World or as the three stretches of the Prophet Elijah or 1 King 17. 21 22. the Widow of Zarephaths dear Son a means to put Life into them who by Nature are as truly dead Spiritually as that Child was Naturally 1. Knowledge of Misery Sense of sin and Misery by i◠alone will do no good nor any thing without it for the foundation of Happiness is laid in it◠The knowledge of a Disease make◠way to a Cure and sense of Misery is the first step to Mercy we usually say it is most miserable to have been happy but in this it is the happiness of sinners to know their misery and their greatest misery if they do not 2. Knowledge of the way or means of recovery out of Misery None but Sinners need Mercy and none but sensible sinners will seek for it but yet they cannot seek it aright unless they know the way to it no more than they can find it unless they seek it the Diseased Woman in the Gospel Mat. 9. 20 21 22. was sensible of her Bloody Issue before she came to Christ and came to him before she was healed by him it was not barely the apprehension of her Disease but the apprehension of her Disease and of Christ her Physician that cured her None so fit to seek for Mercy as humbled sinners and none but such will but yet unless they do they cannot have it 3. Knowledge of Duty when redeemed from Misery Conversion is a change from one contrary to another not from one sin to another that is Hypocrisie but from 〈…〉 contrary one to another from the privation to the habit from Darkness to Light and from Death to Life this new state calls for a new life and all that are brought into such a state must live sutably to it they must not be always 1 Thes 2. 12. Eph. 5. 8. 1. Pet. 2. 9. sinners because they were sometimes so for once is above any Indulgence granted 1. Knowledge of Misery Sense of Misery is necessary not to merit Mercy but to qualifie for it not to fit the God of Mercy to give it but the necessitous sinner to receive it Now the misery of all by Nature is best known as one contrary compar'd with another by considering the happiness of Man in his state of Innocency When God had made the World and richly furnish'd it with all things for Necessity and Delight he then made Man not in the Image of any inferior Creature Gen. 1. 26. but in his own which Image was both outward and inward consisting partly in his Body and partly in his Soul Partly in his Body As it was So admirable a Structure that Galen a Heathen made a Hymn of Praise to God that made it an Instrument of Righteousness and a frame of admirable composure containing so many Miracles as Members so many perfections as parts and in some degree resembling the Majesty of God Partly and chiefly in his Soul by an inward resemblance of it to God not onely in the Spiritual Nature of the Soul but in the Natural Faculties Properties and Endowments of it viz. Knowledge Righteousness and True Holiness 1. Knowledge in his Understanding Of all that was needful for his state of Perfection and Happiness viz. A knowledge of God and his Excellencies of himself as to the Nature of every Faculty of his Soul and both the temper and use of every Member of his Body and of all other Creatures both as to Nature and Kind and how to carry himself uprightly to God and them 2. Righteousness in his Will A Natural Inclination with a power perfectly dispos'd to the whole will of God and to every thing that was just right and good without any reluctancy and of himself to will nothing that was not so 3. Holiness in his Affections Being free from all Disorder Sin and Impurity rejoycing in the love and bounty of God loving him as the chiefest good in himself and as the Author of all his As soon as Adam was made God planted a Garden in Eden in Gen 2. 7. 8. 15 16 17. which was every Tree pleasant to the sight and good for Food the Tree of Life also in the midst of the Garden and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and put him into it to dress and keep it and entred into a Covenant of Life with him called a Covenant of Works upon condition Gal. 3. 12. of perfect Obedience forbidding him to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil upon pain of Death God might have dealt with him in a way of absolute Soveraignty and required Obedience from him without any promise of Reward but he did not for he entred into a Covenant with him containing a Precept Threatning and Promise A Precept requiring perfect and perpetual Obedience A Threatning denouncing death if he did not obey it A Promise assuring Life if he did and though the promise is not so clearly expressed as the threatning yet as strongly and truly imply'd for if Adam must die if he disobeyed he should certainly live if he did not The Death threatned was Temporal Spiritual and Eternal the first in the separation of the Soul Gen. 2. 17. 3. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In dying thou shalt dye and all kinds of Death were threatned from the Body the second in the separation of the Soul from God the third in the separation of the Soul and Body from God for ever one from the presence of his Grace here the other from that of his Glory hereafter The Life promised imply'd a continuance of his present Life and the assurance of one to come a confirmation of his present happiness and a translation at last to a greater and better The present Life enjoy'd was two-fold one as a Man and a Creature the other as a perfect and upright Man The first consisting in the Union of Soul and Body the second in a Union betwixt God and the Soul The Life to come was a perfect immutable and eternal happiness both of Soul and Body with God through a perfect likeness to him and an immediate vision and fruition of him in Heaven to all Eternity Adam being a glorious and excellent Creature by Creation and endow'd with a power and will to obey stood bound to obey both by the Law of Nature and the Rom. 2. 14 15. positive Law and Command from God which obliged him to it But being made with a freedom of will viz. a liberty of its own accord to choose or refuse to do or not to do to stand or fall at his own choice without constraint or force from any and being mutably good his will though naturally dispos'd to good only yet being mutable and changeable it might be altered and become evil as it did for through the Temptation of the Eccles 7. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devil the perswasion of Eve and Pride a desire to be as
to cure you 4. Poverty So great is the Poverty you are fallen under by sin and so low are you brought by it that all the Creatures on Earth are not able no nor all the Angels in Heaven to raise you or set you up again nothing less than the Riches of Heaven and Treasures of a Deity can and Christ onely has them who became poor for our sakes that we through his poverty might be rich and therefore to 2 Cor. 8. 9. Rev. 3. 18. him you must go that you may be enriched by him Of other Riches the promise is conditional onely but of these it is absolute but then you must come and buy them and you need not Isa 55. 1. fear for it is a buying without Money all the price is a will to accept them 5. Nakedness Tamar when deflowred rent 2 Sam. 13 18 19. her Virgin Robe and sin by defiling the Soul rent off the beautiful Garment that Virgin Robe of Innocency with which it was cloath'd but Christ is not onely Armour for defence against weakness an Ornament for Beauty against Deformity but a Vesture for covering against Nakedness and therefore you must by Faith put him on if you would be cloathed with Salvation not for Rom. 13. ult an out-side Garment of Profession onely or in shew but in reality not as a covering for sin but for Righteousness in Justification and for Holiness in Sanctification as a defence against the guilt and power of it that your nakedness may not be uncovered nor your shame seen Your own Righteousness like the curtail'd Clothes of David's 2 Sam. 10. 4 5. Ambassadors sent to Comfort Hanun is imperfect scanty and too short to do it Christ's Righteousness onely can and without it you can never obtain the Blessing Gen. 27. 15 27. for as you came Spiritually naked into the World so if you go out so you will be covered Dan. 12. 2. with everlasting shame Onely this you must remember that though Christs Righteousness is a Garment large enough to cover you yet the Rags of Nature must be pull'd off before that Robe will come on for it will come upon none but a naked Soul 6. Bondage A cruel Bondage worse than that of the Israelites in Egypt for it is to Sin and the Devil the worst of Tyrants and without the least degree of Ease or Liberty He in the Gospel that was Mark 5. 3 4. Luke 4. 13. possessed could break all Chains asunder but those of the Devil and from other Bondage you may be able to redeem your self but from this you cannot either by your self or others but by Christ onely the Angel of Redemption 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. and great Redeemer that paid the price of your Ransom You are not free-born but made so and by none but by him John 8. 36. and therefore you must by Faith go unto him that you may be so if he make you free you shall be free indeed but unless he do you must be a Slave for ever Other Slaves after their Service have Freedom or by Death obtain it but they that die in this are so for ever their Chains are Jude 6. everlasting You must be either a King to Rev. 5. 10. God or Slave to the Devil 7. Death Sin 's sickness was to Death but Christ the Heavenly Physician came down to raise the dead in sin to life again you were kill'd in the first Adam and may be made alive in the second but not untill by Faith you receive him for he that hath not the Son of God hath 1 John 5. 12. not life It is the life of Heaven in you that will bring you to that Heavenly Life and therefore without this Life of Grace you can have no sure hope of the Life of Glory the Title to that is by Christ and the Title to Christ is by this so that unless here you are Spiritually alive by him you John 3. 3. cannot hereafter live with him All that dye in sin are buried in Hell 8. Wrath. Not the wrath of Men no not of the greatest of them nor of Devils but of God a wrath that cannot be withstood for it Psal 90. 11. is irresistible nor endured for it is intolerable it cannot be comprehended much less endur'd nor either avoided or appeased but by Christ who came to deliver from it and to be as a shadow 1 Thes 1. 10. 5. 9. Cant. 2. 3. from the scorching heat of it There is no way to Mercy but by deliverance from wrath nor any way to that but by laying hold on Mercy nor any way to Quarendus est Deus in Pradicamento relationis Mercy but by Christ for God is the Father of Mercy as he is the Father of Christ and therefore Luke 3. 7. if you would flee from this wrath you must flee to Christ who appeas'd it and brank that bitter Cup off to the bottom that you might never taste of it Mat. 26. 39. Nothing but his Blood could quench that flame of wrath 3. Duty when recovered out of Misery All Priviledges whether Temporal or Spiritual Civil or Religious oblige to Duty in themselves they are engagements to it and should be so to all that are Interested in them Spiritual Priviledges are of all the highest and most obliging they are given to engage to Duty they afford the best means and advantages to it they aggravate sin and become a Curse instead of a Blessing where they are not effectual to it for as Mercy abounds so sin against Mercy abounds also A change in state calls for a Nova vita novos mores postulat change in Life and a new condition requires a new conversation If then you are cleansed by the Blood of Christ from all sin keep your self pure and unspotted from James 1. ult sin and the world If the Enmity betwixt God and Eph. 2. 16. you upon the account of sin is slain by Christ be subject to Rom. 8. 7. his Laws and live as one reconciled to him that all your Services Prov. 15. 8. may be accepted by him He that will not accept a gift Mat. 5. 23 24. of one at enmity with his Brother will much less accept it from any at enmity with himself If you are called out of darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. Eph. 5. 8. shew forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness by walking as a Child of light If through his poverty you are 2 Cor. 8 9. 1 Tim. 6. 18. Prov. 14. 21. made rich be rich in good works and have mercy on the poor If you are released from your spiritual Bondage stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and be not intangled again with the Yoke of Bondage Gal. 5. 1. to sin and the lusts of Men. If by Faith you have received Christ
beyond measure if prais'd nor enrag'd if revil'd and reproach'd but meekly receive both as not much concern'd for either for you cannot be too vile in your own Eyes nor too much humbled under it A Heathen when revil'd told the Reviler that all he said against him was true and much more and so he would say if he knew that which he did of himself and all that are truly humble either do or should think better Rom. 12. 10. Phil. 2. 3. of others than of themselves 3. With your self 1. By being content with your condition whatever it is 2. By having a low and mean opinion of your self under all that you possess and enjoy 1. By being content with your condition Some cannot live unless they abound and therefore murmur and complain when they do not Proud Beggars will have the best or nothing but be you content with what you have looking upon Aliud est undè vivas aliud undè superbias every little thing received as great and every great thing as too much You cannot have so little as you deserve and therefore how low soever your condition is let your mind be lower 2. By having a low and mean opinion of your self under all that you possess and enjoy Indeed there is nothing you can have that can reasonably afford any matter for Pride Not Riches Not Silks and Furrs the cast Clothes of Worms and dead Beasts for as they are badges of Spiritual Nakedness and coverings of shame the fruit of sin they afford greater matter of Humility than Pride Not Gold and Silver the more Niâ—idius luâ—um refined Dirt and Garbage of the Earth these are the food of Moths and Rust and therefore no food for Pride Not Knowledge for Scio quod nescio Socrates Nesciendo scire sciendo nescire Gregory it is but imperfect in any the greatest part of what you know is the least part of what you know not and therefore you should by not knowing know and by knowing not know the gift that is in you It will be from Ignorance of your Ignorance if you become proud of your Knowledge Not Grace for it is given to teach Humility God gives Grace to the humble and Grace gives Humility and the more any have of it the more humble they will be Moses acknowledges that he was but dust and ashes the weakest and vilest part of the Earth Jacob that he was unworthy Gen. 18. 27. 32. 10. 1 Tim. 1. 15. 1 Cor. 15. 9. Eph. 3. 8. Mat. 11. 29. Exod. 44. 29. of the least of all those Mercies received Paul that he was the greatest of sinners the least of the Apostles and less than the least of all Saints Christ the Lord of Glory was meek and lowly and the more real worth any have the less they will see it like Moses who when his face did shine knew it not or the higher they are in the esteem of others the lower they will be in their own as the Sun when highest casts the least shadow or a Taper whilest it gives light to others casts a shadow before its own station A Cypher in Arithmetick though of no worth in it self yet gives value to all that is added to it and so will Humility Of Time Death and Judgment I Have a Treatise by me of these that I intend to publish and therefore shall onely briefly give you my Advice here as to Time Death and Judgment 1. As to Time If you would seriously consider how precious a thing Time is how much it is sooner or later prized by all how high they are in God's esteem that improve their time for they are highest in his esteem that make most account of his Soveraignty how happy some are while living in the Comfort they receive by it How many when dying would give all the World if they had it to give and it would be taken as a price to redeem the time that in Life they vainly spent and trifled away How many are tormented in Hell and will be eternally so for the neglect and abuse of it How infinitely short the whole time of Life well spent will fall of the Reward that attends it How much mispent time there is and will be in your best spent time How short and uncertain your time is and how strict an account you must give of it you would see great reason to take care that no part of it be spent either in sin or idleness 1. Not in sin Sin is an evil of the greatest Malignity and all time spent in it is lost for If it is not bewail'd and repented of it will ruine you and if it is yet the time so spent is lost in that it might have been better employ'd cannot be recalled for though Repentance will bring sorrow for sin yet it can never bring back the time lost by it nor ever by you be answer'd for You can never give a good account of a bad matter 2. Not in Idleness for Idleness is both a sin and an inlet to any or all sin 1. It is a sin Idleness was not allowed in Innocency Gen. 2. 15. Then labor now labor ad sudorem for Adam was put into the Garden of Eden to work much less then is it allowed in a state of Degeneracy but forbid there are no feriae no idle days nor hours as one says in the Kalendar of Heaven but as to every purpose there is a time so to every time a purpose God having appointed Eccles 3 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every day and hour to be filled up with something that is either work or tends to it Maxima pars debitur studio minor cibo minima somno nulla otio And yet how many are there who call themselves Christians and cannot but say they have work to do that trifle away their time as much as Domitian did in catching Flies Sardanapalus in Spinning Caligula in gathering Cockles Nero with his Souldiers in picking up Pebbles and are scarce ever so well employ'd as Protogenes who was seven Years Painting a Man and his Dog 2. It is an in-let to sin Empty Stomacks gather Wind standing Waters putrifie Weeds grow most in a fallow and out of Idleness comes not onely no good but all evil for by doing nothing you will easily be led to do that which is worse than nothing Christ called his Disciples Mat. 18. 19. Mark 1. 16 17. 2 Sam. 11. 2 3 4. James and John Simon and Andrew when busie at their Calling but the Devil will call you as he did David when idle and not employ'd and therefore be never so that you may not be at leisure to hearken to him if you do not set your self on work the Devil will and therefore at all times do it that he at any time may not The rolling stone gathers no Moss Quantò magìs occupatum Diabolus invenit tantò minùs occupat Idleness will render you displeasing to
especial manner to beware of three viz. Of Swearing Of Censuring Of Lying 1. Swearing The Tongue of Man is call'd Ps 57. 8. 108. 1. his Glory not only as it is one of the Excellencies and Prerogatives of Man over other Creatures by this to express his mind but as it is an Instrument ordain'd for the setting forth of Gods glory When thus employ'd it is his Honour but when in cursing and swearing it is a Shame and Reproach unto him and a Dishonour to God who has by this put such an Honour upon him above all earthly Creatures I hope you will never meet with a Temptation to this Sin nor much need any caution from me against it but since you live in an Age in which this Sin is as common as it is notorious and abominable you will do well to remember the Threatnings denounc'd by God against this Sin and the Judgments inflicted upon them that have been guilty of it how vile and contemptible it will make you in the Eyes of all that are sober and vertuous that it will by this manifestly appear that you are rotten at the heart for out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks that Luk. 6. 45. your Mouth is full of deadly Poyson an unlikely place one would think to look for Poyson in and Jam. 3. 8. that your Tongue is set on fire of Hell that sends forth a stench worse than that of the Fire and Brimstone there and will at last for ever torment you there for Rev. 14. 10. as rich men by frequent swearing may by the Laws of Man if duely executed swear themselves into Beggery so both Rich and Poor will by the Law of God swear themselves into Hell Every Swearer loses his Soul for nothing other Sins have some Pleasure or Profit attending them but this has neither 2. Censuring Many as Seneca complain'd in his time some did make more use of Spectacles than Looking-glasses to behold others Faults more than their own They read men as they read Books only to espy out their Faults they feed like flies not on their sound but sore part and make their Sins either matter of their Triumph or Censure but it is great Folly for you or any so to do for did you but consider how liable you are to the same or worse Temptations and how much by nature you are inclin'd to yield to them you would not God's Judgment begins at his own House but yours must begin at your own Heart there it must begin and there it must end too be not therefore as the Lamiae quick-sighted abroad to see the Faults of others and blind at home not to see your own but behold your own more than theirs or rather your own and not theirs that you may not with the Pharisee accuse them but with the Publican condemn your self The better any are the less severe they will be to others and the more to themselves Matthew is call'd Levi by all the other Evangelists but he calls himself Matthew the Mat. 10. 3. Publican 3. Lying A Lyer as one says is one that defies God and shrinks at Man but hated of both Therefore Do not lye at any time For though Truth is not to be spoken at all times yet there is no time for a Lye Do not lye upon any account No not in jest for as Solon said to one lying in jest if you approve and practise it in jest you will soon find it in earnest in all your Actions Do not lie for any thing no not for the greatest Advantage Austin profess'd he would not tell a Lye to gain Heaven Do not lye to any one No not to the Devil to whose Nature it is most sutable Do not lye for any one Not for a Friend for it is Magis amica veritas no true Friendship to be false to the Truth for a Friends sake Not for Truth it self for Truth can never be upheld with a Lye No not for the God of Job 13. 7. Truth for it is a Sin to speak wickedly for God himself But ever speak the Truth of Veritas entis mentis your Mind though you may not at all times be able to speak to the Truth of Things that it may appear you are a Child of God the Deut. 32. 4 God of Truth and not of the Devil who is the Father both of Joh. 8. 44. Lyes and Lyers By Perjury you exceed the Devil and by lying you imitate him Plato wrote over his School Let none enter in here that is not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Geometrician and Christ admits none into his but such as deny themselves a bare Profession of Matt. 16. 24. Christ is not enough unless you follow him nor following him unless you deny your self for him If therefore you either profess or desire to be a Disciple of Christ you must live in the daily exercise of self-denial viz. both of righteous and sinful self the first in respect of Dependance the latter in Philip. 3. 8 9. Eph. 5. 11. respect of Communion one comparatively the other absolutely If the Foundation be not good whatever you build upon it will fall to the ground Macrobius honour'd Hippocrates with this Title That he could neither deceive nor be deceived but you live in an Age wherein you will find many skilful in the art of Deceiving and your tender Years and want of Experience may not be Armour of Proof against their Wiles therefore try your seeming Friends before you trust them as some do their Vessels first with Water and then with Wine and never expect much from them and you will never be deceived by them Trajan advis'd his Master to tell him of his Faults saying He would not be angry with him for it but with himself for deserving it Alexander turn'd away a Philosopher for not doing of it as Aut errores non intelligis insipiens aut si intilligis adulator quia non reprebendis one that was either a Knave or a Fool. And if you rightly understand your self you will esteem them as your best Friends that are Enemies to your Vices It is better according to the Greek Proverb to fall among Crows than Flatterers for they will not eat you until you are dead but these will eat you up while you are alive There are but two ways by which you are ever like to hear of your Faults viz. either by the Reproach of a biter Enemy or the Reproof of a faithful Friend confute the first by your Life and make him a Lyer be thankful to the other and receive it as a kindness A Friend loves at all times Ps 141. 5. Pro. 17. 17 but never more than when reproving When you hear of any Commendation given you enquire who they were that prais'd you if Vertuous make good their Words if Vicious suspect your self What Evil have I done said Socrates that this bad man commends
me The Rabbins have a Saying that we must fly to Mount Gerizim but creep up to Mount Ebal that is we must be swift to Mercy and slow to Anger and it will be your Wisdom to do so Passion is a short Madness it may pass through a wise man's Heart but rests no where but in a Fool 's What is one man's Duty may be another man's Sin and what is lawful at one time may not be Pr. 26. 4 5 lawful at another it will be your Wisdom therefore to understand your Duty the proper season of it and to do it Duty must be done though Safety be hazarded by it Make that out of Question that ought to be matter of the greatest Question viz. Whether Christ 2 Cor. 13. 5. be in you if Christ is not the Devil is but if Christ is then 2 Cor. 5. 1 you are a new Creature Then Christ is formed in you when you are conformed to the Image of Rom. 8. 29 him There are some that pray but Prov. 28. 9 turn away their Ear from God's Law and some that never pray they turn away both Ear and Mouth from God the first are Hypocrites the latter Atheists Mat. 23. 14. none are good that do not pray nor any that do no more for Hypocrites pray though not always therefore neither neglect Job 27. 10 Prayer nor trust in it be not false to your Profession of Religion by living without Prayer nor false to your Prayers by living contrary to them but own that Domine fac me in iis consequendis operam colloeare pro quibus obtinendis soleo ad te orare Sir Thomas More 's Prayer in your Life that you do in your Prayers for Prayer is not only a means to get good but an Engagement to be so Daily Prayer is as necessary for your Soul as daily Bread for your Body Some live as if there was no Heaven and some as if they desir'd no other Heaven but what is here no Paradise but an earthly one but do you live in the belief of it and have your Conversation there while you are here Phil. 3. 20. that you may be there when you shall be here no more A heavenly Conversation Joh. 14. 23 Heb. 12. 14 will at last bring you to a heavenly Habitation Some believe there is no Hell some think there is none but a guilty Conscience and if it were true that will be bad enough some fear no other Hell but Poverty and some will not think of Hell lest melancholy Thoughts should drive them to Despair but do you ever fear Hell that you may never feel it Christ's own Disciples Mat. 10. 28. were bid to fear Hell and did good and bad think more of it both might be better Do nothing against Conscience truly inlightned Quicquid sit contra conscientiam aedificat ad gebennam You cannot have a better Friend next God than Conscience nor a better Jury to acquit you therefore keep that your Conscientia est animae paedagogus ante peccatum froenum post peccatum flagellum Friend whoever is your Enemy Peace there though you have none any where else if you do not you may want a Friend when you will most need him for At the day of Judgment when the Mouth of Conscience shall be open yours will be shut Matt. 22. 12. You live in a World full of Job 5. 7. Troubles and there is but little if any thing else that you can be sure of it will be your Wisdom therefore to expect them and prepare for them before they come and patiently to bear them when they do If you fly the Cross you may lose the Crown The things of this World are requisite that none should under-value them but momentary that none should over-prize them 1 Cor. 7. 30 31. love them therefore as if you did not love them and live above them while you live in the Enjoyment of them It is Folly to love any thing much that you cannot love long Be established in the Truth that you may not be blown about with every Wind of Doctrine Eph. 4. 14. Distraction of Mind is sad but Distraction of Judgment is worse Engage not in any thing in which you cannot expect God's Blessing nor ever expect any Blessing from him in any thing in which you are not first counselled by him In all your ways acknowledge Pro. 3. 6. him and he will direct your Paths Be just to all and deceive none if you do you will deceive your self most of all Honesty is the best Policy Patiently bear Reproaches At the day of Judgment there will Luke 6. 22 23. be a Resurrection of Names as well as of Bodies and then all Jude 15. things shall be set right Heartily forgive Injuries if Mat. 18. 35. you do not you will do a greater Injury to your self It is no Pride to refuse to act below your self you ought therefore to be sensible of them and to make them whoever they are sensible of their Evil that have injured you but you must not revenge it not to be sensible is brutish to revenge is devilish A wise Man will make better use of his Foes than a Fool can of his Friends Never forget a Kindness you receive nor remember any you have done to another The first is Ingratitude Haec beneficis inter duos lex est Alter obtinisci debet dati statim alter accepti nunquam the latter is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Merchandize rather than a Gift Be more afraid to be evil than to be seen to be so and more asham'd not to do good than to Bona agere mala pati regium est be reproach'd for doing of it You may deprecate Shame and complain of it too David did both but you must not either Ps 119. 31 Ps 6◠19 20. shun or fly from Duty to avoid it Live the Life of Faith here if you would live the Life of Sight hereafter and evidence your Faith by your Works for it is no more without them than Jam. 2 ult Fire is without Heat and Light They are none of Abraham's Children that do Job 8. 29. not Abraham's Works Live above the inordinate love of Life and sinful fear of Death and that you may make all sure before you die that when you come to dye you may have nothing else to do but to dye Pulchra res est consummà sse vitam ante mortem Constantine gave it as his chiefest Instruction to his Children that they should prefer the Knowledge of God and his holy Religion above worldly Wealth yea above the Empire and it will be your Wisdom to value it above all the Riches and Honours of this World certainly there is great Excellency in Religion in that the Enemies of it so often put on a form of it its Friends notwithstanding all hazards so much own