enough withoâ—… him Luk. 1. 53. Matth. 15. 24. And yet it is strange yea a wonder to see how many truly humbled sinners who have so tender conscienceâ—… that they dare not yield to the least evill for the worlds goods and refuse no means of being made better turn every 〈◊〉 into reprobation every dejection into rejection and if they bee cast down they cry out they are cast away who may fitly bee compared to Arâ—…emon in Plutarch who when ever hee went abroad had his Iervants to carry a Canopy over his head least the heavens should fall and crush him or to a certain foolish melancholly Bird which as some tell stands always but upon one leg least her own weight should sink her into the Center of the Earth holding the other over her head least the Heavens should fall Yet bee not offended I cannot think the worse of thee for good is that fear which hinders us from evill acts and makes us the more circumspect And God hath his end in it who would have the sins to dye but the sinner to live Yea in some respect thou art the better to bee thought of or at least the less to bee feared for this thy fear for no man so truly loves as hee that fears to offend as Salvianus gloâ—…es upon those words Blossed is 〈◊〉 man that feareth alway And which is worth the observing this fear iâ—… a commendation often remembred in holy Scripture as a speciall and infallible mark of God's Children as for example Iob saith the holy Ghost was a just man and one that feared God Job 1. 1. Simeon a just many and one that feared God Luk 2. 25. Corneâ—…us a devout man and one that feared God Acts 10. 2. And so of Father Abraham a man that feared God Gen. 22. 12. Ioseph a man who feared God Gen. 42. 18. The Mid-wives in Egypt feared God Exod. 1. 17. So that evermore the fearing of God as being the beginning of wisdom is mentioned as the 〈◊〉 note which is as much as to say if the fearing of God once go before working of righteousness will instantly follow after according to that of the wise man Hee that feareth the Lord will do good And this for thy comfort when Mary Magdalen sorrowed and wept for her sins Luke 7 50. Christ tells her Thy faith hath made the whole intimating that this weeping this repenting saith is faith indeed And the like to the Woman with the bloody issue who presuming but to touch the hem of his garment fell down before him with fear and trembling Mark 5. 27 to 35. And that humble Canaaniâ—…e Matth 15. 22. to 29. And that importunate blind man Luke 18. 38. to 43. As if this humble this praying saith were onely the saving faith Neither can thy estate bee bad for as Saint Ambrose told Monica weeping for her seduced Son Fieri non potest ut filius istarum lachrymarum pereat It cannot bee that the son of those tears should ever perish Wherefore lift up thy self thou timorous fainting heart and do not suspect every spot for a plague token do not dye of a meer conceit for as the end of all motion is rest so the end of all thy troubles shall bee peace even where the days are perpetiall Sabbaths and the diet undisturbed feasts But as an empty vessell bung'd up close though you throw it in to the mid'st of the Sea will receive no water so all pleas are in vain to them that are deas'ned with their own fears for as Mary would not bee comforted with the â—…ight and speech of Angels no not with the sight and speech of Jesus himself till hee made her know that hee was Jesus so untill the holy Spirit sprinkleth the conscience with the blood of Christ and sheddeth his love into the heart nothing will do No creature can take off wrath from the conscience but hee that set it on Wherefore the God of peace give you the peace of God which passeth all understanding Yea O Lord speak thou Musick to the wounded conscience Thunder to the feared that thy justice may reclaim the one thy mercy relieve the other and thy favour comfort us all with peace and salvation in Jesus Christ. Section 8. But secondly if this will not satisfie call to thy remembrance the time past and how it hath been with thee formerly as David did in thy very case Psalm 77. 2. to 12. And likewise Joh Chapter 13. for as still waters represent any object in their bottome clearly so those that are troubled or agitated do it but dimly and imperfectly But if ever thou hadst true faith begotten in thy heart Joh. 1. 13. by the ministry of the Word Romans 10. 17. Jam. 1. 18. 21. and the Spirits powerfull working with it Joh. 3 3 5 8. whereby thine heart was drawn to take Christ and apply him a Saviour to thine own soul so that then wert forced to go out of thy self and rely wholly and onely on his merits and that it further manifested it self by working a hatred of sin and an apparent change in thy whole life by dying unto sin and living unto righteousness and that thou hast not since returned to thine old sins like the Dog to his vomit if it hath somtime brought forth in thee the sweet friat of heavenly and spirituall joy if it hath purified thine heart in some measure from noysome lusts and affections as secret pride self-love hypocrisie carnall confidence wrath malice and the like so that the spirit within thee fighteth against the flesh If thou canst now say I love the godly because they are godly 1 Joh. 3. 14. and hast an hungring after Christ and after a greater measure of heavenly and spirituall graces and more lively tokens of his love and favour communicated unto thee My soul for thine thou hast given false evidence against thy self for as in a gloomy day there is so much light whereby wee may know it to bee day and not â—…ight so there is something in a Christian under a cloud whereby hee may bee discerned to bee a true beleever and not an hypocrite But to make it manifest to thy self that thou art so Know first that where there is any one grace in truth there is every one in their measure If thou art sure thou hast love I am sure thou hast faith for they are as inseparable as fire and heat life and motion the root and the sap the Sun and its light and so of other graces Or dost thou feel that Christ is thy greatest joy sin thy greatest sorrow that when thou canst not feel the presence of the spirit in thy heart thou goest mourning notwithstanding all other comforts Assuredly as that holy Martyr said if thou were not a wedding Child thou couldest never so heartily mourn for the absence of the Bridegroom Thus I might go on but a few Grapes will shew that the Plant is a Vine and not a Thorn Take but notice of this
so soon as thou gavest us being and so prevented our further dishonouring thee wee have instead of humbling our selves before thee our God and seeking reconciliation with thy Majestie done nothing from our infancy but added sin unto sin in breaking every one of thine holy Laws which thou hast given us as rules and directions to walk by and to keep us from sinning Yea there is not one of thy righteous precepts which we have not broken more times and ways then we can express so far have wee been from a privative holiness in reforming that which is evill and a positive holiness in performing that which is good which thou maist justly require of us being wee had once ability so to do if wee had not wilfully lost it for thou did'st form us righteous and holy had not wee deform'd our selves whereas now like Satan wee can do nothing else but sin and make others sin too who would not so sin but for us for we have an army of unclean desires that perpetually fight against our souls whereby wee are continually tempted drawn away and enticed through our own concupiscence Yea thou knowest that the heart of man is deceitfull above all things and that the imaginations thereof are onely and continually evill O the infinitely intricate windings and turnings of the dark Labyriâ—…hs of mans heart who finds not or bodies which is not become a ready instrument to dishonour thee for as our heart is a root of all corruption a seed-plot of all sin so our eyes are eyes of vanitie our ears ears of folly our mouthes mouthes of deceit our hands hands of iniquity and every part doth dishonour thee which yet would be glorified of thee The understanding which was given us to learn virtue is apt now to apprehend nothing but sin the will which was given us to affect righteousness is apt now to love nothing but wickedness the memory which was given us to remember good things is apt now to keep nothing but evill things for sin like a spreading leprosie is so grown over us that from the crown of our heads to the soal of our seet there is nothing whole thâ—…rein but wounds and swellings and sores full of corruption Yea our souls and bodies are even a very sink of sin for like the common shoar we have not refused to welcome any the most loathsome pollutions that either the world our own corruption or the Devill at any time hath offered unto us  Or admit we are exempt from som evills wee may thank thee and not our selves for it for wee are ready without thy restraining grace to run out into all manner of enormities whatsoever we are swift to all evill but to all good immoveable when we do evill we do it chearfully and quickly and easily but if we do any good wee do it faintly and raâ—…ly and slackly When did we talk without vanity when did we give without hypocrisie when did wee bargain without deceit when did we reprove without anger or envy when did in himself an indisposition of mind to all good and an inclination to all evill we hear without wearysomness when did wee pray without tediousness such is our corruption as if we were made to sin in deed in word or in thought O the pride passion lust envy ignorance awkwardnesse hypocrisie infidelity vain thoughts unprofitableness and the like which cleaves to our very best actions and how full of infirmity are our primest performances for we have not done any one action legally justifyable all our dayes neither can ought we do abide the examinatirn of thy strict justice untill it he covered with thy Sons righteousness and the corruption thereof washed away in his most pretious blood Yea if thou shouldest behold these our praiers as they bee in themselves without having respect unto us in Christ Jesus they would appear no better in thy sight then a menstruous cloth And according to this our inclination hath been our practice wee have yielded our hearts as cages to entertain all manner of unclean spirits when on the contrary wee have refused to yiâ—…ld them as Temples for thine holy Spirit to dwell in  Yet miserable wretches as wee are wee like our own condition so well that wee are not willing to go out of our selves unto thee who wouldest new make us according to the Image of thy Son for by long custom wee have so turned delight into necessity that we can as willingly leave to live as leave our lusts yea wee love our sins so well and so much above our souls that except thou change our hearts wee shall chuse to go to Hell rather then part with them Thou hast used all manner of means to reclaim us but nothing will serve neither the menaces and terrours of thy Law nor the precepts and sweet promises of thy Gospell can do it Wee are neither softned with benefits nor broken with punishments thy severity will not terrifie us nor thy kindness mollifie us No shouldest thou send an Angell from the dead to warn us all perswasions would be in vain since we hear Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles daily and are never the better  True O Lord there is a main reason of it which we cannot now help for naturally we have eyes and see not ears and hear not hearts and understand not Yea wee are quite dead in sin untill thou doest boar our ears soften our hearts and break in upon our consciences by the irresistible power of thy Spirit and by going along with thy Word shall quicken our souls and regenerate  the whole man anew In the mean time wee are ready to receive all and return nothing but sin and disobedience wherein wee more then abound for wee have done more against thee this week then wee have done for thee ever since we were born And whereas the least of thy mercies is greater then all the curtesies of men wee are not so thankfull to thee for them all as wee are to a friend for some one good turn  Neither do wee alone lay the fault upon our inability or want of supply from thee but upon our own perversnesse and want of endeavour and putting sorth that strength and ability which thou hast given us for how long hast thou O most gracious God stood at the doors of our hearts and how often hast thou knock'd when we have refused to open and let thee in And if at any time we have been over-ruled by the good motions of thy holy Spirit yet have wee still returned with the Dog to our vomit and with the Sow refused the clear streams of thy Commandements to wallow in the myre of our filthy sins whereby we have justly deserved that thou shouldest have called us to an account in the dead of our sleep and have judged us to eternall destruction and never have suffered us again to have seen the light of the Sun the remembrance of which together with our
other rebellions when we rightly consider them makes us even speechless like him in the Gospell as neither expecting mercy nor daring to ask it  Howbeit when wee call to mind thy manisold mercies shewed to Manasses Paul Mary Magdalen the Thief and the Prodigall Son with many others who were no less vile then wee and who notwithstanding found thee more ready to hear then they were to ask and to give above what they durst presume to beg wee stay our selves and receive some incouragement from the application of the merits of Christ Jesus which thou hast promised shall bee a sufficient satisfaction for all our sins and the rather for that then caâ—…est all that are weary and heavie laden with the burthen of their sins unto thee with promise that thou wilt ease them and hast promised that though our sins be as red as scarlet thou wilt make them white as snow and that thou wilt not the death of a sinner but that he turn from his wickedness and live and that if a sinner doth repent him of his sins from the bottom of his heart thou wilt blot out all his wickedness out of thy remembrance And lest wee should yet be discouraged thou who didst no less accept the will of David then the act of Solomon hast further promised that if there be but first a willing mind thou wilt accept of us according to that which we have and not according to that which wee bave not But forasmuch O Lord as thou knowest that is not in man to turn his own heart unless thou dost first give him grace to convert for thou O Lord must work in us both the will and the deed and being that it is as easie with thee to make us righteous and holy as to bid us bee such O our God give us ability and willingness to do what thou commandest and then command what thoâ—… wilt and thou shalt find us ready to do thy blessed will Wherefore give to us and increase in us all Christian graces that wee may know and believe and repent and amend and persevere in well doing Create in us O Lord a new heart and renew a right spirit within us take away from us our greedy desire of committing sin and enable us by the powerfull assistance of thy grace more willingly to obey thee in every of thy commandements then ever wee have the contrary Be favourable to thy people every where look down in much compassion upon thy Militant Church and every severall member thereof blesse it in all places with peace and truth hedge it about with thy providence defend it from the mischievous designs and attempts of â—…hine and her malitious enemie let thy Gospell go on and conquer maugre all opposition that Religion and uprightness of heart may bee highly set by with all and all prophaneness may be trod under foot More particularly be mercifull to this sinfull Land the civill Magistrates the painful Ministers the two Universities those people that sit yet in darkness all the afflicted members of thy Son Lord comfort the comfortless strengthen the weak bind up the broken hearted make the bed of the sick be a father to the fatherless and Yea let thy Spirit bear such rule in every one of our hearts that neither Satan that forrain enemy and roaring Lyon which seeketh to devour us may invade us nor our own concupiscence that home-bred traytor may by conspiring with the world work the ruine and overthrow of our poor souls but that all our wills which have been altogether rebellious our hearts which have been the receptacles of unclean spirits our affections which are altogether carnall may be wholyframed according to thy holy heavenly will and that we may the better know how to avoyd the evill and do the good let thy word as a light discover unto us all the sleights and snares of our spirituall adversaries yea make it unto us as the Star which led unto Christ and thy benefits like the Pillar which brought to the Land of Promise and an husband to the widdow cloath the naked feed the hungry visit the prisoners relieve the oppressed sanctifie unto them all their afflictions and turn all things to the best to them that fear thee thy Cross like the Messenger that compelled guests unto the Banquet Prosper the Armies that fight thy battells and shew a difference between thy servants and thine enemies as thou did'st between the Israelites and the Egyptians that the one may bee confirmed and the other reclaimed Give us O Lord to consider that although sin in the beginning seem never so sweet unto us yet in the end it will prove the bane and ruine both of body and soul and so assist us with thy grace that wee may willingly part with our right eyes of pleasure and our right hands of profit rather then sin against thee and wrong our own consciences considering that it would bee an hard bargain for us to win the whole world and lose our own souls These Blesse preserve and keep us from all the temptations of Satan the world and our wicked hearts from pride that Lucifer-like sin which is the fore-runner of destruction considering that thou resistest the proud and givest grace to the humble from covetousnesse which is the root of all evil being taught out of thy word that the love of money hath caused many to fall into diverse temptations and snares which drown them in perdition and destruction from cruelty that infernal evil of which thou hast said that there shall be judgment mercilesse to him that sheweth not mercie from hypocrisie that sin with two faces whose reward is double damnation and the rather because wickednesse doth most rankle the heart when it is kept in and dissembled and for that in all the Scriptures we read not of an hypocrites repentance from whoredom which is a sin against a man's own body and the most inexcusable considering the remedy which thou hast appointed against it for the punishment whereof the Law ordained death and the Gospel excludeth from the Kingdom of Heaven from prophanation of thyday considering thou hast said that whosoever  sanctifieth it not shall bee cut off from thy people and did'st command that he should be stoned to death who only gathered a sew sticks on that day from swearing which is the language of hell considering that because of oaths the Land doth mourn and thou hast threatned that thy curse shall never depart from the house of the swearer from drunkenness that monster with many heads and worse than beast like sin which in thy Word hath many fearfull woes denounced against it and the rather for that it is a sin like the pit of Hell out of which there is small hope of redemption  Finally O Lord give us strength to resist temptation patience to endure affliction and constancie to persevere unto the end in thy truth that so having passed our pilgrimage here according to thy will we
then conquerours through him that loved us and so goeth on even to a challenge of our worst enemies Death Angels Principalities and Powers things present and to come height depth and what other creature besides should stand in opposition What voluminous waves be here for number and Power and terrour yet they shall not separate the Ark from Christ nor a soul from the Ark nor a body from the soul nor an hair from the body to do us hurt What saith David Mark the upright man and behold the just for the end of that man is peace Psal. 37. 37. Mark him in his setting out he hath many oppositions mark him in the journey he is full of tribulations but mark him in the conclusion and the end of that man is peace In Christ all things are ours 1 Cor. 3. 22. How is that Why we have all things because we have the Haver of all things And if we love Christ all things work together for our good yea for the best Rom. 8. 28. And if all things quoth Luther then even sin it self And indeed how many have we known the better for their sin Mary Magdalen had never loved so much if she had not so much sinned had not the incestuous person sinned so notoriously he had never been so happy God took the advantage of his humiliation for his conversion Had not one foot slipt into the mouth of Hell he had never been in this forwardness to Heaven Sin first wrought sorrow saith Saint Augustine and now godly sorrow kills sin the daughter destroyes the mother neither do our own sins onely advantage us but other mens sins work for our good also Objection But may some say Can any good come out of such a Nazarite Answer Yes The advantage we have by Christ is more then the loss we had by Adam If Arrius had not held a Trinity of Substances with a Trinity of Persons and Sabellius an Unity of Persons with an Unity of Essences the Mysteries of the Trinity had not been so clearly explâ—…ned by those great Lights of the Church If Rome had not so violently obtruded her Merits the doctrine of Justification onely by faith in Christ might have been less digested into mens hearts We may say here as Saint Augustine doth of Carthage and Rome if some enemies had not contested against the Church it might have gone worse with the Church Lastly suppose our enemies should kil us they shall not hurt but pleasure 〈◊〉 yea even death it self shall work our good That Red-sea shall put us over to the Land of Promise and we shall say to the praise of God we are delivered we are the better for our enemies the better for our sins the better for death yea better for the Davil and to think otherwise even for the present were not onely to derogate from the wisdom power and goodness of God but it would be against reason for in reason if he hath vouchsafed us that great mercy to make us his own he hath given the whole army of afflictions a more inviolable charge concerning us then David gave his Host concerning Absalom See ye do the youngman my son Absalom no harm Now if for the present thou lackest faith patience wisdom and true judgement how to bear and make this gain of the cross Ask it of God who giveth to all men liberally and reproacheâ—…h no man and it shall be given thee Jam. 1. 5. For every good giving and every perfect gift is from above and commeth down from the Father of lights Verse 17. 6 use 6 Sixthly for this point calling more for practice then proof it behoves us to be larger here briefer there If that which is one mans meat proves another mans poison let it be acknowledged that the fault is not in the meat but in the stomach and that it is the wickedness of our hearts want of a sincere endevour to make good use of Gods corrections which causeth him to withdraw his blessing from them Wherefore let it provoke us as we love our selves as we love our souls through all the transitory temporary moment any passages of this World first to strive after and then to preserve the life of our lives and soul of our souls sincerity and integrity Again if afflictions which are in their own nature evil and unto others strong temptations to sin by the goodness of God do make so much for our advantage and benefit here and hereafter If our Heavenly Father turns all things even the malice of Satan and wicked men yea our own sins to our good Rom. 8. 28. If for our sakes and for his Names sake he even changeth the nature and property of each creature rather then they shall hurt us as it is the nature and property of fire to burn yet that vehement fire in Nebuchadnezzars Furnace did not burn the three servants of God It is proper to the Sea to drown those that be cast into it yet it did not drown the Prophet in the very depth of it It is proper for hungry ravenous Lions to kill and devoure yet they did Daniel no harm And the like when we need their help It is proper for the Sun to move yet it stood still at the prayer of Joshua proper for it to go from East to West yet for Hezekiahs confirmation it went from West to East It is proper for Iron to sink in the water yet it swom when the children of the Prophets 〈◊〉 need of it In like manner It is proper for affliction to harden and 〈◊〉 worse as well as for riches and prosperity to ensnare But as some Simples are by Art made medicinable which are by nature poisonable So afflictions which are in nature destructive by grace become preservative And as evil waters when the Unicorns born hath been in them are no longer poisonable but healthful or as a Wasp when her sting is out may awaken us by buzzing but cannot hurt us by stinging so fares it with affliction when God pleaseth to sanctifie the same as he doth to all that love him Rom. 8. 28. For of God it is without thanks to Affliction or our selves or our sins that we are bettered by them All the work is thine let thine be the glory But lastly for though we can never be thankful enough for this yet this is not all that we should finde him a Saviour whom our enemies sinde a just revenger That we should be loosed from the chains of our sins and they delivered into the chains of Plagues That the same Christ should with his precious blood free us that shall with his Word sentence them Again if we were by nature the Seed of the Serpent children of the Devil and Subjects to that Prince which ruleth in the air even that spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes. 2. 2. We may learn by it to be humble and thankful if changed to be the womans seed children of God and members of Christ
our learning and recorded by the holy ghost to the end that wee may gather unto our selvs assurance of the same pardon for the same sins upon the same repentance and beleeving Are thy sins great his mercies are infinite hadst thou committed all the sins that ever were committed yet in comparison of Gods mercy they are less than a more in the Sun to all the world or a drop of water to the whole Ocean for the Sea though great yet may bee measured but God's mercy cannot bee circumscribed and hee both can and will 〈◊〉 easily forgive us the debt of ten thousand millions of pounds as one penny and assoon pardon the sins of a wicked Manasses aâ—… of a righteous Abraham if wee come unto him by unfaigned repentance and earnestly desire and implore his grace and mercy Rom. 5. 20. The Tenure of our salvation is not by a covenant of works but by a covenant of grace founded not on our worthinesâ—…s but on the free mercy â—…d good pleasure of God and therefore the Prophet well annexeth blessedness to the remission of sins Blessed is bee whose transgression is forgiven Psal. 32. 1. Yea the more miserable wretched and sinfull wee are the more fit objects wee are whereupon hee may exercise and shew the infinite riches of his bounty mercy virtue and all-sufficiency And this our spirituall Physitian can aswell and easily cure desperate diseases even the remediless Consumption the dead Apoplex and the filthy Lâ—…prosie of the soul as the smallest malady or least faintness Yea hee can aswell raise the dead as cure the sick and aswell of Stones as of Jews make Abrahams children Did hee not without the Sun at the Creation cause light to shine forth and without rain at the same time make the earth fruitfull why then should you give your self over where your Physitian doth not Besides what sin is there whereof wee can despair oâ—…â—…e remission when wee hear our Saviour pray for the forgiveness of his mâ—…rtherers and blasphemers And indeed despair is a sin which never knew Jesus It was a sweet saying of one at his death When mine iniquity is greater than thy mercy O God then will I fear and despair but that can never bee considering our sins bee the sins of men his mercy the mercy of an infinite God Yea his mercies are so great that among the thirteen properties of God mentioned Exod. 34. almost all of them appertain to his mercy whereas one onely concerns his might and onely two his justice Again shall it ever enter into our hearts to think that God gives us rules to keep and yet break them himsef Now his rule is this Though thy brother sin against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying it repenteth mee thou shalt forgive him The son angers his father he doth not straight dis-inherit him but Gods love to his people exceeds a fathers love to his son Matth. 7. 11. and a mothers too Isa. 49. 1â—… I hear many menaces and threats for sin but I read as many promises of mercy and all they indefinite excluding none whose impenitency and infidelity excludeth not themselvs every sin deservs damnation but no sin shall condemn but the lying and continuing in it Wherefore if our clamorous conscience like some sharp fang'd officer arrests us at Gods suit let us put in bail two subsidue virtues Faith and Repentance and so stand the triall the Law is on our side the Law of grâ—…ce is with us and this Law is his that is our Advocate and he is our Advocate that is our Judge and hee is our Judge that is our Saviour even the head of our selvs Jesus Christ. For the first of these do but repent and God will pardon thee hee thy sins never so many and innumerable for multitude never so hainous for quality and magnitude Isa. 55. 7. Ezek. 18. 33. 17. Yea sins upon Repentance are so reâ—…itred as if they had never been committed I have put away thy transgressions as a cloud and thy sins as a mist Isa. 44. 22. and what by corruption hath been done by repentance is undone as the former examples and many other witness Come and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow Isa. 1. 18. yea whiter for the Prophet David laying open his blood-guiltiness and his originall impurity useth these words Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow Psal. 51. 7. And in reason did hee come to call sinners to repentance and shall he not shew mercy to the penitent Or who would nor cast his burthen upon him that doth desire to give ease As I live saith the Lord I would not the death of a sinner Ezek. 18. 32. and 33. 11. Section 5. Ojection Yea but I cannot Repent Answer In time of temtation a man is not a competent Judge in his own case In humane Laws there is a nullity held of words and actions extoâ—…ted and wrung from men by fear because in such cases a man is held not to bee a free-man 〈◊〉 to have power or command in some sort of himself A troubled soul 〈◊〉 like troubled waters wee can discern nothing clearly in it wherefore if thou canst lay aside prejudice and tell mee in cold blood how it fares with thee at other times though indeed thy words at present are enough to convince thee For first thou findest sin a burthen too heavy for thee to bear which thou didst not formerly what 's the reason are thy sins more and greater No but the contrary for though they appear more yet they are less for sin thé more it is seen and felt the more it is hated and thereupon is the less Motes are in a room before the Sun shines but they appear onely then Again secondly the very complaint of sin springing from a displeasure against it shews that there is somthing in thee opposite to sin viz. that thou art penitent in affection though not yet in action even as a child is rationall in power though not in act Yea more thou accusest and condemnest thy selfe for thy sins and by accusing our selvs wee prevent Satan by judging our selvs wee prevent God Neither was the Centurion ever so worthy as when hee thought himself most unworthy for all our worthiness is in a capable misery nor does God ever thinke well of him that thinkes so of himself But to let this passe Are not your failings your grief are they not besides your will are they not contrary to the current of your desires and the main bent of your resolutions and indeavours Dost thou determine to continue in the practice of any one sin Yea dost thou not make conscience of all Gods Commandements one aswell as another the first table aswell as the second and the second aswell as the first Matt. 5. 19. Dost thou
this our gracious King and Redeemer prevent his poor miserable subjects with his grace in giving before they had the grace to ask or more then they desired The sick of the Palsie asking but cure of his disease received not onely that but the remission of his sins also Matth. 9. Zacheus desired but to see his face he became his guest and gave him salvation to boot Luk. 19. The Woman of Samaria requested but elementary and common water hee offered unto her the water of life Joh. 4. The people followed him to bee fed by miracle with corporall food hee offered unto them the bread of life Joh. 7. The poor blind man desired but his bodily sight Christ illuminated the eye of his soul Joh. 9. Neither hath honours changed manners with him as is usuall amongst men for hee is a God immutable in goodness and without change or shadow of turning Jam. 1 17. so that if thou speak hee will hear and answer thy suit in supporting thee so that thou shalt bee sure to persevere and hold out unto the end Section 11. Object But I have no evidence of divine assistance nor can I pray for it to purpose Answ. Wee have the presence of Gods Spirit and grace many times and feel it not yea when we complain for want of iâ—… as Pilate asked Christ what was truth when the truth stood before him The stomach findes the best digestion even in sleep when wee least perceive it and whiles wee are most awake this power worketh in us either to further strength or disease without our knowledge of what is done within and on the other side that man is most dangerously sick in whom nature decays without his feeling without his complaint To know our selvs happy is good but woe were to us Christians if wee could not bee happy and â—…now it not As touching Praier every one is not so happy as Steven was to bee most servent when they are most in pain yea many in time of sickness by reason of the extremity of pain can hardly pray at all whence Saint James wisheth us in affliction to pray our selvs but in case of sickness to send for the Elders that they may as those in the Gospell offer up the sick person to God in their praiers beeing unable to present their own case Jam. 5. 13. 14. 15. Yea it were miserable for the best Christian if all his former Praiers and Meditations did not serve to aid him in his last straights and meet together in the Center of his extremity yielding though not sensible relief yet secret benefit to the soul whereas the worldly man in this case having not layed up for this hour hath no comfort from God or from others or from himself Besides thou art happy in this there is not the poorest and meanest of Gods Children but as hee hath the benefit of Christs intercession in heaven Rom. 8. 34. Joh. 16. 26. so hath hee also the benefit of the Praiers of all the Saints on Earth wee have the graces and gifts each of other in common Yet because thine own Praier is most proper and seeing it is the miâ—…des Embassadour to God and never saileth of success if it bee fervent as if our prayers want success they want heart their blessing is according to their vigor pray that thou mayest pray better If thy Leg bee benumâ—…d go upon it a little and it will come to it self again To which if thou â—…in fasting thou shalt do well for prayers are made sat with fasting as Tertullian speaks Yea pray â—…ft though thy prayers bee the shorter weak stomâ—…s which cannot digest large meals seed oft and little O! saith holy Bernard most sweetly How oft hast thou meaning praier sound â—…ee lamenting and despairing and lest mee rejoycing and triumphing And what though thou canst not powr out thy soul in a flood of words The Woman diseased with an issue of blood said but within her self shee did not speak to bee heard of others and yet Christ heard her and answered her request Matth 9. 21. 22. The Lord esteemeth the will for the deed and the affection for the action Man sees the countenance God the heart man the deeds but God the meaning Hast thou but thoughts and desires and canst thou onely express them with sighs and groans these speechless words or rather no words but a few poor thoughts conceived aright pass all the flowing eloquence of Demosthenes and Tully yea Tertullus and all the Orators that ever were in the world for this matter is not expressed with words but with groanings and these groanings are from the blessed Spirit A Father delights more in the stammering of his little Child than in the eloquence of the best Orator Neither is hearty prayer in our own power but it is the gift of God which at somtimes in plentifull measure hee bestoweth upon his children and at other times again hee pulleth back his liberall hand that by the want thereof wee may leern â—…o ascribe the glory and praise of this grace to the giver who worketh in us the will and the deed which praise otherwise in pride of heart wee would arrogate unto our selvs as beeing in our own power Also that wee may more highly esteem it and with more joy and diligence use it when we have it bestowed on us If it bee asked why God reckons so highly of a sew sighs and groans and why the prayers of the faithfull are so powerfull it is because they bee not ours but the intercession of Gods own Spirit in us powred out in the name of Christ his own Son in whom hee is ever well pleased for as for us wee know not what to pray as wee ought but the Spirit it solf maketh request for us with sighs which cannot bee expressed Rom. 8. 26. It is the Spirit whereby wee cry Abba Father ver 15. Gal. 4. 6. Now if thou wouldest have the Spirits assistance and bee heard of God when thou makest supplication to him do not as too many do fall into prayer without preparation and utter a number of words without devotion or affection for no marvell if we ask and miss when we thus ask amiss Jam. 4. 3. Neither do as Children which never look after their Arrow but like Daniel Dan. 9. take notice of thine inlargements in prayer and of thy success after Nor onely pray and no more for to pray and to do nothing else is in effect to do nothing less But let your Prayers be ushered in by Meditation and attend by zealous devotion and then beleeving that you shâ—…ll receie whatsoever you ask in Christs name and according to his will 1 John 5. 14. John 16. 23. God will bee sure to give you that you desire 1 John 5. 14. 15. Mark 11. 23. 24. or that which is better for you Deut. 34. 4 5. And suppose thou art not presently heard yet continue asking stil as Peter continued knocking till the door was opened
the Fathers think so that in his own apprehension God was his mortall enemy as hear how in the bitterness of his soul hee complains of his Maker saying Hee teareth mee in his wrath hee hateth mee and gnasheth upon mee with his teeth he hath broken mee asunder taken mee by the neck and shaken mee to pieces and set mee lip for his mark his Archers compass mee round about he cleaeth my reins asunder and doth not spare to pour out my gall upon the ground he breaketh me with breach upon breach and runneth upon me like a Giant Job 16. Now when so much was uttered even by a none-such for his patience what may we think he did feel and indure Look upon Abraham thou shalt see him forced to forsake his Countrey and Fathers house to go to a place he knew not to men that knew not him and after his many removes he meets with a famine and so is forced into AEgypt which indeed gave relief to him when Canaan could not shewing that in outward things Gods enemies may fare better than his friends yet he goes not without great fear of his life which made it but a dear purchase then he is forced to part from his brother Lot by reason of strife and debate among their Heardsmen after that Lot is taken prisoner and he is constrained to wage Warre with sour Kings at once to rescue his Brother then Sarah his wife is barren and he must go childlesse untill in reason he is past hope when he hath a Son it must not onely die but himself must stay him Now if that bosom wherein we all look to rest was assaulted with so many sore trials and so diverse difficulties is it likely we should escape Look upon Jacob you shall see Esau strive with him in the wombe that no time might be lost after that you shall see him flie for his life from a cruel Brother to a cruel Uncle with a staffe goes hee over Jordan alone doubtful and comfortlosse not like the son of Isaac In the way he hath no bed but the cold earth no pillow but the hard stones no sheet but the moist air no Canopy but the wide Heaven at last he is come fat to finde out an hard friend and of a Nephew becomes a servant aafter the service of an hard Appronticeship hath earned her whom he loved his wife is changed and he is not onely disappointed of his hopes but forced to marry another against his will and now he must begin another Apprenticeship and a new hope where he made account of fruition all which fourteen years he was consumed with heat in the day with frost in the night when he hath her whom he loves she is barren at last being grown rich chiefly in wives and children accounting his charge his wealth he returns to his Fathers house but with what comfort Behold Laban follows him with one troop Esau meets him with another both with hosile intentions not long after Rachel the comfort of his life dieth his children the staffe of his age wound his soul to death Rouben proves incestuous Judah adulterous Dina is ravished Sime on and Lovi are murtherous Er and Onan are stricken dead Joseph is lost Simeon imprisoned Benjamin his right hand endangered Himself driven by famine in his old age to die among the AEgyptians a people that held it abomination to eat with him And yet before he was born it was Jacob have I loved and before any of this befell him God said unto him Bee not afraid I am with thee and will do thee good Gen. 28. 15. And did so even by these crosses for that 's my good saith the Proverb that doth me good Now what Son of Israel can hope for any good daies when he heats his Fathers were so evill It is enough for us if when we are dead we can rest with him in the Land of Promise Again hear what David saith of himself Thy arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore Psal. 38. 2. And see what cause he had so to say what were these Arrows To let passe those many that Saul shot at him which were sharp and keen enough and those other of Doeg when he flew fourscore and five of the Priests and the whole City of Nob both man and woman child and suckling for shewing him kindness Likewise Shimei's carriage towards him also his distresse at Ziglag and those seventy thousand which perished by the Pestilence upon his numbering the people and the like First Nathan tells him from the Lord that the sword should never depart from his house and that he would raise up evil against him out of his own loins here were as many Arrows as words Again the child which he had by Bathsheba was no sooner born but it died there was another Arrow Tamar his daughter being marriageable was destowred by his own Son Amnon there was two more Amnon himself being in drink was kill'd by Absalom at a Feast there was another This Absalom proves rebellious and riseth in Arms against his own Father makeshim fly beyond Jordan there was one more He lieth with his Fathers Concubines in the fight of all Israel there was another And how much do you think did these Arrows wound the Kings heart and pierce his very soul Lastly look upon Lazarus though Christs bosome friend Joh. 11. thou shalt see him labour under a mortaldisease c. though many souls were gained to the Gospel and cured by his being sick Si amatur saith Saint Austin quomodo infirinatur Thus it were easie to shew the like of Joseph Jeremy Daniel John Paptist Peter Paul and all the generaton of Gods Children and servants For as the Apostle giveth a generall testimony of all the Saints in the Old Testament saying That some endured the violence of fire some were rack'd others were tried by mockings and scourgings bonds and imprsonments some stoned some hewen in sunder some slain with the sword some wandred up and down in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted and tormented some forced to wander in Wildernesses and Mountains and hide themselvs in Dens and Caves of the earth being such as the world was not worthy of Heb. 11. So Ecclesiasticall History gives the like generall testimony of all the Saints in the New Testament and succeeding ages for we read that of all the Apostles none dyed a naturall death save onely Saint John and hee also was banished by Domitian to Pathmos and at another time thrust into a Tun of seething Oil at Rome as Tertullian and Saint Jerome do report As for other beleevers there was such a multitude of them suffered Martyrdom for professing the Gospel whereof some were stoned som crucisied som beheaded some thrust through with spears some burnt with fire and the like for wee read of twenty nine severall deaths they were put unto that Ecclesiasticall History makes mention of two thousand which suffered the same day with Nicanor
And after that in the time of the Ten persecutions were such an innumerable company of innocent Christians put to death and tormented that Saint Jerome in his Epistle to Chromatius and Heliodorus saith There was not one day in the whole year unto which the number of five thousand Martyrs might not bee ascribed except onely the first day of January who were put to the most exquisite deaths and torments that ever the wit or malice of Men or Devills could invent to inflict upon them Since which time the Turke and the Pope have acted their parts in shedding the blood of the Saints as well as the Jews and Roman Empeours as appears in the Book of Acts and Monuments and Rev. 17. where the holy Ghost hath foretold that the Whore of Babylon should fight with the Lambe and they that are on his side called and chosen and faithfull untill shee were even drunk with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus which in part was fulfilled in England under the Raign of Queen Mary when in one year a Hundred seventy six persons of quality were burnt for Religion with many of the common sort and in France where before theselate bloody Massacres there were two Hundred Thousand which suffered Martyrdone about Transubstantiation And it is well known that our Saviour Christs whole life even from his Cradle to his Grave was nothing else but a continued act of suffering yea hee was the person upon whom as upon one Center all our sorrows met Hee that had all possessed nothing except the punishment due to our sins which lay so heavy upon him for satisfaction that it pressed his soul as it were to the nethermost Hell and made him cry out in the anguish of his spirit My God My God why hast thou sorsaken mee so that there is nothing befalls us but hath befalne our betters before us and to bee free from crosses and afflictions is the priviledge onely of the Church triumphant For qui non est Crucianus non est Christianus saith Luther there is not a Christian that carries not his Cross. It is onely Heaven that is above all windes storms and tempests Not hath God saith Bernard cast nâ—…n out of Paradice for him to think to find out another Paradice in this world Now the way not to repine at those above us is to look at those below us we seldom or never see any man served with simple favours It is not for every one to have his soul suck'd out of his mouth with a kiss as the Iews tell of Moses It is a great word that Zazomen speak of Apollonius that hee never asked any thing of God in all his life that hee obtained not This is not our Paradiâ—…e but our Pargatory not a place of pleasure but a Pilgrimage not a Triumph but a Warfare Wee cannot say of this world as Tully reports of Siracuse in Sicily and others of Rhodes that not one day passeth in which the Sun shines dot clâ—…arly on them Yea wee think hee speeds well that lives as it were under a perpetuall Equinoctiall having night and day equall good and ill success in the same measure for these compositions make both our crosses tolerable and our blessings wholesomâ—… Wee that know not the afflictions of others call our own the heaviest every small current is a torrent every brook a River every River a Sea wee make our selves more miserable than wee need than wee should by looking upon our miseries in a multiplying glass wee measure the length of time by the sharpness of our afflictions and so make minutes seem hours and days months If wee bee sick and the Physician promises to visit us to morrow with his best relief with what a tedious longing do wee expect his presence Our imagination makes every day of our sorrows appear like Ioshua's day when the Sun stood still in Gibeon The Summer of our delights is too short but the Winter of our affliction goes slowly off Wee are so sensible of a present distress and so ingratefull sor favours past that wee remember not many years health so much as one days sickness it is true former meals do not relieve our present hunger but this cottage of ours ruins straight if it be not new daubed every day new repaired What then shall to-days Ague make us forget yesterdays health and all Gods former favours if hee do not answer us in every thing shall wee take pleasure in nothing Shall wee slight all his blessings because in one thing hee crosseth us whereas his least mercy is beyond our best merit But if wee think of our deliverance from the fire of Hell this is cause enough to make us both patient and thankfull though the trifles wee delight in bee taken from us Lord take away what thou pleasest for thy glory and my good so long as thou savest mee from the fire of Hell and thy everlasting wrath Neither is there a better remedy for impatience than to cast up our receipts and to compare them with our deservings If thou lookest upon thy sufferings thou shalt find them far easier than thy fins have deserved nothing to what thy fellow Saints and Christ thy elder brother hath suffered before thee at a Lyons den or a fiery furnace not to turn taile were a commendation worthy a Crown do but compare thy own estate with theirs and thou shalt find cause to bee thankfull that thou art above any rather than of envy or malice that any is above thee to domineer and insult over thee Yea compare thine own estate with thine enemies thou shalt see yet greater cause to bee thankfull for if these temporary dolors which God afflicts his people with are so grievous to thee how shall thine and Gods enemies though they suggest to themselvs that God is all mercy as if hee wanted the other hand of his justice endure that devouring fire that everlasting burning Isa. 33. 14. Psal. 68. 21. Doth he make bloody wayls on the backs of his Children and shall bastards escape doth hee deal thus with his Sons what will hee do with his Slaves cannot all the obedience of his beloved ones bear out one fin against God as wee see in Moses David Zachary c. Where will they appear that do evill onely evil and that continually The meditation whereof may bee of some use to thee Thales beeing asked how adversity might best bee born answered By seeing our Enemies in worse estate than our selves CHAP. 39. That the more wee suffer here so it bee for righteousness sake the greater our reward shall be heareafter 5 FIfthly wee shall bear the Cross with more patience and comfort if with Moses wee shall have respect unto the recompence of reward which is promised to all that notwithstanding what they shall suffer persevere in well doing Great are our tryals but salvation in heaven will one day make amends when we shall have all tears wiped from our eyes
his peace exceed his pain yeâ—… wee shall see both the torments present and the glory following Hope makes absent jales present wants plenitudeâ—… and beguiles calamity as good company does the way The poor traveller in thinking of his Inne goes on more cheerfully and the bond man in calling to mind the year of Jubilee When the Apprentice calls to â—…nd that his years of covenant will now shortly expire and then hee shall have his freedâ—… confirmed the very â—…emembrance thereof â—…eth many labour some works seem more light and less grievous unto him neither doth hee afterwards repent it Did it ever repent Jacob when hee came to inherit his Fathers blessing that hee had indured a long exile and tedious bondage Or Joseph when hee was once made Ruler in Egypt that he had formerly been sold thither and there imprisoned and hee had never been a Courtier if he had not fâ—…st been a prisoner Or did it repent the Israelites when they came to inherit the Land of promise that they had formerly been forty years passing through a forlorn wilderness Or which of Gods servants did ever repent that they had passed the apprentiship of their service here and were now gon to be made free in glory If so let us do and fuâ—…er cheerfully patiently couragiously what God imposeth upon us knowing that after wee have swet and smarted but fix days at the utmost then cometh our Sabbath of eternal rest which will make a mends for all knowing that death ends our misery and begins our glory and a few groans are well bestowed for a Preface to an immortall joy Let then our eyes hee continually on the joys which follow and not on the pain which is present the pain neglected and unregarded cannot bee very discomfortable But that there is reward promised to those which suffer in Christs cause is not all for our reward shall bee answerable to our sufferings the greater our sufferings are here the greater shall our reward â—…ee hereafter Matth. 16. 27. The deluge of calamities may assault us but they shall exalt us By our crosses sanctified weight is added to our Crown of Bliss for according to the measure of our afflictions God weigheth unto us of his graces that wee may be able to bear them and according to the measure of our graces hee proportioneth our glory and sature happiness Suffering for the Gospell is no inferiour good work and every one shall bee rewarded though not for yet according to his works Psal. 62. 12. Rom. 2. 6. Rev 22. ver 12. The Apostles tell Christ wee have left all and followed thee Mattâ—… 19. 27. Christ tels them when I sit on my Throne yee sâ—…ll sit on Thrones with mee ver 28. They that turn many unto righteousnesâ—… 〈◊〉 shine as the starrs in the Kingdom of heaven Dan. 12. 3. And they â—…t suffer Martyrdom shall bee cloathed with long white Robes and have Palms in their hands Rev. 6. 9 11. Now there bee three sorâ—… of Martyrs Re intentione intentione non re re non intentione in both deed and intention as was Saint Steven in intention not deed as was Saint John in deed not in intention as were the innocents But where the conflict is more hard the conquest obtained shall be more glorious for as Chrysostom speaks According to the tribulations laid upon and born by us shall our retribution of glory be proportioned And persecutors saith Bernard are but our Fathers Gold-smiths working to add pearls to the Crowns of the Saints Yea ever where more work is done there more wages is given and when the fight or conflict is sharper and the victory harder the glory of the triumph is greater and the Crown of reward more glorious Whence it was that those Saints in the Old Testament which were racked and tortured would not be delivered or accept of their enemies fair offers to the end they might receive a betâ—…er resurrection and a more glorious reward Heb. 11. 35. Neither would we wish our work easir or our burthen lighter if we looked up to the recompence of reward for it may be well applied here which was misapplied in the triall of that holy man Job We do not serve God for nothing Though we must not serve him meerly for reward as hirâ—…lings nor for fear as servants but as children for love O that when we suffer most we would but meditate and look upon with the eie of faith the fulnesse of those joies and sweetnesse of those pleasures which having once finished our course we shall enjoy at Gods righâ—… hand for evermore Psal. 16. 11. being such as eie hath not seen nor eaâ—… heard neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive 1 Cor. 2. 9. Foâ—… certainly the remembrance thereof would even raise up our souls from ouâ—… selves and make us contemne and sleight what ever our enemies could do as it did our fore-fathers much more to sleight reproaches which are such hug-â—…ears to a great many And no marvel if that which haâ—… made so many contemne fire and saggot make us contemne the blasts of mens breath But I hope enough hath been said in shewing that our enemies in steaâ—… of robbing inrich us and in lieu of hurting pleasure us sith they greateâ—… our graces and augment our glory sith if the conflict be more sharp thâ—… Crown will be more glorious Wherefore if our trials be small let us bear them with patience which makes even great burthens easie if they bee great and grievous let us bear them patiently too since great is the weight of glory that ensueth them whereas no suffering no reward yea if wee be not chastned here we shall be condemned hereafter 1 Cor. 11. 32. And whether had you rather rejoice for one â—…it or alwaies you would do both which may not be you would be both Dives and Lazarus have happinesse both here and hereafter pardon me it is a fond covetousnâ—…sse aâ—… idle singularity to affect it What that you alone may fare better than 〈◊〉 Saints That God should strow Carpets for your feet onely to walk 〈◊〉 your Heaven and make that way smooth for you which all Patriarchs Prophets Evangelists Confessers and Christ himself have found rugged and bloody Away with this self-love and come down you ambitious sons of Zebedes and ere you think of sitting near the Throne be contented to be called unto the Cup. Now is your trial Let your Savioâ—…r see how much of his bitter potion you can pledge then shall you see hoâ—… much of his glory he can afford you In all Feasts the coursest meats are tasted first be content to drink of his Vineger and Gall and after you shall drink new wine with him in his Kingdome Besides without some kinde of suffering how shall your sincerity be approved Even nature is jâ—…d and cheerful whiles it prospereth but let God withdraw his hand no sight no trust The mother of Micha while her wealth lasteth can dedicate a good
afflicted under the medicine thou criest the Physitian hears thee not according to thy will but thy weal thou canst not endure thy malady and wilt thou not be patient of the remedy No man would be more miserable than he that should cull out his own waies What a specious shew carried Midas his wish with it and how did it pay him with ruine at last Surely I have seen matters fall out so unexpectedly that they have tutered me in all affairs neither to despair nor to presume not to despair for God can help mee not to presume for God can crosse me One day made Marius Emperour the next saw him rule and the third he was slain of his Souldiers Well then if with Paul thou hast besought the Lord often that thy present affliction might depart from thee and canst not be heard in the thing which thou desirest know that thou art heard in that which is more conducible to thy profit and consequently rejoice more in that thy petition is denied than if it had been granted This was the use which Saint Paul made of Gods denial and he knew what he did though he had as much to boast and rejoice of as any one living yet saith he of myself I will not rejoice except it bee of mine infirmities that is afflictions reproaches persecutions inward temptations fears distrust c. But in these I will very gladly rejoice Why That the power of Christ may dwell in me Note his reason he had heard God say that his power was made perfect through weaknesse 2 Cor. 12. 8 9. Neither had he onely cause to rejoice in his infirnities but all God's people have the same cause to rejoice for what the spirit of comfort speaks in this and in all the former places recited do equally belong to thee for thy consolation with all the regenerate for whatsoever was written afore-time was written for thy learning and mines that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. 15. 4. And accordingly will a good hearer apply to himself whatsoever is written in the Word for as the stomach sends the strength of the meat into every member of the body so we should send to the eie that which is spoken to the eie and to the ear that which is spoken to the ear and to the tongue that which is spoken to the tongue and to the hand that which is spoken to the hand and so to the heart and every faculty and member of soul and body if we hear comfort we should apply it to fear if wee hear a promise we should apply that to our distrust if wee hear a threatning we should apply that to our presumption and so fill up the gap still where the Devil would enter And indeed had it not been for this Aqua coelestis David had surely fainted in his affliction Psal. 27. ver 13. 119. 72. but this good Word from heaven fetch him again when he was ready to sink and indeed if Moses and the Prophets the Evangelists and Apostles will not comfort us in this case then as Abraham told Dives in another caâ—… nothing will perswade nor prevail Believest thou the former Scriptures spoken by Christ and his Apostles I know that thou believest with some mixture of unbelief and art almost perswaded not onely to do but to suffer chearfully for well-doing But why dost thou not altogether believe that it is a blessed and happie thing thus to suffer Mat. 5. 10 11 12. That thou hast great cause to rejoice and be glad that thou art counted worthi to suffer shame for Christs name Acts 5. 41. Thou seest it is not for nothing that David acknowledgeth It was good for him that be was afflicted Psal. 119. 71. that Job blesseth the time that ever he was corrected Job 42. That Jeremy praied for correction as a good thing Jer. 10. 24. That a whole Church voted the same Lam. 3. 27. It is not for nothing that Chrâ—…t saith Blessed and happy are yee when men revile you and persecute you That Saint James saith Count it exceeding joy when yee fall into divers temptations James 1. 2. It is not for nothing that Saint Paul saith I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches an â—…cessities in persecutions in anguish for Christ's sake c. 2 Cor. 12. 10. That Peter and John when they were beaten and imprisoned departed from the Council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for Christs name Act. 5. 41. For even bearing the Crosse with Christ is as great a preserment in the Court of Heaven as it is in an earthly Coâ—…t for the Pâ—…nce to take off his own Roab and put it on the back of one of his servants as you may perceive by the Lord's speech to Paul Act. 9. 15 16. 23. ver 11. and our Saviour Christs words to his Apostles Ast. 1. 8. yea to suffer for Christ saith Father Latimer is the greatest privilege that God gives in this world and the story of Job is a book-case to prove it for did not God by him as sometimes a Schoolmaster with his Pupill who when he hath polished and perfected a good Scholar brings him sorth provokes adversaries to set upon him with hard questions and takes a pride to see the fruit of his own labours And in the warrs to have the bottect and most dangerous services imposed upon them by their â—…eneral is accounted the greatest honour neither will he confer the same upon any but the stoutest and most valiant This Rod of the Lord like Abasuerus his Scepter is never stretcht forth toward any of his but in great love and favour It is like the kisse which Cyrus in Xenophon gave to Chrysanthas which was accounted a greater and more special favour than the Cup of gold which he gave to Artabazus Which being so let us in this particular imitate the Muscovitish women who will not think their husbands love them unlesse they chastise them and the Indians who are ambitious to be burnt with them and the Thracians who are proud to wear their scarrs Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of AEgypt Heb. 11. 25 26. And the Apostles esteemed it a grace to be disgraced for him and shall we grumble or think much at it No in the greatest extremity of straights let us acknowledge it a favour and give him thanks and so much the rather for that it is more acceptable to God to give him thanks once in adversity then six hundred times in prosperity as a grave Divine well observs and indeed it is the summe of all Religion to be thankful to God in the midst of miseriex True it is hard for Job when the terrours of God fight against him and the arrows of the Almighty stick so sast 〈◊〉 him that the venome thereof hath drunk up his spirit Job 6. 2 3 4. to think it a special favour and dignity but so it was being
of thy goodnesse and for thy great Names sake we beseech thee take away our stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh enable us to repent what we have done and never more to do what we have once repented not fostering any one sin in our souls Reform and change our minds wills and affections which we have corrupted remove all impediments which hinder us from serving of thee and direct all our thoughts speeches and actions to thy glory as thou hast directed our eternal salvation thereunto Let not Satan any longer prevail in causing us to defer our repentance since we know that late repentance is seldom sincere and that sicknesse is no fit time for so And because infidelitie is the bitter root of all wickednesse and a lively faith the true mother of all grace and goodnesse nor are wee Christians indeed except we imitate Christ and square our lives according to the rule of thy Word Give us that faith which manifesteth it self by a godly life which purifieth the heart worketh by love and sanctifieth the whole man throughout Yea since if our faith be true and great a work as many have found that are now in Hell Neither is it reasonable thou shouldest accept of our feeble and decrepit old age when we have spent all the flower and strength of our youth in serving of Satan not once minding to leave sin until sin left us saving it can no more be severed from unfained repentance and sanctification then life can be without motion or the sun without light give us spiritual wisdom to try and examine our selvs whether we be in the faith or not that so we may not be deluded with opinion onely as thousands are Yea O Lord give us firmly to resolve speedily to begin and continually to persevere in doing and suffering thine holy will Inform and reform us so that we may neither mis-believe nor mis-live subdue our lusts to our wills submit our wills to reason our reason to faith our faith our reason our wills our selvs to thy blessed Word and Will Dispell the thick mists and clouds of our sins which corrupt our souls and darken our understandings separate them from us which would separate us from thee Yea remove them out of thy sight also we most humbly beseech thee as far as the East is from the West and in the merits of thy Son pardon and forgive us all those evils which either in thought word or deed we have this day or any time heretofore committed against thee whether they be the sins of our youth or of our age of omission or commission whether committed of ignorance of knowledge or against conscience and the many checks and motions of thy holy â—…pirit Discover unto us the emptinesse vanity and insufficiencie of the things here below to do our poor souls the least good that so we may be induced to set an higher price upon Jesus Christ who is the life of our lives and the soul of our souls considering that if we have him wee want nothing if we want him wee have nothing And now O Lord seeing thâ—… time approacheth which thou hast appointed for rest and because wee can neither wake nor sleep without thee who hast made the day and night and rulest both therefore into thy hands we commend our souls and bodies beseeching thee to watch over us this night and preserve Finally O Lord give unto us and increase in us all spiritual graces inlighten our minds with the knowledge of thy truth and inflame our hearts with the love of whatsoever iâ—… good that we may esteem it our meat and drink to do thy blessed will Give us religious thoughts godly desires zealous affections holy endeavours assured perswasions of faith stedfast waiting through hope constancy in suffering through patience and hearty rejoicing from love regenerate our minds purifie our natures turn all our joies into the joy of the Holy Ghost and all our peace into the peace of conscience and all our fears into the fear of sin that we may love righteousnesse with as great good will as ever we loved wickednesse and go before others in thankfulnesse towards thee as far as thou goest in mercy towards us before them  Give us victory in temptation patience in sicknesse contentment in poverty joy in distresse hope in us from all our spiritual and bodily enemies from thievs fire and from all other dangers troubles confidence in the hour of death give us alwaies to think and meditate of the hour of death the day of judgment the joies of heaven and the pains of hell together with the ransome which thy Son paid to redeem us from the one and to purchase for us the other so shall neither thy benefits nor thy chastisements nor thy Word return ineffectual but accomplish that for which they were sent until we be wholly renewed to the image of thy Son These things we humbly beg at thy fatherly hands and whatsoever else thou knowest in thy divine wisdome to be needful and necessary for our souls or bodies or estates or names or friends or the whole Church better then we ourselvs can either ask or think and that for thy Names sake for thy promise sake for thy mercies sake for thy Sons sake who suffered for sin and sinned not and whose righteousnesse pleadeth for our unrighteousnesse in him it is that we come unto thee in him we call upon thee who is our Redeemer our Preserver and our Saviour to whom with Thee and thy blessed Spirit be ascribed as is most due all honour glory praise power might majesty dominion and hearty thanksgiving the rest of this night following and for evermore Amen A Praier to be used at any time O Almighty Eternall most Glorious and onely wise God giver to them which want comforter of them which suffer and forgiver of them that repent whom truly to know is everlasting life Wee thy poor creatures acknowledge and confess unto thee who knowest the secrets and desires of all hearts that of our selvs we are not worthy to lift up our eyes to heaven much less to present our selves before thy Majesty with the least confidence that thou shouldest hear our praiers or accept of our services but rather that thou shouldest take these our confessions and accordingly condemne us to the lowest place in Hell for our continually we have used all our wisedom to commit the foolishness of sin our whole conversation hath been to serv Satan and fulfill the lusts of the flesh Wee even suck in iniquity like water and draw on sin as it were with cart-ropes  Neither is there any part power function or faculty either of our souls abusing thy mercy and those many means of grace which in â—…hy long suffering thou hast affoarded for our reclaiming Wee are the cursed seed of rebellious Parents wee were conceived in sin and born the children of wrath And whereas thou mightest have executed thy fierce displeasure upon us