signified by that name In the eyes of worldlings a Christian is despised and accounted but the offskowring of the earth the cause of this contempt is their ignorance they see the earthen vessell but know not the treasure which is within it or else for loue of the treasure they would imbrace the vessell But against this contempt of men wee haue to set that honourable estimation which God hath of a Christian for the high and honourable stiles which Gods giues him testifie that in the Lords account the Christian is an high and honourable person Againe the manifold names which are giuen him declare that it is not one grace onely but manifold graces of God which must concurre to make vp a Christian and this doth teach vs that it is not so easie a thing to be a Christian as commonly is supposed Last of all the honourable stiles giuen the Christian admonish him to walke worthy of his calling that he may answere the names which God hath giuen him since hee is the free-man of God the brother and the member of Christ why shall he abase himselfe to the seruitude of Sathan and sinne The Censure But now the contrary conuersation of many proues that all haue not the Christians disposition who now vsurpe the Christian name THE SECOND PART WHEREIN IS DISCRIBED THE DISPOSITION OF HIS INWARD MAN CHAPTER I. Of his Inward Man The Lords Command MAN looketh to the outward appearance 1. Sam. 16. 7. but I am the Lord who searcheth the heart and the reynes Iere. 11. 20. therefore my Sonne keepe thine heart with all diligence Prou. 4. 23. wash it from thy wickednesse Ierem. 4. and giue it vnto mee Pro. 23. 26. Let the hid man of the heart be vncorrupt 1. Pet. 3. 4. and keepe thy selfe in thy spirit Malach. 2. 15. Cast off concerning the conuersation in time past which is corrupted and put on the new which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Eph. 4. 22. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command O Lord my God I know that thou tryest the heart and hast pleasure in righteousnesse and that the man is blessed in whose heart are thy wayes therefore O Lord take away from mee the stony heart and giue me a heart of flesh put a new spirit into my bowels let neuer mine heart be diuided from thee O my God but let it be vpright in thy statutes and faithfull before thee knit it to thee that I may feare thy Name so shall I neuer be ashamed Another O Lord my God who brought againe from the dead our Lord Iesus the great Shepheard of the sheepe through the bloud of the euerlasting couenant worke I beseech thee that which is pleasant in thy sight and grant according to the riches of thy grace that I may be strengthened by the spirit in the inward man that Christ may dwell in mine heart by faith and so my whole Spirit soule and body may be kept blamelesse to the comming of the Lord Iesus to whom be praise and glory for euer The Christians Practise of this Command I Haue prepared mine heart to seeke the Law of the Lord and to doe it Ezra 7. 10. I will not regard wickednesse in mine heart Psal. 66. 18. for I haue set the Lord as a seale on my heart and signet on my arme Cant. 8. 6. My heart abhorres all labour that is wrought vnder the Sunne Eccles. 2. 20. onely I delight in the Law of God as concerning the inward Man Rom. 7. When the Lord saith to me seeke yee my face my heart answereth O Lord I will seeke thy face Psal. 27. My heart is purified in obaying the truth 1. Pet. 1. 22. and it shall cleaâ—…e to the Lord without separation 1. Cor. 7. 35. THE OBSERVATIONS THE Christian soiourning in the body consisteth of an outward Man and an inward eyther of them hauing their owne kinde of life senses actions and operations of so contrary qualitities that as saith the Apostle when the one is decaying the other is renuing By the one he walkes among men and hath his conuersation honest in the world by the other hee walkes with God as Henoch did and hath his conuersation in heauen In all his outward behauiour hee sheweth himselfe an example of godlinesse so that euen in his countenance gesture and language hee carries a print of godlinesse as the high Priest had grauen on his fore-head holines to the Lord but his chiefe care is to deck the hid Man of the heart which before God is a thing much set by But in this age many carry the name of Christians who neuer knew what this inward Man is and farre lesse hath felt the power of his spiritual life they are not the holy temples of God which should be more beautifull within then without as was Ierusalems Temple but are painted sepulchers pleasant without full of rottennesse within hauing the faces of men and the hearts of beasts If the Lord Iesus whose eyes are like fire and who with one looke can see them both within and without come to iudge them hee will not giue sentence of them as hee did of Nathaniel Behold an Israelitie in whom there is no guile but will charge them with that which Simon Peter said to Simon Magus I see that thou art in the gall of bitternesse and band of iniquitie and that thy heart is not right in the sight of God The Censure And hereby also it may be knowne that all haue not the Christians disposition who now vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER II. Of his New Minde The Lords Command THE light of the body is the eye if the eye be single the whole body shall be light but if thine eye be wicked then all the body shall be darke wherefore if the light that is in thee be darknesse how great is the darknesse Math. 6. 22. Take heed then that the light which is in you be not darkenesse Luke 11. 35. for yee are the children of light therefore sleepe not as others doe but watch and be sober 1. Thes. 5. 6. not as vnwise but vnderstanding what the good will of the Lord is Ephe. 5. 17. Not as other Gentiles who walke still on in the vanitie of their minde hauing their cogitation darkned and being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them Ephe. 4. 17. but be yee changed by the renuing of your minde that yee may proue what is the good and acceptable will of God Rom. 12. wise in that which is good simple as concerning euill Rom. 16. 19. But be not wise in your selues neyther high minded Rom. 12. 16. If any man thinke that hee knowes any thing the same knowes nothing as he ought 1. Cor. 8. 2. An high mind goes before a fall Prou. 29. 23. Neyther will the Lord
beleeues in me should not abide in darkenesse vers 46. While therefore ye haue the light walke in the light that ye may be the children of light Ioh. 12. 36. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obey this command LOrd remoue from me that curse that in seeing I should not see and in hearing I should not vnderstand quicken me according to thy louing kindnesse so shall I keep the testimonies of thy mouth Specially worke faith in my heart for it is thy gift I beleeue O Lord but help thou my vnbeleefe Increase my faith that mine eyes may be opened to see the wonders of thy law Speake to the heart of thy seruant that I may get cares to heare what thy Spirit saith that I may tast how gracious thou art that I may smell the sauour of life in thy Gospel and may so touch thee that in beleeuing I may get life through thy holy name and may so bee ioyned with thee that I may become one spirit with thee through Iesus Christ to whom be glory for euer The Christians Practise of this command I Was borne of my naturall mother deafe dumbe and blind but now the Lord hath opened mine eares Esa. 50. 5. so that I discerne the voyce of my shepheard and will not heare the voyce of a stranger Ioh. 10. 5. for the Lord hath giuen vnto me eares to heare what the spirit saith Reuel 2. he hath also annoynted mine eyes with eye-salue Reu. 3. 18. I looke not on things which are seene but on things which are not seene 2. Cor. 4. 18. And haue attained to some in-sight of that glorious inheritance prepared for the Saints Eph. 1. Yea with open face I behold as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord 2. Cor. 3. 18. I haue smelled the sweet sauour of his garments Psal. 45. 8. and of his oyntments for which I loue him Cant. 1. 2. I haue tasted how gracious the Lord is Psal. 34. 8. his word is sweeter to my mouth then the hony or the hony combe Psal. 119. And I haue touched my Lord and his vertue hath staied the filthy issue of my sinne Luk. 8. 44. THE OBSERVATIONS THe Naturall man liues not till fourtie and fiue daies after his conception be expired but the Christian begins to liue as soone as he is conceiued The principall effects of life are Sense and Motion and the more excellent the life is the Sense and Motion is In the Naturall man Motion goes before Sense at least before the vse of the Senses but in the Christian Sense goes before Motion For it is the new Sense which causes the heart to moue and stirre in a new manner Therefore is it that first wee will speake of the Christians Senses and then of his motion or disposition Naturall parents often times bring out their children either dead or wanting some Sense or mutilate of some member but in the new generation it is not so for the Lord begets no dead no senselesse no imperfect children but liuing indued with all their Senses and perfect in regard of the number of their parts The first Sense by regeneration restored to the Children of God is the Sense of Hearing As the eare was the first port by which death was conuayed to the soule so is it the first by which life enters into it Euah by hearing what the Serpent said was brought to a delectation in sinne and the Christian by hearing what the Spirit saith is brought to a contrary hatred of sinne The Spirit of God opens our eares before he open our eyes if we refuse to heare the Lord wee shall neuer see him Auditus est gradus ad visum Hearing is a step to Seeing As Adam after his Apostacie heard the Lord when he cried to him but saw him not so is it with all his children we may liue in the body and heare him but no man can liue and see him It is the order appointed by God that wee should heare him before we come to see him Auditus aspectum restituet we lost our sight by transgression of Gods word we get it againe by obedient hearing thereof Sanet itaqúe auditus oculum qui turbatus est vt serenus vi leat quem turbatus non potuit Let vs therefore by hearing learne how to cure our eye that the eye being made cleare may see the Lord whom it cannot see so long as it is troubled then shall wee sing As we haue heard so haue wee seene in the citie of the Lord of Hoasts Oh what a fearefull sentence they seale against themselues who delight not to heare the word of the Lord Hee that turneth away his eare from hearing of the Law euen his prayer shall be abhominable for if on earth they get not accesse to God when they pray to him how shall they in heauen get accesse to see him A iust punishment of mans rebellion if hee will not heare when God speakes God shall not heare when he prayes and shall neuer admit him to see his face in heauen But the eares required in the Christian are internall by which he may heare what the spirit saith Of these speakes our Sauiour He that hath eares let him heare All that heard him saith Augustine had eares and yet few of them had eares Omnes habebant aures audiendi paâ—…ci aures obediendi Eares to heare but not eares to obey like those of Samuel Speake Lord for thy seruant heareth and of Dauid I will hearken what the Lord God will say for he will speake peace to his people and Saints that they turne not againe to follie And they who haue receiued these eares doe heare in such sort that they are sanctified by hearing according to that of our blessed Sauiour Now are ye cleane through the word which I haue spoken to you But alas how great is the number of them who after so long a hearing of the Gospel doe still retaine the filthinesse of their old sinnes they are hearers onely and not doers of the word deceiuing themselues for either else when they heare the word they vnderstand it not or if they vnderstand it they are not moued with it or if they be mooued they are not mended by it their motion beeing but like that of Foelix and their repentance like vnto the morning dew but few they are whose ears God hath opened by the grace of Regeneration The second Sense we receiue in the Regeneration is the Sense of Seeing Sathan promised to our parents that if they would eat of the forbidden tree they should become like God in knowledge but like a false deceiuer as he is hee made them like vnto himselfe for the knowledge of good which they had by creation instantly they lost it by their transgression and
like vnto those seauen yeares of famine in Egypt eating vp the seauen yeares of plentie shall deuour all the apples of their former worme-eaten pleasures all fat and excellent things shall then depart from them the earth shall giue them none of her encrease the water shall not lend them out of her treasures so much as a drop to coole them the light of the Sunne shall not comfort them yea the light of a candle shall not shine vnto them because they despised the light of the Lord and rendred no fruit vnto him in all the time of their life And now the great number of Professors who stand like fruitlesse trees in the Lords Vineyard who in stead of growing decay hauing lost their first zeale with the Church of Ephesus looking backe to Sodome with the wife of Lot longing againe for the Onyons and flesh pots of Egypt with the carnall Israelites returning like dogges to their vomit and so ending in the flesh where they made a shew of beginning in the spirit euidently proues The Censure That all haue not the Christians disposition who now vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER V. Of his New Apparrell The Lords Command concerning it THou art miserable and naked by nature and knowest it not Reuel 3. 18. I counsell thee come and buy from me white rayment that thy filthy nakednesse doe not appeare verse 1â—… If thou wilt hearken to my wisedome and hide my commandements within thee Prou. 2. 1. I will spread my skirts ouer thee and couer thy nakednesse Ezech. 16. 8. Put ye therefore on the Lord Iesus Christ and take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Rom. 13. 14. But as the elect of God holy and beloued put on tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of minde meeknesse and long suffering Col. 3. 12. and aboue all things put ye on Loue. Col. 3. 14. Finally be strong in the Lord and put on the whole armour of God that yee may be able to stand against the assaults of the diuell Eph. 6. 10. 11. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obey this Command O Lord who giuest all health and grace to thy people take from me I beseech thee the filthy garments of sinne shame and confusion wherwith I was conceiued and borne and cloth mee with thy righteousnesse and saluation giue me that marriage garment whereby I may haue place at thy banquetting table and get inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith in Christ Iesus The Christians Practise of this Command THE Lord hath taken from me my filthy garments and clothed me with change of rayment Zach. 3. 4. hee hath giuen me the Lord Iesus to be my righteousnesse 1. Cor. 1. him haue I put on and am baptised in him Gal. 3. 27. I haue cast away the workes of darknesse and walke honestly as in the day Rom. 13. clothed with a garment not party-coloured as Iosephs was but compact of many vertues tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of mind meeknesse and long suffering Col. 3. 12. Iudgement is a crowne to my head I haue put on Iustice and it hath couered me Iob. 29. 14. I haue also put on loue 1. Thes. 5. 8. and haue decked the hid man of my heart with a meeke and quiet Spirit 1. Pet 3. 4. these are excellent ornaments which God hath giuen me Ezech. 16. 7. Aboue them all I haue put on the whole complete armour Eph. 6. euen the armour of light Rom. 13. the armour of righteousnesse 2. Cor. 6. 7. the armour of God Eph. 6. The hope of saluation is my helmet Righteousnesse is my breast-plate Veritie my girdle Faith is my Bucklar and my feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace And the Lord hath put into mine hands the shield of saluation Psal. 18. 35. the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Eph. 6. and the sling of Prayer Eph. 6. Thus am I forced to walke armed continually because of mine Aduersarie for my life on earth is a warre-fare Iob. 7. 1. and as the good souldier of Iesus Christ 2. Tim. 2. 3. I must fight against principalities powers and spirituall wickednesse Eph. 6. And I am sure that when the weeke of my warre-fare shall end then shall appeare the day of my refreshment Acts. 3. 20. my euerlasting Sabboth and my marriage day with the Lambe Reuel 19. 7. then shall I be throughly couered with white rayment Reuel 3. 5. then shall this mortall put on immortalitie and this corruptible incorruptibilitie 1. Cor. 15. The Lord shall cloth me with broydred worke a frontlet on my face earings in mine eares a chaine about my neck and bracelets on my hands and hee shall put a crowne vpon my head Ezech. 16. Yea the Lord himselfe shall be vnto me a crowne of glory and Diademe of beautie Esay 62. thus will hee decke mee like a Bride attyred with Iewels Esay 61. 10. and as a chaste spouse to be presented to my immortall Husband the Lord Iesus 2. Cor. 11. THE OBSERVATIONS THE Christian yee see hath foure suites of Apparrell three whereof hee puts on ordinarily in this life the fourth is his holy dayes garment for when the weeke of his warrefare is ended and the Sabboth comes which is the day of the consummation of his marriage with Christ after which shall neuer come a night then shall his Father cause his best robe to be brought out and shall couer him with it His first garment is the garment of Christs righteousnesse which on the part of God being imputed to him that is by the free gift of God giuen to be his owne and on his part receiued by faith and couered therewith defends him against the stormy and consuming wrath of God By this righteousnesse of Christ is not vnderstood that holinesse of his diuine nature which is incommunicable neyther that righteousnes of his humane Nature consisting in a perfect obseruance of the Law Morall which hee neuer transgressed in thought word nor deed and by vertue whereof Christ the man was sufficiently able to inherit life by the condition of the couenant of worke Doe this and liue But that righteousnesse which hee as our Mediator by fulfilling that singular Law of a Redeemer hath acquired and purchased that hee might communicate it to his brethren for their saluation who had none of their owne by which they could be saued For this singular law of a Redeemer which was neuer imposed to man nor Angell but onely to Iesus Christ required that he should loue God and his brethren in such sort as to beare in his owne body the punishment of their sinnes and satisfie the iustice of God to the vttermost for them that so the praise both of Iustice and Mercy might be reserued vnto God If all Adams posteritie had perished in sin where should haue beene
in whom it rests Viuificat Anima viuificatur if that life by which the soule liueth relinquish it that is if the help and comfort of Gods blessed Spirit forsake it how can it be but the soule must also relinquish the body And yet both these wayes it pleaseth the Lord to exercise his children in this life first by desertion wherein sense of mercy and spirituall strength vnto good is with-drawne from them and this is vnto them as a lingring disease the fruit whereof is first to humble them for their former sinnes secondly to make them esteeme more of the presence of God when he grants it vnto them But the other is worse when not onely hee forsaketh them but also as it were doth pursue them with his wrath this is like vnto a fearefull consumption which if it continued would vndoe them Infernus enim quidam animae rea conscentia est for an euil conscience is a certaine infernall prison of the soule And with this accusing and tormenting conscience it pleaseth God also to exercise his children first to worke in them a conformitie with Christ in spirituall sufferings secondly to teach them by experience the bitternesse of that wrath to come that they may flye from it And thirdly to learne them some knowledge of that incomprehensible loue Christ carryed toward them who for their sakes dranke out the dregs of that cup the drops whereof are so intollerable vnto them The first of these the wicked know not they were neuer comforted with his presence and how can they be grieued with his absence but the second they shall know how euer for a time their consciences being burnt as it were with a hote iron are without feeling of sinne and no way troubled for it yet shall it at length waken them and trouble them with a gnawing worme that neuer shall dye The Censure Now the great number of them who being lodened with sinne were neuer troubled in consciscience for sinne proues that all are not Christians indeed who now vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER XII Of his Patience The Lords Command HEe that is slow to wrath is of great wisedome and he that ruleth his owne mind is better then he that winneth a Citie Prouerb 16. possesse therfore your soules in patience Luke 21. 19. and let your patient minde be knowne to all men Phil. 4. 5. for yee haue great need of patience that after yee haue done the good will of God yee may receiue the promise Heb. 10. 36. Render not euill for euill nor rebuke for rebuke but contrariwise blesse knowing that ye are thereunto called that ye should be the heires of blessing 1 Pet. 3. 9. And indeed if yee be railed on for the name of Christ blessed are ye for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you which on their part is euill spoken of but on your part is glorified 1 Pet. 4 14. If therefore yee suffer not as murtherers or euill doers he not ashamed ver 16. Say not thou I will recompence euill but wait on the Lord and he shall saue thee Prou. 20. 22. Be patient and settle your heart Iam. 5. 7. for the patient abiding of the righteous shall be gladnesse Prou. 10. 28. The Lord is a God of iudgement and they are blessed that wait for him Esay 30. 18. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command LOrd encrease thy graces toward me so that I be not destitute of any gift waiting for the appearance of my Lord Iesus Christ Lord confirme to the end that I may be blamelesse in that day and may walke worthy of thee pleasing thee in all things and may be strengthened with all might through thy glorious power to all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnesse The Christians Practise of this Command I Will waite on the Lord Zeph. 3. 8. and my soule shall keepe silence vnto my God for of him commeth my saluation Psal. 62. I will approue my selfe vnto him in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses 2. Cor. 6. 4. submitting my selfe vnto the will of my God and in all things giuing thanks to him through Iesus Christ. 1. Thes. 5. 18. THE OBSERVATIONS THE Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ is compared by S. Paul to a mirror wherein wee behold the glorie of God with open face and by which wee are transformed into the similitude of his Image for so many as are the Sons of God by regeneration to them he communicates his Image by his word and spirit His goodnesse is extended ouer all his creatures and he illuminateth euery one that comes into the world for euery man by nature hath in him as much light as furnisheth to him some principles of good and euill to make him inexcusable in all the euill that hee doth But as for his owne Children hee markes them from the rest of the world by his owne image and this is it wherein we should chiefly try our selues whether wee be the workmanship of God by regeneration as we are his creatures by the first creation or not and this tryall is to be made by our similitude and conformity with him As other affections are reformed in the regeneration so also is our Patience Concerning it three things are to be considered first the nature of Patience secondly the necessitie thirdly the vtilitie thereof Patience as saith the Apostle is a grace very needefull for vs to sustaine vs in the doing of Gods will and in the expectation of his promises Heb. 10. From this is borrowed that description of Augustines Patience is a grace of the Spirit flowing from faith by which we suffer euill things willingly because wee will not forsake those good things by which we may come to better The euils which with Patience wee must suffer are not the euils of sin for it is not Patience but effeminate feeblenesse to suffer it but the euill of affliction Againe the good which wee will not forsake is as saith the Apostle the doing of the good will of God the better things which God hath promised and wee doc hope hereafter to obtayne The second is the necessitie of Patience In two respects Patience is most necessarie first the good which God hath promised and wee hope for is suspended and delayed for a time which time though in regard of the dispenser it be short because hee knowes when hee will giue it yet to the expectant it is very long therfore haue we need with Patience to wait for it Next because of the present manifold euils wherewith in this life we are exercised We liue in the company of the wicked who are vnto vs as the Cananits wer to Israel pricks in our side and thornes in our eyes Neither will the Lord haue them separated from vs but the popple must grow with the good Wheat till the
day of haruest Patienter itaque ferendum est quod festinanter auferendum non est There will neuer be peace where God hath proclaimed inimitie the blessed seed of the woman and seede of the cursed Serpent will neuer agree let there be but two of them in the world suppose brethren the one of them shall slay the other as Caine did Abel let them be in one house vnder one discipline yet the one shall persecute the other as Ismael did Isaac yea put them into one wombe as were Iacob and Esau yet the one shall striue with the other As the rocke in the sea said Nazianzen lyeth obiect to the waues of the sea raised by euery winde from whatsoeuer coast it blow so is the Christian in the world subiect to the trouble of euery wicked man that can come neere him and therefore hath hee neede to be armed with patience and to walke among them circumspectly as among snares Now to the third the vtilitie of Patience Euery grace of the spirit hath in it some speciall vertue whereby it excels another but the principall praise of Patience is pointed out by our Sauiour in that precept Possesse your soules in Patience These are three excellent graces Faith Loue and Patience by Faith I possesse Christ Iesus by Loue I possesse my neighbour and make him mine owne by Patience I possesse my selfe hee that hath not Faith is without the Head hee that hath not Loue is without the body and hee that hath not Patience is without himselfe no maister nor possessor of himselfe but still ouer-ruled by the will of another Beside this Patience entertaines all the rest of the graces of the spirit it a enim proposita est Dei rebus patientia vt nullum opus Deo complacitum perpetrare possit extraneus à patientia for it is so set ouer the affaires of God that without it no spirituall worke acceptable to God can be done no prayer to God yea no pietie no duty of loue to man can be discharged without patience Moreouer Patience mittigates euils and maketh heauy and difficult crosses easie to be born Patientia enim fit vt homo liberetur à malo non exteriore alieno sed intimo ac suo where as Impatience were it neuer so great reâ—…ieues not men of the euils that offend them but rather encreaseth it so that by it small crosses become greater and heauier to be borne Impatientes dum mala patinolunt non efficiunt vt malis eruantur sed vt mala grauior a patiantur Therefore Sathan seekes by many meanes to bereaue vs of so great a good but specially by these three iniuries in our person in our goods and in our name Hoc velu titriplici ariete pulsatur Patientia nostra against these three therefore are we to confirme our selues As for the afflictions of our persons if they come mediately vpon vs by men we are to remember that which our Sauiour said to Pilate Thou couldest haue no power ouer me at all if it were not giuen thee from aboue and that which Dauid spake to Abishai concerning Shimei that cursed him Suffer him for the Lord hath bidden him it may be that the Lord will looke on mine afflictions and do me good for his cursing this day And againe we are to remember that of the Apostle we wrestle not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers c. that is that it is not so much men clothed with flesh and bloud that fights against vs as Sathan that worketh in them nihil enim aliud sunt omnes impij quam membra Diaboli for what els are the wicked but members of Sathan moued by him and therefore not them but him wee are to account our enemie If so wee doe we will neuer fight against the wicked of the world with their owne weapons to render euill for euill or rebuke for rebuke for if they prouoke vs to euill and we in our impatience be prouoked by them what difference is there between vs but that they sinned first and we sinned next nihil enim inter prouocantem prouocatum interest nisi quod ille prior in malesicio deprehenditur ille posterior As rauening and deuouring beasts cannot hurt vs vnlesse they finde vs in their way so cannot the wicked of the world harme vs if we goe not their way that is if we doe not as they do but keepe a way different from theirs that is as our Sauiour commands vs Pray for them when they persecute vs otherwise it is certaine that if any man will fight against Sathan with sathans armor hee shall suffer a shamefull ouerthrow at his hands He that cannot suffer a small crosse is there any hope hee will sustaine a greater if the distemperate breath of another mans mouth put thee out of patience how wilt thou for Christs sake resist to the bloud Absit à seruo Christi tale inquinamentum vt Patientia maioribus praeparata rebus in minimis excidat It is true that as a good conscience is necessarie for our selues to approue vs to God so our good name is necessary for others that we may be the more able to edifie them mihi quidem sufficit conscientia mea vobis autem necessaria est fama mea my conscience said Augustine is sufficient for mee but my good name is necessary for you And to this same purpose said Philo Non est negligenda bona fama res tum ad custodiam tum ad dignitatem vitae vtilissima But where neither a good conscience within nor a good conuersation without can preserue our good name we must with Patience endure it Neuer one liued in the world so holy and without spot as Iesus Christ and yet what contradiction did he sustaine of sinners If they called the Maister of the house Beelzebub what will they doe to the seruants no innocency can guard thee against the slanderous tongues of the wicked This is the very worke of the Diuell who was a lyar from the beginning vt seruos Dei mendacio laceret falcis opinionibus gloriosum nomen infamet vt qui conscientiae suae luce clarescunt alienis rumoribus sordidentur to rend the seruants of God with lyes and staine them in their name whom hee knowes honourable in their good conscience It is a great praise so to liue that others be compelled to commend thee but great pusillanimitie to stand in neede of another mans praise As the Moone that borrowes her light from the Sunne is vnder a continuall change so the minde which is made vp and downe by the breath of other men can neuer be stable As a true Christian is not puft vp when he is esteemed of others to be better then he knowes he is himselfe so is he not casten downe when he
Naturall inability to fulfill these commandements he turneth all the precepts of God into prayers the vse whereof I hope in all the parts of thy life shall not be vnprofitable for thee And last of all hee liues in a continuall practise of those duâ—…ties of godlinesse which God in his word hath commanded him and he himselfe doth pray for Now in the end I haue onely to obuiate two sorts of men by the one it is surmized that I haue plowed with the Heifer of another specially of Cashmannus who hath written before me de nouo homine by the other it may be obiected that I haue presented an imperfect image of a Christian and haue left out many things which profitably might haue beene pointed out concerning him For the first as I giue thanks to God for the labours of that worthy man so if I had borrowed any thing from him I would neuer thinke shame to confesse it nam ingenui pudoris est vt ait Plinius fateri per quos profecerimus haec quasi merces authori iure optimo pensitanda est ne fures esse videamur but the truth is that many yeares before he came in this Country this Anatomie was drawne and portraited as now you see it As for the second I humbly confesse it Malim tamen aliquid agendo maiorem à me doctrinam sapientiam desiderari quam nihil agendo prudentior doctiorque iudicari It was a commendable policy of these Indian Philosophers called Gymnosophista qui à suis discipulis seuerius otis quà m negotiâ—… rationem exigendam esse arbitrabantar What I haue done in this little labour is a part of my negotiation with that one talent I haue receiued from the Lord and which hee hath charged me to put to the vttermost profit And therefore had I rather by doing of some good lay open my infirmities to the censure of men then to hide by idlenesse my talent in the earth and so to incurre the indignation of my Maister I know my selfe I haue not done what I should nay not what by the grace of God I could yet that which in regard of my daily labour in the worke of the Ministerie I might Accept therefore from me this image of a Christian in a Christian manner apply it to thy selfe and looke what similitude or dissimilitude thou findest betweene thee and it Doe as Elizeus did to the widdowes sonne when he raised him from death to life he stretched himselfe ouer the childe hee put his mouth on the childes mouth his eyes on his eyes his hands on his hands and therewithall he ioyned prayer and the childe reuiued so compare thou thy selfe with this ensample thy minde thy will thy affections thy words thy actions with these of the new man where thou â—…indest a conformity giue thanks to God for the beginning of the worke of his grace in thee where not pray to God further to quicken thee that thou mayest grow in an holy similitude and conformity with him to the glory of his holy name and thy euerlasting comfort in Christ Iesus to whom be praise glory and honour for euer Thine in the Lord Iesus Mr. VVILLIAM COWPER Minister at Perth PSAL. 49. Come and I will tell you what the Lord hath done to my soule THE ANATOMIE of a Christian. CHAPTER I. OF HIS NEW BIRTH OR REGENERATION The Lords Command concerning it I Knew that thou art obstinate and thy necke is an yron sinew and thy brow brasse Esa. 48. 4. I knew that thou wouldst grieuously transgresse therefore haue I called thee a transgressor from the wombe vers 8. In thy natiuitie when thou wast borne thy nauill was not cut thou wast not washed with water I saw thee polluted in thine own blood Ezech. 16. 4. 6. Neuerthelesse for my names sake and for my praise haue I refrained my wrath from thee that I cut theâ—… not off Esa. 48 9. Yea euen when thou wast in thy blood I said vnto thee thou shalt liue â—… sware vnto thee and entred into a couenant with thee saith the Lord and thou art become mine Ezech. 16. 8. For why shall I cause others to trauaile and bring forth and shall I remaine barren saith the Lord Esa. 66. 9. No But in the middes of my children the worke of mine hands shall my name be sanctified Esa. 29. 23. Thou shalt call me father and not turne from me Ierem 3. 19. And I will put a new spirit in thy bowels that thou maist walke in my statutes Ezech. 11. 19. Old things are passed away behold all things are made new if any man be in Christ let him become a new creature 2. Cor. 5. 17. Verely I say vnto you except a man be borne againe he cannot see the kingdome of God Ioh. 3. 3. Be yee therefore renewed in the spirit of your mind Eph. 4. 23. Putting on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him who created him Coloss 3. 10. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obey this command O Lord since flesh and blood cannot inherit thy kingdome and none can see thee but the pure in heart and such as are like thee I beseech thee Lord to transform me into thine image from glory to glorie by thy spirit that where thou art there I may be to behold thy glory It lies not in my power to change one haire of my head to make it white which is blacke farre lesse can I change mine heart to make it cleane which is filthy No man can tame the nature of man that which is crooked he cannot make straight but O Lord that which is impossible with man is possible with thee thou giuest sight to the blind thou raisest vp the crooked thou turnest a barren wildernesse into a fruitfull land thou sendest forth thy Spirit and renewest the face of the earth thou callest things which are not and makest them to be yea thou raisest vp the dead O Lord declare this thy great power in mercie vpon me turne the barren wildernesse of mine heart into a fruitfull garden water it with the dew of thy grace that receiuing a blessing from thee it may bring forth fruit vnto thy glorie Send forth thy Spirit and breath life into my dead soule that I may liue and praise thee O God of my saluation for euer thorough Iesus Christ. Amen The Christians Practise of this command I Was conceiued and borne in sinne Psal. 51. I walked as a child of wrath according to the course of the world after the spirit that workes in the children of disobedience Ephes. 2. But now I am receiued to mercie 1. Tim. 1. 16. and am by the grace of God 1. Cor. 15. 10. the workemanship of God created in Christ Iesus to good workes Eph. 2. 10. And this the Lord hath made me I made not my selfe Psal. 100. 3. he quickened me when I
of the new man arising to succeed in his roome to the possession of soule and bodie which before we possessed by him And thirdly because in the godly this corruption waxeth weake and infirme wearing daily neerer and neerer to death after the manner of old men But it is to be marked that in these two last respects sinfull corruption of nature is named the old man in men regenerate onely and in no other for in men vnregenerate their corruption shall for euer possesse them it increases vpon them and is yong strong and liuely euen when they themselues are weake and wearing to the graue Now aâ—… no birth can be without sorrow nor death without dolour nor circumcision or cutting of the flesh without paine so cannot our regeneration be wrought without godly sorrow and anguish of spirit which I marke for the comfort of the godly that they may know that sanctified troubles of conscience are but the dolours of the new birth and therefore should not be discouraged with them The infant that hath lien but nine moneths in the mothers wombe cannot throng out into the world without paine and thinkest thou to be lighter of sinne wherein thou wast conceiued and borne and which also hath beene so many yeares nourished in thy bowels without paine As Pharaoh grieued Israel forest when they stroue fastest to libertie and as that dumb spirit tormented that yong man worst when he saw he was to be cast out of him Mark 9. 25. So Sathan troubles the godly most heauily when hee sees the time of their deliuerance from his seruitude and bondage neerest But our comfort is that God is faithfull as he begins the worke so will he finish and end it Strong is Sathan indeed but Christ our Lord is that stronger one Pharaoh may repine but hee shall perish and the Israelites of God shall goe through that vncleane spirit in our parting from him may rend vs and cast vs as dead men to the ground but out shall he goe and Christ by his hand shall raise vs vp againe The other part of the Regeneration of the Soule is called as I said the viuification of the new man and the first resurrection where in our heauenly father communicates to vs his owne seed 1. Pet. 1. his nature 2. Pet. 1. 4. and his image 2. Cor. 3. 18. For since earthly fathers beget creatures like vnto themselues shall wee thinke that the heauenly father begets children to another similitude not his owne Surely they doe greatly dishonour the Lord who in their words say they are the sonnes of God and yet in their actions resemble the image of Sathan The Regeneration againe of the body consists also in two first in a right vsing of the members of our body as weapons of righteousnesse to serue God which we are taught to doe by grace Next in a full deliuerance of them from mortalitie and corruption Of this it is cleare that the Regeneration of the whole man will not be perfected till the day of resurrection called for that cause by our Sauiour the Regeneration Matth. 19. 28. Now through grace the Soule liues a happy life in the body thogh not as yet fully clensed and separated froÌ„ sin Out of the body it liues a more happy life being freed from all sin but yet not contented for the soule was not made to liue by it self but in the body and therefore cannot rest contented so long as it wants his owne organe and companion but when the body shall be raised againe and soule body revnited both of them fully deliuered from sinne and from the fruits of sinne then shall our generation which now is begun be perfected and absolued As for our parents in this generation wee haue God for our Father in Christ and Ierusalem which is from aboue to wit the Church of Christ the mother of vs all The Apostle to the Corinthians calles himselfe their Father Though ye haue ten thousand instructers yet haue ye not many fathers for in Christ Iesus I haue begotten you through the Gospel 1. Cor. 4. 15. And againe to the Galathians hee calles himselfe their mother My little children of whom I trauaile in birth againe till Christ be formed in you Gal. 4. 19. But Preachers are onely ministeriall parents yeâ—… for this same should they be honoured of people as their fathers and should againe carrie toward their people no lesse affection then fathers haue to their children specially to procure their euerlasting saluation But here both the naturall mother is to bee discerned from the stepmother and the bastard children from the lawfull for the chast spouse of Christ will receiue no seed into her bosom but the seed of her immortall husband which is the word of God and the lawfull mother of the sonnes of God will not giue them any other milke to feed vpon but the sincere and vnmingled milke of Gods word as Saint Peter calles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which shee offers to be sucked out of the pappes of the old and new Testament And therefore the Church of Rome which withdrawes these pappes from the mouthes of Gods children or giues them the milke of the word mingled with the Traditions of men pretend what shee will is but a strumpet and stepmother And as there is a stepmother so is there also bastard children they sit vpon the knee of Christs spouse but neuer sucked her pappes to draw life and grace out of her breasts such a one was Cham in the Arke such was Ismael in Abrahams house such was Esau brought vp with Iacob on the knee of Rebecca and alas such are many in our time who in regard of profession are in Gods Church pretending they are sons but are in very deed bastards no way in their life resembling the image of their heauenly father The Censure By these rules it is manifest that all are not Christians indeed who this day vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER II. Of his New Senses The Lords Command concerning them THou knowest not how by Nature thou art wretched and miserable blind poore and naked Reu. 3. 17. For the naturall man perceiues not those things which are of the Spirit of God 1. Cor. 2. 14. he sauours onely the things of the flesh Rom. 8. 5. his wisdome is death for it is enmitie with God verse 6. Hearken therefore vnto my words and keep them in the middest of thine heart Prou. 4. 21. Come and buy from mee eye-salue to annoynt thine eyes that thou maist see Reu. 3. 18. for I am he who maketh both the eye to see and the eare to heare Prou. 20. 12. I will bring forth the blind people and they shall haue eyes and the deafe and they shall heare Esa. 43. 8. He that walks in the darke knows not whither hee goes Ioh. 12. 35. But I am come a light into the world that whosoeuer
house one day in thy Courts is better then a thousand els where yea I had rather be a doore-keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse Psal. 84. Concerning thy Saints also that dwell on earth euen the excellent ones all my delight is in them for my goodnesse extends not to thee Psal. 16. 3. but I honour and make much of them that feare thee Psal. 15. 4. And by this I know that I am translated from death to life because thou hast giuen me a heart to loue the brethren 1. Iohn 3. 14. THE OBSERVATIONS AS Loue is the first affection which Faith sanctifieth in the man regenerate and whereby also Faith workes in the sanctification of the rest so is it the strongest for vnto it all the rest of the affections giue place and therefore doe we first begin at it It should be sufficient to prouoke vs to loue that it is reckoned among the first fruits of the Spirit that our Sauiour cals it the badge and cognisance of his Disciples that the Apostle cals it the band of perfection and fulfilling of the Law for Loue hath both the hart and the tongue of euery vertue in it It is the ballance of the Sanctuary no worke had it neuer so great a shew of godlinesse can be acceptable to God vnlesse it flow from Loue sanctified by Faith In the right ordering of our Loue two things are to be considered First that it be set on the right obiects Secondly that it be moderate in the due measure The obiects of our Loue are three the first is God the second our selues the third is our Neighbour It is customablie thought among men an easie and common thing to loue God and therfore in word all men professe it but in truth it is not so His loue is as narrow as his election and it is impossible that any can loue him but they who first haue beene beloued of him Herein is loue not that we loued God first but that hee loued vs. Diligere donum Dei est quoniam ipse vt diligeretur dedit qui non dilect us dilexit So that wee neede not ascend into the secret counsell of God to enquire there whether wee are beloued of God or not let vs enter into our owne heart and see if in a good Conscience we dare say with Dauid I loue the Lord and then wee may be sure that first wee were beloued of him Amor Dei amorem animae parit nec dubitet se amari qui amat As Saint Iohn beloued of Christ was replenished with loue so are all they who are beloued of him Two things are requisite in the loue of God the first is that wee loue him aboue all things It was the conuiction of the Gentiles that they worshipped the creature neglecting the creator and it shall much more be the conuiction of the Christians if they loue the creature more then the Creator He that loues Father or mother wife or children better then me is not worthy of me saith the Lord Iesus Certe non amant illi Christum qui aliquid plus quam Christum amant And in deed what is there to be compared with him whatsoeuer beautie or goodnesse is in the creature is but splendor summi illius honi a beame of that great and infinit good which is in God that made it and then onely are his creatures rightly vsed when by them wee returne to the Lord who made them Si autem deseris illum qui te fecit amas illa quae fecit adulter es but if passing by him who made thee thou set thy loue on those things which he hath made thou goest a whooring from God and playest the adulterer with his creatures The second is that wee loue him for himselfe and this excludes that mercinary loue of worldlings who loue him for his gifts more then for himselfe this is ac si sponsa plus diligeret acceptum annulum quam sponsum diceret sufficit mihi annulus saciem illius videre non desiderio such is the vnkindely and vnchast loue of those who are so delighted with Gods gifts that they desire not to enioy himselfe This mercinarie loue Sathan obiected it to God doth Iob serue the Lord for nothing but hee was proued a false accuser for when all the moueable gifts of God were taken from Iob yet the loue of God abode deeply rooted in his hart and after tryall he was found to haue loued God not for his gifts but for himselfe And this should moue vs the more carefully to flye this mercinarie loue because Sathan placeth his great vantage in it where he may proue it against vs. Cauere debemus ne propter praemium diligamus Deum beware we loue not God for a reward onely and if we will Quod quaeso dabitur praemium cùm quicquid tibi datur us est minus sit quam ipse what reward can be giuen vs seeing what euer other thing he giues is lesse then himselfe Surely it is the purest loue which loueth God for himselfe The second obiect of our Loue is ourselues for in that I am commanded to loue my neighbour as my selfe it is first required of me that I should loue my selfe Prius vide si nosti diligere teipsum tunc committo tibi proximum quem diligas sicut teipsum first see if thou hast learned to loue thy selfe then will I commit thy neighbour to thee that thou maist loue him as thy selfe qui amas iniquitatem nolo quenquam diligas si te sic diligas vt perdas te sic profecto perditurus es quē diligis sicut te thou that louest iniquitie I will not thou loue any man if so thou loue thy selfe that thou destroy thy selfe thou wilt also after the same manner destroy him whom thou louest as thy selfe There is in man by nature a selfe-loue by which he is carryed to please himselfe in the following of his owne will but this in very deed is selfe-hatred for Amor nequitiae odium est animae the loue of sinne is the hatred of the soule As Saul Achitophel and Iudas were slaine with their owne hands and no man can say they loued themselues so doe all the wicked perish by their owne transgressions and that same which in Nature is called selfe-loue in truth is selfe-murther And most iustly is this come vpon man as a recompence of his error that because he will not loue God hee cannot loue himselfe A louer of God he is not who doth continue in his sinnes Quomodo amas Deum cùm adhut amas quod in te odit Deus how canst thou loue God who as yet louest that in thy selfe which God hateth and as little can hee be called a louer of himselfe who nourisheth a serpent in his bosome which cannot
vpon vs. And herewith also comes in the troublesome estate of Gods Church as good Nehemiah was not so merry for the preferment he had in the Court of King Artashashte as sorrowfull for the desolation of Ierusalem why should not said he my countenance be sad when the citie of my fathers lyeth waste so is it with the Christian though his owne particular estate be neuer so good yet is it his griefe to see the Church of God in trouble The third matter of our griefe ariseth of the consideration of that which wee are not but would be The Christian hath some liuely foretaste of the excellent pleasures of the life to come and therefore it is a griefe to him to be holden from it and a ioy to remoue toward it but certainely hee shall neuer goe out of the body with ioy who liues not in the body with griefe for his absence from God Si desideras quod non habes funde lachrymas vnde dicturus es Deo posuisti lachrymas meas in conspectu tuo If thou desirest that which thou hast not shed teares that thou maist obtaine it Alas how shall the Lord gather our teares into his bottle if wee shed them not or how shall hee giue vs that comfort for which wee neuer mourned In worldlings ioy and griefe agree not together the one of them excels the other It is not so with a Christian Lachrimae sunt illi vice deliciarum for in mourning he findes vnspeakable ioy And as after raine the aire becommeth more pure so after the showers of teares the Conscience is cleared and comforted Quae enim secundum Deum sunt lachrymae iugem pariunt certamque laetitiam for those teares which are according to God doe alway bring forth most sure consolation The Censure But the want of this holy mourning which is euident in many proues that all are not Christians indeed who now vsurpe the Christian name CHAPTER XI Of his Griefe arising of a troubled Conscience OH that my griefe were well weighed and my miseries laid together in a ballance it would now be heauier then the sand of the sea Iob. 6. 2. The Lord doth renue his plagues and encreaseth his wrath against mee Iob. 10. 17. his hand is heauie vpon mee night and day Psal. 32. 4. hee writeth bitter things against mee and maketh mee possesse the iniquities of my youth Iob. 13. 26. his indignation lyeth vpon me Psal. 88. 7. hee filleth mee with bitternesse and suffers me not to take my breath Iob. 9. 18. Changes and armies of sorrowes are against me Iob. 10. 17. My spirit is in perplexitie my soule is amased Psal 143. 4. I go mourning all the day long and am sore broken I roare for the very griefe of my hart Psal. 38. 6. My bowels swell and mine heart is turned within me Lam. 1. 20. Mine eyes are dimme through griefe Psal. 6. My flesh hath no rest at all but fightings without and terrors within 2. Cor. 7. 5. As a woman with childe who draweth neere to the trauatle is in sorrow and cryeth in her paine so am I in thy sight O Lord. Esay 26. 17. The Christians Prayer for deliuerance from these terrors ALas O Lord wilt thou absent thy selfe for euer is the multitude of thy mercies compassions restrained from me shall my heauinesse be continuall and my plague desperate that it cannot be healed Alas Lord how long wilt thou forget me how long wilt thou hide thy face from me how long shall I take counsell within my selfe hauing wearinesse daily in my hart O Lord it is thy praise that thou art gracious and mercifull Thou breakest not the bruised Reede and quenchest not the smoaking slaxe Thou exaltest the sorrowfull to saluation Hide not therefore thy face from mee O Lord neither take mee for thine enemie but haue mercie vpon mee and consider how I am sore troubled Contend not with mee any more neither rebuke mee in thine anger least thou turne mee to nothing What shall I say vnto thee O thou who art the preseruer of men I haue sinned against thee but according to the multitude of thy compassions haue mercie vpon mee and put away my iniquities restore me to the ioy of thy saluation and stablish mee with thy free spirit O Lord who speakest peace to thy Saints make me to heare ioy and gladnesse that the bones which thou hast broken may reioyce then shall my tongue sing ioyfully of thy righteousnesse and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise THE LORDS ANSVVERE TO THE CHRISTIAN NO tentation hath ouertaken you but such as appertaines to man 1 Cor. 10. 13. Remember that I am faithfull and will not suffer you to be tempted aboue that you be able but will euen giue the issue with the temptation that ye may be able to beare it 1. Cor. 10. 13. I will not breake the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flaxe Esay 42. for a little while haue I forsaken thee but with great compassion will I gather thee for a moment in mine anger haue I hâ—…d my face from thee but with euerlasting mercy haue I had compassion on thee The mountaines shall remoue and the hils fall downe but my mercie shall not depart from thee neyther shall the Couenant of my peace fall away saith the Lord who hath compassion on thee Esay 54. 7. THE OBSERVATIONS THE heauiest griefe of a Christian is that which doth proceede from a troubled Conscience The Spirit of a man may sustaine his infirmities but a wounded Spirit who can beare it The health of conscience consists in these two first in a sense of Gods mercy pardoning our sinnes in Christ secondly in a holy disposition to spirituall exercises And the disease or trouble of conscience proceedeth from the contrary euill for if the soule be forsaken for a time it becomes vnable for spirituall exercise Faith becomes weake Loue waxeth cold Grace to pray is relented yea as the Moone is but a darke body when the Sunne looketh not vpon it so the soule is but dead when God doth not worke in it and in this absence of God no man can tell how sore the soule is troubled but he who hath felt the comforts of his presence But the other euill is much more fearefull when God erects a tribunal in the conscience giues out into it a iust condemnatorie sentence for sin which cannot be denyed there followeth vpon it a sense of wrath which like a fire burning within it doth miserably torment the soule of him in whom it is Whereupon there followeth such a distemperature of the whole body that as Dauid felt in himselfe the moisture thereof is turned into the drought of Sommer the reason hereof is giuen by Bernard the soule hath vnder it a body which it gouernes aboue it the Lord
Sathan but pittie the weake creature who is abused by him to offend thee In the third roome wee haue a prescribed remedie against carnall Anger if it ouer-take vs Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon thy wrath There are some men slow to Anger but if once they conceiue it they cannot easily be pacified others are both hastily angry and stubborne in continuance in it the third sort are slow to anger and ready to forgiue and these are the best ad tranquillitatus bonum plus appropinquant for they come neerest the nature of God It is an euill thing to conceiue this carnall Anger but it is farre worse to keepe it such is our corruption receiued from the first Adam that wee cannot hold Anger out of our heart but such is the obedience wee owe to the second Adam that wee should not let it lodge in our hearts after the setting of the Sunne As Bryers and thornes which pricke euery hand that doth handle them are the cursed fruit of the earth so are these spightfull men whom if thou dost stirre neuer so lightly they pricke thee with bitter speeches yea oftentimes though thou dost not stirre them they sting thee in secret with their backbitings manifested by their fruits to be of the cursed race of Caine the first murtherer of his Brother But the Children of God are full of gentlenesse loue and meeknesse they will not pricke thee no when thou dost handle them roughly by the words of sobernesse and truth they endeuour to make euill men better rendring good euen to those that haue offended them The Censure But now the want of this holy disposition proueth that all are not Christians indeed who now vsurpe the Christian name THE THIRD PART WHEREIN IS DISCRIBED THE DISPOSITION OF HIS OVTWARD MAN CHAPTER I. Of his Outward Man The Lords Command I Beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that yee giue vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable seruing of God Rom. 12. 1. And suffer not sinne to raigne in your mortall bodies that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof Neither giue your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse to sinne but giue your selues to God and your members as weapons of righteousnesse to God Rom. 6. 12. The night is past the day is at hand cast away the workes of darknesse and let vs put on the armour of light so that we may walke honestly as in the day not in gluttonie or drunkennesse or chambring and wantonnesse nor in strife and enuie but put ye on the Lord Iesus Christ and take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Rom. 13. 12. Let your conuersation be such as becommeth the Gospell Phil. 1. 27. that yee may walke worthy of God who hath called you to his heauenly kingdome and glory 1 Thes. 2. 12. for the grace of God which bringeth saluation to men hath appeared vnto vs and teacheth vs to deny vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and to liue soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 11. Therefore as obedient Children fashion not your selues to the former lusts of your ignorance but as he who hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conuersation 1 Pet. 1. 14. Cleanse your selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit and grow vp vnto full holinesse in the feare of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. hauing an honest conuersation that they who speake euill of you as of euill doers by your good workes which they shall see may glorifie God The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command SHew the light of thy countenance O Lord vpon thy seruant and teach me thy Statutes that I may walk worthy of thy calling blamelesse and pure as thy Sonne without rebuke in the middest of this noughty and crooked generation and may shine among them as a light in the world To this effect I beseech thee good Lord to performe thy worke toward me thy mercy endureth for euer therefore forsake not the worke of thine hands but fulfill in mee the good pleasure of thy goodnesse and the worke of Faith with power that the Name of my Lord Iesus may be glorified in mee and I in him according to the grace of thee my God and of the Lord Iesus Christ. Amen The Christians Practise of this Command VVHen I was in the flesh the motions of sinne which were by the Law had force in my members to bring forth fruit vnto death but now I am deliuered from the Law being dead vnto it whereof I was holden that I should serue God in newnesse of spirit Rom. 7. 5. God therefore be thanked that albeit I was once the seruant of sin yet now I haue obeyed from the heart the forme of doctrine wherevnto I was deliuered and so being now made free from sinne I am become the seruant of righteousnesse Rom. 6 17. and doe bring forth fruit in holinesse ver 22. For I know that my body is the Temple of God and that the holy spirit of God dwelleth therein 1 Cor. 3. 16 and I know that I am not mine owne but bought with a price 1 Cor. 6. therefore doe I beat downe my body by discipline and studie by all means to glorifie God both in body and spirit 1 Cor. 6. THE OBSERVATIONS HItherto wee haue spoken of the new disposition of the inward man in the Christian it remaineth that now wee speake of his outward Man In regeneration first the soule is renued then the body restored Sinne began in the soule and from it shame and death came vpon the bodie Grace againe first reformes the soule and then proceeds to reforme and restore the body for as the inward Man is so is the outward The regeneration of the body hath in it two things first a restitution of it to originall dignitie and glorie and greater this shall be done in the resurrection secondly a sanctification of all the members thereof whereby they are made weapons of righteousnesse and this is presently done by grace For as by grace the Christian is renued in the spirit of his minde so also in all his externall conuersation As those holy Angels that stand about the throne of God are full of eyes within and without so all the Saints of God foris se intus circumspiciunt within them they haue light and holinesse by which they looke to their Iudge euer seeking to please him without them also light and holinesse by which they looke to their brethren euer labouring to giue good example to them Fidelem decet vndique esse manifestum a godly man should be manifested and knowne by all the parts of his life ab incessu aspectu a vesâ—…e a voce both from his vestment and his voice from his looking and his walking Vox enim quidam
the Saints that Sathan shall be trodden vnder thy feet suffer him not to pollute thy feet nor to vse them at his will which thou hopest against his will at length to set on his neck Againe seeing all the workes of Gods hand are put vnder thy feet againe by Christ Iesus in whom thou art restored to thy Lord-ship and superioritie ouer them dishonor not thy selfe so farre as to make them seruants to Sathan by running at his will into the workes of vncleannesse And last of all remember that our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ did once wash the feete of his owne Disciples not onely to teach all his seruants humilitie but holinesse also for it is a great shame for vs to pollute and dishonour those parts of our body which were so greatly honoured by the Lord. The Censure But now the great number of them who haue feet to follow Sathan any way that he will lead them but none to follow the Lord euidently doth proue that all are not Christians indeed who now vsurp the Christian name CHAPTER VIII Of his Companie The Lords Command Mr Sonne if sinners doe entise thee consent thou not if they say Come to vs wee will lie in wait for bloud and lie priuilie for the innocent without a cause cast in thy lot among vs my Sonne walke not thou in the way with them but refraine thy feet from their path Prou. 1. 10. and with-draw thy selfe from euery one that walketh inordinately 2 Thes. 3. 6. Depart from the tents of the wicked and touch nothing that is theirs least yee perish in their sinnes Numb 16. 26. Aboue all make no compact with Idolaters least they be the cause of thy ruine Exod. 34. 12. and be not vnequally yoked with Infidels for what fellowship hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse and what communion hath light with darknesse 2 Cor. 6. 14. Meddle not also with them that are seditions Prou. 24. 21. Neyther make friendship with an angry man neyther goe with a furious man least thou learnest his wayes and receiue destruction to thy soule Prou. 22. 24. Keepe not company with drunkards and gluttons Prou. 23. 20. Yea if one that is called a brother be a fornicator or couetous or an Idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner ' with such a one eate not 1 Cor. 5. 11. Hee that walketh with the wise shall be wise but a companion of fooles shall be afflicted Prou. 13. 20. Therefore depart from a foolish man when thou seest not in him the lips of knowledge Prou. 14. 7. The Christians Prayer for Grace to obay this Command LORD gather not my soule with the Sinners nor my life with the bloudie men in whose hand is wickednesse and their right hand is full of bribes Deliuer me from the men that speake froward things and from them that leaue the way of righteousnesse to walke in the way of darknesse Keepe mee that I worke not wicked workes with them who worke iniquitie but let such as feare thee turne vnto mee and those that know thy Testimonies Fill mine heart with the loue of thy Saints and let my delight be on thy excellent ones which are vpon earth that thereby I may know I am translated from death to life through Iesus Christ. Amen The Christians Practise of this Command I Haue not haunted with vaine persons nor kept companie with dissemblers I haue hated the assembly of the euill and haue not companied with the wicked Psal. 26. 4. I fate not in the assemblie of mockers Ierem. 15. 17. Neyther shall any deceitfull person dwell within my house hee that telleth lyes shall not remaine in my sight Psal. 101. but mine eyes shall be to the faithfull of the Land that they may dwell with mee Hee that walketh in a perfect way shall serue mee Psal. 101. for I am companion of all them that feare thee and keepe thy Precepts Psal. 119. 63. Away therefore from mee yee wicked for I will keepe the Commandements of my God Psal. 119. 115. THE OBSERVATIONS NEyther in this life nor in the life to come hath God ordained man to liue alone By his first creation he was made a social creature It is not good said the Lord for man to be alone Two saith Salomon are better then one for if they fall the one will lift vp his fellow but woe to him that is alone Therefore our Sauiour when hee first sent out his disciples he sent them out two and two and hath called his Church a fellowship and communion of Saints wherein euery one should edifie another in the most holy faith Yea the Angels Gods most excellent creatures his ministring spirits are coupled foure and foure together in chariots in an happy fellowship seruing their God But this good ordinance of God is abused by men in two extremities for some vnder a colour of holinesse separate themselues from all societie of men counting the solitary life vitam perfectissimam These foolishly binde themselues vnto a necessitie whereunto godly men in time of persecution were driuen by compulsion that is as the Apostle saith to hâ—…de themselues in dens and caues of whom the world was not worthy But indeede neyther is this life so profitable to glorifie God and edâ—…fie his Church as is the publike godly life wherein hee that doth help others multo melius facit virilius doth much better and more valiantly then he who casting off all care of others doth separate himselfe in priuate to care onely for himselfe hic sibâ—… tantum vsui est nec quicquam ab co vtilitatis ad alios permanat profitable to himselfe onely said Nazianzen but no way vnto others But this is not the worst as saith that same Father for that life doth repudiate Charitie which is in the number of most excellent vertues and doth breake the band of humane fellowship and Societie and it hath also this incommoditie with it that the vertue of them who liue in it cannot be manifested For as there is no reason as saith Chrysostome to count him a skilfull Marriner who within the habour sitteth at the Rudder of the Ship and neuer went out into the deepe to giue proofe how hee can gouerne her in the storme so cannot a solitarie life be a sufficient tryall of a good Christian. If these Eremits and Monkes be the lights of the world why doe they hide the light vnder a bushell if they be endued with excellent graces why are they as clouds with drawne into the wildernesse and doe not communicate the raine of grace to the edification of others If on the other hand they feare their infirmitie and doe finde themselues scant of grace why come they not to seeke it where God hath promised to giue it why forsake they the assemblies and congregations of the Saints where they may heare God speaking to all
feare and confidence consists not it is otherwise in the Christian. 2 As a Rocke in the Sea beaten with the waues of euery winde so is a christian in the world 3 The confidence refuge of a Christian in such troubles as come from God immediately Hosea 6. 1. Iob. 4. 4 The confidence of a Christian in such troubles as come by men Matth. 27. 5 Hee knowes the harts of men are in the hands of God 6 The confidence of a Christian in such troubles as come by Sathan 7 The confidence of worldlings is eyther in themselues Luke 18. 13. 8 Or in others without them 9 How in trouble outward and second meaâ—… are to be vsed 10 Miserable are the wicked whose confidence is not in God The matter of a Christian mans ioy is 1 The Lord our God 2 Our owne saluation 3 The prosperitie of the Church 4 Sufferings with Christ. 5 All the gifts of God The Christians ioy is tempered with feare a Psal. 89. 16. b Psal. 119. 77. c Psal. 51. 6. d Rom. 15. 13. 1 The Christian reioyceth first in God and that saluation conquered for him by the Crosse of Christ. 2 What a ioy the Christian hath in the word of God And in the house of God 3 How the Christian reioyces in well doing albeit hee should suffer euill for it The welfare of Gods Church is also a ioy to the Christian. The conuersion of a sinner reioyceth the Christian. Hee hath ioy in all Gods gifts as in the tokens of his loue 1 Man by his fall lost not the affections but the holinesse of them 2 Neyther doth Christs grace take away affections but onely rectifies them 3 The nature of ioy Psal. 89. 16. Basil. de grat Deo agendis 4 Ioy is eyther naturall or spirituall 5 The obiects of naturall ioy are Gods gifts abused Sathans bâ—…its disguised 6 How Gods gifts are abused by the wicked 7 Abuse of Gods gifts punished in the wicked 8 Naturall men haue their ioy in that which is their destruction 9 How they reioyce in the baites of Sathan disguised Gregor Moral lib. 20. Serm. 8. 10 They are like birds eating meat vnder the fowlers net 11 Their ioy compared to the burning of a Candle 12 Three properties of a Christans ioy it is 1. Solid 2. Internall 3. Eternall 13 Obiects of a Christians ioy are first God 14 Then Gods benefits principall 15 And secondarie Mourners for sin are blessed and marked of God To worldlings sinne is a ioy correction a griefe to the christian by the contrary sinne is a griefe correction a ioy a Esay 66. 1. b Psal. 51. 10. c Ierem. 9. 1. d Esay 38. 15. e Psal. 126. 5. The life of a Christian is fraughted with heauinesse that 1. For his owne sinnes 2. For his absence from the Lord. 3. For the sinnes and abhominations committed by others 4 For the trouble of the Church 5 For euery one that is in trouble 1 Our ioy in this life not without griefe 1 Pet. 1. 5. 6. 2 Comfort is sometime scant euen in the heart of the Christian. 3 Causes of griefe arising from our selues are threefold 4 A man so long as he is in his sinnes thinkes them no cause of griefe 5 An example hereof in Dauid 2. Sam. 11. 25. 6 Another in Paul 7 When God looses a man from sin he binds him to an hatred of sinne Why the memory of sinne remaineth when the guilt thereof is remoued 8 Persian Kings could suffer no mourners in their presence but it is not so with God 9 The Lord liketh our mourning countenance best Cant. 2. 14 10 The Christians tentations are a griefe to him 11 And his manifold crosses 12 And the troubles of Gods Church Nehem. 2. 3. 13 And the long delay of that promised Kingdome Aug. de sanct serm 45. Psal. 56. 14. Ioy and griefe agree not in worldlings it is otherwise in Christians Macar hom 15 Let them mark this who do think their tentations singular and that none of Gods children wer troubled euer so sore as they a Psal. 77. 7. b Esay 63. 15. c Ierem. 15. 18. d Psal. 13. 2. e Deut. 4. 31. f Esay 42. 3. g Iob. 5. 11. h Iob. 13. 24. i Lam. 1. 20. k Esay 57. 16. l Psal. 6. 2. m Ierem. 10. 24. n Iob. 7. 20. o Psal. 51. 9. p Psal. 51. 12. Euery tentation hath an issue Comfort against spiritual desertions Gods mercy to his Children is sure euerlasting 1 The greatest griefe is griefe of Conscience Prou. 19. 2 The health of conscience consists in two things 3 Where-from the disease of conscience proceeds to wit 1 When God forsakes it and takes away the sense of mercy then is the soule sore troubled 4 2. But when hee pursues it with a sense of his wrath then it is worse troubled 5 Trouble of minde distempers the whole body Psal. 32. Bern. in paruis serm 48. August in Ioan. tract 19. 6 The first of these spirituall troubles compared to a lingring disease 7 The second to a fearefull consumption Bern. in assump Mariae serm 4. 8 For three causes doth the Lord exercise his Children with these inward sufferings 9 The wicked are not grieued with the absence of God because they neuer felt the comforts of his presence The praise of Patience What neede wee haue of Patience The cause should be good for which we suffer The fruit of Patience a Psal. 115. 14. b 1 Cor. 1. 7. c Colos. 1. 10. d Colos. 1. 11. The christian waiteth on the Lord whereas the worldling runs about seeking reliefe and rest in other things but can neuer finde it 1 The Gospel a mirror wherein we see the similitude of Gods Image and are transformed into it 2 The light and goodnesse of God is extended vnto all men 3 But his Image is communicated to his children onely How wee may know whether we be Gods workman ship by the new creation or no. 4 Patience is reformed also in our regeneration 5 A description of the Nature of Patience Hebrewes 10. 6 Patience suffers not the euils of sinne but the euils of affliction 7 Patience necessary for two causes 1. Because the good that God hath pro misâ—… dis not presently performed 8 2. Because of the present euils wherwith now wee are exercised 9 No peace between the elect and reprobate But in this discord the reprobate are alwayes the persecuters 10 As a rocke in the sea so is a Christian in the earth 11 The principall praise of Patience 12 By Faith we possesse Christ by Loue our neighbour by Patience our selues 13 Patience preserues the other Graces of the Spirit Tertul. de patien 14 It mittigates euill and makes heauy crosses easie August Marc. Epist. 5. August de Patien chap. 2. 15 Three waies chiefly is our Patience impugned by Sathan Bern. in coâ—…uers Pauli 16 Troubles comming from euill men should not commoue vs and why 2. Sam. 16. 12. 17 Wicked men are but