must redound backe to him that gaue it Therefore the nearer the soule is conioyned with God it praiseth him so much the more Now after the death of the bodie the soules of the faithfull are more straightly coupled with God therefore after death they praise him the more Where Christ hath dwelt once in this life suppose the bodies die and be resolued in powder by reason of sinne yet the soule liueth by reason of righteousnesse Yea suppose the body be dissolued yet that Spirit of life that dwelt in the soule raiseth thy soule to heauen euen as the Spirit of life that dwelt in Christ Iesus raised his bodie from the graue And as the Spirit of life is the onely cause that made vs to praise him in our bodies so that same Spirit maketh vs to praise him out of these bodies by reason suppose we be absent in bodie yet are present in our soule with the Lord. For the words Rom. 8 are these If Christ dwell in you suppose the body be dead by reason of sinne yet the Spirit is aliue for righteousnesse sake The meaning of the words is suppose they that are departed leaue off to praise the Lord in their bodies and in the earth which he calleth the land of the liuing yet they leaue not off at all Now of this I shall marke one or two things Take vp the end wherefore the Lord deliuereth any person citie or country from any trouble within or without the chiefe end of his deliuerie is this That that person citie or countrey may serue as an instrument to preach his benefits to sound his praise and to render vnto him heartie thanks for it Are our sinnes forgiuen vs to this end is there any countrey or any citie set at libertie to this end that we should prouoke God to anger by heauier sinnes againe Is this the end wherefore he forgiueth sinnes Is this the end wherefore he bestoweth his benefits that we should vse them as weapons to fight against himselfe Is not this rather the high way to kindle him to greater seueritie and to sharpen his furie against our selues Yea and what exception I pray you can we vse in his greatest seueritie seeing we haue prouoked it our selues I speake it to this end there is not a person in particular nor any in generall but of naturall knowledge they will say There was neuer a greater benefit bestowed on a countrey then in releeuing vs of the feare of that barbarous Nation he must either confesse this or he is an asse This benefit if it were rightly measured and considered reade ouer the Scriptures conferre benefit with benefit miracle with miracle all circumstances being well considered ye shall finde that since the children of Israel came through the red Sea there hath not bene a greater To what end deliuered he vs is it that we should prouoke him with greater sinnes Looke since the feare of these strangers past what sinne is there but this countrey hath defiled her selfe with it See ye not slaughter in greater measure oppression murther without any mercie see ye not all law and equitie trampled vnder foote And briefly see ye not this confusion risen to such a height that euery Lord in his owne bounds is a King what sort of birth I pray you shall this confusion bring foorth At the last it must bring foorth one of these two of necessitie and take heeed ye may chance to see it except the Lord preuent it Either the supreme magistrate and inferiour magistrates must concurre in one voyce to put an end to this confusion or the confusion out of doubt shall put an end to him I am assured one of these two must follow for the weight of his wrath which hangeth ouer this land is insupportable the earth is not able to beare this birth of our iniquitie and if there were no other punishment as I haue often said the earth shall be compelled to spue foorth the inhabitants ere God want meanes to punish As this is true in the countrey in generall so it is as true in this Citie in particular for it neuer came yet for the most part in your hearts to thanke God aright for your deliuerie Therefore the Lord is beginning to let you see that he can raise strangers men who haue the hearts of strangers among our selues he hath meanes enough in the middest of our owne bowels to punish this countrey suppose he seeke not strangers But indeed in this late brag of our neighbour Lord he desireth you to go backe to the consideration of the greatnesse of the last benefit And if ye acknowledge it rightly and be thankfull for it there is no domesticke force ye neede to regard For as to the force that can proceede any way from that man ye know it And surely it would appeare to me that that man hath sold himselfe to iniquitie and the end will declare it except the Lord preuent him with his vndeserued grace which I desire most heartily Although in the meane time suppose there be peace promised yet stand ye on your guards and let it not come to passe by your misbehauiour and backwardnâ—sse that the glory of God and the libertie of this Citie be impaired in any wise but stand on your guardes that as this Citie hath bene a terrour to euill men before-time so it may terrifie him also For no question where God and a good quarrell concurre that side shall haue the vpper hand This onely by the way For it becometh me of my dutie to maintaine the good cause and to instruct you in this point of your dutie The second thing that I marke ye see the glorie of God is euer conioyned with the life of his owne so that we cannot aduance Gods gloâ—ie but we shall further our owne saluation and we cannot neglect the one but we shall neglect the other Seeing thâ—n that these two are necessarily conioyned for Gods sake let euery one remember to set forward the glorie of God in his life so farre as he may according to his estate and calling This life is so miserable in it selfe and there is none that seeth the confusion of this countrey to grow so fast that can looke for any redresse of these things in his own time So here beneath is no comfort all runneth on to such a desolation and miserable confusion that of all liues of the earth our liues were most miserable if we had not a sight of a better For all ioy to be looked for here beneath is taken away Well I leaue this second part and come to the last The third part of this song is in this 20. verse which is the conclusion of the whole song In this conclusion the King testifieth that he will not onely praise God for the present for the benefit which he hath receiued but he maketh a solemne promise that so long as he liueth he will neuer forget this benefit all the dayes of his life
Image which we lost nor to leaue vs in this earth but it pleased him to giue vs a better Image and beside that to place vs in heauen there to remaine with him for euer Now resteth his mercie and grace here No But that this saluation which he hath alreadie purchased brought about by his Sonne our Sauiour Christ Iesus might be wholly accomplished hauing nothing wanting in it as he redeemed vs in his owne person perfectly so he makes this same redemption to come to our knowledge makes vs sure of it in our consciences and to this end what doth he As by his death he purchased our full redemption so he makes it knowne vnto vs he intimates it vnto vs by our inward calling letting vs both finde and feele in our heaâ—ts what he did in his body for vs. For our Lord when he makes his seruants to proclaime this redemption and to intimate it to our consciences he workes this Iewell of faith in our soules which assures vs that the Son of God hath died for vs. For what could it auaile vs to see our redemption to see our saluation and our life a farre off if a way were not found out and a hand and meanes giuen vnto vs whereby we may apprehend that saluation applie it to our selues What can it auaile a sicke man to see a drugge in an Apothecaries shop except he may haue it and apply it to his sicke bodie So to the end that this worke of our redemption and saluation may be fullie and freelie accomplished looke how freelie he hath giuen his onely Sonne to the death of the crosse for vs as freelie hath he found out this way and meanes and offered vs this hand whereby we may take hold on Christ apply him to our soules This meanes to conclude is faith There is not a way nor an instrument in the Scriptures of God whereby we can applie Christ to our soules but onelie the instrument of faith therefore faith cannot be enough commended Turne to faith and it will make thee turne to God and so conioyne thee with God and make all thine actions well pleasing vnto him There is no good action that we do though it seeme neuer so good before the world but it is abhomination before God if it be not done in faith and will further our condemnation hauing faith all the creatures of God are seruiceable vnto vs they must all conspire to the furtherance of the worke of our saluation As on the contrarie wanting faith there is none of the creatures of God but shall be enemies vnto vs and conspire to our damnation For faith conioynes vs with the God of heauen and makes vs heauenly This Iewell of faith seasons all the gifts and graces which God giueth vnto vs all the riches of the earth is of no value to my soule without faith And what auaileth it any man to haue all the knowledge and wisedome in the earth without faith For the diuell hath all this knowledge and is not the better What auaileth it me to conquer all the Monarches kingdomes and whole riches in the earth what can all these auaile my soule Nothing but accuse me if I want faith Therefore all the benefits and gifts of God without faith auaile nothing but to augment our miseâ—ie All the gifts and graces of God are abused without faith faith onely maketh thee to vse the benefits and graces of God rightly Faith only should be sought kept and entertained here in this life hauing faith all the rest of Gods graces are profitable vnto thee for this Iewell keepeth them all in order and maketh them all fruitfull whereas wanting this iewell there is nothing here on earth but it will testifie against thee Let vs then speake of this faith how it is wrought in you I take my ground out of the Euangelist Iohn 6.44 where our Sauiour saith No man can come to â—e except the Father which hath sent me draw him In the which words we see clearly that except we be drawne except we be compelled except we be thrust except of vnwilling we be made willing by God the father it is not possible for vs to come to his Sonne What is the reason of this that the Spirit of God must draw vs and make vs willing or euer we come to God Because by nature we are not onely wounded and lanced by sinne and iniquitie but as the Apostle sheweth Ephes. 2.1 We were wholly dead in trespasses and sinnes yea obseâ—ue how voide any dead bodie is of a naturall life so voide are our soules though they be liuing the naturall life so voide are they of the life of God of that heauenly and spirituall life whereunto we in this life do aspire vntill such time that the Spirit of God draw our hearts and minds that is quicken our hearts and minds No it is not a drawing as we commonly speake it is a very quickning of a dead thing It is a quickning of that thing which was void of the life of the Spirit Then except the Spirit of God draw vs that is quicken vs with that spirituall and heauenly life it is not possible for vs to come to heauen And except he nourish this life which he hath begun it is not possible that we can stand in this life So the Spirit of God is said to draw vs that is to begin this life in vs and by the same holy Spirit to continue and nourish this life in vs. Now by the drawing of the Spirit our soules are quickned and by the drawing of the Spirit I vnderstand no other thing but the framing and creating of faith in our soules which makes vs new creatures Now let vs see what order the Spirit of God keepeth in drawing vs and informing and creating this faith in our soules First of all I deuide the soule into no more parts then commonly it vseth to be deuided that is into the heart and the mind Our mind then being â— cloud of darknesse altogether blind naturally there being nothing in that mind of ours but vanitie error and ignorance whereby we vanish away can neuer long continue in any good resolution or purpose what doth the Spirit of God The first worke that euer the Spirit of God doth he taketh order with the mind and what doth he to the mind He banisheth darknesse he chaseth out vanitie and blindnesse that naturally lurketh in the mind and in stead of this darknesse he placeth in the mind a lâ—ght a celestial and heauenly light a light which is resident in Christ Iesus onely Then the Spirit chaseth out that cloud of mist and darknesse and placeth light in the mind And what worketh he by this light We getting sanctified vnderstanding incontinent he makes vs to see God not onely as he is God the Creator of the world but also as he is God the Redeemer and hath redeemed vs in his Sonne Christ Iesus Now before I obtaine this light
in his soule that in the 17. verse he calleth it bitter bitternesse he hath no words to expresse this bitternesse what euer it was Where the iudgements of God make such a print in the soule it is long ere sinne can blot it out and so long as the memory of the iudgement remaineth it is easie to be thankfull it is easie to go forward in doing some part of our duty it is easie to stand in aw that we fall not into the hands of God but when we blot out this memory we returne to that same puddle out of the which we were deliuered Therefore I commend to you to craue of God a sanctified memory that ye may kepe fresh the iudgements of God which either ye haue seene in others or felt in your owne bodies that the feeling of these iudgements may serue you to be thankfull to him and may make you to stand in aw and beware to fall into the hands of a consuming fire Now this King finding this benefite so sweete he is compelled to burst forth in the praise of the word of God which brought forth so good an effect And first he praiseth it generally from the good it doeth vnto all men Then he prayseth it in particular from his owne particular experience comfort which he receiued in his owne person This doctrine is necessary and notable for these times First then he praiseth the word from the good it worketh in all flesh By these things sayth he men liue that this by the force of these words it commeth to passe that we enioy the benefite of this naturall life wherby we liue in this body vpon earth For the Lords word calleth on things that are not as though they were and his word maketh them to be By his word he created heauen and earth by his word he gaue man life and breath and whatsoeuer is necessary to him By his word he assigned to him the earth the seasons and bounds of his habitation To this end that man being created according to the image of God he might seeke God and no doubt he is not farre from euery one of vs For as the Apostle sayth Act. 17. In him we liue moue and haue our being And as this is true in this naturall life so is it as true in the entertainment of this life for by the benefit of this word we are sustained For our life standeth not onely in meate and drinke but in euery word that proceedeth out of the Lords mouth Mat. 4. that is in euery thing wherunto the Lord giueth power to nourish For it is the Lords word that giueth power to nourish vs. And suppose meate and drinke were remoued the Lord is able to make stones to nourish vs. This good King acknowledged this good effect to come of the word and therefore he praiseth the word Now after he had praised it from the generall effect he goeth forward and praiseth it from his owne particular experience and he saith in the conclusion of these things The life of my soule standeth that is in thy saying and doing in thy truth and mercy in thy promising and keeping thereof standeth the life of my soule as if the King would say Not onelie haue I this naturall life which I liue in this miserable bodie by the benefite of the word but I haue a more precious life the life of my soule and spirit which discerneth me from the rest of mankind which putteth me in a better estate then the rest of the world which maketh mine heauen to begin here which neuer shall end For as there is a life and death of the body so there is a life and death of the soule The life of the body may be conioyned with the death of the soule and the death of the body may stand with the life of the soule The life of the body standeth in the presence of the soule the life of the soule standeth in the presence of the Spirit of life Except the soule be borne againe by the Spirit of life ye shall neuer see the face of God before the soule be quickned by the Spirit of life it remaineth a dead carion dead in sinne dead in the lusts of the flesh as the Apostle saith Ephes. 2. Colos. 2. And consequently there remaineth but a carriō both in soule body the soule being as void of a spirituall and heauenly life as a carion is of a naturall life The words of the Apostle in that place in sundry places are Dead in sinne dead in trespasses and in the vncircumcised lusts of the flesh Where death hath place life must be wholly extinguished and where death hath place there can neither be halfe life quarter life nor a breath of life But so it is that death hath place in our soule by nature Therefore by nature there cannot be so much as a sparke of that heauenly life in it And if there be not so much as a sparke of life in it where is that halfe or quarter life whereof the Papists speake They will not haue it dead but lamed or crooked The Apostle saith in plaine tearmes that it is dead and therefore that spirituall life must be wholly put out and consequently all kind of will to good and all sight of God in Christ is banished away this death of the soule remaineth perpetually in vs vntill such time that the participation of the Spirit of life which is in the body of Christ Iesus free vs from the law of sinne and from the law of death which is in our owne nature Rom. 8. Now would ye know whether your soule liueth or not Would ye perceiue whether this Spirit of life be begun in you or not I will giue you certaine effects whereby ye may examine the life of the soule There are many effects giuen vs in the Scriptures as namely Gala. 6. But I leaue them choose three speciall effects whereby euery one may discerne of the life of the soule There is first that inward peace of conscience There is next that ioy and reioycing vnder trouble There is thirdly a loue of God a loue of vertue and an hatred of vice where euer any of these three hath place there the soule liueth where thou findest thy conscience refreshed and thy soule recreate from the great terrors manifold pangs of sinne no question the soule liueth for this is the effect of the right Spirit and this is the right peace whereof the world is ignorant that passeth all naturall vnderstanding The more thou makst this peace to grow the more thou liuest in thy soule The more this peace groweth the more sinne decayeth the more thou castest out all that baggage of sin that troubleth the quiet estate of the conscience In a word the onely thing that troubleth the soule that disquieteth the conscience and that we haue to cast out is sinne For sinne is the onely thing that seuereth vs from God in whom there
Sunne whereof ye heard and heauen and earth shall perish ere a iot of his promise faile Yet notwithstanding this is true that there is such a constancie and fidelitie in him all these promises will not auaile vs except the Lord prepare our hearts yea except he sanctifie our hearts by meanes of faith that in our soules we may see this truth we shall neuer regard it and except he giue vs a heart to apply this truth all the promises which he hath made and is to make serue for no vse to vs. Therefore it is the dutie of all Christians to be instant in crauing that the Lord would prepare their hearts by faith that seeing him in their minds and feeling him in their hearts they may find his mercie and truth and repose in them for euer After this we entred into the recommendation of the word of God and generally we praysed the word from this that we haue the benefit of this temporall life by it as this is true in generall so he goeth forward and praiseth the word from his owne experience in particular and he granteth that not onely he hath the benefit of this temporall life by the word but of the spirituall also And as he hath the life whereby he liueth in his body by it so he hath by it the life whereby he liueth in the soule For as there is a life and death of the bodie so there is a life and death of the soule The life of the bodie may be conioyned well with the death of the soule for we may liue in the bodie and be dead in the soule at one time Also the death of the bodie may stand with the life of the soule for we may depart from this life and go to a better The life of the bodie standeth in the presence of the soule but the life of the soule standeth in the presence of the Spirit of life except our soules be borne anew againe by the vertue of that Spirit of life it is not possible that we can see God and taste of his ioy For by nature we are not onely hurt lame maimed but altogeâ—her dead in sinne so that looke how voide a corps is of a naturall life as voide are we of a heauenly and spirituall life The reason is this where death hath place there life must be wholly put out But by nature death hath place in vs therefore the spiâ—ituall life must be wholly put out If the Spiâ—it of life be wholly put out there remaineth not so much as a breath out of the which any good cogitations or actions may proceede If so be there is not so much as one breath where is all that free-will of the Papists where is that integritie which remaineth in the filthie nature Then I say we naturally remaine in the death of bodie and soule still vntill that by the paâ—ticipation of the Spirit of life which dwelleth in the bodie of Christ vntill I say that this Spirit free vs from sin and death And so vntill this time we shall neuer mount aboue the clouds nor see the face of God And therefore as I exhorted you the last day so I insist in the same exhortation now that euery one of you marke and perceiue your selues whether you haue such a life begun in you or not I gaue you three effects which will neuer deceiue you The first is if ye find your selues refreshed and recreate in your spirits from the terrours of your conscience and the feare of sinne which recreation and refreshment of the spirit is called that peace that passeth all vnderstanding whereof the world is ignorant he that findeth any of this if it were neuer so little within him no question he hath this life begun in him and the more this peace is augmented the more the life groweth But this peace groweth by remoouing of sinne Therefore our whole studie should be to remooue sinne for the onely thing that troubleth the conscience is sinne Take away sinne the conscience shall be at rest Wherefore this was the chiefe effect I willed you to take heede vnto The second effect is ioy and reioycing vnder trouble For we see trouble of the owne nature bringeth not foorth this effect but rather bringeth foorth sorrow heauinesse and lamentation Then when our spirit is so disposed that vnder trouble we reioyce and glorie in it this is the Spirit of life This ioy is not in all troubles it is not in the trouble which we procure but onely in the trouble which we sustaine for righteousnesse sake and which we sustaine for Christ his sake The third effect is if ye haue a loue of God and good men and a hatred of euill where these effects are in any measure no doubt but the Spirit of life is there As by the contrary where there is a loue of wicked and euill men no question let them speake of Christ as they will the spirit of the diuell hath full dominion This Spirit of life we shew was entertained by nourishing of the knowledge of God when we edifie our selues in our most holy faith when we nourish the exercise of prayer As by the contrary the Spirit is put out when by our euill doings we put out the knowledge of God when we diminish our perswasion of his mercie in Christ fall from the exercise of prayer Then ye that haue this life begunne nourish it by well doing for by well doing no question our faith is corroborate Delight therefore in well doing sow in the Spirit and not in the flesh run not with the thiefe nor consent not with the murtherer for so ye shall be participant of their punishment but sow in the Spirit and of this ye shall reape an euerlasting and comfortable life where otherwise of sinne ye shall reape nothing but shame and euerlasting condemnation I haue discoursed long on this head because it is very necessarie and I would wish you to consider of these things Thinke on the great benefits of God granted vnto this countrey Thinke againe vpon our ingratitude and vnnaturall behauiour There is no Christian that will weigh these two in one ballance but he shall conclude that it is wonderfull why the Lord suffereth iniquitie in this countrey so long to be vnpunished Formerly when there was but crums of the bread of life they ran to seeke it so that they compassed both sea and land and spared neither trauell nor cost to be ingrafted into the kingdome of Christ But now when there is plentie of it we haue taken such a lothsomnesse thereof that we abuse the liberalitie of God offered to vs and turne his grace and mercie into vengeance on our owne heads For as to the multitude ye see that they haue alreadie preferred the leauen of the Pharises and gone to mumchances mumries and vnknowne language wherein they pudled before As to the noble and gentlemen they are so drunken with sacriledge that rather then they will render these goods
be applyed to our times Then I say praised be the liuing God our King is not diseased but surely his country is heauily diseased for so long as Papists Papistry remaine in it so long as these pestilent men remaine in it and so long as these floods of iniquity which flowes from the great men remaine there is an heauie iudgement hanging ouer this Country And in my conscience I cannot but look for a heauy iudgement vntill these things be remoued There is no great man but whatsoeuer liketh him he thinketh it lawfull And not onely is this in this part of the land but in all other parts of this Nation grosse iniquities are committed and the Church is made a prey to all men there is such disdaine and contempt of the word in the whole estate Except these things be purged I cannot looke but the Lord shall raise some if it were out of the furthest Indies to plague this land Albeit I doubt not but the liberty of the Church here and the sobs and sighes of the godly here haue delayed the iudgement from the whole land yea I am assured of it and therefore I pray God that he may so worke in your heart Sir by grace that ye may put to your hand to purge your part of the I le The Lord of his mercy establish your heart by grace that for no mans pleasure ye communicate with other mens sinnes Three maner of wayes we are said to communicate with other mens sinnes First when both with heart and hand we do one thing with them Secondly when we consent with our heart only Thirdly when we ouersee where we should reproue and forbeare where we should punish And in this way Magistrates are onely guilty Thus farre for the application Now I go forward to my text The last thing that we haue to speake of is the manner of the Kings behauiour vnder so terrible a disease we haue in the second three verses his behauiour liuely expressed As to his behauiour I speake onely of it as the text speaketh I doubt not but he reasoned otherwise and gaue other answers to Isaiah But I content me with that which the text saith Then in his behauiour we see he retyreth himselfe first to God by prayer and to testifie that he prayeth â—rom his heart it is said that he weeped bitterly Surely this is an euident argument that his prayer flowed from his heart was indited by the right Spirit for if God leaue vs to our owne natural spirit we neither know what to pray nor how to pray But as it is said Rom. 8.26 it is the Spirit of God that inditeth our prayer that raiseth these sighes and these sobbes that maketh our heart to melt in those teares that are pleasing to him So it appeareth here by the earnestnesse of his prayer that it flowed from the right fountaine and therefore it can not be but pleasing to God This prayer and manner of his behauiour assureth vs of two things first it makes vs certaine of his faith Secondly of his repentance I say it makes vs certaine of his faith For how is it possible that I can craue any thing at the hands of him in whom I trust not Or how can we call vppon him saith the Apostle in whom we belieue not Then Prayer to God is an euident argument that we trust in God So I say it is an argument of his faith and where faith is of necessity repentance must be for these two companions Faith and Repentance are inseparable As Peter testifieth in the Actes 15. chap. For so farre as the heart is purged so farre is the life renewed so faith and newnesse of life going together faith and repentance must also go together Then his prayer testifieth his faith his faith testifieth his repentance his repentance testifieth of the secret condition inclosed in the threatning and the condition being fulfilled the threatning can not strike So by this deduction it may appeare that suppose the Prophet denounced very strictly yet vnder the denunciation there was a condition which condition taketh effect in the King Thus far concerning his behauiour Now as to his gesture I shall be short in it It is said that he turned him to the wall he did this out of question for two respects First that he might weepe the more bitterly for it is said that he powred forth his soule in teares And so he desired not that he should be seene Secondly he turned him to the wall to the end that his eyes should not carry his minde from God For we know easily that when any of vs is making our prayer in any publike place there is no obiect that falleth before our senses but it will draw vs from that communing which we haue with God So it is necessarie for them that would pray earnestly to withdraw them vnto a secret place according as our maister commanded his Disciples to enter into their secret chamber Thus farre for his gesture As to the words of the prayer they are set downe in the third versâ— in his prayer he suppresseth his petition for his petition is the prorogation of his dayes according to the custome of the godly men of old as Daniel 9.4 And in place of the petition he setteth downe the reason why his petition should be heard As to the reasons they are three in number The first is Remember Lord that I haue walked in thy truth Secondly I haue walked with an vpright heart Thirdly I haue done that which is good in thy sight In all these three it would appeare that he is boasting of his owne merits for the words appeare to be full of ostentation and pride But to answer to this the Lord measureth not ostentation and pride by words but by the heart from whence the words proceede A broken a contrite and humble heart is euer acceptable to him vse what forme of words you will And a proud heaâ—t is euer displeasing to him vse what forme of words it will Now what is he doing here he is not making a vaunt or bragging of his works onely he is shewing to God that howsoeuer his plague was great yet he had a good conscience the testimonie whereof vpheld him In such sort that suppose all outward things said that God was angry at him yet he could not be perswaded in his conscience but he was his friend And therefore in his whole prayer he reasoneth as though he would say after this manner Lord thou knowest that the prophane men of this countrie will thinke it an extreme curse that I shall die without children and by this they will esteeme the deedes to be accuâ—sed which I haue done before they will curse and damne the religion that I haue reformed and the order of thy house which I haue begun And yet notwithstanding I am assured in my conscience that I haue the warrant of thy Law in all that I haue done For I sought
some roote of infidelity abiding stil in them to vtter voices sometimes full of doubting and sometimes full of faith Thus farre for the first Now againe to testifie that the soule hauing faith hath bene subiect to doubting and as faith is on the one part so doubting is on the other this is a thing that hath bene in all the seruants of God and shall be to the end of the world The example of this ye haue in Dauid ye haue the example of it here in Hezechiah in all the rest of the good seruants of God Then suppose many of you know not what I say yet keepe the lesson in memory for it shall stand you in great good steede For this is sure that suppose the paines of the body be great yet there is as great difference betwixt the paines of the body and the paines of the soule as is betwixt God and the creature Ye would choose rather all the torments of the body that can be deuised ere ye felt one touch of the consuming wrath of God in the soule But yet these words will not effect it for words will not mollifie the heart except the Lord by the power of his Spirit worke in the heart And therefore I haue to craue of God ye haue by your prayers to assist me that ye be not vnfruitefull hearers of the word but seeing there is a Hell ye may study to preuent it Now last of all ye see the King learneth you a new fashion of prayer and I beseech you marke it When the extremity is so great that he may not vtter nor speake distinct voices and his speech is taken from him yet he leaueth not off to pray but hath recourse to his lamenting mourning conterfeiting the distinct voices of the Doue Crane Swallow by this diuersitie of tunes vttering his great anxiety And what fashion of prayer is this I say this kinde of sighing mourning and lifting vp of the eyes is as good language to God as any language spoken by the tongue He vnderstandeth the meaning of thy sigh and grone better then thou vnderstandest me that speakest And how is this It is his owne Spirit that raiseth these sighs grones that moueth these mournings And I pray you knoweth he not the meaning of his owne Spirit This the Apostle declareth Rom. 8. He knoweth the meaning of his owne Spirit and therefore whether this Spirit moue vs to sigh to mourne or to speake the Lord vnderstandeth all alike Then learne this forme of prayer when the Lord visiteth you with sicknesse in such sort that the vse of the tongue is taken from you and ye may not lift vp your hands to praise him nor lift vp your eies to looke vnto him yet let your moane be made yea further suppose the heart would not make moane with the mouth yet let the mouth suppose it hath no helpe honour and glorifie God Yea I say more suppose the case stand so as it may be that the heart be contrary to prayer and the mind will not assist the mouth to pray yet ere God be not honoured let him be honoured with the lip if the mouth wil not do it let the hand do it And euery member in like maner to the which the Lord haâ—h giuen leaue let theÌ„ honor God because euen this striuing against the hardnes of the heart and prouoking of it with the outward members of the body is pleasant to God no doubt it is he who giues this will as a speciall grace howbeit we get not incontinently the performance If ye can learne this it is not possible that ye can want prayer for prayer is such as sometimes is vttered by teares sometimes by sighes sometimes by words and sometimes by gesture And euer let thy Spirit be well occupied musing vpon God and spirituall things and whether thou eate whether thou drinke take thy rest or what euer thou do let thy Spirit haue euer thy minde on God comfort thee with this When the Lord visiteth thee with such kinde of disease that thy tong is taken from thee let the rest of thy members honour him And if ye be not so diseased your selfe yet in your visitation comfort others herewith assuring them that this kinde of language is as well vnderstood as if it were spoken with the tongue I end here This king is not exempted from trouble he is not exempted from tentation both of body and soule There is none that cast them to liue godly but of force they must suffer trouble There is none that will make them for heauen but of all estates prince or people or what euer they be they must walke in the strait way As to them that walke in the broade way they shall grow worse and worse as the Apostle saith till they come to such an height vntill at the last the Lord anger them by the same sinnes whereby they anger him For this is his iust iudgement that as thou hast angred him by Adultery he shall anger thee by the same sinne Hast thou angred him by blood he shall anger thee by bloud also Hast thou angred him by blasphemy he shall anger thee with the punishment of blasphemy Hast thou angred him with drunkennesse he shall anger thee with the punishment of drunkennesse For euery sin hath the owne punishment in the selfesame Then as ye would eschue the punishment of sinne so cast you to eschue sinne that so farre as the Lord will giue you grace ye may keepe your selues free And so ye shall haue not onely ioy long dayes here but euerlasting ioy after this purchased to vs in the righteous merits of Christ Iesus To whoÌ„ with the Father the holy Spirit be al honor praise glory for euer euer Amen THE TENTH SERMON VPON ISAIAH CHAPTER 38. 15 What shall I say For he hath said it to me and he hath done it I shall walke weaklie all my yeares in the bitternesse of my soule 16 O Lord to them that ouerliue them and to all that are in them the life of my spirit shall be knowne that thou causest me to sleepe and hast giuen life to me IN our last Sermon welbeloued in Christ Iesus the King returned to his wonted griefe and tooke vp his old lamentation againe vttering his trouble in these words My habitation is departed and transported from me as if he should say my life is ready to depart death is instant and my remouing is at hand he sheweth the maner of his remouing by two similitudes the one similitude is taken from a shepheards tent the other from a Weauer and his web As to the first looke in what maner we se the sheepheard tents flitted and remoued after the same manner I see my life to be flitted and remoued In the which we are taught not to settle our standing here nor to fixe our anker here but that we may be ready to remoue because we are vnder