it In matters of weight delay is dangerous Abigail made haste to prevent Davids fury Rahab made haste to hang out her Scarlet threed The salvation of your souls is a matter of the greatest concernment and to delay providing for it is not onely a sin against the command of Christ but a sleighting of the Heaven of Christ. How justly may God deny to you who refuse when hee calls either space or grace to turn to him and say to you as it is reported hee said to a man who desired to repent in his old age ubi consumpsisti farinam ibi con-sume furfurem Where you have spent your flower there go spend your branne Therefore let my Counsel bee acceptable to you Make Christ your unum necessarium your one thing necessary and Heaven your primum quaerite Seek yee first the Kingdome of God and his Righteousness Say with David I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commandements 3 Take heed of resting in the Ministry of man You must not despise the teachings of Orthodox Ministers lawfully called for hee that despiseth them despiseth Christ hee that is above their teachings is above the teachings of Christ for Christ teacheth by them They are his Embassadors and they preach not only in his Name but in his stead yet you must not rest satisfied with the teachings of men but pray That while the Minister speaks to your ears God would speak to your hearts That God would fulfil that blessed Promise Isa. 54. 13. And all thy Children shall bee taught of God That hee would give you an unction from the Holy One to teach you all things That you may see the goings of God in his Sanctuary you may behold the beauty of the Lord and see his power and glory in his holy Temple In a word That God would give you not onely the presence of Ordinances but his presence in them That you may experimentally know what it is to injoy communion with God in Gospel-Administrations 4 Take heed of formality customariness and carelesness in the performance of holy duties Hee that serves God carelesly brings a curse upon himself instead of a blessing For cursed is hee that doth the work of the Lord negligently Hee that serves God formally and customarily doth not serve him but mock him If the Israelites had brought the skin of a beast for sacrifice instead of a beast it would have been counted a mocking of God rather than a worshiping of him So do they who serve God negligently and formally 5 Bee not contented to have a name to bee godly and religious but labour to bee really such as you are supposed by others to bee Remember what Christ saith of the Church of Sardis That shee had a name to live but was dead What will it profit you to bee thought by men to bee godly if God knows that you are ungodly What will it advantage you to seem to go to Heaven and yet at last to miss of it O labour to bee Christians not only in word but in deed and in truth not onely by outward profession but by a holy conversation Rest not satisfied with a less degree of grace than that which will bring you to Heaven It will bee a double Hell to go within an inch of Heaven and yet at last to miscarry 6 Remember what Christ saith of Capernaum The Capernaites were not so bad as the Gadarens who desired Christ to depart from them much less as the Nazarites who thrust Christ out of their Coasts For they heard him preach every Sabbath-day and were astonished at his doctrine And yet because they did not sincerely practise what was taught them Christ pronounceth a heavy doom against them Matth. 11. 23 24. And thou Capernaum which art exalted unto Heaven shalt bee brought down to Hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodome it would have remained unto this day But I say unto you that it shall bee more tolerable for the land of Sodome in the day of judgement than for thee It is not enough to praise the Sermons you hear to admire and stand astonished at the Doctrine delivered If you do not practise what is preached If you do not live Sermons as well as hear them it shall bee easier for Sodome and Gomorrha at the day of judgement than for you 7 Take heed that the love of the world doth not eat out the heart of Religion and at last Religion it self out of your hearts Remember what the Apostle Paul saith That the love of money is the root of all evill which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced thēselves through with many sorrows And what the Apostle John saith Love not the world neither the things that are in the world If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him There is no sin so contrary to true Saint-ship as worldly-mindedness A Saint is one who hath much of Heaven in him and is much in Heaven A Saint is one whose original is from Heaven hee is born from above his name is written in Heaven his meditations affections and conversation is in Heaven Hee is one who is elected to things above and called to partake of Heaven and eternal happiness And for such a man to minde things earthly is a sin of the first magnitude Therefore the Apostle would not have covetousness so much as named amongst Christians There is no sin more defiles the soul. It will besmear you and make you spiritual Blackamores and Chimny-sweepers in Gods sight There is no sin doth more dead and dull the heart in the doing of good duties It hinders a man both from and in Ordinances The Farmer and Merchant made light of the call of Christ and one went to his Farm the other to his Merchandize There is no sin will more eclipse the light of Gods countenance from shining upon you The Moon is never in the Eclipse but when the earth comes between us and the Sun A child of God is seldome without the light of Gods countenance unless it bee through the over-much love of the world No sin will more hinder your flight up to Heaven The Ostrich cannot flye high because of the shortness of her wings Jacob was forced in his travelling towards Canaan to go slowly and softly because of his multitude of children of flocks and herds And therefore let mee again beseech you to take heed of worldly-mindedness this will quickly betray you into Apostacy from Christ and from the truths of Christ. A man who loves the world will Judas-like betray Christ for thirty peeces Hee will part with his Religion rather than with his estate This sin is the root of all evil it exposeth a man to all temptations to hurtful lusts to all errors and all kinde of sorrows It will drown your souls in
for any thing in mee For what am I O Lord c. Thus you see how the Promises are the breathings of Divine love and affection and upon this account are very usefull and profitable For love is loves loadstone therefore the Apostle saith Wee love him because hee loved us first The sense of Gods love to us will kindle a love in us to God Even as the beams of the Sun reflecting upon a VVall heats those that walk by the Wall So the Beams of Gods love shining into our souls warms our hearts with the love of God The lovâ— of God constrains us as saith Paul 2 Cor. 5. 14. There is a compulsive and constraining power in love What did not Iacob do for the love of Rachel How was Mephibosheth affected with the love of David 2 Sam. 9. 8. It is our duty to love those that hate us but not to love those that love us is more than heathenish and brutish 2 They are the life and soule of Faith Faith without a Promise to act upon is as a body without a soul as a dead flower which hath no beauty or sweetness in it But Faith grounded upon the Promises will inable a Christian to advance in all manner of holiness What made Abraham forsake his Country and his Fathers house and go hee knew not whither Nothing moved him to this but because God had promised to make him a great Nation and hee beleeved it Of all graces none so causal of holiness as the grace of Faith It is a world overcoming heart-purifying life-sanctifying wonder-working grace and therefore the Promises must needs bee very usefull because they are the life and soul of Faith 3 They are the Anchor of Hope Hope is called an Anchor of the soule both sure and stedfast But the Promises are the Anchor of Hope All Hope of Heaven which is not founded upon a Promise is presumption and not Hope Presumption is when a man hopes to go to Heaven upon no ground or upon an insufficient ground But true Hope is a Hope grounded upon a Scripture-Promise And Hope bottomed upon Divine Promises will mightily availe unto purity and holiness Abraham Isaac and Iacob lived as pilgrims and strangers upon earth because they looked and hoped for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God The Old Testament Saints would not accept deliverance upon sinfull termes because they hoped for a better Resurrection The Papists and Arminians are much mistaken in teaching That the assurance of salvation is an enemy to godliness The Scripture saith the quite contrary 1 Ioh. 3. 3. Hee that hath this Hope purifieth himselfe even as hee is pure The true Hope of Heaven will make us live heavenly 4 They are the Wings of Prayer Prayer is a Divine Cordial to convey grace from Heaven into our soules It is a Key to unlock the bowels of mercy which are in God The best way to obtain holiness is upon our knees the best posture to fight against the Devil is upon our knees and therefore Prayer is not put as a part of our spiritual Armour but added as that which must bee an ingredient in every part and which will make every part effectual But now the Promises are the Wings of Prayer Prayer without a Promise is as a Bird without VVings And therefore wee read both of Iacob and Iehoshaphat how they urged God in their prayers with his Promises And certainly the Prayers of the Saints winged with divine promises will quickly flye up to Heaven and draw down grace and comfort into theâ— souls And upon this account it is that the Promises are so useful to a Christian because they are so helpfull in prayer When wee pray weâ— must urge God with his Promises and say Lord Hast thou not said Thâ—â— wilt circumcise our hearts to love theâ— thou wilt subdue our sinnes thou wilâ— give the Spirit to those that aske it Lord Thou art faithfull fulfill thesâ— thine own promises And wee must remember this great Truth That the Promises God makes to us to mortifieâ— our sins for us are greater helps against sin than our promises to God to mortifie sin Many men in the day of their distress vow and promise to leave sin and fight against it in the strength of these promises and in stead of conquering sin are conquered by sin But if wee fight against sin in the strength of Christ and of his promises if wee urge God in prayer with his owne Word wee shall at last get victory over it For hee hath said That sin shall not have dominion over us Rom. 6. 14. 5 They are the foundation of Induâ—try The promises do not make men â—azy and idle as some scandalously say 〈◊〉 they are the ground of all true laâ—our and industry therefore the Apostles perswade us from the consideration of the Promises unto the study of soul-purification to have our conversation without covetousness to flee from Idolatry and to separate our selves from sinfull communion Divine promises are â—reat incouragements unto spiritual diâ—â—gence Object Though conditional Promiâ—es bee the foundation of industry beâ—ause wee cannot have the thing promiâ—es unless wee perform the conditions yet absolute Promises say some are foundations of lasiness and therefore they a firm there are no absolute Promises in Scripture Answ. Absolute Promises are made foundations of industry in Scripture as well as Conditional The Apostle exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is God 〈◊〉 worketh in us both to will and to do of hiâ— owne good pleasure And the reason is because God performeth nothing which hee promiseth though never so absolutely but in the diligent and conscientious use of the means on our part God promiseth Ezek. 36. 26. to give us a new heart and a new spirit c. but theâ— hee adds vers 37. I will yet 〈◊〉 this bee inquired of by the house of Israel 6 They are the rayes and beams as one saith of Christ the Son of Righteousness in whom they are founded and established As all the liâ—es in a Circumference though never so distant carry a man to one and the same Center So all the Promises carry us to Christ the Center For the Promises are not made for any thing in us nor have they any stability from us but they are made in and for Christ unto us unto Christ in our behalf and unto us so far as we are Members of Christ. Now Jesus Christ is the ground of all soul-purification soul-consolation and soul-salvation And therefore I may safely conclude that the promises are most singularly usefull and advantagious And that it is the duty of all those that desire to live holily and comfortably to consider and ponder the profitableness and beneficialness of the Promises 9 And lastly you must meditate on the great necessity that lyeth upon all men to get a
beloved and it is my highest priviledge that hee will give mee leave to love him who only can satisfie my soul and redeâ—m it from death eternal who hath justified mee by his blood and sanctified mee by his Spirit whom therefore I love with all my heart and all my soul and all my might and all my strength Finding therefore that God hath drawn out my heart to love him and make choice of him alone I from hence gather and ground my hope that God loveth mee according to that Scripture 1 Ioh. 4. 19. Wee love him because hee first loved us I finde my heart much inflamed with love to all the children of God because they are Gods children and the more I see or finde or hear of God in them the more I finde my heart cleaving to them and I thinke I can truly say with David That my delight is in the Saints and those that excel in grace not because they are friends to mee or I have relation to them in regard of outward obligations but because they bear the Image of God upon them and manifest it in their holy conversation I love them whether rich or poor And though I did never know some of them but onely hear of their holiness and piety yet I could not but exceedingly love such Therefore I hope that I am passed from death to life because I love the Brethren 1 Ioh. 3. 14. I do not only love God and the children of God but I labour to keep his Commandements and they are not grievous to mee But I pray with David O that my waies were directed to keep thy statutes Lord inlarge my heart and I will run the waies of thy Commandements Give mee understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart for therein do I delight I finde I am one that is very thirsty after Jesus Christ and the grace of Christ and I thirst to have his image more and more stamped upon mee and I would fain bee assured by Gods Spirit that I am transplanted into Christ and therefore I long and indeavour after a true and lively Faith because that Grace is a soul-transplanting and uniting grace Now Christ hath promised to satisfie the thirsty Matth. 5. 6. and such Christ hath earnestly invited to come though they have nothing to bring but what may make against themselves yet to come empty and hee hath promised to fill them Isa. 55. 1 2. I am willing to confess and with all my heart to forsake all my sins I am willing to give glory to God in taking shame unto my self I acknowledge my self a guilty malefactor and judge my self worthy of the just condemnation of the righteous Judge of all the earth And I do not only confess my sins but with all my heart I desire to forsake them and to turn to the Lord Now hee hath said hee will have mercy on such and will abundantly pardon them For his thoughts are not as our thoughts nor his waies as our waies Isa. 55. 7 8. It is my constant indeavour to dye to sin to live to newness of life And this is my comfort and hope that hee who hath begun a good work in mee will perfect it For it is hee that worketh all our works in us and for us Isa. 26. 12. and hee that hath wrought in mee to will to do that which is pleasing in his sight will work in mee to do also and that of his good pleasure Phil 2. 13. I hope I am one whom God hath taken into Covenant with himself because hee hath bestowed upon mee the fruits of the Covenant because hee hath circumcised my heart to love him and hath put his fear into mee and hath wrought an universal change in mee and hath given mee a new heart and a new spirit yea his own spirit which hee hath put within mee even the Spirit of Truth which will guide mee into all Truth It is his own promise to give his holy Spirit to them that aske it of him as I have done often Luke 11. 13. and I hope that God will make it in his due time a witnessing and a comforting Spirit I will wait upon him for the accomplishment of all his promises both of grace and to grace Hee hath said hee will bee a Sun and a Shield he will give grace and glory and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly And hee hath promised to subdue our sins for us and hath said That sin shall not have Dominion over us Rom. 6. 14. That hee will bee our God and wee shall bee his children and hee will save us from all our uncleannesses I hope I have a share in this blessed Covenant of Free Grace As for my Affliction that lyeth upon mee though it bee in it self very heavy I much more desire the sanctification of it than the removal I earnestly labour to learn all those lessons which God teacheth mee by Affliction I know I should not bee scourged nor bee in tribulation but that I have need of it it is for my profit to make mee partaker of his holiness Afflictions are an evidence of Sonship Heb. 12. 6 7 8. God hath promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love and fear him And I have had much experience of his faithfulness who hath not suffered mee to bee tempted above what hee hath inabled mee to bear therefore I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Hee hath chastized mee less than mine iniquities deserve Hee chastizeth mee here that hee may not condemn mee hereafter Faith is the condition of salvation Beleeve in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt bee saved And this is his Commandement that wee should beleeve in his Son Iesus Christ Now I find nothing so hard to mee as to beleeve aright to cast away all my own Righteousness as dung in point of justification and to cast away all my unrighteousness so as that bee no bar to mee and to role and cast and venter my immortal soul upon Jesus Christ and his Righteousness for life and salvation by him alone and to see my self compleat in him this is supernatural Yet I must and will give glory to God and say Lord I beleeve help thou my unbeleef And by this I prove that this precious grace of faith is wrought in mee because Jesus Christ is to mee very precious and I finde in the Word that to them that beleeve hee is precious and I am willing to take Christ upon his own termes as hee is tendred in the Gospel and am willing to give up my self soul and body wholly to him and my love to God and to the children of God is a fruit of my Faith as also my desire to bee made like unto him For hee that hath this hope in him purifieth himself
cannot receive any comfort by it in the day of his distress Iacob was not at all quieted in his spirit for Iosephs being alive till hee came to know of it And therefore wee must not onely provide grace but the assurance of grace that wee may bee able to say with confidence as Iob did upon the dung-hill Iob 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth and with the holy Apostle Rom. 8. 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. That man who hath got a Scripture assurance of his salvation will bee more than a Conqueror in the day of his distress 3 A stock of Divine Experiences Happy is that man that lodgeth up in his heart all the former Experiences he hath had of Gods love and mercy towards him and knoweth how to argue from them in the day of calamity Thus did Moses in his prayer to God Numb 14. 19. Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even untill now Because God had forgiven them therefore Moses intreats him to forgive them this Argument is drawn from former experience And thus David incourageth himself 1 Sam. 17 37. The Lord hath delivered mee out of the paw of the Lion and out of the paw of the Bear and hee will deliver mee out of the hand of this Philistine Thus also Paul reasoneth 2 Cor. 1. 10. Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver and in whom wee trust that hee will yet deliver us Divine experiences are the Saints great incouragements in the day of Affliction Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of these arrows 4 A stock of Sermons Wee must do with Sermons as the Trades-men do with the mony they get some of it they lay out for their present use and some of it they lay up against the time of sickness That man is an ill husband and an unthrifty Trades-man that makes no provision for old age or for an evill day and that man is an unprofitable hearer of the word who doth not stock and store himself with Sermons whereby hee may be comforted in the hour of affliction And therefore the Prophet Isaiah adviseth us Isa 42. 23. to hear for the time to come or as it is in the Hebrew for the after-time Sermons are not onely to bee heard for our present use but to bee laid up for after-times that when wee lye upon our sick-beds and cannot hear Sermons wee may then live upon the Sermons wee have heard 5 And lastly Wee must prepare and provide a stock of Scripture-promises which will bee as so many reviving Cordials to chear us and as so many spiritual Anchors to uphold us from perishing in the day of our tribulation What these promises are you shall hear afterwards These upheld David in the hour of his distress and therefore hee saith in the Text Unless thy Law had been my delight I had perished in mine affliction If this our dear Sister had not had this stock shee had been quite overwhelmed under the grievousness of her tormenting pains Bee wise therefore O yee Saints of God and prepare these five provisions in the time of health that so you may live joyfully in the time of sickness 3 As wee must expect and provide for afflictions so also wee must labour when afflicted to improve them for our spiritual benefit and advantage Wee must pray more for the sanctification of them than for their removal It was not the staffe of Elisha that revived the dead childe but Elisha himself It was not the troubling of the waters of the Pool of Bethesda that made them healing but the coming down of the Angel It was not the Clay and spittle that cured the blinde eyes but Christs anointing them with it It was not the cloak of Elijah that divided the waters but the God of Elijah Troubles stroaks blows afflictions and distresses will do us no good unless the Lord bee pleased to make them effectuall And therefore let us pray unto God that hee would give us grace together with our affliction That hee would adde instruction to his correction that hee would make us good schollars in the school of afflictions and inable us to take out all those excellent lessons which hee would have us to learn in it that thereby wee may come to know God more powerfully and experimentally and tok now our selves and our own frailty and our absolute de pendene upon God more effectually that thereby wee may bee more purified and refined that the wind of temptation may cleanse us from the chaffe of our corruption that wee may learn righteousness by Gods judgements and bee made partakers of his holiness Such a good Scholar was Manasseh hee got more good by his Iron chain than by his Golden chain Such another was the Prodigal childe who was happìer amongst the Swine than when in his Fathers house Such was Paul his being strucken down to the ground raised him up to Heaven by the blindness of his body his soul received sight and hee was turned from a persecuting Saul to a persecuted Paul Such another was David who professeth of himself that it was good for him that hee was afflicted and such Scholars ought wee to bee There are some that are arrant Dunces in this School that are like unto the bush which Moses saw which burned with fire but was not consumed the fire did not consume the thorny bush Many such thorny sinners are burnt up with the fire of divine afflictions but their sins are not consumed Of these the Prophets complain Amos 4. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. Yet they have not returned c. Jer. 5. 3. Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive correction they have made their faces harder than a rock they have refused to return Rocks and stones by hewing and polishing may bee made fit for a building But there are some men who by no afflictions will bee amended The Mountains melt at the presence of the Lord and the rocks rend asunder when hee is angry But there are some that have made their faces harder than the Rocks and the Mountains and are not at all affected with Gods anger Of such as these Bernard complains Multi humiliati pauci humiles corripimur sed non corrigimur plectimur sed non flectimur Multo facilius fregeris quam flexeris Non cessant vitia civium usque ad excidia civitatum Prius est interire quam corrigi Prius ipsos quam in ipsis vitia non esse There are others that are the worse for their afflictions like the Smiths Anvil the
are some men that can delight in any thing but in God and his Word and his Ordinances They can delight in the creatures of God but cannot delight in the Ordinances of God They can delight in the gifts of God in riches and health and honours But they cannot delight in the God of these gifts They can delight in books of Philosophy and Humanity but they cannot delight in the word of God Mark the sad condition that these are in It is a certain sign that there is a vail over their eyes and hearts that they are not yet anointed with Christs eye-salve that the God of the world hath blinded their eyes that they cannot see the glorious excellencies of the Law of God It is certain that they are not born anew for if they were new born babes they would desire the sincere milk of the word It is certain that the Law of God is not yet written in their hearts and that the Spirit of God doth not dwell in them It is certain that they have no part nor portion in the word of God that they never tasted the sweetness that is in it and that they have no true love to God nor to his word It is a true saying Qui regem amat legem amat hee that loves a King will love his Law And I may say Qui Deum amat legem Dei amat Hee that loves God will love the Law of God which is nothing else but his Image and his Picture his last Will and Testament his blessed Love-token And therefore if you delight not in the Law of God it is evident you do not delight in the God of this Law And if you delight not in God hee will not delight in you unless it bee to laugh at your destruction as it is Prov. 1. 26. Q. But how shall I know whether I do delight in the Word of God or no Answ. You shall know it by these notes 1 Hee that delights in Gods Law will bee very frequent in meditating and reading of it and very often in speaking of it Thus saith David Psal. 1. 2. His delight is in the Law of the Lord and therein hee will meditate day and night And Psalm 119. 97. Oh how do I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day So also vers 15 16. 23. Hee that takes pleasure in the Law hee will bee often thinking of it as Christ saith Matth. 6. 21. Where the treasure is there the heart will bee also If the word of God bee thy treasure thou wilt meditate on it Cogitatione crebrâ longâ profundâ Thou wilt frequently think of it and when thou beginnest to think of it thou wilt dwell upon the thought of it as a Bee dwells as it were upon the flower to suck out the sweetness that is in it and thou wilt think of it with deep and serious meditations and contemplations thou wilt dive into the unsearchable riches and treasures that are in the Word And as thou wilt meditate on it so thou wilt bee often and unwearisome in reading and perusing of it and discoursing about it A man that delights in hunting is never weary of talking of hunting and hee that delights in the world of speaking about the world and if you did delight in Gods word you would bee very frequent and indefatigable in discoursing of it 2 If you delight in the Word of God you would delight in the Ministers and Ambassadors of the Word lawfully commissionated by Christ For the great work of the Ministry is to expound and apply the Word and therefore if you dis-respect the godly learned lawful Ministry of the Word you take no delight in the Word 3 They that delight in the Word will bee at any cost to bring the Word to their Congregations they will part with thousands of gold and silver rather than with the word He that esteems the Word above thousands will bee willing to part with hundreds for the Words sake Hee will account a famine of the Word more bitter than a famine of bread by how much the soul is better than the body by so much will hee bee more troubled for a soul-famine than a bodily 4 Hee that delights truely in the Law will sincerely labour to obey it and bee mâ—ch grieved when it is disobeyed 1 Hee will sincerely labour to obey it hee will make the Word of God the man of his counsel vers â—4 Thy testimonies are my delight but how doth hee prove that in the following words and my counsellors Hee will make the Word a Lamp to his feet and a light to his paths vers 105. In all his undertakings hee will inquire what God would have him to do and hee will make Gods Word his Compass to sail by and pray with David vers 35. Make mee to go in the path of thy Commandements for therein do I delight 2 Hee will bee much grieved when others transgress the Law of God Thus David vers 53. Horror hath taken hold upon mee because of the wicked that forsake thy Law and vers 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law And therefore you that delight in sin you cannot bee said to delight in the Word and you that are not pained and grieved when others sin you are not amongst the number of those that take pleasure in Gods Law or in whom God takes pleasure Use 2. Let us make it appear that wee are Saints in deed and in truth not only Saints in Mans but in Gods Calender by following the example of holy David set down in the Text. Let us make the Law of God our joyes and our delights Let mee speak to you in the words of the Apostle Col. 3. 16. Let the Word of God dwell richly in you c. not onely with you but in you And in the Words of Christ Ioh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for therein you hope to finde eternal life The Greek word signifieth to search as men do under ground for treasures or to search as men who dive under water for something that is at the bottome Let us with Iob 23. 12. Esteem the ward of God above our necessary food Let us love it above gold yea above fine gold Let it bee dearer to us than thousands of gold and silver sweeter than the hony and the honey-comb You that are Gentlemen remember what Hierom reports of Nepotianus a young Gentleman of Rome Qui longa assidua meditatione scripturarum pectus suum fecerat bibliothecam Christi who by often and assiduous meditation of the Scriptures made his breast the Library of Christ. Remember what is said of King Alphonsus that he read over the Bible fourteen times together with such Commentaries as those times afforded You that are Schollars remember Cranmer and Ridley the former learnt the New Testament by heart in his journey to Rome the latter in Pembrook-hall Walks in Cambridge Remember what is said of Thomas a Kempis
for it because it will surely come it will not tarry This did Daniel when hee understood the time approached c. hee prayed Dan. 9. 2 3. Thus did David Psal. 56. 9 10 57. 1 2. Thus must you do These are the three great Duties which the Lord requires of us at all times but more especially in these our dayes wherein the Providences of God seem to run quite cross unto his promises The Lord give us grace to practise them So much for this Text. The End of the Fifth Sermon A Brief Repetition of what was said of Mrs. Elizabeth Moore at her Burial THough I have finished my Text yet I have another Text remaining of which I must speak a few words and that is The Party deceased at whose Funeral wee are here met Shee was a Woman I verily beleeve truly fearing God and yet throughout her whole life loaded with many and great troubles God picked her out to bee a pattern of afflictions as hee had not long before that Reverend and godly Minister Mr. Ieremiah Whitakers This Pattern teacheth us three Lessons 1 That all things come alike to all in this world and that no man knoweth love or hatred by any thing that is before him The best of Saints sometimes are upon the Dunghil when the vilest of men are upon the Throne The best of men are afflicted when the worst of men are in prosperity 2 That there is not so much evil in affliction or so much good in prosperity as the world imagineth For if there were God would not bestow so much prosperity upon the wicked and exercise his dear children with so many afflictions 3 That there will come a rewarding day in which it shall certainly bee well with the Righteous When I see a wicked man prosper I say Surely there will come a punishing day in which the wicked shall be turned into Hell When I see a godly man in adversity I say Verily there is a reward for the Righteous verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth Such examples prove that there is another life besides this And that if the godly had hope onely in this life they were of all people most miserable I will not trouble you with a relation of her Christian carriage in the time of her health because it is sufficiently known to most here present I shall onely take notice of her great care and diligence in making her calling and election sure Shee had not her Ark to build when the flood came nor her Corn to get when the seven years of Famine came Shee had laid up a stock of graces and comforts against the evill hour Shee had not her Evidences for Heaven to get at the houre of death But shee had collected and composed them in the time of her life and when shee came to dye shee â—ad neither her graces nor her comforts nor her Evidences for Heaven to seek shee had nothing to do but to dye Her sickness was very long and very painful concerning which I shall briefly acquaint you with these few particulars 1 God moved the hearts of very many godly people to take compassion of her sad and afflicted condition and to contribute liberally shee being poor towards her relief this merciful providence wonderfully comforted her She saw Gods love in it and was so much affected with it that she was for a little while really and exceedingly afraid notwithstanding her great torments by reason of a cancer in her breast lest she should have her heaven in this life and lest this mercy should bee all her portion The Lord recompence that labour of love and that Christian charity a thousand fold into the bosomes of those who manifested so much kindnesse to her 2 Her Patience was very great As God increased her pains hee increased her patience even to the admiration of such of us as were frequent spectators of it She was brought to such a sweet frame of spirit as to bee willing to live under all her torments as long as God pleased and to dye whensoever he pleased 3 Shee was a woman of a very fearful nature and in the time of her health had many doubts and scruples notwithstanding all her care forementioned about her salvation But in her sickness all her doubts vanished God chained up Satan The Devil had no power to tempt her shee felt a great calmness in her soul and had much inward peace and injoyed more of God and his consolations in the time of her sickness than in the time of her health 4 Shee was very forward in spreading and diffusing those graces which God had bestowed upon her and in giving good counsel to those who visited her I have heard her often and often perswading her friends to prize health and to improve it for the good of their souls to lay up against an evill day and to stock themselves with grace before sickness come Shee would frequently say O the benefit of health O prize health praise God for health and improve health for your eternal good 5 Shee was very well vers't in the Scriptures The Law of God was her delight and this kept her from perishing in her affliction Shee was continually fetching cordials out of the Word to comfort her under her great pains and to preserve her from fainting The twelfth Chapter of the Hebrews was a precious cordial to her so was the eight of the Romans and the 2 of the Corinthians the 4. Chapter and the 17 18. verses For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory While wee look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1 Cor. 15 53 54 55 56 57. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shal have put on immortality then shal be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sin is the Law But thanks bee to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ. Phil. 3. 21. Who shall change our vile body that it may bee fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himself A little before her death shee said In the Lord Iehovah there is righteousness and strength righteousness for justification and strength for supportation Shee said that the Word of God was the best cordial in the world And that one minutes being in Heaven would make amends for all her pain and misery 6 And lastly I cannot but take special notice of the happy close of her life and of the blessed end shee
hold out I was not taken off from the performance of holy duties no I thought with my self that I am commanded by God to perform holy duties which is the way and means whereby wee may meet with God For hee is ordinarily to bee injoyed no where but in his own ordinances but the Lord took mee off from resting and trusting in Ordinances And as hee made mee to see that without the practise of them hee would not accept of mee so also hee made mee to know that it was not for holy duties for which I was accepted The sins that cleave to my best performances are enough for which the Lord may justly condemn mee if I had no other sins 5 The Lord brought mee to see a Superlative beauty and excellency in the Lord Iesus Christ and my soul was deeply in love with him even with whole Christ in all his Offices and if I know any thing at all of my owne heart I desired Christ as much to bee my King and Prophet to teach and guide mee and subdue mee to himself and rule over mee as to bee my High-Priest to make Attonement by offering up of himself for mee and washing mee in his blood by which I must bee justified 6 The Lord brought mee to see a soul-satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and I think I should bee as fully satisfied with Christ alone as my heart can desire If I know my heart it panteth after Christ and Christ alone None but Christ none but Christ. The whole world in comparison or competition with Christ is nothing to mee But in him I see full contentment To see and know my interest in him and to injoy communion with him is that which if the Lord would bestow upon mee I should with Iacob say It is enough and with old Simeon Now let thy servant depart in peace for my eyes have seen thy salvation Now I desire to set down some other Scripture Evidences that I finde upon search and examination of my heart by laying it to the Rule The Word of God My Second Scripture Evidence is taken from Mark 2. 17. Where Christ saith They that are whole have no need of the Physitian but they that are sick and hee came not to call the Righteous but sinners to repentance Now through Gods mercy I can say that I am a sin-sick-sinner the Lord make mee more sick I am not righteous in mine own eyes but a sinner and see my self undone for ever without the righteousness of Christ bee imputed to mee and therefore I hope I am amongst the number of those whom Christ was commissionated by his Father to come to save From Matth. 11. 28 29. I am weary and heavy laden now Christ hath promised to give ease to such And I am willing to take his yoke upon mee and would fain learn of him the lesson of meekness and lowliness and therefore am invited to come unto him I can say with David that my sins are a heavy burden to mee they are too heavy for mee Psal. 38. 4. and I can say that I mourn because I cannot mourn no more for my sins now Christ saith Blessed are they that mourn for they shall bee comforted Mat. 5. 4. From Matth. 5. 3. I think if my heart do not deceive mee I am pòor in spirit now theirs is the Kingdome of Heaven saith Christ. From Matth. 12. 20. I am a bruised reed and smoaking flax and therefore Christ hath promised hee will not break such a reed nor quench the smoak of grace if it bee true grace but hee will increase it more and more as hee saith Untill judgement breake forth into victory And hee came to set at liberty them that are bruised Luke 4. 18. Therefore I hope I am such a one as hee came to binde up and set at liberty Yea and that hee was anointed and sent by his Father to mee and such as I am Isa. 61. 1. From 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation saith Paul That Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners And so say I too it is worthy all acceptation that Christ should come from the bosome of his Father who was infinitely glorious and happy that hee should come into the world to save mee mee a sinner mee the chiefe of sinners mee that if saved I do verily beleeve there is none in heaven nor any that ever shall come thither that hath or will have the cause to magnifie and adore free grace as I shall have And herein doth God commend his love towards mee For if when wee were enemies wee were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled wee shall bee saved by his life Rom. 5. 10. I can say with Paul that I delight in the Law of God after the inward man and I am grieved that I cannot keep it I finde that spiritual war in mee between flesh and spirit which Paul complaineth of and I can say that Paul doth confess over my heart in his confessions Rom. 7. And I can go along with him there from verse 9. to the end of the chapter and from hence I gather that there is some spiritual life in my soul and an indeavour to walk after the spirit and therefore I hope and desire to conclude with him that there shall bee no condemnation to mee but that the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Iesus shall make mee free from the law of sin and death I finde an earnest desire wrought in my soul to bee made like unto Jesus Christ and that it may bee my meat and drink to do and suffer his will as hee would have mee I can say that the Lord hath in some measure put his fear into my heart that I fear to offend him out of love to him and I love to fear him I can say with the Church to Christ Cant. 1. 7. O thou whom my soul loveth and if I know any thing at all of mine own heart Christ is altogether lovely and most desirable to my soul. I think I can truly say with David that I have none in Heaven but thee and there is nothing on earth that I desire besides thee in comparison of thee in competition with thee Though all that is dearest to mee in the world should forsake mee yet if God whom I have chosen for my portion will not forsake mee I have enough It is my desire and endeavour more and more to account all things but loss and dung that I may win Christ. I can with Peter make my appeal to him and say Lord thou who knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee and that it is the desire of my soul to love thee more and to love thee for thy self because thou art holy and good and gracious and the chiefest amongst ten thousand Yea God in Christ alone is worthy to be
the first it is said How much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things c. In the second How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the holy Spirit c. Grace and Glory and all outward good things are his It is said of the Great Duke of Guise that though hee was poore as to his present possessions yet hee was the richest man in France in Bills Bonds and Obligations because hee had ingaged all the Noble-men in France unto himselfe by preferring of them A true and real Christian is the richest man in the World in Promises and Obligations for hee hath the Great God ingaged by promise to bee his God and the God of his As Charles the first commanded his Herald in a challenge to Francis the first King of France to proclaim him with all his titles stiling him Emperour of Germany King of Castile Arragon Naples Sicily c. But Francis commanded his Herald to call him so often King of France as the other had titles by all his Countries implying that France alone was more worth than all his Countries So when a wicked man brags of his Lordships and great possessions when hee boasteth of his thousands a year a childe of God may say God is mine God is mine c. I am richer than all the wicked men in the world 6 You must meditate on the latitude and extension of the Promises The Promises are the Saints Catholicon and Panacea There is no condition a Childe of God can bee in but hee may finde not onely a Promise but a suitable and seasonable Promise to comfort him in it And herein especially consisteth the spiritual Excellency and heavenly Wisdome of a Christian not onely to study the Promises in general but to labour to finde out and having found out to meditate upon such kinde of Promises which are most suitable and most seasonable to the condition hee is in As for example If thou art poor in estate meditate on Psalm 34. 10. Matth. 6. 33. Heb. 13. 5. If barren and without children meditate on Isa. 56. 5. If persecuted for Christs sake meditate on Matth. 5. 10. 1 Pet. 4. 12 13 14. Psal. â—4 12. If sick and under tormenting pains meditate on Psal. 50. 15. Isa. 63. 9. Rom. 8. 28. If reproached slandered and falsely accused meditate on Mat. 10. 25. Mat. 5. 11 12. Luke 6. 22 23. If Satan tempts thee and thou art not able to resist him meditate on Rom. 16. 20. 1 Cor. 10. 13. Gen. 3. 15. 1 Ioh. 3. 8. If thy corruptions bee too strong for thee meditate on Rom. 6. 14. Micah 7. 19. If God hides his face from thee and thou sittest in darkness and seest no light meditate on Isa. 50. 10. Isa. 54. 7 8. If ready to faint in waiting upon God and in expecting the fulfilling of his Promises meditate on Isa. 30. 18. Isa. 63. 3. Isa. 40. 28 29 30. Mal. 3. 1. If ready to dye and full of fears and doubts meditate on 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57. Hos. 13. 14. Rev. 14. 13. 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. 2 Cor. 5. 1 8. 7 You must meditate on the variety of the Promises and their difference and distinction one from the other The Promises are like unto the stars in the firmament 1 For their multitude they are very many The Scripture is bespangled with Promises as the Heavens are with stars It were happy if the Saints would prove spiritual Astronomers and make it their work to study the nature of these stars 2 For their beauty excellency and influence Every star is beautifull in its kinde and very usefull and advantagious so are the Promises And as the stars are most comfortable in the darkness of the night so are the Promises in the night of trouble and adversity 3 And especially for their distinction and difference For one star differeth from another in glory 1 Cor. 15. 41. There is one glory of the Sun another of the Moon another of the Stars So do the Promises differ exceedingly one from the other in beauty and excellency Some are temporal some spiritual some of things that are eternal Some are conditional some absolute some are Promises to those that have grace some are Promises of grace some are general others particular Some are Original Fundamental and Fountain-Promises as the promise of Jesus Christ of God being our God and of the Holy Ghost Others are derivative depending and rivolet-promises as the promises of all outward comforts here and of eternal life hereafter Now it is our duty to take notice of every ray of gold to meditate upon all the Promises both spiritual temporal and eternal both conditional and absolute both of grace and to grace both general and particular but especially of the Original and Fundamental Promises the Fountain Promises from whence all others as so many streams and rivolets are deduced and derived 8 You must meditate on the usefulfulness and profitableness of the Promises I have already shewed you that they are the Conduits of grace and comfort that they have a soul-sanctifying and a soul-comforting-power Give mee leave to adde That the Promises are 1 The breathings of Divine love and affection 2 The life and soul of Faith 3 The Anchor of Hope 4 The VVings of Prayer 5 The Foundation of Industry 6 The Rayes and Beams of the Son of Righteousness and upon all these accounts are very usefull and advantagious 1 They are the breathings of Divine love and affection It is an Argument of Gods wonderful love to his children that hee is pleased to enter into a Promise and Covenant to bee their God and to give them Christ and in Christ all blessings here and hereafter Wee read Gen. 17. 2 3. when God told Abraham that hee would make a Covenant with him hee fell on his face as astonished at so great a mercy and as thankfully acknowledging the goodness of God towards him The like wee read of David When God by Nathan made a promise to him hee goes into Gods house and prayes Who am I O Lord and what is my house that the Lord my God should do this c. The Promises are the Cabinets of the tender bowels of God they contain the dear and tender love of God towards his elect children God by promising makes himself a debtor to them Now that God who is bound to none no not to the Angels of Heaven should enter into bonds and binde himselfe to give grace and glory to his elect children this is love above expression And there is nothing moved God to do this but as I have said his free grace and mercy For though God bee now bound out of justice and faithfulness to fulfill his Promises yet nothing moved him to make these promises but his love and mercy as David saith of what God had promised to him 2 Sam. 7. 21. According to thine own heart ex mero motu voluntatis and according to thy Word not