Inhabitation and Testimony of the Holy Ghost as also from the Sanctification of the Spirit unto all Obedience and the fruits of Righteousness I Have insisted with so much length and variety upon Hope because it is the largest in-let of Christian Consolation Yet in the third place that which carries it on nay that which causeth it is the Holy Ghost As the Air is the medium through which the Eye doth see all things yet it is the light that shines in it that makes all things visible so Hope is the principal means enlivened by Faith through which we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory yet it is the Spirit inhabiting that kindles it that enlightens it which makes it affect its object and cleave unto it Our Saviour left the world and ascended into Heaven for many reasons one was to give gifts unto men which gifts though very many are all united in their Fountain the Holy Ghost Of which legacy Christ gave warning before his death Jo. 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Verse 17. The world knows him not because it sees him not but ye know him for he shall dwell with you and shall be in you Verse 18. I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you Chap. 16. verse 7. If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you This Comforter the everlasting Spirit to speak after the phrase of men is the Proxy of Christ his representative in our hearts And so it was fulfilled for when the Spirit descended in great abundance upon the Church Acts 2. says St. Peter This is that which is come to pass Verse 28. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance And for the evidence of it it is said Acts 9.31 The Churches were edified walking in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost Which Text begets this note That Christian solace consists in two things which we may call the Root and the Fruit. The Root is the Holy Ghost taking up his Tabernacle in us so that our Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in us 1 Cor. 6.19 To walk by it in the fear of God is the Fruit of Sanctification in all manner of obedience 1. Unto the former The indwelling of the Spirit let this be premised When we speak of any one dwelling in safety the great question is Who keeps the house When David fled from Jerusalem for fear of Absalom there was no likelihood that his Palace would hold out for he left ten women that were Concubines to keep the House 2 Sam. 15. verse 16. So if we leave our Concubines our lusts and carnal desires to keep our Conscience they will betray us to Satan to get the possession But who can take the City if the Lord keep it Psalm 127.1 How impregnable are we if he dwell in us and we in him because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Jo. 4.13 All that one can say unto this who is doubtful in Faith will be Shew me that the Father of mercies and that the God of all comfort is entred into me and it sufficeth I answer I cannot shew that is demonstrate it to another that this eternal life is in him but I can perswade an apt Scholler to stir up the Grace which is in him that he may shew it to himself I say he may do it if he give his mind to it Else St. Paul made a question to no purpose Know ye not that ye are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 3.16 I deny not but the Devil hath a way to fetch it about to make you mis-know and take no heed of that you do perceive if he did not stagger you with delusions This is the first lesson that he reads out of his Morals That distrust is a high point of wisdom and be not over-reacht with opinion you are sure of that you see and of no more But to meet with this fallacy Is nothing certain or at least so certain as that which may be seen Why the Wind will blow away this objection the Air will confute it What can you make up so close that the Air and the Wind will not get into it Yet you see it not you know not whence it comes it is an invisible messenger So is every one that is born of the Spirit Jo. 3.8 Breath is an imperceptible expiration therefore Christ breathed on his Apostles and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost Jo. 20.22 Some gales of Western winds in the Spring make the Earth glad with their gentle blast and open the Buds and Flowers so there is a breath of Omnipotent vertue which fans the heart that was hot in sin with its coolness which carries away the Caterpillars that eat up the tender leaf of our first greenness which widens our blossoms to make their expectation shew it self openly which perfumes the evil scents of scandals that annoy us as it is express to that intent in the mystical Song Cant. 4.16 Awake thou North wind and come thou South and blow upon my Garden that the spices thereof may flow out I bring the case again to be examin'd Is no witness so competent to depose for truth unless it be sensible and chiefly discerned by the Eye then what ail all Sects of Philosophers to say That the Sun and all the Stars above work upon these Bodies below by heat and light and likewise by influence An invisible vertue that doth enter into the production of many effects which seems to have God's approbation with his own voice Job 38.31 who mentions there the sweet influences of Pleiades and the bands of Orion And can the Constellations of the Firmament drop down good upon Minerals and Plants upon Man and Beast and by a secret derivation What an error or rather what a madness is it then to scruple whether he that made the Heavens can dart Celestial beams into man's Soul without a sensible perception And this is all I will say more unto it Is not the Soul of Man above a material apprehension Pliny or Galen or whosoever unadvisedly deny the Immortality of it will yield there is a Soul in our composition that holds all the parts of the Body together and moves and acts in them yet they can as soon take a Pensil and paint an Eccho as describe the intelligible nature of a Soul by species drawn out in our sensitive fancy Therefore it concerns us in maintenance of the dignity of our own nature to say That the Spirit of God can inform our Soul as well as our Soul can inform our Body I know not what temptation may rise to gain-say the truth That the Soul is known by her powers and operations that it justifies
there is not only the visible reception of the outward Signs but an invisible reception of the thing signified There is far more than a shadow than a type than a figure Christ did not only propose a Sign at that hour but also he gave us a Gift and that Gift really and effectually is Himself which is all one as you would say Spiritually himself for Spiritual Vnion is the most true and real union that can be That which is promised and Faith takes it and hath it is not fiction fansie opinion falsity but substance and verity Being strengthened with power by the Spirit in the inward mind Christ dwelleth in our hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 As by a Ring or a meaner instrument of conveyance a man may be setled in Land or put into an Office and by such conveyances the Ratification of such Grants are held to be real How much more real is the gift and receipt of Christ's Body and Bloud when conveyed unto us by the confirmation of the Eternal Spirit For observe it is the same Spirit that is in Christ and that is in Us and we are quickned by one and the same Spirit Rom. 8.11 Therefore it cannot chuse but that a real Union must follow between Christ and Us as there is a Union between all the parts of a Body by the animation of one Soul But Faith is the mouth wherewith we Eat his Body and Drink his Bloud not the mouth of a man but of a Faithful man for we hunger after him not with a Corporal appetite but a Spiritual therefore our Eating must be Spiritual and not Corporal Yet this is a real a substantial partaking of Christ crucified broken his flesh bleeding his wounds gaping so he is exhibited so we are sure we receive him which doth not only touch our outward senses in the Elements but pass through into the depth of the Soul For in true Divinity real and spiritual are aequipollent although with the Papists nothing is real unless it be corporal which is a gross way to defraud us of the Sublime and Soul-ravishing vertue of the mystery A mystery neither to be set out in words nor to be comprehended sufficiently in the mind but to be adored with Faith says Calvin lib. Instit c. 17. Sect. 5. But herein we pledge Christ in the Cup of love herein we renew the Covenant of forgiveness strongly assured by the sprinkling of Bloud the life is in the Bloud and without shedding of Bloud is no remission of sins Because death is the wages of sin Sin is the greatest dishonour that can be done to God and death in Christ's person is the greatest satisfaction that can be made He died and gave himself for me he died and gave himself to me as he was dead in his gored and pierced body that his sacrifice might be in me and in all those that are redeemed by it We read of some Mothers that in a great famine have eaten their own Children 2 Kings 6. but what Mother in the time of famine did ever give her own flesh to save the life of her Child But Christ hath given himself for us that we might not perish O Lord I owe all my life to thee because thou hast laid down thy life for me O let me bleed out my sins that thy Bloud may fill all the veins of my Spirit O let my Body be transfigur'd to be Heavenly by cleanness and chastity by being used only for thy worship and service that the Body of my Saviour may come under the roof of it Then when the King shall let forth his Table and give himself to me in his wonderful Feast my Spicknard shall send forth a sweet smell Cant. 1.12 My Soul shall magnifie the Lord and my Spirit shall rejoyce in Christ my Saviour We have found the Messias says Philip to Nathaniel And where have we found him at a Feast a Feast of his own Body and Bloud but set out with no more cost and shew than a piece of Bread and a sip of Wine In this manner it is brought to pass by the Omnipotency of God's pleasure to institute it with the efficacy of a strong Faith concurring to receive it The Church had done very ill if of its own head it had made so mean a representation of Christ but the Lord must be obeyed and ought to be admired in the humility of his Ordinance who hath not given us rich Viands and full Cups but made the Feast out of the fragments of the meanest Creatures Let them understand this that will make themselves fit to be his guests bring a preparation of humility suitable to the exility of those oblations The meek shall Eat and be satisfied they shall praise the Lord and seek him Psalm 22.26 And at that season let the riotous remember his fulness of Bread and excess of Wine God is honour'd in a little and his liberality is abused in the excess of his creatures And it is worth the noting that the Elements which we are invited to take are of fruits that grow out of the Earth to shew that the Earth which was cursed for Adam's sake is blessed for Christ's sake As it brings forth Thorns and Thistles to call to mind our rebellion so it brings forth Bread and Wine to call to mind our redemption Neither doth God supply us with Bread only out of the furrows of the Earth but sometime it hath fallen out of the clouds of Heaven Behold says God I will rain Bread from Heaven for you Exod. 16.4 This was Manna called the Corn of Heaven Psalm 78.24 This was the Spiritual meat or Angels food in which the old believers in the Wilderness did Eat Christ with an implicit Faith Our outward Sign is the Bread of the Earth true Bread that grows in the Fields yet the Bread signified is that which the Father hath given us from Heaven Jo. 6.31 Bread is a great part of mans nourishment so Christ crucified is the sole refection of Faith Bread is champed in the mouth to make it fit for the stomach so the Body of Christ was ordained to be slain before it could profit us If the Corn of Wheat fall not into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth sorth much fruit Jo. 12.24 By his life we learn to live and by his death we are made alive Bread when it is grounded between our teeth and eaten is turn'd by concoction into the substance of our Body which explains our mystical union with Christ that we are made one Spirit with him by Faith as this sensible food is converted into our flesh and bone Beside in the several parts of the outward Signs it is God's meaning we should conceive how he loves the gathering together of many into one which is thus to be qualified At a common Supper or any Meal all that are at the Board feed of the same Meats yet every one feeds to himself and to none beside So
Christian Consolations Taught from FIVE HEADS IN RELIGION I. Faith II. Hope III. The Holy Spirit IV. Prayer V. The Sacraments Written by a Learned PRELATE Isaiah 40.1 2. Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith your God Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to his most Excellent Majesty 1671. TO THE READER THIS Manual of Christian Consolations derived from Five Heads of great importance in Religion was written by a late R. Prelate of our Church and is now Printed according to his own Copy The Papers were presented by him to a Person of Honour for whose private use they were designed But as the Noblest Spirits are most communicative that Noble and Religious Lady was pleased to impart them for the good also of others We read in the Evangelists how that the Holy Jesus who went about doing good that 's the short but full Character which * Acts 10.38 Saint Peter gives of him did by a Miracle of Mercy bless five Loaves to the feeding of a very great multitude And may the same Almighty Goodness bless and prosper whatsoever Spiritual good is contained in these Five Helps and Directions for a Christian's Comfort to the refreshing and strengthening of such Souls as truly hunger and thirst after God May the serious and devout Readers taste and see how good the Lord is that his Loving kindness is better than Life and that the Light of his Countenance the sense of his favour is infinitely more Heart-cheering and brings with it a truer and larger satisfaction than the encrease of Corn Psal 4. and Wine and Oil doth to the men of this world who only or chiefly mind Earthly things and unwisely place their felicity in the fading and empty enjoyments of this present life It is good then that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the Salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. for he is good to them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him He who is the God of Love and even * 1 Jo. 4. Love it self He who is the ever-flowing Fountain of Goodness will not fail to fill the hungry with good things Such a Christian hath meat to eat which the world knows not of he feeds on the hidden Manna he hath as S. Austin said of S. Ambrose occultum os in corde ejus and with this he doth sapida gaudia de pane Dei ruminare The Father of the World who openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing Psal 145. giving to all their meat in due season he is as ready to fulfil the desire of them that fear him he will give grace and glory Psal 84. and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly And here from the character and qualification of the Persons them that fear him and them that walk uprightly it highly concerns us to observe and to lay it to heart That a Sincere desire and Serious endeavour to fear God and walk uprightly is a necessary and indispensable Condition to qualifie and make us meet for the receiving of the best of Divine favours and blessings We must first walk in the fear of the Lord if we would walk in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost as these two are set together in Acts 9.31 If we would have the Spirit to be our Comforter we must follow the Spirit as our Guide and Counsellor If we would find rest unto our Souls we must take Christ's yoke upon us Matth. 11. the yoke of his Precepts which are all holy and just and good A state of inward Comfort and true Tranquillity of Spirit can never be secured and preserved but by a continued care to walk before God in a faithful obedience to his Will in all things For there is no peace to the wicked as is * Chap. 48. 22. Chap. 57. 21. twice exprest by the noble Prophet Isaiah But Great peace have they that love thy Law Psal 119.165 saith the Royal Psalmist the man after God's own heart who herein spake his own experience and elsewhere Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace While he lives he lives in peace his Soul dwells at ease he feels an unspeakable joy and pleasure within upon the sense of his doing his duty and being faithful in obedience to his Lord and Master in Heaven And when he dies he departs in peace and shall * Isa 57. enter into peace and ‖ Mat. 25. into the joy of his Lord. Here he tastes how sweet the Lord is but there he shall be abundantly satisfied with the plenty of God's House Psal 37. and made to drink of the River of his pleasures The meek shall eat and be satisfied and their heart shall live for ever Psal 22. And so full and compleat shall be their joy and satisfaction that they shall neither hunger nor thirst any more Rev. 7. for the Lamb shall feed them and shall lead them unto living Fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes This is the happy Portion of those Souls who have the Lord for their God with whom there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures most pure and permanent for evermore The Contents of the Chapters THe Introduction CHAP. I. Of Faith That Faith is the Ground and Foundation of a Christian's Comfort Several doubts and scruples about Believing answered Page 1. CHAP. II. Of Hope That a Christian's Comfort flows from the Grace of Hope The object of Hope is 1. That which is Good 2. A Good absent 3. Though absent yet possible and that for Three Reasons 4. Though possible yet difficult An account of two sorts of difficulties with particular encouragements against them Pag. 13. CHAP. III. Of the Holy Spirit How a Christian's Comforts flow from the Inhabitation and Testimony of the Holy Ghost as also from the Sanctification of the Spirit unto all Obedience and the fruits of Righteousness Pag. 67. CHAP. IV. Of Prayer Prayer is the great Instrument of a Christian's Comfort Concerning Prayer three things to be considered I. The Substance or Matter of Prayer in three Heads 1. Thanksgivings 2. Supplications 3. Intercessions II. The Qualification of them that Pray III. The fitness of Time for Prayer Pag. 99. CHAP. V. Of the Sacraments How the Sacraments minister to a Christian's Comfort A general Survey of Sacraments Five Reasons why God ordained Two Sacraments under the Gospel What Comforts flow from the Grace of Baptism What Comforts flow from the Lord's Supper Pag. 155. Christian Consolations taught from five Heads in Religion THE INTRODUCTION THE work of the Ministry consists in two things in Threatnings or Comforts The first is useful for the greatest part of Christians who are led by the Spirit of bondage and
fear to do evil because of wrath to come which grows out of love to themselves The second is fit for the best Christians that are led by the Spirit of love who endeavour to do righteousness because they love righteousness and to be like unto God who they know is only good which grows out of the spirit of adoption and obey as sons and daughters and not as servants Our Saviour and his Apostles insist sometimes upon the former way threatning the impenitent yet qualifying it with tidings of peace if they return and amend their lives For sharpness must be applied according to the power which the Lord hath given for edification and not for destruction 2 Cor. 13.10 The same Apostle propounds both in the former Epistle Chap. 4. Verse 21. Shall I come unto you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness Which latter is most suitable to the Gospel to proclaim peace on earth and good will towards men And when James and John would have had fire to come down from Heaven upon the Samaritans Christ reproved them saying The Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them Luke 9.56 and St. Paul 1 Thess 5.9 God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ And surely there is cause to apply a cluster of consolation against a few grains of terror 1. Because we are all concluded under sin and the guilt is ever present unto us 2. Because of the weakness of the Graces that are in us not that they are weak but that humane corruption is mixt with them 3. Because of the strength and manifoldness of temptations 4. Because we are to be exercised with the sufferance of the Cross and we are infirm to bear it Lastly Because little is communicated to us at the present of that Reward we look for least of all is any share of it present and before our eyes Forasmuch then as there are so many in-draughts that break into our heart to make us sick of sorrow and fear let us seek comfort from God who hath left no disease without a remedy to cure it who healeth all thy diseases Psalm 103.3 I say it is to be sought from God lest we light upon them that tell false dreams and comfort in vain Zach. 10.2 The right place for it must be the Word of God as it is Rom. 15.4 That we through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope Which comfort scatter'd up and down in that Holy Book and not cast all into a lump together by searching it diligently we may draw our Consolation out of five things Faith Hope The in-dwelling of the Spirit Prayer and the Sacraments Coronata Fides Dux viae prudens simplicitas CHAP. I. That Faith is the Ground and Foundation of a Christian's Comfort Several doubts and scruples about believing answered FAITH is the Root of all blessings Believe and you shall be saved Believe and you must needs be sanctified Believe and you cannot chuse but be comforted Believe that God is true in all his promises and you are the seed of faithful Abraham and shall inherit the promises made to Abraham Believe that you are Christs and Christ is yours and then you are sure that none can perish whom the Father hath given to him There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 And as Martha said Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died Jo. 11.21 So let all say that groan and pine away in sorrow Lord if thou hadst been here if thou hadst appeared to my soul in thy goodness I had not fainted in my trouble Isaiah foretells Chap. 61.3 that it should be Christs office to give the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness For St. John saw in the spirit that they that follow Christ are cloathed in white garments in garments of joy in the livery of gladness Solomon describing the provident Mistress of a Family Prov. 31.21 says She is not afraid of the snow for her houshold for all her houshold are cloathed with scarlet So the houshold of Christ are not afraid of frost and snow nor of any bitter blast they have put on the garment of dependence on Christ which protects them and do resolve never to put off their privy-coat of confidence in their Saviour With this did Christ encourage the poor woman being under confusion who had secretly toucht the hem of his garment Be of comfort thy Faith hath made thee whole Matth. 9.22 The first time that the word Comfort is found in Scripture is Gen. 5.29 upon the birth of Noah his Father says This Son shall Comfort us so when God did give Christ to be made man he did as it were say unto us This Son shall Comfort you for his name is Jesus and he shall save his people from their sins He that gave us him hath given us all things with him As it is true to say that Matthew left all to follow Christ so it is as true that he got all that can be wisht by following him It is the Chymistry of Faith let me use that word to turn all things into good and precious Ore It is Abraham's Country in a strange land Jacob's wages when Laban defrauded him Moses's honour when he refused to be the son in law of Pharaoh's daughter Rahab's security when all Jericho beside did perish David's rescue when there was but a step between him and death The power of the Apostles to be able to cast out Devils Mary Magdalen's sweet ointment to take away the ill savour of her sins Plead therefore with the Oratory of Faith and say Lord I have no life but in thee I have no joy but in thee no salvation but in thee but I have all these in thee and then how can my Soul refuse to be Comforted But some will say perhaps Faith is a powerful Comforter but I poor wretch had need to be Comforted concerning my Faith I find the pulse of it weak and sometimes it intermits as if it beat not at all Methinks I am not drawn near to Christ or that I am so far off that I cannot embrace him Some such infirmity may seem to have been in the Thessalonians and therefore St. Paul says I have sent Timotheus to establish you and to comfort you concerning your Faith 1 Epist Chap. 3. Ver. 2. Now to turn this water into wine and the trembling of this Objection into peace and joy in the Holy Ghost conceive as if these questions were put to you Do you often accuse your self of a weak Faith in secret unto God I like it for a good symptome for an hypocrite doth not use to accuse himself And do you bewail your want to the Lord because you would have it better supplied that 's a good sign too for it is the same as to thirst for the living God They that
have not the gift of Faith do not miss it but they that have it though but in a little do insatiably desire the increase of it But do you find that the more you put forward to come to Christ the more you are put back by doubts and temptations It is right the resemblance of him that was sick of the palsie Mark 2.4 fain he would have been brought to Christ but could not come at him for the press This press that stops you are the snares of the world vain imaginations nay perhaps humility a broken heart and a tender conscience Yet find out a way to come to your Saviour though the throng be cumbersom If there be no other way untile the house break down the roof to be brought unto him call unto the Lord to dissolve this house of clay that thy Soul may see him clearly without all impediment But at the worst of all do you lie in a swoon as it were do you think there is no life no motion in your Faith do you fear the light of grace is so eclipsed that you have lost all communion with Christ Remember and be assured that you could not miss Christ so much unless Christ were in you Because God loves you he seems to leave you and withdraws out of the way for a time because he would be found and makes you desire to seek him that you may hold him the surer to you when you enjoy him A mother that hath conceiv'd may think not long after that she perceives some tokens of her conception in a while she doubts of it again and wisheth some signs of better satisfaction she hangs long under many assays of fear and perswasion at last she finds the babe spring in her womb and is utterly confirm'd So it is with them in whom Christ is born anew they have found the Lord yet sometime as it is in the Canticles He is behind the lattice that we miss him with a spiritual jealousie and fall into many of these fits as if he were quite departed And in this state of trepidation we must be exercised that we may know that holy fear and a troubled spirit are heavenly qualities that may consist with Faith Yet I have more to ask Do you look dejectedly upon your Faith because you apprehend it is not full of life in the root nor loden with fruit in Godly practice Wo be to them that are not sensible of those infirmities It is one of the best lessons in the New Testament 2 Tim. 2.1 Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus but it is one of the hardest God gives a measure of Faith to all in the Covenant that call upon him but we have this gift in earthen vessels and taint it with the affections of our carnal mind The best Faith is weak wavering short-sighted riseth and falls like a tune in musick Therefore to encourage a perplexed mind hearken to Isaiah Chap. 35.4 Say to them that are of a sorrowful heart be strong fear not For though it be but an Infant-faith it is a true Faith as an Infant is a true man in the essence of a man though not a man in growth perfect in the real being though not in the degrees wherein we must strive to grow up more and more To prove the truth of it believe all the Word of God and it can be no wider and for the soundness of it believe in Christ and look for salvation in him alone then it is as legitimate and true born as is the Faith of any Saint that is far more noble A dim or a blear-eye that lookt upon the brazen Serpent did procure a remedy for a wound as much as a clear and well-condition'd Eye And a little Faith casting its weak beams upon Christ and his death will go far The quantity of a grain of Mustard-seed hath warmth and vertue in it to spread abundantly If any Faith on earth had shaken off all frailty and comprehended the joys of Heaven without casting its eye aside to the love of this world I do not conceive how the body could subsist any longer here but that the Soul in that extasie would be dissolved and fly away Lastly as God sees such sins in you as you cannot see so he sees such Graces in you as you cannot perceive The charitable to whom Christ speaks when they are at his right hand Matth. 25. do deny such good things to be in them as Christ did profess they had The Canaanitish woman found no better in her self than the vileness of a Dog that waited for crums under the table but Christ commends her for her great Faith The Centurion Matth. 8. saw nothing but unworthiness in his person but Christ gave him the praise above all those to whom he had preacht in Israel Confess then and be not ashamed to say Lord I believe help my unbelief and take consolation that water-springs shall flow out of a barren ground which suspected it self to be parcht and dry Though you see but little by your own light it is because it is put into the Lanthorn of humility And let these be the consolations of Faith CHAP. II. That a Christian's Comfort flows from the Grace of Hope The object of Hope is 1. That which is Good 2. A Good absent 3. Though absent yet possible and that for three Reasons 4. Though possible yet difficult An account of two sorts of difficulties with particular encouragements against them YET know that Faith never rides single but it carries Hope before it Faith is the substance of things Hoped for Heb. 11.1 No Scripture doth better contain them both in a little than Titus Chap. 1. Verse 1 2. The Apostle says That the Faith of Gods Elect first acknowledgeth the Truth Secondly That it is according to Godliness Thirdly It is in hope of Eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began When you see a weight of iron tied to a line wound up on a wheel from the ground to the top of an house remember it is like the heart of a sinner leaden and heavy lying upon the ground and wound up in this Text with the line of Hope to the top of Heaven Heaven then is the express and fair object of Hope and God in his promise is the procurer Promise I say For we do not grope for Heaven blind-fold and fall upon it out of our own head without a warrant but our assurance is incomparably the best that can be given and in the best manners a Promise made before the world began that is freely unrequested when we could have no being to ask it and made over to Christ the Mediator that it should be put into his hand to perform it to us And it is unchangeable as is all the truth of God for he cannot lye neither is there any shadow of change in him What can we desire more Carry this evidence along with you and shew it to
God and of Christ compassed with innumerable Angels St. Paul says no less Rom. 8.23 We that have the first fruits of the Spirit groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of the body Here are groans and sighs indeed but we shall never be Sea-sick with that easie tossing having Hope as an anchor of our Soul Heb. 6.19 Hope of the right stamp looking for the appearance of God and the reward that he brings with him hath a good Mate that goes together with it and that 's Patience In the saddest book of the Scripture Lamen 3.26 it is written It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Which that it may not be wanting we must contend for it in prayer as it is 2 Thess 3.5 The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for Christ And it is no difficult thing to be perswaded For when we are held off for a while from the inheritance of Heaven do we not attend God's leisure and will the handmaid wait for her Mistress being in some degrees of place above her and shall not the Creature stay the leisure of the Creator so infinite above us Beside the patient expectation of the recompence will increase the recompence and make it more superlative therefore let not him that believes make haste Isa 28.16 Nay so your Spirit will be patient the Lord will allow you your importunity to call upon him to hasten My strength haste thee to help me Psal 22.19 Finally stay for that contentedly which when it comes it comes but once and shall abide for ever III. Another degree upon which Hope steps higher is this that her aim is possible I have said how that which is proposed to it is good that it is not disconsolate though it be in futurition and not yet obtain'd for it is too good to be yet obtained if patience have its perfect work it can attend chearfully My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him Psal 62.5 Strike we therefore pleasantly upon this third string that the past object of divine Hope is to be accomplisht For I run not as uncertainly I fight not as one that beateth the air 1 Cor. 9.26 Paul did do all things and suffer all things for that which is seizable and might be atchieved The covetous is a projector for so much wealth as can never be gotten The Epicure longs for so much pleasure as can never be enjoy'd Great Clerks and Philosophers seek for so much knowledge as can never be found which in Isaiahs words is to spend mony for that which is not bread and to labour for that which doth not satisfie Chap. 55.2 This is able to break the brain and to break the heart for there is no labour to lost labour But the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life Prov. 11.30 His Hope stands upon a sound bottom it is all comfort for three Reasons First it is possible because it comes from an Infinite power 2. Because it is derived from Infinite love and goodness 3. It hath abundant satisfaction from long and constant experience and what can we desire more 1. The first pillar that props it up is the Almightiness of God Abba Father all things are possible to thee says our Saviour Mark 14.16 Talk not to me how the Seas should be turned into dry Land or how the poor can be raised up to be set with the Princes of the people or how stones can be raised up to be children of Abraham or how palsies and fevers can be cured with a word I will stop all gaps of infidelity with this one bush That God is able to do it He that is made by no Cause cannot be confined in his Being and he that hath no bounds in his Being can have no bounds and restriction in his Power And if any fancy start out of our weak brain to cavil that somewhat is impossible to God it is soberly spoken by one that it were better to say that this could not be done than that God could not do it There is no possibility therefore for Christian Hope to despair because all things are possible to God There is no Horizon under Heaven or above Heaven that Hope cannot look beyond it For that comfort that is commensurable with the strength and power of God is as large as can be contained in the heart of a creature But if you lean upon the help of men and hosts and Angels they are slender reeds and will give you a fall as God said of the vain trust of the Jews They shall be ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation Isa 20.5 How many do I see to sink under a little sorrow because they have too much temporal comfort the world is too liberal to them it hath given them of all things so largely that they have not the patience to want any thing As God told Gideon that he had too much of Man in his Army to depend upon the Almighty for victory and he bad him retain but the thirtieth part and his foes should flye before him Jud. 7.4 Throw all the miserable comforts of the world out of doors for rubbish and cast your self upon the strength of God and upon that alone and then say Lord receive me for I have driven all other solace from me that I might enjoy thee alone now I am ready for my Saviour for there is none to help me but only thou O Lord. 2. Secondly That which holy Hope hath in its prospect is possible not only for the Infiniteness of power but for the Infiniteness of the mercy of our God 'T is easie to get the favour of a gracious and a gentle nature among the sons and daughters of men and the most generous are the most reconcilable Then what possibility nay what readiness will Hope find to be reconciled to God merciful gracious long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth Exod. 34.6 The Devil is not more frequent nor more strong in any temptation than to undermine Hope in this point that it is too forward and too peremptory to expect remission of sins fain he would have a tender Conscience stick in this mire and never get out of it Some Reverend writers go so far to teach that Satan himself at first when he began his mischief in Paradise was of opinion that sin could not be forgiven it being his own case and that he would never have tempted Eve to disobedience if he had imagin'd the eating of the forbidden fruit could be pardoned not suspecting that God would have given his only Son to die for our redemption Which I pass by because it depends upon a grave question whether God could pardon sin by his absolute power without satisfaction made to his Justice Deep disputings will yield but shallow comforts Of this we are assured that the means which the Father appointed are excellent into which 1 Pet.
it self to be an Immaterial substance a spark kindled in us by God from Reason and Will and Memory But what evidence is there that there is a Divine cause that worketh in and is more than these natural Faculties It is requisite to work close unto this question and I answer First because the bounds of nature are known beyond which nature cannot reach forth it self as it works in its own sphere to preserve it self in being and in well-being in health in wealth in fame and glory in extending our selves unto ages to come by leaving a posterity in preserving our Country where we are born and the like But to have our conversation in Heaven at this present in Heaven to ascend thither in our desires and in the tendencies of all our actions to aspire to live in blessedness for ever to long to be at that rest where there is no sin to look for a Church which hath neither spot nor wrinkle this could not enter into us to prosecute it all industriously constantly chearfully but by a supernatural elevation far above the vigour of a Soul prest down by a corruptible Body that is by the power of the Holy Ghost Secondly I feel the pulse of that Divine Spirit beating in me by delighting in tribulations for Christs sake and taking pleasure in infirmities upon the same score 2 Cor. 12.10 And again I am filled with consolation I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations 2 Cor. 7.4 An obstinate Pagan might arm himself with patience and resolution to vex his persecutors and rather fall into them than decline them out of spight and contumacy But Self-love being spun out of our bowels bred in the bone who could rejoyce to endure anguish upon anguish that God might be glorified but by strength which we are not born unto but which is given us because we are born again of the Spirit Go farther yet How much is the content of a natural man laid aside when a good Christian in his deliberate thoughts sometimes prays to have the rebellions of his heart kept under by some expedient cross wisheth for wholsom correction to beat down the rankness of his sins expects God's fan to winnow the chaff from the wheat For he knows that as too much light dazles the Eyes so too much prosperitie surfeits the mind Therefore a good practitioner in Repentance perceives there is no better way to bring him in from his wandrings than to be scourged home with the gentle hand of God To which some Expositors say the Spouse alludes Cant. 6.5 reading one word as it is right in our Margent Turn away thine eyes from me for they have puffed me up If we be puffed up it is time to pray that the eye of God's outward mercy be for a little turned from us But where had nature learnt that Lesson if the Holy Ghost had never taught it Thirdly As the Apostle says No man hates his own flesh Every man not overcome with a phrenzy of melancholy loves his own being and would preserve his life The Devil that cannot die knows how loth we are to die All that a man hath will he give for his life Job 2.4 But how many Saints have undergone how many more are willing to undergo the fiery trial and offer up their bodies for the testimony of the Lord Jesus not to be cried up in popularity not to be enrolled in the same of an History as there was such a sprinkling among the Heathen But they have died like Lambs in the midst of Wolves when they have been hated and evil spoken of in excess because they would die for the truth of the Gospel which their persecutors accounted to be blasphemy against the Gods which they worshipped If Parents or Wives or Children hung upon their arms and besought them with tears to spare themselves they threw them off as Christ did Peter Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me Matth. 16. verse 22. To see a Martyr at the point of death feel no horror in his fleshly nature but to be raised up as high as the third Heavens with zeal what humane power could bring him to it nothing but the Holy Ghost did as I may say lure his Soul out of the Body with a bait of a Crown of Glory Fourthly The fruits of the Spirit are love joy peace goodness faith temperance c. Gal. 5.22 Is not the Tree known by the fruit Such a cluster hanging all together growing constantly and being fair and sound Tota in toto tempore cum toto corde it is not possible that they should grow like a Bull-rush out of the mud of corrupt nature No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12.3 that is say it effectually and from true allegiance to serve him as a Lord for else Christ will say Why call you me Lord Lord and do not the thing which I say Luke 6.46 This is the Spirit that acts not only in prophesies and miraculous gifts but in every child of God Even in the old Testament Nehem. 9.20 Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them them that is those that were led out of Egypt by Moses and hearkened to him And much more in the state of the New Testament Rom. 5.5 The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us This might be extended into a great length that the Holy Ghost is the Comforter called so by appropriation though it belong to every person of the Holy Trinity and is well exprest in the first Divine Song which is Printed before the Psalms of David in Meeter Thou art the very Comsorter in all woe and distress The Heavenly gift of God most high which no tongue can express This is the Vnction which we have from the Holy One 1 Epist Jo. 2.20 The anointing which we have received of him that abideth in you Verse 27. Anointing-oil is an oil to cure the sick James 5. An oil of gladness Psalm 45. A fomentation to mitigate aches and torments in the bones and in the heart 2. And can the Fruits chuse but be answerable to the Root they must needs partake of it First because all that we do to the honour of God must be done with gladness willingly and chearfully else it comes not from the Spirit of sons but either from the Spirit of bondage or rather from the Spirit of the world The new Disciples received the word gladly and were baptized Acts 2.41 They continued with one accord daily in the Temple with gladness and simplicity of heart Verse 46. I was glad when they said unto me we will go into the house of the Lord Psalm 122.1 Sing Psalms make a joyful noise unto God Psalm 66.1 Let us come with assurance in our supplications that we shall be heard praying with Faith in the Holy Ghost Jud. verse 20. And then the prayer of the upright shall be Gods delight Prov.
Eternity I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble Spirit to revive the Spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Isa 57.15 Let the comparison between the Publican and the Pharisee remain for ever in our memory Luke 18. The Prayer of the poor destitute the contrite the penitent the bleeding heart is a sacrifice well season'd with the salt of anguish and misery Away with high looks and high words Lord thou dost hear the desire of the humble and dost prepare their heart Psalm 10.17 And God comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 Put your self back who are but dust and ashes in a great distance from the Lord that you may behold him the better in his infinite greatness And a lowly heart will never spare to deject the body O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Solomon pray'd upon his knees 1 Chron. 6. so did Daniel Chap. 6. so did Peter when messengers came to him from Cornelius Acts 9. so St. Paul For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Eph. 3.14 And not only men upon Earth but the glorious Spirits in Heaven cast themselves and their Crowns down before him that sitteth on the Throne Revel 4. Nay the Son of God fell down upon his knees and pray'd unto his Father Luke 22.41 And Fasting which is a pregnant circumstance of humiliation was much in use with Prayer the instances are innumerous to signifie we had no part in any comfort nor any delight in the Creatures till we were reconciled to the Lord. So was Sackcloth used and all apparel of beauty all ornaments of riches and pride were put off for that time Let them be no more than outward circumstances yet they are significant But that which is a sure companion and most intimate to humility in Prayer is Patience It breaks not away in a pet because it is not answer'd at the first or second asking that 's disdainful and arrogant It holds on and attends and cries till the throat is dry I waited patiently for the Lord Psalm 40.1 And there must be patient continuance in them that seek for Glory and Immortality Rom. 2.7 Faith is the foundation of Prayer and to continue the Metaphor Patience is the Roof The winds blow look to the foundation or the building will fall Rain and storms will descend but if they light upon a Roof that is close and compact they run aside and are cast upon the ground He that expects God's pleasure from day to day will neither faint nor fret that his suit hangs long in the Court of Requests such storms as proceed from murmuring cannot beat through a solid Roof Says Habbak Chap. 2. Verse 3. A great thing will the Lord bring to pass but not presently says the Lord The Vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lye though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come Many diseases will never be cured well unless they be long a curing and many deliverances will never be throughly setled unless they be long a preparing and many mercies are hid like seed in the ground and will be long a growing I give God thanks that every blessing of worldly Comfort that I Pray'd for the longer I was kept from it and the more I pray'd for it I found it the greater in the end Observe that there is nothing of moment yea be it of lesser and vulgar size with which the Providence of God hath not interwoven a thousand things to be dispatcht with it which requires time perhaps seven years to finish them Expect therefore from the Divine wisdom to do all things in their order and give honour to the Supream Majesty to wait his leisure For yet a little and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 3. The third thing which gives assurance of Comfort to Prayer is Zeal Devotion Fervency which will pluck on Patience further and further For he that is zealous in any thing will not easily give over till he have brought his ends to pass Zeal is a continual and an earnest supplicant it Prays without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Prays exceedingly 1 Thess 3.10 Asks with confidence seeks with diligence knocks with perseverance A swarm of Bees that is many thousands must gather into a Hive to fill it with Hony-combs and a swarm of Prayers is sweeter before the Lord than the Hony and the Hony-comb Likewise it is as vehement as it is assiduous labouring fervently for you in Prayers Coloss 4.12 Stir up your wit and diligence and memory and meditations when you come to spread out your wants before your Father but if you yawn out heedless heartless petitions you shall depart with discouragement as it is Psalm 80.4 O Lord God of hosts how long wilt thou be angry with the Prayer of thy people The Laodiceans were lukewarm neither hot nor cold in the worship of God therefore the Spirit said to the Angel of that Church Be zealous and repent Revel 3.19 Zeal is defined to be a vehement and inflamed love There must be an ardour and a flame in Prayer as if we would mount it up like fire to Heaven Then we may say that a Seraphin hath laid a coal from the Altar upon our mouth and touched our lips Isa 6.7 Zeal takes away the Soul for a time and carries it far above us I write to them that have felt it that it darts a mans Spirit out of him like an arrow out of a bow This is it which infallibly begets Hope Comfort Patience all in a Sheaf as they are divinely put together Rom. 12. verses 11 12. Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord rejoycing in Hope patient in Tribulation continuing instant in Prayer The transportment of Zeal will excuse or rather commend some Ejaculations of Prayer which seem to be too bold with God as Psalm 44. How long wilt thou turn away the face from us O Lord and forgettest our misery and trouble So Jer. 14.9 Why should'st thou be as a man asleep and as a mighty man that cannot save us And we do but follow our Saviour's pattern in it upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Tell not a troubled heart that is in anguish tell it not of modesty it is a complement it will not be tied to The Shunamite swallowed up in sorrow for the loss of her child runs to mount Carmel to Elisha and before she said any thing she catcht him fast by the feet Gehazi thought it irreverent and unwoman-like behaviour and laid hold to thrust her away Let her alone says the Prophet for her Soul is vexed within her 2 Kings 4.27 The passions of an afflicted Soul have much indulgence to break out far They are not in good compass till vehemency of Zeal carry them beyond ordinary rule and fashion Mary Magdalen did
Church but such an humble sinner God draws thee and none but those that are like unto thee near unto his mercy Though thy sins do cleave unto thee be comforted that thou dost not cleave unto thy sins Elkanah gave a more worthy portion to Hannah that was barren but meek and devout than to Peninnah that bare him sons and daughters but was proud and scornful 1 Sam. 1.5 God hath heard his beloved Son when he made Prayers for sinners will hear those sinners that are his Sons when they ask any thing in the name of Christ III. Good fruit must be brought forth in a good season which only remains to be thought upon and to be added to the Consolation of Prayer For every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3.1 But neither days nor hours nor seasons did ever come amiss to faithful Prayer Evening and morning and at Noon will I Pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice Psal 55.17 which includes all the space of duration For all time is included in Morning Noon and Night Pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance Ephes 6.18 Short passes quick ejections concise forms and remembrances holy breathings Prayers like little posies may be sent forth without number on every occasion and God will note them in his book But all that have a care to walk with God fill their vessels more largely as soon as they rise before they begin the work of the day and before they lie down again at night Which is to observe what the Lord appointed in the Levitical ministery a morning and an evening Lamb to be laid upon the Altar So with them that are not stark irreligious Prayer is the key to open the day and the bolt to shut in the night But as the skies drop the early dew and the evening dew upon the grass yet it would not spring and grow green by that constant and double falling of the dew unless some great showers at certain seasons did supply the rest So the customary devotion of Prayer twice a-day is the falling of the early and the latter dew but if you will increase and flourish in the works of grace empty the great clouds sometimes and let them fall into a full shower of Prayer chuse out the seasons in your own discretion when Prayer should overflow like Jordan in the time of harvest keep strictly as much as you are able to those times of the day which you have designed to appear in before the Lord for then you offer up not only your Prayers but the strict observation of set times which is a double sacrifice and an evidence that you will not dispense to pretermit that holy work for any a vocation He that refers himself at large to Pray when he is at leisure gives God the worst of the day that is his idle time I account them prudent therefore that are precise in keeping Canonical hours of Prayer as they call them so they Pray to God alone who alone knows their heart and so they Pray with the Spirit and with the Vnderstanding 1 Cor. 14.15 that is in a tongue wherein they know what they say and understand the language wherein they vent the meditations of their Spirit This was the milk that the Church of England gave every day out of her breasts to praise God in Common-Prayer at set hours before noon and after in the assemblies of her devout children How many have rejoyced to hear the Chiming of the Bells to call them together and would never miss their station As Peter and John went together to the Temple at the hour of Prayer being the ninth hour Acts 3.1 O when will these profane days come to an end that we may again so orderly so delightfully appear before the living God Of one thing the Devil disappointed us many years past in the time of Prayer which was the Night-offices of prayers called Vigils which are disused because it was feared they grew incident to scandal and uncleanness And though they be left off I believe for good reason in a concourse of open meeting yet let not God lose his tribute of Prayer which should be paid him in the still and quiet opportunity of the night The day is God's and the night is God's the darkness and light to him are both alike let not so many hours as run out from our lying down to our rising up again pass away without any Prayer Says David O Lord I remembred thee in my bed and meditated on thee in the night-watches Psalm 63.6 It seems while the Tabernacle of Moses stood that the Priests did some duties in it all night long Psalm 134.1 Bless the Lord ye servants of the Lord which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Apostles allowed widows must continue in Supplication and Prayers night and day 1 Tim. 5.5 And Anna the widow-prophetess served God with Fasting and Prayers night and day Luke 2.37 The Lord hath foretold that he will come as a thief in the night at the great day 2 Pet. 3.10 Therefore O Lord with my Soul will I desire thee in the night and at midnight will I think upon thee and call unto thee that if it shall be this night even now when Christ Jesus will come to judge the world my Soul may find mercy from him and both Body and Soul may be glorified and so continue with him for ever All this about the opportunity of time shall shut up with one Instruction of the Psalmist Psal 32.6 Every one that is Godly shall Pray unto thee O Lord in a time that thou mayest be found When you find stirrings and impulsions more than ordinary to provoke you to Prayer follow the admonition of the Spirit and let not such a time slip You know not whether such a divine presage may rowle in your thoughts again I make no question but there are some Critical moments wherein God offers more than he will do again if you neglect him when he courts you with so great advantage But now change the case from mine to the whole Nations from private to publick then thus I will be peremptory in my resolution There is no time too late for any Christian that lives in his single person to beseech God to be merciful to him he may find the same propitiousness that the penitent thief did But there may be a time too late to save a Kingdom or a state from ruine when the Lord hath decreed the period of it Therefore when confusions threaten and begin to peep out watch them betimes and let the whole Land Pray for peace and let the Governours prepare conditions for it to avert publick calamitie If we let tumults and conspiracies grow to a head it will be in vain to struggle by monthly or weekly humiliations when our destiny is unavoidable Plutarch
Faith is drawn through these narrow and abject means that like himself have no comeliness in specie and when we see them there is no comeliness that we should desire them Isa 53.2 Nevertheless it is fit we should be well taught in the Contemplation of the hidden vertue inclosed in Baptism or else we could never think it worth our labour and obedience Our Common-Prayer-Book a store-house of rare Divinity tells us what is to be expected at that Laver for them that come to be Baptized 1. That God hath promised to be the Father of the faithful and of their seed and will most surely perform and keep his promise with them and by this introduction we are incorporated into the holy Congregation Behold they whom we love above all others by nature our Children are naturalized to be the Citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom and enter into it through this door of Grace 2. Secondly As God did save Noah and his Family from perishing by water and safely led the Children of Israel through the Red Sea while their enemies were drowned so the millions of the Nations whom God hath not given to Christ for his inheritance are drowned in their own lusts and corruptions But O what a priviledge it is to be among those few that are received into the Ark of Christs Church to be exempted from the common deluge and to be the faithful seed of Abraham led through the Chanel of the Sea and Baptized in the Cloud that went along with them when the Armies of the mighty are mightily consumed 3. Thirdly We may gather out of our Church-office for Baptism that the everlasting benediction of Heavenly washing affords two Comforts it signifies the bloud of Christ to cleanse us Per modum pretii as the price that was paid to ransom us from death and the sanctifying of the Holy Spirit to cleanse us per modum habitûs by his In-being and Celestial infusion and both are put together in one Collect That all that are Baptized may receive remission of sins by spiritual regeneration There is no remission of sin without bloud says the Apostle Heb. 9.22 meaning the invaluable bloud of the Lamb of God Verse 14. And the Heavenly thing is represented by the visible Element of Water for there must be some aptitude between the Sign and the Thing signified else it were not a Sacrament that as Water washeth away the filth of the body so the Bloud of Christ delivereth our Souls from the guilt and damnableness of sin The Bloud of Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin 1 Epist Jo. 1.7 The metaphor of cleansing must have respect to Baptismal-water Again Who loved us and washed us from our sins in his Bloud Revel 1.5 Where the Scripture speaks of washing from sin it must be taken from the water of Baptism figuring the vertue of Christs Bloud that in the sight of his Father makes us white as Snow The Scriptures indeed strike most upon the other string and more directly as Ephes 5.25 Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word Titus 3.6 He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost And in many other places Therefore our Liturgy falls most upon the purifying operation of the Spirit to be shadowed in the outward washing of water As when it prays Send thy Holy Spirit to these Infants and grant that they may be Baptiz'd with Water and with the Holy Ghost And Grant that all that are Baptized may receive the fulness of thy Grace Spiritual Regeneration is that which the Gospel hath set forth to be the principal correlative of Baptism O happy it is for us to be born again by Water and the Holy Ghost For better it were never to be born than not to be born twice God put a good mind into us and reform one great fault in us which is that our Baptism being past over a great while ago we cast it out of our memory and meditate but little upon the benefits and comforts of it We are got into the Church and do in a sort forget how we got in Whereas the whole life of a Christian man and woman should be a continual reflection how in Baptism we entred into Covenant with Christ to believe in him to serve him to forsake the Devil the vanities of the world and the sinful desires of the flesh Water is a pellucid Element to look through it to the bottom So look often through the sanctified Water to see what Christ hath done for you and what you have engaged to do for Christ And there is no heart so full of blackness and melancholy but will recover upon it and be as fresh in sound health as if it were filled with marrow and fatness Well did St. Paul put Baptism among the principles and foundations of Christian doctrine Heb. 6.2 For all the weight of Faith Sanctification and Mercy doth lie upon it Recount this by particulars 1. The first thought that my Soul hath upon it is That I am no longer a stranger and foreigner but a fellow-Citizen with the Saints and of the houshold of God Ephes 2.19 I am no more a-far off but made nigh by the Bloud of Christ partaker of the priviledges of the Church and called by the new Name which the mouth of the Lord shall name a Christian Isa Chap. 62. Verse 2. 2. Secondly I find that I have gained to have the highest point of Faith unfolded to me which was but darkly discerned in the Old Testament to confess the Holy Trinity in which Faith I was Baptized For because that mystery was revealed at Christs Baptism it goes ever along with this Sacrament All Nations being Baptized in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost 3. Thirdly I observe that my Christian engagement allows me not the liberty of sinning after the custom of the world but obligeth me to the strict discipline of my Lord to live holily justly and soberly to walk in newness of life as planted into the likeness of Christs death so to die unto sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 6.7 In every thing and at all times I must remember what the Sureties at the Font called Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for me in my Name which the Liturgy of Geneva retains in these words Do you promise to warn this Child to live according to God's Word and make the Law of God the square of his life to live by 'T is a binding Ceremony and we are brought up from our tender years in the knowledge of it that we continually may feel the work of the Ordinance to have our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washt with clean Water Heb. 10.21 22. And as many as are Baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 To put on Christ is to follow Christ in the Law of a
every Communicant Eats Christ to himself and the just shall live by his own Faith Nevertheless it is a Sacrament to combine and to knit together holding us fast into one Communion that there may be no breaking asunder of the parts and members Many grains of Wheat are kneaded into one Loaf many Grapes are trodden that their liquor may be pressed into one cup. We being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that one Bread 1 Cor. 10.17 Now natural learning will teach us what a Comfort there is in Union and that fractions and dissolutions are painful and grievous Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is behold what a strengthening to the mystical Body to continue in one fellowship and breaking of Bread to link Faith and Love together in Jesus Christ It was but one deliverance common to all Israel whose solemnity was kept at the Passeover though every Lamb was Eaten by it self in a several family So it is one Cup of salvation which God hath given us to Drink though distributed to the faithful according to the multitude of persons and it is one Bread of which all do Eat though some have one share of it and some another It is necessary that many pieces be broken off from one Loaf to typifie the Body of the Lord broken for us and that the benefits of his Passion are distributed among us There are many instances that are pregnant to prove how pieces of something broken and divided into many shares do import a Communication of somewhat among the dividers The Heathen at the making of a League did now and then break a Flint-stone into pieces and they that entred into a League kept the parts in token of a Covenant Some upon a contract of marriage will break a piece of Gold and the two halfs are reserved by the contractors Shall I go further and yet come nearer to our case The Roman Souldiers parted our Saviour's garment among them and in that Symbolical accident is shewn that the Gentiles should share in the satisfaction of his death So Peter takes this morsel of the Bread John another c. yet Christ is not divided The same Ticket as it were in words in substance is put into every hand on which is written Take and Eat it in remembrance of me Take it says Christ and be not afraid as Saul was to take a Kingdom since Christ hath appointed it be not afraid as David was to be the Kings Son since such honour is predestinated to thee Take it and fear not as Peter did saying Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man it is the Lord's delight to seek and to save that which is lost Take it and take heed you let not go your hold the thing is fast and firm if you do not let it go and lose it Take it but not to hold the pleasures of the world and your sinful lusts in your gripe together if your hands be full of those things you can never hold this Take it and take Christ with it for He that made the Testament in his Bloud hath set the Seal unto the Testament which gives you interefs and possession of the Redemption by his Bloud Take it and reach out your hand to signifie that you receive Christ with the hand of Faith They are too nice for fear of I know not what in the Roman Church of losing a crum or so forth that they put the Body of Christ into the mouth of their Disciples and in pretence that they give it as a Mother doth her breast into the mouth of her Child whereas we receive this Sacrament not as Babes but as those that are grown to the measure of a good Age. And if we be not worthy to take it into our hands we are not worthy to receive it in our mouth Take it and eat it for it is not enough to be sprinkled without but to feed on Christ and to digest him within If upon the supply of Corn and Beasts and Cattel Paul might say that God had filled our hearts with food and gladness Acts 14.17 If we are glad of that which sustains us for a time and yet we must die How glad will we be to Eat of that as will give us such a life that will endure for ever Eat of the forbidden Tree says the Serpent to Eve and you shall not die but he lied unto her Therefore to dissolve the works of the Devil our Saviour hath appointed that which we shall Eat and assured the promise of Everlasting life unto it Eat as Jonathan did of th Hony-comb that you may be lusty to pursue your enemies and though Satan hath sworn your death as Saul did Jonathan's 1 Sam. 14.44 the Lord will deliver you Pine not away with the consumption of an evil Conscience but Eat and be strong in the Lord and in his mercy As the Spirit of the Aegyptian who was half dead came to him again when he had Eaten a little 1 Sam. 30.12 Eat and grind the Bread between your teeth to shew the Lord's death For Christ could have said This is my Body slain This is my Body crucified but he had rather say This is my Body broken for you to shew the great injuries of his sufferings Eat then and remember you Eat the Body as it was broken and remember that you Drink the blood as it flowed out of his wounds To keep these things in remembrance is the great design of the Sacrament an object which keeps the fancy of the Soul waking that otherwise it may be would fall asleep In the sixth of St. John Christ Preacheth over and over of Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Bloud without a Sacrament by the power of Faith But to keep it in fresh and frequent meditation the Lord hath given us a palpable and signal token as if he would engrave it upon the palms of our hands and upon the roof of our mouth upon the membranes of our brain and upon the foreskin of our heart This is a blessing twice and twenty times given because it is given that it may never be forgotten They that love others would live in the memory of those they love it is because Christ loves us entirely that he would be remembred of us And no friend will say to another Remember me when I am gone but that he means reciprocally to remember his friend to whom he spake it If you will remember Christ he will remember you And the Thief on the Cross will teach you that it is good to continue in his memory Lord remember me when thou com'st into thy Kingdom O blessed Christ thou art good and dost good thou hast not only provided an invaluable benefit for thy Church but dost put it into our hands that we may not lose it and dost bring it into our eyes by clear ostension that we may not forget it We are apt to remember injuries and to forget benefits
unthankfulness will undo us if we take not heed of it O rub over your memory and consider the noble works of the Lord especially this great work how he suffered for us unto Death Remember seriously this one thing as you ought and God will let you forget nothing that will do you good There is no grievous sin which we incur but for the present Christ is forgotten as if he had never come to charge us to keep our selves unspotted from the world But look upon his wounds which bleed for our transgressions and it will stanch the flux of sin and make our hearts bleed because we have forgotten obedience In our distresses our sickness and losses we cry out that God hath forgotten us he hath forgotten to be gracious and shuts up his loving kindness in displeasure But distrust him not a Mother cannot forget her Child much-less such a Father Every tribulation which he inflicts is but a Thorn in our sides to prick us and awake us because we have forgotten God And remember the Death of Christ not only casting your eyes back to the large Histories of it in the Gospels as if that would suffice but affectingly practically zealously and then every thing else will come to mind to perfect holiness When we remember his Death we are sure he is past Death and Risen again now to Die no more and that he is Ascended into Heaven and makes Intercession for us We have obtained that Faith that we partake in the New Testament of his Bloud and that our Names being found in the Testament we are heirs of God co-heirs with Christ The custom of the world will teach us that an Heir is bound to execute the Will of the Testator to see every thing perform'd that he hath charg'd and bequeathed Do your part like a true Executor with a righteous Administration in remembrance of him But forgetfulness cannot creep upon us when there is so visible a Monument before us to bring it often into our thoughts Luther says it will help a man more in the study of Piety to meditate profoundly upon Christ's Passion one day than to read over all the Psalms of David A bold comparison It will indeed ravish the Soul with trembling to consider how much Christ loved us by how much he suffered for us it will make us look upon sin with horror which begat such torment and ignominy to the innocent Lamb of God it will Comfort our weak Faith that he who hath done so great things for us will not abandon us and having subdued our Enemies will not let them renew the Battel to overcome us it will encourage us to lay down our life for him who hath laid down his life for us My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psalm 104.34 He hath drunk up the Cup of sorrow that I might drink of nothing but the Cup of Salvation This is the Wine Prov. 31.6 which being given unto him that hath a heavy heart confutes all the objections of Infidelity Despair an evil Conscience or whatsoever the tempter can suggest against the Hope of my Glorifications Says the Son of Syrach Chap. 49.1 The remembrance of Josias was sweet as Hony in all mouths and as Musick at a Banquet of Wine If the Name of Josias was so precious for restoring Religion what melody is there in the remembrance of Christ's Name what Musick in his Banquet which is the very Mercy-seat from whence the voice of the Lord gives the principal Oracles of Consolation Whose Definition I have reserved to be the last words of all Consolatio est conveniens Vnio potentiae cum Objecto as our best Scholars have it Consolation is a convenient Vnion of any Faculty with its Object As when the Eye meets with light it is the Comfort of the Eye When the Ear meets with harmony it is the Comfort of the Ear. What is the most transcendent Consolation therefore but the Union of the Soul with God the best Object in a real and most significative manner the Union of the Spirit with Christ in the Sacrament of his Holy Supper To whom be Praise and Glory and Thanksgiving Amen ERRATA PAge 39. line 21. read taught us p. 54. l. 18. r. these p. 59. l. 18. r. wherefore p. 146. l. 5. r. God that p. 187. in the Title read the Sacrament of Baptism THE END Some Books Printed for R. Royston since the Fire A Paraphrase and Annotations upon all the Books of the New Testament The third Edition by H. Hammond D. D. Ductor Dubitantium Or the Rule of Conscience in Four Books Folio The second Edition by Jer. Taylor Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles the First and late Lord Bishop of Down and Conner The Sinner Impleaded in his own Court The third Edition Whereunto is now added The love of Christ planted upon the very same Turf on which it once had been Supplanted by the extream Love of Sin in 4o. A Collection of Sermons upon several occasions by Tho. Pierce D.D. and President of St. Mary Magdalen-Colledge in Oxon. A Discourse concerning the true Notion of the Lords Supper to which are added two Sermons by R. Cudworth D. D. in 4o. The Vnreasonableness of the Romanists requiring our Communion with the present Romish-Church in 8o.