and riches of it if they will but submit to the terms on which it is tender'd to them In the vastness of the Ocean we have also a lively Emblem of Eternity Who can comprehend or measure the Ocean but God And who can comprehend Eternity but he that is said to inhabit it Isa. 57. 15. Though shallow Rivers may be drained and dried up yet the Ocean cannot And though these transitory Days Months and Years will at last expire and determine yet Eternity shall not O! it is a long World and amazing Matter What is Eternity but a constant permanency of Persons and Things in one and the same State and Condition for ever putting them beyond all possibility of change The Heathens were wont to shadow it by a Cricle or a Snake twisted round It will be to all of us either a perpetual Day or Night which will not be measured by Watches Hours Minutes And as it cannot be measured so neither can it ever be diminished When thousands of years are gone there is not a minute less to come Gerhard and Drexelius do both illustrate it by this known similitude Suppose a Bird were to come once in a thousand years to some vast Mountain of Sand and carry away in her Bill one Sand in a thousand years O what a vast time would it be e're that immortal Bird after that rate had recovered the Mountain and yet in time this might be done For there would be still some diminution but in Eternity there can be none There be three things in Time which are not competent to Eternity In Time there is a Succession one Generation Year and Day passeth and another comes but Eternity is a fixed now In Time there is a Diminution and wasting the more is past the less to come But it is not so in Eternity In time there is an Alteration of condition and states A Man may be poor to day and rich to morrow sickly and diseased this week and well the next now in contempt and anon in honour But no change passes upon us in Eternity As the Tree falls at Death and Judgment so it lies for ever If in Heaven there thou art a Pillar and shalt go forth no more Rev. 3. 12. If in Hell no Redemption thence but the smoak of their torments ascendeth for ever and ever Rev. 19. 3. REFLECTION And is the Mercy of God like the great Deeps an Ocean that none can fathom What unspeakable Comfort is this to me may the pardoned Soul say Did Israel sing a Song when the Lord had overwhelm'd their corporal Enemies in the Seas And shall not I break forth into his Praises who hath drowned all my sins in the depth of Mercy O my Soul bless thou the Lord and let his high praises ever be in thy mouth Mayst not thou say that he hath gone to as high an extent and degree of Mercy in pardoning thee as ever he did in any Oh my God who is like unto thee that pardonest Iniquity Transgression and Sin What mercy but the Mercy of a God could cover such abominations as mine But O! what terrible Reflections will Conscience â—ake from hence upon all the Despisers of Mercy when the sinners eyes come to be opened too late for Mercy to do them good We have heard inâ—eed that the King of Heaven was a merciful King â—ut we would make no address to Him whilst that Scepter was stretched out We heard of Balm in Gilead and a Physician there that was able and willing to cure all our wounds but would not commit our seives to him We read that the Arms of Christ were open to embrance and receive us but we would not O unparallel'd folly O Soul-destroying madness Now the Womb of Mercy is shut up and shall bring forth no more Mercies to me for ever Now the Gates of Grace are shut and no cries can open them Mercy acted its part and is gone off the Stage and now Justice enters the Scene and will be glorified for ever upon me How often did I hear the Bowels of Compassion sounding in the Gospel for me But my hard and impenitent heart could not relent and now if it could it is too late I am now past out of the Ocean of Mercy into the Ocean of Eternity where I am fixed in the midst of endless Misery and shall never hear the Voice of Mercy more O dreadful Eternity Oh Soul-confounding Word â— An Ocean indeed to which this Ocean is but as a drop for in thee no Soul shall see either Bank or Bottom If I lie but one Night under strong pains of body how tedious doth that Night seem And how do I tell the Clock and wish for day In the World I might have had Life and would not And now how fain would I have Death but cannot â— How quick were my sins in execution And how long is their punishment in duration O how shall I dwell with everlasting Burnings Oh that God would but vouchsafe one treaty more with me Buâ— alas all tenders and treaties are now at an end with me On Earth peace Luke 2. 13. but none in Hell O my Soul consider these things come let us debate this matter seriously before we launch oâ— into this Ocean THE POEM Who from some high-rais'd Tower views the ground His heart doth tremble and his head doth round Even so my Soul whilst it doth view and think On this Eternity upon whose brink It borders stands amazed and doth cry O boundless bottomless Eternity The Scourge of Hell whose very Lash doth rend The damned Souls in twain What! never end The more thereon they ponder think and pore The more poor wretches still they howl and roar Ah! though more years in torments we should lie Than Sands are on the Shore or in the Skie Are twinkling Stars yet this gives some relief The hope of ending Ah! but here 's the grief A thousand Years in Torments past and gone Ten Thousand more afresh are coming on And when these Thousands all their course have run The end 's no more than when it first begun Come then my Soul let us discourse together This weighty Point and tell me plainly whether You for these short-liv'd Ioys that come and go Will plunge your self and me in endless woe Resolve the Question quickly do not dream More Time away Lo in an hasty stream We swiftly pass and shortly we shall be Ingulphed both in this Eternity CHAP. III. Within these smooth-fac'd Seas strange Creatures crawl But in Man's Heart far stranger than them all OBSERVATION IT was an unadvised saying of Plato Mare nil memorabile producit The Sea produceth nothing memorable But surely there is much of the Wisdom Power and Goodness of God manifested in those Inhabitants of the Watery Region Notwithstanding the Seas azure and smiling face Strange Creatures are bred in its Womb. O Lord saith David how manifold are thy works In wisdom hast thou made them all the Earth is full
of thy riches So is this great and wide Sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great Beasts Psalm 104. 24 25. And we read Lam. 4. 3. of Sea-Monsters which draw out their Breasts to their young Pliny and Purchas tell incredible stories about them About the Tropick of Capricorn our Sea-men meet with flying Fishes that have Wings like a Rere-mouse but of a Silver-colour they fly in flocks like Stares There are Creatures of very strange Forms and Properties some resembling a Cow called by the Spaniards Manates by some supposed to be the Sea-monster spoken of by Ieremy In the Rivers of Guiana Purchas saith there are Fishes that have four Eyes bearing two above and two beneath the Water when they swim Some resembling a Toad and very poisonous How strange both in shape and property is the Sword-fish and Thrasher that fight with the Whale Even our own Seas produce Creatures of strange shapes but the commonness takes off the wonder APPLICATION Thus doth the heart of Man naturally swarm and abound with strange and monstrous lusts and abominations Rom. 1. 29 30 31 Being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness fuil of envy murder debate deceit malignity whisperers back-bitâ—rs haters of God despiteful proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to Parents without understanding covenant-breakers without natural affection implacable unmerciful O what a swarm is here and yet there are multitudes more in the depths of the heart And it is no wonder considering that with this Nature we received the spawn of the blackest and vilest abominations This original lust is productive to them all Iam. 1. 14. 15. Which lust though it be in every Man numerically different from that of others yet it is one and the same speciffically for sort and kind in all the Children of Adam even as the reasonable Soul though every Man hath his own Soul viz a Soul individually distinct from another Man's yet is it the same for kind in all men So that whatever abominations are in the hearts and lives of the vilest Sodomites and most profligate Wretches under Heaven there is the same matter in thy heart out of which they were shaped and formed In the depths of the heart they are conceived and thence they crawl out of the eyes hands lips and all the members Mat. 15. 18. 19. Those things saith Christ which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and defile a man For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false-witness blasphemies Even such Monsters as would make a gracious heart tremble to behold What are my Lusts saith Fuller's Medone but so many Toads spitting of Venome tations p 11. and spawning of Poison croaking in my Iudgment creeping in my Will and crawling into my Affecttions The Apostle in 1 Cor. 5. 1. tells us of a sin Not to be named so monstrous that Nature it self startles at it Even such Monsters are generated in the depths of the heart Whence comes evils was a Question that much puzled the Philosphers of old Now here you may see whence they come and when they are begotten REFLECTION And are there such strange abominations in the heart of Man Then how is he degenerated from his Perfection and Glory His streams were once as clear as Chrystal and the Fountain of them pure there was no unclean Creature moving in them What a stately Fabrick was the Soul at first And what holy Inhabitants possessed the several rooms thereof But now as God speaks of Idumea Isai. 34. 11. The line of confusion is stretched out upon it and the stones of emptiness The Cormorant and Bittern posses it the Owl and the Raven dwell in it Yea as Isai. 13. 21. 22. The wild beasts of the desert lie there is is full of doleful creatures the Satyrs dance in it and Dragons cry in those sometimes pleasant places O sad change how sadly may we look back towards our first state and take up the words of Iob O that I were as in months past as in the days of my youth when the Almighty was yet with me when I put on righteousness and it cloathed me when my glory was fresh in me Job 29. 2 4. 5. Again think O my Soul what a miserable condition the Unregenerate abide in Thus swarmed and over-run with hellish Lusts â—nder the dominion and vassalage of divers Lusts Tit. 3. 3. What a tumultuous Sea is such a Soul How do these Lusts rage within them how do they contest and scuffle for the Throne and usually take it by turns For as all Diseases are contrary to health yet some contrary to each other so are Lusts. Hence poor Creatures are hurried on to different kinds of servitude according to the Nature of that imperious Lust that is in the Throne and like the Lunatick Mat. 17. are sometimes cast into the VVater and somtimes into the Fire Well might the Prophet say The wicked is like a troubled Sea that cannot rest Isai. 57. 20. They have no peace now in the serv ice of sin and less they shall have hereafter when they receive the wages of sin There is no peaec to the wicked saith my God they indeed cry Peace peace but my God doth not say so The last issue and result of this is Eternal Death no sooner is it delivered of its deceitfull pleasures but presently it falls in travel again and brings forth death Iam. 1 15. Once more And is the Heart such a Sea abounding with monstrous abominations then stand astonished O my Soul at that Free-grace which hath delivered thee from so sad a Condition O fall down and kiss the feet of Mercy that moved so freely and seasonably to thy rescue Let my heart be enlarged abundantly here Lord what am I that I should be taken and others left Reflect O my Soul upon the Conceptions and Births of Lusts in the days of Vanity which thou now blushest to own O what black imaginations hellish desires vile affections are lodged there Who made me to differ Or how came I to be thus wounderfully separated Surely it is by thy Free-grace and nothing else that I am what I am And by that Grace I have escaped to mine own astonishment the corruption that is in the World through Lust. O that ever the holy God should set his eyes on such an one or cast a look of love towards me in whom were Legions of unclean Lusts and Abominations THE POEM My Soul 's the Sea wherein from day to day Sins like Leviathans do sport and play Great Master-Lusts with all the lesser fry Therein increase and strangely multiply Yet strange it is not sin so fast should breed Since with this Nature I receiv'd the Seed And Spawn of every Species which was shed Into its Caverns first then nourished By its own native warmth which like the Sun Hath quickned them and now abroad they come And like the Frogs of Aegypt creep
God as Deut. 32. 15. Forget God Deut. 4. 14. Yea grow proud of our strength and riches Ezek. 16. 15. and Ier. 2. 31. Ah! How few of us in the days of our prosperity behaved our selves as good Iehosaphat did 2 Chron. 17. 5 6. He had silver and gold in abundance and his heart was lifted in the way of God's Commandments not in pride and insolence REFLECTION Are these the sins that blast our Blessings and wither our Mercies O then let me cease to wonder it is no better and rather admire that it is no worse with me that my neglect of Prayer injustice in dealings Earthly-mindedness and abuse of former Mercies have not provoked God to strip me naked out of all my enjoyments Let me humbly accept from the Lord the punishment of my Iniquities and lay my hand upon my mouth And O that these disappointments might convince me of the Creatures vanity and cause me to drive on another trade for Heaven then shall I adore thy wisdom in rending from me those idolized enjoyments Ah Lord when I had them my heart was a perpetual drudge to them How did I then forget God neglect duty and not mind my eternal concernments Oh if these had not perished in all probability I had perished My God let my Soul prosper and then a small portion of these things shall afford me more comfort than ever I had in their greatest abundance A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked Psal. 37. 16. THE POEM There 's great Complaint abroad that Trading's bad You shake your head and cry 'T is sad 't is sad Merchants lay out their stock Sea-men their pains And in their eye they both may put their gains Your Fishing fails you wonder why 't is so 'T is this saith one or that but I say No 'T will ne'r be well till you confess and say It is our sin that frights the Fish away No wonder all goes into Bags with Holes Since so the Gospel hath been in your Souls We kick'd like Jesurun when the flowing Tide Of Wealth came tumbling in this nourish'd Pride 'Twixt Soul and Body now I wish it may Fare as betwixt the Jews and us this day O that our outward want and loss may be To us a Soul-enriching Poverty If disappointments here advance the Trade For Heaven then complain not you have made The richest Voyage and your empty Ships Return deep laden with Soul-benefits CHAP. XXIV In Seas the greater Fish the less devour So some Men crush all those within their power OBSERVATION THere are Fishes of Prey in the Sea as well as Birds and Beasts of Prey on the Land Our Sea-men tell us how the devouring Whales Sharks Dolphins and other Fishes follow the Caplein and other smaller Fish and devour multitudes of them It is frequent with us in our own Seas to find several smaller Fishes in the Bellies of the greater ones yea I have often heard Sea-men say That the poor little Fry when pursued are so sensible of the danger that they have sometimes seen multitudes of them cast themselves upon the Shoar and perish there to avoid the danger of being devoured by them APPLICATION Thus cruel merciless and oppressive are wicked Men whose tender mercies are cruelty Prov. 22. 10. We see the like cruelty in our Extortioners and over-reaching Sharks ashore who grind the faces of the Poor and regard not the Cries of the Fatherless and Widows but fill their Houses with the gain of Oppression These are by the Holy Ghost compared to the fishes of the Sea Hab. 1. 13 14. This is a crying sin yea it sends up a loud cry to Heaven for Vengeance Exod. 22 23. If thou afflict the widow and the fatherless and they cry unto me I will surely hear their cry And Verse 27. I will hear his cry for I am gracious Nay God will not only hear their Cry but avenge their Quarrel That is a remarkable Text 1 Thes. 4. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such This word Avenger is but once more used in the New Testament Rom. 13. 4. And there it is applyed to the Civil Magistrate who is to see Execution done upon Offenders But now this is a Sin that sometimes may bâ— out of the reach of mans Justice and therefore God himself will be their Avenger You may overpower the Poor in this World and it may be they cannot contend with you at mans Barr therefore God will bring it before his Barr. Believe it Sirs it is a sin so provoking to God that he will not let it 'scape without severe punishment sooner or later The Prophet Habbakkuk Chap. 1. verse 13. wondred how the holy God could forbear such till the general day of reckoning and that he did not take exemplary Vengeance on them in this Life Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look upon Iniquity Wherefore then lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he And Prov. 23. 10 11. Enter not into the Fields of the Fatherless i. e. Of the poor and helpless But why is it more dangerous violently to invade their right than anothers The reason is added For their Redeemer is mighty and he shall plead their cause with thee It may be they are not able to retain a Counsel to plead their cause here therefore God will plead their cause for them REFLECTION Turn in upon thy self O my Soul and consider Hast thou not been guilty of this crying sin Have I not when a Servant over-reached and defrauded others and filled my Master's House with Violence and Deceit and so brought myself under that dreadful threatning Zeph. 1. 9. Or since I came to trade and deal upon mine own account have not the Ballances of Deceit been in my hand I have it may be kept many in my service and employment have not I used their labours without reward and so am under that woe Ier. 22. 13. Or not given them Wages proportionable to their work Isai. 58. 3. Or by bad Payment and unjust Deductions and Allowances defrauded them of a part of their due Mal. 3. 5. Or at least delayed payment ouâ— of a covetous disposition to gain by it whilst their necessities in the mean time cryed aloud for it and so sinned against God's express commands Deut. 24. 14 15. Levit. 19. 30. Or have I not persecuted such as God hath smitten Psal. 69. 26. And rigorously exacted the uttermost of my due though the hand of God hath gone out against them breâ—king their estates O my Soul examine thy self upon these particulars rest not quiet until this guilt be â—emoved by the application of the Blood of Sprinkling Hath not the Lord said Jam. 2. 13. That they shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy
meat without thanksgiving O! Let the abusers and despisers of such Mercies fear and tremble Quer. 3. Have you not been eminently protected and saved by the Lord in the greatest dangers and hazards of life in fights at Sea when men have dropt down at your right hand and at your left and yet the Lord hath cover'd your heads in the day of battle And though you have been equally obnoxious to Death and Danger with others yet your name was not found among theirs in the list of the dead Or in Shipwracks ah how narrowly have some of you escaped A plank hath been cast in you know not how to save you when your Companions for want of it have gone down to the bottome or you have been enabled to swim to the Shore when others have fainted in the way and perished In what a variety of strange and astonishing Providences hath God walked towards some of you and what returns have you made to God for it Oh Sirs I beseech you consider but these two or three things that I shall now lay before you to consider of Consid. 1. An Heathen will do more for a dung-hil-Deity than thou that callest thy self a Christian wilt do for the true God that made Heaven and Earth Dan. 5. 4. They praised the Gods of Silver and of Gold and of Brass of Iron Wood and Stone When the Philistines were delivered from the hand of Sampson the Text saith Iudg. 16. 24. They praised their God c. Then Dagon must be extolled Oh let shame cover they face Consid. 2. That the abuse of Mercy and Love is a sin that goes neer to the heart of God O! he cannot bear it It is not the giving out of mercy that troubles him for that he doth with delight but the recoyling of his mercies upon him by the creatures ingratitude this wounds Be astonished O ye heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid And again Hear O heavens and give ear O earth Isa. 1. 2. q. d. O you innocent Creatures which inviolably observe the law of your Creation be you all astonished and cloathed in black to see Nature cast by sin so far below it self and that in a Creature so much superiour to you as Man who in the very womb was crown'd a King and admitted into the highest Order of Creatures and set as Lord and Master over you yet doth he act not onely below himself but below the very beasts The Ox knoweth his owner i. e. There is a kind of gratitude in the beasts by which they acknowledge their benefactors that feed and preserve them Oh! What a pathetical exclamation is that Deut. 32. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Consid. 3. It is a sin that kindles the wrath of God and will make it burn dreadfully against thee unthankful sinner it stirs up the anger of God in whomsoever it be found though in the person of a Saint 2 Chron. 32. 25. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Ierusalem And so you read Rom. 1. That the Heathen because they were not thankful were given up to vile affections the â—orest Plague in the world It is a sin that the God of Mercy scarce knows how to pardon Ier. 5. 7. How shall I pardon thee for this This forgetting of the God that saves us in our extremities is a sin that brings desolation and ruine the effects of God's high displeasure upon all our temporal enjoyments See that remarkable Scripture Isa. 17. 10 11. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength Therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants and shalt set it with strange slips in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish but the Harvest shall be an heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow The meaning is that God will blast and curse all thine employments and thou shalt be under desperate sorrow by reason of the disappointments of thy hopes Consid. 4. It 's a sin that cuts off Mercy from you in future straits if you thus requite the Lord for former mercies never expect the like in future distresses God is not weary of his blessings to cast them away upon such Souls that are but graves to them Mark what a reply God made to the Israelites when they cryed unto him for help being invaded by the Amorites Judg. 10. 11 12 13. Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites from the Children of Ammon and from the Philistines The Zidonians also and the Amalekites and ye cryed unto me and I delivered you out of their hands yet ye have forsaken me and served other Gods wherefore I will deliver you no more O sad word It is as if the Lord had said I have tryed what mercy and deliverance will do with you and I see you are never the better for it deliverance is but seed sown upon the Rocks I will cast away no more favours upon you now look to your selves shift for your selves for time to come wade through your troubles as well as you can O brethren there is nothing more quickly works the ruine of a People than the abuse of mercy O methinks this Text should strike terrour into your hearts How often hath God delivered you Remember thy eminent deliverance at such a time in such a Country out of such a deep distress God was gracious to thy cry then thou hast forgotten and abused this mercy what now if God should say as in the Text Therefore I will deliver thee no more Ah poor Soul What would'st thou do then or to whom wilt thou turn It may be thou wilt cry to the Creatures for help and pity but alas to what purpose they will give as cold and as comfortless an answer as Samuel gave unto Saul 1 Sam. 28. 15 16. And Samuel said to Saul VVherefore hast â—hou disquieted me to bring me up And Saul answered I am sore distressed for the Philistines make war against me and God is departed from me and answereth me no more neither by Prophets nor by Dreams therefore have I called thee c. Then said Samuel Wherefore then doest thou ask of me seeing the Lord is departed from thee and become thine enemy O! thou wilt be a poor shiftless creature if once by abusing mercy thou make it thy Enemy Secondly For the breach of Vows made in distress to obtain these mercies and easily forgotten and violated by thee when thou hast obtained thy desire A word or two to convince you what a further evil lies in this and how by this consideration thy sins come to be boyed up to a greater height and aggravation of finfulness and then I have done with this Head A Vow is a promise made to God in the things
5. 10. and then they shall suffer no more 2 Thes. 1. 7. But all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes Rev. 7. 17. But my Troubles look with a long Visage Ah! they are but the beginning of sorrows but a parboiling before I be roasted in the flames of God's eternal wrath If I continue as I am I shall but deceive my self if I conclude I shall be happy in the other World because I have met with so much sorrow in this For I read Iude 7. that the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha though consumed to ashes with all their Estates and Relations a sorer Temporal Judgment than ever yet befel me do notwithstanding that continue still in everlasting Chains under Darkness in which they are reserved unto the Iudgment of the Great Day The Troubles of the Saints are sanctified to them but mine are fruits of the Curse They have spiritual Consolations to ballance them which flow into their Souls in the same height and degree as Troubles do upon their Bodies 2 Cor. 1. 5. But I am a stranger to their Comforts and intermeddle not with their Ioys Prov. 14. 10. If their hearts be surcharged with Trouble they have a God to go to and when they have open'd their Cause before him they are eased return with comfort and their Countenance is no more sad 1 Sam. 1. 18. When their Belly is as Bottles full of new Wine they can give it vent by pouring out of their Souls into their Father's Bosome But I have no interest in nor acquaintance with this God nor can I pray unto him in the Spirit My griefs are shut up like fire in my bosome which preys upon my spirit This is my â—orrow and I alone must bear it O my Soul look round about thee What a miserable case art thou â—n Rest no longer satisfied in it but look out for a Christ also What though I be a vile unworthy wretch yet he promiseth to love freely Hos. 14. 4. and invites such as are heavy laden to him Mat. 11. 28. Hence also should the gracious Soul reflect sweetly upon it self after this manner And is the World so full of trouble O my Soul what cause hast thou to stand admiring at the indulgence and goodness of God to thee Thou hast hitherto had a smooth â—assage comparatively to what others have had How hath Divine Wisdom ordered my Condition and cast my Lot Have I been chastised with Whips others with Scorpions Have I had no peace without Some have neither had peace without nor within but terrours round about Or have I felt trouble in my flesh and spirit at once Yet have they not been extream either for time or measure And hath the World been a Sodom an Aegypt to thee Why then dost thou thus linger in it and hanker after it Why do I not long to be gone and sigh more heartily for Deliverance Why are the thoughts of my Lord 's coming no sweeter to me and the day of my full deliverance no more panted for And why am I no more careful to maintain peace within since there is so much trouble without Is not this it that puts weight into all outward troubles and makes them sinking that they fall upon me when my spirit is dark or wounded THE POEM My Soul art thou besieged with troubles round about If thou be wise take this Advice to keep these troubles out Wise Men will keep their Conscience as their eyes For in their Conscience their best Treasure lies See you be tender of your inward peace That shipwrackt then your Mirth and Ioy must ceas If God from you your outward Comforts rend You 'll find what need you have of such a Friend If this be not by sin destroy'd and lost You need not fear your Peace will quit your cost If youl 'd know How to sweeten any grief Though ne'r so great or to procure relief Against th' afflictions which like deadly Darts Most fatal are to Men of carnal hearts Reject not that which Conscience bids you chusc And chuse not you what Conscience saith Refuse If sin you must or Misery under lie Resolve to bear and chuse the Misery CHAP. II. In the vast Ocean Spiritual Eyes desâ—ry God's boundless Mercy and Eternity OBSERVATION THE Ocean is of a vast extent and depth though supposedly measurable yet not to be sounded by Man It compasseth about the Whole Earth which in the account of Geographers is Twenty one thousand and six hundred Miles in compass yet the Ocean invirons it on every side Psal. 104. 25. and Iob 11. 9. Suitable to which is that of the Poet. Tum freta diffudit rapidisque tumescere ventis Iussit ambitae circumdare littora terrae Ovid He spread the Seas which then he did command To swell with Winds and compass round the Land And for its Depth who can discover it The Sea in Scripture is called The Deep Job 38. 30. The Great Deep Gen. 7. 11. The gathering together of the Waters into one place Gen. 1. 9. If the vastest Mountain were cast into it it would appear no more than the head of a Pin in a Tun of Water APPLICATION This in a lively manner shaddows forth the infinite and incomprehensible Mercy of our God whose Mercy is said to be over all his works Psal. 145. 9. In how many sweet Notions is the Mercy of God represented to us in the Scripture He is said to be Plenteous Psal. 4. 5. Abundant 1 Pet. 1. 3. Rich Eph. 2. 4. in mercy then that his Mercies are unsearchable Ephes. 3. 8. High as the Heaven above the Earth Psal. 10. 4. Which are so high and vast that the whole Earth is but a small point to them yea they are not only compared to the Heavens but to come home to the Metaphor to the Depths of the Sea Mic. 7. 19. which can swallow up Mountains as well as Mole-hills and in this Sea God hath drowned sins of a dreadful height and aggravation even Scarlet Crimson i. e. deep dyed with many intensive aggravations Isa. 1. 18. In this Sea was the sin of Manasseh drowned and of what magnitude that was may be seen 2 Chron. 33. 3. Yea in this Ocean of Mercy did the Lord drown and cover the sins of Paul though a Blasphemer a Persecutor Injurious 1 Tim. 1. 13. None saith Augustine more fierce than Paul among the Persecutors and therefore none greater among sinners to which himself willingly subscribes 1 Tim. 1. 1â—â— yet pardoned How hath Mercy rode in triumph and been glorified upon the vilest of Men How hath it stopâ— the slanderous mouth of Men and Devils It hath yearned upon Fornicators Idolâ—ters Adulterers Thieves Covetous Drunkards Revilers Extortioners to such hath the Scepter of Mercy been stretched forth upon their unfeigned repentance and submission 1 Cor. 6. 9. What doth the Spirit of God aim at in such a large accumulation of Names of Mercy But to convince poor sinners of the abundant fulness
make your hearts shake within you If but a Plank spring or a Bolt give way you are all lost Sometimes the Lord for the magnifying of the riches of his goodness upon you drives you to such exigencies that as Paul speaks in a like case Acts 17. 20. All hopes of being saved is taken away Nothing but Death before your eyes The Lord commands a Wind out of his Treasury bids it go and lift up the terrible Waves look you in upon the shore and drive you upon the Rocks so that no Art can save you and then sends you a piece of Wreck or some other means to land you safe And all this to give you an experiment of his goodness and pity that you may learn to fear that God in whose hand your Soul and Breath is And it may be for present your hearts are much affected Conscience works strongly it smites you for sins formerly committed such cannsels of Ministers or Relations slighted Now saith Conscience God is come in this storm to reckon with thee for these things But alas all this is but a morning-dew no sooner is that storm without allayed but all is quiet within too How little of the goodness of God abides kindly and effectually upon the heart REFLECTION How often hath this glorious power and goodness of God passed before me in dreadful storms and tempests at Sea He hath uttered his Voice in those stormy Winds and spoken in a terrible manner by them yet how little have I been affected with it The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm Nah. 1. 3. To some he hath walked in ways of Judgment and Wrath sending them down in a moment to Hell but to me in a way of forbearance and mercy Ah how often have I been upon the very brink of Eternity Had not God shifted or allaid the Wind in a moment I had gone down into Hell What workings of Conscience were at present upon me And what terrible apprehensions had I then of my eternal condition What Vows did I make in that distress and how earnestly did I then beg for Mercy But Lord though thy Vows are upon me yet have I been the same yea added to and filled up the measure of my sins Neither the bonds of Mercy thou hast laid upon me nor the sacred and solemn Vows I have laid upon my self could restrain me from those ways of iniquity which then appeared so dreadful to me Ah Lord what an heart have I What love pity and goodness have I sinned against If God had but respited Judgment so long what a mercy were it Sure I am the damned would account it so but to give me such a space to repent Ah what an invaluable Mercy is this And do I thus requite the Lord Deut. 32. 6. and pervert and abuse his goodness thus Surely O my Soul if this be the fruit of all thy preservations they are rather reservations to some further and sorer judgment How dreadfully will Justice at last avenge the Quarrel of abused Mercy Iosh. 24. 20. How grievously did God take it from the Israelites that they provoked him at the Sea even at the Red Sea Psal. 106. 7. where God had wrought there deliverance in such a miraculous way Even thus have I sinned after the similitude of there transgressions not onely against the Laws of God but against the Love of God In the last storm he shot off his VVarning-piece in the next he may discharge his Murdering-piece against my Soul and body O my Soul hath he given thee such deliverances as these and darest thou again break his Commandments Ezra 9. 13 14. O let me pay the Vows that my lips have uttered in my distress lest the Lord recover his glory from me in a way of Judgment THE POEM The Ship that now sails trim before a Wind E're the desired Port it gains may find A tedious passage Gentle Gales a-while Do fill its Sails the flattering Seas do smile The Face of Heaven is bright on every side The wanton Porpice tumbles on the Tide Into their Cahbins now the Sea-men go And then turn out again with What chear ho All on a sudden darkned are the Skies The Lamp of Heaven abscur'd the Winds do rise Waves sâ—ell like Mountains Now their Courage flags The Masts are crackt the Canvas torn to rags The Vessel works for life anon one cries The Main mast's gone by th' Board another plies The â—ump until a third do strike them blank With Sirs prepare for Death w' have sprung a Plank Now to their Knees they go and on this wise They beg for Mercy with their loudest Cries Lord save us but this once and thou shalt see What Persons for the future we will he Our former â—im's mis-spent but with a Vow VVe will engage if thou wilt save us now To mend what is amiss The gracious Lord Inclin'd to pity takes them at their word The VVinds into their Treasures he doth call Rebukes the stormy Sea and brinâ—s them all To their desired Haven once ashore And then their Vows are ne'r remembred more Thus Souls are shipwrackt tho the Bodies live Vnless in time thou true Repentance give CHAP. VIII The Navigator shifts his Sails to take All VVinds but that which for his Soul doth make OBSERVATION THE Mariner wants no Skill and wisdom to improve several Winds and make them serviceable to his eud A bare side-wind by his skill in shifting and managing the Sails will serve his turn He will not lose the advantage of one breath or gale that may be useful to him I have many times wonder'd to see two Ships failing in a direct counter-motion by one and the same wind Their skill and wisdom herein is admirable APPLICATION Thus prudent and skilful are Men in secular and lower matters and yet how ignorant and unskilful in the great and everlasting affairs of their Souls All their Invention Judgment Wit and Memory seem to be prest for the service of the flesh They can learn an Art quickly and arrive to a great deal of exactness in it but in soul-matters no knowledge at all They can understand the Aequator Meridian and Horizon By the first they can tell the Latitude of any place South or North measuring it by the degrees in the Meridian by the second they can tell you the Longitude of a place East and West from the Meridian measuring it by the degrees of the Aequator And by the third they can discern the divers risings and settings of the Stars And so in other Arts and Sciences we find men endowed with rare abilities and singular sagacity Some have piercing Apprehensions solid Judgments stupendious Memories rare Invention and excellent elocution But put them upon any spiritual pernatural matter and the weakest Christian even a babe in Christ shall excel them therein and give a far better account of Regeneration the Work of Grace the Life of Faith than these can 1 Cor. 1. 26. Not many
of Heaven ring and eccho when the high praises of God shall be in the mouth of such a Congregation then shall the Saints be joyfbl in glory and sing aloud upon their Beds of everlasting Rest. REFLECTION And is there such a day approaching for the Sons of God indeed and have I authority to call my selfe one of the number Iohn 1. 12. O then let me not droop at present difficulties nor hang down my hands when I meet with hardships in the way O my Soul what a joyful day will this be for at present we are tost upon an Ocean of troubles fears temptations but these will make Heaven the sweeter Chear up then O my Soul thy Salvation is now nearer than when thou first believedsts Rom. 13. 11. And it will not now be long ere I receive the end of my Faith 1 Pet. 1. 9. And then it will be sweet to reflect even upon these hardships in the way Yet a few days more and then comes that blessed day thou hast so long waited and panted for Oppose the glory of that day O my Soul to thy present abasures and sufferings as blessed Paul did Ram. 1. 18. And thou shalt see how it will shrink them all up to nothing Oppose the Inheritance thou shalt receive in that day to thy losses for Christ now and see how joyfully it will make thee bear them Heb. 10. 34. Oppose the honour that will be put upon thee in that day to thy present reproaches and see how easieiâ— will make them to thee 1 Cor 4. 5. What condition can I be in wherein the believing thoughts of this blessed day cannot relieve me Am I poor Here is that which answers Poverty Jam. 3. 5. Hearken my beloved Brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in Faith and heirs of the Kingdom Am I tempted Here is relief against that Revel 12. 16. Now is come Salvation and strength for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down c. Am I deserted Here is a remedy for that too Revel 22. 5. And there shall be no night there c. Come then my Soul let us enter upon our Inheritance by degrees and begin the Life of Heaven upon Earth THE POEM VVhen Solomon in Isreal first was King Heaven's Arches Earth's Foundations seem'd to ring VVith joyful Exclamations How much more VVill Heaven resound when Saints are come ashore How will the ravish'd Souls transported be At the first glimpse of Christ VVhom they shall see In all his glory and shall live and move Like Salamanders in the fire of love A flood of tears convey'd them to the Gate VVhere endless Ioys receiv'd them Now the date Of all their Sorrow 's out henceforth they walk In Robes of Glory Now there 's no more talk Of fears temptations of that snare or this No Serpent in that Paradise doth hiss No more desertions troubled thoughts or tears Christ's full enjoyment supersedes those fears Delights of Princes Courts are all but toys To these delights these are transcendent joys The joys of Christ himself and what they are An Angel's Tongue would stammer to declare Were our Conceptions clear did their Tongues go Vnto their Ela yet the Note 's too low What! Paint the Son too bright it cannot be Sure Heaven suffers no Hyperbole My thoughts are swallowed up my Muse doth doth tire And hang her Wings Conception soars no higher Give me a place among thy Children there Although I lie with them in Dungeons here A Concluding Speech I Have now done and am looking to Heaven for a blessing upon these weak Labours what use you will make of them I know not but this I know that the day is coming when God will reckon with you for this and all other helps and means afforded to you And if it be not improved by you be sure it will be produced as a witness against you Sirs I beg you in the Name of Christ before whom both you and I must shortly appear that you receive not these things in vain Did I know what other lawful means to use that might reach your hearts they should not be in vain to you but I cannot do God's part of the work nor yours Onely I request you all both Masters common Men and all others into whose hands this shall come that you will lay to heart what you read pray unto him that hath the Key of the House of David that openeth and no man shutteth to open your hearts to give entertainment to these truths Alas If you apply it not to your selves I have Iaboured to no purpose the Pen of the Scribe is in vain But God may make such an application of them in one Storm or another as may make your hearts to tremble O Sirs when Death and Eternity look you in the face Conscience may reflect upon these things to your horror and amazement and make you cry out as Prov. 5. 12 13. How have I hated knowledge and my heart despised reproof And have not obeyed the voice of my Teacher nor inclined my ears to them that instructed me And O what a dreadful shriek will such Souls give when the Lord opens their eyes to see that misery that they are here warned of But if the Lord shall bless these things to your Conversion then we may say to you as Moses did to Zebulun the Mariner's Tribe Deut. 33. 12. Rejoyce Zebulun in thy going out The Lord will be with you which way soever you turn you selves and being in the bosome of the Covenant you are safe in the midst of all dangers O! thou that art the Father of Spirits that formedst and canst easily reform the heart open thou the blind eye unstop the deaf ear let the Word take hold upon the heart If thou wilt but say the word these weak Labours shall prosper to bring home many lost Souls unto thee Amen FINIS A Pathetical and Serious DISSWASIVE From the Horrid and Detestable Sins OF Drunkenness Swearing Uncleanness Forgetfulness of Mercies Uiolation of Promises and Atheistical Contempt of Death APPLIED By way of CAUTION to Sea-men and now added as an APPENDIX to their NEW COMPASS Being an Essay toward their much desired Reformation Fit to be seriously recommended to their Profane Relations whether Sea-men or others by all such as unfeignedly desire their Eternal Welfare By IOHN FLAVEL Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 5. 19. Knowing therefore the terrours of the LORD we perswade men Ezek. 3. 19. Yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way he shall die in his iniquity but thou hast delivered thy soul. LONDON Printed by Tho. Parkust and M. Fabian 1698. To the Right Worshipful Sir Iohn Frederick Kt One of the Worshipful Aldermen of the City of LONDON and their Honourable BURGESS in the present PARLIAMENT And to the truly Religious and ever Honoured Mr. Iohn Lovering Of the City of London MERCHANT Much honour'd and
can rule Iam. 3. 7 8. The fiercest of beasts have been tamed by Man as the Apostle there observes which is a relique of his old superiority and dominion over them But this is an unruly Member that none can tame but he that made it no beast so fierce and crabbed as this is It may be I may be bitten by it for my labour and indeavours to put a restraint upon it but I shall adventure it My design is not to dishonour or exasperate you But if my faithfulness to God and you should accidentally do so I cannot help that Friends Providence oftentimes confines many of you together within the narrow limits of a Ship where you have time enough and if your hearts were sanctified many choice advantages of edifying one another O what transcendent subjects doth Providence daily present you with to take up your discourses How many experiences of extraordinary mercies and preservations have you to relate to one another and bless the Lord for Also how many works of wonder do you daily behold who go down into the deeps O what heavenly imployment is here for your Tongues How should they be talking of all his wonders How should you call upon each other as David did Psal. 66. 16. Come hither and I will tell you what God hath done for my soul at such a time in such an extremity How should you call upon one another to pay the vows your lips have uttered in your distress Thus should one provoke another to this Angelical Work as one lively Bird sets the whole Flock a Chirping But tell me Sirs Should a Man come abaord you at Sea and ask of you as Christ did of those two Disciples going to Emmaus Luke 24. 17. VVhat manner of communication is this that ye have hy the way O what a sad account would he have from most of you It may be he should find one Iesting and another Swearing a third Reviling Godliness and the Professors of it so that it would be a little Hell for a serious Christian to be confined to your Society This is not I am confident the manner of all We have a company of more sober Seamen and blessed be God for them but surely thus stands the case with most of you Oh what stuff is here from persons professing Christianity and bordering close upon the confines of Eternity as you do It is not my purpose to write of all the diseases of the Tongue that would fill a Volume and is inconsistent with my intended brevity Who can recount the evils of the Tongue The Apostle saith It is a world of Iniquity Jam. 3. 6. And if there be a world of Sin in one member Who can number the Sins of all the members Laurentius reckons as many sins of the Tongue as there are Letters in the Alphabet And it is an observable Note that one hath upon Rom. 3. 13 14. That when Paul anatomizeth the natural Man there he insisteth longer upon the Organs of Speech than all the other members Their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues they have used deceit the poyson of Asps is under their Lips their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness But to be short we find the Spirit of God in Scripture comparing the Tongue to a Tree Prov. 15. 4. A wholesome Tongue is a Tree of Life And words is the fruit of the Tree Isa. 57. 12. I create the fruit of the Lips Some of these Trees bear precious fruits and it is a lovely sight to behold them laden with them in their seasons Prov. 25. 11. A word fitly spoken is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Such a Tongue is a Tree of Life Others of these Trees bear evil Fruit Grapes of Sodome and Clusters of Gomorrah I shall onely insist upon two sorts of these fruits viz. 1. Withered sapless fruit I mean idle and unprofitable words 2. Rotten and corrupt fruit I mean prophane Oathes and prophanations of the sacred Name of God No fruit in the world so apt to corrupt and taint as the fruits of the Lips When it is so the Scripture calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrupt â—r rotten communication Ephes. 4. 29. To prevent this the Spirit of God prescribes an excellent way to season our words and keep them sweet and sound that they may neither wither nor become idle and sapless nor putrifie and become rotten as prophane words are Col. 4. 6. Let your speech be always with grace seasoned with salt that you may know how to answer every man Oh if the salt of Grace were once cast into the fountain the Heart the streams must needs become more savory and pleasant as the waters of Marah when they were healed My present work is to attempt the cure of this double evil of idle words and prophane Oathes whereof thousands among you are deeply guilty I shall begin with the first viz. 1. IDLE WORDS that is useless Chat unprofitable Talk that is not referred any way to the glory of God This is a common evil and little regarded by most men but yet a sin of severer aggravations than the most imagine Light words weigh heavy in Gods ballance Arg. 1. For first the evil of them is exceedingly aggravated by this They abuse and prevert the Tongue that noble member from that employment and use which God by the law of Creation designed it to God gave not to man the Organs and power of Speech which is his excellency above the Beasts to serve a passion or vain humour to vent the froth and vanity of his spirit but to extol his Creator and render him the praise of all his admirable and glorious works For though the Creation be a curious well tuned Instrument yet man is the Musician that must touch it and make the melody this was the end of God in forming those Instruments and Organs but now hereby they are subject to Satan and Lust and employed to the dishonour of God that made them God is pleased to suspend the power of Speech as we see in Children till Reason begin to bud in them they have not the liberty of the one till they have the use of the other which plainly shews that God is not willing to have our words run waste Arg. 2. It is a sinful wasting of our precious time and that puts a further aggravation upon it Consider Sirs the time of Life is but a little spot betwixt two eternities The long-suffering God wheels about those glorious Celestial Bodies over your heads in a constant revolution to beget time for you and the preciousness of every minute thereof results from its use and end It is intended and afforded as a space to you to repent in Rev. 2. 21. And therefore great things depend upon it no less than your eternal Happiness or Misery hangs upon those precious opportunities Every minute of it hath an influence into Eternity How would the damned value one hour of it if they might
persons they are but panders for Lust. Evil communication corrupts good manners The tongues of sinners do cast fire-balls into the hearts of each other which the corruption within is easily kindled and enflamed by Direct 4. Exercise thy self in thy Calling diligently It will be an excellent means of preventing this sin It is a good observation that one hath That Israel was safer in the Brick-kilns in Egypt than in the Plains of Moab 2 Sam. 11. 2. And it came to pass in the even-tide that David arose from off his bed and walked on the roof of the Kings house and this was the occasion of his fall See 1 Tim. 5. 11 13. Direct 5. Put a restraint upon thine appetite feed not to excess Fulness of bread and idleness were the sins of Sodom that occasioned such an exuberancy of Lust. They are like fed horses every one neighing after his neighbours Wife When I had fed theâ— to the full then they committed Adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the Harlots houses Jer. 5. 7 8. This is a sad requital of the bounty of God in giving us the enjoyment of the Creatures to make them fuel to lust and instruments of sin Direct 6. Make choice of a meet Yoke-fellow and delight in her you have chosen This is a lawful Remedy See 1 Cor. 7. 9. God ordained it Gen. 2. 21. But herein appears the corruption of nature that men delight too tread by-pathes and forsake the way which God hath appointed as that Divine Poet Mr. Herbert saith If God had laid all common certainly Man would have been the closer but since now God hath impal'd us on the contrary Man breaks the fence and every ground will plow O what were Man might he himself misplace Sure to be cross he would shift feet and face Stollen waters are sweeter to them than those waters they might lawfully drink at their own fountain but withal know it is not the having but the delighting in a lawful Wafe as God requires you to do that must be a â—ence against this sin So Solomon Prov. 5. 19. Let her be as the loving Hinde and pleasant Roe Let her breasts satisfie thee at all times and be thou ravisht always with her love Direct 7. Take heed of running on in a course of sin especially Superstition and Idolatry in which cases and as a punishment of which evils God often gives up men to these vile affections Rom. 1. 25 26. Who changed the truth of God into a lye worshipped and served the Creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen For this cause God gave them up to vile affections c. They that defile their Souls by Idolatrous practices God suffers as a just recompence their bodies also to be defiled with uncleanness that so their ruine may be hastned Let the admirers of Traditions beware of such a judicial Tradition as this is Wo to him that is thus delivered by the hand of an angry God No punishment in the world like this when God punishes sin with sin When he shall suffer those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those common notices of Conscience to be quench'd and all restraints to be moved out of the way of sin it will not be long ere that sinner come to his own place IV. CAUTION IN the next place I shall make bold to expostulate a little with your Conscience concerning the precious mercies you have received and the solemn promises you have bound your selves withal for the obtaining of those mercies I fear God hath many bankrupt debtors among you that have dealt slipperily and unfaithfully with him that have not rendered to the Lord according to the great things he hath done for them nor according to those good things they have vowed to the Mighty God of Iacob But truely if thou be a despiser of mercy thou shalt be a pattern of wrath God will remember them in fury who forget him is his favours I will tell you what a grave and eminent Minister once told his people dealing with them about this sin of unthankfulness for mercy and I pray God it may affect you duely Let us all mourn saith he and take on we are all behindhand with God The Christian world is become bankrupt quite broke makes no return to God for his love He is issuing out process to seize upon body goods and life and will be put off no longer Bloody Bayliffs are abroad for bad debtors all theâ— world over Christians are broke and make no return and God is breaking all He cannot have what he would have what he should have he will take what he can get for money he will take goods limbs arms legs he will have his own out of your skin out of your blood out of your bodies and souls He is setting the Christian world as light and as low as they have set his love Ah Lord what a time do we live in Long-suffering is at an end Mercy will be righted in Iustice Iustice will have all behind it will be paid to the utmost farthing 't will set abroach your blood but 't will have all behind c. Do you hear Souls Is not this sad news to some of you who have received vast sums of mercy and given God your bond for the repayment of him in praise and answerable fruit and yet forfeited all and lost your credit with God Oh how can you look God in the face with whom you have dealt so perfidiously I am now come in the Name of God to demand his due of you to call to remembrance the former receipts of mercy which you mind not but God doth and there is a witness in your bosome that doth and will one day witness to your faces that you have dealt perfidiously with your God your souls have been the graves of mercy which should have been as so many gardens where they should have lived and flourished I am come now to open those graves and view those mercies that your unthankfulness hath killed and buried to lay them before your eyes and see whether your ungreatful hearts will bleed upon them Buried mercies are not lost for ever they shall as certainly have a day of Resurrection as thy self It were better for thee they should have a Resurrection now in thy heart than to rise as witnesses against thee when thou shalt rise out of the dust that will be a terrible Resurrection indeed when they shall come to plead against thy Soul nothing pleads more dreadfully against a Soul than abused mercy doth But I shall come to the particulars upon which I interrogate your Consciences and I pray deal truly and ingenuously in answering these Queries Quer. 1. And first I shall demand of you Whether you never had experience of the power and goodness of God in restoring you to Health from dangerous Sickness and Diseases Have you not sometimes had the sentence of Death in your selves and that possibly when you have been
in remote parts far from your Friends and Relations and destitute of all means and accommodations Did you not say in that condition as Hezekiah did in a like case Isai. 38. 10 11 12. I said in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world Remember thy self man canst not thou call to mind the day when the Arrows of death came whisking by thee and it may be hit those next thee took away those that were as lively and as lusty as thy self when you began your Voyage and yet they were cast for death thou for life and that when there was but an hairs breadth betwixt thee and the grave Tell me Soul What friend was that stood by thee then when thou wast forsaken of all friends When it may be thy Companions stood ready to throw thee over-board Who was it that pitied and remembred thee in thy low estate Who was it that rebuked thy disease of as one very aptly expresses it restrained the humours of thy body from overflowing and drowning thy life for when they are let out in a sickness they would overflow and drown it as the Waters would the earth if God should not say to them Stay you proud waves Who was it man that when thy body was brought low and weak and like a crazy rotten Ship in a storm took in water on all sides so that all the Physitians in the World could not have stopt those Leaks consider what hand was that which quieted and calmed the tempestuous Sea careened and mended thy crazy Body and launched thee into the World again as whole as sound as strong as ever Was it not the Lord that hath done all this for thee Did not he keep back thy Soul from the Pit and thy Life from perishing Yea when thou wast chastened with pain upon thy Bed as Elihu speaks Iob 33. 19 20 21. and the multitude of thy bones with strong pains so that thy life abhorred bread and thy Soul dainty meat thy flesh consumed away that it could not be seen and thy bones that were not seen stuck out yet then as it is vers 28. he delivered thy Soul from going down into the Pit and caused thy Life to see the Light Had the Lamp of life been then extinguisht thou hadst gone into endless Darkness Hell had shut her mouth upon thee Now tell me Soul What hast thou done with this precious mercy Hast thou walked before the Lord in a deep sense thereof and answered his end therein which was to lead thee to Repentance Or hath thy stupid or disingenious heart forgotten it and lost all sense of it so that God's end is frustrated and thy Salvation not a jot furthered thereby O If it be so wo to thee for the blood of this Mercy which thy Ingratitude hath murther'd like the blood of Abel cries to God against thee What a Wretch art thou thus to requite the Lord for such a Mercy He saw thy Tears and heard thy groans and said within himself He shall not die but live Alas poor Creature if I cut him off now he is eternally lost I will send him back a few years more into the World I will try him once more it may be he will bear some fruits to me from this deliverance and if so well if not I will cut him down hereafter He shall be set at liberty upon his Good Behaviour a little longer And is all this nothing in thine eyes Wretch that thou art Dost thou forget and flight such a favour as this Is it worth no more in thine eyes Well it would be worth something in the eyes of the poor Damned Souls if they might have so many years cut out of their Eternity for a meer intermission of their Torments much more as a time of patience and mercy O consider what pity and goodness thou hast abused Quer. 2. Wast thou never cast upon miserable streights and extremities wherein the good Providence of God relieved and supplied thee How many of you have been beaten so long at Sea by reason of contrary winds and other accidents till your Provisions have been even exhausted and spent To how short allowance have you been kept And what a mercy would you have esteemed it if you could but have satisfied Nature with a full draught of Water Certainly this hath been the case of many of you Oh what a price and vallue did you then set upon those common Mercies which at other times have been slightly over-look'd and when you have seen no hopes of relief Have you not looked sadly one upon another and it may be said as that Widow of Zarephtah did to the Prophet 1 King 17. 12. And she said As the Lord thy God liveth I have not a cake but a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oyl in a cruse aud behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die Even such hath been your case yet hath that God whose Mercies are over all his Works heard your sorrows and provided Relief for you either by some Ship which Providence sent to relieve you in that distress or by altering the Winds and sending you safe to the Land before all your Provisions have been spent And hast thou kept no Records of these gracious Providences yea Dost thou abuse the Creature when thou art brought again to the full enjoyment of it and possibly receivest the Creatures whose worth thou so lately hast seen in the want of them without thanksgiving or a sensible acknowledgment of the goodness of God in them I say dost thou thus answer the expectations of God Well beware lest God teach such an unworthy Creature by woful experience that the opening of his hand to give thee a Mercy is worth the opening thy Lips to bless him for it Beware lest that unthankful Mouth that will not bless the Lord for Bread and Water have neither the one or the other to bless him for I can give you a sad instance in the case and I have found it in the Writing of an eminent Divine who saith he had it from an eye and ear-witness of the truth of it A young Man lying upon his Sick-bed was always calling for meat but when the meat he called for was brought unto him he shook and trembled dreadfully at the sight of it and that in every part of his body and so continued until his food was carried away And thus he did as often as any food was brought into his presence and not being able to eat one bit pined away but before his death he freely acknowledged the Justice of God in this punishment For said he in the time of my Health I ordinarily received my
Bread ascertain'd VVaters too secur'd Then shout and sing ye that are thus Immur'd CHAP. XII VVhat Dangers run they for a little gains VVho for their Souls would ne'r take half the pains OBSERVATION HOw exceeding solicitous and adventurous are Sea-men for a small portion of the World How prodigal of strength and life for it They will run to the ends of the Earth engage in a Thousand dangers upon the hopes and probability of getting a small Estate Per mare per terras per mille pericula currunt Hopes of gain makes them willing to adventure their liberty yea their life and encourages them to endure Heat Cold and Hunger and a Thousand streights and difficulties to which they are frequently exposed APPLICATION How hot and eager are Mens affections after the World And how remiss and cold towards things eternal They are careful and troubled about many things but seldom mind the great and necessary matters Luke 10. 40. They can rise early go to bed late eat the bread of carefulness But when did they so deny themselves for their poor Souls Their heads are full of designs and projects to get or advance an Estate VVe will go into such a City continue there a year and Buy and Sell and get gain Jam. 4. 13. This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Master-design which engrosseth all their time studies and contrivances The Will hath past a Decree for it the Heart and Affections are fully let out to it They will be rich 1 Tim. 6. 9. This Decree of the Will the Spirit of God takes deep notice of it and indeed it is the clearest and fullest discovery of a Man's portion and condition For look what is highest in the estimation first and last in the thoughts and upon which we spend our time and strength with delight certainly that is our Treasure Mat. 6. 20 21. The Heads and Hearts of Saints are full of solicitous cares and fears about their Spiritual Condition The great design they drive on to which all other things are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things on the by is to make sure their Calling and Election This is the Pondus the weight and byass of their Spirit if their hearts stray and wander after any other thing this reduces them again REFLECTION Lord this hath been my manner from my Youth may the Carnal minded Man say I have been labouring for the Meat that perisheth disquieting my self in vain full of designs and projects for the World and unwearied in my endeavours to compass an earthly treasure yet therein I have either been checkt and disappointed by Providence or if I have obtained yet I am no sooner come to enjoy that Content and Comfort I promised my self in it but I am ready to leave it all to be stript out of it by Death and in that day all my thoughts perish But in the mean time What have I done for my Soul When did I ever break a Night's sleep or deny and pinch my self for it Ah fool that I am to nourish and pamper a vile Body which must shortly lie under the Clods and become a loathsome Carkass and in the mean time neglect and undo my poor Soul which partakes of the Nature of Angels and must live for ever I have kept others Vineyards but mine own Vineyard I have not kept I have been a perpetual drudge and slave to the World in a worse condition hath my Soul been than others that are Condemned to the Mines Lord change my Treasure and change my Heart O let it suffice that I have been thus long labouring on the fire for very vanity Now gather up my heart and affections in thy self and let my great design now be to secure a special interest in thy Blessed Self that I may once say To me to live is Christ. THE POEM The Face of Man imprest and stampt on Gold VVith Crown and Royal Scepters we behold No wonder that an humane Face it gains Since Head Heart Soul and Body it obtains Nor is it strange a Scepter it should have That to its Yoke the World doth so enslave Charm'd with its chinking Note away they go Like Eagles to the Carcass ride and row Through worlds of hazards foolish creatures run That into its embraces they may come Poor Indians in the Mines my heart condoles But seldom turns aside to pity Souls Which are the slaves indeed that toyl and spend Themselves upon its service Surely Friend They are but Sextons to prepare and make Thy Grave within those Mines whence they do take And dig their Ore Ah! many Souls I fear Whose Bodies live yet lie entombed there Is Gold so tempting to you Lo Christ stands VVith length of days and riches in his hands Gold in the fire tried he freely proffers But few regard or take those Golden Offers CHAP. XIII Millions of Creatures in the Seas are fed Why then are Saints in doubt of daily bread OBSERVATION THere are multitudes of Living Creatures in the Sea The Psalmist saith There are in it things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts Psal. 104. 25. And we read Gen. 1. 20. that when God blessed the Waters he said Let the Waters bring forth abundantly both Fish and Fowl that move in it and fly about it Yet all those multitudes of Fish and Fowl both in Sea and Land are cared and provided for Psal. 145. 15 16. Thou givest them their meat in due season thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing APPLICATION If God take care for the Fishes of the Sea and the Fowls of the Air much more will he care and provide for those that fear him When the poor and needy seeketh water and there is none and their tongue faileth for thirst I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them Isai. 41. 17. Take no thought for your life saith the Lord what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink or for the body what ye shall put on Which he backs with an Argument from God's Providence over the Creatures and enforceth it with a much rather upon them Matth. 6. 25 31. God would have his people be without carefulness i. e. anxious care 1 Cor. 7. 32. And to cast their care upon him for he careth for them 1 Pet. 5. 7. There be two main Arguments suggested in the Gospel to quiet and satisfie the hearts of Saints in this particular The one is that the Gift of Jesus Christ amounts to more than all these things come to yea in bestowing him he has given that which virtually and eminently comprehends all these inferiour mercies in it Rom. 8. 32. He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things And 1 Cor. 3. 22. All things are yours and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's Another Argument is That God gives these Temporal Things to those he never gave his Christ
impatiency and unbelief of the heart appears Matura vexata prodit seipsam When the Water is stirred then the mud and filthy sediment that lay at the bottom rises Little saith the afflicted Soul did I think there had been in me that pride self-love distrust of God carnal fear and unbelief as I now find O where is my Patience my Faith my Glory in tribulation I could not have imagined the sight of Death would have so appalled me the loss of outward things so have pierced me Now what a blessed thing is this to have the heart thus discovered Again Sanctified Afflictions discover the emptiness and vanity of the Creature Now the Lord hath stained its pride and vailed its tempting splendour by this or that affliction and the Soul sees what an empty shallow deceitful thing it is The World as one hath truly observed is then only great in our eyes when we are full of sense and self But now Affliction makes us more spiritual and then it is nothing It drives them nearer to God makes them see the necessity of the Life of Faith with multitudes of other benefits But yet these sweet fruits of Affliction do not naturally and of their own accord spring from it No we may as well look for Grapes from Thorns or Figs from Thistles as for such Fruits from Affliction till Christ's sanctifying Hand and Art have past upon them The reason why they become thus sweet and pleasant as I noted before is because they run now into another channel Jesus Christ hath removed them from Mount Ebal to Gerezim they are no more the effects of vindictive Wrath but paternal Chastisement And as Mr. Case well notes A teaching affliction is to the Saints the result of all the Offices of Iesus Christ. As a King he chastens as a Prophet he teacheth viz. by chastening and as a Priest he hath purchased this grace of the Father that the dry Rod might blossom and bear fruit Behold then a sanctified affliction is a Cup whereinto Jesus Christ hath wrung and prest the juyce and virtue of all his Mediatory Offices Surely that must be a Cup of generous Royal Wine like that in the Supper a Cup of Blessing to the people of God REFLECTION Hence may the unsanctified Soul draw matter of fear and trouble even from its unsanctified troubles And thus it may reflect upon it self O my Soul what good hast thou gotten by all or any of thy afflictions God's Rod hath been dumb to thee or thou deaf to it I have not learned one holy Instruction from it My troubles have left me the same or worse than they found me my Heart was proud earthly and vain before and so it remains still They have not purged out but onely given vent to the pride murmur and atheism of my heart I have been in my afflictions as that wicked Ahaz was in his 2 Chron. 28. 22. Who in the midst of his distress yet trespassed more and more against the Lord. When I have been in storms at Sea or troubles at home my Soul within me hath been as a raging Sea casting up mire and dirt Surely this Rod is not the Rod of God's Children I have proved but dross in the Furnace and I fear the Lord will put me away as dross as he threatens to do by the wicked Psal. 119. 119. Hence also should gracious Souls draw much encouragement and comfort amidst all their troubles O these are the fruits of Gods fatherly love to me Why should I fear in the day of evil or tremble any more at affliction though they seem as a Serpent at a distance yet are they a Rod in hand O blessed be that skilful and gracious hand that makes the Rod the dry Rod to blossome and bear such precious fruit Lord what a mystery of love lies in this dispensation That sin which first brought afflictions into the world is now it self carried out of the world by affliction Rom. 5. 12. Isa. 7. 9. O what can frustrate my Salvation when those very things that â—eem most to oppose it are mad subservient to it â—nd contrary to their own nature do promote and â—urther it THE POEM â—Tis strange to hear what different censures fall Vpon the same affliction some do call Their troubles sweet some bitter others meet Them both mid-way and call them bitter-sweet But here 's the question still I fain would see Why sweet to him and bitter unto me Thou drink'st them Dregs and all but others find Their troubles sweet because to them refin'd And sanctifi'd which difference is best By such apt Siâ—ilies as these exprest From Salt and Brackish Seas Fumes rise and fly Which into Clouds condens'd obscure the skie Their property there alter'd in few hours Those brackish fumes fall down in pleasant showers Or as the dregs of Wine and Beer distill'd By Limbeck with ingredients doth yield A Cordial water though the Lees were bitter From whence the Chymist did extract such liquor Then marvel not that one can kiss that Rod Which makes another to blaspheme his God O get your troubles sweet'ned and refin'd Or else they 'll leave bitter effects behind Saints troubles are a Cord let down by love To pully up their hearts to things above CHAP. XV. The Seas within their bounds the Lord contains He also Men and Devils holds in Chains OBSERVATION IT is a wonderful work of God to limit and bound such a vast and furious Creature as the Sea which according to the judgment of many Learned Men is higher than the Earth and that it hath a propension to overflow it is evident both from its nature and motion were it not that the great God had laid his Law upon it And this is a work wherein the Lord glories and will be admired Psal. 104. 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth Which it's clear they would do were they not thus limitted So Job 38. 8. 10. 11. Who shut up the Seas with doors when it breake forth as if it had issued out of the VVomb I brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud VVaves be staid APPLICATION And no less is the glorious Power and Mercy of God discovered in bridling the rage and fury of Satan and his Instruments that they break not in upon the Inheritance of the Lord and destroy it Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain Psal. 76. 10. By which it is more than hinted that there is a World of Rage and Malice in the hearts of wicked men which fain would but cannot vent itself because the Lord restrains or as the Hebrew Girds it up Satan is the envious one and his rage is great against the people of God Rev. 12. 12. But God holds him and all his Instruments in a
when it gives its colour in the Glass the Harlot's beauty whose eye-lids are snares hiding always the Hook and concealing the issue from them He promises them gain and profit pleasure and delight and all that is tempting with assurance of Secresie By these he fastens the fatal Hook in their Jawes and thus they are led captive by him at his Will REFLECTION And is Satan so subtil and industrious to entice Souls to sin Doth he thus cast out his golden baits and allure Souls with pleasure to their ruine Then how doth it behove thee O my Soul to be jealous and wary How strict a guard should I set upon every sense Ah let me not so much regard how sin comes towards me in the Temptation as how it goes off at last The day in which Sodom was destroyed began with a pleasant Sun shine but ended in Fire and Brimstone I may promise my self much content in the satisfaction of my Lusts But O how certainly will it end in my ruine Ahab doubtless promised himself much content in the Vineyard of Naboth but his blood paid for it in the portion of Iezreel The Harlots Bed was perfumed to entice the simple young man Prov. 7. 17. But those Chambers of Delight proved the Chambers of Death and her House the way to Hell Ah with what a smiling face doth sin come on towards me in its temptations How doth it tickle the carnal phantasie and please the deceived heart But what a dreadful Catastrophe and Upshot hath it The delight is quickly gone but the guilt thereof remains to amaze and terrifie the Soul with ghastly forms and dreadful representations of the wrath of God As sin hath its Delights attending it to enter and fasten it so it hath its horrours and stings to torment and wound And as certainly as I see those go before it to make away so certainly shall I find these follow after and tread upon its heels No sooner is the Conscience awakened but all those Delights vanish as a Night-vision or as a Dream when one awakes and then I shall cry Here is the Hook but where is the Bait Here is the guilt and horrour but where the delight that I was promised And I whether shall I now go Ah my deceitful Lusts You have enticed and left me in the midst of all miseries THE POEM There 's skill in Fishing that the Devil knows For when for Souls Satan a fishing goes He Angles cunningly He knows he must Exactly fit the Bait unto the Lust. He studies Constitution Place and Time He guesses what is his delight what thine And so accordingly prepares the Bait Whilst he himself lies closely hid to wait When thou wilt nibble at it Dost incline To drunken Meetings then he baits with Wine Is this the way if unto this he 'll smell He 'll shortly pledge a Cup of Wrath in Hell To Pride or Lust is thy vile Nature bent An Object suitable he will present O think on this when you cast in the hook Say Thus for my poor Soul doth Satan look O play not with Temptations do not swallow The sugar'd Bait consider what will follow If once he hitch thee then away he draws Thy captive Soul close Prisoner in his paws CHAP. XXIII Doth Trading fail and Voyages prove bad If you cannot discern the cause 't is sad OBSRRVATION THere are many sad Complaints abroad and I think not without cause that Trade fails nothing turns to account And though all Countries be open and free for Traffick a general Peace with all Nations yet there seems to be a Dearth a secret Curse upon Trading You run from Country to Country and come losers home Men can hardly render a reason of it few hit the right cause of this Judgment APPLICATION That prosperity and success in Trade is from the blessing of God I suppose few are so Atheistical as once to deny or question The Devil himself acknowledges it Job 1. 10. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the Land It is not in the power of any man to get Riches Deut. 8. 18. Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth It is his Blessing that makes good men rich and his Permission that makes wicked men rich That Maxime came from Hell Quisque fortunae suae faber Every man is the Contriver of his own Condition Certainly The good of man is not in his own hand Job 21. 16. Promotion cometh not from the East or West Psal. 76. 6 7. This being acknowledged it is evident that in all disappointment and want of success in our Callings we ought not to stick in second cause but to look higher even to the hand and dispose of God For whose it is to give the Blessing his also it is to with-hold it And this is as clear in Scripture as the other It is the Lord that takes away the Fishes of the Sea Hos. 4. 3. Zeph. 1. 3. It is he that curseth our blessings Mal. 2. 2. This God doth as a punishment for sin and the abuse of mercies And therefore in such cases we ought not to rest in general complaints to or of one another but search what those sins are that provoke the Lord to inflict such Judgments And here I must request your patience to bear a plain and close word of Conviction My Brethren I am perswaded these are the sins among many other that provoke the Lord to blast all your Imployments 1. Our undertaking designs without Prayer Alas how few of us begin with God Interest him in our dealings and ask counsel and direction at his mouth Prayer is that which sanctifies all employments and enjoyments 1 Tim. 4. 5. The very Heathen could say A Iove Principium They must begin with God O that we had more Prayers and fewer Oaths 2. Injustice and Fraud in our dealings A sin to which Merchants are prone as appears by that expression Hos. 12. 7. This is that which will blast all our enjoyments 3. An over-earnest endeavour after the World Men make this their business they will be rich And hence it is they are not onely unmerciful to themselves in wearing and wasting their own spirits with carking cares but to such also as they employ neither regarding the Souls or Bodies of Men Scarce affording them the liberty of the Lord's Day as hath been too common in our New-found-Land Employments or if they have it yet they are so worn out with incessant Labours that that precious time is spent either in sleep or idleness It is no wonder God gives you more rest than you would have since that day of Rest hath been no better improved This over-doing hath not been the least cause of our undoing Lastly Our abuse of Prosperity when God gave it making God's Mercies the Food and Fewel of our Lusts. When we had an aâ—fluence and confluence of outward Blessings this made us kick against
what will it profit you to have your misery hid from your eyes and kept from your eares a little while You must see this wrath and hear louder vollies of Woes from your own Consciences If you remain in this condition You cannot bear that from us which your Conscience will one of these days preach themselves to you and that in a more dreadful dialect than I have used here Fourthly I do not charge these sins indifferently upon all Sea-men No I know there are some choice and good men amongst your men that fear an Oath and hate even the garments spotted with the flesh who are I question not the credit and glory of our English Nation in the eyes of Strangers that converse with them Nor yet do I think that all that are wicked amongst them are equally guilty of all these evils for though all that are graceless be equally under the dominion of Original Corruption yet it follows not from thence that therefore actual sins must reign alike in them There is great difference even among ungodly men themselves in this respect which difference ariseth from their various Customs Constitutions Abilities Educations and the different Administrations of the Spirit in enlightning convincing and putting checks upon Conscience For though God be not the Author yet he is the Orderer of sin And this makes a great disparity even among wicked men themselves Some are persons of good Morals though not Gracious Principles which produce a civil and sober though not a holy and a religious Life And others though they live in some one of these Lusts yet are not guilty of some others of them For it is with Original Corruption just as it is with the sap of the Earth which though it be the matter of all kind of Fruits yet in some ground it sorts better with one grain than with another And so in Plants in one tree it becomes a Apple in another a Cherry even so it is with this Original Corruption In one man it runs most into Swearing in another into Uncleanness in a third into Drunkenness Lust is nothing else but the corrupt appetite of the Creature to some sinful object and therefore look as it is with the Appetite with respect to Food so it is with the vitiated Appetites of Souls to sin One man loves this Food best and another that there is endless variety in that and so in this Having spoken thus much to remove offence I shall now beg you to peruse the following Discourse Consider what evidence these things carry with them Search the alledged Scriptures see if they be truly recited and applied to the case in hand And if so Oh tremble at the truth you read bring forth your Lusts that they may die the death Will you not part with these abominable practices till Death and Hell make the seperation Ah how much better is it for you that Grace should do it And because many of you see not the danger and therefore prize not the Remedy I do here Request all those that have the Bowels of Pity in them for their poor Relations who are sinking drowning perishing to spread these following Cautions before the Lord for a Blessing and then put them into their hands And oh that all pious Masters would perswade those that are under their charge to buy this ensuing Treatise and diligently peruse it And the first Caution I shall give them is this I. CAUTION TAke heed and beware of the detestable Sin of Drunkenness which is a beastly sin a voluntary madness a sin that unmans thee and makes thee like the beast that perishes yea sets thee below the brute beasts which will not drink to to excess or if they do yet it 's not their sin One of the Ancients calls it A distemper of the Head a subversion of the senses a tempest in the tongue a storm of the body the shipwrack of vertue the loss of time a wilful madness a pleasant devil a sugar'd poyson a sweet sin which he that has has not himself and he that commits it doth not only commit Sin but he himself is altogether sin It is a Sin at which the most sober Heathens blushed The Spartans brought their Children to loath it by shewing them a Drunkard whom they gazed at as a-Monster even Epicurus himself who esteemed happiness to consist in Pleasure yet was temperate as Cicero observes Among the Heathens he was accounted the best man that spent more Oyl in the Lamp than Wine in the Bottle Christianity could once glory in its professors Tertullian saith of the Primitive Christians They sat not down before they prayed they eat no more than might suffice hunger they drank no more than was sufficient for temperate men they did so eat and drink as those that remembred they must pray afterward But now it may blush to behold such beastly sensualists adorning themselves with its name and sheltring themselves under its wings And amongst those that profess Christianity how ordinarily is this sin committed by Sea-men This insatiable Dropsie is a Disease that reigns especially among the inferiour and ruder sort of them Some of them have gone aboard drunk and laid the â—oundation of their Voyage in sin O what a preparation is this They know not whether ever they shall see the Land of their Nativity any more the next Storm may send them into Eternity yet this is the Fareweâ— they take this is their preparation to meet the Lord. And so in their returns notwithstanding the terrible and astonishing Works of the Lord which they have beheld with their eyes and their marvellous preservation iu so great and terrible extremities yet thus do they requite the Lord assoon as their dangers are over as if they had been deliver'd to commit all these abominations But a few hours or days since they were reeling to and fro upon a stormy Ocean and staggering like drunken men as it is Psal. 107. 27. and now you may see them reeling and staggering in the streets drowning the sense of all those precious Mercies and Deliverances in their drunken Cups Reader If thou be one that is guilty of this sin for the Lords sake bethink thy self speedily and weigh with the reason of a man what I shall now say in order to thy Conviction Humiliation and Reformation I need not spend many words to open the nature of this sin to you we all grant that there is a lawful use of Wine and strong Drink to support Nature not to clog it to cure Infirmities not to cause them Drink no longer water but use a little Wine for thy stomachs sake and thine often infirmities saith Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 5. 23. mark drink not water but wine sed modice i. e. medice pro remedio non pro delicius saith Ambrose that is use it modestly viz. Medicinally not for pleasure but for Remedy Yea God allows it not noly for bare necessity but for chearfulness and alacrity
that the body may be more fit and expedite for duty Prov. 31. 7. But further no man proceeds without the violation of Sobriety When men sit till Wine have inflamed them and reason be disturbed for Drunkenness is the privation of reason caused by immoderate drinking then do they come under the guilt of this horrid and abominable Sin To the Satisfaction and refreshment of nature you may drink for it is a part of the Curse to drink and not be satisfied but take heed you go no further For Wine is a mocker strong Drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise Prov. 20. 1. The Throat is a slipery place how easily may a sin slip through it into the Soul these sensual Pleasures have a kind of inchanting power upon the Soul and by custom gain upon it till they have enslaved it and brought it under their power Now this is the sin against which God hath delivered so many Precepts and denounced so many Woes in his Word Ephes. 5. 18. Be not drunken with wine wherein is excess Rom. 13. 18. Not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness Isa. 5. 11. Wo to them that rise early in the morning that they may follow strong drink that continue until night till wine inflame them with many other of dreadful importance Now to startle thee for ever from this abominable and filthy lust I shall here propound to thy Consideration these ten ensuing Arguments and oh that they might stand in the way as the Angel did in Balaam's when thou art in the prosecution of thy sensual Pleasures And the first is this Arg. 1. It should exceedingly disswade from this Sin to consider that it is an high abuse of the Bounty and Goodness of God in affording us those sweet Refreshments to make our Lives comfortable to us upon earth In Adam we forfeited all right to all earthly as will as heavenly Mercies God might have taken thee from the Womb when thou wast a Sinner but of a span long and immediately have sent thee to thine own place thou hadst no right to a drop of water more than what the bounty of God gave thee And whereas he might have thrust thee out of the world as soon as thou camest into it and so all those days of mercy thou hast had on earth might have been spent in howling and unspeakable misery in Hell Behold the Bounty and Goodness of God in thee I say behold it and wonder He hath suffered thee for so many years to live upon the earth which he hath prepared and furnished with all things fit for thy necessity and delight out of the earth on which thou treadest he bringeth forth thy food and VVine to make glad thy heart Psal. 104. 14 15. And dost thou thus requite the Lord Hath Mercy armed an enemy to fight against it with its own Weapoâ—s Ah that ever the Riches of his Goodness Bounty and Long sâ—ffering all which are arguments to lead thee to repentance should be thus abused If God had not been so bountiful thou couldst not have been so sinful Arg. 2. It degrades a man from the honour of his Creation and equalizeth him to the beast that perisheth Wine is said to take away the heart Hos. 4. 11. i. e. the wisdom and ingenuity of a man and so brutifies him as Nebuchadnezzar who lost the heart of a man and had the heart of a beast given him Dan. 4. 32. The heart of a man hath is generosity and sprightliness brave vigorous spirit in it capable of and fitted for noble and worthy actions and imployments but his lust effeminates quenches and drowns that masculine vigour in the puddle of excess and sensuality For no sooner is a man brought under the dominion of this Lust but the government of Reason is renounced which should exercise a coercive power over the Affections and all is delivered up into the hand of Lust and Appetite and so they act not by discretion and reason but by Lust and Will as the Beasts do by Instinct The spirit of Man entertains it self with intellectual and chast Delights the soul of a Beast is onely fitted for such low sensitive and dreggie Pleasures Thou hast something of the Angel and something of the Beast in thee thy Soul partakes of the nature of Angels thy Body of the nature of Beasts Oh how many pamper the Beast while they strave the Angels God in the first Chaper put all the Creatures in subjection to thee by this Lust thou puttest thy in self Subjection to the creature and art brought under his power 1 Cor. 6. 12. If God had given thee the feet or head of a beast Oh what a misery wouldst thou have esteemed it And is it nothing to have the heart of a Beast Oh consider it sadly Arg. 3. It is a Sin by which thou greatly wrongest and abuseth thine own Body The Body is the Souls Instrument it is as the Tools are to a skilful Artificer this Lust both dulls and spoils it so that it 's utterly unfit for any service of him that made it Thy body is a curious piece not made by a word of command as other Creatures but by a word of counsel I am fearfully and wonderfully made and curiously wrought saith the Psalmist Psal. 139. 14. or as the Vulgar Ace pictus sum Painted as with a Needle like a Garment of Needlework of divers colours richly embroydered Look how many members so many wonders There are Miracles enough saith one betwixt head and foot to fill a volume There is saith another such curious workmanship in the eye that upon the first sight of it some Atheists have been forced to acknowledge a God especially that fifth Muscle in the eye is wonderful whereby as a learned Author observes Man differeth from all other Creatures who have but four one to turn the eye downward a second to hold it forward a third to move it to the right hand a fourth to the left but none to turn it upward as a man hath Now judge in thy self did God frame such a curious piece and enliven it with a Soul which is a spark a ray of his own light whose motions are so quick various and indefatigable whose flights of reason are so transcendent did God thinkest thou send down this curious piece the top and glory of the Creation the Index and Epitome of the whole world Eccl. 12. 2. did God I say send down this picture of his own perfection to be but as a striner for meats and drinks a spung to suck in Wine and Beer Or canst thou answer for the abuse and destruction of it By this excess thou fillest it with innumerable diseases under which it languisheth and at last thy life like a lamp extinguisnt being drowned with to much Oyle Infinite Diseases are begotten by it saith Zanch. hence come Apoplexies Gouts Palfies sudden Death trembling of the hands and legs herein they bring Cain's
the dust Job 20. 11. Ah soul One of these days thou shalt be laid on thy Death-bed or see the waves that shall entomb thee leaping and roaring upon every side and then thou wilt surely have other thoughts of the happiness that lies in remission of sin than thou hast now Observe the most incorrigible Sinner then hark how he sighs and groans and cries Ah Lord and must I die And then see how the tears trickle down his Cheeks and his heart ready to burst within him Why what 's the matter Oh the Lord will not pardon him he holds him guilty If he were sure his sins were forgiven then he could die but oh to appear before the Lord in them appals him daunts him kills the very heart of him He would fain cry for mercy but Conscience stops his mouth Oh saith Conscience how canst thou move that tongue to God in prayer for mercy that hath so often rent and torn his glorious Name by Oaths and Curses Sirs I pray you do not make light of these things they will look wishly upon you one of these days except ye prevent it by sound conversation Arg. 5. And then lastly to name no more I pray you consider that a custom of vain words and prophane Oaths is as plain an indication and discovery of an unregenerate Soul as any in the world This is a sure â—ign thou art none of Christs nor hast any thing to do with the promises and priviledges of his people for by this the Scripture distinguisheth the state of Saints and Sinners Eccl. 9. 2. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an Oath Mark he that sweareth and he that feareth an Oath do as manifestly distinguish the Children of God from wicked men as clean and unclean righteous and wicked sacrificing and not sacrificing This fruit of the tongue plainly shews what the tree is that bears it Isai. 2. 6. The vile person will speak of villany and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks Loquere ut videam said one Speak that I may see what you are Look what is in the heart that is vented by the Tongue where the treasures of Grace are in the Heart words ministring Grace will be in the Lips Psal. 37. 30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of Iudgment for the law of the Lord is in his heart To this sense we must understand that Scripture att 12. 27. By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Certainly Justification and Condemnation in the day of Judgment shall not pass upon us meerly for the good or bad words we have spoken but according to the state of the Person and frame of the heart But the meaning is that our words shall justifie or condemn us in that day as evidence of the state and frame of the Soul We use to say such Witnesses hang'd a man the meaning is the Evidence they gave cast and condemned him O think seriously of this if words evidence the state of the Soul what an woful state must thy Soul needs be in whose mouth overflows with Oathes and Curses How many witnesses will be brought in to cast thee in the great Day Your own tongue shall then fall upon you as the expression is Psal. 64 8. And out of your own mouth God will fetch abundant evidence to condemn you And thus I have opened unto you the evil of vain words and prophane Oathes and presented to your view their several aggravations If by these things there be a relenting pang upon thy heart and a serious resolution of reformation then I shall commend these few helps or means to thy perusal and conclude this Head And the first help is this Help 1. Seriously fix in thy thoughts that Scripture Matth. 12. 36. But I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of Iudgment Oh let it sounâ— in thine ears day and night Oh ponder them in thy heart I say unto you I that have always been in the Fathers bosome and do fully know his mind I that am constituted the Judge of quick and dead and do fully understand the rule of Judgment and the whole process thereof I say and do assure you that every idle word that men shall speak i. e. every word that hath not a tendency and reference to the Glory of God though there be no other obliquity or evil in them than this that they want a good end How much more then scurrilous Words bloody Oathes and Blasphemies Men shall give an account thereof that is shall be cast and condemned to suffer the wrath of God for them as appears by that parallel Scripture 1 Pet. 4. 4 5. For as the Learned observe there is plainly a Matalepsis in these words The Antecedent to give an account is put for the Consequent punishment and condemnation to hell fire the certainty whereof admits but of this one exception viz. intervenient repentance or a pardon obtained through the blood of Christ here before you be presented at that judgment-seat Oh then what a bridle should this Text be to thy extravagant tongue I remember Hierom was wont to say Whether I eat or drink or whatever I do methinks I still hear the sound of these words in mine ear Arise ye dead and come to judgment O that the sound of the words may be always in your ears Help 2. Consider before you speak and be not rash to utter words without knowledge He thâ—â— speaks what he thinks not speaks Hipocitically 〈◊〉 he that thinks not what to speak sperks inconsiâ—â—rately You have cause to weigh your words before you deliver them by your tongue for whether you do or do not the Lord pondereth them Records are kept of them else you could not be called to an account for them as I shewed you you must Help 3. Resign up your Tongues to God every day and beg him to guide and keep it So did David Psal. 141. 3. Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keep thou the door of my lips Beg him to keep you from provocations and temptations or if you fall into them intreat him for strength to rule your spirits in them that you may not be conquered by temptations Help 4. But above all labour to get your Souls cleansed and purified by Faith possest with saving and gracious Principles All other means will be ineffectual without this Oh see the vileness of thy nature and the necessity of a change to pass upon it First make the tree good and then his fruit good a new Nature will produce new words and actions To binde your souls with Vows and resolutions while you are strangers to a regenerate work
be able to undergo the severities of Religion There are difficult Duties to be done and an heavy cross to be taken up these be the things that daunt me Ans. If Pain and Suffering daunt thee how is it thou art not more out of love with sin than with Religion For it is most certain that the Sufferings for Christ are nothing to Hell the just reward and certain issue of sin the pains of Mortification are nothing to the pains of Damnation There is no compare betwixt suffering for Christ and suffering from Christ Matth. 5. 29. If thy right hand or eye offend thee cut it off and pluck it out It is profitable for thee that one member suffer than that the whole body be cast into Hell Secondly thou â—eest the worst but not the best of Christ. There be Joys and Comforts in those difficult Duties and Sufferings that thou seest not Col. 1. 24. Who now rejoice in my sufferings Jam. 1. 2. My Brethren count it all joy when ye fall into diverstemptations c. Thirdly Great shall be thy assistance from Christ Phil. 4. 13. I can do all things through him that strengthens me The Spirits helps our infirmities takes the other end of the burden Rom. 8. 26. What meanest thou to stand upon such terms when it is Heaven or Hell eternal Life or Death that lie before thee Qu. 19. But to what purpose will all my endeavours to come to Christ be unless I be elected all will be to on purpose Ans. True If thou be not elected thou canst not obtain him or happiness by him But yet that is no discouragement to strive For in thy unconverted state thy Election or Non-election is a secret to thee the only way to make it sure is by striving and giving all diligence in the way of duty 2 Pet. 1. 10. And if you ponder the text well you will find that Election is not only made sure in the way of diligence and striving but Calling is put before it and lies in order to it First secure thy effectual Calling and then thine Election Qu. 20. But I have no strength of my own to come to Christ by and is it not absurd to urge me upon Impossibilities in order to my Salvation Ans. First Certainly you are more absurd in pleading and pretending your impotence against your duty for you do think you have a power to come to Christ else how do you quiet your Conscience with Promises and solves of Conversion hereafter Secondly Though it be true that no saving Act can be done without the concurrence of special Grace yet this is as true that thy inability to do what is above thy power doth not excuse thee from doing what is in thy power to do Canst thou not forbear at least many external acts of sin And canst thou not perform at least the external acts of duty Oh if thou canst not come to Christ yet as the blind man lie in the way of Christ do what thou canst do and confess and bewail thine impotency that thou canst do no more Canst thou not take thy Soul aside in secret and thus bemoan it My poor Soul what wilt thou do Oh what will become of thee thou art Christless Covenantless Hopeless and which is most sad sensless and bowelless O! thou canst not bear the infinite Wrath of the Eternal God whose Almighty Power will be set on work to torment such as thou art and yet thou takest no course to prevent it Thou seest the busie diligence of all others and how the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence by them and art not thou as deeply engaged to look to thy own happiness as any in the world Will Hell be more tolerable to thee than others Oh what a composition of stupidity and sloth art thou Thou livest after such a rate as if there were neither Fire in Hell to torment thee nor Glory in Heaven to reward thee If God and Christ Heaven and Hell were but dreams and fables thou couldst not be less affected with them Ah my Soul my Soul my precious Soul Is it easie to perish Wilt thou die as a fool dieth Oh that men would but do thus if they can do no more And now Soul you see what death is that you have made so slight of and what is the only way that we poor Sons of Death have to escape its sting You have here seen the vanity of all your pleas and pretences against Conversion and the way to Christ prepared and cast up for you Now Sirs I beg you in the name of God that made you and as if I made this request upon my bended Knees to you that you will now without any more delays yield your selves to the Lord. Soul I beseech thee hast thee into thy â—hamber shut thy door and bespeak the Lord after some such manner as this before thou darest to launch out into the Deeps again O dreadful and glorious Majesty thou hast bowels of mercy as well as beams of glory I have heard the sounding of these bowels for me this day Lord I have now heard a representation of the grim and ghastly face of Death Ah! I have now seen it as the King of Terrors as the door of Eternity as the Parting-point where sinners take their eternal farewel of all their delights I have seen this black Prince mounted on his pale Horse and Hell following him I have been convinced this day that if he should come and fetch away my Soul in that condition it is Hell would follow him indeed Lord I have now heard of the Prince of Life also in whose bleeding side Death hath left and lost its envenomed sting so that though it may kill yet it cannot hurt any of his Members To this glorious Redeemer I have now been invited all my pretences against him have been confuted and my Soul in his Name assured of welcome if I come unto him and cast my self upon him And now Lord I come I come upon thy call and invitation I am unfeignedly willing to avouch thee this day to be my God and to take thee for my portion Lord Iesus I come unto thee thy Clay thy Creature moves towards the Fountain of pity look hitherto Behold a spectacle of misery Bowels of mercy hear behold my naked Soul not a rag of righteousness to cover it behold my starving Soul not a bit of bread for you to eat ah it has fed upon wind and vanity hitherto Behold my wounded soul bleeding at thy foot every part Head and Heart Will and Affections all wounded by sin O thou compassionate Samaritan turn aside and pour thy Soveraign blood into these bleeding wounds which like so many opened mouths plead for pity Behold a returning submitting Rebel willing to lay down the weapons of unrighteousness and to come upon the knee for a pardon Oh I am weary of the service of sin I can endure it no longer Lord Jesus thou wast anointed to preach glad tidings to
the meek and to proclaim liberty to the â—aptives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound Come now and knock off those fetters of unbelief Oh set my soul at liberty that it may praise thee For so many years Satan hath cruelly tyrannized over me oh that this might be the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of the salvation of my God! Lord thou wast lifted up to draw Men unto thee and indeed thou art a drawing Saviour a lovely Jesus I have hitherto slighted thee but it was because I did not know thee mine eyes have been held by unbelief when thou wast opened in the Gospel but now I see thee as the chiefest of ten thousands Thou art the glory of Heaven the glory of Earth the glory of Sion and oh that thou wouldst be the glory of my Soul I confess I am not worthy that thou shouldst look upon me I may much rather expect to be trampled under the feet of Justice than to be embraced in thine arms of Mercy and that thou shouldst rather shed my polluted blood than sprinkle thine own upon me But Lord what profit is there iâ— my blood Wilt thou pursue a dryed leaf Shall it ever be said that the merciful King of Heaven hang'd up a poor soul that put the rope about its own neck and so came selfcondemningly to him fot mercy O my Lord I am willing to submit to any terms be they never so hard and ungrateful to the flesh I am sure whatever I shall suffer in thy service cannot be like to what I have suffered or am like to fuffer by sin henceforth be thou my Lord and Master thy service is perfect freedom be thou my Priest and Prophet my Wisdom and Righteousness I resign up my self unto thee my poor Soul with all its faculties my body with all its members to be living instruments of thy glory Let Holiness to the Lord be now written upon them all let my tongue henceforth plead for thee my hands be lifted up unto thy testimonies my feet walk in thy ways Oh let all my affections as willing servants wait upon thee and be active for thee Whatever I am let me be for thee whatever I have let it be thine whatever I can do let me do for thee whatever I can suffer let me suffer for thee O that I might say before I go hence My beloved is mine and I am his Oh that what I have begged on Earth might be ratified in Heaven My Spirit within me saith Amen Lord Jesus say thou Amen FINIS Erasmi Chiliad p. 299. The smallest Pore is a Leak wide enough to let in Death and sink thy Vessel In Nubia quae est Aethiopia venenum est cuâ—us grani unias decima pars â—ominem vel unum granum decem homines Dan Senert Hypom Phys. Cap. 2. p. 47. Ignis Gehenne lucebit miseris ut viâ—eant undeâ— doleant Insid de sum bon l. 1. Terror ubique tremor timor unâ—eque undique terrari Ovi Mundi creatio est Scriptur a Dei Clemens Vniversus mundus est Dâ—us explicatus See Mr. Whatelie's Care-Cloth Ariftot secund◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 5. Mr. Gurnal Correction Instruction page 182. * See the Turks Letter to the Emperour of Germany lately published by Authority 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morning-Exercise p. 651. Turbution capitis subversio sensus tempestas linguae procella corporis naufragium virtutus amissio temporis insâ—nia voluntaria blande daemon dulce venenum suave peccatum quam quihabet seipsum no habet quam qui fecit peccatum non fecit sed ipse totus est peccatatum Aug. ad lacr Viginis Qui dedit aquam dedit vinum * Columb de re Anat. Infinitae morborum generâ—â— indenâ—scuntur Appleâ—â—â— Paralyses Arâ—â—rides c. Ille opâ—imus me dicus sibi qui modicus cibi Aug. Ames de conâ—â— p. 139. Guber Dei lib. 4. salv Sine Cerere Baccho frigeâ— venus Mr. Lockyer on Col. 1. p. 113. * There is a double resurrection of Mercy A resurrection of Mercy in Mercy and a resurrection of Mercy in Wrath. It is the first I now labour for and that to prevent the second 〈…〉 Mr. Tho. Goodwin Case of Consc. * Iohn 1. 12. a Iohn 3. 36. b 1 Cor. 1. 30. c 1 Acts 4. 12. d Acts 12. 29. e Isai. 45. 22. f Acts 2. 37.
the point of the threating at my very breast And yet my head-strong affections will not be remanded by it I have obeyed the voice of every lust and temptation Tit. 3. 3. But Conscience hath lost its Authority with me Ah Lord what a sad condition am I in both in respect of sin and misery My sin receives dreadful aggravations for rebellion and presumption are hereby added to it I have violated the strongest bonds that ever were laid upon a Creature If my Conscience had not thus convinced and warned the sin had not been so great and crimson-coloured Iam. 4. 17. Ah! this is to sin with an high hand Numb 15. 30. to come near to the great and unpardonable trasgression Psal. 19. 13. O how dreadful a way of sinning is this with opened eyes And as my sin is thus out of measure sinful so my punishment will be out of measure dreadful if I persist in this rebellion Lord thou hast said Such shall be beaten with many stripes Luke 12. 48. Yea Lord and if ever my Conscience which by rebellion is now grown silent should be in judgment awakened in this life Oh what an Hell should I have within me how would it thunder and roar upon me and surround me with terrors Thy word assures me that no length of time can wear out of its memory what I have done Gen. 42. 21. No violence or force can suppress it Mat. 27. 4. No greatness of power can stifle it it will take the mightiest Monarchy by the throat Exod. 10. 16. Dan. 5. 6. No musick pleasures or delights can charm it Iob. 20. 22. O Conscience thou art the sweetest friend or the dreadfullest enemy in the World Thy Consolations are incomparably sweet and thy terrours insupportable Ah let me stand it out no longer against Conscience the very Ship in which I sail is a confutation of my madness that rush greedily into sin against both Reason and Conscience and will not be commanded by it Surely O my Soul this will be bitterness in the end THE POEM A Ship of greatest burden will obey The Rudder he that sits at Helm may sway And guide its motion If the Pilot please The Ship bears up against both Wind and Seas My Soul 's the Ship Affections are its Sails Conscience the Rudder Ah! but Lord what ails My naughty heart to shuffie in and out When its convictions bid it tack about Temptations blow a counter-blast and drive The Vessel where they please though Conscience strive And by its strong perswasions it would force My stubborn Will to steer another course Lord if I run this course thy Word doth tell How quickly I must needs arrive at Hell Then rectifie my Conscience change my Will Fan in thy pleasant Gales my God and fill All my affections and let nothing carry My Soul from its due course or make it vary â—hen if the Pilots work thou wouldst perform 〈◊〉 should bear bravely up against a storm CHAP. VII Through many fears and dangers Sea-men run But all 's forgotten when they do return OBSERVATION WE have an elegant and lively description of their fears and dangers Psal. 107. 25 26 27. He commandeth and raiseth the stormy Winds which listeth up the Waves thereof They mount up to Heaven they go down again to the depths their soul is melted because of trouble they reel to and fro they stagger like a drunken 〈◊〉 they are at their wits end Or as it is in the Hebrew All Wisdom is swallowed up Suitable to which is that of the Poet. Rector in incerto est nec quid fugiative petotive Invenit ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis Ovid. The Pilot knows not what to chuse or flee Art stands amaz'd in ambiguity O what strange and miraculous Deliverances have many Sea-men had How often have they yielded themselves for dead Men and verily thought the next Sea would have swallowed them up How earnestly then do they cry for Mercy And like the Cymbrians can pray in a storm though they regarded iâ— not at other times Psal. 107. 28. Iona 1. 5 6. APPLICATION These dreadful storms do at once discover to uâ— the mighty Power of God in raising them and thâ— abundant Goodness of God in preserving poor Creatures in them 1. The Power of God is graciously manifested iâ— raising them The Wind is one of the Lord's Wonders Psal. 107. 24 25. They that go down to the Sea see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy winds Yea Verse 18. God appropriates it as a peculiar work of his He causeth His wind to hlow Hence He is said in Scripture to bring them forth of his treasury Psal. 137. 7. There they are locked up and reserved not a gust can break forth till he command and call for it to go and excute his pleasure Yea He is said to hold them in his fist Prov. 30. 4. What is more uncapable of holding than the Wind yet God holds it Although it be a strong and terrible creature He controuls and rules it Yea the Scripture sets forth who God As riding upon the wings of the wind Psal. 18. 10. It is a borrowed speech from the manner of Men when they would shew their pomp and greatness ride upon some stately Horse or Chario so the Lord to manifest the greatness of his Power rides upon the Wings of the wind and will be admired in so terrible a creature And no less of his glorious Power appears in remanding them than in raising them The Heathens â—scribe this power to their god Aeolus but we know this is the Royalty and sole Prerogative of the true God who made Heaven and Earth it is He that makes the storm a clam Psal 107. 29. And it is He that shifts and changes them from Point to Point as He pleaseth for he hath appointed them their Cirâ—uits Eccles. 1. 6. The winds goeth towards the South â—nd turneth about unto the North it whirleth about continually and returneth again according to its Circuits 2. And as we should adore his Power in the winds 〈◊〉 ought we to admire his Goodness in preserving Men in the height of all their fury and violence O what a marvellous work of God is here That Men â—â—ould be kept in a poor weak Vessel upon the wild and stormy Ocean where the Wind hath its full stroke upon them and they are driven before it as a wreck upon the Seas yet I say that God should preserve you there is a work of infinite goodness and power That those Winds which do rend the very Earth Mountains and Rocks 1 Kings 29. 11. Breaks the Cedars yea the Cedars of Lebanon shakes the VVilderness and makes the Hinds to calve which Naturalists say bring forth with greatest difficulty Psal. 29. 5 8 9. Surely your preservation in such Tempests is an astonishing work of Mercy O how dreadful is this Creature the Winds sometimes to you And how doth it