the time to come by his grace and holy Spirit working in you Stranger Sir I hope I am truly humbled for my sins I grieve and am sorry for them I have had many afflictions and smarted for my sins Minister If your sorrow for sin be right it is not so much because of afflictions and judgments felt or feared as because you have offended God who hath been so good and merciful unto you You will also loath and leave your sins as the abominable thing which God hates Jerem. 44.4 Rom. 7.15 The evil which I hate Str. Sir I hope also that I hate my sins truly and indeed Min. Friend if the hatred of sin be right then 1. You 'll hate all sin as I told you before Prov. 8.13 The fear of the Lord is to hate every false way 2. And withal know this that whoever hateth sin loveth God and his people Str. Why Sir I make no question of it but I do love God and his people Minister Friend if you do indeed love God you do also keep his Commandments John 14.15 Not allowing your self in any known sin and for the godly if you love them you are then acquainted with them delight in their company as David Psal 119.63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts And Paul when he was converted joined himself to the Disciples which were at Jerusalem and at Damascus Acts 9.19 and 26. Now if we be unacquainted with such people if shie of their society c. it 's in vain to think we love the Brethren 1 John 3.4 if we do not love the brotherhood 1 Pet. 2.17 the society of Saints and that when they are most strict and spiritual in their communication and conversation if you be a meer stranger to them where is your love towards them what say you to this Friend Stranger Sir you in your talk with me put me hard to it Lord help me Min. Friend your saying Lord help me puts me in mind to ask you what good prayers do you use to say Stranger Such as my friends taught me the Ten Commandments I believe in God c. and the Lords prayer Minister Friend do you think the Ten Commandments and I believe in God c. be good Prayers Str. Yes Sir Min. No Friend the Ten Commandments are a rule of life shewing us what we must do and I believe in God c. sheweth us what we ought to believe but they are not Prayers and when we say them we ask nothing at Gods hands Sir They are good things and it is good to learn them Min. Friend that is true it is good to learn them and to understand the meaning of them to live according to the Commandments and to believe according to the Articles of our Christian Faith but to think they are Prayers and to say them over instead of Prayers that is your mistake Str. Sir I confess my error therein Min. Friend what think you of the Creed I believe in God c is that form of words Scripture the written Word of God as well as the Ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer Stranger Yes surely Sir Minister No Friend we find the Ten Commandments in Exod. 20. and the Lords Prayer in Matth. 6.9 but I believe in God c. in so many words together is not in all the Bible but that form of words was made up and laid together by men yet it is agreeable to the Word of God and so is of good use for all Believers Str. Sir I thank you if you would explain and open something to me out of the Ten Commandments I believe in God and the Lords Prayer you would do me a great courtesie Min. Friend I am glad to find you willing to learn but that is too long a work for the little time we are like to be together and therefore I would advise you by all means when you come home to learn good Catechisms and to talk with good Ministers and good People putting questions to them and they will help you Str. True Sir but whilst we are together it may be you may say something out of them which may do me good Minister Why then Friend in the first Commandment Thou shalt have c. what do you think God forbids in that Commandment Stranger I think the having more Gods than one Min. Friend what you say is a general truth but what is it to have other Gods Str. Sir to have other Gods is I think to worship the Sun Moon or Stars c. Min. Friend let me tell you the Commandment of God is spiritual and reacheth the hearts of men so that to love desire joy fear trust in any thing more than God is to have other gods thus we may make husbands wives children friends trades customers c. riches honours pleasures c. to be our gods when our hearts run out more after are set more upon them than upon God Str. Sir this is strange Min. Friend as strange as it is it is very true for God saith Prov. 23.26 Give me thine heart and Matth. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and it is certain to have our hearts upon any person or thing more than God is to make that our God and our Idol Stranger Sir then by what you say if any be more careful to please or more fearful to offend a husband a wife a master or mistriss a land-lord or great man that rules over us than we are careful to please or fearful to offend God is to make them our gods Minister Friend it is certainly so however it may seem to be new doctrine to you And for the second Commandment Thou shalt not make c. what think you is forbidden in this Commandment Str. I think we are forbidden to worship Images as the Papists do Min. Friend that you say is true but the Commandment of God hath a farther reach in it and forbids not only the worshipping of Images or God by Images but the worshipping of God any other way not appointed in his Word Deut. 12.32 What thing soever I command you he speaks of worship ver 31. observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it Stranger I confess Sir this is plain Scripture I cannot gainsay it Minister Well Friend for the third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain c. What think you is meant by the Name of God Str. To deal plainly with you Sir I cannot well tell on a sudden what is meant by the Name of God though I have said it over many and many a time Min. Friend are not men known by their names you and I and others why then the Name of God is that whereby God makes himself known by his Titles Attributes Ordinances Word and Works Str. Sir I think what you say
more then ordinarily careful though he left them good estates yet he did not think it enough that they should barely live upon the estates he left them He was of Solomons mind Eccl. 7.11 Otium fortunae grandioris vitium Symach l. 10. Ep. 2. that wisdome was good with an inheritance Eccl. 7.11 And yet He was of opinion too that an inheritance was little worth without wisdome he abhor'd the two Epidemical vices of our English Gallants which in time are procreative of many more the one is ignorance and the other Idleness He resolv'd therefore to traine up his children in learning not onely that it might be an ornament to them Nihil sordidius imo crudelius quam si rempublicam is arroderet qui nihil in eam suo labore conferret Jul. Capit in vit Anton. Pii but that they might be serviceable by it to the Church or Commonwealth Our Edmund one of the younger brothers after he was furnisht with a competency of Grammar learning was sent to Oxford and admitted into C. C. C. where he so ply'd his study and got such applause that whilst he was yet an under-graduate he was chosen a Probationer fellow in that Colledge before 18 of his Seniors a Bedfordshire place falling void by the death of Mr Andrews a fellow of the house When he was about eighteen years of Age he fell dangerously sick in the Colledge and was very farre spent and near unto death before those about him understood his distemper 'till anon a skilful Physitian coming in and finding it to be a Pleurisie gave order that a veine should be forthwith opened whereupon a Chirurgeon was immediately sent for but it was long ere he could be found at length the messenger brought him from a Táverne and though he saw the way thither yet he did not know how to do his work when he came there he strook the Patients arme twice but no more blood came then if he had prickt him in the palme of his hand In this posture the sottish Chirurgion leaves him it being late all night but when he had slept himself sober he came the next morning very early and knockt at the Colledge Gate which being open'd he hastily ran to his Chamber and askt if he were yet alive and coming in presently open'd a veine in his Arme which bled freely and the Patient half dead soon after recover'd grew well again Another strange deliverance he met with a little after when he was newly Batchelour of Arts going into the water alone to wash himself and not being able to swim he fell into a deep hole where his feet could feel no bottome but as the Providence of God order'd it he caught hold of a little turfe of Grass by the bankside by means whereof he climb'd up the bank if that little hold had fail'd him he had in all probability miscarried These mercifull deliverances and preservations were preparatory to that good work which about this time God began in his heart for about the year 1620. to use his own words which I have by me in a manuscript under his own hand I had many sad and serious thoughts concerning my spiritual and eternal estate Then upon the advice of Dr Barcroft I bought Brinsley's watch the second part where the sins against the commandments are set down in order and I fell upon the work of examination wherein this seems remarkeable that reading over the several sins there mention'd my heart such was the blindness and deceitfulness of it cry'd not guilty of any one of them whereupon I began to suspect my heart and calling upon God to enlighten mine eyes and discover my sins to me and then reading them over again I judg'd my self guilty very guilty even of most of the sins there set down and enumerated After this I lay about two months under a spirit of bondage being full of fears and inward trouble so that many times I durst not close mine eyes in the night least I should awake in Hell I thought every night the Devil would come for me and fetch me away but anon the Lord was graciously pleas'd to shine upon me and this remarkeable passage I shall never forget That being one evening at prayer all alone in the Darke I remember the Chamber in C. C. C. and the corner of the Chamber well I was very earnest with God for the manifestation of his love to my soule and the assurance of pardon for my sins and at length I brake out into these words or words to this purpose Lord I will not cut off thy presence Non ab te absquete discedam I will not go off from my knees till thou speak comfort to me whereupon I was immediately fill'd with a strong perswasion of the love of God to my soule and with joyes unspeakable and full of Glory From this time he apply'd himself to the diligent reading of the Scripture and to the study of Divinity and when he was Master of Arts his Father will'd him to choose his profession whether that of a Lawyer a Physitian or a Preacher he readily pitcht upon the latter telling his Father that he had for some time past inclin'd his studies that way and that he esteem'd the turning of soules to righteousness to be the most desireable work in all the world and that it would have the greater reward hereafter Vide Mr. Chr. Loves speech upon Tower Hill though the other callings were like to bring in more wealth and honour here His tender Father would not thwart but rather encourage him in this his pious resolution and to that end he layd out to procure a good living or place of settlement for him in meane time our Edmund was not idle but having an invitation to preach a lecture on the Lords day in the afternoon at Witny about ten miles from Oxford he accepted of of it Rom. 16.5 1 Cor. 16.15 there he continued preaching well nigh half a year and had comfortable seales of his Ministry as Epenetus and Stephanas were Pauls first fruits in Achaia so there are some yet living or were lately alive in that place who were his first fruits unto Christ So acceptable were his labours during his abode there that hearers from all parts round about flockt to him as the Doves to their Windowes This was not very pleasing to him who was incumbent there he therefore spent the more time in reading Prayers that this novel lecturer might have the lesse for Preaching his Sermons and when he had protracted the Common Prayers all he could he himself would go out of the Church being followed by no one but his Clark whom he would not suffer to call a Psalme but the Lecturer himself or one Mr. Martin an inhabitant of the Town one that fear'd God above many was faine to supply his roome The text of Scripture which he a long time insisted on was that excellent saying of Solomons Prov. 23.23 Buy
Prov. 14.14 2 Estimation with God 2. There 's a greater and higher remuneration then this even in the breast and bosome of God himself that good estimation they are of with him they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts Mal. 3.17 All the world is his made preserved governed commanded by him but these are mine to wit in a way of special propriety my peculiar lot my treasure Exo. 19.5 Jer. 51.19 1. Pet. 2.9 my inheritance my jewels my children my spouse my beloved such honour and titles of honour have the Saints especially such as are active for God speaking often one to another 3 Signal advancement 3. God often rewards them even in this life by setting some signal token upon them of his love and favour which the men of the world cannot but take notice of There was a day when they that feared the Lord spake often one to another What that day was Mal. 3.16 or what they said is not clearly expressed but may be probably gathered from the Context and from the History of the Kings Reign in which he prophesied which lay down plainly how the affaires of Church and State were managed under their Reign and his prophesie But when doth God own them in the open face of the World not presently yet hath he a set time when he will appear for them vers 17. That day saith he when I make up my jewels which refers as most interpreters carry it partly at least to this life to wit in the day of his Churches Restauration and Reformation This is one way and one day of Gods making up his jewels in Church reformation when he turns again Zions Captivity when he maketh according to his promise Kings to be nursing Fathers and Queens nursing Mothers to his Israel When he giveth Judges as at the first and Counsellors as at the beginning and to his people Pastors after his own heart when purity of Doctrine Worship and discipline is set up and maintained the will and word of Jesus Christ in such a fair day Jewels will glister and sparkle and the Saints and Servants of the living God usually are advanced and become the heads and not the taile Though God seem to neglect his people yet he hath a day a set day wherein he will throughly plead Zions cause which is indeed his own cause Then shall the Lord of Hosts reign in mount Zion and in Jerusadem and before his ancients gloriously Isa 24.23 4 Sparing them 4. Such as speak often one to another God spareth them in his Fatherly indulgence towards them as a man spares his own Son that serves him Spares son and serves go together adoption and sanctification and find indulgence sueh God spares pardoneth their sins Ps 103.13 accepts their services though tainted with many defects and imperfections pittieth them in all their afflictions and temptations supports and delivers them accepts of their good meaning and endeavours the will for the deed 2 Cor. 8.12 and sometimes remarkably spares them in the black and cloudy dayes of publick Calamity by the destroying sword in the hands of Angels or men in pestilences or warre And which notably sets off Gods love the Saints priviledge is that God so eminently sheweth himself on the side and behalf of his people that the ungodly world cannot but take notice thereof to their great admiration astonishment and terrour Mal. 3.18 13.14 15. vers 18. Then shall ye to wit the blasphemers return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not The Prophets retorts their blasphemies upon themselves making them their own judges and condemners therein Whose words were stout against the Lord who said it is vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances who call the prond happy c. And thus God convinceth obstinate and rebellious sinners of their stupidity and Frenzies not to their Conversions but to their horrour and amazement and extorts acknowledgments from the worst of men not alone of his Soveraignty but of his wise administrations how that he is a gracious rewarder of the good as also a just and dreadful revenger of sin and sinners Psal 126.12 Thus when the Lord turned again the Captivity of Zion they said among the Heathen The Lord hath done great things for them 5 Owning them at death and judgment 5. For the completing of this argument drawn from Gods gracious remuneration of Christian Conference he doth it not onely here but will do it more amply and abundantly hereafter as may be cleared from the words of Christ Beza at Pacet in Loc. Mat. 12.37 By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Justification stands here in opposition to condemnation and to be justified is to be absolved or declared just not to be made just Our words and speeches are the declarations and publications of what lieth latent in our hearts and so are signs and Characters of what we are good or bad as well as our deeds and actions and God hath a book of remembrance as well for what we speak as for what we do And when the book shall be opened Rev. 20.12 and the dead small and great shall stand before God and be judged according to what is written in these books then it will be known to all the world what good Commucations Gods people have had among themselves and that for their honour and renown before God the Angels and their fellow Saints to all eternity God is if I may so express it all-eye to see all the actions of men all eare to heare all the words of men and all hand to register and record all and not alone good works but good words also shall have a gracious recompence and reward of glory Oh that that 's the day Mal. 3.17 when God will make up his jewels those that spake often one to another compleatly fully then indeed the tyde shall turne the Scene Change the case and face of things shall so be altered as that the damned reprobates whilst howling and roaring among the Divels shall discerne little to their comfort much to their horrour between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not To these three arguments exciting to Christian Conference in reference to God his injunction or commanding of it his remunerations and rewards for it let me adde another The fourth Argument which should provoke us to be much in the duty of Christian Conference 4 Gods end in the variety of gifts bestowed is our answering therein Gods great end in his various distribution of gifts and graces to his Children which is that by gracious discourse and holy communication they might mutually impart each to other for their edification and spiritual advantage For the amplification thereof an apter similitude cannot be used then