Gospel and strengthen us from above to walk and abound in all the true and sound fruits of faith Let us walke not after the flesh but after the spirit Let us feele the power of thy Sonnes death killing sin in our mortall bodies and the power of his resurrection raising us up to newnesse of life Let us grow daily in the sanctification of the Spirit and the mortification of the flesh Let us live holily justly and soberly in this present evill world shewing forth the vertues of thee in all our particular actions that wee may adorne our most holy profession and shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and froward generation amongst whom wee live being gainfull to all by our lives and conversation and offensive to none To this end wee pray thee fill us with thy Spirit and all spirituall graces as love wisdome patience contentment meeknesse humility temperance chastitie kindnesse and affability and stirre us up to use prayer and watchfulnesse reading and meditation in thy Law and all other good meanes whereby wee may grow and abound in all heavenly vertues Blesse us in the use of the meanes from day to day make us such as thou wouldest have us to be and such as wee desire to be worke in us both will and deed purpose and power For thou O Lord art all in all thou wilt have mercie upon whom thou wilt have mercie and whom thou wilt thou hardenest Have mercy upon us therefore deare Father and never leave us to our selves nor to our owne wills lusts and desires but assist us with thy good Spirit that we may continue to the end in a righteous course that so at length wee may be received into glory and be partakers of that immortall Crowne which thou hast laid up for all that love thee and truly call upon thee Further wee intreat thee O heavenly Father to give us all things necessary for this life as food raiment health peace liberty and such freedome from those manifold miseries which we lie open unto every day as thou seest meet Blesse unto us all the meanes which thou hast put into our hands for the sustenance of this fraile life Blesse our flocke and store corne and cattell trades and occupations and all workes of our hands for thy blessing onely makes rich and it bringeth no sorrowes with it Give us therefore such a competencie and sufficiencie of these outward blessings as thou in thy heavenly wisdome seest most needfull for us Moreover wee humbly beseech thee most loving Father in great mercie looke downe from Heaven upon thy whole Church and every member of it Be favourable unto Sion and build up the walls of Jerusalem Behold with the eye of pitie the great ruines and desolation of thy Church Heale up the wounds and make up the breaches thereof in all Nations Regard it as thine own flocke tender it as thine own family dresse it as thine owne Vineyard love it as thine owne Spouse Thinke thoughts of peace to it and alwayes looke upon it in deep compassion Blesse it with thy grace guide it with thy Spirit and defend it still with thy mighty power scatter the devices consound the counsels and overthrow the forces of all that fight against it Specially wee intreat thee deare Father to set thy selfe against that Antichrist of Rome that man of perdition which setteth himselfe against thee and against all thy people In thine appointed time wee pray thee give him a deadly downfall Beat downe all his power and authority daily more and more give free passage to thy Gospel in all Kingdomes that Babylon may fall and never rise up againe The more the favourites and adherents of Rome labour to uphold their Idolatrous Kingdome the more let it fall downe even as Dagon before the presence of thine Arke Poure downe the Vials of the fulnesse of thy wrath upon the Kingdomes of the Beast and let their riches wealth credit and authority dry up every day more and more as the river Euphrates Let it pitie thee O Father to see thine owne Spouse sit as a deformed and forlorne woman here below weeping and mourning with her haire about her necke having lost all her beauty and comelinesse Cheere her up deare Father glad her with the joy of thy countenance and so decke her and trim her up that thou maist delight in her as a Bridegroome in his Bride Specially wee intreat thee have mercie upon thy Church in this Land intend good unto us and not evill Give us not over into the hands of our cruell enemies as our sinnes have deserved Scatter we pray thee O Lord the devices and breake the plots of all such as have plotted the overthrow and utter subversion of this Church and Common-wealth Blesse this Church more and more with the continuance of true Religion amongst us for thy great Names sake and infinite mercies sake deale graciously and favourably with us and our posterity Turne from us that vengeance which is due unto us for our sinnes For thou seest how iniquity prevaileth and the wicked goe away with the goale Atheisme over-spreadeth every where and Popery seemeth to get a head againe Now therefore deare Father we most humbly beseech thee to take order speedily for the remedying and repressing of these manifold disorders and grievous enormities that are amongst us Be intreated of thy poore children to be good to this English Nation Heare the cries of thine Elect heare the mourning of them that mourne in Sion Let the cries of thy children cry downe all the cries of the sins of the Land and be reconciled unto us in the multitude of thy compassions that so thou maist still continue a most mercifull protectour of this thine English Vineyard Wee pray thee good Father shew speciall mercy to our most Noble and gracious King Charles thine anointed Servant blesse him and keep him in all his wayes blesse his government unto us Let thine Angels encamp about him and let thy holy hand be alwayes over him keep him from treasons and deliver him from the treacheries of his enemies give him to see what belongs to his peace and give 〈◊〉 a heart earnestly bent to set upon the practice of the same give him all graces necessary for his place and necessary for his salvation continue his government peaceable and prosperous amongst us and as thou hast made him the breath of our nostrils and a gracious instrument for the saving of many thousand soules so let his owne soule be saved in the day of thy Sonne Christ Blesse his Majesties most honourable privie Counsellours and give such good successe unto all their counsels and policies in matters of State that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty Blesse all the Nobility worke in them a care to glorifie thy Name in their places make them faithfull to thee and faithfull to the Land Direct with thy good Spirit all such as beare the sword of Justice
glory and the great peace and comfort of our owne consciences Strengthen us good Father by thy grace and holy Spirit against the common corruptions of the world as pride whoredome covetousnesse contempt of thy Gospel swearing lying dissembling and deceiving O deare Father let us not be overcome of these filthy vices nor any other sinfull pleasures fond delights wherewith thousands are carried head-long to destruction Arme our soules against all the temptations of this world the flesh and the Divell that wee may overcome them all through thy help and keep on the right way to life that wee may live in thy feare and dye in thy favour that our last dayes may be our best dayes and that wee may end in great peace of conscience Furthermore deare Father we intreat thee not onely for our selves but for all our good brethren thy deare children scattered over the face of the whole earth most humbly beseeching thee to blesse all them to cheere them up and glad them with the joy of thy countenance both now and alwayes Guide them all in thy feare and keep them from evill that they may praise thy Name In these dangerous dayes and declining times wee pray thee O Lord raise up nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers unto thy Church Raise up also faithfull Pastours that thy cause may be carried forward Truth may prevaile Religion may prosper thy Name onely may be set up in the earth thy Sons Kingdome advanced and thy will accomplished Set thy selfe against all adversary power especially that of Rome Antichrist Idolatry and Atheisme curse and crosse all their counsels frustrate their devices scatter their forces overthrow their armies When they are most wise let them be most foolish when they are most strong let them be most weake Let them know that there is no wisdome nor counsell power nor policie against thee the Lord of hosts Let them know that Israel hath a God and that thou which art called Jehovah art the onely Ruler over all the world Arise therefore O most mighty God and maintain thine owne cause against all thine enemies smite thorow all their loines and bow downe their backes yea let them all be confounded and turned backward that beare ill will unto Sion Let the patient abiding of the righteous be joy and let the wicked be disappointed of their hope But of all favour wee intreat thee O Lord to shew speciall mercie to thy Church in this Land wherein wee live Continue thy Gospel amongst us yet with greater successe purge thy House daily more and more take away all things that offend Let this Nation still be a place where thy Name may be called upon and an harbour for thy Saints Shew mercy to our posterity deare Father and have care of them that thy Gospel may be left unto them as a most holy inheritance Defend us against forraigne invasion keep out Idolatry and Popery from amongst us Turne from us those plagues which our sins cry for For the sins of this Land are exceeding great horrible and outrageous and give thee just cause to make us spectacles of thy vengeance to all Nations that by how much the more thou hast lifted us up in great mercy and long peace by so much the more thou shouldest presse us downe in great wrath and long warre Therefore deare Father woe most humbly intreat thee for thy great Names sake and for thy infinite mercies sake that thou wouldest be reconciled to this Land and discharge it of all the horrible sins thereof Drown them O Lord in thy infinite mercy through Christ as it were in a bottomlesse gulfe that they may never rise up in judgement against us For although our sins be exceeding many and fearfull yet thy mercie is farre greater For thou art infinite in mercy but wee cannot be infinite in sinning Give us not over into the hands of the Idolaters lest they should blaspheme thy Name and say Where is their God in whom they trusted But rather deare Father take us into thine owne hands and correct us according to thy wisdome for with thee is mercie and deep compassion Moreover wee most heartily beseech thy good Majestie to blesse our most gracious Soveraigne King Charles Queene Mary Prince Charles and the rest of the Royall Progenie We beseech thee also to blesse his Majesties most honourable privie Counsellors counsell them from above let them take advice of thee in all things that they may both consult and resolve of such courses as may be most for thy glory the good of the Church and peace of this our Common-wealth Blesse the Nobility and all the Magistrates of the Land giving them all grace to execute judgement and justice and to maintaine truth and equitie Blesse all the faithfull Ministers of the Gospel increase the number of them increase thy gifts in them and so blesse all their labours in their severall places and congregations that they all may be instruments of thy hand to enlarge thy Sons Kingdome and to win many unto thee Comfort the comfortlesse with all needfull comforts Forget none of thine that are in trouble but as their afflictions are so let the joyes and comforts of thy Spirit be unto them and so sanctifie unto all thine their afflictions and troubles that they may tend to thy glory and their owne good Give us thankfull hearts for all thy mercies both spirituall and corporall for thou art very mercifull unto us in the things of this life and infinitely more mercifull in the things of a better life Let us deeply ponder and weigh all thy particular favours toward us that by the due consideration thereof our hearts may be gained yet neerer unto thee and that therefore we may both love and obey thee because thou art so kind and loving unto us that even thy love towards us may draw our love towards thee and that because mercy is with thee thou maist be feared Grant these things good Father and all other needfull graces for our soules or bodies or any of thine throughout the whole world for Jesus Christs sake in whose Name wee further call upon thee as he hath taught us in his Gospel saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Prayer to be used at any time by one alone privately O Lord my God and heavenly Father I thy most unworthy childe do here in thy sight freely confesse that I am a most sinfull creature and damnable transgressour of all thy holy Lawes and Commandements that as I was born and bred in sin and stained in the womb so have I continually brought forth the corrupt and ugly fruits of that infection and contagion wherein I was first conceived both in thoughts words and workes If I should goe about to reckon up my particular offences I knew not where to begin or where to make an end For they are more then the haires of my head yea far more then I can possibly feele or know For who knoweth the height and depth
out in velvets and silkes and most brave and glittering outsides but inwardly are full of filthinesse and sin they have fine delicate bodies but most ugly black and filthy soules if a man could see into their soules as hee doth into their bodies hee would stop his nose at the stink of them For they smell ranke of sin in the nostrils of God his Angels and all good men Phil. Then I p rceive by your speech that the case of all ignorant and profane men is fearfull in the sight of God and that all good men are to pity them and to pray for them Theol. If two blind and deafe men should walk in a â—â—â—ten path that leads to a great deep pond wherein they are like to be drowned if they goe forwards and two men farre off should whoope unto them and will them not to goe forward lest they be drowned yet they neither seeing any man nor hearing any man goe forward and are drowned were not this a lamentable spectacle to behold Even so is it with all the ignorant blinde and deafe soules of the world for they cast no perils but walke on boldly to destruction And though the Preachers of the Gospel whoop never so loud unto them or give them never so many warnings and caveats to take heed yet they being inwardly blinde see nothing spiritually deaf hear nothing and therefore goe on forward in their sins and ignorance till they suddenly fall into hell pit Put case also two great Armies should pitch a field and fight a main battell upon a plaine and that some man should stand upon the top of a mountaine hard by and behold all and should see with his owne eyes how thousands and ten thousands went to wrack and fell downe on every side as thicke as haile the whole plaine swimming in bloud and should also heare the groaning of souldiers wounded and the dolefull sighs and groanings of many Captaines Colonels giving up the ghost were not this a most wofull spectacle Even so when wee doe cleerely see Satan wound and murder thousand thousand soules is it not a farre more tragicall and lamentable sight and ought it not even to kill our hearts to behold it but alas men have no eyes to see into these things And yet certaine it is that Sathan doth continually and in most fearfull manner massacre innumerable soules Thus have I shewed you the wofull estate of profane and ignorant men Phil. If it be so you that be Ministers and Preachers of the Gospel and have taken upon you the cure and charge of soules have need to looke about you and doe what in you lieth to save soules and as good shepherds in great pitie and compassion to labour to pull them out of the pawes of this roaring Lion which goes about continually seeking whom hee may devoure Theol. It standeth us upon indeed very seriously and carefully to looke to it as we will answer it at the dreadfull day of Iudgement For it is no small matter that we have taken in hand which is to care for the flocke which Christ hath bought with his bloud Would to God therefore that wee would leave striving about other matters and strive together all about this who can pull most out of the Kingdome of Sathan sinne and ignorance who can win most soules and who can performe best service to the Church This were a good strife indeed and would to God that wee might once at last with joyned forces goe about it and with one heart and hand joyne together to build up Gods house If through our owne follies the worke hath been hindered or any breach made let us in wisdome and love labour to make it up againe if there have been any declining and coldnesse let us now at last revive let us stirre up our selves that we may stirre up others let us be zealous and fervent in spirit that we may through Gods grace put life into others and rouze up this dead declining and cold age wherein we live So shall God be glorified his Church edified his Saints comforted his people saved his throne erected and the kingdome of the Divell overthrowne Phil. What thinke you were the best course to effect this which you speake of Theol. This is a thing that must be exceedingly laboured in of us which are the Ministers and Preachers of the Gospel And here is required diligence and as wee say double diligence for the people are every where very ignorant Some are stones altogether uncapable of instructions others are froward and wilfull some will receive the doctrine but not the practice some againe are altogether set upon peevishnesse and cavilling So that a man were better take upon him the charge of keeping Wolves and Beares then the charge of soules For it is the hardest thing in the world to reforme mens disorders and to bring them into order to pull mens soules out of the Kingdome of Satan and to bring them to God It is as wee say an endlesse piece of worke and infinite toile a labour of all labours I quake to thinke of it For men are so obstinate and irrefragable that they will be brought into no order they will come under no yoke They will not be ruled by God nor bridled by his Word They will follow their owne swinge They will runne after their owne lusts and pleasures They will rage and storme if you goe about to curb them and restraine them of their wills likings and liberties They will have their wills likings and liberties They will have their wills and follow their old fashions say what you will and doe what you can Is it not thinke you a busie piece of worke to smooth and square such Timber-logs so full of knots and knobs Is it not a tedious and irksome thing to thinke upon And would it not kill a mans heart to goe about it For how hard a thing is it to bring such into frame as are so far out of frame Phil. Well Sir you can but doe your endeavour and commit the successe to God You can but plant and water let God give the increase You are Ministers of the Letter but not of the Spirit You baptize with water but not with the holy Ghost If you therefore preach diligently exhort admonish and reprove publikely and privately studying by all good example of life and seeking with all good zeale care and conscience to doe the uttermost that in you lyeth to reduce them from their evill wayes I take it you are discharged though they remaine stubborne and incorrigible For you know what the Lord saith by his Prophet Ezech. 3â— 9 If you do admonish them and give them warning then you shall be discharged and their bloud shall be required at their owne hands Theol. You have spoken the truth And therefore sith some must needs take upon them this so great a charge it will be our best course to labour much with them in Catechizing and private
lost labour to speake against it preach against it or write against it It is but even to plough the sea or knock at a deafe mans door for there is no hope of any reformation Onely this we gaine that the world is reproved and convicted of sin And these things shall stand in a record against them in the last day so that they may say they had a fair warning and that there was a Prophet among them Phil. Yet for all this I pray you set us down some directions and rules out of Gods holy Book concerning attire For albeit some be very bad and outragious in these things yet there be some others which are well disposed and will no doubt make some conscience to frame themselves according to the rules of Gods word Theol. Well then for their sakes which are well disposed I will set downe some few directions Saint Paul in 1 Tim. 2.9 willeth that women should array themselves in comely apparell with shamefastnesse and modesty as becometh women that professe the feare of God and not with broydered haire or gold or pearls or castly apparell The Apostle Saint Peter giveth like rules also 1 Pet. 3.3 for he saith speaking of Christian matrons and professours of holy religion That their apparell must not bee outward that is not consist so much in outward bravery as broidered hair gold put about c. as it must be inward that the hid man of the heart may be clothed with a meek and quiet spirit which is a thing before God much set by For after this manner saith hee in times past the holy women which trusted in God did attire themselves as Sarah Rebeica Rachel and such like ancient and grave matrons Phil. Wherein doth this inward clothing specially consist Theol. In four things which are set down in the fore-named places to wit shamefacednesse modesty a quiet spirit and a meek spirit Phil. These be sine suits of apparell indeed I would all women would put them on and never put them off but wear them continually for they are the better for wearing though all other apparell be the worse Theol. If women would deck themselves inwardly with these aforesaid vertues they would be unto them as ornaments of gold and jewels of pearl For the woman that feareth the Lord shall be praised Prov. 30.1 Phil. But now I pray you Sir set downe your judgement for outward attire Theol. This is all that I can say touching that point That it must be as the Apostle saith comely decent handsome neat and seemly not light not wanton not lascivious not immodest not offensive Phil. But who shall judge what is comely sober handsome modest c. For every man and woman will say their apparell is decent and cleanly how gallant brave and flanting soever they be Theol. Herein the examples of the most godly wise grave and modest men and women are to be followed for who can better judge what is comely sober and modest then they Phil. But wee see some even of the better sort in this matter are a little infected run out and goe beyond their bounds Theol. The more is the pity But alas wee see the sway of the time and rage of the stream is so violent that it carrieth before it whatsoever is not setled and very deep rooted And some godly and well disposed persons whose hearts are not with these things but with God are notwithstanding perforce carried away with the violence of the winde and tide whose case though it cannot well bee defended or excused yet it is much to be pitied and lamented Phil. Have you any further directions touching this point Theol. There is one thing yet more to be added to wit that attire be according to mens places callings and degrees For that is not seemly for one that is seemly for another that becomes not one mans place that becometh anothers For that is not meet for poor men which is meet for rich men nor that meet for mean men which is meet for men of note and great place Phil. Then you think it is lawfull for Kings Princes and great Personages to wear pearl gold silver and velvet c. Theol. Questionlesse it is lawfull for such in sober manner and measure to weare the most costly and precious things which the earth can afford and that to set out the magnificence pomp and glory of their places and therefore such things are in them most comely and decent Phil. But now-adayes few will keep within compasse few will know their places But the most part run beyond their bounds and leap quite out of their sockets Theol. True indeed For nowadayes mean Gentlewemen yea some Gentlewomen of their owne making will ruifle it and brave it out in their attire like Countesses and Ladies of honour Plain folk also in the countrey will flaunt it like Courtiers and like good Gentlemen and Gentlewomen and they seem to say in their hearts Fie of this plainnesse we will no more of it we will not take it as we have done So that now the old proverb is verified Every Jack will be a Gentleman and Joan is as good as my Lady For now we cannot by their apparell discerne the maid from the mistresse nor the waiting Gentle-woman from her Lady And thus we see in this matter of apparell how all is out of joint Phil. Is there any more to be said in this case 14. Theol. There is yet another thing to bee respected in this matter of attire Phil. What is that Theol. That it bee according to mens abilities For it is lamentable to consider how poore men and women poore hired servants milke-maides and such like goe quite beyond their ability And more lamentable to see what wretched and ill-favoured shifts they make to compasse these things so sharpe and so eagerly are they set upon them Phil. Well Sir now you have sufficiently rolled the stone and at large satisfied us touching the matter of pride which is the first signe of condemnation Now proceed to the second which is whoredome and unfold unto us out of the Scriptures the danger thereof Theol. Solomon in his Proverbs saith Pro. 32.14 That the mouth of a strange woman or an harlot is as a deep pit hee that is a detestation to the Lord shall fall therein Wherein he plainly sheweth that these whom God detesteth and is exceeding angry with are given over to this vice And in another place hee saith 13.17 A whore is as a deep ditch and as a narrow pit Noting thereby that if a man be once fallen in with an harlot hee shall as hardly get out again as a man that is plunged into a very deep and narrow pit where hee can scant stirre himselfe The same Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes yeelds us the reason hereof namely because shee is as nets snares and bands wherein if a man be once taken hee is fast enough for getting out Eccl. â— 28
which hee shall rain upon him in stead of his meat Thus then it is cleere that mans life and good estate dependeth not upon the abundance of outward things but onely upon the blessing and providence of God Prov. 10.12 For his blessing onely maketh rich and it doth bring no sorrow with it Psal 37.16 For better is a little to the just then great abundance to many of the wicked Prov. 25.26 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord then great treasure and trouble therewith Better is a little with righteousnesse Prov. 16.8 then great revenues without equity Thus then I conclude this point Man liveth not by bread but by a blessing on bread not by outward means but by a blessing upon meanes For how can bread being a dead thing and having no life in it selfe give life to others Phil. I do not well understand the meaning of these words By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Theol. Thereby is meant the decree ordinance and providence of God which upholdeth all things even the whole order of nature For the Scripture saith Hee spake Psal 33.9 and it was done hee commanded and they were created In which words wee plainly see that God doth but speake and it is done hee doth command and all creatures are preserved For God doth all things 〈◊〉 a word Hee created all with his word hee preserveth all with his word hee speaketh and it is done His words are words of power and authority Whatsoever he saith whatsoever hee calleth for it must be done presently without any delay there is no withstanding of him Hee calleth for famine and behold famine Hee calleth for plenty and behold plenty Hee calleth for pestilence and behold pestilence He calleth for the sword and behold the sword All Angels all men all beasts all fishes all fowls all creatures whatsoever must obey him and be at his beck He is the greatest commander his word commandeth heaven and earth and the sea All creatures must bee obedient to his will and subject to his ordinance This is the cause why all things both in heaven earth and the sea doe keep their immutable and unvariable courses times and seasons even because hee hath charged them so to doe And they must of necessity alwayes at all times and for ever obey for the creatures must obey the Creator This â—ct of Parliament was made the first week of the world and never since was or can be repealed Phil. But to call you back againe to the point wee had in hand Resolve mee I pray you of this whether many of the deare children of God doe not in this life sometimes want outward things and are brought into great distresse Theol. 1 Kiâ—g 17. Yes certainely For Elijah did want 2 Câ—r â— 8 2 Cor. 11.25 and was in distresse Paul did want and was in many distresses The holy Christians mentioned in the Hebrewes did want Heb. 1â— 3â— and were in marvellous distresses Many of Gods dear ones have in all ages wanted and at this day also doe want and are greatly distressed But this is a most infallible truth that howsoever Gods children may want and be low brought yet they are never utterly forsaken but are holpen even in greatest extreâ—iâ—ie yea when all things are desperate and brought even to the last cast To this point most notably speaketh the Apostle saying 1 Cor 4.8 We are affl cted on every side but yet wee despaire not wee are persecuted but not forsaken cast downe but wee perish not The Prophet Jeremie also saith Lâ—â— 3. The Lord will not forsake for ever but though hee send affliction yet will hee have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies For hee doth not punish willingly or from his heart nor afflict the children of men The kingly Prophet saith Psal 94.4 Surely the Lord will not fail his people neither will hee forsake his inheritance The Lord himself saith For a moment in mine anger I hid my face from thee Iâ—a â—5 8 but with everlasting mercy have I had compassion on thee So then wee may fully assure our selves and even write of it as a most undoubted and sealed truth that Gods children shall never be utterly forsaken in their troubles Phil. Sith the care and providence of God is so great for his children as you have largely declared what then I pray you is the cause why God suffereth his to bee brought into so many troubles and necessities Theol. Their profit and benefit is the cause and not their hurt For he loveth them when hee smiteth them Hee favoureth them when he seemeth to be most against them Hee aimeth at their good when hee seemeth to bee most angry with them He woundeth them that hee may heale them Hee presseth them that hee may ease them Hee maketh them cry that afterward they may laugh Hee alwaies meaneth well unto them hee never meaneth hurt Hee is most constant in his love towards them If he bring them into necessities it is but for the triall of their faith love patience and diligence in prayer If he cast them into the fire it is not to consume them but to purge and refine them If he bring them into great dangers it is but to make them call upon him more earnestly for help and deliverance He presseth us that wee might cry wee cry that wee may be heard wee are heard that we might be delivered So that here is no hurt done we are worse scared than hurt Even as a mother when her childe is way-ward threateneth to throw it to the Wolfe or scareth it with some poker or bul-begger to make it cling more unto her and be quiet So the Lord oftentimes sheweth us the terrible faces of troubles and dangers to make us cleave and cling faster unto him and also to teach us to esteeme better of his gifts when wee enjoy them and to bee more thankfull for them as health wealth peace liberty safety c. So then still we see here is nothing meant on Gods part but good as it is written Rom. 5. All things worke together for good to them that love God For Heb. 12 10. Heb. 12.14 even the afflictions of Gods children are so sanctified unto them by the Spirit 1 Thes 1.6 that thereby they are made partakers of the holinesse of God Gal. 6.14 Phil 3.10 Thereby they enjoy the quiet fruit of righteousnesse Thereby they attaine unto a greater measure of joy in the holy Ghost 2 Cor. 11.32 Thereby the world is crucified to them and they to the world Rom. 5.3 4. Thereby they are made conformable to the death of Christ Thereby they are kept from the condemnation of the world Thereby they learne experience patience hope c. So that all things considered Gods children are no losers by their afflictions but gainers It is better for them to have them than to
holy things neither is there any true feare of God before your eyes Antil I tell you plainly we must tend our businesse we may goe beg else we cannot live by the Scriptures If wee follow Sermons we shall never thrive What do you thinke every man is bound to reade the Scriptures Have we not our five wits Doe wee not know what we have to doe you would make fooles of us belike But we are neither drunke nor mad Theol. That every man of what condition soever is bound in conscience to heare and read the word of God hath been shewed and proved in the beginning of our conference but as for your five wits they will not serve your turne in these matters though you had fifteene wits For all the wit reason and understanding of naturall men in Gods matters is but blindnesse and meere foolishnesse The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 3.15 Rom. 8.7 That the wisedome of the most wise in this world is not onely foolishnesse with God but indeed very enmity against God And againe he saith 1 Cor. 2 14. That the naturall man with all his five wits understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned Most prudently to this point speaketh Elihu saying Job 32.2 There is a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding Antil I understand not these Scriptures which you do alledge they do not sinke into my head Theol. I thinke so indeed for the holy Ghost saith Prov. 24.7 Wisedome is too high for a foole Antil What do you call me foole I am no more foole then your selfe Theol. I call you not fool but I tell you what the Scripture saith which calleth all men though otherwise never so wise politick and learned very fooles till they be truly enlightened and inwardly sanctified by the Spirit of God as appeareth Tit. 3.3 where the Apostle affirmeth that both Titus and himselfe before they received the illuminating Spirit of Gods grace were very fooles without wit and without all sense in Gods matters Phil. I pray you good Mr. Theologus let him alone for hee will never have done cavilling I see hee is a notable caviller Let us therefore proceed to speake of the fift signe of condemnation which is swearing Theol. It may well indeed be called a signe of condemnation For I think it more than a signe it is indeed an evident demonstration of a Reprobate For I never knew any man truely fearing God in his heart that was an usuall and a common swearer Phil. I am flat of your mind for that For it cannot bee that the true feare of God and ordinary swearing should dwell together in one man sith swearing is a thing forbidden by flat statute And God addeth a sore threat to his Law That hee will not hold him guiltlesse that takes his name in vaine but will most sharply and severely punish that man Theol. You say true And God saith moreover that if wee do not feare and dread his glorious and fearfull Name JEHOVAH Deut. 18.53 he will make our plagues wonderfull He saith also by his Prophet Mâ—lachy Mâ— 35. that hee will bee as a swift witnesse against swearers The Prophet Zachary saith Zach. 5.24 that the flying booke of Gods curse and vengeance shall enter into the house of thâ— swearer and he shall be cut off Therefore let all swearers take heed and look to themselves in time for we see there is a rod in pisse laid up in stor for them Phil. These threatnings being sâ— great and grievous and that from thâ— God of heaven himselfe a man woulâ— think should cause mens hearts to quake and tremble and make them affraid to nap out such oathes as they do if they were not altogether hardned past feeling and past grace Theol. True indeed But yet wee see by lamentable experience how men are given over both to sweare and forsweare For at this day there is no sinne more common amongst us than swearing for many there bee which cannot speak ten words but one shall bee an oath And numbers have got such a wicked custome of swearing that they can by no meanes leave it no more than a Black-moore can change his skinne or a Leopard his spots For it is made naturall unto them through custome and they have got the habit of it I do verily think if it were high treason to sweare yet some could not leave swearing And sure I am as light as we make of it that it is high treason against the Crowne of heaven yea it is a sinne immediatly against God even against his owne person and therefore he hath forbidden it in the first Table of his law Phil. Questionlesse this vice of swearing is of all other sinnes most rife in this Land For you shall have little boyes and children in the streetes rappe out oathes in most fearfull manner It would make a mans heart quake to heare them Wee may think they have sucked them out of there mothers breasts but sure wee are they have learned them from the evill example of their parents And now adayes wee cannot almost talk with a man but in ordinary speech he will belch out one oath or another Theol. I will tell you a strange thing and with great grief I speak it I do verily thinke there are sworn in this Land an hundred thousand oathes every day in the yeere Phil. No doubt Sir you are within compasse For now almost so many men so many oathes excepting some few in comparison Nay I know divers of mine owne experience which if they may be kept in talke will sweare every day in the yeare an hundred oathes for their parts Theol. O what a lamentable thing is it wee may well take up the old complaint of the Prophet Jeremy who saith Jer. 23.20 that in his time The land did mourne because of oathes And wee may well wonder that the Land sinketh not because of oaths For if God were not a God of infinite patience how could he endure his most sacred and glorious Name to bee so many thousand times blasphemed in one day that by such miserable wretches as we be Phil. Wee may indeed admire and wonder at the patience and long-suffering of God that he spareth us so long giveth us so large a time of repentance But sure it is that the Prophet saith That howsoever the Lord is slow to anger yet hee is great in power Nah. 1.3 and will not surely cleare the wicked Though he may winke at their monstrous oathes for a time yet hee forgetteth them never a whit but scoreth them up and registreth them in his book of accounts so as they stand in record against them And when the great day of reckoning shall come hee will fet them all in order before them and lay them to their charge Let not the wicked swearers and blasphemers therefore thinke that they shall alwaies scape scot-free because
impenitent sinner the carefull and the carelesse sinner the sinner whose sins are not imputed and the sinner whose sins are imputed the sinner that shall be saved and the sinner that shall be damned For it is one thing to sin of frailty another thing to live in it dwell in it and trade in it and as the holy Ghost speaketh to suck it in as the fish sucketh water Esay 5.18 and to draw it unto us with cart-ropes and cords of vanity To conclude therefore there is as great difference betwixt a sinner and a sinner as betwixt light and darknesse For though Gods children be sinners in respect of the remnants of sin within them yet the Scriptures call them just and righteous because they are justified by Christ and sanctified by his grace and holy Spirit And for this cause it is that S. John saith Hee that is borne of God sinneth not 1 John 4.6 Antil What I pray you did you never sin Theol. Yes and what then what are you the better Antil You Preachers cannot agree amongst your selves one saith one thing and another saith another thing so that you bring the ignorant people into a mammering and they know not on which hand to take Theol. The Preachers God be thanked agree very well together in all the main grounds of Religion and principall points of salvation But if they dissent in some other matters you are to trie the spirits whether they be of God or no. You must trie all things and keep that which is good Antil How can plaine and simple men trie the spirits and doctrines of the Preachers Theol. Yes For the Apostle saith The spirituall man discerneth all things 1 Cor. 2.15 And S. John saith to the holy Christians 1 John 2.26 You have received an ointment from that holy One and know all things that is all things necessary to salvation Those therefore which have the Spirit of God can judge and discerne of doctrines whether they be of God or no. Antil I am not book-learned and therefore I cannot judge of such matters As for hearing of Sermons I have no leisure to goe to them I have somewhat else to doe Let them that are bookish and heare so many Sermons judge of such matters For I will not meddle with them they belong not unto me Theol. Yet for all that you ought to reade the Scriptures and heare the Word of God preached that you may be able to discerne betwixt truth and falshood in matters of Religion Antil Belike you thinke none can be saved without preaching and that all men stand bound to frequent Sermons but I am not of your mind in that Theol. Our Lord Iesus saith My sheep heare my voice John 10.2 And againe hee saith â—â—hn 8.47 Hee that is of God heareth Gods Word Ye therefore heare it not because yee are not of God You see therefore how Christ Iesus maketh it a speciall note of Gods children to heare his Word preached Antil But I thinke we may serve God well enough without a Preacher For Preachers are but men and what can they doe A Preacher is a good man so long as he is in the Pulpit but if hee be out of the Pulpit hee is but as another man Theol. You speak contemptuously of Gods messengers and of Gods sacred ordinance But the Apostle doth fully answer your objection saying Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10. and hearing by the Word of God and how can they heare without a Preacher In which words the Apostle tels you flatly that you caâ—â—â—ver have faith nor serve God aright without Preaching Antil When you have preached all that you can you can make the Word of God no better then it is and some put in and put out what they list The Scriptures are but mens inventions and they made the Scriptures Theol. We preach not to make the Word better but to make you better As for putting in and putting out it is a meere untruth And whereas you say The Scriptures were made by men it is blasphemy once to think it and you are worthy to receive your answer at Tiburne Antil Now I see you are hot I perceive for all your godlinesse you will be angry Theol. I take it to be no sin to be angry against sin For your sin is very great and who can beare it Antil All this while you speake much for preaching but you say nothing for prayer I think there is as much need of prayer as preaching For I find in the Scriptures Pray continually but I find not Preach continually Theol. No man denieth but that Prayer is most needfull alwaies to be joyned unto Preaching and all other holy exercises for it is the hand-maid to all But yet we preferre Preaching above it because Preaching is both the director and whet-stone of Prayer yea it steereth us aright in all spirituall actions and services whatsoever without the which we can keep no certaine course but are ever ready to erre on this hand or that Now whereas you say you find Pray continually but not Preach continually you might if you were not wilfully blind find also Preach continually For the Apostle saith to Timothy 2 Tim. 3.1 Be instant preach the Word in season and out of season that is alwaies as time and occasion shall serve Antil You extoll preaching but you say nothing for reading I beleeve you condemne reading Theol. Doth hee that highly commendeth gold condemne silver I doe ingenuously confesse that both publike and private reading of the Scriptures is very necessary and profitable and would to God it were more used then it is for it is of singular use both to encrease knowledge and judgement and also to make us more sir to heare the Word preached For such men as are altogether ignorant of the History of the Bible can heare the Word with small comfort Phil. It seemes that this man neither regards the one not the other because for ought that I can see hee cares not greatly if the Scriptures were burnt Antil Oh sirrah you speak very malapertly you may speake when you are bidden Who made you a Judge You are one of his Disciples and that maketh you to speak of his side Phil. No Sir I hope I am Christs Disciple and no mans But assuredly I cannot hold my peace at your vile cavilling and most blasphemous speeches Antil I cry you mercy Sir you seeme to be one of these Scripture-men you are of the Spirit you are so full of it that it runneth out at your nostrils Phil. You do plainly shew your self to be a scoffing Ismaelite Antil And you doe plainly shew your selfe to be one of the folk of God which know their seats in heaven Phil. I pray God be mercifull unto you and give you a better heart For I see you are in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity Antil You thinke there is none good but such as your selfe and such as can please