6. your heart will take away your Lord and you will not know where it hath laid him as Joh. 20. 15. And you may be justly jealous that your heart is tainted with a love of Imagery Ezek. 8. 12. as you have chambers of imagery in you for there be many Idols set up in your heart Ezek. 14. 3. 1. Joh. 5. 21. as Rachel was with her Mawmets And you may surely say in sadness of Spirit to your Heavenly Father Let it not displease my Lord that I cannot rise up for the custom of sinning which is both the custom of Men and the custom of Women too is upon me how oft also is your heart wittily wicked in sitting upon your sins to hide them by sinful shifts from the eye of your Heavenly Father which yet is an all-seeing eye and nothing can be hid from the sight of it Hebr. 4. 13. without any due and true sense of the evil of sin when consuetudo peccandi tollit sensum peccati that custom of sinning which is upon you taketh away all sense of sin 12. The second Allusion is Tamar who deceived her Father in-law Judah by putting upon her the attire of an Harlot and sitting in the way-side to tempt him upon a feasting day Gen. 38. 12 13 14. c. mark this by the way that Harlots in those times were nothing so shameless for she covered her self with a Vail as they are in our times with their naked breasts c. to enflame a Judah the Father Hierome severely saith that all such shall be damn'd for proffering poison though there be none to drink it mark also how Judahs lust besots him he gives her whatever she demanded v. 17 18. whereby to prove him afterwards a Partner in the Crime she seals up her charge against him with his own Signet entangles him with his own Bracelets and beats him with his own staff c. v. 25. just so and more than so will your heart that is full of harlotry deceive you and cause you to commit uncleanness with it in sinful thoughts which like Lots daughters Gen. 19.32 to 35. are busie to contrive and compass some sin or other while you are fast asleep and your heart as Tamar will first tempt you to sin and then accuse you for sin 1 Joh. 3. 20. 2 Sam. 18. 12 13. writing down time and place and bringing forth undeniable evidences saying Discern whose are these I pray thee oh sublime treachery you must acknowledge all condemn your self for having been unrighteous and know your sin again no more as Gen. 38. 26. 13. The third Allusion is Josephs Mistress which was a Blackmoore a Gypsy or Egyptian and a very compound of impudence fraudulency and maliciousness Gen. 39. 7. to 14. 1. Her impudence that she who should be shame-fac'd by her Sex as a woman and grave by her condition and quality as a wife and that of a governour so a Mistress yet her lawless lust transports her beyond all bonds and bounds both of Piety and Modesty so as to make an impudent offer of committing a Rape not onely upon a man but upon her own man-servant oh prodigious propudium and a frontless fore-head not unlike the strange impudency in the strange woman Prov. 7. 13 18. both of them barely and basely sollicite associates whose beauty had captivated their wanton eyes and wicked hearts 2 Her fraudulency when her uncessant sollicitations day by day violently renewed and as valiantly vanquished prov'd all unsuccessful as Josephus saith she feigned her self sick as Amnon did after 2 Sam. 13. 6. not going with Potiphar to the Feast that her solitariness might give a more effectual opportunity for her solicitation v. 11 12. This became a strong snare to Joseph so that he must part either with his chastity or with his garment not daring to stay and parley with her this second time is Joseph stripped of his garment before by the violence of envy in his brethren Gen. 37. 31. now by the vehemence of concupiscence in his Mistress before out of constraint now out of choice before that his Father now that his Master might be deceived by it however he being good before the Lord escapeth from her snares as Eccles 7. 26. 3. Her maliciousness and treacherous cruelty she cloaks her own villany under Josephs garment and as his coat had caused his Fathers sorrow before Gen. 37. 32 33 34. now it causeth his own misery she incenseth her Husband accusing first him of foolishness for bringing in such an Hebrew and then his servant of filthiness which she both affirmeth by words and confirmeth by deeds to wit producing the Garment left in her hands no doubt but the accuser of the brethren had set her on to charge that upon the innocent whereof she herself was onely most guilty all this and much more will your heart do to you 't will first intice you to sin and then accuse you of sin as before 't will shift off sin from it self and lay the fault upon company occasion c. and not upon it self as Apollodorus his heart did when he dreamed that he was taken by the Scythians who flead off his skin and lifting him into the Caldron to boil him his heart cryed out within him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am the cause of all this evil 14. The fourth Allusion is Jael who beguiled Sisera Judg. 4. 18. 19. c. with her turn in my Lord turn in to me Fair words make fools fain saith the Proverb she saith unto him fear not and promises him protection from his pursuers she covers him with a rug or cover-lid Stragulâ Villosa pretending both to hide him from his enemies and to secure him from catching cold but indeed intending to get him asleep that she might the easier destroy him yea as a shew of greater respect when he asked but Water to cool him in his great heat by his hasty flight on his feet she gave him Milk v. 19. Judg. 5.25 which was safer drink than water yet more procuring sleep which was her design yea she brought him Butter also in a Lordly dish to eat as well as Milk to drink and all this kindness she shewed him to make him sleep more securely under her protection and to prepare him the better for her Nail and Hammer wherewith she fastned his head when fast asleep to the ground as if it had been listning there what was become of his Soul he that boasted before of his Iron-chariots lies now slain by a Woman with a Nail of Iron a Nail of the Tent both long and strong enough both to pierce his skull and to fasten this proud worms-meat to the ground and all this carried on with shews of great kindness such are all the Murthering morsels of your sinful heart oh the flatteries thereof the Milk and the Butter wherewith it will lull you asleep in a false peace as the Syrens Songs Deut. 29. 19. but beware of the Tent-nail
noble Vines and his house or heart is furnished with graces as the Temple of the Holy Ghost Christ stands at the door of the heart and knocks Revel 3.20 as well as Satan both of them woes and wins it sometimes Satan avails and wins the heart by his insinuating temptations and sometimes our Saviour doth it by his exceeding great and pretious promises let in by his Spirit 5. Having shown the first particular the subject or matter the Heart of Man that it is corrupted by sin and Satan the second thing to be spoke to is the Praedicate or Manner how it is corrupted and the manner of the corruption of this matter the heart is manifold in Scripture As first 't is now a weak heart in the faln estate Ezek. 16. 30. strong enough it is for sin but exceeding weak for duty Oh how weak is thy heart Secondly 't is a wilful heart that is rebellious and obstinate against the will of God Deut. 2. 30. not onely the heart of Sihon King of Heshbon was an obstinate heart but also the heart of Gods own Israel was a rebellious heart Jer. 5. 23. as soft as wax in Satans hand plyable enough and yet as hard as a stone altogether unplyable in Gods hand 3. 't is a stony heart Ezek. 11. 19. 36. 26. 't is a flinty not a fleshy heart by nature 't is refractory untractable and impenetrable resisting the Divine touches of the Word and Spirit the natural heart is wholly a stony heart which none can draw or pull out as the word in the Septuagint signifies or change but the hand of Heaven onely the free-will of Man cannot do it but 't is the free grace of God alone that of these stones raiseth up Children unto Abraham Matth. 3. 9. Garriant illi nos credamus saith Augustin Let Men prate what they please of the free-will of Man to good there is no such thing believe it the heart is naturally insensible of the Word inflexible to the Spirit and impenetrable to the grace of God in it self 't is to every good work Reprobate 't is as hard fourthly as the Adamant Zech. 7. 12. which word signifies Untameable that hardest of stones harder than the flint Ezek. 3. 9. yea than the nether mill-stone Job 41. 24. Pliny saith the hardness of this stone is unspeakable the Hammer cannot break it neither can the fire burn it no nor so much as heat it Hircino tamen rumpitur sanguine yet if it be soaked in Goats-blood 't will then dissolve into pieces and so may the hardest Heart by the blood of Christ the true scape-goat Levit. 16. 21 22. if applyed and improved by Faith 6. Fifthly 'T is a stiff-necked and uncircumcised heart Jer. 9.23 Act. 7. 51. even in their very Circumcision there was an uncircumcision unregenerate Israel was to God as the Ethiopians those black Pagans that could not change their colour Jer. 13. 23. Amos 9. 7. that never did bleed for sin by Divine compunction but the foreskin of filthiness was still remaining and that with so much stiff-neckedness as rendred them incapable of Divine impressions insomuch as neither Ministry nor Misery nor Miracle nor Mercy could Mollifie until the Lord give a new Spirit the same heart in substance but renewed in its qualities the strings or heart-strings are the same but the Tune is changed Psal 51. 12. Eph. 4. 23. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Sixthly 'T is a whorish heart Ezek. 6. 9. that goes a whoring from God and runs after false lovers that lie in wait for the very Soul Psal 73. 27. Hos 4. 12. 9. 1. The Heart of Man is full of Harlotry and the Spirit of Whoredom causeth it to wander not onely from God but also from under God from under the precincts of the Divine Will and so from under the protection of the Divine Power as the Wife that forsaketh her Husband and plays the Whore with strangers is therefore worthily cast off by him for both dissolving the Marriage-knot and for destroying true Humane Society as Matth. 19. 9. This Revolting Heart Jer. 5. 23. Satanico impetu driven by the devil gaddeth after strangers Jer. 2. 25. 36. and casts God away as into a corner 7. Seventhly 'T is a divided Heart Hos 10. 2. a double heart Psal 12. 2. an Heart and an Heart Hebrew one Heart in the Mouth and another in the Body being one thing in profession and another in practice halting between two 'twixt God and Baal 1 King 18. 21. 'twixt Christ and sin being one while for this and another while for that unconstant to both and uncertain of either and constant in nothing but in inconstancy The divided or double-hearted man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the double-souled one is not for Gods service for he will be served truly that there be no halting and totally that there be no halving Hence the Apostle James adviseth the double-minded or cloven-hearted to cleanse their hearts from that corruption that cleaveth to them that their minds mouths and manners might correspond all together Jam. 1. 8. 4. 8. and hence the Prophet David prays that God would unite his heart that was so apt to be double and divided betwixt the things of God and the things of the World Psal 86. 11. that it might be fixed upon God And hence also God hath promised to give oneness of heart Ezek. 11. 19. I will give them one heart opposed to this double and divided Heart being partly for God and partly for the world as Ezek. 33. 31. This boon you should heartily beg with David that you may entirely cleave to God alone Deut. 10. 20. 30. 20. Act. 11. 23. and serve him without distraction in all simplicity and godly sincerity 1 Cor. 7. 35. 2 Cor. 1. 12. Anima dispersa fit minor the heart divided is thereby disabled for duty Therefore the Prophet prays Lord thou art God alone unite my heart so that it may be fixed as Quicksilver is by Pyrotechny on God alone 8. The time would fail me to insist upon all the cursed Characters that the Looking-glass of the Word of God represents to you concerning the Heart of Man as eighthly 'T is a froward and fretting heart Prov. 17. 20. 19. 3. never pleased whether full or fasting Ninthly 'T is an Hypocritical Heart Job 36. 13. hollow-hearted ones heap up wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2. 5. turning Repentance into a form and converting conversion it self into sin such foul sinners shall be cast into the hottest place of Hell whereof Hypocrites are as the Free-holders and all other sinners but as Tenants to them Matth. 23. 14 15. 33. 24. 51. Tenthly 'T is an haughty heart Prov. 18. 12. the pride of the heart deceives Man Obad. v. 3. So bladder-like is Man that bag of dust that being filled but with the wind of earthly vanities he grows great and swelleth in his own conceit strutting it all along in his goings as if
A Chrystal Mirrour OR Christian Looking-glass WHEREIN The Hearts Treason against God And Treachery against Man Is truely represented and throughly Discoursed on and Discovered WHEREBY The Soul of Man may be Dressed up into a Comeliness for God AND WHEREON A Duely and daily Gazing after a Godly sort may prevent the putting an everlasting Cheat upon your Immortal Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nosce teipsum Solon To know your self is necessary He that beholdeth his natural face in this Spiritual Glass and forgets not is blessed Jam. 1. 23. 25. Published for Publick Good by Christopher Nesse Minister of the Gospel in Fleet-street London LONDON Printed by J. C. for the Author and to be sold by him 1679. To the Right Ronourable THE Lord Wharton My Lord YOUR Lord-ship is the only One of all my narrow Acquaintance amongst persons of your Rank Quality who hath so much Divine Teachings about the hearts Treachery as I can presume your Honour is endowed with You have been an Honorable Owner Honourer of the good ways of God to my knowledge for this many years and wherein you have not been an eminent Doer only but as eminent a Sufferer In all which your Honour cannot but have large Experience of the Wily Workings of your own Deceitful Heart Assuredly Experimental not Notional knowledge is the most expeditious and dexterous Doctress to Disciple aright in this Deep Mystery As that great Mystery of Godliness the new name in the white Stone Rev. 2. 17. no man can read but he that receives it So this grand Mystery of Iniquity or Vngodliness which is call'd the depths of Satan Rev. 2. 24. and which lies lurking in a deep heart Psal 64. 6. is better experienced inwardly than exerted by any outward means whatsoever Docet Experientia vera and Experto crede Roberto I looking upon your Lordship as an old Disciple Acts 21. 16. A Gray-headed Christian and a Father in Israel 1 Joh. 2. 13. could not but be confident that this mystical Mirrour would finde Acceptance and the rather seeing 't is as useful for Lords as it is for Ladies Hereupon I presume to tender it quale quale est unto your Lord-ship's hands for a Blessing to your Heart To the Right Honourable THE Lady Wharton Madam SINCE my small and short Acquaintance with your Ladyship I could not but be one of the Admirers amongst many others of your great Gravity and peculiar Piety in this our loose and debauched Age Whereas other Ladies of Honour doth glory in this that they are Ladies of Pleasure too Alas they do but glory in their own shame Phil. 3. 19. Your Ladyship doth esteem it your greatest Glory not only to be a Lady of Honour but also a Lady of Holiness This is abundantly demonstrated not only by your repairing duely to the publick means of Grace where you may enjoy them in power and purity but also to my knowledge your upholding daily the private worship of God in your Family This this is that which makes you truly Honourable and therefore ought to be honoured as you are of God so of all good men but especially of all good Ministers In pursuance whereof I make hold to present to your Lady-ship the best Homage and Honour I can pay you this Christian Mirror which is a Looking-glass for an elect Lady for a Lady indeed I doubt not but while other Ladies in their Vanitie do as it were nail their very Eyes to their literal Looking-glass and that onely for pluming the body as to man your Ladyship will be improving this mystical Looking-glass for the trimming of your Soul as to God that your inner man may become as amiable acceptable to your Heavenly Husband Isa 54. 5. as your outward man is to your Earthly one But to bring these two Streams into one Channel let me now address my self to both your Honours two distinct persons in one single yet compounded application seeing God hath made you not onely one Flesh by his holy Covenant of Marriage but also one Spirit by his holy Covenant of Grace and Adoption Although I dare not symbolize with those sordid Sycophants of Dionysius who lick'd up his very Spittle that Excrement which the Tyrant slaver'd out of his mouth in his outragious furie as if it had been the noblest Nectar nor with those Parasitical Priests that do palliate their Patrons with the Appellations of Vertuous Pious and Religious when possibly they are no better than Vitious Impious and Irreligius ones Should I use such flattering Titles my Maker would make me afraid Job 33. last yet though Laus sordet in ore proprio non tamen in ore Alieno a mans own mouth may not praise him another mans may Prov. 27.2 Our Lord himself gave John Baptist his due praise 1. For his Constancy in Religion saying He was no Reed shaken with the wind 2ly For his Moderation in his Apparel c. Mat. 11.7 8. And surely the Servants of this Lord ought to own it as their dutie to give due praise to the Praise-worthie to honour those whom the Lord honoureth 1 Sam. 2. 30. and to commend those whom the Lord commendeth 2 Cor. 10. 18. Thus Demetrius had a good Report of all good men and of the Truth it self 3 John Epist v. 12. and Ruth hath this Encomium All the City of my people knows that thou art a vertuous woman Ruth 3. 11. her works not her words prais'd her in the gate Prov. 31. 31. So that all true acknowledgements of the Grace of God discerned in your Honours by the Spirit of Discerning not onely may but must be made and yet be without the stinking breath of all base-minded Adulation Give me leave therefore without offending the modesty of your Minds and the humility of your Hearts of both which there is an happie Conjunction in both your bosoms to call you truely Noble not so much with Nobilitie by Parchment which the Favour of a Prince setteth on and his Frown or Fancie wipeth off again nor so much with a Nobilitie by Parentage for the Noblest Bloud upon Earth is stained and tainted with High-Treason against the great King of Heaven None ever was so Nobly-born as to be able with Hercules to kill the two Serpents in the Cradle to wit Original Guilt and natural Corruption Hence we read in Scripture onely of three Great men and those none of the best to wit Pharaoh Jeroboam and Herod who solemniz'd their Birth-days Nobilis non Nascitur sed fit ceu Renascitur Nobles by their first birth are but Terrae-silii ceu filiae Earth-sprung if not born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again or from above John 3. 3. This this is that which makes you both truely Noble to wit your Second birth tantus quisque est quantus est apud Deum Act. 17.11 Greatness without Goodness is like the big swelling of an Hydropical person 't is his Disease but not his Ornament Great persons have the greatest difficultie
taliter pigmentatae Deum ipsum habebitis Amatorem God himself will become a Suitor to such as do according to the Apostles direction 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. The Prophet doth so distinctly and punctually declaim against the Womens varnishing vanities as if he had indeed fully viewed the Ladies Wardrobe in Jerusalem Isa 3. 18 23. and had taken a particular Inventory of them with their turrified heads and stretched-out necks 10. Such persons as spend too much time in dressing their Bodies by the common Looking-glass it may justly be feared they spend too little time in trimming their Souls by this blessed Looking-glass Bernard excellently expresseth this saying Vestium curiositas deformitatis mentium morum indicium est Over-much curiosity in outward adorning is a shrewd sign of the deformity both of Mindes and of Manners or more plainly excessive neatness in outward ornaments is a palpable evidence of too much inward nastiness Mark what the wisdom of God himself saith 1 Pet. 3. 3. Whose adorning let it not be outward c. but let it be the hidden man of the heart Women are not simply or absolutely forbidden there to adorn themselves so it be without Pride and Excess and suitable to their States and Estates in the World otherwise good Rebeccah that immediate Daughter of Sarah would have been blamed for wearing those Bracelets and Ear-rings which the Holy Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac sent unto her for her adorning Gen. 24. 30. and Godly Lydia whose Heart the Lord opened would not have been a Seller of Purple Act. 16. 14. If it were lawful for her to sell it assuredly it was lawful for some to wear it 11. It follows then that what is spoken by the Holy Ghost in 1 Pet. 3. 3. is onely spoken comparatively and not simply or absolutely that they make not their outward adorning their chief Ornament as the Daughters of Jerusalem did Isa 3. 18. onely for pride and wantonness in the mean while altogether neglecting the adorning their Souls but surely those Daughters of Israel in Exod. 38. 8. were better minded who did willingly give up their Looking-glasses which were then made of Brass and whereby they trimm'd themselves to the service of the Lords Sanctuary by which free-will-offering of theirs they did most plainly and openly testifie that they preferred the Worship and Glory of God before their own gracefulness Those were undoubtedly religiously disposed women that assembled by Troops to fast and pray Pethachohel at the door of the Tabernacle and these instruments of the worlds Vanity whereby they had formerly dress'd their Bodies but which now they despised they dedicate to God to make the Laver of Brass an instrument whereby through Faith they might trim and sanctifie their Souls Oh that we had many such Women in this great City and such as Esthers Maidens Esth 4. 16. Zech. 12. 14. 12. The second Duty in order to this Looking-glass is You must not only â—ook into it but love to do so God looks not so much at what you do as at what you love to do God indeed looks that you should look into the Looking-glass that he himself hath made for you to that very end Yet to do so is not enough unless also you love to do so Let it be far from you to do with this Spiritual Looking-glass as History makes mention one Praxyllis did with her common one which when it but truely discovered to her eyes her own real Deformity she quarrels with the Glass and in a rage against it throws it down and breaks it all to pieces You may easily conjecture whether the true Representation of the Glass or the womans own Deformity were more in fault or to be quarrell'd withal Oh do not you quarrel with this blessed Looking-glass of the Word which God hath most graciously given you and hath not suffered it to be muffled up from you in an unknown Tongue as in Popish Times to give no true and due prospect of your sinful self but look into it and love to look into it yea look into it with a God-blessing Spirit saying with the Holy Apostle I had not known sin but by the Law that precious Looking-Glass Rom. 7. 7-9-18 As you were bred and born in sin and have all along lived in sin so you may dye in sin if you discern not by looking into this divine Looking-glass your Souls Deformity 13. The third Duty is You must not only look into it and love to do so but likewise to look wishtly and intently into it not taking a sleight and glancing prospect onely but viewing all the defects and deformities of your Heart with utmost intention of Soul until there be some deep Impression wrought kindly thereby upon your Affections This is the very scope of the Apostle James in Chap. 1. 23-25 He that beholds saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the face of his Nativity that which Nature gave him or that which he was born with into the world straightway he forgetteth what manner of man he was to wit the fashion of his Countenance and the spots represented in the Glass Whereby he most fitly noteth out those weak impressions which the discoveries of the Word leaveth upon a careless hearer of it who is not so deeply touched with those Discoveries as to be duely truely and throughly humbled for them so as to be brought out of self unto Christ 14. The fourth Rule is Labour for such a discovery of your Heart in this Looking-Glass of the Word that it may have an abiding Work upon you that the Word may be planted and engrafted in you Until this be the root of the Matter or of the Word as the word dabar signifies cannot be in you Job 19. 28. Nor the seed of God can be said to remain in you 1 John 3. 9. The seed of the Word must be hid in your heart Psalm 119. 11. Luke 2. 19. And the Law of the Word must be writ in as well as put into your Heart Jerem. 31. 33. Then doth the graft or root draw all your thoughts cares purposes and affections do nourish it and suck the sap of all to it All the motions of your Soul and Spirit will be cast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the Mold of Religion Rom. 6. 17. like melted Metal takes the form of that mold which it is cast or poured into then will it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fruit-bearing Word Col. 1. 6. and then will it drive you into your Closet or some by-corner the secret places of the stairs Cant. 2. 14. to bewail the plague of your own heart 1 King 8. 38. A due and true sense whereof is the best Prayer-Book in the world When you are sensible of Sickness you need no Book to teach you what to say to your Physician and when you finde your self defrauded of your Inheritance what to say to your Counsellor at Law though you do your self consult Books about both those Cases 15.
but the ambush of the subtle serpent in it she discerned not oh the crafty and deceitful Devil that lays an ambush of real death under the coverts and colours of seeming life hence he is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 11. 3. using 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his crafty subilety to cheat us of all graces but especially of our simplicity and therefore doth he muster up all his forces and lyeth in ambush all his frauds do deceive and destroy us 2. This old Serpent when he was but young out-witted our first Parents even in their state of innocency now that he is old and we but young all are but children Eph. 4. 14. how easily may he beguile us especially having something of himself in us which he had not in Christ Joh. 14. 30. to betray us into his hands this subtle serpent hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set Ambushes and composed Stratagems 2 Cor. 2. 11. whereby to ravish and corrupt our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or judgments you cannot be ignorant if you be a Christian in truth if you have but more than the title of a Christian of the cunningly-moulded-methods even in your personal experience of the darts and depths of Satan wherewith he deceives you and he plays not at small games but deceives whole Nations as well as single persons Revel 20. 3 8. even Gog the covert enemy and Magog the overt or open one the Pope and the Turk yea he deceives the whole world that lies in wickedness 1 Joh. 5. 19. This Interpolator Creaturae or broker and brusher up of the vain things of the World as Tertullian calls him sets an alluring Gloss upon the Creature and fits every one a penny-worth as he finds inclinations he hath an Apple for Eve a Grape for Noah and a Vineyard for Ahab he hath a wedge of Gold for Achan and talents of Silver for Gehazi c. 3. 'T is more than manifest that this grand Pyrate at land as well as at sea hangs out false Colours till his prey come within compass of his chain and that this sublime sophister and old Impostor can both in himself and instruments cog a Die wherewith to cheat you Eph. 4. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Artifex fallacia or fallax artificium a cunning sleight of Gamesters and Cheaters such a conquering couzenage that thereby were it possible he would deceive the very elect even fundamentally and finally Matth. 24. 24. as others are An eminent instance of this cheating Devil you have concerning Saul afore-mentioned to whom Satan that old Serpent did counterfeit Samuel in speech and Habit and with great gravity Samuel-like upbraided him with sparing Agag c. Before the fact was done he tempts Saul to it under the colour of an act of mercy and why should he be so cruel to his fellow-creatures not a word of any stumbling-block Satan lays in Sauls way to hinder this seeming work of Mercy before his doing of it but now when 't is done though it was done through his tempting him thereunto he presseth it with all aggravations upon his Conscience in his day of distress as an heinous and horrible sin that he might drive them into despair and he plaid the Sophister with Saul in the prophetical part of that passage of Pageantry as well as in the Historical to morrow thou and thy Sons shall be wtih me 1 Sam. 28. 19. wherein he could not mean Heaven with true Samuel for that is too good a place for bad Saul nor Hell with himself the true Satan for that is too bad a place for good Jonathan but the state of the dead the old deceiver insinuating to Saul thereby that the Souls of all men of the good as well as of the bad do go to the same place and seeking to blot out of him therewith all knowledge and apprehension of eternal life oh miserable comfort in distress and no better can those expect that run to Witches c. for ease the Parasite and tempter before sin will be a Tyrant and Tormentor after it when he hath accomplished his end his flattery goes no further but turns into fury 4. Although Satan be all this and much more against faln Mankind which makes him their greatest adversary yet hath a man a worse enemy than he to wit his own superlatively-deceitful and desperately wicked heart every one carries a tempter in his bosome whereby he is drawn away and enticed Jam. 1. 14 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 entised as a fish by a bait yea drawn away by his own byass of lust the Devil hath onely an insinuating sleight not any forcing or constraining might mans own concupiscence carries the greatest sway and stroke therein thence it is said that Deceit as well as all other Soul-defiling-evils come out of the heart Mark 7. 22 23. Satan might besiege us days without number and without success too if a treacherous party were not within to let down the Drawbridge and to set ope the Gates of the City for his entrance and entertainment There is deceit in the heart Prov. 12. 20. and therefore Christ tells you it comes out of the heart what is in the Well will be in the bucket surely they are redeemed from deceit indeed Psal 72.14 that have a cover for their heart that well which is so full of crawling lusts to wit the cover of Gods Spirit Isa 31. 1. Every vessel that wanteth a cover was unclean Num. 19. 15. so is the heart that is open to Satans squibs for ingress and sinful thoughts for egress 5. The second thing next to the old Serpent is Antichrist the man of sin call'd primo-genitus Diaboli the first-born of the Serpents seed that grand Impostor whose coming is after the working of Satan with lying wonders and all deceivableness 2 Thes 2. 9 10. that beast which doth great wonders in the sight of men and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth Revel 13. 13 14. This Son of perdition cheats the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with wonders of a lye which is an usual Hebraism to denote the notorious fallacy and falshood of his wonders they are either lying prodigies or prodigious lyes such as some of themselves say are for the most part false yet were devised for good intentions This Ludovicus Vives one of their own further confirmeth affirming that the Author of the Golden or rather lying Legend had a brazen face corrupting the lives of their Canoniz'd Saints with abundance of lyes and that the devisers of those Fables did not set down what their Saints did but what themselves would have had them done And the Doctrines of Popery are like their Miracles lying Doctrines it being no other than a Farrago of falsities and old Heresies for as the Centurists say the old Hereticks fled at the light of truth and hid themselves in the Popish Clergy And whence doth all this arise but from their own treacherous and deceitful hearts whereby they are
silent never examining comers in or goers out of the heart 't is become naughty and self-deceiving this Candle of the Lord in you as your Spirit is called Prov. 20. 27. should examine as the Sentinel upon the Watch all comers and goers crying ever and anon Who comes there and Who goes there And as Joshuah did to the man Josh 5. 13. Who art thou for Art thou for us or for our Adversaries If your heart be silent herein and say nothing in such Christian Examinations then such a Traveller as came to David's heart 2 Sam. 12. 4. may be welcome to your heart Mariners do say there be more Ships cast away in Calms upon Quick-sands c. than in Storms upon Splitting Rocks If Despair with Saul hath slain its thousands sure I am Presumption with David hath killed its ten thousands If a Spiritual Calm or slumber be upon you then you cannot cry out Who comes there c. The Philistims may be upon you and you know it not 2. A brawny heart that hath lost its Tenderness is a Self-deceiving Heart Josiah 's heart was tender 2 King 22. 19. this pleased God well and so was David's when it smote him for cutting off Saul's lap 1 Sam. 24. 5. But how had he lost his Tenderness when his heart did not smite him for cutting off Uriah 's life c. One of a tender Constitution cannot endure the least cold wind to blow upon him but must have all Windows and Doors close shut to secure his tender body Oh that you were as wise for your Soul as he is for his Body in shutting all close that not the least cold Air of sin may come unto it If your heart be not ever suggesting duty or humbling for neglect it deceives you 15. 3. An untractable heart such as will not be handled nor come to hand in a parley is a self-deceiving heart David bids you commune with your own heart Psal 4. 4. and you should call your faithless heart to a faithful account duely and daily and you should view your works every-day as the Lord your God did his all the six days of the Creation Gen. 1. and happy is that Soul that finds them good though not very good as God did his works in a serious Self-Reflection but if your heart fly from you and will not commune with you saying Oh what have I done Jerem. 8. 6. 't is a self-deceiving heart David pray'd Lord incline and unite my untractable heart your windows should be as those of the Temple 1 Kin. 6. 4. broad inward to give more light inwardly 4. An unstable heart is a self-deceiving heart if it will not stand at the mark till your parley with it be brought to some blessed issue Jam. 1. 8. halting betwixt two and is as much for Baal as for God as much for sin as for Christ so is but with Agrippa almost a Christian this half-parlying in self-tryal undoes thousands whose hearts are unstable in it 't is the work of the Spirit to binde the heart as Psal 118. 27. and to convince throughly of the state either of sin or grace without this your heart will slip you in self-examination which is as the rubbing of your eyes to see better where you are and what you are doing CHAP. VII Of the Hearts Treachery in prosperity 1. NOw come we to a more particular discovery of the hearts treachery and that in two grand respects 1. In respect of your state and condition in this lower World and 2. in respect of your various actions in order both to this and to a better world First of the first to wit your state and condition in this world which is twofold 1. a Temporal 2ly a Spiritual state in both which your heart may deceive you if you do not take heed to it to keep it with all keepings Prov. 4. 23. Now 1. of the Temporal state which is twofold 1. the state of prosperity 2. the state of adversity first of the first of these to wit the state of Prosperity 1. Of the Malady 2. Of the Remedy 1. The Malady wherein the deceit of the heart is discovered in sundry particulars as the first Discovery is Your deceitful heart may carry your soul at some times further off from God thereby just as the Moon which the more Light she receives from the Sun of the firmament goes the further off from him and sometimes when she is in the full the shadow of the Earth doth interpose itself and so eclipses and darkens her even so man is as the Moon in the full having fulness of all things this oftentimes sets his Soul further off from Christ the sun of righteousness Mal. 4. 2. for Fulness and Pride or Haughtiness are coupled together as the Cause and the Effect Ezek. 16. 49 50. Fulness brings forth Haughtiness which is both the hate of Heaven and the gate to Hell yea the very first fire-brand that set Sodome on fire That Pride is the product of Prosperity appeareth from Psal 73. 5 6. Job 15. 25 26 27. and 1 Tim. 6. 17. And proud man made so by Prosperity God beholdeth afar off Psal 138. 6. They are got a great way from God he drives them as the Chaldee Paraphrase there signifies afar off from Heaven as disdaining to come near such loathsome Lepers and thrusts them down as low as to Hell at last How oft also doth the interposition of earthly enjoyments which is but a shadow eclipse and darken the Soul of man God-ward 2. The second Discovery is In Prosperity the Soul of man is very prone to forget both his Mercies and the God of his mercies for Fulness breeds Forgetfulness Deut. 32. 15. and Saturity brings forth Security Luxuriant animi rebus plerunque seoundis Nec facilè est aequâ commoda mente pati Mercy is many times but a nine days wonder and 't is hard for even the choicest Soul to keep the sense of a mercy for any considerable time warm upon the heart whereas we should keep the loving-kindness of God in everlasting remembrance but alas it is with us as it is with children eaten bread is soon forgotten our luxuriant and wanton minds soon forget Divine favours as Psal 106. 13. they hasted they forgot Hebr. which is a great aggravation forgetfulness should indeed be a grave wherein we ought to bury the Injuries done to us by Man but not any of the loving kindnesses done to us by God Psal 103. 2. The best use of a bad Memory is to forget Injuries from man but to forget the Benefits of God is gross Ingratitude David felt some dulness and drowziness in this respect and he therefore rowzeth up his own Soul to this Remembring-work Oh where is the man the woman that hath their hearts as much affected with Mercies and that praises God as fervently for them when they are stale and old Mercies as while they are fresh and new and but lately received 3. The third Discovery
practical knowledge of it and therefore is he said not to know it As Christ knew no more of evil than he did practise which was none at all so you know no more of good than you do practise Knowledge and Profession without Power and Practice will make you indeed as Rachel beautiful but barren and as Ephraim a Cake not turned Hos 7. 8. baked on the one side only but plain dough only on the other side these are cast-away Cakes that are raw on the one side and burnt or scorched on the other as unpleasant to the palate in both the sides amongst men accordingly dough-baked Duties will not down with God Irreligious Honesty and dishonest Religion are both alike check-aside Groats and Cakes not turned to the Lord the former is for a Second-Table man and nothing for the first Table the latter is for a first-Table-man and nothing for the second Table Whereas the two Tables are clasp'd together and should not being all but one Copulative be disjoyned or disjoynted by any dispensatory Conscience 8. Now having discovered the false Grounds of Self-deceit which are the true Causes of your Spiritual Distemper in order to the compleating of your Cure and to an effectual Application of the right Remedy 't will be expedient to inform you how you may distinguish betwixt false grounds and true that you may be undeceived And that this may be done the more distinctly and particularly the second Question to be answered shall be How you may put a difference 'twixt Nature and Grace that you mistake not the former for the latter To this I answer You may have a good Nature yea a Nature better than others yet this is but a beautiful Abomination and a smoother way to Hell and Damnation to mistake Nature for Grace speaketh out as much blindness and bewrayeth as much gross and sublime Ignorance as to mistake the burnt Temple for the built one Ezra comes to Jerusalem findes the Temple burnt but leaves it built Could any Jew be so sottish as to put no difference 'twixt the Temple as it lay in its own ashes a ruinous heap and as raised out of those Ruines a glorious Fabrick much admired by Christ's own Disciples Matth. 24. 1. Alas Nature is the burnt Temble burnt down in the Fall Christ our Ezra or Helper Hebr. comes and findes the Temple and Image of God demolished in you he lays a new foundation rejoyce in this as they did Ezra 3. 11. but mistake not the one for the other as if no need of Christ 9. Grace is Christ's rebuilding the burnt Temple and his restoring the lost Image of God in you when he changes the old Nature and makes you to partake of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. Thus when Christ comes to repair his Temple he is said to be then as the Refiners fire and as Fullers soap Mal. 3. 2 3. to shew how the dross and dirt of sin is even so incorporated in the best yet depraved Nature of fallen Mankinde that Christ must be both fire and soap to the soiled Soul of man in a Similitudinary way before man can be a new-man a new creature created even out of Nothing or out of that which is worse than Nothing in Christ Jesus unto good Works Ephes 2. 10. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Gal. 6. 15. This corrupt nature is called the wild Olive Rom. 11. 24. which must be broâ—en from the old stock and not only so but it must be engrafted into the noble Vine John 15. 1. Christ Jesus or into that good Olive-tree Rom. 11. 24. This same spiritual engrafting of the branch which is wild by Nature is there said to be done contrary to Nature which Phrase plainly sheweth that Nature cannot contribute any thing unless it be Contrariety and Contradiction or Contrafaction in this mighty work of Grace Plutarch wonders at the Fig-tree that it should be so bitter in its root branches leaves stock and stem and yet the fruit of it so exceeding sweet and luscious But 't is more to be wondered at that such sweet fruits as those of the Spirit should ever grow upon the bitter stock of Nature for Gratia non tollit sed attollit Naturam Grace doth not destroy but refine Nature Man being by Nature in the very gall of bitterness Acts 8. 23. Alas none of his actings can be of a sweet savour unto God until he be engrafted into Christ and so partake of his sap and sweetness and thence become a tree of Righteousness Isai 61. 3. 10. After this first Answer which is general the second Answer is more particular to shew that Nature in her highest exaltation can never become Grace for these following Reasons drawn from corrupt Nature's defectiveness since the Fall As 1. mere Nature can never teach a Man to feel the weight and curse of a sin that was committed above five thousand years ago to wit Adam's eating the forbidden fruit which brought in all Misery on mankinde 2. Nor can it make a man sensible of original Corruption and that he not only carries about with him a very body of sin but also that the very spirits of sin runs in his blood the feeling of which makes him cry out Oh wretched man Rom. 7. 24. 3. Nor can it make a man see the sinfulness of sin especially of that great Gospel-sin the sin of Unbelief nor to see sin as the chiefest evil and accordingly to hate it and to love Jesus Christ as the chiefest good Joh. 16. 8. 'T is the work of Gods Spirit and not of mans to convince hereof 4. Neither can Nature instruct a man in the Doctrine of Self-denial which is a Lesson that could never be learnt in Nature's School For corrupt Nature can never teach a man to mortifie and destroy its own sinful self 5. Nor can mere Nature enable a man to prefer God before himself upon this bottome of being perswaded that his Well-being dependeth more upon God than upon himself Natures Lesson is Quisque suae fortunae faber as if man were a God to himself Gen. 3. 5. Which was Satan's first Insinuation into the first Man 's sinning heart 6. Mere Nature can never make a man so resolute for Christ as to endure abundance of evil and to refuse abundance of good that Christ may be retained Hebr. 11. 36 37. 7. Neither could it ever yet reform and rectifie its own Irregularities no not in the two greatest luminaries in her own School Natural Knowledge could never straighten or set to right natural crookedness This is evident in Aristotle the most Rational man and Seneca the most Moral man that ever the Heathen-world saw yet the one kept his Strumpet and the other was a biting Usurer to their dying day Oh bungling Nature that was screwed up ad ultimum potentiae to her highest peg in those her two darlings yet could she not redress those evils nor can she act any thing in a gracious manner or acceptable to God Wo
to us should Salvation depend upon her actings Therefore Austin saith well Sub laudibus Naturae latent inimiâ—i Gratiae Cryers up of Nature are always enemies to Grace 11. The third grand Question in order to your undeceiving to be answered is How doth Moral Civility differ from true Gospel-Sanctity To this I answer You may know that your Civility and Moral Honesty and a well-ordered Conversation towards men doth only grow upon and flow from the stock of Nature and not of Grace or from some supernatural Principles infused into your â—eart not from any New-birth or Spirit of â—anctification that sanctifies and renews the whole Man Body Soul and Spirit 1 Thes 5. â—3 and so is no better than a wild Olive Rom. 11. 17. 24. by these following Characters First If you be civil only and not thus sanctified you will be top-ful of spiritual â—lindness Ignorance and vain Imaginations â—bout the things of God and the good of your Soul You will then look upon Faith as an â—asiâ— work 't is only believe and on Salvation â—s a work of no such difficulty as is pretended seeing that God is as you will then think All Mercy and the tender of this Mercy is to â—ll and 't is but crying at the last gasp Lord â—ave mercy upon me and this will be enough to vast you over into Heaven These and such-like â—otten Reasonings will abound in your ignoâ—ant Soul whereas none can read the new Name â—ave only they that receive it Revel 2. 17. And â—hese receivers do read no otherwise than that â—oth Faith and Salvation are matters of very great difficulty their own Experience and â—he truth of Gods Word doth meet exactly â—ogether and they do smartingly finde 1. That it requires as much Almighty Power â—o work Faith in their hearts as to raise Christ from the dead Ephes 1. 19 20. And 2. that the righteous themselves are scarcely faâ—â—â— 1 Pet. 4. 18. that is they have much ado to â—et to Heaven 12. The second Character is Civility wanders in general Duties only but mindes not special Duties such as Self-examination Self-abhorrency c. And it consists more in the Negative than in the Positive part of the Law yea and is more conversant in the Duties of the second Table than of the first Whereas true Sanctity is of a more extensive property and observes special Duties such as Self-trial Self-denial c. as well as general yea and doth make Conscience of both Tables and parts of the Law to wit 't is for the Positive part as well as for the Negative and is as much for Holiness to God as for Righteousness to Man The third Character briefly is Civility or Moral Honesty takes cognizance of those sins only that make a great noise both in the Courts of the world and in the Court of Conscience yet while it scruples at Murder Adultery Drunkenness c. called the Filthiness of the flesh 2 Cor. 7. 1. all along overlooks the filthiness of spirit such as privy Pride secret Hypocrisie Security in an evil state Formality in Duty c. which make but little noise in the world and less noise in the Conscience Small and secret sins which lye not in view upon the borders of the Isle of man but lye up in the heart of the Countrey undiscerned undiscovered those Civility overlooks but true Sanctity in the man whose eyes are opened Numb 24. 3. may not will not cannot do so The fourth Character is Civility will venture no further for its piety than may consist with its peace it likes neither foul way nor foul weather in its passage and progress to its long home 'T is exactly of the Duke of Bourbon's minde who told Beza he would adventure no further into the Sea of Religion than to get safe home to shore at night The fifth Character is Civility can never count all its own Duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Dogs-meat as Phil. 3. 6. 8. For this is a piece of natural Popery born with us to be Saviours to our selves and to be saved by our own Righteousness and not by the Righteousness of another to wit of Christ 13. The sixth Character is Where Civility is alone without Sanctity there is always retained an Enmity in them against all those that over-run them in the practick part of Godliness and that spend more time for God and the good of their Souls than they do such persons will proclaim war against those zealous ones for being too precise and for being Righteous and Religious over-much Eccles 7. 16. Those Civilians would fain finde a more compendious way of worshipping God saying with wicked Jeroboam 'T is too much for you to do so and so 1 Kin. 12. 28. Religiosum oportet esse non religatum you need not be so very strict and strait-laced in matters of Religion you may provide more for your owâ— ease and better accommodation Thus theâ— do plainly slander the sweet Laws of Christ'â— Kingdom and the pleasant ways of heavenlâ— wisdome Prov. 3. 17. as if too heavy bondâ— and too sharp cords Psal 2. 3. not knowinâ— that Christ's yoke is easie and his burden lighâ— Matth. 11. 29 30. and therefore not to bâ— cast away no more than their own Garterâ— or Girdles Thus also those Devout persons were Opposers of Paul for his out-runninâ— them in his Devotion Acts 17. 17 18. Anâ— 't is very observable that no Church could bâ— founded by the Apostle at Athens the moâ—â— famous City for Wisdome in all Greece foâ— they were too wise to be saved by the foolishnesâ— of Preaching 1 Cor. 1. 23. those wise Greeâ— foolishly jeared at Jesus and the Resurrection 〈◊〉 at a couple of strange gods Acts 17. 18. 2â— their Philosophy and Enmity to the Power 〈◊〉 Godliness consisted together The seventâ— and last Character is Civility can never maâ— Gods Glory its ultimate End as true Sanctiâ— doth but its utmost Aim alas is onely foâ— pacifying but not at all for purifying the Conscience And the very height of its Ambitioâ— is to be pleasing and acceptable to men morâ— than to God Hence Augustine calls mere Civility splendidum Peccatum a shining Sin 14. The fourth great Question to be answered in order to your undeceiving is How may Restraining Grace be distinguished from Renewing Grace Answer 1. Restraining Grace is no more than an awful fear that God puts upon the Conscience of Man which constrains him to forbear that Sin which he doth not yet hate and to leave what he doth not yet loath Such a man is only chained up by his own fears the dread of God is upon him he is not yet changed from his sin As the Dog forbears the Carrion because his chain is too short or his Masters Cudgel is over him Whereas the grand Evangelical Motive is not formidine poenae sed virtutis amore fear of punishment but love to Christ Joh. 14. 15. If â—ye love me keep my Commandments and this Love
comply with the Law of God there is a law in the mind Rom. 7. 23. which is writ in the heart Hebr. 8. 10. this is call'd a Law because it carries an authority with it and sways down the Soul into a conformity to the will of God this makes the sound heart to love Gods precepts because they are pure Psal 119. 140. and inclines it as a strong byass stronger then all the external motives to love the Gospel for the Gospels sake Whereas the Hypocrite doth onely uti Deo ut fruatâ—â— Mundo use God to enjoy the world as Austin saith Thus Jehu obey'd Gods will but it was that he might attain to a Crown and Kingdom The 2. Character is such as deceive themselves with false and seeming grace never look for nor labour after true and saving grace such never search nor suspect themselves Judas came lagging in at last saying Master is it I Such never put themselves under a serious and strict scrutiny saying Am I yet got beyond the attainments of an Hypocrite Holy jealousie is a blessed frame of spirit and a solemn suspicion of being deceived is a comfortable sign of a sound sincerity He that never doubted never truely believed and such as go on in an uninterrupted estate blessing themselves all along with bare shows of grace have a dangerous symptome of destruction upon them Until Egypts dough was spent God gave no Mauna and so long as the Bridegrooms wine lasted Christ turned no water into wine The 3. Character is False grace is never comforted with Gods presence such hearts dare never set themselves solemnly in the sight of divine Omnisciency as Job did Job 31. 6. and David Psal 139. 23 24. and Peter Joh. 21. 17. sincere Souls all for they know though they may deceive men they cannot deceive God Gal. 6. 7. whereas true Grace dare appeal to Omnisciency about the general frame of the heart Though it undoubtedly trembles in that Appeal for its frequent frailties as Job 42.5 6. yet is it confident its Integrity will carry weight for though it may depart from God out of weakness yet never out of wickedness Psal 18.21 and though acts yet not ways of wickedness be found in it Psal 139.24 6. The fourth Character is false grace is never attended with humility if the more you profess the prouder you grow you have just cause to suspect your self but with true grace the more Holy you are the more humble you will be as the Centurion Matth. 8. 8. Luk. 7. 7. Notional knowledge puffeth up as above but the divine light of saving knowledge shining into a dark heart 2 Pet. 1. 19. discovers your ignorance that there is more you know not than that you know this humbles the people thought the Centurion worthy yea and Christ himself thought the man worthy yet the man doth think himself unworthy The more experimental knowledge you have the more sense of your own ignorance you will have also and the more faith the more sense of your unbelief Prov. 30. 2 3. 1 Cor. 8. 2. Mark 9. 24. 'T is a blessed frame to be kept hungry and humble under an Enjoyment of grace crying Lord I still want this grace and that grace The fifth and last Character is false grace never grows unless it be worse and worse guilded things loose their lustre and glory by wearing and pretences to grace do ratheâ— wither than thrive or prosper God complaineth that they went backward rather then forward Jerem. 7. 24. False grace like bad salt looseth gradually its own Acrimony and smartness until it be cast to the dunghill whereas true grace as a grain of mustard-seed grows to a tree from a morning glimpse to a perfect day Prov. 4. 18. from smoaking flax to a burning flame Matth. 12. 20. Nicodemus grows from timerousness to boldness Joh. 3. 1 2. 19. 39. when Judas with all his goodly shews of grace did dwindle into nothing if there be never so little meal in the barrel never so little Oil in the Cruise yet it being fed with a supply from heaven multiplies into abundance if you grow from fervency to formality from strictness to looseness if you can loose the sweetness of your spirit without remorse 't is a shrewd sign but if you have received grace in the truth of it then you grow 1. formâ in loveliness to Christ 2. Suavitate bringing sweeter Cane to God Isa 43. 24. 3. Robore better rooted the house of David growing stronger 1 Sam. 3. 1. And fourthly vigore every grace that is feeble will be nourish'd Hebr. 12. 13. you then grow both in kind and degree growing youth oft measure themselves they have better appetites than older people 7. The third deceit which is the third enquiry is your taking and mistaking common grace for special that you may be undeceived know that there is a common grace which is 1. more than civility it being of a more evangelical and heavenly nature than civility is 2. 'T is more than restraining grace which is conversant onely about sins and duties out of a servile awe and fear of God but this seemeth to carry out the Soul with some raised affections and love to Christ 3. 'T is more than meer outward gifts which raise up a man above ordinary onely for an usefulness to others but this seems to renew the man and make him another man than he was before 4. 'T is more than seeming grace or formality which hath onely verisimilia seeming true but not vera really true a meer shew and shadow of godliness but This is a real work upon the Soul as Hebr. 6. 4 5. declareth being not onely an enlightening work and a partaking of gifts but also some Spiritual tast of the sweetness of Christ and of the powers of the world to come yet observe all this amounted not to special grace in three things 1. Their light was not humbling there is mention of their enlightening but not a word of their humbling the more of saving light is let into the Soul the more self-abasement doth that light beget there the more precious that Christ is in our eyes the more vile we are in our own eyes they closed with Christ in a way of pride and presumption onely 2. Their gifts were not renewing and sanctifying they made them useful to the Church but did not change their hearrs they were tinkling cymbals in their lovely expressions but not vessels of gold in any divine and lively impressions their Speech and Spirit did not walk hand in hand together 3. Their tast was neither refreshing nor ravishing it did not draw the Soul after a farther and fuller enlargement and enjoyment of Christ they had but sleight and loose desires after Christ and Salvation bare glances of heavenly glory may stir up an overly wish even in a very Sorcerer causing him to say Oh let me dye the death of the righteous Numb 23. 10. but this falls far short of those serious longings
of Soul after Christ and after grace and strength to serve him with our spirits in the Gospel of Christ Rom. 1. 9. 'T was alas but a tast they had as a Cook may tast of his Masters sawce but he lets none go down their tast neither refreshed nor ravished them as a right tast of Christ doth Psal 34. 8. a little makes us long for more it makes us long for larger Communion with Christ in his graces as well as in his comforts 8. Common Grace is distinguishable from special Grace 1. As it comes from a common Original as from Illumination Conviction c. Common things to the bad as well as the good if sitting alike under the droppings of the Sanctuary where the Hammer of the Word is always battering Though some there be which as the Anvile grow harder by beating yet others there be that cannot bear off the blow but as Herod Mark 6. 20. are wrought on and brought up to do many things This is found in Servants as well as in Sons You must labour for that Grace which never was nor ever can be given to a Reprobate The Original Cause of Grace is threefold 1. Primary 2. Meritorious 3. Immediate As to the Primary Cause first Special Grace flows from Election from the Electing Love of God Ephes 1. 3 4 5. But common Grace comes not from God as he gives out Elective Love to some but as he is the Authour of common Gifts to many Secondly The Meritorious Cause Special Grace is from Christ as a Redeemer of those that receive it Common Grace is from Christ as a Benefactor to them that receive it and though as a Redeemer yet not as their Redeemer 3ly The Immediate and next efficient Cause of special Grace is the indwelling Spirit called the Seed of God 1 Joh. 3. 9. and The Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. A living principle from the life of God Ephes 4. 18. But the next efficient Cause of common Grace is the Spirit only assisting but not indwelling casting some supernatural light upon the Soul of man The second difference 'twixt Common and Special Grace is Common Grace is seated in a common spirit so called because it cannot do more than others Mat. 5. 47. Such a Spirit cannot do any singular things for God and such as are above a common and ordinary Attainment Hence it is that when Special Grace loseth its lustre and an overly Indifferency seiseth upon the Soul 't is hard to distinguish it from common Grace save only That special Grace is sensible of it and bewails it but common Grace is too too-well contented with it But Caleb was of another and better Spirit Numb 14. 24. The third Difference Common Grace hath only common effects their profession of Godliness and performance of Duties are but common things flowing rather from a work on them than in them 't is rather a forced than a natural work from a new Nature 't is rather a flash than a fire of divine affection a transient motion but no abiding principle The truths of the Word which they sit under passes through them as water through a Conduit-pipe leaves only a dew but sinks not in as rain-water into the earth to make it fruitful a bare taste of any dish though never so good nourishes not into strength and stature Therefore hath it 4. Common defects as 1. It mindes not the intrinsecal wickedness of the heart Nor 2. The spiritual exactness of the Law 3. Common Grace mindes mostly Negative Precepts 4. If positive not in their full extent as to occasions and circumstances 5. 'T is a stranger to the mystery of the new birth 6. 'T is without fear of being deceived being more exercised in Self-flattery than in Self-reflection using rather the false glasses of Satan than the Spectacles of the Spirit 7. 'T is always barren If Grace be not right in respect of its root it must always be defective in respect of the fruit so comes to nothing at last Heb. 6.6 7. 2 Pet. 2.20 This is the Grace that may finally be fallen from Time and Temptation wears off the gilt and turns seeming Sanctity into real Sensuality many young Saints Seraphick in their Knowledge and seeming to have their eyes fixed to the Stars prove but old Devils and fall at last into the pit of Sensuality Oh keep your hearts c. FINIS