gold and buy this But if he be drowned into debâ—e and cast into prison then and there he will cry vnto the Lord. So long as the forlorne sonne had a pennie into his purse he thought never of home but when he was forced to feede with the swine he said I will returne to my father againe So long as wee haue peace in our land and Barnes full of corne and purses full of money we ly in securitie lyke these of Lâ—ish But if the foraine enemy come and depriue vs of such comforts then we shall crye vnto the Lord. So long as Iehoshaphat in the battell sawe his partie to be equall he fought as he could But so soone as hee sawe him selfe neere straited by the enemie then hee cryed vnto the Lord. So long as Hagar had water into the bottles she and Ismael dranke together enjoying the creature But so soone as all was spent then she weept and cryed vnto the Lord. So â—long as the Raven can find a fleshy carion hee will quietly feede vpon it But while hee is straited with hunger hee beggeth his meate from God The young Lions saith the Psalmist roare aâ—ter their prey and seeke their meate from God All things men beasts fowles yea Papists in their greatest pinch are forced to quite all other vaine hopes for to cry vnto the Lord. I remember that in the tyme of the French persecution J came by sea to Flanders and as I was sailing from Flanders to Scotland a fearfull tempest arose which made our Mariners reele to and fro and stagger like drunken men In the meane tyme thâ—re was in our ship a Scots papist who lay neere me while the ship gaue a great shake his ordinarie cry was O Lord J observed the man and after the Lord had sent a calme I said to him Sir now yee see the weaknesse of your religion so long as yee are in prosperitie yee cry vnto this Sainct and that Sainct Jn our greatest danger J heard you cry often Lord Lord but not a word yee spake of our Lady J compare a Papist in his pilgrimages to creatures to a sheepe that is hunted of a flie it runneth from bush to bush every bush catcheth a lâ—ck till the silly sheepe bee threed-bare and tirred of all his fleece sinne lyke a cleg-flee maketh the soule to startle like a beast there is no sure refuge but in God Away then with Papistrie and with all that draweth a man from the Lord vnto any other The highest point of tribulation or some great danger of death wakning a man will tell a man that there is none that can helpe but the Lord and that hee onely is to bee called vpon Call vpon mee in the day of trouble said the Lord Whom haue I in heaven but thee said the Psalmist All things are for the Lord and from the Lord and all things in their troubles must come to the Lord as the hunger-bitten Aegiptians came all to Joseph for meate Thus yee see the great good of greevous afflictions They chase the creature till it cry to the Creator I will goe saith the Lord and returne to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seeke my face In their affliction they will seeke mee early This is heeâ—e declared in these words of my text Then they cry vnto the Lord in their trouble The vse let vs rejoyce in tribulation seeing God hath made it a spnrre vnto prayer Man is like waters Putrescunt ni movcantur aquae waters spill and stinke if they stand without any motion so will the soule stinke without affliction Before I was afflicted said David I went astray but now I learne thy statutes Indeede it is true that no affliction for the present seemâ—th to bee joyous but grievous Neverthelesse afterward it yeeldeth the pâ—â—câ—able fâ—uit of righteousnesse to these that are exercised thereby This is a quiet fruit of righteousnesse when the soule is moved to cry vnto God Cryes in prayer vnto God are the quietnesse of righteousnesse I confesse that both the wicked and the godly will crye in their distresse but the wicked cry like dogs beaten with a staffe the godly crye into their hearts like children with Moses to whom God said why cryest thou vnto mee Let vs praye the Lord that hee would rouze vp these sleepie soules of ours that sleepe so oftin sinne like Jonah in the hatches Well is the man to whom God shall send some affliction crying to the sinner as the Ship-master cryed to Jonah what meanest thou O sleeper arise crye and call vpon thy God It is goode that man while hee is forewarned by any affliction strive to bee friends with his God Men may rebell for a space and may turne the grace of God into wantonnesse yea and harden their hearts with Pharaoh against his plagues But at last when all their excellencie is swept away like a spiders web as Eliphaz sayeth they die without wisdome As a man liveth ordinarly so dieth hee He that liveth a foole shall readily die without wisedome a fore-warning affliction doeth goode to the godly man it maketh him to be fore-armed But as for the wicked man though God send sicknesse after sicknesse and delaye his death yet hee is not a whit the better But while hee liveth hee letteth the debt run on like a spender or waster who carelesly puts more and more vpon the score Jt were good for the wicked that hee had never beene borne as Christ said of Iudas or that hee had died in the birth yet seeing life in itselfe is a benefite while it is abused by those that have gotten it by crying vnto the Lord it is righteous with God to punish them in rigour for the abuse of his benefite which should have beene to them a large time well imployed in repentance where-with as with a brush they should have clensed their hearts from the scailles of wickednesse Againe heere some may obiect how is it that the godly man beeing sicke and neere the doores of death shuld cry so earnestly for life Should not a godly man bee glad to goe to GOD his Father to his long home where are pleasures for evermore What see wee heere but the back-parts of Iehovah Are wee not in this world as David was in Kedar and in Meshech or as Israel were captives in Babilon Is not this earth a strange land wherein wee can not sing the praises of our God Are not our Harpes heere hung vpon the willowes Our Musick is dumbe I answere that indeede if the godly well prepared as they should bee when sicknesse commeth vnto them they would not crye for health of body but their chiefe crye should bee Come Lord Iesus come and fetch away my soule that panteth after thee like a chaâ—ed Hart desiring the rivers of waters The chiefe desire
resurrection The vse of this doctrine is tâ—â—o sold first for â—â—se godly secondlie for the wicked As for the godly let them bee thankfull vnto God who hath changed their destructions into beds of rest where they shall sleepe most softly vntill the great blast of the last trumpet This is one of the speciall comforts which God hath prepared for the godly man in his bed of languishing that God will make all his bed in his sicknesse Behâ—ld heere a greater comfort In death God will make all the godly mans bed The graue to him is but a bed made for him by the Lord. O man of GOD for thy graue bee thankfull vnto God When death is drawing neere comfort thy selfe with this that God is preparing a well made bed for thee in the graue Blesse him who hath turned thy destruction into rest As for the wicked let the fearfull word of my text viz. destructions let it bee as it were a Remembrancer vnto them that there is a thing after this lyfe prepared for them which God his word calleth destruction While they heare of it let them come out of their chaire of ease for to be friends with God in time O mercifull God what terrour must this bee while a man on his death bed perceiveth nothing but GODS wrath a gapeâ—ng graue and an vâ—prepared soule Let this memorandum rouse vp all slippry soules so to liue in this lyfe that they losse not that lyfe which is to come No man can tell how soone his glasse shall runne out What a follie is this for a moment of pleasures to losse eternitie and to goe to destruction Happy then I see is the man that liveth well heâ—re Blessed is he whose GOD is the Lord Thrise happy is hee that hath faith in Christ for in the very graue he shall find salvation Hee hath a cordiall antidoâ— against the poison of destruction who hath Christ to bee his salvation Christ our salvation hath destroyed this destruction He hath gotten such a victorie not only for him selfe but also for all his Saints that the least and weakest of them may defye both death and destruction with those words of boast O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victorie Death like that viper of Malta may hang vpon a godly mans hand but in the day the Lord shall purge the world with fire the godly man shall shake death from him as St. Paul cast the vâ—per from him into the fire without any hurt But as for the wicked that are not in Christ their graues are their destructions death in the graue feedeth on them as on sheepe To euery one of them death may say as Christ said to death I shall be thy death While Christs friends with Lazarus are said to sleepe into the graue the wicked man there is but a destroyed creature While he is there he is in destruction hee is in abstracto mall into evill it selfe hee is nothing there but the Carion of a creature VVoe be to him to whom the graue is a destruction Let therefore all men stâ—â—e so to liue that while they goe to their graues their graues may bee a bed of rest vnto them Jf the graue bee a destruction to thy body the place of damnation is prepared for thy soule Let Epicures while they liue sport and say Hell is not so â—â—te nor sinne so heavy nor the divell so blacke nor GOD so severe as Preachers prattle The day shall come when they shall find it farre other wayes Shall GOD suffer the whole creation to groane vnder the burden of our sinnes Shall GOD him selfe be pressed vnder the weight thereof as a cart laden with sheaues and shall he not be avenged of vs in death except we repent Let vs therefore least our graues after death bee our destructions amend our lyfe in tyme Let vs abhorre the filthie shape of our sinnes Let vs lay hold on GOD his mercy and CHRIST his merits which are two shoulders that shall carie away all the weights of wickednesse Well is that soule whose Bill Bond before death is cancelled and crost With great joy may he goe to the graue to whom the LORD hath said I haue put away thy transgression like a cloud and thy sinnes as a mist Lord make our eyes nimble to rip our hearts to the bottome that wee may bring out our sinnes from thence that they may get a dead stroake before wee dye Heere let vs obserue who is hee that is said heere to haue delivered the sicke from their destructions it is the Lord The greatnesse of the worke declareth plainly that it could bee no other then the Lord when Iohn and Peter went a fishing after Christs resurrection Christ appeared vnto them after they had toiled the whole night in vaine at last at Christs command they cast the nets Christ at the first they knew not but by the great draught of fishes they began to know him the disciple whom Jesus loved considering the draught said vnto Peter it is the Lord So may a man who hath beene delivered from his destructions easily know that none could deliver him but the LORD the text is plaine heere and hee delivered them from their destructions Heere is a lesson of the great power of God the angell of the covenant said well when he sawe Sarah laughing at the promise is any thing too hard for the Lord. Christ speaking of the hard entrie of rich men into God his kingdome compared it to the passing of a Camell thorow the eye of a needle this thereafter hee made more cleare saying with men it is impossible but not with God for with GOD all things are possible This great power heere appeareth in that when the sicke man is hard at the doores of death vpon the very brime of destruction yet the Lord by his infinit power delivereth him from his destructions The vse is this when ever we find our selues perplexed let vs haue recourse to him that is only able to helpe vs Who can deliver from destruction the abstract of ill but God who is salvation essentially that which is good yea goodnesse it selfe No man can deliver his friend from feare in the dayes of evill when the iniquities of his heeles shall compasse him about Though men were never so wealthy boasting them selues in the multitude of their riches none of them can by any meanes redeeme his brother nor gius to God a ransome for him All the gold of â—ndia is not able to deliver a man from his destructions no not to prolong his lyfe but an houre Hee only who gaâ—e the lyfe is able to preserue the lyfe He only who gaue the lyfe is able for to take away the lyfe vnto God the Lord alone belong the issues from
creature whose motion hee could not vnderstand As for the earth it is a worke so wonderfull that no man tell wherevpon it hath beene founded Tell me O thou most learned Philosopher what can vphold such a heavy masse Thou wilt say that is founded vpon its Centre But what is that centre but a point What beareth vp that point that beareth vp all the rest But how can a point bee a fundation of so hudge a masse But imagine a man standing in the centre tell me what should be his situation According to the rules of Philosophie both his head should be vpward and his feete should be vpward Now what braine is able to conceiue this Some may think all this to be very easy but God did propound it vnto Job as a great argument Wherevpon said Hee are the fundations of the earth fastened We must therefore confesse that this worke of GOD which is but earthly is so wonderfull that it overfloweth all humane capacitie When a vessell is filled to the brimme it must at last overflow When our heart is filled with that which is wonderfull the wonders which we can not containe must runne over What shall J say more Behold O man all the parâ—es of the mekle world bend thy wits and see where thou can correct God his wisedome Come foâ—ward I pray thee and teach him a lesson if thou can If not confesse that his workes are wonderfull and that thou is filled with wondering so that GODS wonders in thy heart doe overflow From the mekle world let vs come to man the litle world Behold the fabricke of his body his browes his eares his eyes his nose his mouth Behold the wonderfull worke of God Teach GOD a lesson if thou can Wilt thou say that his mouth had beene best in his brow and that his nose had beene best behind his eare and that his eyes had beene more fitly into his chinne No not There is no part which can be devised to bâ—â— better then it is the worke is vvonderfull and therfore say that thou art filled with wondring Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men To come from the body to consider God his workings in the soule they are so wonderfull that no man can declare them Who shall not wonder to consider the workings of the soule J admire the mind and vnderstanding the will and the affections agreeing discording considering judging loving or hating making the body to laugh or to weepe according as the spirit is disposed Consider the spirit of man furnishing the body with fiue watches as with a guard for its preservation viz hearing seeing smelling feeling tasting and touching all set about the body for its preservation for as many watches to tell who is a foe and who is a friend The worke is so wonderfull that while I consider it my spirit doth overflow with wondering Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men Last of all seeing the curing of the sicknesse of the body is called a wonderfull worke how wonderfull must the curing of the sicke soule be For this cause and for others also CHRIST the Saviour of soules was called Wonderfull Vnto vs a child is borne said the Prophet and his name shall bee called WONDERFVLL This is he who hath not only filled the earth but the Heavens with wondering The Heavens at the first could not well perceiue how by God his stripes man should haue health The Cherubins which represented the Angels had their heads ever bowed toward the Mercy-seat for to see the calling and healing of the Gentiles The fellowship of that mysterie had beene hid in God from them and that from the beginning of the world But so soone as it was revealed vnto them by the Church that is so soone as they sawe God his promise accomplished in the Church as in a glasse they all with one voyce praised God for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men All the spirits of Heaven did praise Him that day with that divine song Glory bee to GOD in the highest Heavens peace on earth and toward men good will But what shall J say of men who are so much beholden vnto God Hath not God created vs Hath he not redeemed vs with the blood of his sonne Hath hee not delivered vs from many dangers at home and a field Hath bee not made all our bed in our sickenesse Hath he not brought vs backe from the doores of death But where is our thankfulnesse I say againe OH where is our thankfulnesse Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men To the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost bee glory and Majestie Dominion and power for ever and ever AMEN Eccles. 12. v. 10. Eccles. 12. v. 11. Bernar. super Cant. Quâ—rit aâ—â—â—aâ— verâ—uâ— cui consentiat aâ— correâ—iâ—â—em 〈◊〉 illumiâ—nâ—â—ur ad cognitioneÌ„ cui innitatur ad virtutem quo res â—nctur ad sipientiâ—m cui 〈◊〉 tur ad deâ—â—rem cui â—â—â—â—tetur ad sâ—â—uâ—â—illaâ—â—◠〈◊〉 sâ—uatur 〈…〉 Eccles. 12. v. 4. Luke 12. v. 35. Note 2. Tim. 1. v. 18. Libri Liberi Gen. 4. v. 7. Hieron ad Pamâ—nach Epist. 5. cap. 8. Exod. 33. â—1 v. 22. v. 19. v. 23. Exod. 34 v. 6. v 7. Note Psal. 101 v. 1. Ephes 3 v. 10 Psal. 18 v. 26. * Note * Note 1. King 1â— v 11 Jude v. 22. v. 23. * Note Act. 4. v. 36. Mark 3. â—7 * Note * Note Deut. 20 v. 10. v. 1â— * Note 2. Cor. 10 v. 4. * Note Leut. 19. v. 17. Ezek. 33. v. 3â— * Note * Note Note Act. 24 v. 25. * Note 1. King 22 v. 8. * Note * Note Job 6. v. 10. Ezek. 33 v. 3. * Note * Hose 6. v 5. Note * Note Jere. 1. v 17. Note Isa. 62 v. 16. * Note Ierem. 20. v. 9. * Note * Note * Note * Note 1. Cor. 3 v 18. * Note Prou. 30 v. 2. v. 3. * Note 1. Cor. 4 v. 10. 2. Kings 9. vi 1. Act. 26 v. 24. * 1. Cor. 1. v. 25. Note 1. Cor. 1. v 21. 1. Cor. 1 v. 18. Luk. 24. v. 2 Luk. 15. v. 17. 1. Cor. 1. v. 18. Note Luk. 12 v. 20. Note Heb. 6. v. 4. Note Psal. 37 v. 35. Ps. 129. v. 6. Iob. 5. v. 3 Iob. 5. v. 4. v. 5. Amos. 2. v. 9. The doctrine 1. Cor. 3. v. 19. The vse Note Tit. 2 v. 12. Note Note Note Note Note Luke 34 v. 25. Note Iude. v. 9. Note The doctrine Note Note Isay. 66. v. 17. The vse Note Note Ephes. 5. v. 3. Note Ier. 22. v. 8. Note v. 9. The doctrine Note Ionah 1. v. 11. v. 12. Iosh. 7. v. 8. v. 12 Note Iob. 8. v. 11. Note
beaten before the men of Ai hee put dust vpon his head crying Oh Lord what shall I say seeing Israel hath turned their backe before their enemies now what could bee the cause of that flight Israel hath sinned and haue also transgressed saide the Lord therefore they could not stand before their enemies There must ever bee a wherefore of sinne before the therefore of affliction Can the rush grow vp without myre can the flagge grow without water no more can affliction grow without sinne Sin to affliction is like myre to the rush and like water to the flagge it maketh a division betweene our God our Soule God cannot shine vpon the Counsell of the wicked So soone as men beginne to sinne the clowds of his glowmes beginne to gather then thou markest mee and thou wilt not acquite mee from mine iniquitie if I be wicked woe vnto mee As a man soweth so shall hee reape Even as I haue seene said Eliphaz they that plow iniquitie and sowe wickednesse reape the same Who ever hee bee that takes pleasure in sinne shall possesse moneths of Vanitie wearisome nights are appointed for him The vse of all this is that wee studie to sinceritie of life if wee would bee free of afflictions The wicked while they are afflicted are bound with afflictions like a murtherer cast in the stockes but godly Ioseph in the stockes is a free man The sakelesse Soule is ever in libettie their is no such buckler for holding off afflictions as innocencie of life If because of their transgressions and because of their iniquities bee away the words following are afflicted should bee as scraped out Let a man keepe himselfe from sinne vnspotted of this World and hardlie shall affliction come neere him Doe what Balaam could doe hee could not curse Israel though hee was waged for the same The reason thereof is declared by himselfe God hath not beheld iniquitie in Iacob neither hath hee seene perversnesse in Israel the Lord God is with him and the shout of a King is among them So long as God beholdeth not iniquitie into a man a house or a nation the Lord God is there and they shout as Kings that is they triumph over all their enemies If afflictions come for to trye their forces they likewise shout as Kings triumphing over Death it selfe and the grave whome they boast with doubled interrogations O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victorie What wonder that fooles bee afflicted for their follie seeing other innocent creatures smart for the same Doth not Scripture record that senselesse creatures sicken for our sinnes Thus wee see the walls of an house became leper of a freting leprosie a wonderfull thing to think how hard stones of the house wall where the sinner dwelt could become sick Because of the transgressions and iniquities of fooles in an house the dead stones in the wall were afflicted Yea which is more for the sins of man the whole creation groneth travelleth in paine together as if it were a Woman in her shewers their sicknesse is vanitie caused by our iniquitie * Seeing then other creatures that cannot sinne are afflicted because of mans sins what wonder if fooles because of their transgressions yea and also because of their iniquitie hee afflâ—cted Observe heere howe the worde because is doubled First because of their transgressions and againe because of their iniquities Is not this all one what neede was it then that hee should have thus doubled the worde Because and againe because I answere that this forme of speach is as were the dreames of Pharaoh of the kine and of the corne of one thing hee had two dreames The dreame of Pharaoh is one said Ioseph But wherefore was it doubled Joseph â—aith that it was to shew Pharaoh what hee was about to doe that is for to assure him that the matter should surely come to passe God of one thing doubled Pharaohs dreames for that the dreame was doubled vnto Pharaoh twise it is because the thing is established by GOD and God will shortly bring it to passe So for to assure vs heere that sinne is the cause of all our afflictions it is saide that men are afflicted because of their transgressions and againe because of their iniquities The word doubled is lyke two witnesses for to confirme the trueth The first lesson I observe heere is of the great stupiditie of man that very hardlie can rightly take vp the cause of his troubles It must bee told him againe and againe line after line commandement after commandement because after because The first bell ringes to the preaching and yet wee slumber The second ringes yet we are not ready The third must ring also with a doubled sound and yet we come behind Either preface or prayer is past before wee come to our place Wee come to the Lords house as to a place of girth or as to a city of refuge for to saue the the lyfe of our soules yet beholde how sluggish wee are like Lot who would not leaue his house till hee was pressed out by the Angel So heere behold thy senslese nature that can not take vp the cause of thy troubles till it be told againe and againe Because of transgressions will not waken the sleeping sinner till it be doubled into an other word because of iniquities lyke the doubled crowe of the Cock to Peter Let all men learne heere the cause of all their woes Now O man would thou knowe the cause of thy afflictions it is because of thy transgressions Hast thou not hard that Was thou sleeping while I said it Heare me againe it is bâ—cause of thy iniquities If the because of thy transgressions hath not weakned thee let the because of thy iniquities rouse thee vp GOD cryed once Samuel but hee made no answere to GOD hee cryed againe Samuel but yet hee answered not to God The third tyme hee cryed Samuel neither as yet could hee answere vnto God Last of all the Lord doubled his cry Samuel Samuel Then Samuel said Speake Lord forthy servant heareth Many preachings haue many heard and yet haue not learned the cause of their afflictons Many strokes haue many gotten and as yet never could take vp the cause of their stroakes and so they continue into their sinnes like the drunkard in his drinking who though in his drunknesse he hath gotten many a sore fall many a sore stroake yet can not refraine They haue stricken me will he say and I was not sicke they haue beaten me and I felt it not when I shall awake yet will I till it againe Woe to him that is not sensible to his afflictions for to seeke out the cause thereof that it may bee removed If a sinner hath beene stricken and hath not beene sicke if
power of death that is the devil and deliver these who through feare of death were all their lifetyme subject vnto bondage Let vs remember then that death before Christs death had portes of power But so soone as the Captane of our salvation came hee cast downe the portes and dang death from the portes yea hee beseiged death yea hee overcame death even into the graue deaths dungeon and strongest hold yea not onely that but also hee put the devill that had the power of death to such a straite that hee was forced to quite his castell for to goe lodge into swine The vse of this is our great comfort against the feare of death What neede wee now to feare death seeing Christ our fastest friend hath conquessed the portes of death When a Christian seeth Christ hee groweth bold yea so that hee will boast death and the graue saying O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victorie Heere againe I obserue that hee saith that the sicke fooles drawe neere the gates of death they drawe neere and yet enter not in The lesson is this so long as there is lyfe in a man there is hope all is not lost that is in perrill Epaphroditus was sicke nigh vnto death yet GOD had mercy on him The vse of this is so long as there is lyfe in man in sickenesse let both spirituall and bodily dueties be done let prayers be made and other lawfull meanes sought whereby the precious lyfe of man may be preserved Say not there is no remeed all hope of lyfe is past and therefore wee neede not care what bee done to him Mans extremitie is Gods opportunitie when man lest looketh for it GOD at his will can bring backe the sicke man from the doores of death The best vse wee can make of that that sinners sicken and at last drawe neere the doores of death is that we remember that we all haue this voyage to make We are all dayly drawing neerer and neerer vnto death vnto our long home as Salomon saith and therefore the neerer our bodies drawe to the doores of death let our soules drawe neerer the portes of Heaven All things giue vs warning that wee must flit and remoue thy beard thy face thy skinne thy acquaintance the season of the yeere are all crying we are subject to changes The houres the dayes the nights are all as it were vpon horsebacke posting to their end The Heavens crye vnto vs our powers are shaken and wee waxe old as doeth a garment See yee not that sand running out of my houre glasse Jt cryeth vnto you that tyme is running away with your lyfe As yee see that sand running out so is also the tyme of your lyfe running away and now yee haue neere by an houre of lyfe lesse since J reade my texte and shortly shall yee goe out with lesse naturall lyfe than yee came in The Lord increase our spirituall lyfe J wish J could let you see the vanitie of this lyfe that yee may learne to looke for a better There is a swift motion into man from lyfe to death My dayes said Job are swifter then a weevers shittle yea swifter then a post yea they are swift as ships as the Eagle that hasteth to the preye What is man but a broken leafe driven to and fro with dayes of trouble as with mightie tempests And yet for all thiâ— while hee is driving swiftly vnto death he dreameth that he is drawing neere to the doores of life Put thy house to an order yee must make your testament are fearefull wordes to a naturall man Most men even while they are a-dyeing desire to dreame of lyfe neither without some wrath will they suffer them selues to bee wakned out of this dreame and yet doe what they can they are ever drawing nearer and nearer the doores of death I wish that these doores were ofter into our memorie then they are If yee will take heede and considder I shall let you knowe two pages that God hath commanded ever to be watches in man so long as hee hath lyfe for to advertise him that hee must die The one is called the pulse which God hath set into the arme of man knocking night and day for to tell him that at the last knocke hee must enter in at the doores of death The other page is called the breath which God hath set into the breast of man this reciprocation of the breath is like reciprocatio serrae the drawing to and froo of a sawe This breath O man is night and day going to and froo like a savve man is the tree when the tree is cutted then must it fall and where it falleth there shall it lye whether in a myre or vpon the cleane As a man dieth so shall he be for ever If being well prepared hee enter in at the doores of death happie shall his lyfe bee for evermore Yee who of before did never obserue these two watching pages the pulse and the breath take warning by them that dayly yee drawe neerer to the gates of death THE SECOND PART THE SICKE MANS SALVE WEE haue hard in the first part of the verses which wee haue reade concerning the sicke mans sore Now it followeth that we heare of the second part wherein is the sicke mans salve it is contained in these words Then they cry vnto the Lord in their trouble Hee saveth them out of their distresses He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions In the words J see tvvo speciall things first the sicke man crying to God for helpe secondly GOD delivering the sicke man The first is in these words Then they cry vnto the Lord in their trouble the second is in these words Hee saveth them out of their trouble c. Heere then is both mans part and Gods part Mans part is in these words then they cry vnto the LORD Gods part is in these words He saveth them c. Heere first in mans part let vs obserue that while hee is neere the doores of death hee cryeth vnto God for lyfe where we may learne that it is lawfull for a man beeing in danger of death to begge his lyfe from his GOD This Hezekiah did while hee was sicke of his boile He weept before God in his bed and besought him that hee would spaire him for a space Moses had a great desire to liue and to enter into Canaan This was the prayer of him that compiled the hundreth and two psalme that GOD would yet let him liue I said O my GOD take mee not away in the middest of my dayes In the Kings Psalme the Prophet saith vnto GOD He asked lyfe of thee thou gavest it him I confesse that men had great need to bee wise in this sute
of a godly heart is all in this wish when shall I come and appeare before God Item I desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ. But for some reasons the most godly whiles will seek life from God some desire to live because they desire yet to doe some better service for God than hitherto they have done they are sorie that in their calling they have not beene so busie as it became them to bee the desire of their life is onelie that they may redeeme the time by dooing some one good turne or other for their God Jn my iudgment this chieflie made Hezekiah to weepe to croude and to chatter while hee heard the message of death This chiefly made the Psalmist crye Take mee not away in the midst of my dayes * Others even of the number of the godly will crye for life because they finde not themselves so well prepared for to come before the face of their Iudge they see that as yet they have not put the affaires of their Soule to an order It is likelie that this also made Hezekiah to weepe so fore that he chattered at the words of the messinger of death God by Isaiah bade him put his house in order if that had beene already done it had not needed Gods command seeing then his house was not set in order which is but an easie matter it would seeme that his soule was not so set in order as that hee found it ready to compeare before the iudgment seat of God O how fearefull is that tribunall for an vnprepared soule What terrours are these sinne and sicknesse death the grave an vnprepared soule The vse of all this is seeing there is nothing more certaine than death and nothing more vncertaine than the time and place thereof let vs ever be vpon our guarde ready to flitte and remove out of our tabernacles of clay My time is in thine hand said David Wee cannot tell how soone our glasse shall end Let vs therefore resolve with Hezekiah in all the way of our pilgrimage to goe softly in the bitternesse of our soule Againe in that it is said that the sicke men cry vnto the Lord in their trouble let vs observe the perversnesse of our nature Troubles make vs to crye bodily afflictions rouze vs vp to crye but alas while wee sinne we keepe silence while the Thiefe is cutting a purse hee is quiet but while hee is scourged for his fault hee will shoute for every stripe While Satan is forcing vs with his tentations to offend our God wee often yeelde therevnto without any crye to our God Jt is then especially that wee shoulde crye vnto him when wee finde sinne comming against vs to force vs to offend our God God in his word hath set downe a notable Lawe for a Damsell betrothed to a husband I will let you heare the Law If a Damsell saith the Lord that is a virginâ— bee betrothed to an husband and a man find her in the Citie and lye with her Then yee shall bring them both out to the gate of that Citie and yee shall stone them with stones that they die the Damsell because shee cryed not and the man because hee humbled his neigboures wife But if a man finde a betrothed Damsell in the field and the man force her and lye with her then the man only that lay with her shall die But in the Damsell there is no sinne worthie of death for hee found her in the field and the betrothed Damsell cryed and there was none to save her Now what is to bee inferred vpon this This is the matter The soule of a Christian is as a Damsell a virgin betrothed vnto Christ the blessed Bridegrome of our soules Sathan the tempter is like a Russian comming to force and defile this Damsell Jf the soule crye not while Sathan is vsing violence the Soule and Sathan shall die the soule because it cryed not and Sathan because hee forced the Soule But if while Sathan is vsing violence rhe soule cry vnto God for help then Sathan shall only die yea though in that case the soule in something should bee defiled yet shall shee not die because she cryed vnto the Lord. The vse of this is that whensoever wee shall perceive Sathan comming with force for to deflore or defile our soule Christs Damsell we incontinent crye with all our force vnto GOD. Lord help mee Lord leade mee not into tentation O God of my mâ—â—â—â— prevent mee and keepe mâ— from these snares bee thou a shelter for mee and a strong tower from the enemie This was Pauls doing when hee feared to bee forced with that bodie of death hee cryed Miserable man that I am who shall deliver mee from this body of death This was the practise of Joseph while his Mistresse saide to him lye with mee hee cryed vnto God How should I doe this wickednesse and sinne against God * Hee that will not crye to God before hee sinne Gods plagues at last shall cause him crye for his sins * Well is that man and that woman that can crye to God for to save them from the houre of tentation If a Damsell was forced in the fielde her sinne was not thought worthye of death because it was supponed that shee cryed but that there was none to help her But it is not so with our soule whether it crye in the Citie or in the field if shee cry shee shall find that there is a God for to help her and therefore if shee be forced shee can have no excuse Well is that soule that is continually crying to God in prayer Jf a palliard knowe that a woman will crye hee will feare to make an onset but if hee see her smyle hee knoweth that hee hath found his match It is so with Sathan that great palliard and the soule of man If Sathan knowe thy soule to bee a crying soule a soule that will tell all his teâ—tations to Christ her husband hee will feare to tempt that soule Satan is feared for Christ hee beleeveth and hee trembleth But if hee see a soule that is quiet a soule that heares his filthie language and smileth vpon him with a wanton eye there the vncleane Spirit knoweth that hee hath founde his match Well is that soule that Sathan finds weeping for offending Christ her husband O what a difference is betweene a soule whose eyes are drumly with teares of repentance and a soule whose eyes are wanton ' light and smyling eyes filled with spirituall adulterie Remember this vse O man when ever Sathan shall come to tempt thee vnto sinne then crye thou vnto the Lord vnto Christ thy husband and Sathan that filthy Russian shall flie awaye in haste so long as wee breath let vs pray that the Lord would lead vs into the land of righteousnesse
Last of all in that these that are troubled crye to God J observe a comfort for these that crye in trouble when a man can once crye to God in his trouble it is a token that God shortly will deliver One that is pined with the stone gravell so long as hee but whineth for the difficultie hee hath in making water the Surgeon will not cut him but will say let him bee till hee crye from the time once hee beginneth to cry then is it time to cutt that once done he is delivered from his paine There is in man a stone harder than the Stone of the bladder viz. the stone of the heart The heart stone is of sinne the bladder Stone is but of sand Sinne gravell is a stone gravell for hardnesse there is no flint so hard as a hard heart As the Stone gravell is from sand one pickle ioyning to another till at last manie pickles beeing knit together in a lumpe become a confirmed stone even so the heart gravell is from one sinne joyned to another till they be in an huge number together like a cluster At last in length of time by custome they harden together from thence is the confirmed stone of the heart So long as this stone is not very painefull in affliction but onely maketh the sinner to whine the Lord will let that sinner suffer still for a space hee will delay his cure but if once the paine bee so that it cause the sinner to cry God that most cunning Surgeon will cut out the cause of his cry Behold the trueth of this into my text Then they cry vnto the Lord there is the cry and he delivereth them there is the cure The vse Let vs try our soules in trouble whither they cry or but whine if the soule but whine in afflictions it is a token that deliverance is yet far off but if the soule once begin to crye God is ready to deliver By our prayer to God we shall know the mind of our God in our troubles the working of our afflictions In this crying to God there is a great difference the wicked cryeth more for his sore than his sinne the godly man cryeth more for his sin than his sore So to doe is not the practise of a prentise The Lord teach vs both how wee should cry to our God and wherfore chiefly we should cry To God bee glorye for ever Amen A SHORT MEDITATION against mans securitie in life AS intensive colde in time of frost maketh water to congeale and bindeth all vp so that the earth is neither fit for plowing or sowing so into the hearts of manie there is a frost yea a lying frost so that the fallow ground of their heartes cannot bee riven vp An excessive cold at Gods service stayeth the pleugh of Gods â—grace Yee all woulde thinke it an vncouth thing to see pleughsly in frost in the moneth of May and yet more into August The yeere is but of the age of twelve monethes Maye is but the youth thereof and yet if in that moneth there should bee no appearance of fruites what would you thinke of such a yeere And yet alas many of vs who have past the June yea the August of our age are as yet frozen in the dregges of our sinnes as though the beames of Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse had never shined vpon our soules What is this that wee cannot remember our mortalitie * One sythe cutteth down both Prince and people How manie Kings of this land are dead and but one alive The rest are gone for to give account how they have swayed the scepter when they sustained the person of God All the glorie of the greatest except they bee godly shall perish like the snuffe of a candle that is trodde vnder-foote Let vs therefore so live to die that wee maye die to live If wee digge not the Myne we shall never find the treasure If wee could lay this to our heart wee should bee swifter than Hazael in running to our God THE SICKE MANS SALVE THE THIRD SERMON Psal. 107. v. 19. Then they cry vnto the Lorde in their trouble hee saved them out of their distresses V. 20. Hee sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions IN my former Sermon it hath beene declared what the sicke fooles did while they were neere the doores of death it is saide Then they cryed vnto the Lord Jn this Sermon wee shall heare Gods part It is in these words â—ee saved them out of their distresses hee sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions The division of these words Jn these wordes I see two things first God after hee hath heard afflicted sinners saveth them and delivereth them out of their distresse secondly it is set downe by what meanes hee delivered these sicke persons in these wordes hee sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their graves or destructions As for that it is saide in the first part of my dâ—yes Text that God saved these sicke out of their distresses J observe the great mercie of God there is no sinne or sicknesse I see so great but if the sicke sinner can crye to him God hath mercie for him as it is of sicknesse so of all other affliction If man can crye vnto God God is readie to send succour This Moses declared well vnto Jsrael The Lord said hee shall scatter you among the nations and yee shall bee left few in number and there yee shall serve gods the workes of mens handes wood and stone which neither heare nor see nor eate nor smell there is Gods iudgment against mans sin But shall the LORDS arme bee stretched out still Will not God bee any more mercifull heare what is subioyned But if from thence thou shalt seeke the Lord thy God thou shalt find him if thou seeke him with all thy heart and with all thy soule Manie a time had the sicke fooles of my text offended his Majestie yet here is mercie they cryed and hee saved God sometimes indeed while hee hath beene often provoked by the sinnes of men after diverse deliverances will seeme to bee more hard to bee intreated that men maye beware to be relapses from such he will hide his face for a space Verily said Jsaiah thou art a God that hideth thy self O God of Israel the Saviour hee may hide himself for a litle but not long While hee heareth the heart-cryes of his creature hee is forced to draw the curtaine and shew himselfe vnto it He that forbade man to hide himself from his owne flesh can not long deny himselfe to a sicke sinner crying in his distresse Of this we have a notable speach in the Psalme I sought the Lord and hee heard mee delivered mee from all my feares
They looked vnto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed Now let vs see the kirnell of that comfort in the verse following This poore man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles Behold a progresse of seeking and of deliverance first hee sought God secondly he looked vnto God thirdly the poore man cryed So first God mett mans seeking with deliverance from the feare of trouble secondly while man looked vnto him hee made him to bee inlightened so that hee knew both who did afflict and wherefore hee did afflict him But last of all while God saw this sinner humbled like a poore man and heard him crye then hee saved him from his troubles This poore man cryed saith the Psalmist and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles See how the Lord at the first saved him not from all his troubles but by degrees till hee cryed vnto him like a poore man crying for an almes The harder health is more come by the more it is set by a disease easily cured is easily incurred The sooner a sinner bee helped if hee returne againe to his sinnes hee shall find God the slower to come to his helpe againe God will let him seeke and looke and cry yea and crye againe to teach him better manners This wee see in the booke of Iudges to have beene Gods doing with Israel The Israelites beeing oppressed by the Philistimes and Ammonites in their miserie they sought vnto God they looked vnto him yea and they cryed but what answere got they at the first God sent them vnto their false gods at the first and yet vpon their repentance hee hee pittied them The wordes are so weightie that they are worthie to be heard these be they euen as they were writen by Gods pen-man when the Israelites sawe that they were so sore afflicted by their enemies it is said They cryed vnto the Lord saying wee haue sinned against thee both because we haue forsaken our God and also serued Balaam let vs now heare what answere God made vnto them Hee said vnto them Did I not deliuer you from the Egyptians and from the Ammorits and from the Children of Ammon and from the Philistimes The Zidonians also and the Amalelikites and the Maonites did oppresse you and yee cryed vnto mee and I deliuered you out of their hands yet ye haâ—e forsaken mee and serued other Gods Behold their relaps what saith the Lord to that I will deliuer you no more Goe and crye vnto the Gods which ye haue chosen let them deliuer you in the time of your tribulation heare what a hard answere Now what did the Jsraelites They said to God We haue sinned doe thou vnto vs whatsoeuer seemeth good vnto thee deliuer vs onely we praye thee this day as if they should haue said Lord but for this one time Thus after they had cryed they amended their life by putting away the strange Gods from among them and serued the Lord what did God then It is said that his soule was grieued for the miserie of Israel So at last they got help but after many prayers and after the amendement of their life O the great mercy of our God! O the preseruer of man Let vs make vse of this by applying it to our present purpose which is concerning these that are so sicke that they seeme to bee neere the doores of death While God delayeth to bring them from their sicknesse notwithstanding of all their prayers and of all our prayers private or publicke let vs not grudge neither let the sicke murmure God while hee delayeth their health hee as it were sayeth to them as hee said to Israel I will deliver you no more yet if the poore patient persist to murne before him God will not faile to give him full contentment at last God afflicteth not willingly the children of men no not his soule often is grieved for the miserie of Israel How can hee but deliver repenting sinners seeing their miserie grieveth his verie soule It is not wonder that God repented himselfe to have made man because that hee is the chiefe matter of his griefe As for the Devils they grieve GOD by their sinnes but he is not grieved for their torments God gladly shall cause scourge them with scorpions But as for his owne children heere hee is grieved and grieved againe first for their sinnes but most for their sufferings hee is grieved for their sinnes as a father for his childrens faults and againe he is grieved to strike them Last of all hee is most grieved after that hee hath striken them These bee wonderfull wordes his soule was grieued for the miserie of Israel God that forgave David his sinne could as gladly have spared him in his iudgments but the wicked were looking on wondred how God did spare and therefore â—or his honour and for his names sake he could not let David go vnpunished So soone as David had said I have sinned against the Lord Nathan answered that the Lord had put away his sinne but as for afflictions and troubles hee could not put them awaye because by that deede hee had giuen great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme Jf all the wicked were blind God would often spare to afflict his Children An obiection Heere some may obiect and saye that this our Text is not ever true Js it not cleare that God delivereth not all men from the gates of death though they cry vnto him The answere It is certaine that it is not aye done For if men by crying to God were ever brought backe from the doores of death death should bee a rare thing among men If life could bee had for crying to GOD the World should be deafned with din for all that a man hath he will giue it for his life Jt is but one of a thousand that can say with S. Paul I desire to be dissolued what then shall we say to our Texte wherein is said that when the sicke man cryeth then God deliuereth Surely this is not euer done but if it be once done to a man in his life they be fewe here of anye age but once in their lifetime God hath brought them from the doores of death If God once hath done this to thee by thy owne experience subscribe to the trueth of my Texte Neither doth my Text say that this is done to all left that anye should beguile himselfe saying I may sinne seeing as yet I haue neuer bene so sicke as to be at the ports of death before J die I must first be neere these portes and be broght backe againe to health and so shall liue a space and afterward die No not God hath not astricted himselfe by promise to anye that he shall get but an houres sicknesse before he die If
God had before life could be gotten Though he should haue walked to and fro and streatched himselfe vntill now except that God had sent his word Elisha should haue said as Gehazi said that was sent with his staffe The child is not awaked There is no force in man against death to make either voice or hearing Heere then let vs obserue the great power of God who by the message of his word cureth such deadly diseases A Physitian may helpe a sicke man by application but what can he doe by explication Mens wordes are but wind wordes can not worke Mens wordes are but of dead letters But the word of god is quick and quickening it is mighty in operation the Power of God to salvation both of soule and of body That which is able to saue both soule and body from Hell fire may easily be a power for to heale the sicke body The Centurion after that hee had sent a man for Christ to come and cure his sick seruant hee bethought himself what power was in Gods word and therfore he sent back word againe to Christ that hee should not come him selfe but only send his word Tell him said the Centurion to his friends whom he sent to him tell him Lord trouble not thy selfe for I am not worthie that thou shouldest enter vnder my roofe wherefore neither thought I my selfe worthie to come vnto thee but saye in a word and thy servant shall bee healed Saye in a word that is send a word and it shall heale him I read of Ioseph that he was cast into the stockes in a prison But by what meanes was he deliuered It was by Gods word The psalmist saith that they hurt his feete with stockes and that he was laide in yron But how was he deliuered there he laye vntill the time that his word came God had giuen to Ioseph the word of his promise in a dreame that he should be a sheafe before whom all others sheaues should bowe yea that before him the Sunne and Moone and elleuen starres should doe reuerence So soone as the time of that word came the stockes could keepe Ioseph no more As Ioseph lay in the stockes so must the sicke man ly in his bed vntill the the time that his word came then shall he goe free Heere behold the great power of the word of the Lord. Turne thee yet againe and behold the power of this word in a greater cure In Ezekiel J see a strange worke wrought by this word In a valley there was a huge great number of bones both bare and drye loe saith the Prophet they were very drye God hauing showne them to his Prophet said vnto him Sonne of man can these bones liue The Prophet said Lord thou knowest as if he had said there is very little appearance J will make them liue said the Lord But how By my word I will send my word vnto them Prophecie vpon these bones and say vnto them O ye dry bones heare the word of the Lord Behold I shall cause breath enter into you and ye shall liue And I will lay sinewes vpon you and will bring vp flâ—sh vpon you and couer you with skin and put breath in you and ye shall liue As soone as the Prophet had giuen the bones this first charge of Gods word at that first prophecie there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones came together euery bone to its owne bone But there was no breath in them Behold how the first charge of the word made onely the bones to be conueened and to be couered with flesh and skinne But how shall life be gotten God must send his word againe God sent his word to the wind for to fetch breath for the quickning of these dead men Prophecie vnto the wind said the Lord Prophecie Son of man say to the wind Thus saith the Lord God Come from the four winds O breath breath vpon these slaine that they may liue At that second charge of the word the wind fetcht breath which entred into them and all those bones lived and stood vp an exceeding great armie He who by his word prophecied made dry bones to creepe together and by this word made the winde to breath life into them may easily send vnto sick men a word that will heale them thought they were even at the doores of death Secondly in that the word of God is said heere to be the meanes whereby God healeth the sicke J obserue the diuersitie of the operation of his word what ever God hath to doe let him but send his word and it shall be done When he made the world he vsed no other hand but his word let there be light let there be a firmanent Gods word LET wrought all the creatures He said and it was and as he said so it was The word of God is like a Mine of diuers veines either for to help Gods friendes or for to hurt his foes as the cloudy pillar was darkenesse by day vnto the Egyptians and light in darkenesse vnto the Jsraelites As that Pillar was a darke cloud by day behind Israel for to hide them from the Egyptians and a burning Pillar of fire by night going before Israel for to let them see the waye So the word that God sends is euer for the good of Israel It is a quickning spirit and sauour of life to life vnto these that are saued but it is a killing letter and a sauon of death to these that perish When Christ had a will to ding his enemies vpon their backe he sent his word to doe it I with I am he he made them goe backward to the ground With his word he dang his enemies vpon their backe and with his word he raised vp Lazarus his dead freind out of the graue Gods greatest wonders were done by his word When Israel at Massah and Meribah tempted God in their thirst for to get water God directed Moses to find water But how was it by sending him for to delue downe in the ground for to find some water spring No not He sent him to a Place where naturally was rather fire then water euen to a hard flint Rocke But how was that water gotten God sent his word vnto the Rocke speake vnto the Rocke said the Lord to Moses and it shall giue forth his water Thirdly seeing Gods word is of such power that for all things it is a soveraine remeedie let vs beware to doubt of its power These gluttons that cryed for flesh are branded with this blot They spake against God saying Can God furnish a table in the wilderenesse Beware to say Can God were the difficultie neuer so great in appearance Moses his doubt made
another for leprosie to another for barrennesse to another for sicke horse to another for sicke kine to another for their swine I neede not goe farre Beholde into the same house where J preach that place of S. 〈◊〉 mooles in my time J sawe a deepe hole at the side of that stone where the miserable ignoraÌ„ts of this land had digged for to get the dust of that pretended Saint as if it had had power for to give health Mercifull God what blindnesse of ignorance was that What could be the cause of this This was the cause The poore people could not find the worde Gods messenger for health The Bible was a clasped booke then the Antichristian seales were as yet not loosed they heard nothing but mumbling of Masses wordes that they vnderstood not wordes that could not heale their hearts sicke of sinne and what wonder that like hennes they came seraping and scarting among the graves seeking if they could find any pickle of comfort to their comfortlesse soules Blessed bee our God that hath sent his word to this place for healing of sicke sinners whereas of before they were wont to bee sent to seeke comfort from the dead that had no comfort for themselves Gods word is a salve for all sorts of sores To come to my doctrine there is no disease vncurable to the word when it shall please God to send it I confesse that there bee diseases like devills some of a kinde that are more hardly driven away than others This sort of devils said Christ cannot bee cast out but by fasting and prayer to the worde of prayer fasting behoved to be ioyned Not that the word wanted force for to chase out these Devills but because of vs whose prayers are sluggish while the bellie is full A full bellie maketh the spirit lumpish fulnesse of food sends vp such thicke vapours which become clowdes betweene the face of God and our prayers so that they can not passe thorow Againe seeing Gods word is his appointed meane whereby hee not onlie giveth health to the body but also to the soules of his children let vs not wonder that Sathan the enemie of mans salvation bee a great enemie to this word to the teachers and to the hearers There is not a Sermon made to a people but Sathan is affraide to losse a soule for this cause especiallie hee beares a great ill will at Pastours because they carie the word of health Such men are the Lords Ensigne-bearers against whom Sathan shooteth his greatest peeces If they fall the men of health fall the sicke can no more get salve for his sore for this cause let no man wonder that Sathan raiseth slanders vpon Preachers This maketh that Dragon often to stretch out his taile that hereby hee may sweepe downe the lights of the World which shew vnto vs the way of salvation Jf once hee can make this word of God to bee ill spoken of and by the reeke of calumnie darken the light or make it to bee loathed hee thinkes that hee hath wonne a field As for you who take vpon you any profession of godlinesse by frequenting Sermons and often hearing of this word Beware that by a scandalous life yee make others to loath that which is Gods also appointed meanes for the healing of soules Woe to them that make the worde of God to bee ill spoken of Againe seeing the word is so poweâ—full a meane for to recover the health that is lost it must also bee a most powerfull preservative of health The vse seeing it is so let vs make meekle of Gods word in our health for it is the word of health the messenger of health the word of good tidings What better tidings would a sicke man have than that hee should bee healed * There was such a desire of health in Christs dayes that the people throâ—ged so about him that some not being able to enter in at the doore of the house where he was clambe vp vpon the house vncouered the roofe above his head and let downe the sicke into beds by the hole they had broken vp Jf wee knew the vertue of Gods word before that wee were debarred therefrom by a multitude wee should vncover the roofe of the house where it is preached that we might bee let downe by cords as wee loue our health wee should loue this word of health All men wish for health heere is the best preservative feare God and heare his word diligentlie If thou losse a preaching needlesly it is a wonder if thou contract not some disease If thou also be sluggish to come to Gods house or if thou come but yet heares carelesly and receiues not the word with greedinesse that is a spirituall lumpishnesse of heart a forerunner of some painefull disease Men ordinarly before some sicknes find a certain heauinesse with want of appetit There is no surer token of a fearfull disease to come then a lumpish loathing of Gods word It is of the word as of the Sacrament Jf the Sacrament of the supper be eaten vnworthily by the children of God though God after their repentance forgiue them the sinne yet he will chastise them with diuers diseases for this cause said the Apostle many are weake and sickly amongst you and many sleepe Euen so when the word is heard negligently without due preparation for this cause many are plagued with diuers diseases There is no such token that God will keepe the health of a people as when a people hath appetit of the word and heares it with greedinesse These delicate soules that are not content with the sincere word of God except that it be saused into the entising words of mans wisdome can not be but sickly soules Such men must be filled with some filthinesse within which bursteth out into scabs which scripture calleth the itching of the eare Thus as Solomon faith The full soule lotheth the honiâ— combe euen Gods word that is sweeter then the honie combe But to the hungrie soule euery bitter thing is sweet A morsell of drye bread is more pleasant to a hungry man then wild foule is to him that is Blewe burstex as we say This land let me be familiar is as it were Blewe bursten vvith abundance of Gods word We are well fed but it is not seene on vs Because we are filled we loth the honie combe J see no greater token of great diseases to come vpon this land then this Scotlands appetite of Gods word is lost Let vs heere also obserue the craft of Sathan who in all things goeth about to counterfeit God in his doings Heere in my Text it is said that God healeth the sicke with wordes he sent his Worde and healed them Sathan goeth about to make men beleiue that he can heale diseases also with words which wee
death and also the issues vnto death In his mouth alone are the quickning or killing words returne yee children of men either from lyfe to destructions or from destruction vnto lyfe and therefore in all our distresses and greatest sickenesse let vs haue our recourse vnto him saving with the Psalmist whom haue I in Heaven but thee and there is none on earth whom I desyre besyds thee my fiâ—sh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever We haue heard how those that were sicke drewe neere to the doores of death and how GOD while none could help them delivered them from their destructions in bringing them from death to lyfe from sicknesse to health Before I passe foreward to the last part of the text I desyre you all to consider well that albeit God in great sicknesse by his word recall vs from the graue once or twise yet for all that we must carefully remember our mortalitie for though at diverse tymes God either in sicknesse or in dangers by sea or by land hath by his power delivered vs from the graue wherein long since wee had beene rotten yet for all that at last these bodies of ours must come to the hands of the buriers who shall lay vs downe into our destructions Consider and weigh well the matter O man though God should prolong thy dayes so that every one of them should bee lyke that day oâ— losualâ— when the sunne stood still vpon Gibeon and the moone in the valley of Atâ—lon yet should all those dayes come to an end The standing sunne at last must goe downe yea though God should bring backe the shaddow of thy lyfe many thousand degrees at last it shall goe downe in the diall of thy mortalitie Though the house were never so strong at last it must decay and drop thorow There is no ludging for eternitie in things below Methuselah with his nine hundred three score and nine yeeres is followed with hee died as well as hee who lived but an houre I wish that this my sermon could bee to you like the house of mourning which Salomon calleth better then the house of feasting his reason is for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his hearâ— A feast is made for laughter which will not admit the companie of so graue mediations Laughter will not suffer the living to lay his end to his heart Oh that yee all could lay well this my sermon to your heart before that death by sicknesse come and make a breach by that breach runne away with your soules Alas it is hard for men in prosperitie to be moved to thinke that they shall be moved I said in my prosperitie said David I shall never be moved O how hard it is for men and weemen that haue hearts desire and wealth at will to desire to bee dissolved They are so taken vp with their pleasures in this lyfe that they haue no leasure to think vpon death Men take no heede to the graue that is before them though they be even vpon the brinke or brimme thereof they can not thinke that they shall fall therein though thousands haue fallen before them J compare the most part of this world to men walking over a field so covered wich fâ—oâ— that they can not perceiue the way when they thinke to run they fall into a pit with a jumpe It is even so of men in prosperitie while their eyes are dazeled with the brightnesse of their pleasures profits which as sâ—ow cover all the way before that ever they be aware they rush downe into the ditch of death Many like Mariners in a mist make ship wracke in the calme sea The Lord bee our Pilot and so direct our soules into this perillous navigation that at last by death wee may arriue into the haven of the Heavens where wee may liue with GOD for ever Well is the man that is ever wating for his GOD. Well is him that can say with David when I awake I am still with thee THE THIRD PART THE SICKE MAN HIS SONG VVEE haue heard of mans miserie in the sicke man his sore wee also haue heard of God his mercy in the sicke mans salve Man being sore sicke cryed vnto God by prayer and God heard him and hee sent his word and healed him Now it followeth that wee see what man his duetie should bee toward his GOD for delivering him from such miserie The duetie is set downe into those words Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men this is the sicke man his song Heere let vs obserue what is the duetie of him who hath received health and lyfe from God in a most dangerous sicknesse it is heere set downe viz. that hee should praise God for his goodnesse c. God seeketh nothing from man for his benefits but thankes and praise The doctrine is this GOD his yoke is easy if by our owne wickednesse wee make it not vneasy there is no yoke so easy as God his yoke See how for all his blessings hee requireth but thankes After that the Physitian of the body hath vsed his cure whether it cure thee or not thou must giue him gold after that thy God hath cured both thy soule and body He seeketh but thankes He craveth but a grandmercy from the heart And yet alas hee who doeth most and seeketh least is least considered and worse payed of his due First heere obsetue that the duetie of him who hath received his health from God is to praise God for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes our GOD for all requireth nothing but thankes Hee hath no neede of our guifts As hee hath no neede so neither doeth hee seeke any thing from vs I will not saith hee reproue thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings to haue beene continuallie before meâ— I will take no bullocke out of thy house nor hee goates out of thy foldes for every beast of the forrest is myne and the cattell vpon a thousand hils I know all the fowles of the mountaines and the wild beasts of the field are myne If I were hungrie I would not tell thee for the world is myne and the fulnesse thereof Behold how God will not seeke any worldly thing from man for all the world is his and the fulnesse thereof What is it then that hee would haue for all his benefits The Lord declareth him felfe what hee would haue Offer vnto God thankesgiving and pay thy vowes vnto the most high Thankefulnesse as yee see is the onely impost that God requireth of vs. So soone as man hath received a benefite from God hee is bund to repare to his GOD with
Oh in thy distresse Againe in those words Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse I obserue how sensible the godly are when the least point of GOD his service is neglected If a godly man cryeth Oh that men would praise the Lord because hee seeth them flow vnto it how grieved will his heart bee when hee shall see men not only not praising God but dishonouring GOD for his goodnesse Many haue gotten health from God God in great mercy hath brought them from the gates of death and hath restored vnto them their former strength but what thankes They haue lyke the dogge returned to their â—â—nite againe The drunkard restoâ—ed runneth backe to the taverne and the harlot to his old acquaintance lyke that divell returning from dry places vnto his house whence hee came out The last of such persons is worse then their first Good had it beene for many that they had never beene brought backe from the doores of death because that after a newe tâ—â—ke of their lyfe they dishonour God more then ever they did before As Iacob said of Simeon and Levi so say I of such O my soule come not thou into their secret vnto their assembly mine honour bee thou not vnited The vse let vs striue to be sensible of sinne so that wee make conscience of the least sinne Many thinke vnthankfulnesse to GOD no sinne The leavâ—n of the Pharisees hath sowred the whole lumpe of many mens hearts Jf they bee not Adulterers but can fast and giue almes at once they will thanke GOD that they are not lyke other men GOD desyreth no such thankes when man praiseth GOD for his owne goodnesse But OH that mâ—â— would praise the LORD for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull workes to the children of men Let man praise GOD for his goodnesse but in his owne goodnesse there is no matter of praise What can bee said to the praise of a mâ—â—stâ—uâ—us cloath Such is all our righteousnesse Let vs also obserue heere another lesson The deliverance from death is said to bee from the goodnesse of God and it is also called a wonderfull worke for while it is said Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodnesse it is cleare that the deliverance from death in sicknesse is from the goodnesse of our GOD. The vse let all those who are sicke haue recourse vnto the goodnesse of God by which only wee haue health When wee seeke health from God let vs say for thy goodnesse sake O Lord. The second vse I make of those words is for them that are recouered of their sickenesse Let such learne to bee good seing their health is from the goodnesse of God A lyfe given in goodnesse should not bee spent in wickednesse The goodnesse of God inviteth all men to repentance Againe obserue heere that great must bee that goodnesse of God whereby hee bringeth man backe from the doores of death The preservation of mans lyfe in his sicknesse is also called a wonderfull worke Js it not a great goodnesse of God and a wonder that hee should spare the lyfe of a rebellious foole What a wonder is this in God his goodnesse that the lyfe of man should be so precious in his sight Is not man naturally the enemie of God It must bee a great goodnesse that will make a man spare his enemie his lyfe And who said Saul to David finding his enemie will let him goe well away O but in God then must be a wonderfull goodnesse in that not onely he spareth his enemie but which is more euen preserueth the life of his enemie Did not God dye for his enemies did he not suffer for them by whom hee suffered By this meanes such was his goodnesse hee heaped vpon their heads coales of fire that is as St. Augustine saith vrentes poenitentiae gemitus the burning sighs of repentance Who can not bee but burnt with sighs while hee considereth the goodnesse of GOD that hath rendered him so mekle good for so mekle ill What a great mercie is this that GOD should prolong the lyfe of a sinner but an houre The vse seeing the deliverance from death and destruction is called a wonderfull work and seeing it is so indeede let vs wonder at it when J arose out of that deadly fever Anno 1626 in the moneth of September and J fand my winding sheete wrapped together into my studie amongst my bookes J began to wonder at GOD his great worke I thought it wonderfull But alace we wonder at God his works of mercie as at other common worldly thinges but for a litle space From thence is the proverb A wonder lasteth but nyne nights into a city Fy vpon vs that can not wonder still at the wonderfull works of our GOD. The Hebrew word Pala in Niphal signifieth both admirabile occuitum that is both secret wonderfull a fit word for to declare the worke to be wonderfull indeede David speaking of his making in the belly vseth this word I will praise thee said hee for I am fearfully and wonderfully madâ— Likewise in another Psalme speaking how Christ the stone which the builders refused was become the head stone of the corner he said This is the Lords doing it is marveilous or wonderfull in our eyes So heere the bringing from the doores of death is called a wonderfull worke of GOD tovvard the children of men Obserue the lesson only the workes of God are wonderfull Men may wonder at some workes of men but no works of men are wonderfull No created wisdome can fill a worke with wonder There is nothing that man can doe but man may come after and doe better plus vident oculi quam oculus many eyes see better than one This is true amongst men But all the eyes of men can not perceiue that God in any worke hath either beene defectuous or superfluous Looke vp to the Heavens and consider the sunne in his goings Behold how in the spring he commeth slowly by degrees till our day be at the longest Behold and wonder at such slownesse in such a swiftnesse If hee were not slow in such swiftnesse what fearfull changes should ensue If from the elleventh of December in the space of a day the sunne should be into that part of Heaven whereinto he is seene into the elleventh of Iune what discorder should be in the creatures below All men know how dangerous are sudden changes from heate to cold and from cold to heate Behold then and wonder how the Creator hath so ruled that Bridgroome of light that no man can imagine how his course could be changed for a better What shall I speake of the sea tide which made that most subtile searcher of secrets as some thinke to haue drowned him selfe in the