World that Christ the Messias is come in the Flesh c. Or to Things present as That Almighty God knows all I do and knows all I think or That he is a reconciled Father unto me in Christ Jesus Or Things to come which principally excite those Two great movers of the Soul Hope and Fear in relation to the future Life of Rewards and Punishments Hale Faith worketh by Love consumeth our Corruptions and Sanctifieth the whole Man throughout I come to God by Jesus Christ and as I believe in God so I believe also in Jesus Christ and rejoyce and glory in Him acknowledging my own unworthiness and sinfulness I rest entirely on Him as the ground of my Justification to Life and of all favour and acceptance with God. I most heartily take Christ according to the offers of the Gospel not only to be Justified from my Sins and delivered from the Wrath to come by his Merits but also to be Sanctified by his Word and Spirit and to be Governed by his Law and to be brought by him unto Fellowship with GOD. Corbet 's Self-Imployment Tho' there be not a co-operation of Faith and other Graces to Justifie yet there is a co-existence of Faith and other Graces in the Persons Justified Faith cannot be the Hand to take Christ but Love will be the Warmth to heat our Affections to Christ they always go together like Mother and Daughter Gal. 5.6 Phil. 5. Faith is required as an Hand which we should put forth to receive Pardon for our Sins First At God's Hands as a Free-Gift for he blotteth out our Transgressions for his own sake Isa 43.25 Secondly At Christ's Hands as a purchased Commodity bought for us with his own precious Blood and given to you There is First an Heart mollifying Faith. Secondly An Heart purifying Faith. Thirdly A fruitful Faith. Fourthly An Heart Praying Faith. Fifthly A Victorious Faith. Tho' we are Justified by Faith yet it is by Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 And he that Loves God keeps his Commandments John 14. Bishop of Hereford 's Legacy 66 67. As to Faith Justifying and the Merit of Good-Works Bishop Cranmer concluded with this That our Justification was to be ascribed only to the Merit of Christ Jesus and that those that are Justified must have Charity as well as Faith but that neither of these is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification When ever we read of our Justification by Faith it is meant of our Justification in a Gospel way and that is by Christ alone Meritoriously and by what he hath done and Suffered Faith being but the conditional means Christ's Satisfaction contrived provided accepted and the Conditions performed then every Saved Person will appear Righteous before God and it will be very apparently a Righteous thing with God to bring such to Glory who have Christ's Righteousness by way of Satisfaction to answer for them in respect of the Law and their own Faith and sincere tho' imperpect Obedience to answer the terms of the Gospel Faith to Live by it IT is an Heavenly and Dutiful committing our whole Persons and of our whole Estates upon God with a Pious dependance on Christ for suitable and seasonable Supplies in all our Exigencies Occurrences and Changes whatsoever When the Soul is in any Exigence and comes to Christ and puts it self upon him and trusts to him for help This is to Live by Faith and this Faith extends it self both to our Spiritual and Temporal Estate The Just shall Live by his Faith Gal. 3.11 speaking of the Temporal State And Live by Faith of the Son of God says St. Paul Gal. 2.2 speaking of the Spiritual State. By reason of the Dignity of Christ's Person his Obedience and Sufferings being performed in our Nature and wholly upon our account God by an Infinite Gracious Statute in Heaven accepts them for us tho' not as done by us and reckons all the Effects and Advantages of them by way of Imputation to us Justification Evangelical We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith. Tertullian Chrysostom saith As a Rock tho' the Winds blow and the Waves beat against it is Immovable so Faith grounded on the Rock Christ holds out in all Temptations and Spiritual Combats Chrysologus saith Neither in the Steel alone nor in the Flint alone any Fire can be seen nor Extracted but by Conjunction and Collision so nor by Faith alone nor by Works alone is Salvation to be attained but by joyning both together Alexander of Hales saith What the Eye is to the Body Faith is to the Soul it 's good for direction if it be kept well And as Flies hurt the Eyes so little Sins and Ill-Thoughts do the Soul. Says Luther to Melancthon Who feared to Profess the Truth If the Cause be bad le ts revoke it and fly back but if it be good why do we make God a Lyar who hath made us such great Promises viz. Cast thy Care on the Lord and be of good Comfort I have Overcome the World. If Christ be the Conqueror of the World why should we fear it as tho' it would Overcome us therefore be not afraid but Couragious and Chearful solicitous for nothing the Lord is at hand to help us Calvin saith With all my Heart I embrace the Mercy which God hath used towards me for Jesus Christ 's sake recompencing my Faults with the Merits of his Death and Passion that Satisfaction may be made by this means for all my Sins and Crimes and the remembrance of them may be blotted out I have not lived so that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to Die because I have a Merciful Lord in that a Crown of Righteousness is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy Will I say and not my own which is imperfect and depraved This Day let me see the Lord Jesus c. Jewel Fall of Man. Anselm saith O hard hap What did Man lose What did he find He lost the Blessedness to which he was made and found Death to which he was not made Fortune SIR William Saint James was wont to say That none Fought well but those that did it for a Fortune Fortune saith Sir Ralph Winwood may begin a Man's Greatness but Vertue must continue it Friendship Friendship saith my Lord Bacon easeth the Heart and cheareth the Vnderstanding making clear Day in both partly by giving the purest Council or partly from our Interest and Prepossessions and partly by allowing opportunity to Discourse and by that Discourse to clear the Mind to recollect the Thoughts to see how they look in Words whereby Men attain to the highest Wisdom which Dionisius Aeriopagitus saith is the Daughter of Reflection Forgiveness IF a Man saith Sir David Brooke wrongeth me once God forgive him If he wrong me the second time God forgive me O God Forgive me my Ten Thousand Talents I come to Jesus Christ who
Injuries INjuries of Evils present are to be neglected for hopes of things to come St. Cyprian You must saith St. Jerom be a Dove and a Serpent the one not to do hurt to others the other not to be hurt by others He knows not how to live that knoâ—â— not how to bear Wrongs David Chiterus The Mercies and Forgiveness that I find and hope for at the Lords hands engageth and disposeth me to forgive Injuries and Abuses done to me And I should not think it much that I who am so sinful should bear some Contumelies and Abuses from Men. Corbet The more Men Wrong thee the more watchfully maintain thy Love to them Ibid. When that another hath spoken to thy Disgrace beware of a transport of Anger that thou speak not harshly and unadvisedly against him or too Passionately or as too much concerned for self Ibid. Vid. Wrongs Incarnation TO believe the Incomprehensible Mistery of our Saviour's Incarnation that the omnipotent Divine Nature and the weak Nature of Man are united in one Person of Christ is sure a very hard thing of Belief and requires the express Word of God to submit to and captivate our Understandings in Obedience to it for the Union of the Divine Nature Vid. John 1.1 Idleness HE is a Sluggard that would raign with God and will not labor for God. In the promised Reward he takes delight but the Commanded Combats affright him Bead. Ingratitude ST Austin called Ingratitude the Devils Spunge whereby he wipes out all the favours of the Almighty Integrity SAint Cyprian says There can be no Integrity whereby they that should Condemn the Wicked are ever wanting and they only which should be Condemned are ever present Judgment SAint Jerom said Whatsoever he did he still thought that that Voice was still in his Ears Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment Interest THey who least consider Hazard in the doing of their Duty fare best still The surest way to Safety is to have one Interest espoused firmly as never to be changed KINGS IT is a Maxim that KINGS are like the Sun and Usurpers like Falling-Stars for the Sun tho' it be Effuscated or Eclipsed with Mists and Clouds yet at length becomes refulgent whereas the others are but Figures of Stars to the view and prove no more than Exhalations which suddainly dissolve and fall to the Earth where they are consumed First Jesus Christ is his Enemies King. Secondly His Saints King. Thirdly His Fathers King. The First he Rules Over the Second he Rules In and the Third he Rules For. Knowledge ST Basil said To know thy self is very difficult for as the Eye can see all things but it self so some can discern all Faults but their own There is a common Knowledge and there is a saving Knowledge common Knowledge is that which floats in the Head but doth not Influence and affect the Heart This Knowledge Reprobates may have Numb 23.10 but then the saving Knowledge of God and Christ which doth include the assent of the Mind and consent of the Will This is Knowledge which implies Faith Isa 5.8 By his Knowledge shall my Righteous Servant Justifie many For us to know but to know that 's Curiosity to know to be known that 's Vain-Glory but to know to Practise what we know that 's Gospel-Duty He only knows GOD aright that knows how to Obey him and Obeys according to his Knowledge of him Psal 111.10 a good Understanding have all they that keep his Commandments Law of GOD. EVsebius saith That Moses Wrote the Old Law in dead Tables of Stone but Christ did write the lively and perfect Documents of the New Law in Tables of the New-Testament in living Souls One Law Executed is worth Twenty Made No Laws so no good could be done by a Governor that was not Absolute without either restraint or a Competitor Machiavil Law and Equity have Two Courts but Law and Equity should dwell in one Breast Light Gold. THe Master of a Company affirmed That they had a pair of Scales that would turn with the Two hundredth part of a Grain I should be loath said Mr. Attorney General Noy standing by that all my Actions should be weighed by those Scales We are all but Light Gold. Liberty A People accustomed to live under a Prince if by accident they become free are like Beasts let loose and have much ado either to maintain their Government or their Liberty Machiavil Love. LOve is nothing but a disposition of the Will whereby it cleaves or makes forward to some good thing that is agreeable to it self Preston 216. St. Jerom used this excellent saying If my Father stood Weeping on his Knees before me and my Mother hanging on my Neck behind me and all my Brothers Sisters Children and Friends howling on every side to retain me in a sinful Life I would run over my Father fling my Mother to the Ground despise my Kindred and fling them under my Feet that I may run to CHRIST Here 's Love and Fortitude St. Austin saith Love is strong as Death as Death killeth the Body so Love of Eternal Life kills Worldly Desires and Affections The Love of Christ being predominant in the Soul deadens the Affections to any thing else Christ asked Peter Three Times Lovest thou me not for his own Information but that by his Threefold Profession he might help his Threefold Negation of him Nicephorus To Love God and to be conformable to him is that which I most of all desire should be in me Corbet's Enquiry God will never Damn in Hell any Soul that hath the habitual Predominance of the Love of God in his Soul tho' culpable or otherwise sinful whil'st remains such yea Hell and such Love are inconstant Ibid. 30. I Love to Love GOD says Mr. Corbet and desire this Love not only as an evidence of my Salvation but for it self I had much rather have an Heart to Love him perfectly than to have all the Honors Riches and Pleasures of this World. Ib. 17. Love to God is the Fountain and Spring of all true Obedience most of the Hypocrites Love empties it self in Vain-Glory Mat. 6.2 5. Hos 10.1 We know that we have passed from Death unto Life because we love the Brethren John 3.14 10. there we understand Brethren by Grace and not by Nature or otherwise to love God for Godliness sake the Saints for Saintships sake this is a sure Testimony of our Christianity A Sinner cannot Love a Saint Quatenus a Saint neither can a Saint love a Sinner Quatenus a Sinner John 15.19 Psal 57.4 It is a true Rule That Love is ever Rewarded either in the Recipoque or with an Inward or secret Contempt Watch against all secret Pleasure in the lessening of another for advancing of thy self Divine Love says Basil is a never failing Treasure he that hath it is Rich and he that wanteth it is Poor Chrisostom saith A Bulwark of Adamant is not more impregnable than the Love of Brethren
AN ESSAY To Promote VIRTUE By Example IN A COLLECTION OF Excellent Sayings Divine and Moral OF Devout Learned Men In all Ages from the Apostles Time to this present Year 1689. By William Whitcombe Gent. Licensed March 2d 1688 / 9. LONDON Printed for the Author And are to be Sold by Edw. Evets at the Green Dragon in St. Paul's Church-yard 1689. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER I Here present to thy Perusal and Consideration these Serious Sayings following Spoken and Delivered not Rashly but upon the Experience of whole Lives and that too in those most seriously Reflecting Moments the Close of Life and Approach of Eternity And moreover not by any one Party or Perswasion or of any one Age but of all Men of all Perswasions of all Ages Spoken too when they were so disinterested and disobliged from the World as neither to be deluded or abused thereby nor by any the most tempting Baits of Honour or Wordly Profit whatever With this Authentick stamp upon them they are offered to thy Reading and retired Thoughts and for this Great End That these Memoirs and Reliques of the Learned and Pious in all Ages together with what other Examples of the like Kind thy farther Conversation with Good Books or Good Men may afford thee may in some Measure excite thee by a Zealous Imitation of their Lives to endeavour to arrive to the Comfort and Peace of their Deaths and that Eternal Glory that Crowns them And considering how certainly and very shortly we must Die as they did thou may'st therefore Labour to Die as happy too The Design of these Collections of so many Warning-pieces from departed Saints being no other than making the Dead an Instrument towards the Salvation of the Living W. W. Excellent Sayings OF DEVOUT AND Learned-Men c. Alphabetically Digested Abby-Lands THE Pope by a Bull would confirm Abby-Lands but who said Burleigh can confirm the Pope's Bull In the Secret Judgment of God it is to be Admired and Adored in that those Houses and Abbies that were so full of all Abominations as appeared to the Kings Commissioners upon Examination and remains upon Record so Horrible to be heard so Incredible to be believed that it is a Wonder God would suffer them unpluck'd up So that we may say with Mat. Paris Cujus foetor usque ad Nubes fumum toterrimum exhalabat i. e. Whose filthy Stink did Breath a most Pestiferous Fume even to the Clouds of Heaven and with Sodom's Sins cryed aloud for Vengeance c. Accusation IF God's People be Accused falsly Christ will Iustifie them If they have Sinned and truly Believe Repent and Amend He will Pardon them thro' His Meritorious Righteousness and Sacrifice and will make them and pronounce them Just Adversity PRosperity is not without many â—ears and Distastes and Adversity not without many Comforts The Vertue of Prosperity is Temperance the Vertue of Adversity is Fortitude Prosperity doth best discover Vice but Adversity doth best discover Vertue Prosperity is the Blessing of the Old Testament Adversity of the New and the clear Manifestation of the favour of God. The good things of Prosperity are to be Wished the good things of Adversity to be Admired My Lord Cook would say That no Wise Man would do that in Prosperity whereof he would Repent in Adversity His Motto was Prudens qui Patiens Advises EDward Earl of Rutland left these Four Advises behind Him viz. First Be always Imploy'd Secondly Look to the Issue Thirdly Be Furnished with a Friend Fourthly Reflect on thy Self Vita est in Reflectione Affections OBserve this Rule That we never give this Affection of Love leave to run out alone without Judgment and Consideration going before it and along with it That we suffer not our Passions which are Love Hatred Anger Joy Grief Fear or Hope to deal out their own Measures but our Judgment and Deliberation That we always keep this Affection of Love especially under Discipline and Government and suffer it not to run away from us as an unruly Beast without a Chain for it is certain the due Government of this Affection governs all the rest Vae Soli. If any Affection come alone I will ask him for his Fellow If Love to God or Good come alone I will ask him Where is Hatred for Sin If Grief or outward Crosses come alone I will ask him Where is thy Fellow that is Joy in the Lord and in Spiritual Mercies If Fear of Evil come alone I will ask Where is thy Fellow that is Hope in the Lord in his Promises and in his Providences Afflictions NIciphorus saith God so moderates our Actions using the Scourge of Affliction for our Castigation and Conversion and after due Correction shews his Fatherly Affection to those that Trust in him for Salvation Christ asked Peter Three times whether he Loved him not for his own Information but that for his Threefold Profession he may help and heal his Threefold Negation Among the many Preparations for Afflictions patiently take this one which includes the rest viz. Labour to get thy Peace made with GOD through Jesus CHRIST our Lord When this is once done and attained thou art above the Love of the World and fear of Affliction because thou hast an Assurance of a greater than this World can give or take away a Kingdom Heb. 12.2 9. an Hope an Expectation that is above the reach and Region of Affliction and renders the greatest and sorest Afflictions as they are namely Light and Momentany And yet notwithstanding because thou art in this glorious Expectation yet but in this lower Region and so subject to Passions Perturbations and Fears The Merciful God hath engaged his Promise to support thee under them to Better and Improve thee by them and carry thee thro' them by his All-sufficient Grace and Mercy 119. Psal 74. 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Cor. 4.17 Christians under your greatest Afflictions lies your greatest Treasure Afflictions are Good but not Pleasant Sin is Pleasant but not Good there 's more Evil in a Drop of Corruption than in a Sea of Afflictions God seperates the Sin he Hates so deadly from the Soul He Loves so dearly By the greatest Afflictions God Teacheth us the sweetest Instruction A Believer when he lies under the Hand that doth Afflict him he lies in the Heart that doth Affect him Believers are Crucified by the World that they may not be Crucified in the World. The Flesh is an Enemy to Sufferings because Sufferings is an Enemy to the Flesh It may make a Man an Earthly Courtier but it will never make a Man an Heavenly Martyr They that carry not the Yoke of Christ on their Neck will never carry the Cross of Christ on their Backs but the Believer Studies more how to Adorn the Cross than how to avoid the Cross None so Couragious as those that are Religious A Believer never falls asleep for Jesus till he falls asleep in Jesus Some Glory in that which is their Shame and shall
hath made satisfaction and lay this heavy Reckoning to his Account Lord forgive me mine Iniquity for it is very great Vid. Pag. 70. Frugality Frugality is the Left-Hand of Fortune and Diligence the Right Fasting FAsting and other Holy Revenges upon our selves for our Sins are very acceptable to God yet we must not think that either those or any thing else we can do can make satisfaction for our Offences for that nothing else but the Blood of Christ can do And therefore upon that and not upon any of our Performances we must depend for Pardon yet since that Blood shall never be applied to any but Penitent Sinners we are as much concern'd to bring forth all the fruits of Repentance as if our Hope 's depended on them wholly Duty of Man 126. Fear THe Man that Fears GOD is the Wisest Man and he that upon that account departs from Evil is the Man of greatest Understanding Hales's Contemplations 15. When Trembling is the Fruit of a Spirit broken for Sin and the Law in its own Eyes there God will look Mead. 72. How great a Madness is it to Fear Man will soon appear if we do but compare what Man can do unto us and what God can do And First It is sure it is not in the Power of Man I may say Devils too to do us any hurt without God permit and suffer them to do it So that if we do but keep him to be our Friend we may say with the Psalmist The Lord is on my side I need not fear what Man can do unto me for let their Malice be never so great he can restrain and keep them from hurting us Nay He can change their Minds towards us according to that of the Wise-Man Prov. 16.7 When a Man's Ways please the Lord he can make his very Enemies to be at Peace with him A notable Example of this we have of Jacob Gen. 32. Who when his Brother Esau was coming against him as an Enemy God wonderfully turned his Heart so that he met him with all the loving Expressions of Brotherly kindness as you may read in the next Chapter But Secondly Suppose Men were left at liberty to do thee what Mischief they could alas their Power goeth but a little way they may perhaps rob thee of thy Goods it may be they may take away thy Liberty or thy Credit or perchance thy Life too but that thou knowest is the utmost they can do But now God can do all this when he pleases and that which is infinitely more his Vengeance reaches even beyond Death it self to the Eternal Misery both of Body and Soul in Hell in comparison of which Death is so inconsiderable that we are not to look upon it with any dread Fear not them that Kill the Body and after have no more that they can do saith Christ Luk. 12.4 and then immediately adds But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear him which after he hath Killed hath Power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him In which words the Comparison is set between the greatest Ill we can suffer from Man the loss of Life and those sadder Evils God can inflict on us And the latter are found to be the only dreadful things and therefore God only to be Feared Duty of Man. 20. Let your Fear of Men stir up an Holy Fear of GOD. Grace and Merits CArdinal Pool was wont to say tho' a Papist We cannot give too much to God 's Grace nor too little to our own Merits He said when he returned into England I came hither not to Condemn but to Reconcile not to Compel but to Desire God's People THey are a small part of lost Mankind whom God hath from Eternity Predestinated to the Glory of Heaven for the Glory of his Mercy and given to his Son to be by him in a Spiritual manner Redeemed from their lost Estate and advanced to this higher Glory all which Christ doth in due time accomplish accordingly for them and by his Spirit upon them But this is but a piece of their Description concerning God's Work for them and upon them Le ts see also what they are to do in regard of the working of their own Souls towards God and their Redeemer again viz. These People of God are that part of the Externally called who having been by the Spirit of Christ throughly tho imperfectly Regenerated and hereby Convinced and sensible of the Evil in Sin that Misery in themselves that Vanity in the Creature that Necessity Sufficiency and Excellency of Jesus Christ that they abhor that Evil bewail that Misery and turn their hearts from that Vanity and most affectionately accepting of Christ for their Saviour and Lord to bring them to God their chief Good and present them perfectly just before him Do accordingly enter into a Cordial Covenant with him and herein persevere to their lives end Baxter A Godly Man is one of those whose Conversation is in Heaven his Hopes and Heart are likewise there for his Riches his House and his Relations are in Heaven a Godly Man 's All is there ask him what he hath on Earth and he will tell you nothing or less than nothing Ask him then wherein are his Blessings he will tell you where his Father is there are my desired Blessings there are my hopes there is my All there I wish that I my self were with them Wadsworth on Phil. 12. I would not only have God hereafter but in this World for my chief good for as far as I am able to discerne my heart and ways I have chosen the Lord for my Portion I take my rest in him and not in the Creature to Love Fear Admire and Bless him and to have my Communion with him is my Joy an Eternal Vision and Fruition of God is my great hope he is even now better than the whole World. Mr. Corbet's Enquiry pag. 6. Lactantius says Godliness Enriches the owner Grace GRace flowing from the Spirit of God makes the Soul like a Fountain whose Waters are pure and wholesome for Grace Beautifyeth Cleanseth and Saveth the whole Man. Ignatius When a Man desires Grace from a right sence of his natural State when he sees the vileness of Sin and the woful defiled and loathsome condition he is in by reason of Sin and therefore desires the Grace of Christ with uncessant earnestness to renue and change him this is Grace Mead 68. Grace is a comprehensive Word and includes in it not only favour and acceptance with God but also those other accessaries of the Gifts of Bounty and Goodness which comes from the great Giver of every good and perfect Gift as Wisdom Righteousness Purity of Heart and the like Hales Grace is precious it suffereth not it self to be mingled with External things nor with Earthly Comforts thou oughtest therefore to cast away all hindrances of Grace if thou desire the Infusion thereof De Kempis The least Grace gives a full Interest
weakness because tho' the Believers hand is weak yet his Heart is right the Hypocrite may have the most active Hand but the Believer hath the most faithful and sincere Heart Our applying to God through Jesus Christ id est our address to the Father through his Son begetting in us a sense of that Love which our Saviour had for us cannot but kindle returns of Love suitable to it and that must needs reform the inward Man upon which purity and holiness of Life will certainly follow Right Obedience to Christ First It must be Evangelical 1st For the Matter of it Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John 15.14 2ly To the manner of it according to what God requires of us God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and Truth John 4.24 3ly The ground of it This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners of whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1.15 Secondly It is an Universal Obedience Numb 14.24 But thy servant Caleb because he hath another Spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land c. Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments Thirdly It is a continual Obedience Psal 119.112 I have enclined my Heart to perform thy Statutes always even unto the end God is never absent tho' the wicked have him not in their Thoughts where he is not by Favour he is by Punishment and Terror Greg. the Great Painting of Faces THey that love to Paint themselves in this World otherwise than God hath made them may justly fear that at the Resurrection their Creator will not know them Cyprian Passions IT is the greatest Slavery in the World to be subject to ones own Passions Justin Martyr Patience OTher Graces are but the parts of a Christians Armour but Patience is the whole Armour of the Man of God the Enemy foils us without it but we foil him with it Ignatius O that I could live says Mr. Corbet by Faith in this time of Affliction I endeavour to press upon my Soul those Arguments which the Scripture affords with Patience and Long-suffering with Joyfulness but this will not do the Work except the Spirit of Faith and Patience be given from him from whom comes down every good and perfect Gift I do pray I do cry to my Father that he would give me the gracious Spirit according to his Promises that I may shew forth the Power of his Grace and that I may not Dishonour him A Soul patient when Wrongs are offered him is like a Man with a Sword in one hand and a Salve in the other could wound but will heal Alexander of Hales Do not promise to thy self that which God never promised thee This heals the evils that arise from vain hopes and cools the anger of those Sores that are caused by frustration of our Expectations It is lawful to desire several things which are uncertain if God sees them good for us but let us not promise to our selves any of them Do not entertain thy thoughts with promises of Contentment in such a relation in such a condition nor success in such an Enterprise no tho' thou goest about it wisely but promise to thy self pardon of Sin and Eternal Life if thou do thy Duty and the Grace of God to do it if thou pray for it and wilt use it for this our Merciful Father hath promised And if we will hope for any thing let it be as I said before in the days of our Sorrow and Adversity to support our Heaviness but not in the days of our Prosperity to please our Fancies Parents PArents ought to offer these things to their Children as Instructions both in God's Word and Human Arts which preserves them from Idleness and Folly gives them Wisdom and learns them Subjection and Obedience to their Superiours Justin Martyr Peace WHat will it avail thee to Dispute soundly of the Trinity if thou be void of Humility and art thereby displeasing to the Trinity high Words surely never make a Man neither Holy nor Just but a Vertuous Life makes him dear to God I desire rather to feel Compunction than to understand the Definition thereof If thou dost know the whole Bible and the Sayings of all the Philosophers by Heart what would that profit thee without the Word of God Vanity of Vanity all is Vanity but to fear God and him only this is the highest Wisdom by contempt of the World to attend the Kingdom of Heaven It is Vanity then to tend after Perishing Riches to hunt after Honors to climb to high Dignities and to labor after that for which we afterwards suffer more grievous Punishments Vanity it is to wish to live long and carelessly to live well Vanity it is to mind only this present Life and not to foresee these things that are to come Vanity it is to stay and set thy love on these fading and Perishing things here below and not to hasten thither where everlasting Joy is permanent Call often to mind that Proverb The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing endeavor therefore to withdraw thy Heart from these Visible things and turn thy self to the Invisible for they that follow their Sensuality shame their own Consciences and lose the favor of God. Thou must labor to break thy Will in many things if thou wilt have Peace and Concord with others It is no small thing to live in Chistian Communion It is no small thing to dwell in Religious Communion and to converse therein without Complaint and persevere therein faithfully till Death Blessed is he that hath then lived well and persevered therein till Death The Kingdom of God is within you saith the Lord turn thee with thy whole Heart to God and forsake this wretched World and thy Soul shall find rest Learn to despise Exterior things and to give thy self Inferior and thou shalt perceive the Kingdom of God to come into thee for the Kingdom of God is Peace and within the Holy Ghost which is not given to the Wicked Christ will come unto thee and shew thee his Consolations if thou prepare for him a worthy Mansion within thee All his Beauty and Glory is within and there he pleaseth himself the Inward Man he often Visiteth and hath with him sweet Discourses much Solace much Peace and wonderful Familiarity O faithful Soul make ready thy Heart for this Bridegroom that he may vouchsafe to come into thee and dwell within thee If any love me he will keep my Words and we will come and make our Abode with him Give therefore admittance to Christ and deny entrance to all others When thou hast Christ thou art Rich and he will suffice thee he will be thy faithful and provident Helper in all things so that thou shalt not need to trust in Men for Men are quickly
changed and quickly fall but Christ remaineth firm and standeth sure unto the end Blessed is he that understandeth what it is to love Jesus Thou ought'st to leave thy beloved Creature which is not worthy of thy Heart and set it on Jesus Christ who hath the only right to it for if thou fix thy Love on the Creature thou wilt find it deceitful and to fail thee then when thou standest in most need of help whereas Jesus Christ will never fail thee of help at all times but especially when there 's most need who hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee I will hear what the Lord will speak in me Blessed is the Soul that heareth what the Lord speaketh in her and receiveth from his Mouth the Word of Comfort Blessed are those Ears that receive the sound of the Divine Voice and listen not to the Voice of the World Blessed are those Ears which hearken not to the Voice that soundeth outwardly but to the Truth that soundeth inwardly Blessed are those Eyes that are shut to outward things and open to those things that are Internal Blessed are they that enter into the Inward Man and endeavor to prepare themselves more and more by daily Excellencies to the attaining of Heavenly Secrets Blessed are they that delight to converse with God and rid themselves of all Worldly Impediments Consider these things O my Soul and shut the door of thy sensual Desires that thou might'st hear what thy God saith unto thee Whatsoever I can desire or imagine for my Comfort I look for it not here but hereafter for if I should alone have all the Comforts of the World after that his Master hath forgiven him Ten Thousand Talents to forgive his Fellow Servant an Hundred Pence It is in vain to come to the God of of Peace without Peace or to Pray for the Remission of our own Sins without Forgiveness of others we must not come to make an Attonement with God without Forgiveness of others we must not come to make an Attonement with God at the Altar before we have made Attonement with our Brother in our Hearts God giving us Peace and Content we must give him Content by Obeying him or else we do not love him A Man is well-pleased with Himself and his own Actions when he doth that which his own Conscience tells him he ought to do and is then offended with himself when he goeth against the Light of his own Mind neglecting his Duty or doing that which is contrary to it Tillotson on Psal 159.156 O how good is it and tending to Peace to be silent of others Faults and not to believe promiscuously of them all that 's said nor easily to repeat what we have heard to lay our selves open to Fear De Kempis 257. Use not Animosity and Contention in any matter that may be brought to a good Issue in the way of Peace We are apt to hinder our Peace by dreading and fearing those Troubles it may be he never intended to bring upon us Mr. Butler our Minister He that seeketh Liberty and Ease shall ever live in Disquiet for one thing or other will displease him De Rempis 82. As far as is lawful let us become all things to all Men that we may live in Peace and Quietness And let 's not by a Tumultuous handling of any Matter give them occasion to oppose themselves unto us It is true that to lift up our Hands pure unto God we had need to wash them in a better Innocency than our own and the purest have need to be wash'd in the Blood of Jesus Christ David himself having said he would wash himself in Innocency Psal 36. And soon after But as for me I will walk in mine Integrity Immediately upon that to Redeem and have Mercy upon him yet God requires our Innocency which he examines as a Gracious Father not as a severe Judge He looks more to the Sincerity of our Hearts rather than the Perfection of our Actions giving Peace to the Penitent Soul void of Hypocrisie Psal 32.2 Blessed is the Man to whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no Guile that walketh before him knowing his Infirmities and together with Confidence knowing God's Mercy and the certainty of his Promises Peter Du Moulin 65. Our Confidence in God by the Merit of his Beloved Son is the Ground of Peace and Content but that Confidence is fed by Works we bear Testimony by our Faith as by the Respiration we know that a Man is alive so the exercise of Good Works is together the Work of Faith and the way to maintain the Spiritual Life Doctor Edward Fox Discoursing one Day when Embassador of terms of Peace he said Honourable ones last long but Dishonourable ones no longer than Kings have Power to break them The surest way therefore to Peace said he is a constant preparedness for War. The only Foundation of the Peace of the Soul and contentment of Mind is that Peace made for us which God by his only Son Jesus Christ who hath taken our Sins upon himself and in consequence the Punishment giving us in exchange his Righteousness and consequently the Reward of it since by it we appear Righteous before God. This is the Summary of the Gospel it is the only Comfort of the Faithful that being Justified by Faith we have Peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Without that Perswasion all the Moral Precepts and all the Reasons of Philosophy cannot set the Mind at rest much less the Riches Honors Pleasures and Pastimes of this World for who can have Peace with himself whil'st he is in Dissention with God and who can have Peace with God but by the Mediation of his Beloved Son Jesus Christ there being no other Name under Heaven by which we must be Saved What tho' my Sins be great yet they are less than the Merit of Jesus Christ no Sin so great that it ought to take away the Confidence of God's Promises no Sin so great that it may Damn a Soul beaten down with Contrition but together raised by Faith and wash'd in the Blood of the Son of God Indeed the remembrance of my Sins must be bitter unto me yet that Bitterness must be Drowned in the Joy of Salvation and my Repentance must be a step and not an hindrance to my Confidence And to maintain this Peace we must first make it our earnest task to make our selves sure of our Peace with God by a lively Faith whereby our Hearts may be Purified from Evil Works and made Fertile in all Fruits of Holiness for hereby we shall have Peace with our selves and shall be Masters at home Also this Peace with God brings Peace with our Neighbour for he that hath a Comfortable feeling in his own Conscience that God is reconciled with him will easily be reconciled with his Brethren holding it a point of Equity Generosity and Gratefulness after that his Master hath
Faculty The Will against the Will Affection against Affection And this is that the Apostle calls The lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit That is the striving of one Unregenerate part against the Regenerate part and this ever in the same Faculty But striving against Sin may be in several Faculties as between the Will and Conscience as for fear of Hell which Wicked Men may have Acts 7.15 It is impossible for a Man to forsake Sin except he forsakes all that he knows to be Sin To hate Sin as it is an offence to God and wrong to his Majesty to hate Sin as it is a breach of his Commandments a wicked controuling of God's Will which is the only Rule of Goodness To hate Sin as being a disingenuous Transgression of that Law of Love established in the Blood and Death of Christ and so in a degree a Crucifying of Christ afresh to hate Sin as being a grieving and quenching of the Spirit of God as all Sin in its nature is Thus to hate Sin is Grace and thus every true Christian hates Sin and not for the Shame that attends it nor as it is contrary to some other Sin c. I do not cease to lament the more hainous Sins of my Life and cannot forbear continually to implore the Pardon of them I do not again return unto them and resolve never so to do I watch and pray against all Sin but especially against those Sins to which I especially am enclined my Conflicts are daily and I am hard put to it but I do not yield up my self to any Sin nor lie down in it Yea I do not suffer Sinful Thoughts or Cogitations to lodg in me howbeit I am much discomposed and damped in Spirit deadned in Duty distracted in my Studies and molested and hindered every way by Sin that dwelleth in me But I resolve that Sin shall never have rest in my Soul and that I will never enjoy it I cannot keep Sin out of my Heart yet it doth not raign in my Mortal Body nor do I yield my Members to the Service of it Mr. Corbet 's Enquiry It is a less Evil to do Sin and not to love it than to love Sin and not to do it for to do Sin may argue weakness of Grace but to love Sin argues strength of Lust What I hate that I do Rom. 7.14 A Man may forsake the Life of Sin and yet retain the Love of Sin. True Mourning for Sin is more for the Evil that is in Sin than the Evil that comes by Sin more because it dishonoureth God and Wounds Christ and grieves the Spirit and makes the Soul unlike God than because it Damns the Soul Mat. 7.11 O Lord when I confess Sin unto thee grant that I may feel the burthen and weight of it upon my Conscience that it may not be a customary Confession Where Confession is right it will be distinct especially of those which were our chief Sins Confession should come like Water out of a Spring which runs freely not like Water out of a Still which is forced by Fire Salvation by CHRIST's Blood. TAke it for granted there is no Man under Heaven whereby we can be saved but Jesus Christ all Grace for this Life and for that which is to come must come to you through the Channel of Christ's Blood. Acts 16.30 31. Sorrow I Could have born any Sorrow rather than this I am under this is a good sign GOD hath let me Blood in the right Vein he will have me part with all manner of Sin without exception It is doubtless our Sin to disable our selves by our Sorrow for our general or particular Callings Let us be heartily Sorrowful that we have so Carnally so Hypocritically so Covetously so Vain-gloriously Professed the Gospel Let the Plagues and Anger of GOD most justly fallen upon us be applyed to our Sins that from the bottom of our Hearts every one of us may say It is I Lord that have Sinned against Thee It is my Wickedness that causeth success and encrease of Authority to my Enemies M. Bradford Speech THERE is no Man that talks but I may gain by him and none that holds his Tongue but I may lose by him As Henry Wotton being bound for Rome asked his Host in Vienna a Man well versed in Men and Business What Rules he would give him for his Port Conduct and Carriage He answered There is one short Remembrance which will carry you Safe throughout the whole World and that is nothing but this Keep your Thoughts close and your Countenance loose He that knoweth to speak well knoweth also where he must hold his Peace Said that Old Grecian Think an Hour before thou speakest and a Day before thou Promisest Spirit SPirit in the un-erring Sense is nothing but Reason illuminated by Revelation out of the Written Word for when the Mind and Spirit humbly conform and submit to the Written Will of God then are you said to have the Spirit of God and to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the Flesh Mr. Hales of Eaton College There is an Having of the Spirit which is a sure Work of Saintship Where the Spirit is an effectual prevailing Principle of Grace and Sanctification renewing and regenerating the Heart Where the Spirit is as a potent Worker helping the Souls Infirmities Rom. 8.26 Where the Spirit is said to abide for ever John 14.16 The true Believer hath so much of the Spirit such a work of it in him that he cannot sin that Sin unto Death He that is born of God sinneth not to wit that Sin unto Death for that is meant 1 John 7.16 1. Mr. Smith in a Sermon said to this purpose If God be our Father in Christ he lays hold of us by his Spirit and we lay hold of Him by Faith. Now it is his Hold-fast of us that saves us so that tho our Faith be as it were a sleep yet the Fathers Hold-fast continues firm Many when they hear that Spiritual Comforts are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit presently conceive themselves to be meerly Passive therein and that they have nothing to do but wait when God will bestow them Notwithstanding tho these Comforts are Spiritual yet they are rationally raised up on the Understanding's Apprehension of the Excellency of God our Happiness and our Interest in Him and by the rolling of these blessed Objects in our frequent Meditations the Spirit doth advance and not destroy our Reason it doth ratifie and then use it as its ordinary Instrument for the Conveyance of such things to our Affections and Exciting them accordingly and not lay it aside and affect us without it Therefore our Joys are raised discoursively and the Spirit first revealeth the Cause of our Joy and then helps us to rejoice upon those revealed Grounds so that he rejoyceth groundedly who knoweth why he rejoiceth ordinarily Mr. Baxter's Rest 3d. part p. 159 160. Sufferings I May be Poor but still I