderation yet in it's latitude as the best Philologers tell us denotes mediocrity indifferency equality or the like And in this general acception which I may call the Moral or Theological Sense not restraining it to though not excluding the forinsecal and stricter acceptation thereof I shall through Gods assistance handle it The rather because our Judicious and Learned Perkins hath in a peculiar little Tractate already spoken sufficiently to that particular of the Moderation of Justice by the Magistrate and private persons in reference to their remitting from the rigour of the Law which every one may peruse and I seriously wish they would also practise 2. General now follows The exercise of Moderation The exercise of Moderation wherein the case proposed is included viz. Case Wherein must we practise Moderation Which necessarily implies the external object or about what our Moderation must be conversant and appear to all call it the object of the faculty or of the action or of Moderation when imployed in
in our love towards them 1 John 2.15 Love not the World neither the things that are in the World by taking too much complacency and delight in them nor our rejoycing Eccles 11.9 if thou dost know for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Nay our Saviour when the Disciples returned with joy that the Devils were subject to them Luk. 10.17 which was a divine and extraordinary gift calls them off and shews them a fit matter of rejoycing wherein they could not exceed not absolutely forbidding but limiting them with a rather but rather rejoyce that your names are written in heaven Ver. 20. nor in our glorying in them Jer. 9.23 24. Oh what need of moderation here In our eating drinking sleeping lawful recreations rayment in the using of our parts Learning Riches Honours and other Creature comforts If the enjoyment of these outward things had been so considerable think you our blessed Saviour who could have commanded them would have wanted them What are the best of them Are thy Riches any thing but of the earth and earthly Thy Pleasures any thing but a little titillation of the flesh of no permanent nature lives but one instant and dies as fast Thy Honour any thing besides a hollow eccho or noyse that like the circle of the water is but of little circumference and soon gone Doth not every cross wind or wave break and dash it away Is not he that 's great in this City scarce known in the next He that 's King in one nation unknown to many other nations How short lived I pray Have there not been many great ones we never heard of Those we read do we not skip their names often not troubling our selves with the thought or remembrance of them If we do what are they the better Read Psal 103.14 15 16 17 18. Nay have not the greatest judgments of God followed excess in things lawful I will trouble you with none but a few Scriptural Examples Two of the greatest the World ever knew the flood and destruction of Sodom and the rest of the Cities of the Plain to what are they ascribed but Security and Excess They did eat they drank they married Wives they were given in marriage What follows The flood came and destroyed them all Luk. 17.27 Likewise in the daies of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they builded all again things lawful in themselves but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all v. 28 29. If David too much pride and glory in the number of his people and fall to numbring them God quickly follows with Pestilence and makes them decrease seventy thousand 1 Chron. 21.14 If Nebuchadnezzar will vaunt Is not this great Babylon that I have built by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty While the word is in his mouth there falls a voice from heaven The Kingdom is departed from thee and he is turned to grass with the Oxen Dan. 4.30 33. And his Son Belshazzars great Feast fills up the measure for which he was that night slain and his Kingdom taken Dan. 5.1 30 31. If the rich man will think thus and so will I do and say Soul thou hast goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry He is not only stigmatized for a fool but this night shall thy soul be required of thee follows Luk. 12.19 20. Nay if the wicked servant begin to eat and drink with the drunken his Lord will come unexpectedly and cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites Mat. 24.49 51. How great then this sin is Gods judgments being alwaies equal and proportioned to our offences what slight thoughts soever we may have of it you cannot but by these Examples perceive Nay rather what a big-bellied Monster is it Full of many deadly sins full of Atheism unbelief idolatry carnal security preferring these things before God Christ heaven and happiness Take heed and beware therefore herein lest while they speak thee fair they wound thy heart ◠Towards the evills of this life 1. We must moderate our fears of these befalling us according to the good they threaten to deprive us of As we must not fear these groundlesly so when there is just cause and apparent danger we should not be senseless and secure nor fear all alike or over-fear any Security is the fore-runner to destruction 1 Thes 5.3 which these should awake us out of but not so affect us or affright us as to put us past our selves and our duty when the storm threatens us we must not with Jonah be asleep but praying and endeavouring as the poor Marriners for preservation Or as the Disciples Lord save us we perish though they were too fearful in regard of Christs being with them who was sufficient security for their safety There is a provident fear that opens our eyes to foresee dangers and quickens us in the use of lawful means for their prevention such was the good Patriarch Jacobs of Esau his destroying him and his company that makes him pray send presents to his brother divide his bands and use all prudent means of preservation Gen. 32. This we must have for security and putting far away the evill day when God threatens us even with temporal judgments is a great sin and hath a woe pronounced upon it Amos 6. whereas this makes us wisely serve the providence of God But then there is a diffident fear that distracts us and cuts all the nerves and sinews of lawful care and endeavours that brings a snare with it Prov. 29.25 and often drives us upon unwarrantable means or makes us sit down in despair This we must beware of by a due moderating our fears according to the impendent evill which must be judged by its opposite good Not fearing all evils alike the loss of some wealth like the loss of our health because health is the better good no nor all evils of the same kind alike not a Tertian Ague like the Stone this by its exquisite pain depriving us more of the natural comfort of health and more endangering our lives And not over-fearing the greatest viz. Death called by Job The King of terrors 15. and 14. and by the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all terribles the most terrible which our Saviour as man feared with a natural fear yet chargeth we should not over-fear it Mat. 10.28 Luk. 12.4 Ye◠though we should fear political or publike evils as Wars Famine Pestilence more than our own personal of which you see I speak only all along in regard those are greater the publick good being be ter and to be preferred before any private yet not these too much 2. We must moderate our grief trouble for these according to the good we want or lose by them There are imaginary evils that are of our own creation begot brought up
Opppressors publike Defamers and the like wrongers of thy Estate Reputation and other thy temporal good things in charity and according to Equity equally seeking thy own right and good not thy neighbours wrong much less ruin and destruction And thus for moderation towards others in Civil matters In Religious matters Although I have spoken in the opening the nature of moderation and the general Object that which might serve to direct us herein Yet lest I be mistaken and thence any of you mistake your duty I shall further open this particular Object by speaking to it negatively about what moderation is not to be practised and positively wherein it must Negatively 1 Not in matters of faith For the believing these being not only absolutely required of every Christian and in that measure that we cannot fully come up to in regard of the great truth and reality of spiritual objects and their revelation the best being alas miserably short and deficient herein but also internal the profession of these being matter of practice Moderation cannot possibly here have any place much less that which respects others 2. Nor in matters of moral practice such as the Moral Law requires and grace and vertue should perform For in these can be no excess either in degree or duration We cannot love God too much nor with grace our neighbour nor too constantly Consider Father Mother Wife Children as moral Objects so we exceed not as natural goods and so in the exercise of natural affection we frequently as is said before do exceed which is discernable especially by the end with grace we love them for God with the moral vertue of love for the relation they stand in to us with the affection of love when we sinfully over-love them for our selves for though the natural affection co-operates with the former yet it solely exceeds But it being difficult for us to discern these formalities in objects and the operations of principles about them it is our only way to have recourse to Gods Laws which though founded upon the nature of things yet shews us plainly our duty where we cannot discern them which in all things wherein we may exceed as in the Externals of the First Table and the duties of the Second not only prescribe us what and also particularly how to act by positive Precepts but lest we should miscarry by Negative also which respect the end manner measure c. of such duties restraining and bounding us that we exceed not Both which are Moral and comprehended in this particular it being equally moral not to over-love as to love thy Neighbour the former being forbidden as well by the Negative as the latter enjoyned by positive Precepts In Negatives which forbid the action absolutely as Blasphemy Adultery c. no need of any such Precepts to regulate us for the actions being not to be done no need of direction for their manner and consequently no place for Moderation such being to be subdued and supprest not ordered or regulated as I have formerly spoken and in things only indefinitely forbidden as Swearing Travelling on the Lords day c. when we are to practice them we have the rules for Positive actions Affirmative and Negative to direct us sufficiently 3. Nor especially in the weightier matters of the Law or Religion I must speak a little to this because that may be commanded absolutely in it self which comparatively when it comes in competition with other duties of greater moment becomes only conditional For Affirmative Precepts are so many it is impossible they should bind ad semper so that when two or more duties come together man in regard of his finite capacity being not able to perform them at once must duly consider the weightiest and that do it being requisite in terms of inconsistency that the lesser alwaies give place to the greater and cease pro hic nunc or for that present to oblige us Thus Davids eating the shew-bread and the Disciples plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath day when hungry is defended by our Saviour Mat. 12. Yea even frequently the externals of the First Table give way to the weighty exigent duties of the Second as the sanctification of the Sabbath to the defending the City in the Macchabees case according to that I will have mercy and not sacrifice Hos 6.6 Not only rather than sacrifice but in such cases not sacrifice God dispensing with the lesser so that its omission becomes no sin as is clear in our Saviours practice in his healing the man with the withered hand c. as well as in his defence of his Disciples Luk. 6. For that may be our duty and necessary at one time which at another when a weightier comes that should take place ceaseth to be so by vertue of the reason and constiâ—ution of the Laws themselves that the Superiour Law take place Therefore under the notion of moderation to omit Moral and especially the great and necessary duties required and practice only the less is Pharisaical hypocrisie not Christianity If to do the great duties of Religion God requires of us be accounted immoderateness let us say with David If this be to be vile we will be more vile still Gods Laws admit of no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or dispensation from us but what he hath admitted himself we must neither add or detract Deut. 4.2 Thou canst neither mitigate their execution nor any other besides himself on thee for thy transgressing them Digest de legib senatus cons If the wise Romans were so careful to preserve their Laws from others than the supream dispensing wiâ—h them lest they should prove a Lesbian rule much more the Great and Wise God hath reason to keep up the authority of his Laws and expect our punctual observance of them Moderation in Religion and religious Duties is the devillish Precept of Machiavel not the Doctrine of the Gospel or St. Paul To engage or wade no further in Religion than temporal interests will permit uâ— to come safely again to shore was the resolution and speech of a great Courtier of France than of heaven and of such as resolve more to save their skins than their souls How doth Christ every where arm those that will be his Disciples against their desisting from their necessary duty for the offence of the world Is so far from concealing this that it is the first thing he tels them of invites them upon no other terms than the Cross tels them they must trust him in this world for compensating them in the future c. Mat. 16. from 24. to ult And how eminent was he in the practice of this How did the Zeal of Gods House eat him up and he persist in doing the work he was sent about notwithstanding all the offence the Jews took And yet in his own private concerns how meek gentle patient which none can be ignorant of that read the Gospel and which he commands us to learn
blessings before they can be refreshing Ioh 10.28 Ioh. 14.3 Col. 2.7 Ioh. 15.1 5. Eph. 1.22 23. and this alone from Christ I give unto them eternall life and they shall never perish I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am ye may be there also And what is cleerly asserted in these Scriptures is strongly intimated in those emblems by which Christ is described What the root is to the Tree the Vine to the branches the head to the body all this is Christ to believers viz. not only a treasury of all good but a fountain continually streaming down all kind of spirituall blessings into their souls and though faith be both the eye that discerns and the hand that receives all from Christs fullnesse yet 't is he that by his Spirit works this grace in us Faith is our act Gal. 5.22 Ephes 2 8. Phil. 1.29 but it is his gift 't is we that beleeve but 't is Christ enables us to beleeve so that both in purchasing and applying salvation Christ is All. 3. What advantage is it to beleevers to have their All in Christ 1. Because our salvation could have been in no hand so safe so sure as in the hand of Christ had it been in our hand by any inhaerent righteousnesse Psal 89.19 Isa 63.1 Heb. 4.15 Heb. 7.25 our sad experience we have had of our own unfaithfullnesse in sinning away that happinesse wherein we were created may cause us for ever to be jealous of our selves but to have it in the hand of him who is mighty to save even to the utmost who is so faithfull that in all our distresses he is touched with our infirmities we cannot be so sensible of our own miseries but Christ is much more Acts 4.12 and hence it is that as we have no other Saviour besides him so is it impossible we should have any like unto him 2. Because our salvation could have been in no way so comfortable because as God hath the glory of every attribute so have Christians the comfort of every attribute in this way of salvation for as God hath the glory of his Justice from them in their Head and surety to whom in this way he shews mercy mercy and truth are met together Psalm 85.10 righteousnesse and peace have kissed each other Justice it self that dreadfull attribute to guilty creatures is in this way of salvation so far from being their enemy that it becomes their friend and speaks nothing but what is to their encouragement And hence it is that sincere believers have from the very justice of God answered all manner of discouragements arising from their sins Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died Rom. 8.34 i. e. since God hath already received satisfaction from Christ he cannot in justice require it from the members of Christ Rom. 3.26 Prov. 28.13 With 1 Ioh. 1.9 but is just in the justifying him that believeth in Jesus and if we confesse and forsâ—ke our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Thus hath the justice of God been their great support in the time of their outward dangers also Psal 89.14 Justice and judgement are the habitation of his Throne In a word this way of salvation which was the contrivance of infinite wisdome and is in it self so mysterious that the Angels delight to look into it does so fully correspond with the condition of poor weak sinfull mutable creatures that it layes a double obligation of praise upon us that salvation is possible and that the way of salvation is so compleat and full The Doctrinall part of this Observation being thus cleared one word by way of Application Vse 1. If Christ be All then is there no ground of despondency either from your own defectivenesse or the defectivenesse of all creature helps Your duties are defective Phil. 3.9 your endeavours defective your very righteousnesse unsafe to confide in But though you have nothing in your selves yet if you have an interest in Christ you need nothing more because in Christ you have All. 1. You have the summe of All. Though you have not estates friends worldly comforts yet in Christ you have what does more than make up the want of all these We may be as impatiently desirous of this and that earthly comfort as Rachel was of children Gen. 30.1 1 Sam. 1.8 whom we find quarrelling with Jacob Give me children or else I die But what Elkanah said to Hannah in the like condition Am I not better unto thee than teâ— sons the same may we say much more to persons interested in Christ Is not Christ better to you than all The absence of the Cistern may well be dispensed with by him who lives at the fountain and the light of a Candle by him who enjoyes the Sun All those seeming contradictions which so frequently occurre in Scripture can no other wayes be reconciled but by the acknowledgement of this E. gr A father of the fatherlâ—sse Psal 68.5 Iam. 2.5 2 Cor. 6.10 How can they be fatherlesse who have a father Thus we read of them who were rich in the midst of poverty who having nothing possâ—ssed All things joyfull in the midâ—t of sorrows i. e. though they had not these comforts yet they had an interest in him who is infinitely more and better than all those comforts Nay as to inhaerent righteousnesse though you cannot attain a perfection yet in Christ is perfection He is All. 2. You have in him the pledge of All according to the Apostles argumentation Rom. 8.32 How shall be not with him also freely give us All things The Inference is strong Had there been any one mercy that God had thought too great too much for worthlesse creatures it would certainly have been this but since God hath not stuck at giving his Son This instance of Gods bounty is so high that it removes all grounds of questioning his bounty in any thing else The Apostle from this mercy might very well infer a certain subsequence of all other mercies that might be profitable or beneficiall no ground of despondency therefore unto such as are interested in Christ Vse 2. What cause have we to be thankfull for Christ We have cause to be thankfull for the meanest of mercies Gen. 32.10 inasmuch as we are lesse than the least of all much more for this which is the highest of mercies The mercies of our Creation preservation c. though never so many and great are little in comparison of this 'T is mentioned as an astonishing act of love that God should so love the world as to give his only son c. Joh. 3.16 so beyond all comparison so beyond all expression If God hath given you his Son 't is more than if he had given you a whole world Ephes 1.3 because it is in him that God
doth conclude him an hypocrite when he built the Temple and was the Jedidiah the beloved of the Lord. 6. Nor is it every degree of tendency to hypocrisie that denominates Caution 6 a man an hypocrite and brings him under the condemnation to have his portion with hypocrites For there is the seed of this as well as of all other sinnes in the heart Ier. 17.9 and the holy Prophet Jeremy cries out the heart is deceitfull c. he meant his own heart as well as others and Solomon the wisest man gives this advice keep thy heart Proverbs were experiments his own and David the devoutest saith all men are lyars all deceitfull and there are the remains of hypocrisie in the best the reign of it is only in hypocrites hypocrisie may have its presence but not predominance in the sincerest children of God Thus you see what doth not conclude an hypocrite though it come very near 2. Now I shall shew what cannot cleer and acquit a man from an hypocrite though it proceed very fairly and very farre which makes it so difficult to discover this leaven of the Pharisees hypocrisie 1. It doth not acquit and discharge a man from this charge of hypocrisie That they hear the Word with some delight that they believe with some faith so did the stony ground Matth. 13. That they take some pains for it so did they Joh. 6. That they perform some duties in obedience to it so did Herod Mark 6. That they are morall and without blame in some things outwardly Matth. 19. so was the young man That they are zealous against some publick corruptions so was Jehu That they have illumination and excellent knowledg by a common work of the spirit so have the Devils Judas and those apostates Heb. 6. That they had some sweet tasts and relishes from the Word imbraced so had they in Heb. 6. and no doubt Ananias and Saphira had Nor doth this acquit them and set them out of danger that they have some serious cares and fears about their salvation so had Felix so had the sinners in Zion they were afraid Isa 33.14 fearfullnesse hath surprized the hypocrites they were afraid of dwelling with devouring fire and everlasting burnings Judas and Spira had fears to purpose Rom. 8.15 and the spirit of bondage is but a common work of the spirit if it rest there in Pharaoh there was fear but no sincerity in the Devils fear but no penitency nor is it some reluctancy against sinne by an awakened conscience Herod had so and Pilate had so Baalam so nor many desires of good Baalam desired to die the death of the righteous The five Virgins desired Oyl there be the desires of the sloathfull that even kill them desires like the turning of a door upon hinges Pro. 26.14 never the farther off Desires of the wavering man Iam. 1.6 7. the double-minded man when a man hath some mind to grace Aug. in Confess but more to lust as Augustine that prayed for grace and chastity but his heart secretly prayed the while not yet Lord. There may be powring out of prayers as the Ninevites Ionah 3.8 they cried mightily they powred forth a prayer when thy chastening was upon them Esa 26.16.17 and yet they brought forth but wind When he slew them then they sought him Psa 68.34 36. and they returned and enquired early after God neverthelesse they did but flatter him with their mouth and lied to him with their tongues c. Nor is it some hopes Matth. 25. Job 8.13 Luk. 18. If all this cannot save a man from the guilt of hypocrisie and portion of hypocrites what shall If these come short of Heaven where shall they appear that come farre short of them Oh then who can be saved Streight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life Luk. 13.24 Phil. 2.12 and few find it Salvation work is to be wrought out with fear and trembling Beware then of the leaven c. How then may we know how it is with our souls whether we are in the number of hypocrites and tending to their portion whether this deluding destroying predominating damning leaven of hypocrisie be in us Sign 1 1. A loving of the world and the things of the world the lust of the flesh 1 Ioh. 2.15 16. the lust of the eye and the pride of life this is a fearfull evidence of hypocrisie for it is inconsistent with and destructive of the love of God Matth. 22.37 and the loving God above all things is the very essence the summa totalis of sincerity and whatsoever contraries this is the very essence of hypocrisie I know there be many subterfugies and evasions and it is an hard matter to convince men that they love the world in St Johns sense But if a man make these lusts of the eye of the flesh and pride of life honours riches carnall and sensuall pleasures his aym his interest his chief delight If the heart and affections be let out to these things immoderately If the sweetest freest thoughts of the soul be let out to them either about the getting enjoying or desiring or admiring or advancing them If the activity and indeavours of the soul bend and are imployed chiefly this way though there may be many excellent performances expressions affections yet the leaven of the Pharisee is there and sours all and all the rest is but in hypocrisie This leavened all Baalams pretences divinations all his goodly expressions and professions both to God the Angel and men that he would do nothing speak nothing but what God would have him as much as to say he would be upright and sincere Iude 11. yet still he looked after the reward Balacs promotion this was the errour of Baalam he followed the wages of unrighteousnesse and this leavened all Judas his hearing and conversing with Christ his over-officiousnesse Some conceive from Judas his kissing Christ in the garden c. that he was more than ordinarily familiar and officious about him and made more pretences of love and service to him but he appeared a painted sepulchre an hypocrite he loved the wages of iniquity it was the world and hypocrisie were predominant in him and now he is gone to his own place the place and portion of hypocrites he was as it were out of his place or in an others place all the while before and this leavened all the Pharisees almes fastings prayers professions and pretences Luk. 16.14 they were covetous saith one Evangelist and they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God Ioh. 12.43 saith another and that is in effect they loved the favour of men more than the favour of God in short they loved the world 1 Ioh. 2.16 Mat. 6.24 1 Cor. 7.27 30. and the love of the Father was not in them There can be no serving God and Mammon if we cannot moderate and temperate
that of the English Proverb be true it is here As good never a whit as never the better Indeed there is so much work on our hands such commands such promises to believe such corruptions to subdue such temptations to resist the careless of carnal failing in any of which will charge us with hypocrisie So many such subtle and powerfull adversaries to coâ—flict withall such a world such a flesh such principalities and powers and spiritual wickednesses in high places such deceitfull hearts deceitfull above all things to search and sift and purge from this leaven that it is impossible to be free of it without mighty striving contending and giving much diligence 2. If you would take heed of hypocrisie take heed of security There are no greater flatterers and no greater deceivers of themselves and others than hypocrites they flatter themselves in their own eyes Ps 36.2 all flattery is dangerous but self flattery of all other most dangerous and of all others in the business of salvation most pernicious It is the advice of the Devil and thy own hypocrisie to favour thy self flatter thy self hope well c. The advice of God is Lam. 3.40 Phil. 2.12 Ps 130.23 Search and try your wayes examine your selves 2 Cor. 13.5 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling Yea call upon God to search you It is a fear of carefulness and sollicitude a trembling of jealousie and suspicion as to our own hearts not of diffidence or despair as to God that we are directed to Had the foolish Virgins had but this care this fear they had had â—yl in their vessels as well as Lamps Had those glorious professours in Matth. 7.22 had but this jealousie and suspicion they might have escaped that dismal sentence Depart from me you workers of iniquity Perhaps your faith may be but a fancy Iob 8.13 your hopes but presumptuous a spiders web Hos 10.1 Hos 7.14 Zach. 7.5 Psal 72.6 perhaps your fruit may be but that of an empty vine to your self perhaps your prayers may be but howlings for corn and wine perhaps your fasting may not be to God Commune much with your own heart and let your spirit make diligent search keep you heart with all keeping be jealous of every thing your heart hath to do with your affairs friends comforts recreations thoughts sollitudes graces Prov. 28.14 Prov. 23.17 Prov. 1. Eccles 12. Iob 28. Oh blessed or happy is the man that thus feareth always he shall never do amiss this is to be in the fear of God all the day long and this fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome the end of wisdome and wisdome it self for this will make a man wise to escape the wiles of Sathan and the hypocrisie of his own heart and so make him wise to salvation 3. Keep God alwayes in your mindes if we have all from him Rom. 11. ult we should be all to him If we live and move in him our hearts and mindes should be alwayes on him This is the cause of all the wickedness and hypocrisie in the world men will not seek after God God is not in all their thoughts Psal 10.4 And this the ground of all the glorious performances of the Saints they saw him that was invisible as Micaiah saw the Lord in his Throne Heb. 11.26 27 and therefore feared not to deal plainly and sincerely with Ahab though on his Throne 1 King 22.19 When the Psalmist had convinced and reproved the wickedness and formal hypocrisie of ungodly presumptuous men he concludes Now consider this you that forget God c. Intimating this to be the reason of all ungodly hypocritical conversation a forgetting God Psal 50.22 The remedy must be contrary to the disease if we would be no hypocrites we must much remember think of and observe and eye God by faith Acquaint thy self with God and so good shall come to thee If men were acquained with God and did not forget him Iob 22.21 acquainted with his Omnisciency Psal 139.1 2. with his All-sufficiency Gen. 17.1 with the power of his anger Ps 90.11 Mic. 7.18 19. the infiniteness of his goodness Isa 55.7 8. they would conclude and live under the awe and power of such conclusions Oh then he is too great to be tempted and provoked too excellent to be sleighted and undervalued too good to be lost too wise to be deceived and this would suppress and supplant the leaven of the Pharisees hypocrisie 4. Be much and daily in the renewing faith and repentance If there be such danger of hypocrisie there is necessity of renewing faith and repentance for fear hypocrisie may be in them Rise and return as soon as thou art convinced of thy sin so did Paul so did Peter as soon as the Lord turned and looked upon him Gal. 1.16 Luke 22.61 If repentance were hastned after sin and thou wouldest take care and pains to break thy heart constantly for sin this would break it from sin A man should finde that it were an evil and a bitter thing to forsake the Lord Jer. 2.19 and that his fear was not in thee and a broken heart God would not despise because it is apparent that is no hypocritical heart And though former faith and repentance may be counterfeit and hypocritical Psal 51. yet ensuing and renewed faith may be sound and sincere and we have much ground to renew those acts whose soundness and validity we have much ground to suspect if all have been false or fained or partial formerly we have the more cause in a new act to give up and binde our souls sincerely to it and this will free you from hypocrisie 5. Put forth your greatest strength and care to mortifie those lusts and corruptions that are the fewel to hypocrisie pride vain-glory worldly-mindedness self-self-love These are the fewel of hypocrisie they beget it and they nourish it If the love of the world and worldly favour did not prevail much over men there would be no hypocrisie in the world and cherish and strengthen the graces which cannot consist with it but will be alwayes fighting against and opposing it as love to God humility self-denial heavenly-mindedness mortifying the flesh much commnion with God if these be in you and abound you shall not be barren nor unfruitfull but shall make your calling and election sure and so be out of the peril yea and much out of the fear of hypocrisie 6. Press the Lord much and urge him close with the promises of a new heart Eze. 36.25.26 Deut. 30.6 Ier. 32.40 of circumcising your hearts and causing you to love the Lord with all your heart of putting his fear into your heart If he urge and press you in his word with his precepts and your duty do you urge and press him as much in your prayers with his promises spread his own hand-writing and seals before him as Augustine relates his Mother did
out and if I love God I may thereby be sure that God loves me p 1 John 4.19 But Lord so far as I am able by searching to know my own heart I desire nothing more then to come q Jerem. 3.21 to Christ to receive Christ r John 1.11 to be one with Å¿ Gal. 2.20 Christ to be conformable to Christ t Heb 2.11 And Lord I dare say with Peter thou that knowest all things knowest that I love thee u John 21.17 if prizing thee above all things in the world w Psal 73.25 if restless longing x Psal 119.20 for further acquaintance and more inward y Psal 106.4 communion if pantings after the secrets of thy z Psalm 25.14 presence fear of nothing more then to offend thee a Psal 119 1â—0 be infallible evidences of sincere love then I dare appeal unto thee that I love thee Therefore Lord perswade my soul thankefully to acknowledge that 't is in a safe condition On the contrary Thus Lord thou hast told me that if I live after the flesh I shall b Rom. 8.13 die But my heart life undeniably evidence that I mind nothing but carnality Therefore Lord convince me that there 's but a step c Job 21.13 but a d Psal 146.4 breath between me and everlasting death Thus Christians do but suffer and help your Conscience to do its office and then shall you have rejoycing in your selves alone and not in e Gal 6.4 another i. e. you will finde cause of rejoycing in the testimony of your own Conscience and not in others thinking you to be better then you are nor in your thinking your selves to be better then others Thus you have the offices of Conscience I come in the last place to speak of 4. The kinds of Conscience I know are coÌ„monly reduced to these 4. f Bâ—rn de consc p 1107. viz. Good quiet Good and troubled Evil and quiet Evil and troubled But intending the resolution of the Case before me in speaking to Conscience under the several kinds of it I shall speak to 8 kinds of Consciences The two first viz. the sleepy and the seared Conscience are peculiar to the worst of men The 4. next viz. the erring doubting scrupulous trembling Consciences are almost indifferent to good bad only the 2 former have a greater bias to bad and the 2 latter have a greater tendency to Good but the 2 last kinds viz. The Good and Honest and the Good and quiet Consciences are peculiar to Gods choisest favourites In treating of these I shall endeavour to acquaint you with the nature of each g But here I must say with Aug. non possum ut volo expl care quod sentio tamen quid moliar dicere peto ut non exâ—ectatis verbis meis sagac ssime si potâ—stis intelligatis Odi definire nam facilius est mihi videre in alterius definitione quod non probem quam quicquaÌ„ bene definiendo explicare Aug. T. 1. l. 2 de Ord. c 1. 2 p. 671. how to cure the evill how to obtain the good and hereby the Application will be entwisted with the Explication throughout my discourse I. The first and one of the worst kinds of Consciences in the world is the sleepy Conscience 1. The sleepy Conscience such is the Conscience of every unconverted person that is not yet under horrour their h Rom. 11.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Camerarius in loc spirit i. e. their Conscience is asleep that as bodily sleep bindeth up all the senses and animal spirits so this spiritual or rather unspiritual sleepiness bindeth up the soul from all sense i Privatio omnis sensus judicij Illyr In pâ—aed loc of the evill of sin and want of grace and therefore in conversion Christ doth awaken k Ephe 5 1â— the Conscience The Disciples of Christ have their spirits waking when their bodies l Matth. 26 41 are slumbring i e. they have a gracious habit of watchfulness when they are overtaken with some carnal acts of sleepiness Christ complains of unkindness m Cantic 5.2 that his Spouse sleeps in the morning when he knocks for early entertainment but the unconverted let Christ stand knocking all the day till supper time n Revel 3 20. they will spend their day with their lusts and if Christ will knock and wait till the day of their life be almost spent then they 'l pretend to open but how long must God call How long o Pro. 6.9 10. wilt thou sleep O sluggard when wilt thon arise out of thy sleep and they 'l answer Yet p Concessio ironica ethopaeiam habens pigroruÌ„ elegantissimam Jun in loc q. videmus conscientiaÌ„ veluti veterno aut lethargo aliquam diu sepultaÌ„ c. Episcop Inst theol l 1. c. 3. p. 11. Causes a little sleep a litle slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep The plain truth is thougn wicked men cannot quite stifle their consciences q yet their Consciences do but as it were talke in their sleep and they take no more notice of them then they do of their dreams Causes of a sleepy Conscience are besides the sluggishness of our depraved natures 1. A spiritual intoxicâ—tion all unconverted persons are drunk with the love of sin and therein behave themselves like Solomons r Prov. 23.34 35. Jacet in corona charchâ—sij i. e. Galea ubi maxima seÌ„titur maris agitatio Jun in loc â—ras the vulg Version which may serve for a paraphrase quasi sopitus gubernator amisso clavo i. usu rationis Tit. drunkard that lies down to sleep in the heart of the sea or upon the top of a mast in the very midst of the greatest soul danger He doth that daily which Jonah did once run away from Gâ—d and then composeth himself to sleep Å¿ Jonah â— 5 when God is pursuing him with judgments and dreams of nothing but impunity happines Love of sin is the Devils Opium whereby he casts the Conscience into a dead sleep that no arm but of Omnipotency can waken it He meets with something in the world which he likes better then the holy ways of God and therefore will not seek God t Ps 10.4 5 11 13. Justitiam ut ille apud Platonem Thrasymachus appellat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elegantem stultitiam they sleep then aiunt deum dormire aut oblituÌ„ esse eorum quae fiant in terris c. Aug. Steuch Eug. Enar. in loc Gods ways are always grievous to him he hath said in his heart I shall not be moved God hath forgotten he hideth his face he will never see it he contemns God saith in his heart thou wilt not require it They wink and then conclude God doth not see them 2. Carnal conceits of grace and heaven At the best humane wisdom is their highest Guide
Did ever any read hear or pray so much but he might have read heard and pray'd more Jehoram might have waited on the Lord longer 2 Kings 6. ult 5. Conclus Humane endeavours are not required to co-operate with Gods grace and so make it effectual but his grace makes their endeavours effectual when he pleaseth Physical means make not Gods power effectual but his power makes them effectual and so it s in mens endeavours It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 6. Conclus All that men do before Conversion is not in vain fruitless and to no purpose When Rehoboam and the Princes humbled themselves at the preaching of Shemaiah they were reprieved and delivered from destruction 2 Chro. 12.12 Ahabs humiliation did adjourn the judgement 1 King 21.27.29 The Ninivites found favour with God upon their fasting and repentance Jon. 3.8 9 10. 7. Conclus All the Actings and endeavours of men whatsoever they be are not formaliter dispositions or preparations to conversion so that conversion must necessarily follow upon them For there is no necessary connexion between the actings of Men and divine Grace The Lord hath no where said if you act so far or be so disposed qualified or prepared I will convert you If Gods grace did depend upon mens Actings then those that are most Civil and Moral must be taken and those who are profane and rebellious must be left but Pharisees were excluded when Publicans and Harlots were admitted Great sinners sometimes are brought in who did nothing towards their conversion when those did much are shut out Mary Magdalen a great and infamous sinner is taken when the foolish Virgins were refused they were Virgins free from the spots and pollutions of the world they had lamps professions they did much they went out to meet the Bride-groom they gat oyle into their lamps they went to the door and they cryed Lord Lord open to us Haec sunt opera preparatoria quibus se effert Paulus Jun. in locum and there was no opening to them What preparations had Paul to this work of conversion he was a blasphemer a persecuter and an injurious person these were his dispositions and preparatory works he had towards his conversion 1 Tim. 1.13 8. Conclu Those that live under the means of grace the administrations of Law and Gospel have some operations and gifts of the Spirit which some call common preventing and exciting Grace whereby they are inabled to do many things towards and in order to conversion The Scribe that was teachable and answered Christ discreetly was not farre from the kingdome of God Mark 12.32 34. He was nearer unto it than those had not the means The preaching of the Gospel is to make the converted meet for Glory and the unconverted meet for Grace to prepare and bring them to regeneration I have begotten you through the preaching of the Gospel saith Paul to the Corinthians 1 Epist 4.15 The preaching of it wrought much in them before conversion it selfe was wrought Balaam living under the Law and amongst or nigh the people of God was much inlightned and greatly convinced insomuch that he desired to die the death of the righteous 9. Conclus No actings of men or qualifications in men are causes of conversion do merit it or make them congruous for it They are not antecedent causes or so much as Causae sine quibus non but the Lord doth according to his Prerogative work sometimes where they are not as Ezek. 16. When thou wast in thy bloud I said unto thee live There was no cause condition or qualification in them to beget affection or move the Lord to do ought for them It was the time of his love and he said live 10. Conclus What ever the endeavours and dispositions of men be they are only by way of order before Conversion they are only antecedaneous thereunto on mans part not necessary on Gods part who can and oft doth work where there be no such previous acts or dispositions as in the dry bones in Ezekiel they had no disposition or power in them to rattle and come together neither had the dead womb of Sarah any power or vertue in it to conceive 11. Conclus Acts of men towards Conversion are not to be rested in as any satisfaction for sinne as making the person acceptable to God or as inducements of God towards conversion Qui nobis ipsis nihil a deo meriti sumus quibus deus nullam gratiam nullam mercedē debet se si jure nobiscum agat juxta conditionē servorū Brugensis in loc but we must acknowledge our selves unprofitable servants when we have done all that is commanded us Luke 17.10 12. Conclus Mans quickning believing repenting or turning are not acts of man in part and partly of God but they are wholly of God and from God You hath he quickned Ephes 2.1 they were dead and could not quicken themselves it was He the Lord So no man can come to me except the Father draw him John 6.44 This drawing or causing the soule to believe in Christ is wholly the Fathers work Nisi donum dei esset ipsa ad deum nostra conversio non ei diceretur Deus virtutum converte nos Aug. de gra lib. Arb. Jam. 1.17 August And Ephraim saith Turn thou me and I shall be turned Jer. 31.18 he could not turne himselfe if the Lord had not done it it would never have been done Paul saith It 's not in him that wills c. but in God c. The will and deed are of him not of man Phil. 2.13 It is the Lord who is causa totius entis Every good and perfect gift comes downe from above it 's not a perfect gift if man contribute to it The saying of the Father is sound Velle habemus sed bene velle in parte in toto est a gratia 13. Conclus Man in the first act of conversion is meerly passive Those who believe are borne not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God nothing of mans will comes in Not ultimum dictamen intellectus did set the will on work here but the Lord begat them of his owne will Jam. 1.18 So that mans will is not semiviva semimortua but penitus extincta ad bonum spirituale and so ad hoc to this of Conversion as the vitall faculty is gone in a dead man 14. Conclus Mans will being first converted to God and by God himselfe converts it selfe also unto God acta agit as a childs hand in writing being acted by the Masters hand it writes Hence man may be said to turn himself for the will being healed and made good of unwilling willing it hath an intrinsecal principle of willing good and so dominion over its own acts whereby it turneth it selfe to God Where there is the Fathers drawing first there is presently the
Tim. 1.15 Some have left their Love Rev. 2.3 Some left the Faith 1 Tim. 5.12 Some have turned after the world as Demas 2 Tim. 4 10. Some have turned aside after Satan 1 Tim. 5.15 And would to God there were no Example to be given in our age and observation it is that which the professors of a true Religion are more subject to then those of a false Jer. 21.1 Hath a nation changâ—d their god which yet are no gods but my people have changed their glory for that which doâ—h not profit Now there are three falls to which men are subject 1. Some fall as wood or Cork into the water sink at first Mat. 14.31 Act. 27.20 and 44. but get up again being helped by the hand of divine grace as Peter or brought off by a miracle of mercy as Paul and his company after all hopes of safety were quite taken a way This the fall of the godly 2. Some fall as lead or stone into the bottom of hell as Pharaohs host into the bottom of the sea and never rise again Exod. 15. having neither promise of God nor seed of God to raise them up again 1 Tim. 1.19 but make a final shipwarck of faith and conscience and of their souls together This the fall of the wicked 3. There is a mixt fall common to both which is like the falling into an Epidemical Disease whereof many dye and as many recover of which in their order There are four kinds or degrees of falling which the people of God are subject to And four kinds or degrees to which the wicked are subject and each latter is worse then other in them both 1. The first and lightest fall of the godly 4. Falls of thâ— Godly is that in their daily combate between flesh and spirit set out Rom. 7. at large and Gal. 5.17 We cannot do what we would but fail or fall short after our best endeavours Our duties are imperfect graces defective our gold and silver drossy our wine mixt with water Sin deceiveth surprizeth captiveth slayeth yet reigneth not all this while It is not I but sin that dwels in me I consent to the Law I delight in the law of God even in my inner man c. These falls or slips are unavoydable involuntary there is no Saint but complains of them no duty but is stained with them In our clearest Sun-shine we see a world of such Moats which yet hinder not the light and comfort of our Justification and destroy not Sanctification True grace consists with these Velimus nolimus Irruunt in nos Egyptiorum muscae obstrepunt Ranae in Cubilibus Regiis Prov. 24.16 yea is not separated from the assaults and induelling of such motions Will we Nill we said Bernard We are pesterd with swarms of these Egyptian flyes and have these frogs in our inmost chambers We are none of us Supralapsarians in this sense but Sub-lapsarians all yea and Relapsarians too The just falleth seven times a day by this infirmity and riseth again and taketh no harm but is kept humble and depending thereby Every son and daughter of Abraham is kept bound under this spirit of infirmity to their dying day This first fall is but like the fall of a mist in a winter morning the Sun gets up and it is a fair day after This is the first fall The second is worse which is 2. An actual visible stumble as to offence of others yet occasioned by some surreptitious surprize of temptation for want of that due consideration which we should always have this Gal. 6.1 the Apostle calls a mans being overtaken with a fault who is to be restored with a spirit of meekness considering we also may be tempted such falls or slips rather all or most are subject to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 3.2 In many things we offend all We sometimes trip or slip or misse our hold so the word signifies and so down we come but not out of choice Thus did Peter slip or halt Gal. 2.14 when he did Judaise out of too much complyance with the Jewes whom therefore Paul did rebuke and restore Thus the Disciples slipt when they in zeale to Christ would have fire fetcht down from heaven upon those that would not receive them Luk. 9.54 55. whom Christ set right with a spirit of meekness These slips or falls are like those of him whose foot is wrenched or out of joynt whence he halts till it be set right Thus Peter is said to halt Gal. 2.14 he did not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but when Paul had set his wrenched foot he went upright ever after Hence that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 6.1 restore is a Chirurgeons word to set him right as a bone out of joynt He that shall be censorious and severe against these two first kind of falls incident to most let him as Constantine said to Acesius the Novatian Bishop Get himselfe a ladder Socr. l. 1. c. 7. and climbe up to heaven by himselfe he should have but a few come there else 3. The third fall is much worse a fall from the third lost whence like Eutichus they are taken up dead for the present but they come to themselves again These are falls into grosser and more scandalous sins which do Vastare conscientiam set the stacks or Corn-fields of Conscience on fire whereas the other two forenamed especially the former are such as Tertullian calls Quotidianae Incursionis these are very dangerous and befall not all Professors they had not need but now and then one falls into some scandalous sin but they not usually again into the same sin after sense and repentance of it Thus fell David and Peter into foul flagitiousness but not deliberately nor totally nor finally nor reiteratedly Sin raged indeed and seemed to reign for the present Moses hands grew weak and the hand of Amaleck prevailed for the present But a seed of God was in them 1 John 3.9 and they could not sin unto death but were renewed to repentance and their sins are blotted out This fall is like the fall of the Leafe in Autumn life remains safe a Spring in due time follows though many a cold blast first 4. There is yet one worse fall than these former incident to a child of God too to be of the decaying hand and to remit and lose his former fervour and livelinesse And it may be he never comes as the second Temple up to the former pitch and glory Ezra 3.12 1 King 11 4 9 10. Thus Solomons zeale and love was abated in his old age as his father Davids naturall heat was in his age that he needed an Abishag to lye in his bosome Incepit melius quâ—m definit Vltima primit cedunt dissimilis hâ—c puer ille senex so was Solomons spirituall heat cooled by the many Abishags that lay in his bosome and
his dwelling-house just beginning to catch fire would stand still say let it alone a little I would see what will come of it wo or three minutes indulgence to the flame will embolden it without expecting his leave or permission any longer to devour and rage and consume and carry all before it in despite of his mightiest resistances when a little at first might have saved that vast damage which his folly and loytering hath occasioned How contemptible were those fires at first that in few hours have triumpht over stately Palaces and turn'd sometimes vast Cities into heaps of dust and ashes how small an infirmity and distemper neglected hath ushered in the most fatal sickness and how often hath a trifling bruise or strain bin preface to a Gangrene and the pick of a pin or thorne not lookt after time enough enforced the cutting off a leg or arm nay proved mortal and uncurable advantages to good like Arithmetical progressions rise slowly in fair and even intervals but advantagâ—s to ill like Geometrical grow up presently from little to vast excesses Facilis descensus Averni Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras Hic labor c. Virg. Aen. 6. Motion to ill is downwards Galilaeâ— and after him Gassendus and others have demonstrated that heavy bodies in their descent do in equal times transmit unequal spaces continually increasing according to the progression of odd numbers Ex. gr If in one pulse a Bullet fall perpendicularly one inch in the next it will three inches in the 3d 5. in the 4th 7 c. till the swiftness grow immense and unâ—â—utterable and like the descent of heavy bodies collects a new impetus and moveth every step with a swiftness perpetually increasing and if not stopt early soon irresistible Mischief springs apace grows tall and large and adult suddenly as Jonah's gourd did in a night Our passage in sin is with wind and tide increasing but in holiness with both against us To seek the things above is a supernatural motion and therefore difficult but the contrary is natural and therefore easie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Philosopher well determines evil is now a kin to us since our degeneracy and hath vast advantages on its side if once it gets an allowed harbour and entertainment in our breast The Enquiry then before us is by what Methods a Christian ought to address himself to battel in this spiritual warfare how he may so bid defiance to his enemies as to daunt and vanquish them Let these Rules therefore be observed for resisting and quelling thy lusts and inordinate affections in their first Salleys and in the commencement of the insurrection Rule 1 Awe them with the authority of thy Reason and understanding it is infinitely unbeseeming a man that his lower appetites should grow mutinous and untractable that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inferior and bruitish faculties of our souls should rebell against the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that soveraign faculty of Reason the Scythians are reported when their slaves took arms to have dasht the sneaking rebels presently out of countenance by shewing their whips that well known weapon How soon doth the presence of a grave Magistate allay a popular tumult if he comes in soon enough in the beginning of the Riot Ille regit dictis animos pectora mulcet Virg. Aen. 1. God hath made Reason the Magistrate of the little world he hath given it a commission to keep the peace in our souls And so far as our minds are illustrated and governed by right reason so far do they partake of the image of God of whose glorious mind one of the best and clearest conceptions we can have is that it is infinite and eternal Reason Do thy passions begin to rise in arms do they grow disordered and unruly let thy reason come out to them and ask whether they know their Master And let thy soul blush with infinite scorn that ever these base slaves should usurpe the throne of their rightful Lord and unman thee by deposing Reason which is all thou hast to shew that thou art not a beast What an extreme silly thing is a man in passion nothing can be more ridiculous and contemptible Out of love and pity to thy self O man do not affront and disgrace thine immortal soul any more by suffering any malapert and sawcy passion to outrage and assasinate thy Reason that was a generous Rule of Pythagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pyth. in Carm. let a man use great reverence and manners to himself Be ashamed friend to do any vile or dishonest action before thy self though no body be conscious yet thy soul is and thou canst not run away from that what good will it do thee to contradict the dictates of thine own mind is it possible for thee to be at peace when thou fallest out with thy self thou justifiest all the injuries in the world that others do thee for thou dost thy self daily injuries ten millions of times greater then the greatest others can do to thee Whoever thou art that despisest thy own Reason and permittest every silly lust to abuse thee by scorning that thou art a false Traytor to thy own soul There are but a very few men that are in their wits the far greatest part of mankind in the greatest matters in the highest concernments of a man are besides themselves for a mans own self must be a reasonable creature and therefore not to govern ones own mind and affections by Reason is to be mad and distracted if he that looks not to his family is worse then an infidel what then is he that looks not to his mind what confused Chaos are most mens minds rudis indigestaque moles Ovid. a man makes a fool of himself as oft as he prefers his passion before his reason the Philosopher gives us the sum of this Rule excellently Caâ—m Pythag. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Accustom thy self to act every where like a reasonable creature If thy distempered affections and lusts slight the authority of thy Rule 2 Reason as thou art a man bid thy conscience do it's office as thou art a Christian Try to awe them with Gods written word thus our Saviour thrice repulst the Tempter Mat. 4.4 6.10 by producing Scripture to confront him It is written c. Ask thy heart if it knows that hand whether it dares rebel against the express commands statutes and ordinances of the living God Bring out of the Register of conscience the Laws of him that made thee oppose some clear text of holy writ that comes into thy mind against that very lust that is now rising Ex. gr if it be carnall fear Isa 51.12 If love of the world 1 John 2.15 If revenge Rom. 12.19 If impatience under affliction James 1.12 If diffidence in Gods promises Numb 23.19 If immoderate anger Ephes 4.26 If pride and arrogance and self-assuming Matth 5.3 11.29 c. Happy is
the man that hath his quiver full of such artillery whose conscience is rich in these Memoirs Store thy mind with this sacred treasure Mat. 13.52 that as a Scribe instructed for the Kingdome of heaven thou mayest upon all occasions bring forth out of thy treasure things new and old Hold such Scriptures as are point-blanck contrary to the Temptation before thy conscience if it would turn away compell it to look upon them and think I am Gods creature I must obey him Did ever any rebell against him and prosper Terence eine ego ut adverser Is it wisely done of me to resist my Maker to try which is strongest a poor worme or the Almighty God And if the love of Gods commands will not constrain thee let the terrors the thunders and lightnings of his threats perswade thee which are all levelled against wilfull sinners And it is not safe standing surely in the very Canons mouth Peruse those two Scriptures and tremble to venture on any known breach of the Law of thy God Deut. 28.58 Isa 45 9. Rule 3 If all this effect nothing then draw the Curtain take off the vaile from before thy heart and let it behold the God that searcheth it Jer. 17.10 Heb. 4.13 Shew it the Majesty of the Lord see how that is described Isa 6.1 2 3. Ask thy soul whether it sees the living God that seeth it Whether it is aware whose eye looks on Gen. 16.13 14. Whether it hath no respect for God himself who stands by and whose pure and glorious eyes Hab. 1.13 pierce through and through thee Tell thy heart again and again that God will not be mocked that he is a God of knowledge 1 Sam. 2.3 and by him actions are weighed that he is a jealous God too and will by no meanes clear the guilty Bid it consider well and look to it self for God will bring to light every hidden thing of dishonesty he that now sees will judge it Speak to thy unruly lusts as the Town-Clerk of Ephesus wisely did to the mutinous Citizens Acts 19 40. Sirs we are in danger to be called in question for this dayes uproar there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this tumult Rule 4 If these great reall arguments be slighted try whether an argument ad hominem drawn from sense will prevail Awe thy lusts then with the bitternesse of thine own experience Consider how often thou hast rued their disorders what dismall consequences have followed upon their transports and how dearly thou hast paid heretofore for thy connivance at them Bethink thy self on such a fashion as this T'other day I was angry and behaved my self uncomely put the whole company or family out of order disobliged such a dear and faithful friend by my rashness and folly in uttering hasty words before I weighed them O how did I repent me afterwards how shamed and abashed and confounded was I when I came to my self So at another time thus and thus I miscarried my self and these are the fruits and cursed effects of my yielding to the beginnings of sinne and shall I go now and repeat my madnesse Had I not smart enough for my folly before but must I needs play the fool and the beast again Ask thy self what thou ailest to forget all the sighes and groans and bitter tears that thy lust hath already cost thee and yet would the impudent sin be committed once more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where are thy wits man Theoret in Cyclop if thou goest about it Sic notus Vlysses Was it so sweet a thing to lye under the horror and agony of a wounded conscience and under Gods rebukes in secret the last time that thou must needs venture again Why wilt thou hurt thy soule and become a Devil to thy self Why wilt thou needs break thy peace by consenting to sin and not only so but torment thy self and kindle a hell in thine own bosome and all this in despight of all thy warnings Ictus Piscator sapit the burnt child dreads the fire But it seems thou art in love with misery and weary of thy joy and comfort Thou hast a mind to be cursed wretchedness and woe and death are it seemeth grown so amiable in thine eyes as to become thy deliberate choise Thus upbraid thy self and do it so long and loud till thou fetchest thy soul again to it self out of that swoon and lethargy which besotteth it Give not over chiding and reproaching thy self till thou makest thy heart sensible and considerate Labour to cure thy lustings and affections in the first beginning of Rule 5 their disorders by Revulsion by drawing the stream and tide another way As Physitians stop an an Haemorragic or bleeding at the Nose by breathing the basilique vein in the arm or opening the Saphaena in the foot so may we check our carnal affections by turning them into spiritual ones and those eâ—ther 1 Of the same nature Ex. gr Catch thy worldly sorrow at the rise and turn thy mourning into godly sorrow If thou must needs weep weep for some what that deserves it Be the occasion of thy grief what it will losse of estate relations c. I am sure thy sins are a juster occasion for they brought that occasion of mourning upon thee be it what it will that thou art now in tears for Art thou troubled at any danger full of fears heart-aking and confusion O forget not the Mother-evill sinne let that have but it's due share and there will not be much left to spare of these affections for other things Is thy desire thy love thy joy too busy about some earthly trifle some temporall good thing Pray them to look up a little and behold thy God who is altogether lovely in whose presence is fulnesse of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 and let everlasting shame stop thy mouth if thou darest affirme any thing in this wretched world worthy to be named once with the living God for Rivalship and competition in thy heart a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Max. Tyr. dissert 1. sure I am he is the fountain and measure of all goodnesse Let but the first and soveraign Good have its due of thy love and desire thy delight and joy and the remainder will be little enough for thy creature-comforts Oh how great a folly is it to dote on husks and overlook the bread in thy fathers house Jer. 2.12 13. 2 Turn thy carnall affections into spirituall ones of a contrary nature Ex. gr Allay thy worldly sorrow by spiritual joy Try whether there be not enough in Alsufficiency it self to compensate the loss of any outward enjoyment whether there wil be any great miss or want of a broken Cistern when thou art at the fountain head of living waters whether the light of the Sun cannot make amends for the expiring of a candle Chastise thy carnall fears by hope in God Set on work
are not altogether 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incompatible affections Nay love may be the principle and foundation of that anger which shoots its rebuking arrows against the But of Sin It is well observed by the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There may be accusations and reprehensions connext with that love which designs the profit and benefit of the persons beloved Arist Ethic. l. 10. c. 13. and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as hee saies according to the Rule even of right reason Thou mayest tell thy childe and that with some grains of vehemency that if hee continue in sinful courses that God will be angry and thou wilt be angry and then let him know what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the Living God Heb. 10.31 Ephes 4.26 This is the way to bee angry and not to sin as the Apostle commands Let not your passions like unruly torrents overflow the banks that are limited by Scripture and reason There is a grave and sober anger that will procure Reverence and advance Reformation That which is mixt with horrid noise and clamours floweth from the breast of fools In vain shalt thou attempt to reclaim others who art so exorbitant thy self Hee that le ts loose the reigns upon the necks of the unruly horses of his passions will endanger the tumbling his reason out of the Chariot How shall that person in his rebukes speak reason to another that hath lost his own Hee that is a slave to his irascible appetite can never manage ingenious Reproofs A childe can never perswade himself that such anger proceedeth from love when hee is made the sink to receive the daily disgorgements of a cholerick stomach when the unhappy necessity of his relation ties him to be alwaies in the way wheâ—e an angry disposition must vent and empty it self If thou that rulest be thus unruly How canst thou expect thy Inferiors to be regular when thy uncomely demeanour does almost convince them that love can hardly bee the genuine root of thine anger but that they are made the sad objects of thy native temper or that thy reprehension is spiced with hatred Observe therefore a prudent administration of thy rebukes Gild those bitter pills with the hopes of recovering thy favour upon amendment Plut. ibid. p. 22. Gassend in Epicur Tom. 3. p. 1511. mix these unpleasant potions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with some sweet emollient juices that such inter-woven lenity may procure access for your admonitions and effect your desired issue The quality of the offence and the various aggravations of it must state the quantity measure and duration of thine anger Great faults if repeated deserve a greater ardency of spirit Consider likewise the station and place of thy several relations A wife ought not to be rebuked before children and servants lest her subordinate authority be diminished Contempt cast upon the wife will reflect upon the husband at last Yea for smaller offences in children and servants if they be not committed openly rebuke them apart and in private But above all Take heed thou be not found more severe in reproving faults against thy self than sins against the great God They that honour mee said God to Eli in the case of his Sons I will honour 1 Sam. 2.30 and they that despise mee shall bee lightly esteemed It is a point of excellent wisdome to manage thy family aright in these cases A Pilot may shew as much skill and dexterity in steering of a little catch or pinnace of pleasure as of the vast Gallions of Spain If thou hast cause to be angry yet let not thy storms run all upon the rocks but endeauour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speedily to cool the inflammation to abate the fever Plut. ib. p. 23. and slake the fire of anger It is better for a Father to be often and nimble than to be heavy and durable in his wrath Wink at infirmities if not such as are immediately sinful chide them with frowns and not with bitter assaults reserve thy publick and sharp reprehensions for open and scandalous offences for reiterated and repeated transgressions which bear a shew of great neglect if not of some contempt and disdain 7. Keep up a constant and vigorous practice of holy duties in thy family Josh 24.15 Deut. 6.7 As for mee saies Joshua I and my house will serve the Lord. Moses commanded the Israelites to go over the Laws and Precepts which hee had given them from God in their own Families in private among their children The Instructions and Exhortations of Gods Ministers in publick should be repeated at home and whetted to and again upon the little ones Samuel had a feast upon the Sacrifize in his own house 1 Sam. 9.12 22. Job and others had Sacrifices in their own Families The Passeover-Lamb was to be eaten in every particular house Exod. 12.3 4. God saies hee will pour out his fury upon the families that call not upon his name Zech. 12.12 13. There are times that every family must be apart as well as every wife and person apart All the Males of Abrahams family were appointed to pass under the Ordinance of Circumcision The keeping up of family-duties makes every little house become a Sanctuary a Bethel a house of God And here I would advise that Christians be not over-tedious in their duties of private worship I have heard from a near relation of that holy man Mr. Dod that hee gave this counsel that the constant family-prayers should not ordinarily exceed above a quarter of an hour if so much The morning and evening Sacrifices at the Temple and the Passeover offerings which were for every family consisted but of one Lamb. Take heed of making the waies of God irksome and unpleasant If God draw forth thy heart sometimes do not reject and repress divine breathings but usually labour for succinctness and brevity such as may stand with holy reverence to God so as not to huddle over excellent and weighty duties and yet such as may render Religious Worship desirable in the eyes of those whom thou wouldest have to look towards Canaan The Spirit is willing many times when the flesh is weak and a person may better for a little time keep his thoughts from wandring and discomposure when as the large expense of expressions gives occasion for too much diversion Eccles 5.2 God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth therefore let thy words be few When our Lord gave his Disciples a form of prayer which was for quotidian and daily use as appears by that petition Give us this day our daily bread you know how short and compendious it is Plut. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spirits are like strings of harps and bows which if never remitted and slackened will crack and make those instruments unserviceable It is of good use likewise to vary the duties of Religion Sometimes sing and sometimes read sometimes repeat sometimes
of means directed by God is a hopeful sign of mercy intended where God chuseth to the end he ordains to the means He hath chosen us to be holy that we might be glorious Ephes 1.4 11. However God deal with you in that particular request yet be sure your care and pains will not lose a signal reward your prayers shall return into your own bosome and I tell thee God watcheth over such a family in a way of mercy and peace His eye of grace is toward thee his holy hand will uphold thee his heart will bless thee Unto his good pleasure commit thy self and wait the successe go on and prosper thou blessed of the Lord. What are the Characters of a Souls sincere Love to Christ and how may that love to him be kindled and inflamed EPHESIANS 6.24 Grace bee with all Them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity THese words may well be treated on without much Preface Rom. 16.24 1. Cor. 16.23 24. 2 Ep. 13.14 Gal. 6.18 there being nothing in them which speaks any dependance upon or connexion with any thing that went before Some form of Benediction we finde used by this Great Apostle at the conclusion of every Epistle and accordingly having driven his excellent design in this to the Church of Ephesus to a full period or issue hee first makes an affectionate address to God and to the Mediator in their behalf v. 23. Grace be to the Brethren and love with Faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and then leaves his Apostolical Benediction upon them v. 24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Or The blessing of the Eternal God be upon all the sincere-hearted Christians amongst you for so I look upon the latter words of the verse as a Periphrasis of all real Christians Love to Christ being as essential to the Christian as the Rational Soul is to the man The only difficulty in the words that will require our stay is to inquire what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Sincerity some refer it to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace mentioned at the beginning of the verse as if it had been read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto Incorruption or to bring them to eternal life or until they come to a state of Immortality So many of the Antients and of the Modern Interpreters Beza Tremellâ—us and others Others read it in Conjunction with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ making it a qualification or a discriminating note of that love which is sound real and sincere from that which is but pretended counterfeit and easie to bee corrupted by every difficulty and temptation And accordingly they translate some in incorruptione others absque a third sort amare non vitiato nec culpato All to the same sense with our English Translation In Sincerity There are others who consider this phrase apart by it self some explaining it by purity of heart and conversation others as denoting thereby the duration of love tam prosperis quam adversis or both in good and bad times Piscator makes it a distinct branch of the Apostles Prayer as if hee had said Grace bee with all them c. and life eternal Taking no notice of the Preposition that is added and varies the Construction 'T is the conjecture of a Learned Divine That the Apostle in adding this clause hath some reflection on the Gnosticks who had mingled themselves with the Christians of Ephesus And were whatever they pretended neither pure in their love to Christ having mixed his Doctrine with abominable corruptions nor yet sincere and lasting therein being ready upon every blast of persecution that did arise to deny him and Apostatize from him I shall for the present with Musculus leave the matter indifferent not only which of the two first but of all the other fore-mentioned Opinions is fixed upon finding no cause so far as concerns my present purpose to be peremptory in either The Apostle doubtless meaning none else by lovers of Christ but such whose hearts were sincerely and intirely affected to him whether hee intended to characterize them any further by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or no which I presume 1 Cor. 16.22 Joh. 14.15 23. 21.15 17. 1 Pet. 1.8 might easily be manifested from other parallel places where this grace is mentioned and understood properly having no additional qualification made thereto and from the design of the words themselves for certainly he would not so solemnly have intitled the rotten-hearted Hypocrites that did only pretend love to Christ unto the Benediction of the great and blessed God And if that stand good wee have enough for our purpose and more need not bee contended for Let this suffice then for their meaning The subject matter of them whether you look to the first clause or the last is very Noble and might well deserve a large consideration but I am confined to this single use of them which is to make them the Foundation of these two cases of Conscience What are the genuine Characters of a Souls sincere love to Christ And how may that love to him bee kindled and inflamed And there are but two or three things that I desire to suggest and then wee shall immediately begin to treat upon them in their order 1. Let it be considered that there is a vast difference between these cases and such others as do refer only to lower duties When we inquire after the sincerity of our love to Christ. It 's all one as if we were upon the search whether we are Christians yea or not And whether consequently our portion doth lye in the Divine Promises or Threatnings And what is our immediate duty that all other set aside we must attend unto And again when wee seek for directions to help us unto the love of Christ our inquiry is not how wee may order this or that inferiour action but how wee may attain to saving Religion and Christianity How wee may escape the great damning sin of the world and intitle our selves to the love of God and Christ and to all the rare priviledges which belong to the Communion of Saints In a word to the Grace of God here and to Eternal Life hereafter See 1 Cor. 2.9 James 1.12 2.5 John 14.21.23 2. Let it be considered that it is not the distinct resolution of these cases that will be of final advantage to any person unless there be added to the former an impartial soul-searching examination of themselves and to the latter as the case shall require a conscientious practice The resolutions given to cases of conscience about the right performance of duties being nothing else but the bare providing the food or physick And again the discoveries of mens states thereby being but the presenting looking-glasses to them neither of which are effectual or do any good but to such as faithfully use them 3. Let mee humbly minde you that the
more uncertainty you are at touching your estates when you have examined them by the Characters the more diligence you are concerned to use in the practice of the Directions And let mee add this That where you cannot undeniably and demonstratively conclude the sincerity of your love which I think few in compatison on this side of Heaven can there you must never lay by the advice about the last case no not although your probabilities should be great it being at the worst but an easie and sweet trouble to be still doing this great work over again whereas it 's irrecoverably dangerous and desperate upon presumption that we have done it already to leave it wholly neglected And I beseech you remember this useful Rule That in all Trials which Christians make about Grace It is safer to want credulity than to be over hasty therein The cases are two and very fit to follow each other in the order that is given to them I begin with the first What are the genuine Characters of a souls sincere love to Christ And in order to the Resolution thereof I must premise these several Propositions 1. Proposition That there is a great deal of difference between Love as it is seated in the Will or rational Appetite and the same Act or Principle of Love as seated in the sensitive In the former it is a settled Voluntas nihil aliud est quam Intellectus extensus ad habendum faciendum id quod cognoscit Scaliger exercit 107. rational uniform and deliberate Motion co-incident with the very natural Act of the Will it self To Love as the great School-man notes being nothing else but Intensive velle to will intensely either person or thing The motion of the Will towards the Object as good and desirable and the earnest imbracing thereof this is Rational Love And according to the various Aspect which it hath thereto either as present or absent perfect or imperfect it is called love of desire or fruition dependance or complacency And if the Object be such as can or doth reciprocate affection then its friendship or Amor Amâ—citiae But now take Love as it is an Affection properly so called and seaâ—eâ— in the lower faculties of the soul and so there is a great variety and inequality in its motions much easier to be felt thâ—n expressed sometimes the soul is in a kinde of extasie wrapt above it self and then by and by it's flat and dull again I note this first for this reason that you may understand what kinde of love it is that our inquiry doth proceed upon viz. Rational Love Baxters Dâ—rections for peace and comfort Direct 21. it being as a Judicious Divine hath often observed not so safe for Christians to try their states by the passionate motions of Grace in the lower parts of the soul or the affections as by the more equal and uniform actings thereof in the Will it self the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commandress of the soul 2. Proposition The Acts of the Will in specie morali derive their goodness or vitiousness partly from the nature of the Object upon which they are fixed I do not assert this to bee the onely ground whence they are concluded good or evil for the Principle and the End and sometimes the degree of the Act are all necessary thereto but onely that this is one thing necessary Thus the willing of God or any of those things which are in a direct order to his glory is that wee call the Grace of Love As on the other side when the Will moveth towards any thing which standeth in opposition thereto This is that wee call sinful Concupiscence 3. Proposition It is not barely the Object in it self considered but as cloathed with its proper excellencies that agree to it and all its necessary Relations which the Will in its motions must have respect unto before any of those motions can truly be said to be Gracious For the nature of Grace lies not in the Act or motion of the Will simply and nakedly considered but as it 's suited and proportioned to the excellencies of the Object and those Relations which do inseparably belong thereto For instance To delight in God It is not every act of delight which the Soul may have upon the apprehension of him such as a bare Philosophical conception of God may sometimes raise the heart unto But when the beleeving Soul having taken a view of the excellencies of God and its own sweet Relation to him as a Gracious Father is carried forth in a holy rapture and exultancy of Spirit This is the Grace of Delight 4. Proposition Though the Love of God and the Love of Christ are never found one without the other yet is there a distinction necessary to be put between them and that even as great in proportion as is between God and the Mediatour or between the last end and the principal means conducing thereto The love of the Soul to God is Amor finis ultimi Or of such a Being as it will be an eternal happiness to be united unto The love of the soul to Christ as Mediatour is Amor medii principalis or of one by whom wee may have access to God and finde our happiness in him The formal reason of the former is the Divine All-sufficiency and Blessedness but of the latter the personal excellencies that are in Christ together with his ability and willingness to free us from our undoing streights and exigencies as wee are in a state of Apostacy and elongation from God And if I mistake not the not observing this necessary distinction between the Acts of the Soul as respecting God and the same Acts in specie or in kind as respecting the Mediatour hath occasioned much confusion in those Answers which are given to this and many such like inquiries such Arguments as are only proper to the one being made use of to discover the sincerity of our hearts in the other 5. Proposition Love as it is an Act or habit of the will and hath Christ for its object is not properly the Evangelical grace of love to Christ unless it have respect to him according to the various Excellencies of his person and the several distinct Relations which are by God invested in him Or thus The gospel grace of love is not the Intensive willing a Naked Christ but Christ as represented with his peculiar personal Excellencies and with his various offices and relations unto us in the Gospel This proposition undeniably follows from the third before laid down But yet because it gives some special light to helpe us to discover the true nature of this grace and is Intended as the foundation of some of those Characters that will afterwards come to bee insisted on I must crave your patience while I offer something farther for the confirmation thereof That certainly is no true Moral Act which is not suited to the nature of the object Thus for a man to love his
grounds and motives And also that barren love which works up the soul to no measure of obedience unto him And lastly that which allows Christ but the worlds leavings in our hearts every thing being constantly preferred before him And what a vast number of persons go no further than these 2. Many persons are truly gracious who yet know not whether they have any grace or not It requires more skill to search out the nature of a grace and to finde it in our selves than barely to exercise it The former are works of much judgement and require a deep acquaintance with our own hearts whereas to the latter it is enough if a person bee but of an ordinary understanding and an honest heart Besides Graces have their degrees Ezek. 47.3 4 5 like the waters of the Sanctuary and where grace is very shallow and little it is exceeding difficult to know that there is any at all And such persons should do well who are so weak rather to spend tâ—me in the exercise of grace than in trying whether they have grace or no for commonly it is but labour in vain 3. There are no souls in whom this grace is really planted but they have all these Characters drawn upon their hearts to know it by more or less I do not say they can finde them in themselves and know they have them but onely that they have them And of this I need give no further evidence than what you will easily finde your selves if you will but study the nature of love to Christ by the Rule of it laid down in the fifth Proposition premised and by the third and fourth Characters for I am well assured that Christ cannot bee loved as therein described unless all these particulars mentioned be either antecedent thereto or connexed with it 2. Case And so I come to the second Case viz. How wee may get our love to him kindled and inflamed And I shall proceed in the Resolution of this by these four steps 1. I will discover the danger of being without this grace 2. I will add some moving Considerations to provoke all that love their souls to look after it 3. I will give Directions to them that have it not how to get it 4. I will add a few more Directions for them that have it how it may be increased and inflamed I begin with the first which I will dispatch by these two steps 1. By discovering the Hainousness of Sin 2. The Terrour of the Punishment due thereto Now that you may understand the first besides what hath been said in the fore-mentioned Tract proving it to be a sin against the Fathers love and wisdome the whole work of the Son and the special oeconomy of the Holy Ghost I add first it's a sin utterly subverting the whole design of the Gospel casting a scorn upon the grace of all the three persons and not so much as acknowledging what was done by them as worthy the least acceptance it writes vanity upon all the promises and is a frustration to the design of Christ in that Noble Dispensation there being nothing that he did more aim at than to testifie his own John 3.17 1 John 1.3 and his Fathers love to us and to recover from us our love to them again 2. It is interpretatively a confederacy with Satan against God and Christ The proper and grand wickedness of the Devil Mat. 6.24 Act. 13.10 being his opposition to the design of God in glorifying himself by the salvation of mankind through Christ which yet so far as wee are haters of Christ Heb. 10.28 wee are in our measure guilty of as well as hee 3. It is a complicated sin many sins in one Such as are foul ingratitude Rebellion it being the casting of the Soveraignty of a Rightful Lord Cruelty to Christ and as it were a kicking him upon the bowels a Christicidium and to our selves Prov. 8.36 the tearing out our own bowels with our own hands spirituall uncleanness and adultery James 4.4 it being a treacherous revolting from Christ after profession of Marriage to him 4. It is a sin which opens the door to all wickedness Resistance of the Spirit contempt of the Gospel and them that bring it Joh. 15.18 19. sleighting of Ordinances Treason against Christ as King and implacable bitterness and enmity against his subjects and children 5. It is an Irrationâ—l sin Cant. 1.13 14.5.9 ad 16. or such for which there cannot be the least Apology because Christ was lovely in himself did much to ingage our hearts to him earnestly intreated us to place our affections upon him sending his messengers to wooe us bestowing gifts upon us like a King 1 Pet. 1.4 to oblige us and making almost incredible offers of much more that he would do for us yea finally threatning us even with Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16.22 If wee with-hold our hearts from him And can such a sin after all this be extenuated 6. It is a sin brought forth and nursed by the foulest abominations 1 Cor. 2.8 Ioh. 5.43.44 47. such as spiritual darkness and ignorance Notorious Infidelity as to the doctrine of the Gospel Horrible Pride Self-righteousnesse Idolatrous and carnal Self-love 7. It is a sin against all our Covenants and Ingagements specially our Baptismal bond wherein wee did solemnly promise Christ our hearts 2 Cor. 11.2 and that in opposition to all others the bond of Christian Ingenuity self-Self-love and proper Interest Profession and Relation as wee bear his Name in the world 8. And lastly It is a sin utterly inconsistent with the presence of any one grace in the soul it being impossible that any thing should prosper where this weed hath once settled and rooted it self yoâ— may as well expect to finde branches without a Root as the graces of the Spirit without love Thus very briefly you have an account of the danger of being without love to Christ from the nature of the sin 2. I argue it from the Terrour of the Punishment And certainly the Just God hath proportioned the evil of this to the quality of that Study well these few places of Scripture Joh. 3.19 Mat. 21.41 Heb. 2.3 10.28 29. 12.25 Rev. 2. 3. throughout Oh the terrours of the Lord that will one day bee heaped upon the haters of his Son See Rev. 6.16 But wee need not look any further for this matter than into the awakened conscience of a Rebel against Christ in a fit of desperation what Scorpion-lashes doth such a mans conscience give him Oh the heat of this burning Caldron with what rage and fury doth it break forth on every side until the soul is even become a Hell to it self And wouldest thou not love Christ will inraged conscience then say so lovely in himself and so full of love to thee Couldest thou see him sighing bleeding sweating dying for thy sake and yet not love him Couldest thou spurn at such bowels and contemn
together with his person hee offers Heaven and Earth for a Dowry Rom. 8.17 All things are his by purchase and thou shalt bee a Copartner or Coheir with him when thou art espoused to him 4ly 1 Cor. 3.22 23. He will manifest the highest Indulgence and Tenderness towards thee Not all thy cross walkings if through temptations it shall so fall out shall put him upon any more then a moment any departure from thee Isa 54.7 8. for hee hath resolved that his faithfulness towards thee shall never fail Isa 89.33 and therefore when thou seemest almost lost and ready to despond hee will return to thee again and the more time he hath lost by absence the more full will his heart bee of ravishing love and affections to thee 5ly Hee will Turn all to thy good neither thy sins Cant. 6.3 though many and great nor thy miseries though overwhelming and discouraging no nor lastly shall death it self Rom. 8.28 38. bee ever able to make a divorce between thee and him but serve as a passage to thee when thy work is done into the Bridechamber of thy Lord and now tell mee Phil. 1.21 hast not thou Reason to love him 4. Consider but thy case while this Virgin affection to thy Saviour is wanting 1. Thou multipliest thy whoredomes and thy abominations continually for what are thy Intensive willings of other things but so many acts of spiritual adultery and base prostitutions of thy soul to thy dishonour and disadvantage while other things usurp the room of Christ 2. Thou art a treacherous Hypocrite and deceiver forasmuch as thou pretendest to the eye of the world to bee Christs and yet art nothing less than his 3. You lay a barr in against your selves and the acceptance of all your duties when faith works by love then is obedience illustrious and meet for a gracious acceptaotin that obedience which owes no part of it self to love is worth little and brings in no more Gal. 5.6 then it is worth 4. You make bonds for your selves in death Iob 27.6 and lay up terrible reprâ—oches in the Consciences against the day of Judgement 5. You make your damnation necessary there being no Congruity to any of the Divine Attributes much less to the offices of Christ that that man should ever bee saved who never had any sincere affection to him These are some of the Considerations which may bee of use to them that have no spark of love yet kindled in their hearts There are a few of the other kinde which may provoke to get this love Inflamed where it is such are these Consider 1. The love of Christ to thee was a growing Increasing love I do not mean in respect of the habit but in the outward demonstration thereof The neerer hee was to his death the more exuberant in love and when hee rose again his heart did overflow with tender indulgence as appears by the meltings of his bowels towards Mary and over Peter and much more may wee beleeve him now to be full of them now that hee is at the Right hand of God 2. There is more lovelyness in Christ than ever thou canst finde out or fathome when wee have let out our affections to the utmost there will still bee more than wee can finde affection for our love to eternity will have something of admiration mixed with it 3. It 's all you can return to him it 's all hee looks for at our hands that which lies in love and which flowes from it is the whole that is required to compleat Christianity 4. The more you love him the more lovely you are unto him Then hath Christ the highest complacency in us when our hearts are under the greatest Raptures of love to him Beatus est qui intelligit quid sit amare Jesum contemnere scipsum propter Jesum A Kempis de imitatione Christi l. 2. c. 7. 5. It is the honour of a man to love Christ superlatively It is the sweetest part of our lives and that which Christ values us more by than by any thing else It 's Heaven on Earth 6. According to the measure of your love so will all the rest of your services and graces be i. e. either more or less better or worse Love is like the Master wheel in an Engine making the whole soul to move faster or slower These are the considerations of the last kind will some say oh but what shall wee do to get this blessed affection into our souls which was the third thing proposed And in order thereto I offer these Directions 1. Direction Bee well acquainted with the nature of this great duty The great mistake of the world lies in this That is thought to be love which is not and thence men and women grow bold and confident and value themselves more than they ought I have given in my best assistance so far as the nature of the first case would permit to prevent mistakes in this matter before and therefore I will not do it over again Only remember if you would not miscarry that it is not a Naked Christ but a Christ advanced by incomparable Personal Excellencies and cloathed with his offices of King and Priest and Prophet that is the Christ to bee loved and you cannot well miscarry This is that damning mistake of the world they love Christ but not as dignified by God with any of his offices 2. Direction Bee much in the study of your selves what you were originally and what you are since become through your own miscarriage wilfulness and folly Take your souls to the glass of the Law and go from one precept to another and when you have done there go to the Gospel And be sure you do not deal sleightly but understand throughly how much you have offended And when you have well studied the number and quality of your sins then consider the justice and holiness of the Eternal God which you shall understand by the same Law and Gospel where they speak the Divine Terrour against offending-sinners but more specially shall yee know is by going to the Cross of Christ and wisely and seriously considering the horrour of that punishment which Christ there indured for wee never know as wee ought the evil of sin and our misery thereby until wee know what hee indured to make an Expiation for it Do this and do it faithfully They that never knew themselves they are most certainly without love to Christ And it is enough to prove it because unless this foundation be first laid they can see no sufficient reason for it 3. Direction Get a true Conviction concerning thy own ultimate end and happiness Where it lies viz. not in the objects of sense but in the Beatifical vision of God possesse thy soul by Scripture light Mat. 16.26 of the grand importance of securing thy Interest therein while you think your happiness lyes any where else than in God it will be
so will appear in the Explication and resolution of the special Case of Conscience assigned which therefore here I passe Premisals Before I propound the Case let me premise some particulars preparatory as a Key of Explication 1. As the great so the little World man is made up of Contraries The outward-man of contrary Elements humors health and sicknesse the inward-man of contrary Principles reason and passion Grace and Corruption Conscience and Sense 2. Man is both an Actor in and a Theatre of the greatest action and noblest conflict in the World though usually invisible and therefore not so much observed Prov. 16.32 He that conquers himself is a nobler Heroe than Alexander who conquered a great part of the World 3. In the state of Innocency there was no conflict in the state of Glory there will be no conflict there being no corruption to combate with Grace In a state of Minority as in Infants and Fools there is no conflict till reason begin to dawn and with it Conscience to actuate common Principles against the motions of innate corruption In a state of corruption there is no spiritual conflict because there is no renewing Grace to combate with Corruption that strong man that keeps all in peace till a stronger than he comes Luke 11.21 22. 4. The natural conflict is in every godly man the spiritual conflict is in no wicked or natural man This I note to allay the fears of drooping Saints who finding a conflict between Conscience and Corruption conclude they are in the state of Nature and search not for the conflict between Grace and Corruption This is as if a man should conclude he is a Beast because he hath sense like a Beast not considering that he hath reason superadded which a Beast is not capable of 5. There is a vast difference between the natural and the spiritual conflict This will appear in the resolution of the case 6. The mistake about these two conflicts 1. Undoes natural men who feeling a Combate in themselves fondly apprehend it to be the fight between the flesh and the spirit and thereupon rest secure in a natural estate 2. It troubles regenerate persons and that in reference both to duty and comfort making them drive heavily because they doubt whither they be Israelites or Aegiptians 7. As the great Wisdom of God lyes in Governing the Great-world made up of contraries so the great wisdom of a Godly-man lies in Governing the Little-world made up of like contraries 8. This Government lyes principally in discerning these conflicting contraries and improving their contrariety for the Advantage of the Outward and Inward-man He is the wisest Physician who can Govern the Body made up of contraries and he is the wisest Christian who can rule his Soul in the midst of contraries In this Government Christ is Principal Psalm 110.2 A Saint Instrumental Hos 11.12 9. This singular wisdom is attainable in the use of ordinary means and that by the meanest who have Grace to follow Christs conduct yet not by the power of free-will or humane industry but by the bounty of free and Special Grace 2 Tim. 3.15 Jam. 1.5 Rom. 9.16 10. It cannot be expected that any Unregenerate person should understand to purpose the difference between these two conflicts because he hath no experience of this double State and double Principle No wonder then if such say of me as the Jews did of the Prophet Ezek. 20.49 Doth he not speak Parables How ever for the sake of the Unregenerate to convince them and for the sake of the Regenerate to comfort them I shall indeavour plowing with Christs Heifer to find out this great Riddle And so I come to the Case and a case of the highest concernment Wherein doth the Natural and Spiritual conflict differ or Quest what difference is there between the conflict in the Natural and Spiritual man They differ principally in seven particulars Answ and I. In the ground or cause of the fight which in the Unregenerate is 1. Natural Principles or the reliques of Gods Image in the Understanding The notion of a Deity and of loving my Neighbour as my self c. are Principles cannot be rased out of any mans heart be he never so profest an Atheist nor can these principles lye alwayes idle but will more or lesse be in action against corrupt inclinations 2. Acquired Principles from common Illumination moral and religious education and custome This light discovers more of sins obliquity and danger thereby laying on a stronger Bridle of restraint through fear shame c. and adding spurs to the exercise of many parts of piety 3. The natural Temper of the Body which indisposes to some special sins as well as to some special Graces As all Souls so Original corruption in them may be equal yet not act equally because of the indisposednesse of bodily Organs Thus some naturally are more chast sober and meek then others and hence their temper advances the combate against the lusts that oppose the forementioned virtues 4. The contraiety of one lust to another Grace is uniforme and each virtue linked together in a perfect subordination but sin is divided and opposite to it self as well as to Grace Thus Ambition sayes Spend Covetousnesse sayes Spare Revenge incites to murder Self-love restrains for fear of an halter Here now is a combate but only between flesh and flesh between flesh more refined and flesh more corrupted The best of these may be called a counter-motion as in dust and clouds agitated by contrary winds but not properly a conflict or fight because they proceed not from a true vital principle there being in a natural man no principle of Spiritual Life On the other hand In the Regenerate the combat ariseth from the Antipathy of two contrary Natures perfectly hating each other Gal. 5.17 Of all affections as one notes well Love and hatred are first and most uncompoundable A Godly man hates sin as God hates it not so much for its danger as for its Loathsomnesse as some creatures hate filth so that they will rather dye then defile themselves One Wolf may snarl at another but the quarrel is not layd in their Natures as it is in the Wolf and Lamb which therefore cannot be reconciled God in Paradise first sounded the Trumpet to this All-arme Gen. 3.15 proclaiming an eternal Warr between this seed of the Woman and of the Serpent As in persons so much more in principles there is a mutual abomination Compare Psalm 139.22 Prov. 29.29 Psal 97.10 and 119.128 and Rom. 8.7 Enemies may but Enmity can never be reconciled II. They differ in the Object or matter of conflict which in a natural man is 1. Grosser evils that startle the Conscience 2. Infamous evils that are attended with worldly fear or shame or 3. Some particular evils that crosse temper education or custome c. But in spiritual persons the matter of conflict is 1. Little sins as well as great 2. Secret sins as
Angels said he at any time Thou art my beloved in whom I am well pleased Gods Love to Christ is not only greater but diffusive for the Love that God bears to Christ is as the oyl that was poured upon the head of Aaron which ran down to the skirts of his garments so the Love that God bears to Christ terminates not in the Person of Christ but is communicated to all that are his As Haman to shew the great hatred he bore to Mordecai would not bound his malice on the person of Mordecai but would destroy the whole Nation So God thought it too small a Testimony of his Love to Christ to be well pleased with Christ for so he is with the Angels but he is well pleased in Christ with the whole World I mean all Nations We must believe this or we cannot expect any favour for his sake His Love to Christ is so great that his Love to Christ is greater then his hatred to sinners so that any sinner may be reconciled and accepted through Christ God came to reconcile God and sinners not God and sin As one who desires the King to be reconciled to such a Traytour doth not desire him to be reconciled to the Treason but to the Traytour II. We are to believe the fulnesse of Christ's satisfaction and the greatnesse of the value and efficacy of the death of Christ for if Justice be not satisfied we have no Throne of Grace but a seat and Barr of Justice to come before The Blood of Christ hath a pacifying purifying purchasing perfuming reconciling satisfying justifying virtue It pacifies Gods wrath it reconciles and justifies our persons it purifies our Nature it perfumes our duties it purchaseth our inheritance III. We are to believe the efficacy and infallible successe of Christs Intercession The fulnesse of Christs Intercession is in this that he doth three things for us all that we stand in need of according to what was Typified by the High-Priest for he did three things 1. He sprinkled the blood upon the Mercy-seat hereby an attonement was made as to our sins they being pardoned 2. He went in with Incense hereby our duties were perfumed so God is said to inhabit the Praises of his People and to dwell in thick darknesse i. e. in the the thick smoke of the Incense 3. He had the Names of the Tribes engraven on his breast or heart Christ pleads the love he bears to his People Three places the names of the Saints are written in out of either whereof nor men nor Devils can blot them out viz. in the Book of Life on the palms of his hands and on the heart of Christ I may add the fourth thing the High-Priest did when he entered into the Holy Place viz. he went in with all his rich Priestly Garments to shew we should be clothed with the rich Robes of Christs Righteousnesse for what the High-Priest did he did not in his personal but in his publick capacity Now the efficacy of his Intercession was not only from the wonderful Love God bore to Christ from the unparalleld Interest Christ had in the Father by these means we may expect all acts of favour but we have Justice on our side for favour is an arbitrary thing therefore Christ is our Advocate 1 John 2.1.2 he presents our case not by way of Petition but by way of pleading for Advocates do not petition but plead So then Christ doth four things as to our Prayers 1. He endites them by his Spirit he perfumes them by his merit then he presents our Prayers and Persons for we have accesse through him Ephes 3.12 and then superadds his own Intercession his blood crying louder then our sins and better things then our Prayers IV. We are to believe and improve this truth viz. that the Father exceedingly delights to honour Christ and hereby God wonderfully honours Christ by pardoning and receiving into favour such Rebellious sinners as we are for his sake by forgiving any thing for his sake A sinner cannot please God better then by coming with confidence for pardon for his sake If we come for pardon or mercies and our Confidence ariseth from our low thoughts of the number or sinfulnesse of our sins or of Gods hatred of sin or our ability to satisfie Justice or deserve Mercy our Confidence is desperate impudence and arrogance but if purely from the high esteem we have of the incomprehensiblenesse of Christs satisfaction and of Christs Interest in Gods Love and of the Fathers delight to honour Christ such Confince is pretious and acceptable with God and whosoever hath it may go with as much freedom and assurance of favour as if he had never sinned with as much as Adam in his Innocency or the Angels in Glory Alas we do not believe or not improve these truths for if we did we might have any thing for Christ hath Interest enough in God to bear us out and procure any Mercy V. We are to believe improve and obey Christs Command viz. in John 14.13 14 16 23. the former truths give us great hope but this strong Consolation for though such a great Person had never so much interest in some other great Person with whom we had to do yet without a Commission from him we might not go in his Name but Christ hath not only given us leave but a Command and now it is not an arbitrary thing we may do or not do but we must do This is the Incomprehensible goodnesse of God that what is for our good he commands us that not only we may be put on the more to obtain what is good for us but that it may be an act of obedience and so we may be rewarded for procuring our own happinesse So much for the things we are to believe now for the manner of believing 1. We are to believe these things of God and Christ with an Historical Faith 2. With a Faith of Recumbency we are to rely upon the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God and upon Christs Interest in God c. 3. Saints are by way of duty but not by way of a necessary Condition of obtaining whatsoever they ask to believe with the Faith of assurance of obtaining whatsoever we pray for By Faith here in the Text is not meant that we must without any doubt or wâ—vering believe that we shall receive in kind whatsoever we ask even the very thing we pray for 1. The Leper was cured though he prayed with an if thou wilt 2. Those in disertion should put up no acceptable Prayers since they have not Faith of assurance of obtaining 3. Christ when he comes at the day of Judgment he shall not find this Faith on the Earth Luke 18.8 and yet vers 7. it is said God will hear those Prayers 4. The Apostle forbids this Faith vers 7. therefore it is not the Faith here commanded for then it should run thus you must believe you shall receive the thing you ask
applying Christ in the promised grace of pardon and power in reference to it and thou hast heard it and known it in this case though affliction seem to search out iniquity yet it shall not be found but when affliction starts some sin which thou didst wink at or slightly passe over then thou wilt find trouble and sorrow indeed Direct 6 6. Because there is much malignity in this distemper let me here also add in reference to the same Cause and the sixth this Preventive Follow on the work of mortification close there is a combate between flesh and Spirit be sure you take the right side if sin be it which imbitters thy life and gives a sting to every affliction disarme affliction and kill that which will kill thee Es 27.9 the design of the Lord in affliction is mortification now if thou joynest thy hand in the same work God is ever with thee in the same way and not against thee but in case thou connivest at hidest shelterest some known corruption then thou canst hardly apprehend God but as thine Enemy coming against thee As it was with the City of Abell 2 Sam. 20. they were terrified at the approach of Joab and David's Army Oh! saith the woman upon the wall art thou come to destroy the Inheritance of the Lord no saith Joab but there 's a traitour Sheba harboured here c. 'T is he that put the City into fear and danger and made Joab seem their Enemy when his head was delivered all was quiet now when thou insistest on the businesse of mortification thou wilt joy when thou fallest into triâ—ulation as it was with Jael Judg. 4. having done execution upon Sisera come saith she to Baruc c. Welcome my Lords I know whom you persue here he is dead at your feet behold the nayle in his temple O! saith one visited with the stroak of death I have been long getting down this body of death and now God will do all my work at once be not slack in this work and afflictions will be more joyous than grievous 7. Yet again to come to the root of this malignity and in order to Direct 7 the advancing of the work of mortification endeavour after mortified affections to the World these are the suckers that draw away thy strength from God and the fewel and foment and strength of all that corruption that must be mortified Aversion from God with an immoderate clinging and cleaving to the creature is the whole corruption of Nature Affliction is the reducing thee to God and the ungluing disengaging and divorcing thee from a carnal worldly interest therefore minus gaudebis minus dolebis the lesse thou joyest the lesse thou ruest the lesse thou layest a World-interest near thy heart the lesse that affliction which is the parting work will go to thy heart therefore let all creature-comforts and advantages be loose about thee as thy cloathes which thou mayest easily lay aside and not as thy skin which cannot be pulled off without great torture affliction endangers nothing but that which is outward therefore let not thy excessive respect to that which is without thee make thy affliction an inward terrour If thou countest the World of no value thou wilt be able without inward perplexity and fear to passe through all places of danger and plunder as the Travellour when he carries but a small matter which he knows if he looses it will not at all undoe him Besides If thou lovest the World the love of the Father is not in thee and this will be a desperate venomous sting to thy Soul in thy affliction if thou wouldst not have the World thy plague and thy poyson in the enjoying thy wrack and thy terrour in the loosing comply with the Word and Spirit of Grace in the application of a Christ crucified for the crucifying and mortifying of thy affections unto every earthly interest 8. In reference to the eighth cause unacquaintednesse with affliction Direct 8 live in the meditation and expectation of the Crosse be much in the knowledge of the necessity nature and design of afflictions 1. Necessity 1 Pet. 1.6 If need be you must be in heaviness for a time In respect of the terms of the Covenant which lye in this deny your self and take up your Cross c. And in respect of our disposition we cannot be without them to wean us from the World to imbitter the creature to us to conform us to a crucified Saviour and make us partakers of his holiness 2. The nature and design of Afflictions They are fire not to consume our gold but to purge away our dross they are not revenging Judgments but fatherly medicinal Corrections not judicial Poyson but remedial Physick c. Therefore 1 Pet. 4.12 Think not strange be not strangers as the word imports to the fiery greatest tryal and thou wilt not be dismayed when it comes Even Poyson may be habituated and made innocent If a stranger come in unexpected into our house grim and armed with Instruments of mischief we know not whence he is nor what he comes for it will startle and appale us But if we be acquainted with him and his design and expect him we are quiet and composed to entertain him So when Affliction comes we can say This is the Cup my Father gives me who I am sure means me no hurt this is but what I looked for every day c. Enure we therefore our selves to the Cross and make it familiar conversing with it in our meditation and expectation Seest thou one afflicted with the loss of a Wife another of a Husband another of a Child another of Estate another begging bread in Prison or distress c. bear part of his burden in sympathy and pity and readiness to succour him and put thy self in his or her case supposing thou wert so and so it will do thee no hurt what shouldst thou do And so God will make thy burden light Psal 41.1 So thou wilt be prepared to entertain and meet the burden and it shall not fall upon thee and upon thy spirit to crush and sink thee c. Think often and think not amiss have no hard conceits of affliction and it shall not be hard upon thee Take this Course and then as for the malice of Satan in accusing and tormenting and the seeming severity of the Lord in withholding and withdrawing thou shalt not need to trouble thy self for Satan is a restrained and conquered enemy and cannot hurt thee and God is reconciled and will not hurt thee He may try thee by intercepting the sweetness of fruition He will never curse thee by intermitting or breaking the firmness of the Union and if he hide his face for a moment lament after him and he will visit thee with everlasting kindness of his compassion which change not though there may be a change as to what thou feelest Thus much for the Preventives to prepare for double afflictions upon
governing these and so hath the same object with them as is said before it all comes to one And formally includes 1. What it is that we must Moderate or the faculty or principle of what kind soever internal and external from which the action flows 2. In what actions And 3. How or the measure and proportion to be observed in such our actions Which three are allwayes distinct in themselves though not alwayes easily distinguishable to us and therefore often seem coincident I shall therefore joyn them together in the prosecution of the Case For the general Object of Moderation or about what it must be exercised and appear Negatively 1. Not such things as are materially good About such things or in such actions as are materially good Moderation hath no place because all the good we can possibly do is too little so that there can be no excesse in these and therefore no Moderation for the Office of Moderation being to restrain excesse where there can be none of this that can have no imployment e. g. we cannot believe in hope love God and Christ too much nor hate sin and Sathan as the Schoolmen affirm in regard of his wholly loosing the Image of God too much In all our internal religious duties and actings of Grace as such no Moderation therefore can or ought to have place 2. Not about such things as are materially evil For herein we cannot be defective Where the object is absolutely forbidden us and no circumstances can make the action good there we are wholly to abstain or suppresse the action if in it there being inordinacy in the principle or faculty for though Moderation is to govern even the principle yet not in the choice of it's object but in it's exercise about a due object chosen that it exceed not And though we call any great acting upon an undue object or great omission towards due immoderate because of their excesse yet this is not properly immoderacy for so every sin would be it formally whereas those only which respect the moral quantity of our actions are properly immoderacies Both these sufficiently appear by what 's said before Positively But about such things as are in themselves of an indifferent nature and neither absolutely commanded as things materially good or absolutely forbidden as those materially evil but only conditionally according to the circumstances we are in Which though of an indifferent nature yet become morally good or evil to us as we are actually conversant about them In these properly may be excesse in regard of which Moderation is to take place to restrain and keep all within due bounds being formally the modification to use the School term for once of such actions Wherein we must carefully distinguish of the several formalities of the object Grace and Nature being conversant about the same object but not in the same respect For it's exercise therefore or what wherein and how we must practice it Which I shall speak of 1. Absolutely in reference to our selves for preserving peace within as it is to be exercised towards the good and evils of this life 2. Relatively or in relation to others for external peace wherein we must exercise it in civil and in Religious matters The former I shall call Moderation towards things the latter towards persons 1. Moderation towards things 1. First then for Moderation towards things as it is absolutely taken in reference to our selves this being so clearly injoyned in the Text as appears not only by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the duty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle not saying use Moderation towards all men but let it appear to all men which even that which is internal doth in our external conversation But though there be abundance of excellent fruit on this branch of Moderation yet in regard I conceive that towards persons principally intended I will not stand to shake it down but only point you out briefly the boughs on which it especially grows that you may gather it your selves and proceed to the second Moderation towards others which I shall only prosecute afterwards in all the following discourse Now the good things of this life being either internal of the mind as parts learning c. of the body as health strength beauty and the like or external as the riches honours relations and lawful pleasures of the World and what comprehended under them And the evils of this life such as are contrary to these as shallownesse of parts natural or acquired sicknesse weaknesse death deformity poverty losses of friends or estate infamy reproaches troubles warrs hunger thirst nakednesse imprisonment captivity banishment and such like we are towards these to exercise Moderation 1. Towards the good things of this life 1. We must moderate our Judgements in the valuation of them As forbidden fruit must not be looked upon so lawful must not be judged by us more desirable then it is As we may not undervalue these good things and with the Stoick despise and cast them away so we must not over-value them beyond their intrinsick worth and the ends for which God allows them the end and use being the measure of every things estimation For though every creature be good in it self and some better in themselves and to us than others yet those that are the best and best for us that the World affords are still but creatures who are most of them serviceable only to our bodyes that they may be serviceable to our Souls in the service of our Heavenly Father which when we too much estimate we quickly fall to admire and so bow down to them and commit idolatry with them For an overvaluation of the Judgement begets in us admiration and so an over-valuation of them also in our affections These sensitive objects make such impressions upon our imagination when absent and our passions when present that if Grace and Reason moderate not our Judgement of them our whole man becomes inflamed therewith and violently carryed out towards them by an excessive admiration of their seeming excellency love to them for the same and desire after them for their apprehended sutablenesse hope to obtain them seeming possible using means for obtaining them and delighting and glorying in them Therefore our Saviour prescribes wisely that our hearts may not be in them the light of our minds being single Matth. 6.22 23. When Achan Josh 7.21 judged the Babylonish garment goodly and the silver and gold then he quickly coveted and took them Let thy Moderation therefore begin here and consider the character Solomon upon good experience gives them that they are all to us in this degenerate state vanity of vanities yea vexation of Spirit 2. Moderate thy will and affections in their love desires hopes after the getting or keeping these things according to the ends for which God allows them thee in particular and with subordination to his pleasure and providence in the event We must value love desire God and
about them if to the Inordinate love of women his fancy will be rolling upon carnal beauty and he will be firing his heart with unclean thoughts 5. Want of love to God and holy things men are loath to come into Gods presence for want of Faith and to keep there for want of love love fixeth the thoughts and dryeth up those swimming toyes and fancies that do distract us we ponder and muse upon that in which we delight were our natural hatred of God and of the means of Grace changed into a perfect love we should adhere to him without distraction we see where men love strongly they are deaf and blind to all other objects they can think and speak of no other thing but because our love to God is weak every vain occasion carrieth away our minds from him you find this by daily experience when your affections flag in an ordinance your thoughts are soon scattered weariness maketh way for wandring our hearts are first gone and then our mnids you complain you have not a setled mind the fault is you have not a setled love for that would cause you to pause upon things without weâ—riness Psal 1.2 His delight is in the Law of the Lord and in that Law doth he meditate day and night Psal 119.97 O how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day David's mind would never run upon the Word so much if his heart were not there thoughts are at the command and beck of love where love biddeth them go they go and where love biddeth them tarry they tarry the Saints first delight and then meditate 6. Slightness and irreverence or want of a sense of Gods presence a careless spirit will surely wander but one deeply affected is fixed and intent Jonah when he prayed in the Whales belly could he have an heart to forget his work Daniel when he prayed among the Lions could he mind any thing else when we are serious and pray in good earnest we will call in all our thoughts and hold them under command This Question was put to Basil how a man should keep the mind free from distraction his Answer was Basil in Regulis brevioribus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is that this evil came from slightness of heart and unbelief of Gods presence for if a man did believe that God were before his eyes searching the heart and trying the reines he would be serious all things are naked and open to him with whom we have to do God looketh on and so do the Angels he looketh on the heart and will not you be serious Schollars that have a trewantly mind yet the presence of their Masters forceth them to their Books the Great God who telleth man his thought he seeth our desires and thoughts speak lowder in his eares than our words therefore possess the heart with a dread of his glorious presence and with the weight and importance of the work we are about were we to deal with another man in a case of life and death we would weigh our words and not rove like mad men 7. The Curiosity of the Senses these occasion a diversion 't is the Office of the fancy to present as in a glass whatsoever is received by the External Senses or offered by the memory and so the understanding taketh notice of it the wandring eye causeth a wandring heart Solomon saith Prov. 17.24 The fools eyes are to the ends of the earth first his eyes rove and then his heart the Apostle Peter saith of unclean persons that they have eyes full of adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the adulteress as the word signifieth the eye is rolled upon the object and then the dart by the fancy is transmitted to the heart Senses are the windows and doors of the Soul keep the Senses if you would keep the heart Job was at a severe appointment with his eyes Job 31.1 't is good when we go to God to renew these Covenants to agree with the heart that we will not go to God without it with the eyes and ears that we will not see and hear any thing but what concerns our work 't was a strange constancy and fixedness which * Josephus de Bellis Judaeorum Josephus speaketh of when Faustus Cornelius and Furius and Fabius with their Troops had broken into the City of Jerusalem and some fled one way and some another yet the Priests went on with their Sacrifices and the holy rites of the Temple as if they heard nothing though they rushed on them with their swords yet they preferred the duty of their Religion before their own safety and strange is that other Instance of the Spartan Youth in Plutarch that held the Censer to Alexander whilst he was sacrificing and though a coal lighted upon his flesh he suffered it to burn there rather than by any crying out he would disturb the rites af their Heathenish Superstition certainly these instances should shame us Christians that do not hold the Senses under a more severe restraint but upon every light occasion suffer them to trouble and distract us in worship 8. Carking and distrustful cares when we are torn in pieces with the cares of the World we cannot have a composed heart but our minds will waver and our dangers will recurr to our thoughts and hinder the exercise of our Faith God took special care of the Jews when they went up to worship that they might have nothing to trouble them and therefore he saith Exod. 34.24 none of the Nations shall desire the Land when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year and * Augustinus quest 161. in Exod. Augustine gives this reason of it lest they should be distracted with thoughts about their own preservation vult Deus intelligi ut securus quisque ascenderet nec de terrâ suâ sollicitus esset deo promittente custodiam and one of the arguments by which Paul commendeth single l fe is freedom from the incumbrances of the World that we may serve the Lord without distraction 1 Cor. 7.35 Thirdly Remedies I might speak many things by way of meer counsel about guarding the Senses the use and abuse of a forme c. but all these are but like external applications in Physick or topical medicines as the binding of things to the wrists of the hands c. which work no perfect cure of a disease unless the distemper be purged away therefore I shall speak to those things that are most effectual 1. Go to God and wait for the power of his Grace David speaking of it as his work Psal 86.11 Unite my heart to the fear of thy name fix it gather it together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Septuagint make it one the heart is multiplied when 't is distracted by several thoughts God hath our hearts in his own hand and we can keep them up no longer then he holds them up when he
a very foul sin and filthy uncleanness 1 Joh. 1.7 And the bloud of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin The sin of Sloth which in some sense may be called all sin it being Pulvinar satanae the devils pillow that he laies his head on in the soul 1 Pet. 2.4 5. Come to Christ the living Stone and you shall come from Christ lively Stones 5. Get quickning love to the waies of God Ovid. lib. 1. Amo 9. Qui non vult fieri desidiosus amet Pliny tells us That a rod of Mirtle in the hand of a Traveller will never suffer him to flag or faint but keeps him fresh and lively to his journeys end I am sure where love is in the heart it will carry a man in the way of God with life The Apostles did triumph in their tribulations and how so Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us Rom. 5.5 Orig. Is plentifully poured out as wine into bottles Ubi amor est non est labor sed sapor Bern. Serm. 85. in Cant. which makes it spiritful Love turns all pains into pleasures and perils into perfumes Love is the fore-horse in the souls Chariot who draws all the other affections and faculties after him What a loadstone was Shechems love to Dinah Gen. 34 19. It makes him communicate his Wealth Si tantum potuit cupiditas quid potest charitas Aug. change his Religion circumsize his Fore-skin See how spiritual Love wrought in Paul it was as strong Physick ready to work out his bowels 2 Cor. 5.14 For the love of God constraineth us Love hath not only an impulsive but also a compulsive power Metaphora a pariurientibus sumpta Grot. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love is a grace that is alwaies big-bellied and is in labour alwaies being delivered of some good duty or other This Love put Paul upon exceeding pains and excessive perils 1. Exceeding pains that never meer man took the like 1 Cor. 15.10 I laboured more abundantly than they all It must be great pains to preach the Gospel fully from Jerusalem round about to Illyricum Rom. 15.19 Beza 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in circulo or circuitu making Jerusalem the Point and the Regions round about the Circumference and then the space could not be less than four thousand Miles But if you take it in a collateral Line taking in the Regions of Attica Boeotia Achaia Epirus Asia minor Cilicia Cappadocia c. it was 2000. Miles but if you take it in a direct Line from Jerusalem to Stridon a Town in Illyricum it was above a thousand Miles and though these tiresome journeys might have apologized for sparing or at least for curtailing duties yet Paul never measured out his pains by a few sands in a glass but spent much time among the Saints in Praying Preaching Disputing Very memorable is that pains of his Acts 20.7 where Paul spends all the time from the Disciples meeting together on the Lords day untill midnight in holy Exercises 2. His excessive perils what a large Catalogue have you of them 2 Cor. 11.23 ad 28. In stripes above measure In prisons more frequent In deaths oft of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one Thrice was I beaten with rods Once was I stoned Thrice I suffered shipwrack A night and a day I have been in the deep In journeying often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by my own Country men in perils by the heathen in perils in the City in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness All this laid together well may we say with him * Nemo acrior inter persecutores nemo prior inter peccatores Aug. Tom. 10. pag 202. There was never a more fierce persecutor of the Gospel nor a more fervid propagator of the Gospel The first proceeded from his hatred the last proceeded from his love even the love of Christ 6. By faith apply the quickning Promise and the Promises of quickning 1. The quickning Promises Promises are steel spurs that will reach the dull heart to the quick they are singular Plaisters if well applied to draw out the corruption of sloth they are the soveraign Elixars whose quintessence will make the soul full of spirits 2 Pet. 1.4 Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises Cardan subst l. 7. that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature Precious Promises as stones are precious which have egregious vertue in them that by them we might be made partakers of the Divine Nature Bez. in loc Non transformatione natura humanae in divinam sed participatione donorum quibus conformes divinae naturae fimus Par not of the substance of God as Servetus stubbornly defended even to death But of those divine qualities and gracious dispositions which will stand with Gods Nature to communicate and our nature to participate Now Gods Divine Nature is an Act and our Divine Nature is active Now the right applying Promises will be very vertuous to make us vigorous to come as nigh the image and life of God as possibly we can Plato saies it is our chiefest good Deo penitus conformem fieri to bear the Character of God upon us 2. The Promises of quickning David presses God to be as good as his word Psal 119.25 Quicken thou me according to thy word He is often upon this string Ver. 107.154 resolving not to let God alone untill he kept his word Isa 40.31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint Our soul as a Bee must suck honey from this flower to quicken it self Say thus to thy self Soul God hath promised I shall mount up with Eagles wings fly through difficulties and duties with celerity he is a God able true willing therefore I may be assured of this assistance Oh this honey will enliven thee more than Jonathans honey enlightened him 1 Sam. 14.26 29. Who must dye because he had eaten honey and if he had not eaten honey he must have died 7. Mind quickning examples A dull Jade will put himself faster on when he sees other horses gallop before him The Apostle hâ—ving mustered up in rank and file the Examples of those famous Worthies Heb. 11. Does Heb. 12.1 excite them with patience to run the race that was set before them If the rare acts of Miltiades would not suffer Themistocles to sleep then the famous Actions of Gods Worthies should not suffer us to slumber View Elias how he went up in a fiery Chariot to heaven in his spirit before he went in a fiery Chariot to heaven in his person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
thy self upon thy God Isa 50.10 Remembring he will send forth judgment unto victory Mat. 12.20 And take this for a Cordial which is a spiritual Riddle It is a comfort to have no comfort The desires of some are as acceptable to God as the deeds of others 5. When we are enlarged and yet we are not elated high in Gods Spirit low in our own spirit True Christians are like Canes the fuller they are of Sugar the lower they bend Quanto sublimior tanto submissior The loftier the lowlier Every true Saints Motto True activity is not Leaven to puff us up but Lead to pull us down What Bede wished some to observe of Austine the Monk sent over a Legate from the Pope to his Brethren the Prelates and Bishops of England I may advice you to observe that if he carried himself humbly he came from the Lord high in duty and humble after duty comes from the Lord. When David and his people had been on the Mount in their offerings to the building of the Temple see what a low Valley they are in the opinion of themseâ—ves 1 Chron. 29.14 Who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort For all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee Here is no haughty Pharisee Who but I But an humble Publican Who am I 6. When activity in duty is expressed in activity in doing when active Prayers are turned into active Practises Aeni Syl. li. 2. Com. Promptiores sunt homines promittendo quam exequindo Dion l. 38. The Emperour Sigismund having made fair Promises in a sore fit of sickness of amendment of life asked Theodoricus Archbishop of Collen how he might know whether his repentance were sincere Who replied If you are as careful to perform in your health as you are forward to promise in your sickness 1 Pet. 2.2 As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby When our being high in duty makes us grow high in grace and knowledge 2 Pet. 3.18 Even as Cedars of Lebanon untill caput inter nubila we lodge our heads in heaven 2 Pet. 1.10 11. We may be sure it is from the Spirit when enlargement in duty laies on us an engagement to duty 7. When we give God the glory of all our Actings and activities if it be returned to his praise it was received from his Spirit When Rivers return to the Sea it argues they from thence proceeded Eccles 1.7 When David and his people had shewed their activity in their Present towards the erecting of the Temple they shut up all with a most gracious and grateful Doxology 1 Chron. 29.13 Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious name Psal 115.1 Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy name give the glory He doubles non nobis to lay down man to lift up God When we unfeignedly give God the glory God hath undoubtedly given us the grace 8. When we have the Testimony of the Spirit witnessing with our spirit that this activity is from himself Gal. 4.6 God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father When we are so enlarged in a duty that we do cry Abba Father this the spirit witnesses is his work The Spirit doth not witness by a clear and distinâ—t either outward or inward voice totidem verbis this I have wrought in thee thus to affirm would be a Quakers fancy or rather folly But the Spirit doth sweetly and secretly suggest to us by having wrought those filial affections and child-like dispositions of Love Joy Peace Hope Fear Grief Confidence c. in the heart and by enabling us to act these gracious dispositions as need shall require This is the Spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 witnessing with our spirits thus fitted and filled with peace and purity with melting and mourning the Spirit doth by his impress and impulse ratifie and seal the witness of our own Spirit to make it authentick Rom. 8.15 16. You have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirits So that having two witnesses it may be established 1. The witness of conscience which is mille testes 2 Cor. 1.12 But our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience 2. The witness of the Spirit which is more than ten thousand Witnesses because he is an infallible Witness that cannot erre therefore call'd the Spirit of Truth 1 Joh. 5.6 Now these two putting their hands to the testimonial of our activity breed and beget that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 3.20 That Confidence in God and Evidence to God as A Lapide interprets the word Now as those two Witnesses testimony in prophecying against Idolatrous and Superstitious Worship was sufficient to evidence all their actions were from the spirit of Antichrist Rev. 11.3 So these two Witnesses testifying to our souls that these activities are legitimate and laudable are sufficient assurance that they came from the Spirit of Jesus Christ Use 1 Makes an Apology for those pretious souls whose wings are so besmeared with the bird-lime of Sloth that they are forced to put up their humble Bills to Ministers and Congregations to beg of God in their behalf spiritual quicknings that so their hearts being enlarged by the breathings of the Spirit they may bowzingly sail in the waies and through the waves of Gods Commandments Use 2 Is an Advocate to plead Justification to the Action in the behalf of those who as they make it a Case of Conscience so they make Conscience of the Case to bring their Activities to the Touchstone and to the Tryal They know all is not Gold that glisters and they would not in a thing of that eternal concernment be deceived with Alchimy instead of Gold with blear-eyed Leah instead of beautiful Rachel with a Cloud instead of Juno with a Pebble instead of a Pearl and therefore they are industrious and illustrious to try whether their Activity in duty be from the Spirit by those spirits that are ingredients into their Activity Wherein are we endangered by things lawfull LUKE 17.27 28. They did eat they drank they married c. HEre is set down what the generality of people were doing in the world they were bruâ—ish in the daies of Noah before the floud came and drowned them and in the daies of Lot before the fire came down from Heaven and destroyed them In Matthew c. 24.38 it is expressed by participles they were eating c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. this shews the vigour and activity of their spirits spent on those things in which they were ingaged and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proprie de brutis dici volunt Grammatici ut etiam videatur magna esse hujus verbi emphasis quo significatur homines brutorum instar fore ventri deditos Beza This word
the throne thou shalt be greater 3. We make Religion our businesse when our thoughts are most busied about Religion while others are thinking how they shall do to get a living our thoughts are how we shall do to be saved David did muse upon God Psal 139.3 While I was musing the fire burned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. Thoughts are as passengers in the soul when we travell every day to the City of God and are contemplating glory and eternity this is to make Religion our businesse Theophilact calls holy contemplation the gate and portall by which we enter into Heaven a Christian by divine soliloquies and ejaculations is in Heaven before his time he is wrapd up into Paradise his thoughts are all packd up and gone 4. We make Religion our businesse when our main end and scope is to serve God he is said to make the world his businesse whose great design is to get the world St Pauls ultimate end was that Christ might be magnified and the Church edified Phil. 1.20 2 Cor. 12 19. our aimes must be good as well as our actions Many make use of Religion for sinister ends like the Eagle while she flies aloft her eye is upon her prey Hypocrites serve God propter aliud they love the Temple for the gold they court the Gospell not for its beauty Mat. 23.17 but for its Jewels these do not make Religion their businesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys but a politick trick and artifice to get money but then we make Religion our businesse when the glory of God is mainly in our eye and the very purport and intent of our life is to live to him who hath died for us 2 Cor. 5.15 God is the center and all the lines of our actions must be drawn to this center 5. We make Religion our businesse when we do trade with God every day Phil. 3.20 Our conversation is in Heaven The greek word for conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies commerce and traffique our merchandize is in Heaven a man may live in one place and drive his trade in another a Saint though he lives in the world Vt municipes coelorum nos gerimus yet he trades above the Moon he is a merchant for the Pearl of price This is to make Religion our businesse when we keep an holy intercourse with God there 's a trade driven between us and Heaven 1 Joh. 1.3 Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus God comes down to us upon the wing of his Spirit and we go up to him upon the wing of prayer 6. We make Religion our businesse when we redeem time from secular things for the service of God a good Christian is the greatest monopolizer he doth hoard up all the time he can for Religon Psal 119.62 at midnight will I rise and praise thee Those are the best hours which are spent with God and David having tasted how sweet the Lord was would borrow some time from his sleep that he might take a turn in Heaven It well becomes Christians to take time from worldly occasions sinfull dressings idle visits that they may be the more intent upon the matters of Religion I have read of an holy man who being tempted by his former evil companions to sin he made this answer I am so busie in reading in a little book with three leaves that I have no leisure so much as to mind my other businesse and being asked afterward whether he had read over the book replyed this book with three leaves are of three severall colours red white and black which contain such deep misteries that I have resolved with my self to read therein all the daies of my life in the first leaf which is red I meditate on the pretious bloud of Christ which was shed for my sins in the white leaf I meditate on the pure and â—elitious joyes of Heaven in thâ— black leaf I contemplate the hideous and dreadfull torments of Hell prepared for the wicked to all eternity This is to make Religion our businesse when we are so taken up with it that we have scarce any leisure for other things Christian thou hast a God to serve and a soul to save and if thou hast any thing of Religion in thee thou wilt take heed of the thieves of time and wilt engrosse all opportunities for the best things How far are they from Christianity who justle out holy duties instead of borrowing time from the world for prayer they steal time from prayer that they may follow the world 7. We make Religion our businesse when we serve God with all our might our strength and spirits are drawn forth about Religion we seck sweat strive bestir our selves as in a matter of life and death and put forth not only diligence but violence 2 Sam. 6.14 David danced before the Lord with all his might This is to make Religion our businesse when we shake off sloath and put on zeal as a garment We must not only pray but pray fervently Jam. 5.16 we must not only repent but be zealous and repent Rev. 3.9 we must not only love but be sick of love Cant. 2.5 Horat. multa tulit sudavit alsit This is to be a Christian to purpose when we put forth all our vigour and fervour in Religion Matth. 12.11 and take the Kingdom of God as it were by storm 'T is not a faint velleity will bring us to Heaven there must not only be wishing but working and we must so work as being damned if we come short Vse 1 Vse 1. Information Information Branch 1 1. Branch Hence learn that there are but few good Christians oh how few make Religion their businesse is he an Artificer that never wrought in the trade is he a Christian that never wrought in the trade of godlinesse How few make Religion their businesse 1. Some make Religion a complement but not their businesse they court Religion by a profession and if need be Religion shall have their letters of commendation but they do not make Religion their business Many of Christs Disciples who said Lord evermore give us this bread yet soon after basely deserted Christ Ioh. 6.34 and would follow him no longer Joh. 6.66 From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him 2. Others make the world their business Phil. 3.19 Who mind earthly things The earth puts out the fire So the love of earthly things puts out the fire of heavenly affections It was a judgement upon Korah and Dathan Numb 16.22 the earth swallowed them up Thus it is with many the world swallows up their time thoughts discourse they are swallowed up alive in the earth There is a lawfull use of these things but the sin is in the excess The Bee may suck a little honey from the leaf but put it in a Barrell of honey and it is drown'd How many ingulph themselves in
to be in all things at the command of him whose commands are in nothing grievous but in all things truth and righteousness Be therefore as willing to be his as you are desirous he should be yours the consent must be mutual or else the match can never be made up 'twixt Christ and your souls 4. Measure all things by their reference unto Christ of all good things account them the best which may promote your endeavours after that good which is the highest as Ordinances Psal 27.4 Psal 42.1 2. Psal 63.1 2. Isa 59.2 the means of Grace which at how high a rate they are valued by David may appear from his pathetical and most affectionate desires of waiting upon God in them of all evill things account them the worst which estrange you from Christ the truest good and therefore let your only impatience be of sin as that which onely separates between you and your God The observation of this rule will very much secure you from all diversions and quicken you in your endeavours after an interest in Christ 2. Vse Be serious in resolving this great Question whether Christ who is All to sincere Christians be All to you 't is a question of that importance that all your comfort depends upon the resolution of it yea all your hopes Take these two Characters 1. Are you conformable unto Christ Is the same minde in you that was in him Are you holy and humble and self-denying and in all things followers of that pattern which he hath set before you in his own example He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 Old things are passed away behold all things are bicome new Philip. 2.5 Rom. 8.9 2 Cor. 5.17 Causes are best known by their effects Trees by their fruits Fountains by their streams So is our interest in Christ by this effect thereof our conformity unto Christ 2. Are you All to him 'T is but a just retaliation in Christians to be so and 't is withall an evidence that Christ is All to them 1. Are you all to him in your affections in prizing him above all can you with the Spouse esteem the love of Christ better than wine with David better than life can you in the middest of all your creature comforts account all as nothing in comparison of him and say with Asaph Whom have I in heaven but God and there is none on earth I desire in comparison of him So high were Moses affections Cant. 1.2 Psal 63.3 Psal 73.25 Heb. 11.26 that he esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt And indeed if Christ be but an underling in our affections 't is an argument we have no part in him He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me Matth. 10.37 he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me The affections are the truest pulse of the soul the most genuine and natural symptomes of its frame and temper 'T is these that speak the proper idiom and language of the heart Make use of this rule therefore is Christ uppermost in thy heart thy affection to him is an evidence of his to thee 2. Are you all to him in your acknowledgements in ascribing all to him Thus St. Paul 1 Cor. 15.10 By the Grace of God I am what I am That my condition is not better it is from my self that 't is so good 't is from him so Eph. 5 20. 3. Are you all to him in your contentment and satisfaction accounting you have all in him though you have nothing besides him Although the fig-tree shall not blossome neither fruits be in the Vine the labour of the Olive shall fail Hab. 3.17 18. c. yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation 4. Are you all to him in your dependances and expectations in seeking all from him the highest condition of grace needs further grace but in Christ are all supplies 't is an argument of our interest in him when in all distresses we make him our refuge in all weaknesses our strength 5. Are you all to him in your designs and aims in seeking his glory beyond your private advantages this was St. Pauls design in life and death that Christ might be magnified Philip. 1.20 and if you be thus all to Christ 't is an evidence Christ is All to you And how well are they provided for who have him who is All for their Portion How shall those Merchants keep up the life of Religion who while at home enjoyed all Gospell Ordinances and when abroad are not only destitute of them but exposed to persecution PSALM 120.5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar THis Psalm is the first of those fifteen which are called Songs of Degrees concerning which the conjectures of Interpreters are various and uncertain either because they were sung by the Jews at their severall stages in their return from the Babylonish captivity or by the Levites on the fifteen steps or stairs whereby they went up to the house of the Lord or because they raised up their voices to an high strain in singing them or because they are Psalms of greatest use and excellency The Psalm is generally thought to be composed upon occasion of Davids flying from Saul and Doegs false accusation of him 1 Sam. 22.23 and it consists of three generall parts 1. Davids carriage towards God in the time of his distresse ver 1 2. In my distresse I cried unto the Lord and he heard me Deliver my soul c. 2. Davids denouncing of judgment against his slanderous false-tongued enemy ver 3 4. What shall be given intimating that he expected some great reward for his malice against David but saith the Psalmist he shall have sharp arrows of the Almighty with coals of juniper q. d. whatever reward he have from men this shall be his reward from God 3. Davids bewailing his present condition ver 5 6 7. The words of the Text are a branch of the third generall part of the Psalm wherein we have David sadly breathing forth the sorrow of his heart for his absence from the Tabernacle and the company of good men and his dwelling among and converse with evill and wicked men Woe is me c. By sojourning I suppose is implied his absence from some desired habitation viz. Jerusalem and the Tabernacle for no man is said to sojourn at home Psal 39.12.105.23 Heb. 11.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est trahere Isa 13.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dies ejus non trahentur i. e. non prorogabuntur Bocharti Geog. Sacr. par 1. l. 3. c. 12. p. 209. and when he is where he would be The word Mesech is taken by Expositors either 1. For a place as our translation carries it from the Chaldee paraphase which is the first of the ancient versions that so
that our Religion may not be a dull languid lethargick principle but may render us fit and prompt for all the actions of a spirituall life And now this life of Religion the case supposeth the person to have who needs advice and then you 'l quickly perceive that there be two things in danger 1. The life of Religion in a religious person 2. The life of a religious person and so the case doth resolve it self into these two Queries 1. What should believing Christians do to support the life and vigour of Religion in their souls when they want the ordinary means of publick Ordinances and are indangered by the leavening society of wicked men 2. How should they preserve their lives among persecuting enemies without hazarding the life of their Religion For the clearing of and directing in this case I shall now premise some Propositions fit to be taken notice of Prop. 1. It cannot be expected that any Rule should be given according to Scripture whereby both the one and the other life may be certainly secured for many times Gods providence brings us into such circumstances that if we are resolved that come what will wee 'l keep our Religion we must lose our lives and if we are resolved to keep our lives though with the hazard or shipwrack of our Religion we must then part with our Religion and perhaps our lives too 2. There can be no certain and infallible course propounded whereby the life of the body may be secured with the losse of Religion though Devil and world bid fair and promise we shall live and do well if we will part with our Religion yet they are not able if willing to make good their promise so long as there be so many thousand wayes to death besides Martyrdome and this is the purport of that threatning expression Mat. 16.25 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it not only that eternall life which is the only true life but even this temporall life as many relations tell us 3. The life of Religion in the soul is that which by Gods blessing and our spirituall care and industry may be infallibly secured in any place among any persons in any condition I do not say the outward exercise of Religion but that which is the life and principle of Religion in the soul may be preserved Force and violence may deprive those that are religious of opportunities to meet together and pour forth their Common prayers and supplications to God and publikely sing forth the praises of God and hear the great truths of the Gospell preached unto them nay they may be hindred from speaking with their mouthes either to God or for God as many of the Martyrs have been gagged but all the force and violence in the world cannot take away that which is the principle and life of Religion unlesse we our selves betray and cast it from us nor can they hinder the prime and principall acts and exercises of Religion All the world cannot hinder you or me from having good thoughts of God from sanctifying the Lord God in our hearts from trusting in hoping in rejoycing in the goodnesse and mercy of God through Jesus Christ from making holy melody in our hearts and such musick as shall be heard beyond the sphears though he that stands at our elbow knows not a word we speak so that true Religion both in the principle and prime exercises of it may be infallibly secured insomuch that he who can rend the heart out of the body cannot tear Religion out of the soul 4. His soul cannot be quickned with the life of the Religion of the Gospell who is not in heart perswaded that the securing the life of Religion in his soul is hugely more his concernment than the preserving of the life of the body Yea his Religion is built on a sandy foundation who hath not seriously considered that for ought he knows his Religion may cost him his life and hath not brought his soul to an humble resolution to lay down his life rather than let go his Religion thus much is clearly imported in that passage Luk. 14.27 28 c. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost c 5. The society of good men and enjoyment of Gospell Ordinances is of speciall use to preserve quicken and enliven the principle of Religion in the soul they are to Religion in the soul what food is to the naturall life of the body and therefore the Ordinances in the Church are compared to breasts of consolation Isa 66.11 The great design of God in appointing Gospell-Ordinances is that by the help and assistance of those gifts and graces which he bestows upon his Ministers the souls of those who are estranged from him should be brought home to the owning and acknowledging of the truth and that those who have returned to the Lord should be more and more affected with a sense of divine goodnesse and their dependance on the Lord for all they have and hope for and indeed if preaching and reading and praying and every other Ordinance both in publike and in private do not aim at and intend this great end the begetting or actuating and stirring up the life of Religion in our souls then are they what some would fain perswade us vain uselesse troublesome things If thy coming to Church to hear a prayer or a Sermon be not by thee designed and do not in the even tend to make thee better to love God more loath sin more and value the world lesse and resolve more heartily to obey the Gospell thou hadst as good have been in thy bed or shop as in the Church and if in preaching and praying we that are Gods mouth to you and your mouth to God have any other design than to stir up in your souls good thoughts of God affectionate workings of heart towards a loving tender-hearted father zealous and hungring desires to do the will of God and expresse our love by obeying his commandments I seriously professe I should think my self much better imployed to be working in a Coblers stall or raking in the kennell or filling a dung cart than preaching or praying in a pulpit and let those who do not intend these great ends know that ere long they will finde they had bettter have been imployed in the most debasing drudgery than in the outward work of God with sinister and unworthy ends These things premised the case resolves it self into these particular questions 1. What should beleeving Christians do to support the life of Religion in their souls when they want the ordinary food of publick Gospel-Ordinances 2. What should such do to preserve their outward concernments among persecuting enemies without hazarding their Religion In answer to the first question take these Directions 1. Let such humbly reflect upon their former sleighting despising and abusing the means of grace which now they want it is the usual method of God to