humility and for this purpose God hath furnished us with the Spirit of all Grace Let us therefore remember when we have any dutie to doe to pray unto Christ to blow upon us with his Spirit God doth not so much looke at our infirmities as at our uprightnesse and sinceritie and therefore when we are out of temptations wee should consider and examine what God hath wrought in us and then though there be infirmities and failings yet if our hearts be upright God will pardon them as wee finde that David and others were accounted upright and yet had many imperfections Watching is an exercising of all the graces of the soule and these are given to keepe our soules awake we have enemies about us that are not asleepe and our worst enemy is within us and so much the worse because so neere we live also in a world full of temptations and wicked men are full of malice wee are passing through our enemies Countrey and therefore had neede to have our wits about us the devill also is at one end of every good action and therefore we had neede to keepe all our graces in perpetuall exercise we should watch in feare of jealousie taking heede of a spirit of drowsinesse labouring also to keepe our selve unspotted of the world It may be asked how we shall know the Scripture to be the Word of God For answer Doe but grant first that there is a God it will follow then that he must be worshipped and served and that this service must be discovered to us that wee may know what hee doth require and then let it be compared what Word of God can come neare to be the same with this Besides God hath blessed the superstition of the Iewes who were very strickt this way to preserve it for us and the Heretickes since the Primitive Church have so observed one another that there can be no other to this Word But now wee must further know that we must have some thing in our soules suitable to the truthes contained in it before we can truely and savingly beleeve it to be the Word of God as that we finde it to have a power in working upon our hearts and affections Luke 24. 32. Did not our hearts burne within us when he opened to us the Scriptures Againe it hath a divine operation to warme and pacifie the soule and a power to make a Felix tremble it hath a searching quality to divide betweene the marrow and the bone we doe not therefore onely beleeve the Scriptures to be the word of God because any man saith so or because the Church saith so but also and principally because I finde it by experience working the same effects in me that it speakes of it selfe and therefore let us never rest till when we heare a promise wee may have some thing in us by the sanctifying Spirit that may be suitable to it and so assuring of us that it is that Word alone that informes us of the good pleasure of God to us and our duty to him There is in God a fatherly anger after conversion he retaines that and this Fatherly anger is also turned away when in sinceritie we humble our selves There is one saith well A child of anger and a child under anger Gods children are not children of wrath but sometimes they are under wrath when they doe not carry themselves as sonnes when they venture on sinnes against conscience c. but if they humble themselves and reforme and flie to God for mercie then they come into favour againe and recover the right of sonnes Wee may know that God loves us when by his Spirit he speakes friendly to our soules and wee by prayer speake friendly to him againe when wee have communion and familiaritie with him whom God loves to them hee discovers his secrets even such secrets as the soule never knew before Hee reveales them to us when our hearts are wrought to an ingenuous confession of sinne and when we have no comfort but from heaven even as a father discovers his bowells most to his child when it is sicke so God reserves the discoverie of his love especially untill such a time when wee renounce all carnall confidence therefore if wee can assure our soules that God loves us let us then be at a point for any thing that shall happen to us in this world whether it be disgrace or contempt or whatsoever because we may fetch patience and contentednesse from hence that Gods love supplies all wants whatsoever After a gracious pardon for sinne there are two things remaining in us Infirmities and Weakenesses Infirmities are corruptions stirred up which hinders us from good and puts us forward to evill but yet they are so farre resisted and subdued that they breake not forth into action Weakenesse is when we suffer an infirmitie to breake out for want of watchfulnesse as if a man be subject to passion when this is working disturbance in the minde it is infirmitie but when for want of watchfulnesse it breakes forth into action then it is weakenesse and these diseases are suffered in us to put us in minde of the bitter roote of sinne for if we should not sometimes breake forth into sinne wee should thinke that our nature were cured Who would have thought that Moses so meeke a man could have so broken out into passion we see it also in David and Peter and others and this is to shew that the corruption of nature in them was not fully healed but there is this difference betweene the slippes and falls of Gods children and of other men when other men fall it setles them in their dregges but when Gods children falls they see their weakenesses they see the bitter roote of sinne and hate it the more and are never at quiet till it be cast out by the strength of Grace and Repentance Therefore let no man be too much cast downe by his infirmities so long as they are resisted for from hence comes a fresh hatred of corruption and God lookes not upon any sinne but sinne ungrieved for unresisted otherwise God hath a holy end in suffering sinne to be in us to keepe us from worse things There is none that out of sinceritie doe give themselves to holy conference but are gainers by it Many men aske questions and are inquisitive to know but not that they might put in practise this is but a proud desire to taste of the tree of knowledge but the desire of true affected Christians is to know that they might seeke Christ we gaine oftentimes by discourse with those that are punies in Religion Saint Paul desires to meete with the Romanes though they were his converts that he might be strengthened by their mutuall faith Rom. 1. 12. When once the Spirit doth fasten the wrath of God upon the conscience of one whom he meanes to save then there followes these afflicting affections of griefe and shame and from hence comes a dislike and hate of
but as anointing makes the members nimble and strong and chearefull so where the Spirit of God is in any man it makes him nimble and strong and chearefull to good duties but when wee are drawne to them as a Beare to the stake for feare or an inbred naturall custome this is not from the Spirit for where the Spirit is there duties are performed without force feare or hopes A child needes no extrinsecall motion to make him please his father because its inbred and naturall to him As the weights of a Clocke makes all the wheelesto goe so artificiall Christians are moved with things without them for they want this inward principle to make them doe good things freely but where the Spirit of God is it workes a kind of naturall freedome As the woman in the Law when she was forced by any man if shee cried out shee was blamelesse so if wee unfainedly crie unto Christ and complaine of our corruptions that they are too strong for us this will witnesse to our hearts that wee are not Hypocrites Good duties come from unsound Christians as fire out of the flint but they floow from a childe of God as water out of a Spring yet because there is flesh in them as well as spirit therefore every dutie must be gotten out of the fire And yet there is a libertie because there is a principle in them that resists the flesh Gods children are hindred in good duties by an inevitable weakenesse in nature as after labour with drowsinesse therefore the Spirit may be willing when the flesh is weake If wee strive therefore against this deadnesse and dulnesse Christ is ready to make excuse for us if the heart be right as hee did for his Disciples A child of God is the greatest Freeman and the best Servant even as Christ was the best Servant yet none so free and the greater portion that any man hath of his Spirit the freer disposition hee hath to serve every one in love Sight is the most noblest sence its quicke it can see from earth to heaven in a moment its large it can see the Hemispheare of the heavens with one view its sure and certaine for in hearing wee may be deceived and lastly it s the most affecting Sence Even so is Faith the quickest the largest the most certaine and most affecting it s like an Eagle in the cloudes at one view it sees Christ in heaven and lookes downe into the world it sees backward and forwards it sees things past present and to come and therefore it is that Faith is expressed by beholding A Vaile or Covering had two uses amongst the Iewes one was Subjection and therefore the women were vailed another was Obscuritie and therefore was the Vaile on Moses face Both these are now taken away in Christ for wee serve God as sons and as a Spouse her husband we are still in subjection but not servile and now also with open face we behold the glory of the Lord wee behold the things themselves they are now cleerely laid open the Vaile is taken away Our happinesse consists in our subordination and conformitie to Christ and therefore let us labour to carry our selves as hee did to his Father to his friends to his enemies In the dayes of his flesh hee prayed whole nights to his Father How holy and heavenly minded was he that tooke occasion from Vines and Stones and Sheepe to be heavenly minded and when he rose from the dead his talke was onely of things concerning the Kingdome of God for his carriage to his friends Hee would not quench the smoaking flaxe nor breake the bruised reede hee did not cast Peter in the teeth with his Deniall Hee was of a winning and gaining disposition to all for his carriage to his enemies Hee did not call for fire from heaven to destroy them but shed many teares for them that shed his blood O Ierusalem c. and upon the Crosse Father forgive them for they know not what they doe So that if wee will be minded like unto Christ consider how hee carried himselfe to his Father to his Friends to his Enemies yea to the devill himselfe when hee comes to us in wife children friends c. we must doe as Christ did bid avoid Satan and when wee have to deale with those that have the spirit of the devill in them wee must not render reproach for reproach but answer them It is Written When wee finde any grace wrought in us wee should have a holy esteeme of our selves as when wee are tempted to sinne What I that am an heire of Heaven a King a Conqueror the Sonne of God a Freeman shall I staine my selfe God hath put a Crowne upon my soule and shall I cast my Crowne into the dirt No I will be more honorable these are no proud thoughts but the befitting our estate Those that are besotted with the false lustre of the world doe want spirituall light Christ himselfe when Hee was here upon the earth Hee lived a concealed life onely at certaine times some beames broke out So let it comfort us that our glory is hid in Christ now it is clouded with the malice of wicked men and with our owne infirmities but let us comfort our selves with this that we are glorious in the eyes of God and his Angells As men after a fit of sicknesse grow much so Gods children grow especially after their falls sometimes in humility sometimes in patience as wee may observe in Plants and Herbes they grow at the roote in Winter in the leafe in Summer and in the seede in Autumne so Christians appeare sometimes humble sometimes spirituall and joyfull and sometimes they grow in spirituall courage That which wee drew from the first Adam was the displeasing of God but we draw from the second Adam the favour of God from the first Adam wee drew corruption from the second Adam we drew Grace from the first Adam wee drew misery and death and all the miseries that follow death wee draw from the second Adam life and happinesse whatsoever wee had from the first Adam wee have it repaired more abundantly in the second Grace makes us glorious because it puts glory upon the soule it carries the soule above all earthly things it tramples the world under her feete it prevailes against corruptions that foyle ordinary men A man is not more above beasts than a Christian that hath grace is above other men It is an evidence that wee are gracious men if wee can looke upon the lives of others that are better than we and love and esteeme them glorious A man may see Grace in others with a malignant eye for naturall men are so vaine-glorious that when they see the lives of other men outshine theirs instead of imitation they darken what grace they will not imitate they will defame therefore those that can see grace in others honour it in them it is a signe they have grace themselves Men can indure
thankes Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us c. When wee see men looke bigge and swell with the things of this life let us in a holy kinde of st ate thinke of our happinesse in heaven and carry our selves accordingly If wee see any thing in this world le ts say to our soules this is not that I looke for or when wee heare of any thing that is good let us say I can heare this therefore this is not that I looke for or when wee understand any thing here below this is not the thing I looke for but for things that cye hath not seene nor eare heard nor that ever entred into the heart of man There are foure things observeable in the nature oflove first an estimation of the Partie beloved secondly a Desire to be joyned to him thirdly a Setled contentment fourthly a desire to please the Partie in all things So there is first in every Christian an high estimation of God and of Christ he makes choice of him above all things and speakes largely in his commendations secondly hee desires to be united to him and where this desire is there is an entercourse hee will open his minde to him by Prayer and goe to him in all his consultations for his counsell thirdly hee places contentment in him alone because in his worst conditions hee is at peace and quiet if hee may have his countenance shine upon him fourthly hee seekes to please him because hee labours to be in such a condition that God may delight in him his love stirres up his soule to remove all things distastfull it seekes out as David did Is there never a one left of the house of Saul to whom I may doe good for Ionathans sake Infirmities in Gods children preserves their grace therefore it is that in Gods Scripture where God honours the Saints their weakenesses are made knowne Iacob wrestled with God and prevailed but hee halted and Peter Vpon this Rocke will I build my Church yet get thee behind me Satan Paul was exalted above measure with Revelations but hee had the messenger of Satan to buffet him It is the poysonfull nature of man to quench a great deale of good for a little ill but Christ cherishes a little grace though there be a great deale of corruption which yet is as offensive to him as smoake therefore wee should labour to gaine all wee can by love and meekenesse Christians find their corruptions more offensive to them than when they were in the state of nature and therefore it is that they thinke their estate is not good but then corruption boyles more because it is restrained The more will the more sinne when wee venture upon sinfull courses upon deliberation it exceeding ly wasts our comfort when wee fall into sinne against conscience and abuse our Christian liberty God fetches us againe by some severe affliction there shall be a cloud betweene Gods face and us and hee will suspend his comforts for a long time therefore let no man venture upon sinne for God will take a course with him that shall be little to his ease The reason why meane Christians have more loving soules than men of greater parts is because great men have corruptions answerable to their parts great gifts great doubts they are intangled with arguments and study to informe their braines when others are heated with affection A poore Christian cares not for cold disputes in stead of that hee loves and that 's the reason why a poore soule goes to heaven with more joy whilest others are intangled Many men are troubled with cold affections and then they thinke to worke love out of their owne hearts which are like a barren Wildernesse but wee must begge of God the Spirit of Love wee must not bring love to God but fetch love from him When wee love things baser than our selves it s like a sweete streame that runnes into a sinke as our love therefore is the best thing wee have and none deserves it more than God so let him have our love yea the strength of our love that we may love him with all our soules and with all our mind and with all our strength As the Sunne when it hath gotten to any height it scatters the clouds so a Christian is then in his excellencie when hee can scatter doubts and feares when in distresse hee can doe as David did comfort himselfe in the Lord his God Many men would be in Canaan as soone as they are out of Egypt they would be at the highest pitch presently but God will leade us through the wildernesse of temptations and afflictions till we come to heaven and it is a part of our Christian meekenesse to submit to God and not to murmure because wee are not as we would be but let us rather magnifie the mercies of God that workes in us any love of good things and that hee vouch safes us any beginnings As noble mens children have Tutors to guide them so Gods Children have the Spirit telling them this you should doe and that you should not doe the Spirit not onely changeth but leades forward unto holinesse wicked men have the Spirit knocking and faine would enter but they will not heare but Gods children have the Spirit dwelling in them A Christian is now in his Nonage and therefore not fit to have all that hee hath a title to but yet so much is allotted to him as will conduct him and give him passage to heaven If therefore hee be in want hee hath contentment and in suffering hee hath patience c. All things are his as well what he wants as what he hath The Word of God is then in our hearts when it rules in the soule when it rules our thoughts affections and conversations so that wee dare not doe any thing contrary but wee shall be checked who shall get out that which Gods finger hath written in our hearts no Fire nor Faggot no temptation whatsoever Wee shall never be satisfied to our comfort that the Scripture iâ— the Word of God unlesse we know it from it selfe by its owne light and it shewes it selfe abundantly to a Beleever in casting downe the soule and altering the minde and conversation when the Word is onely in the braine if there come a temptation stronger than our faith then we despaire the Word is farre off from those that can onely discourse and talke of it when they see it onely as a naturall truth when they looke upon holy things not in a divine but in a humane manner When the Word dwels as a familiar in the heart to direct counsell and comfort then its a signe it is there the devill knowes good and hates it therfore knowledge alone is nothing but when the promise doth alter the temper of the heart it selfe then it is ingrafted God excepts against none if wee doe not except our selves therefore thou and
thou whosoever thou art if thou beest a man or a woman and wilt come and take Christ upon his owne termes for thy Lord and Husband for better for worse with persecutions afflictions crosses c. Take Christ thus and take him for ever and then thou shalt be saved When wee beleeve divine truths by the Spirit they worke upon the heart and draw the affections after them therefore if wee spiritually beleeve the story of the Gospell wee shall have our soules carried to love and imbrance it with joy and comfort Wee may be brought very low but we shall not be confounded yet wee shall be brought as neare confusion as may be to shew us the vanity of the creature in the judgement of the world wee may be confounded but a hand of mercy shall fetch us up againe let the depth of misery and disconsolation be what it will be we shall not be ashamed The reason why Gods children doe oftentimes with great perplexitie doubt of their salvation is because they have a principle of nature in them as well as of grace corruption will breed doubtings as rotten wood breedes Wormes and as Vermine comes out of putrefaction so doubtings and feares come from the remainder of corruption For want of watchfulnesse God oftentimes gives us up to such a perplexed estate that wee shall not know that we are in Grace and though wee may have a principle of Grace in us yet wee shall not see it but may goe out of the world in darkenesse Wee ought not at any time to deny the Truth nor yet at all times to confesse it for good actions and graces are like Princes that come forth attended with Circumstances and if Circumstances in Confession be wanting the action is marred It s true of actions as of words A word spoken in season is like Apples of gold with pictures of silver therefore direction must be our guide for speech is then onely good when it is better than silence It is not lawfull for any weake one to be present at the Masse Dinah ventured abroad and came crackt home its just with God that those that dally with these things should be caught as many idle Travellers are its pittie but those should perish in danger that love danger Hee that will not now denie himselfe in a lust in a lawlesse desire will not deny himselfe in matter of life in time of triall Hee that hath not learned the mortification of the flesh in time of peace will hardly be brought to it in time of trouble Wee must not onely stand for the truth but we must stand for it in a holy manner and not swagger for it as proud persons doe we must observe that in the first of Peter 2. 15. to doe it in meekenesse and feare wee must not bring passion to Gods cause nor must our lives give our tongues the lie There is such a distance betweene corrupt nature and grace that wee must have a great deale of preparation and though there be nothing in preparation to bring the soule to have Grace yet it brings the soule to a nearer distance than those that are wilde persons Nature cannot worke above its owne powers as vapours cannot ascend higher than the Sunne drawes them our hearts are naturally shut and God doth open them by his Spirit in the use of the meanes The children of Israel in the Wildernesse saw wonders upon wonders and yet when they came to be proved they could not beleeve Its Gods free love that hath cast us into these happy times of the Gospell and it s his further love that makes choise of some and refuses others This should therefore teach us sound humility cōfidering that God must open ro else we are eternally shut Seeing Grace is not of our owne getting therefore this should teach us patience towards those that are under us waiting if God at any time will give them repentance though God worke not the first time nor the second time yet wee must waite as the man that lay at the poole of Bethesda for the moving of the water Hee that attends to the Word of God doth not onely know the words which are but the shell but he knowes the things he hath spirituall light to know what Faith and Repentance is there is at that time a spirituall Eccho in the soule as Psal. 27. 8. When thou saidst seeke yee my face my heart answered thy face Lord will I seeke and therefore must men judge of their profiting by the Word not by their carrying of it in their memories but by how much they are made able by it to beare a crosse and how they are made able to resist temptation c. There should not be intimate familiaritie but where we judge men faithfull and those whom upon good grounds we judge faithfull we must be gentle towards them and easie to be intreated and wee wrong them if wee show our selves strange unto them True faith workes love and then it workes by love when it hath wrought that holy affection it works by it as when the Plant is ingrafted and takes it growes presently and shewes the growth in the fruits The Word of God is ancienter than the Scripture for the first word of the Scripture was the Promise The seede of the Woman should breake the head of the Serpent The Scripture is but that Modus that manner of conveying the Word of God this Scripture is the Rule whereby wee must walke and the Iudge also of all controversies of Religion and in spite of the Church of Rome it will judge them S. Augustine hath an excellent Discourse When there is contention betwixt brethren witnesses are brought but in the end the Words the Will of the dead man is brought forth and these Words determine Now shall the words of a dead man be of force and shall not the Word of Christ determine therefore looke to the Scripture All Idolaters shall be ashamed that worship Images that trust to broken Cesternes Let those be ashamed that trust to their wits and policies all those shall be ashamed that beare themselves bigge upon any earthly thing for these crutches will be taken away and then they fall these false reports shall make them all ashamed The way to bring faith into the heart is first there must be a judicious convincing knowledge of the vanitie of all things within us and without us that seemes to yeeld any support to the soule and then the soule is carried to lay hold on Christ as David saith I have seene an end of all perfection Secondly the soule must be convinced of an excellencie in Religion above all things in the world or else it will not rest for the heart of man would chuse the best and when it is perswaded that the gaine in Religion is above the world then it yeelds And thirdly a consideration of the firmenesse of the ground whereupon the Promise is built put God to it therefore either to make his
hee is the best discerner of the fittest time when to give us comfort When God meanes to bestow any blessing on his Church or children hee will power upon them the Spirit of Prayer and as all pray for every one so every one prayes for all this is a great comfort to weake Christians when they cannot pray the prayers of others shall prevaile for them A fooles eye is in every corner and fooles afflictions are scattered The onely object of the soule Is that one thing needfull and this will fill all the corners of it when a man hath sucked out the pleasure of worldly contentments they are then but dead things but grace is ever fresh alwaies yeelds fresh and full satisfaction Desires are the spirituall pulse of the soule alwayes beating to and fro and shewing the temper of it they are therefore the Characters of a Christian and shew more truly what he is than his actions doe In the Arke there was Manna which was a Type of our Sacraments and the Testament which was a Type of the Word preached and the rod of Aaron was a Type of governement wheresoever therefore there is spirituall Manna and the Word preached and the rod of Aaron in the governement there is a true Church though there bee manie personall corruptions The bitterest things in Religion are sweete there is a sweetnesse in reproofes when God meetes with our corruptions and whispers to us that those and those things are dangerous and that if we cherish them they will bring us to hell the Word of God is sweete to a Christian that hath his heart touched Is not Pardon sweete to a condemned man and riches sweete to a poore man and favour sweete to a man in disgrace and liberty sweete to a man in captivitie so all that comes from God is sweete to a Christian that hath his heart touched with the sense of sinne It is not happinesse to see but sight with enjoyment and interest there are but two powers of the soule Vnderstanding and Will when both these have their perfection that is happinesse when the Vnderstanding sees and the Will drawes the Affections so there are these things concurre to make up our everlasting happinesse the excellencie of the thing with the sight of it and interest in it Wee see by experience that there is a succession of love Hee that loves for beauty will despise when hee sees a better so it is in the soule betweene heavenly and earthly things when the soule sees more excellencie and more fruitfulnesse in heavenly things then the love of earthly things falls downe in his heart as Saint Paul saith Phil. 3. I account all things arosse and dung in comparison of Christ. In prayer wee tempt God if wee aske that which we labour not for our endeavor must second our devotion for to aske maintenance and not put our hands to the work it is as to knocke at the doore and yet pull the doore unto us that it open not in this case if wee pray for Grace and neglect the Spring from whence it comes how can we speed It was a rule in the ancient time Lay thy hand on the Plough and then pray No man should pray without ploughing nor plough without praying Wisedome is gotten by experience in varietie of estates hee that is carried on in one condition hee hath no wisedome to judge of anothers estate or how to carry himselfe to a Christian in another condition because he was never abased himselfe hee lookes very bigge at him And therefore that wee may carry our selves as Christians meekely lovingly and tenderly to others God will have us goe to heaven in variety not in one uniforme condition in regard of outward things There is no condition but a Christian picks good matter out of it as a good Arts-man sometimes will make a good peece of worke of an ill peece of matter to shew his skill a gracious man is not dejected over-much with abasement nor lifted up over-much with abundance but hee carries himselfe in an uniforme manner becomming a Christian in all conditions where as those that have not beene brought up in Christs Schoole nor trained up in variety of conditions they learne to doe nothing if they abound they are proud if they be cast downe they murmure and fret and are dejected as if there were no providence to rule the world There is a venome and a vanitie in every thing without Grace wherewith we are tainted but when Grace comes it takes out the sting of all ill and then it finds a good in the worst Christianity is a busie trade if wee looke up to God what a world of things are required in a Christian to carry himselfe as hee should doe a spirit of faith a spirit of love a spirit of joy and delight in him above all and if wee looke to men there are duties for a Christian to his Superiors a spirit of subjection to Equalls he must carry a spirit of love and to Inferiors a spirit of pitty and bounty if wee looke to Satan we have a commandement to resist him and to watch against the Tempter if we looke to the World it is full of snares there must be a great deale of spirituall watchfulnesse that wee be not surprised if wee looke to our selves there are required many duties to carrie our vessells in honour and to walke within the compasse of the holy Ghost to preserve the peace of our consciences to walke answerable to our worth as being the sonnes of God and coheires with Christ hee must dispense with himselfe in no sinne hee must be a vessell prepared for every good worke he must baulke in no service that God calls him unto and therefore the life of a Christian is a busie trade Sincerity is the perfecti on of Christians Let not Satan therefore abuse us we do all things when we endevour to do all things purpose to do all things are grieved whē we cannot do better than in some measure we doe all things A Christian is able to doe great matters but it is in Christ that strengthens him the Vnderstanding is ours the Affections are ours the will is ours but the sanctifying of these and the carrying of these supernaturally to doe them spiritually that is not ours but it is Christs We have not onely the life of Grace from Christ at the first and then a spirituall power answerable to that againe whereby our powers are renewed so as wee are able to doe something in our will but we have the Deed it selfe the doing is from Christ hee strengtheneth us for the performance of all good God preserves his owne Worke by his Spirit first he moves ' us to doe and then hee preserves us in doing and armes us against the impediments Though Christ be a Head of influence that flowes into every member yet he is a voluntary Head according to his owne good pleasure and the exigents of his members sometimes we
us for which wee can see no reason yet we must reverence him and adore his Counsells and thinke him wiser than we When wee are diligent in our calling keeping a good conscience and labouring for a carriage answerable when these three meete together Calling and Standing and wise Carriage then whatsoever befalls us wee may with comfort say The will of the Lord be done wee are now in his way may then expect a guard of Angells without and a guard of his Spirit within All the contention betweene the flesh and the spirit lies in this whether God shall have his Will or wee ours now Gods Will is straight but ours is crooked and therefore if God will have us offer up our Isaac we must submit to him and even drowne our selves in the will of God and then the more wee are emptied of our selves the freer wee are by how much we are made subject to God for in what measure wee part with any thing for him wee shall receive even in this world an hundred fold in joy and peace c. Whatsoever outward good things we have wee should use them in a reverent manner knowing that the libertie we have to enjoy them is purchased with the blood of Christ as David when he thirsted for the waters of Bethlehem would not drinke it because it was as the blood of his three Worthies so though we have a free use of the creatures yet wee must be carefull to use them with moderation and reverence There is nothing of God can please the world because the best things are presented to the heart of a carnall man as foolishnesse mans nature above all things would avoid the imputation of folly and rather than hee will be counted a foole hee will slander the wayes of God to be foolishnesse Now the Law of Christ constraines us and makes us doe many things for which the world doth thinke us out of our wits and therefore wee should labour to quit our hearts and account of it a greater favour from God when the Michals of this world scoffe at us for our goodnesse for when they are offended at us God is delighted with us To discerne of our estate in Grace let us chiefely looke to our affections for they are intrinsicall and not subject to hypocrisie men of great parts know much and so doth the devill but hee wants love in fire all things may be painted but the heate so all good actions may be done by an Hypocrite but there is a heat of love which hee hath not wee should therefore chiefly examine the truth and sinceritie of our affections We may apprehend the love of God but we cannot comprehend it all the fruits of his love passes our common understanding and therefore we have the holy Spirit given to us to take away the vayle and to make report of it to the soule and then assoone as this love of Christ is apprehended it constraines us to all holy duties not as fire out of a Flint but as water out of a Spring the love of a wife to her husband may beginne from the supply of her necessities but afterwards she may love him also for the sweetenesse of his person so the soule doth first love Christ for salvation but when shee is brought to him and finds that sweetenesse that is in him then shee loves him for himselfe It should be our continuall care to manifest the sinceritie of our hearts to God in our severall places and callings this is done when we looke at God in every action and indeavour to yeeld our whole soule to the whole Will of God serving him in our spirits and performing the workes of our callings by his Spirit according to his Word and unto his Glorie and if we thus labour to approve our selves to him whatsoever be the issue wee shall be indued with a holy boldnesse with inward peace and comfort having carried our selves as in the sight of God That a man may be fit to perswade others hee must have love to their persons a cleare knowledge of the cause and grace that he may be able to speake in wisedome to their soules and consciences as wee are saved by love so we are perswaded by the arguments of love which is most agreeable to the nature of man that is led by perswasion not by compulsion men may be compelled to the use of the meanes but not to Faith many men labour onely to unfold the Scriptures for the increasing of their knowledge that they may be able to discourse whereas the speciall intent of the Ministery is to worke upon the heart and affections As we must approve our selves to God and to our owne consciences so also to the consciences of others not to their humours fancies that they may witnesse for us that we love them and deale faithfully with them We should labour to do all the good we can especially to the soules of men that are redeemed with the blood of Christ if wee deserve well of them they will give evidence for us but if wee walke scandalously they will evidence that wee by our ill courses and examples drew them to ill courses and hardened them in evill it should be our care therefore to approve our selves to the consciences of men that we may have them to witnesse for us that such men of whō we have deserved well may be our crowne at the last day A man doth then keepe a good conscience in relation to others when hee makes it appeare that hee can deny himselfe to doe them good when the consciences of other men shall thinke thus such a man regards my good more than his owne hee seekes no advantage to himselfe he lives so as that the world may see he is in good earnest hee speakes so as that he makes it good by his life now if our care be to walke thus wee shall approve our selves to the consciences of men There are many that will give some way to divine truths but they have a reservation of some sinne When Herodias is once touched then Iohn Baptists head must off such truths as come neare makes them fret because their conscience tels them they cannot yeeld obedience to all the lust of some sinnes hath gotten such domination over their affections that the conscience saith I cannot doe this and then that hatred that should be turned upon the sinne is turned upon the Word and the Minister like unto some vermine that when they are driven to a stand they will flie in a mans face so these men when they see they must yeeld they grow malicious so that what they will not follow that they will reproach therefore it should be our care at all times to yeeld obedience according to what wee know There is a generation of churlish people such as watch for offences because they would goe to hell with some reason they will not see who are weake and who are hypocrites but they cast reproach upon
events strange massacres and tragicall deaths which have from time to time pursued the drowsie heart and carelesse minde and in these our dayes is the butchery of all the mischiefes which have already chanced unto our Countrimen for whilst Gods judgements are masked and not presented to the view of the minde by the serious worke of the same though they are keene and sharpe it being sheathed they seeme dull and of no edge unto us which causeth us to pricke up the feathers of pride and insolency and to make no reckoning of the fearefull and finall rekoning which most assu redly must be made will wee nill wee before Gods Tribunall Hence it commeth to passe that our English Gentlewomen doe brave it with such out-landish manners as though they could dash God out of countenance or roist it in heaven as they carve it here so that thousands are carried to hell out of their sweete perfumed chambers where they thought to have lived and are snatched presently from their pleasant and odoriferous Arbours daintie dishes and silken company to take up their roome in the dungeon and lake of hell which burneth perpetually with fire and brimstone And for the want of this Gods children goe limping in their knowledge and carrie the fire of zeale in a flintie heart which unlesse it be hammered will not yeeld a sparke to warme and cheere their benummed and frozen affections towards the worship and service of God and the heartie embracing of his truth By this Gods Workes of Creation are slipped over even from the Cedar to the Hyssope that groweth on the wall The Sunne the Moone the Starres shine without admiration the sea and the earth the foules fishes beasts and man himselfe are all esteemed as common matters in Nature thus God worketh those strange creatures without that glory performed which is due and his children receive not that comfort by the secret meditation of Gods creation as they might Hence it proceedeth that they are often in their dumps fearing as though they enjoyed not the light whereas if they would meditate and judge aright of their estates they might finde theey are the Sons of God heires of that rich kingdome most apparantly knowne and established in heaven and shall suddenly possesse the same even then most likely when their flesh thinketh it farthest off as the Heire being within a moneth of his age maketh such a reckoning of his lands that no carefull distresse can trouble him but this consideration being partly through Sathans and partly through their owne dulnesse and over-stupidnesse they fare like men in aswound and as it were bereaved of the very life of the Spirit staggering under the burthen of affliction stammering in their godly profession and cleaving sometimes unto the world through this they carry Christs promises like comforts in a boxe or as the Chirurgion his salves in his bosome Meditation applieth Meditation healeth Medditation instructeth if thou lovest wisedome and blessednesse meditate in the Law of the Lord day and night and so make use of these meditations to quicken thee up to duty and to sweeten thy heart in thy way to the heavenly Ierusalem Farewell E. C. DIVINE Meditations THat man hath made a good progressein Religion that hath a high esteeme of the Ordinances of God and though perhappes he find himselfe dead and dull yet the best things have left such a taste and rellish in his soule that hee cannot be long without them This is a signe of a good temper A Wife when shee marries a Husband gives up her will to him So doth every Christian when hee is married to Christ hee gives up his will and all that hee hath to him and saith Lord I have nothing but if thou callest for it thou shalt have it againe When wee come to Religion wee loose not our sweetnesse but translate it perhapps before wee fed upon prophane Authors now wee feede upon holy truths A Christian never knowes what comfort is in Religion till hee come to bee downe-right as Austin saith Lord I have wanted of thy sweetnesse over long all my former life was nothing but huskes God takes care of poore weake Christians that are strugling with temptations and corruptions Christ carries them in his armes All Christs sheepe are diseased and therefore hee will have a tender care of them Esay 40. 11. Whatsoever is good for Gods Children they shall have it for all is theirs to further them to heaven therefore if poverty be good they shall have it if disgrace be good they shall have it if crosses be good they shall have them if misery be good they shall have it for all is ours to serve for our maine good Gods Children have these outward things with God himselfe they are as Conduits to convey his favour to us and the same love that moved God to give us heaven and happinesse the same love moves him to give us daily bread The whole life of a Christian should bee nothing but praises and thankes to God we should neither eate nor drinke nor sleepe but eate to God and sleepe to God and worke to God and talke to God doe all to his glory and praise Though God deliver not out of trouble yet hee delivers from the ill in trouble from despaire in trouble by supporting the Spirit Nay he delivers by trouble for hee sanctifies the trouble to cure the soule and by lesse troubles hee delivers from greater What are we but a Modell of Gods favours what doe wee see or what doe wee taste but matter of the mercyes of God the miseries of others should bee matter of praise to us the sinnes of others should make us praise God and say Lord it might have beene my case it might have befallen me God pitties our weakenesse in all our troubles and afflictions he will not stay too long least wee out of weakenesse put our hands to some shifts hee will not suffer the rodde of the wicked to rest upon the lot of the righteous Psal. 125. 3. Is it not an unreasonable speech for a man at midnight to say it will never be day and so it is an unreasonable thing for a man that is in trouble to say O Lord I shall never get out of this it will alwayes be thus with me Doe the wicked thinke to shame or feare good men No a Spirit of grace and glory shall rest upon them they shall not onely have a Spirit of Grace rest upon them but a Spirit of Glory So that their countenances shall shine as Stephens did when hee was stoned Act. 6. 15. If God hides his face from us what shall become of our foules wee are like the poore flower that opens and shuts with the Sunne If God shines upon the heart of a man it opens but if hee withdrawes himselfe we hang downe our heads Thou turn ' dst away thy face and I was troubled Psal. 30. 7. When wee have given up our selves to God let us comfort our
frame it hinders all the rest If we will hold out because the errour is in want of deepe apprehension of the miseries wee are in by nature let us labour therefore to have our hearts broken more and more Vpon this fault it was that the stony ground spoken of in the Gospell wants rooting therefore it is Christian pollicie to suffer our soules to be humbled as deepe as possible may be that there may be mould enough otherwise there may be a great joy in divine Truths and they may be comfortable but all will be sucked up like dew when persecution comes if it be not rooted What is the reason that Gods children sinke not to hell when troubles are upon them because they have an inward presence strengthening them for the holy Ghost helpes our infirmities not onely to pray but to beare crosses sweetening them with some glympes of his gracious countenance for what supports our faith in prayer but inward strength from God In prosperitie or after some deliverance its the fittest time for praise because then our spirits are raised up and cheared in the evidence of Gods favour for the greater the crosse is from which wee have beene delivered the more will the spirit be enlarged to praise God When ever we receive any good to our soules or to our bodies who ever is the instrument let us looke to the principall as in the gifts wee receive wee looke not to the Bringer but to the Sender Take heede of Satans policie that God hath forgotten mee because I am in extremitie nay rather God will then shew mercie for now is the speciall time of mercy therefore beat backe Satan with his owne weapons Whatsoever God takes away from his children he either supplies it with a great earthly favour or else with strength to beare it God gives charge to others to take a care of the fatherlesse and widdow and will he neglect them himselfe That is spirituall knowledge which alters the taste and relish of the soule for wee must know there is a bitter Antithesis in our nature against all saving Truthes there is a contrarietie betweene our nature and that Doctrine which teacheth us that wee must deny our selves and be saved by another Therefore the soule must first be brought to relish before it can digest there must be first an holy Harmony betweene our nature and truth If we will walke aright in Gods wayes let us have heaven daily in our Eye and the day of judgement and times to come and this will sterne the course of our lives and breed love in the use of the meanes and patience to undergoe all conditions let us have our eye with Moses upon him that is invisible A man may know that hee loves the world if he be more carefull to get than to use for we are but Stewards and wee should consider I must be as carefull in distributing as in getting for when wee are all in getting and nothing in distributing this man is a worldling though hee be moderate in getting without wronging any man yet the world hath gotten his heart because hee makes not that use of it he should It is a sottish conceit to thinke that wee can fit our selves for Grace as if a child in the wombe could forward its naturall birth If God hath made us men let us not make our selves Gods As naturall life preserves it selfe by repelling that which is contrary to it So where the life of Grace is there is a principle of skill of power and strength to repell that which is contrary It is the nature of the soule that when it sees a succession of better things it makes the world seeme cheape when it sees another condition not liable to change then it hath a sanctified judgement to esteeme of things as they are and so it overcomes the world In the Covenant of Grace God intends the glory of his Grace above all Now faith is fit for it because it hath an uniting Vertue to knit us to the Mediator and to lay hold of a thing out of it selfe it empties the soule of all conceit of worth or strength or excellencie in the creature and so it gives all the glory to God and Christ. What wee are afraid to speake before men and to doe for feare of danger let us be afraid to thinke before God therefore wee should stifle all ill conceits in the very conception in their very rising let them be used as Rebells and Traytors smoothered at the first The heart of man till he be a Beleever is in a wavering condition its never at quiet and therefore it s the happinesse of the creature to be satisfied and to have rest for perplexitie makes a man miserable if a man have but a little scruple in his conscience hee is like a shippe in the sea tossed with contrary windes and cannot come to the Haven The righteousnesse of Workes leaves the soule in perplexitie that righteousnesse which comes by any other meanes than by Christ leaves the soule unsetled because the Law of God promiseth life onely upon absolute and personall performance Now the heart of man tells him that this he hath not done and such duties he hath omitted and this breeds perplexitie because the heart hath not whereon to stay it selfe Glory followes afflictions not as the day followes the night but as the Spring followes Winter for the Winter prepares the earth for the Spring so doth afflictions sanctified prepare the soule for glory This life is not a life for the body but for the soule and therefore the soule should speake to the body and say stay body for if thou movest mee to fulfill thy desires now thou wilt lose mee and thy selfe hereafter But if the body be given up to Christ then the soule will speake a good word for it in heaven as if it should say Lord there is a body of mine in the earth that did fast for me and pray with me it will speake for it as Pharaohs Butler to the King for Ioseph Afflictions makes a divorce and separation betweene the soule and sinne it is not a small thing that will worke sinne out of the soule it must be the Spirit of burning the fire of afflictions sanctified heaven is for holinesse and all that 's contrary to holinesse afflictions workes out and so frames the soule to a further communion with God When the soule admires spirituall things it s then a holy frame and so long it will not stoope to any base comfort Wee should therefore labour to keepe our soules in an estate of holy admiration All those whom Christ saves by vertue of his merit and paiment to those hee discovers their wretched condition and instead thereof a better to be attained hee shewes by whom wee are redeemed and from what and unto what condition the Spirit informing us throughly that God enters into covenant with us Spirituall duties are as opposite tâ—â— flesh and blood as Fire to Water
there is also much more the height and depth and length and bredth of mercy in God and though we have played the Harlot with many lovers yet returne againe Ier. 3. 1. For his thoughts are not as ours and his mercies are the mercies of a reconciled God When wee are under a cloud of temptations let us take heede of opposing our comforts for it wrongs Christs intention who would not have us at any time to be uncomfortable and besides whil'st wee are in such a condition wee are unfit to glorifie God for feare doth binde up the soule and makes it in a palsie temper wee are not fit to doe any thing as we ought without some love and some joy and though we be at present under a cloud yet the Sunne is alwayes the same wee may therefore for a time want the light of his gracious countenance but never his sweete influence Most men if they could they would alwayes live here but whosoever is partaker of Christs Resurrection his minde doth presently ascend and here we are alwayes inlarging our desires because wee are under a state of imperfection Many men that make a profession are like Kytes which ascend high but looke low but those that looke high as they ascend high are risen with Christ for a Christian being once in the estate of Grace hee forgets what is behinde and lookes upon ascending higher and higher till hee be in his place of happinesse and as at Christs rising there was an earth-quake so such as are risen with him doe finde a commotion and division betweene the flesh and the spirit Christ hath an especiall care of his children when by reason of the guilt of sinne they have most cause to be disconsolate and therefore where the heart of any man is upright towards God it is not to be expressed what indulgence there is in him towards such a poore sinner for though Peter had denied him yet in Marke 16. 7. Goe tell his Disciples and tell Peter so that Christ tooke great care to secure him of his love though he had most shamefully denied him God hath not in vaine taken upon him the name of a Father and hee fills it up to the full It is a name of Indulgence a name of Hope a name of Provision a name of Protection it argues the mitigation of punishment a little is enough from a Father therefore in all temptations it should teach us by prayer to flie under the wings of our heavenly Father and to expect from him all that a father should doe for his child as Provision Protection Indulgence yea and seasonable corrections also which are as necessary for us as our daily bread and when we die we may expect our inheritance because hee is our Father but yet wee must understand also that the name of a Father is a word of Relation something also he expects from us we must therefore reverence him as a Father which consists in feare and love He is a great God and therefore we ought to feare him he is also mercifull yea hath bowells of mercy and therefore wee ought to love him if wee tremble at him wee know not that hee is loving and if wee be over bold wee forget that hee is a great God therefore we should goe boldly to him with reverence and godly feare Those that are at peace in their owne consciences will be peaceable towards others A busie contentious quarrelous disposition argues it never felt peace from God and though many men thinke it commendable to cēsure the infirmities of others yet it argues their owne weakenes for it is a signe of strength where wee see in men any good to beare with their weaknesses who wasmore indulgent than Christ hee bore with the infirmities of his Disciples from time to time therefore we should labour to carry our selves lovingly towards them that are weake and know that nothing should raise us so high in our esteeme above others so as to forget them to be brethren in as much as those infirmities we see in them shall be buried with them Many men will make much of eminent persons and men of excellent parts but there may be a great deale of hypocrisie in that and therefore the truth of our love is tried in this if wee beare a sincere affection to all the Saints Eph. 6. 18. Wee must take heede of comming to God in our owne persons or worthinesse but in all things looke at God in Christ if we looke at God as a Father wee must see him Christs Father first if wee see our selves acquitted from our sinnes let us looke at Christ risen first if we thinke of glorification in heaven let us see Christ glorified first and when wee consider of any spirituall blessing consider of it in Christ first all the Promises are made to Christ he takes them first from God the Father and derives them to us by his Spirit the first fulnesse is in God and then he empties himselfe into Christ And of his fulnesse wee all receive grace c. God is said to be our God or to be a God unto us when as he applies for the good of his creature that all-sufficiencie that is in himselfe God is our God by covenant because hee hath made over himselfe unto us every beleeving Christian hath the title passed over to him so that God is his portion and his inheritance There is more comfort in this that God is our God than the heart of man can conceive it s larger than his heart and therefore though we cannot say that riches or honours or friends c. are ours yet if we be able to say by the Spirit of Faith that God is ours then wee have all in him his wisedome is ours to finde out a way to doe us good if wee be in danger his power is ours to bring us out if under the guilt of sinne his mercie is ours to forgive us if any want his all-sufficiencie is ours to supply or to make it good if God be ours then whatsoever God can doe is ours and whatsoever God hath is ours God is the God and Father of all the Elect and hee is also a God and a Father unto every one of the Elect God is every Saints Solidum even as the Sunne is wholly every mans so is God he cares for all as one and for every one as if he had but one There is not onely a mystery but a depth in the mystery as of Election and Reprobation so of Providence there is no reason can be given why some of Gods children are in quiet and others are vexed why one should be poore and another rich In Psal. 97. 2. Clouds and darkenesse are round about him you cannot see him hee is hid in a cloud I but Righteousnesse and Iudgement are the foundation of his Throne howsoever he wrappe himselfe in a thicke cloud that none can see him yet hee is just and righteous therefore when any thing befalls
all and therefore oftentimes God in justice to them suffers good men to fall that such men may take scandall at them to their ruine A man may know that the Word hath wrought upon his conscience when hee comes to it that hee may heare and learne and reforme A man that hath a heart without guile is glad to heare the sharpest reproofes because he knowes that sinne is his greatest enemy but if we live in a course that wee are loath should be touched it is a signe our hearts are full of guile corrupt men they mould their Teachers and fashion them to their lusts but a good and upright heart is willing that Divine truths should have their full authoritie in the soule giving way to our dutie though never so contrary to flesh and blood It is the duty of Ministers to labour to prevent objections that may arise in the hearts of the people so as to hinder the passage of their Doctrine and that truths may more readily come into the heart wee should labour to rellish the person for secret surmises are stones to stumble at therefore both Ministers and people should be carefull to remove them A man ought not to commend himselfe but in some speciall cases first because pride and envie in others will not indure it secondly it toucheth upon Gods glory and therefore we should take heed thirdly it deprives us of comfort and hinders the Apologie of others The Heathens could say that the praising of a mans selfe is a burdensome hearing Le ts take heede therefore that wee snatch not our right out of Gods hand but now on the contrary in some cases wee may praise and commend our selves as when we have a just calling to make an A pologie in way of defence and for the conviction of them that unjustly speake evill of us secondly wee may speake well of our selves in way of example to others as Parents to their children and this doth well become them because it is not out of pride or vaine-glory because the end is discovered to be out of love unto them It s the dutie of those that are Gods children when they have just occasion to take the defence of others upon them and thus did the blind man Iohn 6. He defended Christ against the Pharisees and Ionathan spoke to his Father in the behalfe of David though hee was called the sonne of a rebellious woman yet he knew that hee ought this unto the truth God hath a cause in the world that must be owned and therefore when the cause of Religion is brought upon the stage then God seemes to say as Iehu did Who is on my side who God commends his cause and his children to us And therefore curse yee Meroz said the Angell of the Lord curse yee bitterly the Inhabitants thereof because they came not to the helpe of the Lord to the helpe of the Lord against the mightie so a curse lies upon those that when the truth suffers have not a word to defend it Vsually the defamers of others are proud vaine-glorious persons if a man will search for the spirit of the devill in men let him looke for it amongst vaine-glorious Teachers Heriticks and superstitious persons the ground of it is from the neerenesse of two contraries there the opposition is the strongest as fire and water when they are neere make the strongest opposition and who are so neere Gods children as vaine-glorious Teachers that are of the same profession Pilat a Heathen shewed more favour to Christ than the Pharisees and this use we should make of it not to take scandall when we see one Divine deprave another for it hath beene so and will be so to the end of the world All things out of God are but grasse when wee joy in any thing out of God it is a childish joy as if wee joyed in Flowers that after we have drawne out the sweetnesse we cast them away all outward things are cōmon to Castawayes as well as to us and without Grace they will provesnares at the houre of death what comfort can wee have in them further than we have had humilitie and love to use them well Therefore if wee would have our hearts seasoned with true joy le ts labour to be faithfull in our places and endeavour according to the gifts wee have to glorifie God To glorie in any thing whatsoever is Idolatry because the minde sets up a thing to glory in which is not God secondly its spirituall adultery to cleave to any thing more than God thirdly its false witnesse bearing to ascribe excellency where there is none wee have a prohibition Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome nor the strong man in his strength nor the rich man in his riches God will not give his glorie to another and therefore when men will be medling with glory which belongs to God alone he blasts them and sets them afide as broken vessells and disdaines to use them A Christian joyes aright when it proceedes from right principles from Iudgement and Conscience not from Fancie and Imagination when Iudgement and Conscience will beare him out when there is good termes betweene God and him for our joy must spring from peace Rom. 5. Being justified by Faith wee have peace towards God The Apostles beginne their Epistles with Mercy Grace and Peace Mercy in forgivenesse Grace to renew our natures and Peace of conscience here these are things to be gloried in if wee finde our sinnes pardoned our persons accepted and our natures altered then we may comfort our selves in any thing in health in wealth in wife in children in any thing because all come from the favour of God we may joy in afflictions because there is a blessing in the worst things to further our eternall happinesse and though we cannot joy in affliction it self as being a contrary to our nature yet wee may joy in the issue so that we may joyaright when having interest in God wee glory in the testimony of a good conscience when looking inward we finde all at peace when wee can say upon good grounds that God is mine and therefore all is mine both life and death and all things so farre as they may serve for good The hearts of men yea of good men are apt to be taken up with outward things when the weake Disciples had cast out devils they were ready to be proud but Christ quickly spies it and admonishes them not to rejoyce that the devils were subject to them but that their names were written in the Booke of life Therefore when wee finde the least stirrings to glory in any thing wee must checke our selves and consider what Grace wee have to temper them what love wee have to turne these things to the common good for whatsoever a man hath if hee have not withall humilitie and love to use it aright it will turne to his bane It hath beene an old imputation to lay distractednesse upon men of
the greatest wisedome and sobrietie Iohn the Baptist was accused to have a devill and Christ to be besides himselfe and the Apostles to be full of new wine and Paul to be madde and the reason of this is because as Religion is a mysticall and spirituall thing so the Tenents of it seeme Paradoxes to carnall men as first that a Christian is the onely Free-man and other men are slaves that hee is the onely Rich-man though never so meane in the world that he is the onely Beautifull man though outwardly never so deformed that hee is the onely happy man in the middest of all his miseries Now these things though never so true in themselves seeme strange to naturall men and then again when they see men earnest against sinne or making conscience of sinne they wonder at this commotion for trifles as if we made Tragadies of toyes but these men goe on in a course of their owne and make that the measure of all those that are below them are prophane and those that are above them are indiscreete by fancies and affections they create excellencies and then cry downe spirituall things as folly they have principles of their owne to love themselves and to love others onely for themselves and to hold on the strongest side and by no meanes to expose a mans selfe to danger But now when men beginne to be religious they deny all their owne aimes and that makes their course seeme madnesse to the world and therefore they labour to breed an ill conceit of them as if they were mad men and fooles Gods children are neither mad men nor fooles as they are accounted it is but a scandall cast upon them by the mad men of the world They are the onely wise men if it be well considered for first they make the highest end their aime which is to be a Childe of God here and a Saint hereafter in heaven secondly they aime to be found wise men at their death and therefore are alwayes making their accounts ready thirdly they labour to live answerable to their rules they observe the rule of the Word to bee governed according to the same fourthly they improve all advantages to advance their end they labour to grow better by blessings and crosses and to make a sanctified use of every thing fiftly they swimme against the streame of the times and though they eate and drinke and sleepe as others doe yet like the Starres they have a secret course and carriage of their owne which the world cannot discerne and therefore a man must be changed and set in a higher ranke before he can have a sanctified judgement of the wayes of God Those that lay the imputation of folly and madnesse on Gods children will be found to be fooles and madde men themselves Is not he a foole that cannot make a right choice of things and how doe carnall men make their choice when they imbrace perishing things for the best secondly a carnall man hath not parts to apprehend spirituall things aright hee cannot see things invisible thirdly in his heart he accounts it a vaine thing to serve the Lord fourthly he judges his enemies to be his best friends and his best friends to be his worst enemies fiftly the principles of all his actions are rotten because they are not directed to the right object therfore all his affections are madde as his joy his love his delight his love is but lust his anger vexation for his confidence hee calls Gods love into question but if a false suggestion comes from the devill that hee imbraces and therefore is hee not now a mad man And this is the condition of all naturall men in the world True freedome is when the heart is inlarged and made subordinate to God in Christ. A man is then in a sweete frame of soule when his heart is made subject to God for he being larger than the soule sets it at libertie God will have us make his glory our aime that hee may bestow himselfe upon us When the love of Christ is manifested to mee and my love againe to Christ is wrought by the Spirit this causes an admiration to the soule when it considers what wonderfull love is in Christ and the Spirit shall witnesse that this love of Christ is set upon me from hence it begins to admire Lord where fore wilt thou shew thy selfe to us and not to the world what is the reason thou lovest mee and not others when the soule hath beene with God in the Mount and when it is turned from earthly things then it sees nothing but love and mercie and this constraines us to doe all things out of love to God and men When Ioshua cursed the man that should build the walles of Iericho hee was not in commotion and fury but in a peaceabletemper So that when cursing comes from such a one he is a declaratory instrumēt and the conveigher of Gods curse Therefore every man must not take upon him to curse for men oftentimes curse where they should blesse which is an arrow shot upright that falls downe upon his owne head but those that come in the name of the Lord and are qualified for that purpose their cursings or blessings are to be esteemed for they are a meanes oftentimes to conveigh Gods blessings or his cursings upon us It is over-curious to exact the first beginnings of Grace because it falls by degrees like the dew undiscernably and further there is a great deale of wisedome as well as power in the working of Grace God offers no violence to the soule but workes sweetely yet strongly and strongly yet sweetely he goes so farre with our nature that wee shall freely delight in Grace so that now he sees great reason why hee should alter his course God doth not overthrow Nature the streame is but changed the man is the same Where the soule desires the forgivenesse of sinne and not Grace to lead a new life that desire is hypocriticall for a true Christian desires power against sinne as well as pardon for it if we have not sanctifying Grace wee have not pardoning Grace Christ came as well by water to Regenerate as by blood to Iustifie It should therefore be our continuall care and indeavour to grow and increase in Grace because without it wee shall never come to heaven without this endeavour our sacrifices are not accepted without this wee cannot withstand our enemies or beare any crosse withou◠it we cannot goe on comfortably in our course without this wee cannot doe any thing acceptable and pleasing to God God will be as the dew unto Israel and hee shall grow as the Lilly and cast forth his rootes as Lebanon Hos. 14. 5. These are not words wastfully spent for wee have great need of such promises especially in a distressed estate for then our spirits are apt to sinke and our hearts to faint and therefore wee have neede to have the same comforts often repeated Prophane hearts thinke