Grievances and perplexities that are apt to distract us in our lives and also taken notice how fraile and fading all sublunary things are And likewise having endeavoured to raise some matter for satisfaction in our deepest exigences from the consideration of those nobler things that are of a more durable and heavenly concernment I shall next survey that condition which of all other seemes most terrible and is therefore termed the KING of Fear and that is Death it self whose very name is attended with trembling in respect of which all the afflictive incidences of mans life carry little or no proportion And so it is indeed more formidable then I can expresse to those that have not some assurance of a better life that are not furnished with spiritual Armour for this last encounter But I shall make it appear it 's much otherwise to those that have an interest in CHRIST who consider the unavoidable necessity of it grounded upon that unalterable Eternal Decree of Heaven And that * Heb. 9.27 all men are appointed once to dy They are so farre from desiring an exemption from that condition that they are said in Scripture to wait and long for it There are two especial daies for which the Children of GOD are said to wait The first is the day of death wherein they go to the LORD The second is the day of appearing wherein the LORD shall come to them They sojourne in the body more weary of it then David was of his dwelling in the Tents of KEDAR they waite with patient * Job 14.14 Job till the day of their change come and desire with the Apostle to be * Phil. 1.23 dissolved and be with CHRIST yea they pray for it so often as they mention that petition * Mat. 6.10 Lu. 11.3 Let thy Kingdome come They labour after death so far as it may be a meanes to abolish sin that CHRIST their KING may alone reign in and over them It is neverthelesse true that wicked and irreligious persons put the remembrance of death far from them yet for all that it comes upon them suddenly as * 2 Kings 23.24 Jehu furiously came upon Jehoram though they run to their Chariots that is their Refuges of vanity Death's dart surely overtakes them But the good Israelites of GOD desire to be ever prepared with their * Exod. 12.11 loines girded and their staves in their hands ready to take their journey from EGYPT to CANAAN whensoever the Majesty of the Most High GOD shall command them As fowles desirous to fly stretch forth their wings so do these extend their affections towards HEAVEN * Gen. 18.1 Abraham sate in the dore of his Tabernacle when the Angell appeared to him * 1 Kings 19.9 Elias came out to the mouth of his Cave when the LORD appeared to him so should we rejoice and be glad to come oââ of the Cave and Tabernacle of thââ wretched body that we may meââ with the LORD of Glory This Messenger DEATH cures all our Maladies and rescues us from all our fears and dangers This is that Cherub that stands Centinell at the Gate of Paradise There 's no entrance but under his hand Thereâ no passage to those glories above but through the Gates of Death here below But that which renders death yet more desirous to the Godly is the second day which they are said to wait for And that 's CHRISTS second coming The Apostle gives this as a Token of the rich Grace of GOD bestowed on the Gorinthians * 1 Cor. 1.7 that they waited for the appearance of CHRIST yea he gives it out as a mark of all those that shall be glorifyed when he saies * 2 Tim. 4.8 There is laid up for me a Crowne of Righteousnesse and not for me only but all those that love Christs second appearing And again * Heb. 9.28 CHRIST was offered to take away the sins of Many and unto them that look for HIM shall HE appear without sin unto salvation Amongst the Jewes as the day of * Lev. 25.10 Jubilee drew nigh so the joy of those that were in prison encreased for that it brought them an assurance of relief Much more cause have we to rejoice the neerer the day of our Eternall Jubilee approaches when all teares shall be wiped from our eyes and sorrow and mourning shall fly away for ever But to encounter a little further with this great Combatant first I say that Death which the righteous suffer is not total for it can never strike the whole man but onely the weakest part his body the more excellent part the soul is partaker of Eternal Life Nor secondly is it perpetual for our soules shall not abide under the Bonds of Death the spirit of Christ that dwells in us shall raise us up and cloath us with Immortality There is begun in the Children ãâã Light a life which no death is eveâ able to exstinguish though it maâ invade the vital natural powers ãâã the body and suppress them one after another and at last break in upon this lodging of clay and demolish it to the ground yet that man ãâã GOD which dwells in the Body shall escape with his life Though the Tabernacle is cast down which is the worst our enemy can do yeâ he that dwelt in it is removed to better As the Bird escapes out oâ the snare of the Fowler so the soul iâ death flies away with joy to her Maker The dissolving of the body to the Children of GOD is but the unfolding of the net and breaking open the Prison wherein they have been detained that so they may be delivered from that Captivity Here 's comfort in abundance for all those whose consciences can give evidence of their well-led lives And for those also whose peace is made with GOD through CHRIST by meanes of those two powerful Mediatours steadfast faith and unfained repentance The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romanes gives us this assurance * Ro. 5.1 That being Justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ The efficacy of whose death effectually applyed to our souls will sufficiently season and sanctify death unto us For how can we possibly fear that enemy whom our Redeemer hath already conquered As in the battel betwixt our * Gen. 3. Saviour and Satan Satan's head was bruised and he did no more then tread on the heele of our Saviour so shall it be in the conflict of all his members By the power of the Lord Jesus we shall be more then Conquerours The * Ro. 16.20 God of our peace shall tread downe Satan under our feet There is a seed of immortal life in our soules which no power of the Enemy is ever able to overcome So soon as we lanch forth of this life we arrive at the blessed Haven of everlasting happynesse where there is a Glory for all those that are heires of
he macerates himself through his own distemper the preaching of thâ Word the performance of Prayer oâ the administration of any Divine Ordinance to him is little available A Lecture to a distracted I had aâ most said to a dead man is attended with as much efficacy â Prov. 15.13 For through a vexatious sorrow of heaââ the spirit is broken saies the wââ man and so long as that continuâ as it were disjointed and in piecâ it 's altogether improbable that should receive an impression of gooâ and bring forth fruit proportionably Now herein I would not be ââstaken for it is not a Godly pentential sorrow that I speak of but a petulent vexatious trouble that brings such a discomposure and barrenness with it in respect of Good For by the first it must be confessed that the spirit becomes more maleable and of a more Divine and affable Temper whereby the seed of the Word may take deeper root and produce fruits answerably In this case though the spirit may seem to be broken yet no otherwise then the superficies of the earth is when the Husband-man intends to cast in grain And as that by the influence of seasonable distilling showers is again compacted and consolidated without any prejudice to the crop so a Christians spirit when softned with a pious sorrow through the sunshine of divine dispensations becomes more firmly cemented and more fruitful then ever being then in a better capacity to conform and yield obedience to the Apostles rule in * 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8. adding to Faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to patience Godlinesse and to Godlinesse brotherly Kindnesse and to brotherly Kindnesse Charity and those in whom these things are and abound shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Apostle observes Thus having cleared my sense in this partticular I shall wade further towards the discovery of those inconveniences that attend discontent And as I said before it workes an indisposition to Good so it also layes Men open and leaves them lyable to much evil it 's deplorable to think how many through the violence of that passion have wilfully contracted the spanne of their life by an untimely death and made themselves more miserable by their distemper then the Almighty haâ done by crosses Alas how apt â that destroying enemy of Mankinâ Satan who watcheth every oâ casion and attends every oportuâty to advance his kingdome of daânesse to seize upon a discontent spirit as being then most likely work its overthrow either by aggravation of its misery or some other insinuating suggestions And on the other hand How do those insnaring subtilties and deceitful allurements of the world make it their advantage to encounter a spirit in distraction as then supposing it to have cast off the protection of the meek spirit of patience the best armour against such assaults Nor will a third dangerous enemy the flesh be idle at such a time but fly out into rebellion and leavy war against the Law of the mind and so subject it to the law of sinne Thus we see what a conspiracy of evil Instruments there is to destroy poor souls that are involved in this malady Oh! then what a madnesse is it for contemptible clay to contend with the Potter that can fashion and mould it as he pleaseth Oh! What a senceles thing is it for a man to torment himself and harraze his own soul with the vexatious thoughts of those evils that are beyond all remedy He that spurnnes against pikes of Iron can in reason expect to gain nothing but wounds He that willingly runs against a rock not only dashes the vessel in pieces but loses all the fraught for he that entertaines or gives way to discontent not only torments the body but also casts the soules welfare into extremity of hazard What will not a man do in the midst of this passion He 'le create quarrels with men and sometimes with those of neerest Relation to him without any colour of cause and so both betray his folly and run himself into a guilt of grosse enormities And which is more sad he 'le not stick to quarrel and contend with God himself if any thing be presented contrary to his liking or offer to thwart his humour What an hanious crime was it in that discont ented Prophet so vainly and furiously to contest with his Maker about such a trivial thing as a withered Gourd And it could not but afflict good Jacob more then the sterility of his wife to hear her queratously cry out â Gen. 30.1 Give me children or else I die as though Providence were confined either to grant her desire or accomplish her ruine The latter is often true if the first be inordinately sought after or unseasonably sued for and this is very observeable that those who are excessively given up to the bent of their own wills When they see it disproportionable to the Will of the most High do not only meet with grievous Troubles from within themselves but for the most part heavy Judgements from God and thus it was with the murmuring and repining Israelites who because they had not every thing they desired esteemed slightly of what they had and because they were not exactly humoured became wilfully ingrateful and therefore were justly pursued with multiplyed judgements What a detestable humour was that in Ahab who within the confines of all Israel could not sind matter enough to feed his hungry desire nor satisfy his discontented craving mind unlesse he might enjoy Naboths poor Vineyard What an high contempt of the Almighties Munificence and bounty was this that he could not content himselfe with a Kingdome but labour with so much vehemency to gratifie his corrupt pleasure with such an inconsiderable trifle And to proceed yet further discontent is the mother of disorder it devides and subdevides not onely the senses but the faculties and sets them at an irreconcileable distance and enmity one with another and through this fewd and opposition they debilitate and weaken each other whereby that naturall and inherent life and vigour whence there should proceed lively and perfect Issues being thus decayed produceth little but obliquities and effect of decrepit nature Moreover he that is perplext iâ mind seldome acts any thing that either pleaseth himself or another those actions and carriages that ââ late to his own particular are for the most part looked upon with an evil eye as carrying along with them direful troubles doubts and disquieting Molestations and so being discomposed and out of frame it cannot be expected that those actings which refer to others should be any waies proportioned to their desires or suited to their pleasures But alas this is not the worst although bad enough to be opposed both to ones own and others advantage for he that discontentedly troubles himself for outward things either in respect of their miscarryage
destroying distemper of discontent 3. PARAGRAPH ANd because there may be some in the world that are more apt to be deterred from what they encline to by an apprehension of danger then any other consideration I shall therefore now shew how perillous it is to overprize earthly comforts and that will appear fââ in regard it affronts the majesty ãâã the most High for we lessen thâ esteem which we ought to entertain of the Almighty when wâ overvalue those things which aâ subordinate then consequentâ this error must be acknowledged to be exceeding dangerous Oh! How can that God endure whose bounty freely diâpenseth it self to the relief of aâ those that have interest and affiance in him to see his creatures value above himself It will vex a natural man to see his favours feasted oâ and his person contemned to bâ beaten with his own weapon Hoâ may it much more provoke the fieâ anger of the Omnipotent God to breaâ forth and consume those that creaâ to themselves an heaven on Earth who though they live and subsist upon mercy yet under value the Grâ Giver and Author of it For this ãâã undenyable that where the creatuâ is overvalued the Creator is under valued and to speak it with reverence we do then as much as in us lies to degrade the Deity and debase the Majesty of our heavenly Father we ought to be very circumspect in this particular and armed with abundance of caution against the insinuations and attempts of our subtile and deceitful enemies who ly in waite and are ever ready to prompt us to enormities of this nature Satan seeks all advantages to withdraw our affections from God and to that end presents us with the world laid forth in all its variety and in its most amiable dresse and if that take us he hath gained great part of his designe for by the next degree he thinks to make us his own And then the World though a seeming friend becomes a reall enemy and contributes to Satans Design and like a cheating Gamester suffers us to win at first that at last he may go away with all He courts us with smiling flateries and pleasing pretences untill he hath engaged us and then he makes us vassals Nor are our corruptions idle but ready to entertain the worlds ãâã braces and like Tinder fly inââ flame upon the first touch In ãâã regard we ought to be very carââ how and upon what termes we ãâã verse with the world that we ãâã not be involved in danger ãâã fulnesse of the earth is made uââ many ingredients and though tââ are for the most part of a gross natââ and therefore lesse taking yet ãâã are mixt with some that have aââ ring baits and so attract our affeââons when alas in the end they ãâã into emptines and can never satââ the better part of man the soââ but many times hazard the lossââ that most precious Jewel that ãâã so dearly purchased with an Inââmable Price the Innocent blââ of the Lord Jesus to recover which the powers on earth cannot lend ãâã least assistance And that which yet brings mââ danger the fulnesse of the world tainted with poison with sinne ãâã the curse of God And what plââsure can any man take to drink that cup that 's mixt with poison though it be never so sweet and delicious to the taste Besides it 's a most defiling substance for whatsoever the heart converses with that's worse then it self it receives pollution thence and so becomes corrupted And though we have never so great a share of this fulnesse it falls below our expectation sinck it as lowe as we can And that which is yet more dangerous It costs us many thousand times more then it is worth our precious time which was a lotâd us for a better improvement our âar and daily thoughts that were given us to feed on higher things and often takes up our Immortal souls which should not fix on finite objects that here 's a large stock laid out ãâã it abundance of care to get it extremity of fear to keep it and many times exceeding much grief to ââse it And being obtained and ââheld with all this difficulty it âay make us miserable but dever truââ make us happy Oh! Then âhat man alive unlesse he be given over to act his own ruin that haââ a God to serve and a soul to saââ an heaven to hope for and an hââ to fear sins to avoid and Graââ to acquire will imploy his tisââ his thoughts his interest to becoââ the world's Favourite when the ãâã fruition of earthly things in thââ highest felicity appears so dangerous Let 's rather be willing to pââ with all that 's dear and delight to us in this life then run so gââ an hazard as the displeasure of Gââ and the losse of our own souls Lââ be ready upon every occasion to ãâã off these incumbrances that impââ our progresse in our spiritual couââ and chearfully embrace those helââ and advantages that may direct ãâã further us in our way to heaââ ward where we shall enjoy honââ without envy sollace without ãâã row felicity without frailty ãâã comfort without end 4. PARAGRAPH HAving laid down the danger that involves all those whose hearts are let forth to an over-high valuing of creature-comforts I shall next examine what a perplexity and distemper is usually wrought both in the bodies and souls of those that have over-full estates and also what a torment it is to them when they are forced to part with them or otherwise suffer a declension in their honour and greatnesse especially if they be such as are meerly morall Experience tells us that excess is attended with sickness and superfluity produces a world of diseases neither of which are ordinarily attained to without over-plentifull estates Observe that man whose curious and craving palate is such that he cannot endure to satisfy himself with some dishes that are choice but will extend his command to ãâã superfluous variety of them anâ after he hath fed so long as naturâ will admit him many times quarreâ with himself because his stomaââ will not receive another course oââ choicer morsels but becomes gluââ upon the very sight of them so thaâ hence proceed surfets feavouriââ distempers and abundance of otheâ maladies that cry out for the Physician who shall now be in more requeââ then the Cook and a second sicknesââ must endeavour to cure the first Thââ health which is one of the greateâ of sublunary mercies must be wantonly destroyed or at least be sâ impaired as will render such a person in a decaying sickly condition so long as his life lasts When oâ the contrary he to whom provident hath allowed a small portion in thiâ world eats and drinks proportionably and so lives at a comfortable distance from such distempers Besides so great are the troubles thaâ for the most part waite on a fulâ estate that me thinks a due conside ration of them might
enduce us to rest satisfyed with a little First Envy is an unavoidable companion of Greatnesse this body can never walk without that shadow they are inseparable when on the contrary it scarce ever looks at a mean Condition low shrubs are seldome struck with lightning It is the lofty proud Cedars that are most lyable to those devouring flames David while he tended his fathers flocks lived merrily and without disturbance but when he once approaches the Court though by Sacred Election and Appointment and becomes arrested with applause and greatnesse then emulation and envy despight and malice pursue him close at the heels and though he forsake the Court and wander in the Wildernesse thither these blood-hounds follow him If he fly to the land of the Philistines they 'le find him out and chase him to Ziklag and though at last he arrive at his just Throne and there hopes to breath a little after all these tedious Encounters yet still he 's accosted with unquietnesse and forced in a most patheticall and sensible manner to cry out * Psa 132.1 Lord remember David and all his troubles Thus many are betrayed by their wealth and their very greatnesse creates a Judge to condemne them as malefactors He that falls from an high precipice cannot probably avoid bruises but he that suffers a fall on even ground is lyable to little or no harm Is it not then much better to be safe in a lowe condition then mounted high and subject to so much peril And then further greatness can never continue without vexatious and disquieting cares that are ever ready to perplex both bed and board to distract our sleep disgust our meat embitter our pleasures and shorten our daies Nor are the holyest of men free or exempted from these perturbations By how much the higher they are advanced in outward things so much the more trouble and vexation they shall meet with either in respect of instruments or otherwise in the managery of those affaires For where earthly promotion is distraction in some degree inseparably attends it That made Gregory none of the worst Bishops of Rome passionately complain of the clog of his high preferment confessing though he was outwardly advanced he was inwardly debased and that the burthen of his honour did insufferably depresse him and his innumerable cares disquiet him on all sides It was observed by the Jewish Doctors that Joseph the Patriarch was of a shorter life then the rest of his brethren And this reason they render of it that his cares were so much the more and greater as his place and imployment was higher And further sad experience tells us that Honour is rarely upheld without sinne and that grievous temptations follow great Estates The * 1 Tim. 6.9 10. holy Apostle Paul brands wealth with deceitfulnesse for that it cheates many men of their soules and so robbes them of those everlasting treasures that are preserved from all corruption and decay whereof they might have been made partakers ãâã not their hearts been inordinately ãâã on this thick clay this mammon of thâ world And it is incredible to think witâ what torment earthly men part wiââ this trash How many men have loââ their lives rather then they woulâ lose their bagges or at least runnâ themselves into such extremity ãâã danger to preserve them that they have ever after lived miserably Bââ that which is yet more in sufferably grievous and lamemtable is the greaââ Account that will inevitably succeeâ these large entertainements at thâ last and General day of Judgement when every one shall be summoneâ to answer for what hath been donâ in the flesh and how they have imployed or rather improved those Talents they have been intrusted with Oh! How terrible will it be then for those to appear before the Majesty of Heaven that have made Gold their God That in this life have doated upon a moment of time and so much sleighted the vast spaces of eternity Sure it must be very difficult if not impossible for such to make a faire reckoning in the failing whereof they become perpetually miserable And that conscience that before seemed dead will contribute to the soules affliction and sorrow and bring fresh to mind those evils it hath formerly delighted in Now if these several particulars be summed up as first those tedious indispositions and distempers of body occasioned through an Excesse Then those extraordinary troubles and perplexities of mind raised by inordinate and sollicitous cares for the support of greatnesse together with that Mortall hatred and sinful emulation incident to a full Estate besides the vexation in parting with and torment in accounting for this worldly pelfe and that which is most dreadful the hazard of losing our Immortall souls certainly these considerations duely weighed and seriously thought on have sufficient force to deterre any sober minded Christian from running on to a delight of these drossey and perplexing vanities these rotten earthly treasures Therefore steadfastly eyeing these many Inconveniences we ought rather earnestly to pray that we may be freed from the occasions of them which appears by what hath been said to be outward pompe and secular greatnesse then in the least measure to be afflicted for the want of them when at best and in their highest capacity they may perplex us but never really content us Object It may be objected that it 's a farre easier thing to say we may be happily contented and satisfyed in the want of these worldly advantages then to be truly so indeed and that the practise is farre more difficult then the profession Answ I confesse it is so and that all have not learned that Divine Art they must be diligent disciples in the school of Christ before they can take forth this lesson and become proficients Neverthelesse if these particulars I have already insisted on be well considered as the unstable and momentany condition of all things here belowe and how unsatisfying they are in their greatest confluence and abundance together with that exceeding danger that arises by an over-high estimation of them and also the many and great distempers and distractions that attend both body and soul in the fruition of them and parting with them and likewise the terrour in accounting for them These with such circumstances and enlargements as our hearts will be ready to find out and suggest will in some degree learne us how to want 5. PARAGRAPH But in regard all are not thus qualifyed I will endeavour to shew the difference betwixt those that know how to dispence with the want of creature-comforts and those that do not The first sort are principally such as have learned to frame their mindes with as much exactnesse as may be to their estates All satisfaction and contentment arises from this very conjunction of suitables a convenient with a convenient he that hath never so vaââ an estate if his heart be not framed to it cannot be satisfyed And on the other hand if his