Grace Iudas carried the bag he was good for nothing else and a rich Man laden with thick clay having outward things in abundance is good for no body but himself so true it is that as Greatness and Goodness so Gold and Grace â—eldom meet together To beware of erronious Doctrine IT is recorded by Theodoret that when Lucius an Arrian Bishop came and preached amongst the Aâ—tiochians broaching his damnable errours the People forsook the Congregation at least for the present having indeed been soundly taught before by worthy Athanasius Thus it were to be wished that the People of this age had their wits thus exercised to distinguish betwixt truth and falshood then false doctrines would not thrive as they do now amongst us and Errours though never so closly masked with a pretence of zeal would not so readily be received for Truths as now they are by the Multitude nor so much countenanced by those that make profession of better things Atheism punished IT was somewhat a strange punishment which the Romans inflicted upon Parricides they sewed them up in a mail of leather and threw them into the Sea yet so that neither the water of the Sea could soak through nor any other Element of Nature earth air or fire approach unto them And certainly every Creature is too good for him that denyes the Creator nor can they be further separated from Heaven or pitched deeper into Hell than they deserve that will believe neither The God they deny shall condemn them and those Malignant spiritâ— whom they never feared shall torment them and that for ever Truth beloved in the generall but not in the particular AS the Fryer wittily told the People that the Truth he then preached unto them seemed to be like Holy-water which every one called for a pace yet when it came to be cast upon them they turned aside their face as though they did not like it Just so it is that almost every Man calls fast for Truth commends Truth nothing will down but Truth yet they cannot endure to have it cast in their faces They love Truth in universali when it onely pleads it selfe and shewes it self but they cannot abide it in particulari when it presses upon them and shewes them themselves they love it lucentem but hate it redarguentem they would have it shine out unto all the world in its glory but by no means so much as peep out to reprove their own errors The confident Christian. THe Merchant adventurer puts to Sea rides out many a bitter storm runs many a desperate hazard upon the bare hope of a gainful return The valiant Souldier takes his life into his hands runs upon the very mouth of the Cannon dares the Lion in his Den meerly upon the hope of Victory Every Man hazards one way or other in his Calling yet are but uncertain venturers ignorant of the issue But so it often falls out that the greedy Adventurer seeking to encrease his stock loseth many times both it and himself The covetous Souldier gaping after spoil and Victory findeth himselfe at last spoiled captivated But the confident Christian the true child of God runs at no such uncertainty he is sure of the Goal when he first sets out certain of the day before he enter the field sounds the Trumpet before victory and when he puts on his harnesse dares boast as he that puts it off witnesse Davids encounter with Goliah Gedeons march against the Midianites and the christian resolution of those three Worthies Dan. 3. 17. To take Time while time serves IT was a curious observation of Cardinal Bellarmine when he had the full prospect of the Sun going down to try a conclusion of the quicknesse of its motion took a Psalter into his hand And before saith he I had twice read the 51 Psalm the whole body of the Sun was set whereby he did â—onclude that the Earth being twenty thousand thousand miles in compasse the Sun must needs run in half a quarter of an hour seven thouâ—and miles and in the revolution of twenty four hours six hundred seventy two thousand miles a large progresse in so short a time And herein though the Cardinal's compute as well as his doctrin in debates Polemicall doth very much fall short of truth yet his experience in this gives some proof of the extraordinary swiftnesse of the Suns motion Is then the course of the Sun so swift is time so passant then let time be as pretious lay hold upon all opportunity of doing good labour while it is day for night will come and time will be no more The Sun was down before the Cardinal could twice read the Psalm Miserere mei Deus and the light of thy life such is the velocity thereof may be put out before thou canst say once Lord be mercifull to me a sinner The workings of God and Man very different THe first and highest Heaven drawes by its motion the rest of the Planets and that not by a crooked but by a right motion yet the Orbs of the planets so moved move of themselves obliquely If you enquire whence is the obliquity of this motion in the Planets Certainly not from the first mover but from the nature of the Planets Thus in one and the same manner Man aimes at one end God at another the same that man worketh sinfully God worketh most holily and therefore they work idem but not ad idem The motion of our wills do exceedingly vary from Gods will and seem to drive a contrary end than that which God aimeth at yet are they so over-ruled by his power that at last they meet together and bend that way where he intendeth A wicked life hath usually a wicked end THere is a story of one that being often reproved for his ungodly and vitious life and exhorted to repentance would still answer That it was but saying three words at his death and he was sure to be saved perhaps the three words he meant were Miserere meî Deus Lord have mercy upon me But one day riding over a bridge his horse stumbled and both were falling into the River and in the article of that precipitation he onely cryed Capiat omnia diabolus Horse and man and all to the devill Three words he had but not such as he should have had he had been so familiar with the devill all his life that he thinks of none else at his death Thus it is that usually a wicked life hath a wicked end He that travells the way of hell all his life-time it is impossible in the end of his journey he should arrive at heaven A worldly man dies rather thinking of his gold than his God some die jeering some raging some in one distemper some in another Why They lived so and so they die But the godly man is full of comfort in his death because he was full of heaven
so about building a Vessel of such bulk and bignesse to prolong his life for so short a time And if it must needs be done I may go and take pleasure for these hundreth years yet and then set upon it twenty or ten years before and get more help then and dispatch it the sooner But Noah did not he could not he durst not defer the doing of it but fells his wood sawes out his planks hewes out his timber and so falls to work The same case is ours God foretells us that a second general destruction shall come not by Water but by Fire the fiercer Element of the twain which even Heathens have taken notice of And that none shall then be saved but those that have a spirituall Temple or Sanctuary built in their Souls an house for the blessed Spirit to dwell in as hard and difficult a work as ever the making of the Ark was For before the spiritual building can be raised we must pull down an old Frame of the Devills rearing that standeth where it must stand and rid the place of the rubbish and remainders of it Let us then fall to work betime we are so far from being able to promise to our selves a hundreth years that we cannot assure our selves of one hour no not of one minute Likenesse to be a motive to lovelinesse THe Naturall Philosophers and others write of a monstrous bird called an Harpy which having the face of a Man is of so fierce and cruel nature that being hunger-bitten will seize upon a Man and kill him but afterwards making to the water to quench her thirst and there espying her own face and perceiving it to be like the Man whom she had devoured is so surprized with grief that she dies immediately Thus our likenesse to Christ and his likenesse to us in all things sin onely excepted ought to be an argument of Love not of hatred Birds of a feather will flock and keep together Beasts though by Nature cruel yet will defend those of their kind How much more should one Man love another bear with one another and stand by one another in the midst of any dangâ—r or difficulty whatsoever they being all fellow-members of that mystical body whereof Christ Iesus is the Head Spirituall and corporall blindnesse their difference A Blind Boy that had suffered imprisonment at Glocester not long before was brought to Bishop Hooper the day before his death Mr. Hooper after he had examin'd him of his Faith and the cause of his imprisonment beheld him very steadfastly and tears standing in his eyes said unto him Ah poor boy God hath taken from thee thy outward sight upon what consideration he in his Divine wisdome best knowes but hath given thee another sight much more pretious For he hath endued thy Soul with the spirituall eye of understanding O happy change doubtlesse there is a wide difference betwixt corporeall and spiritual blindness though every Man be blind by Nature yet the state of the spiritually blind is more miserable then that of the other blind The bodily blind is led either by his Servant Wife or Dogg but the spiritually blind is mis-led by the World the Flesh and the Devill The one will be sure to get a seeing guide but the other followes the blind guidance of his own lusts till they both tumble into the ditch The want of corporal eyes is to many divinum bonum albeit humanum malum but the want of Faith's eyes is the greatest evill which can befall Man in this life For Reason is the Soul 's left eye Faith the right eye without which it is impossible to see the way to God Heb. 11. 6. Good Conscience a Mans best Friend at the last IT is a witty Parable which one of the Fathers hath of a Man that had three Friends two whereof he loved intirely the third but indifferently This Man being called in question for his life sought help of his Friends The first would bear him company some part of his way The second would lend him some money for his journey and that was all they would or could do for him But the third whom he least respected and from whom he least expected would go all the way and abide all the while with him yea he would appear with him and plead for him This Man is every one of us and our three Friends are the Flesh and the World and our own Conscience Now when Death shall summon us to Judgment What can our Friends after the Flesh do for us they will bring us some part of the way to the grave and further they cannot And of all the Worldly goods which we possesse What shall we have What will they afford us Onely a shrowd and a coffin or a Tomb at the most But welfare a good Conscience that will live and die with us or rather live when we are dead and when we rise again it will appear with us at Gods Tribunal And when neither Friends nor a full purse can do us any good then a good Conscience will stick close to us The captivated Soul restless till it be in Christ Iesus THere is mention made of a certain Bird in Egypt near the River Nilus called Avis Paradisi for the beauty of its feathers having in it as we say all the colours of the Rainbow the Bird of Paradise which hath so pleasant and melodious notes that it raiseth the affections of those that hear it Now this Bird if it chance to be any way ensnared or taken it never leaves mourning and complaining till it be delivered Such is the Soul of every Regenerate Man if it be taken by Sathan or overtaken by the least of Sins weaknesse or infirmity it is restlesse with the Spouse in the Canticles no sleep shall come into the eye nor any slumber to the eye-lids till Reconciliation be made with God in Christ Iesus Sin of a dangerous spreading Nature A Mongst many other diseases that the body is incident unto there is one that is called by the name of Gangrena which doth altogether affect the joynts against which there is no remedy but to cut off that joynt where it settled otherwise it will passe from joynt to joynt till the whole body is endangered Such is the nature of Sin which unlesse it be cut off in the first motion it proceedeth unto action from action to delectation from delight unto custome and from that unto habite which being as it were a second Nature is never or very hardly removed without much prayer and fasting Lex talionis MAxentius that cruel Tyrant coming with an Army against Constantine the Great To deceive him and his Army he caused his Souldiers to make a great bridge over Tyber where Constantine should passe and cunningly laid planks on the Ships that when the Army came upon the planks the ships should sink and so
small Vessel who but a little before wanted Sea-room for his Navy But if ever there was a lively spectacle of the Worlds Vanity and misery it was in Zedekiah This is the Worlds inconstancy the Worlds grand Impostury the Flux and reflux of Honours and advancement Men erewhile shining in glory like Stars in the Firmament now vanishing like Comets How hath the Moon of great Mens honours been eclipsed at the Full and the Sun of their pomp gone down at Noon such is the incertainty of all Worldly honours and preferments whatsoever God fetching testimonies of Truth out of the mouths of Adversaris THe Egyptian Sorcerers were forced to confesse that the finger of God was in the miracles that Moses wrought before Pharaoh Nebuchadnezzar as stiff as he was against the three Children yet when they are freed from the flames God extorteth this speech from him That no god could deliver like their God The Wife of Haman as ill-affected as she was towards Mordecai yet she saith If Mordecai be of the seed of the Iews before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shalt not prevail against him The Officers that were sent to apprehend Christ instead of bringing Him they brought a testimony of him Never Man spake like this Man But to come nearer Stephen Gardiner sometimes a great Man of this Nation and Bishop of Winchester lying on his Death-bed and the Bishop of Chichester his old acquaintance coming to visit him When the promises of the Gospel and salvation by the blood of Christ was laid to his Soul made answer Nay if you open that gap once then farewell all Not much unlike hereunto is the close of that learned Cardinal who after the expence of many Arguments to the contrary concludes Sed propter incertitudinem propriae justitae et periculum inanis gloriae â—utissimum est c. that because of the uncertainty of our own Righteousnesse and the danger of vain-glory the most safe way is to rely upon the Merits of Christ Iesus Thus it is that God can fetch light out of darknesse testimonies of Truth out of the mouths of very Adversaries Magna est veritas et praevalebit so great is the Truth that it will prevail and so powerful is God that he hath not onely the tongues of Men but their hearts also and turns them as the Waters of the South which way soever he please so that Balaam shall blesse those whom Balaac curseth and the Midianites thrust their swords into one anothers bowels Mad-men must they needs be then to lock up the Truth for it will break forth maugre all opposition whatsoever God the onely searcher of the Heart of Man THe Poets feign That when Iupiter had made Man and was delighted with his own beauteous Fabrick he asked Momus What fault he could espy in that curious Piece what out of square or worthy blame Momus commended the proportion the complexion the disposition of the lineaments the correspondence and dependance of the parts and in a word the symmetry and harmony of the whole He would see him go and liked the motion He would hear him speak and praised his voice and expression But at last he spyed a fault and asked Iupiter whereabout his Heart lay He told him within a secret Chamber like a Queen in her privy lodging whither they that come must first passe the great Chamber and the Presence there being a Court of guard Forces and Fortifications to save it shadows to hide it that it might not be visible Thâ—re then is the fault saith Momus thou hast forgotten to make a Window into this Chamber that Men might look in and see what the Heart is a doing and whether her Recorder the Tongue do agree with her meaning Thus Man is the Master-piece of Gods Creation exquisitely and wonderfully made but his Heart is close and deceitful above all things Had he but pectus Fenestratum a glasse-window in his heart How would the black devices which are contrived in tenebris appear palpably odious How would the coals of festring Malice blister the tongues and scald the lips of them that imagine mischief in their hearts Then it would be seen how they pack and shufflle and cut and deal too but it is a poor game to the Innocent In the mean time let all such know that the privy Chamber of the Heart hath a window to Gods though not to Man's or Angels inspection The Vnion and fellowship of Gods Children one with another THe least drop of Water hath the nature of its Element hath the entire properties of it partakes of the round figure of that Element and best agrees and unites it self to Water In like manner it is with Fire and the rest of the Elements being Homogeneall bodies every part doth suscipere rationem totius participate of the name and Nature of the whole shuns what is contrary to that Nature and most willingly gathers it self to that which is of the same kind So it is with the true members of that mystical body whereof Christ is the head such is the Union Unanimity association and fellowship of the People of God one amongst another that they cannot suffer themselves to be combined with wicked persons and unbelievers No they will associate none unto themselves by their good-wills who are not endowed with Grace and goodnesse and a godly conversation being the true qualities and marks of that true Church whereof they themselves are true Members Excellency of the Crown of glory MAny were the sorts of Crownes which were in use amongst the Romane Victors As first Corona Civica a Crown made of Oaken bowes which was given by the Romans to him that saved the life of any Citizen in battel against his Enemies 2. Obsidionalis which was of Grasse given to him that delivered a Town or City from siege 3. Muralis which was of Gold given to him that first scaled the Wall of any Town or Castle 4. Castralis which was likewise of Gold given to him that first entered the Camp of the Enemy 5. Navalis and that also of Gold given unto him that first boarded the Ship of an Enemy 6. Ovalis which was given to those Captains and that of Myrtle that subdued any Town or City or that won any Field easily without bloud 7. Triumphalis which was of Lawrell given to the chief General or Consull which after some signal Victory came home triumphing These with many other as Imperial Regall and Princely Crowns rather Garlands or Coroneâ—s then Crowns are not to be compared to the Crown of glory which God hath prepared for those that love him Who is able to expresse the glory of it Or to what glorious thing shall it be likened Ingenium fateor transcendit gloria If I had the Tongue of Men and Angells I were not able to decipher it as it worthily deserveth It is not onely a
sword we turn them against their Master and fight against Heaven with that health wir wealth friends means and mercies that we have from thence received Gods infinite Power in the Resurrection of the Body IN Queen Marie's daies the body of Martyr's wife was by the charity of that time taken out of her grave and buried in a dunghill in detestation of that great Schollar her husband sometimes Professour of Divinity in the University of Oxford But when the tide was once turned and that Queen Elizabeth of happy memory swayed the Scepter of this State her bones were reduced to their place and there mingled with the bones of St. Frideswide to this intent that if ever there should come an alteration of Religion in England again which God forbid then they should not be able to discern the ashes of the one from the other Thus Death hath mixt and blended the bodies of men women and children with the flesh of beasts birds and serpents hath tossed typed and turned their ashes both into aire and water to puzzle if possible the God of heaven and earth to find them again but all in vain He can call for a finger out of the gorge of an Eagle for a leg out of the belly of a Lion for a whole Man out of the body of a Fish If the devill or thy corrupt reason shall suggest that this is impossible make no other answer but this God is omnipotent God is infinite Fears of the losse of Gospell-light more at home than from abroad POpe Silvester when he was bid to beware of Ierusalem for that whensoever he should come thither he should surely dye he thereupon flattered himself that he should then live long enough for he was sure that he should never trevell thither little thinking that there was a Church in Rome of that name into which he had no sooner set his foot but he met with his evill Genius as Brutus did at Philippi and suddainly ended his wretched daies Now it is not Rome in Italy which we so much need to fear but Rome in England not Amsterdam in Holland but Amsterdam in England The Popish faction on one side and the Schismaticall party on the other side both of them fire-balls of dissention in the State and of schim in the Church to set all in a combustion Zeal and Knowledge must go hand in hand together PHâ—â—ton in the Poet takes upon him to drive the Charriot of the Sun but through his inconsiderate rashnesse sets the world in a combustion What a Horse is without a Rider or a hot-spur'd Rider without an Eye or a Ship in a high Wind and swelling sail without a Rudder such is Zeal without Knowledge Knowledge is the eye of the Rider that chooseth the best way the bridle in the hand to moderate the pace the rudder in the ship whereby it is steered safely St. Bernard hits full on this point Discretion without zeal is slow-paâ—ed and zeal without discretion is strong-headed let therefore zeal spur on disâ—retion and disoretion reyne in zeal Not so much the quantity as the quality of Devotion accâ—ptable to God IT is said of Saul Duobus annis regnavit that he reigned two years over Israel when notwithstanding according to the computation of men he reigned twenty but the Scripture reckons onely upon the dates of grace not counting those at all which either went before or followed after A Musitician is commended non tam multum sed tam bene not that he played so long but that he played so well And thus it is not the daies of our life but the goodnesse of our life not the length of our prayers but the fervency of our prayers not the measure of our profession but the sincerity of our profession that is acceptable unto God Almighty The deceitfulnesse of Riches HEe that sees a flock of birds sitting on his ground cannot make himselfe any assurance that therefore they are his own and that he may take them at his pleasure Thus he that hath riches and thinks himself fully possessed of them may be deceived and soon deprived of them a small spark of fire may set them flying a thiefe may steal them an unfaithfull servant may imbezle them a souldier a wrack at sea a bad debtor at land there 's a hundred waies to set them packing They have wings and hop from branch to branch from tree to tree from one man to another seldom to him that is the true owner of them Glory is to be given to God onely and why so THat workman should do ill who having built a house with another man's purse should go about to set up his own Arms upon the front thereof and in Iustinian's Law it was decreed That no workman should set up his name within the body of that building which he made out of another man's cost Thus Christ sets us all at work it is he that bids us to fast and pray and hear and give almes c. But who is at the cost of all this whose are all these good works Surely God's Man's poverty is so great that he cannot reach a good thought much lesse a good deed All the materialls are from God the building is His it is His purse that paid for it Give but therefore the glory and the honour thereof unto God and take all the profit to thy self God must be loved for himself onely YOu shall have a man scrape and crouch and keep a do with a man he never saw or knew before one that he is ready it may be when his back is turn'd to curse but yet he will do this for his almes for his gain to make a prey a use of him some way or other this man loves his almes loves his prey loveth his bounty but all this is no argument of love to the man Thus for a man to make towards God and to seem to own him and to be one of the generation of those that seek his face to addresse himself in outward conformity and many other things by which another may if he have no other ground judge charitably of him yet all this is nothing except a man may discern something that may give him a tast that his spirit doth uprightly and sincerely seek God that he loveth God for God himself that he loveth Grace for grace it self he loveth the Commandments of God because they are God's commandments c. And thus it is that our love our desire after God must be carried sincerely not for any by and base respâ—cts whatsoever Every motion towards God is not a true motion towards God THere be many things that move and yet their motion is not an argument of life A Windmill when the wind serveth moveth and moveth very nimbly too yet this cannot be said to be a living creature no it moveth only by an external cause by
will grow mad and then they tear their own flesh and rend themselves in pieces And it is so with the unbelieving Reprobate with all wicked men if they do but hear the noise of afflictions the very sound of sorrowes approaching how do they fret and fume and torment themselves nay by cursing and swearing how do they reâ—d the body of Christ from top to toe in pieces Malice and Envy not fit guests for God's Table ST Augustine could not endure any at his Table that should shew any malice against others in backbitings or detractings and had therefore two verses written on his Table to be as it were monitors to such as sat thereat that in such cases the Table was not for them Quisquis amat dictis absentâ—m rodere famam Hanc mensam vetitam noverit esse sibi Thus Englished He that doth love an absent friend to â—eer May hence depart no room is for him heer And how much lesse will the Lord endure any at his Table that come thither with malice and hatred against their brethren If love be required at our own Tables how much more will God require it in those that come to His Table When one man's heart swells with envy against another when a second is filled with malice and hatred this is not to eat the Lord's Supper but to eat one another this is not to sit at the Lord's Table but to be a guest at the table of devils Preparation to religious Duties must be free from worldly distractions IT was said of Sr. Wil. Cecill sometime Lord Treasurer of England that when he went to bed he would throw off his Gown and say Lye there Lord Treasurer as bidding adieu to all State-affairs that he might the more quietly repose himself So when we go to any Religious duty whether hearing or praying comming to the Lord's Table or in any other religious addresses whatsoever we should say Lie by world lie by all secular cares all houshold affairs all pleasures all traffick all thoughts of gain Lie by all adieu all We must now be as those that have nothing to do with the world for the time we must separate our hearts from all common uses that our hearts may be wholly for our God Dangerous to interpose with a divided People IT was once said to Luther when he was about interesting himself in seeking Reformation of those bad times Abi in cellam dic miserere nostri O Luther rather get you into your Cell and say Lord have mercy upon us And another being once asked why he did not write his judgment about the controversie of the time answered Cui usui Reipublicae cui bono mihi To what purpose it would not help the cause but much hazard him that should meddle And most true it is he that meddles with the divisions of the times may expect to be divided himself to have his name his repute cut assunder and thrown this way and that way It hath ever been an unthankfull work to meddle with a divided people a man may with as much safety put his hands into a nest of Hornets as to enterpose in the midst of such wild and unruly divisions as are now amongst us A good man is bettered by afflictions THe Bee is observed to suck out honey from the Thyme a most hard and dry herb So the good and faithful minded man sucketh knowledge and obedience from the bitter potion of adversity and the crosse and turneth all to the best The scouring and rubbing which frets others makes him shine the brighter the weight which crusheth others makes him like the Palm-tree grow the better the hammer which knocks others all in pieces makes him the broader and the larger In incude malleo dilatantur They are made broader on the Anvill and with the hammer although it be with the hammer yet dilatantur they are made to grow the wider The triall of faith is the enlargement of faith EXamination and tryall of a good Scholler hurts him not either in his learning or in his credit nay it advanceth him much in both his very examination rubs up his learning puts much upon him and sends him away with the approbation of others And thus in the tryall of faith there is an exercise of faith faith examined and tryed proves a faith strengthened and encreased Some things sometimes prove the worse and suffer losse by triall but the more faith is tryed the more faith is enlarged Unprofitable hearers of the Word described A Mariner when he takes his leave of his friends on thâ— shore sees them a while but when he is failed a little further then they are quite out of sight and he sees onely the houses then failing a little further he sees nothing but steeples and such high places but then sailing a little further nihil est nisi pontus aer he sees nothing but aire and water So it is with too too many unprofitable hearers of the Word it may be that when they are gon home from the Church there are some things fresh in memory but on the next day they have lost some but there are some other things that do yet present themselves before them and then they lose more and more till they have lost the sight of all no more of the Word appears then as if they had heard nothing at all All divisions are against Nature PHilosophers say Non datur vacuum there cannot be vacuity in the world the world could not stand but would be dissolved it every part were not filled because Nature subsists by being one if there were the least vacuity then all things should not be joyned in one there would not be a contiguity of one part with another This is the reason why water will ascend when the aire is drawn out of a pipe to fill it this is to prevent division in Nature O that we had but so much naturalnesse in us that when we see there is like to be any breach of union we would be willing to lay down our self-ends our self-interesâ—s and to venture our selves to be any thing in the world but sin that so we may still be joyning still uâ—iting and not rending from each other The hell of a guilty Conscience PHilo Iudaeus telleth that Flaccus plaid all the parts of cruelty that he could devise against the Iewes for their Religion's sake but afterward when the doom if Caligula fell upon him and he was banished to Andros an Island neer Greece he was so tormented with the memory of his bloody iniquities and a fear of suffering for them that if he saw any man walking softly neer to him he would say to himselfe This man is devising to work my destruction If he saw any go hastily Surely it is not for nothing he maketh speed to kill me If any man spake him fair he
by Iohn Baptist afterwards by our Saviour personally and when they have killed that just One yet forty years shalâ— pass before it be quite destroyed Six dayes made the world but almost six thousand years have been afforded to it before the end overtake it Harmony of the Scriptures VVHen a man is drawing water out of a Wel it is Epiphanius his observation with two vessels of a different mettal the water at the first seemeth to be of a different colour but when he draweth up the Vessels nearer to him the diversity of colours vanish and the water appeareth to be of one and the same colour and when he tasteth them they have one and the same relish Thus although at the first sight there may seem to be some contradictions in the Scriptures yet when we look nearer and nearer into them and compare one place with another we shall find no contrariety in them no repugnancy at all but a perfect harmony and full consent of one place with another As the Patriarks relating to the promises made to Abraham before the Law the Prophets grounding themselves upon Moses under the Law and the faith of the Church relying upon the doctrine of the Apostles under the Gospel all of them agreeing in one nothing at all contradictory Reformation pretended Deformation intended THe Poet Aratus made this answer to one that asked him How he might have Homers Poems free from corruption faults Get saith he an old Copy not reformed and he gives this reason That curious wits labouring to amend things well done commonly quite mar them or at least make them worse Thus have the Innovators of our times done they have cryed out for Reformation Reformation both in Church and State but behold a Deformation they will not inquire for the good old way they will not write by any primitive Copy the Reformation must be in their own way And thus have they wrought the same mischiefe here which the turbulent Orators of Lacedemonia did in that Common-wealth so wisely settled by Licurgus his Lawes which whilst they took upon them to amend they miserably defaced and deformed Prayers not prevailing at present with God how to be regulated ANglers when they have long waited and perceive that nothing doth as much as nibble at the bait do not impatiently throw away the Rod or break the hook and line but pull up and look upon the bait and so throw it in again Thus should every good Christian do though he hath fished all night and caught nothing though he hath been much in prayers unto God yet after long expectation not a syllyble of comfort appearing no return made at all let him not break off his prayers but look to his prayers that they be not mingled with corruptions that they be not bare of grace naked of faith void of love c. and so mend them and no doubt but Christ will appear at a time he thinks not of with such a gracious answer as shall abundantly satisfie his longing expectation The great danger of security in times of danger DIodorus Siculus writeth that in Aethiopia there is a people of that quality that they are not at all moved with the speech of them who sayl by them or with the sight of strangers approaching to them but onely looking upon the earth they use to stand unmoveable as if their senses took knowledge of no man If any saith he should strike them with a drawn sword they fly not but bear the blows neither is any of them moved with the vvounds or hurts of another but oftentimes they behold their Wives and Children slain before their faces vvithout any reluctancy at all An insensible sort of people surely they are if any such there be which hardly can be believed yet are not vve the same Many years last past the sword hath been glutted vvith eating of flesh and drinking of German blood and what the sword left famine seized on Which of us vvere then affected with those things or remembred Joseph in those his sad affictions Who did think that his part was in that Tragedy his share in that bargain or that ever that cup should come to him to tast on but so it is that we who were then idle spectators are now made sad Actors we that were like so many Gallioes as it were men caring not for those things as men unconcerned are now encompassed on all sides and ripe for destruction if God in mercy prevent not Promises of the Gospel are the poor mans supporter THe Fishermans Net is so framed that there are leaden waights to make it sink at the bottom and Corks to make it swim on the top And thus it is that the leaden heavy weight of poverty and wordly crâ—sses keep the poor man down and make him ready to sink under the burthen were it not for the comfortable promises of the Gospel that buoy up his confidence and make him swim and hold up his head above all opposition whatsoever Rasâ— inconsiderate Preaching condemned IT is said of Archbishop Whitguift that though he preached often yet he never durst adventure into the Pulpit but he first wrote his Notes in Latine and afterwards kept them by him during his life And he would say himself That whosoever took that pains before his preaching the elder he waxed the better he would discharge that duty but he if he trusted to his memory onely his Preaching in time would become pratling What shall we then say to those that rush into the Pulpit without any preparation at all that presume upon a dabitur in illa hora so that quicqnid in buccam out comes that which lies uppermost whether sense or non-sense all 's one running like an Horse with an empty Cart over Hedge and Ditch till the Hour-glass stop them It was the complaint of S. Ierome of such shallow brains in his Comment on Ecclesiastes 9. 11. Nam videas in Ecclesia imperitissimos quosque florere c. You may see how in the Church the most ignorant are most esteemed and because they have profited in boldness of front and volubility of tongue they are accompted the onely Preachers of the time and to speak truth Impudence and Ignorance are the onely qualifications of such Preachers It is Man not God that changeth THe Sun hath but one simple act of shining yet do we not see that it doth unite clay and straw dissolve Ice and water it hardens clay and melteth wax it makes the flowers to smell sweetly and a dead Corps to scent loathsomly the hot fire to be colder and the cold water hotter cures one man with its heat yet therewith kills another What 's the reason the cause is in the severall objects and their divers dispositions and constitutions and not in the Suns act of shining which is one and the same thing or tell a Looking-glass be set in the Window Will it not represent
their Trade in the largenesse of their Incomes in the greatnesse of their Revenewes O! but the light of Gods countenance Benjamins cup whether it be Scyathum gratiae a cup of grace with St. Ambrose or calicem benedictionis a cup of blessing with the Apostle this silver-cup this grace-cup is the portion of none but Benjamin it is reserved onely for Benjamin for the sons of God and the children of his right hand that grow and flourish under the wing and shadow of his protection To be active in the service of God JOsephs brethren stood so long dallying and delaying and trifling out the time that having a journey to buy corn they might have returned twice before they went once Elizeus when Eliah called him went about the bush and must needs go bid his father and mother farewell before he could follow the Prophet But 〈◊〉 every good Christian when he is called of God to professe his Religion not stand shall I shall I temporizing and circling and consulting with flesh and blood and fetching a compasse about but be alwaies prest and ready to act and do the will of God and not onely to be bound but if he be thereunto called to die for the Lord Iesus Sin attendant on the best of religious performances THere goes a tradition of Ovid that famous Poet receiving some countenance from his own confession that when his father was about to beat him for following the pleasant but unprofitable study of Poetry he under correction promised his father never more to make a verse and made a versein his very promise probably the same but certainly more elegant for composure than this verse which common credulity hath taken up Parce precor genitor posthac non verâ—iâ—icabo Father on me pitty take Verses I no more will make Thus when we so solemnly promise our heavenly Father to sin no more we sin in our very promise our weak prayers made to procure our pardon increase our guiltinesse we say our prayers as the Iewes did eat the Passeover all in haste And whereas in bodily action motion is the cause of heat clean contrary the more speed we make in our prayers the colder we are in our devotion so that sin is a close attendant on the best of our religious performances Not so much to eye the Creature as the Creator in all occurrents XErxes the Persian Monarch having received a losse by the rage of Hellespontus himself more mad than the sea caused fetters and manacles to be cast into the waters thereof as if he would make it his prisoner and bind it with links of iron at his pleasure Darius did the like upon the river Gynde who because it had drowned him a white horse threatned the river to divide it into so many streams and so to weaken the strength of it that a woman great with child should go over it drie-shod And there were people in Affrica that went out to fight with the North-wind because it drave heaps of sand upon their fields and habitations Such is the madnesse of our daies if we be crossed with wet or drie wind or rain fair or foul weather we fall a cuâ—sing and banning repining and murmuring at the Creatures like a dog that biteth the stone and never looketh after the hand that threw it we cast our eye not upon the Agent God but upon the Instruments 〈◊〉 Creatures which cannot do us the least harm till they have a commission from him so to do To have particular safety in the midst of generall dangers is impossible THe best man in the voyage cannot be safe in the cabbin under hatches when the whole ship is ready to be drowned under water nor can the spider be secure in his web when the whole window is pulled down nor the young bird be out of danger in the nest when the whole arm of the tree is torn off Thus all private mens interests are ventured in the bottom of the Common-wealth and all Common-wealths in the great vessell of the Earth which was once swallowed up with a deluge of Water and shall be ere it be long with a conflagration of fire What folly then or rather madnesse is it for any private man to look for safety in the midst of a publick danger to dream of perpetuâ—â—â—â— and certainties and indefeizable estates for his own particular when the whole is in danger of a suddain destruction Temperance cannot preserve a mans life when God calls for it A Vessell of Wine or Beer kept for a mans own use or his speciall friend may hold out alâ—ng time being moderately drank off but if there come in such customers as are strong to drink strong drink that may be spent in a day which would have lasted a month So the life of man which otherwise with temperance and care might have lasted and spuâ— out to a full length of years that with Lessian dyet might have reached to a full period if God do but let in great drinkers as agues burning feavours plague c. it will be spent and gone on a suddain The sinner's care is more for his body than for his soul. IT is said that Swine especially the wild Bore are of that strange quicknesse of scent that if the hunts-man mean to shoot at him he must take the wind of him or else he will wind him out and be gone Now on the contrary they are not so sensible of the ill savour of a dung-hill nor the stench of mud and mire but rather take delight to lye wallowing therein esteeming it as a great recreation and refreshing unto them This is the figure of a filthy foul sinner who will flie a thousand miles from the perills and dangers of his body so that he may sleep in a whole skin he cares for no more but in the mean time takes delight and pleasures in those muckhills and dirty puddles which defile his soul. Worldly thoughts to be set aside before the receiving of the Sacrament ABraham when he went to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah seeing the place afar off said unto the young men that were with him Abide you here with the asse and I and the lad will go yonder and worship He saw and knew well enough that if they had gone along with him they would have distracted him troubled him and hindred him in the sacrifice they would have cryed out and have made such a noise they would have hung like so many weights upon his arms that with no freedom or quietnesse he could have performed the sacrifice And therefore when he saw the place afar off he prepared himselfe and bad them stay behind The like should our care be when we see the time afar off that we should receive the Sacrament especially when we see the time draw near and at hand the very evening before we then should set aside all our thoughts and businesse
then he is humble and patient and shewes nothing for a time but the prickles of repentance but let him be thrown into the waters of affliction or the fire of persecution then he sheweth himself what he hath in him which before was kept close Manna the heavenly food of God's Word how to relish it IT is observed that when the beak of the Eagle is grown so big that she cannot eat any meat so that thereupon the becommeth very poor and bare of her body she goeth to a rock and there she dasheth her beak so long against it till she have broke off the end of it and then she feeds with much more ease and so recovereth her strength again Thus when we have lost our taste and cannot relish that heavenly Mâ—nna the pretious food of our soules we must repair to the rock Christ Iesus and there knock off all those domineering lusts and disordered affections that irregularity of our wills and perversnesse of our judgments and then and not till then shall we taste how good the Lord is and come to our selves again The joyes of Gods Children invisible IT is St. Augustines own relation of a certain Gentile that shewed him his Idoll-Gods saying Here is my God Where is thine then pointing up at the Sun he said Loe here is my God where is thine so shewing himâ— divers Creatures still upbraided him with Here are my Gods where are thine But as the Father answered him I shewed him not my God not because I had not one to shew him but because he had not eyes to see him Thus the joyes of a Christian though they cannot be seen with bodily eyes though the wicked cannot so much as discern them yet is there nothing so delightful so comfortable as they are witness that Peace of Conscience that joy in the Holy Ghost which is so unspeakable such as eye hath not seen nor ear hath heard neither hath it entred into the heart of Man to conceâ—â—e them as they are Gods trial of his Children by Afflictions THere is a custome amongst the Germanes that they might know whether their Children were bastards or not to throw them in Fluvium Rhenum into the River of Rhine if they floated above then they acknowledged them to be their own but if the water carried them away then they esteemed of them but as bastards So God casts his Children into â—â—uâ—â—ina afflictionis floods of afflictions those that swim to Christ by a true and lively faith them he acknowledgeth as his but those which by the violence of lust are sunk and drencht in sin he looketh upon them as bastards not as Sons The silent coming of Gods spirit into the heart of Man RIvers that at first run out of the Sea are not heard because of the extraordinary noyse of the Ocean they run out no Man hearing them nor seeing the place where the main brancheth its selfe into Rivolets but as they run back into the Sea being swelled with the new access of Land-waters make a great noyse in their return Even so is the Spirit of God it comes quietly and silently into the heart of Man so that the Man that hath it knoweth not when it came to him of the day and hour knoweth he nothing yet at the return thereof unto God that gave it there is a voice of praise and thanksgiving Gods trial of his Children by cleansing their hearts VVHen the Queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom of Solomon 2 Chr. 10. the more to scarch out the same as the Rabbines do observe she dressed Boyes in Womens apparell and Girls in Mens apparell asking of him which were the Boyes and which the Girles whereupon he bids them all to wash their hands and their faces and those which he perceived to wash the more them he judged to be boyes the other girls Thus the Lord maketh a difference to be seen betwixt his children the children of light and the children of darkness by how much the more his children do purifie and cleanse themselves to be kept unspotted of the world it is not a little smearing will serve the turn with them but rather than they shall seem not to be sufficiently cleansed they will cry out with 〈◊〉 Amplius lava me Domine Lord wash me throughly c. Psal. 51. The Sinners security SUppose a Travailer in a stormy night should take up his lodging in some Cave in the Woods where are nothing but Serpents and Adders and such like venemous Creatures he because he sees them not sleeps as soundly as if he were at home in his own bed but when the morning comes and he sees what companions are about him he useth all the means possible and maketh all the haste he can to get away In the same case is every impeniâ—ent sinner beset with as many Serpents as he hath sins though he cannot see them and therefore fears them not but sleeps as soundly as if he were in Solomons bed about which was a guard of threescore thousand valiant Men of the valiant of Israel Cant. 3. 7. but when it shall once please God to open his eyes then he sees the dangerous condition of his Estate and labours to get out of it as fast as he can Man the best and the worst of Creatures THe Philosopher being asked which was the best member of the body answered The Tongue And being asked again Which was the worst answered The Tongue if good the onely Trumpet of Gods glory if bad a very Fire-brand of Hell So if it were asked Which Creature of God were the best the answer would be Man in honour before his fall And what the worst Creature Man in his fall which hath not understanding but is compared to beasts that perish The fall of Man described MAn was once the mirrour of all understanding the Hieroglyphick of wisdom but now quantum mutatus ab illo there is a great alteration we see that the tallest Trees first dye at the top and the highest Cedars have the greatest lapse So it hath happened in this Man of Men who at his Creation was Cedrus Paradisâ— Gods sweet wood but now aspiring up not onely through folly lop'd off from what he was but even cut down to the ground so that as it was said of the Philosopher Aristotelem in Aristotele and of Rome Roman in Roma quaerere So may we say of Man Hominem in Homine quaerere quaerentes non invenire for what was Imago dei the very Image of Heaven is now larva Diaboli the vizard of Hell he that was gloria terrae the glory of the Land is now inutile pondus the very burthen thereof He that was entituled Dominus mundi â—delitiae Domini the Worlds Lord and the Lords darling is now captivated and made a servant He that was Master of knowledge and wonder of Understanding perfect in the
found himselfe there And it is true that omnis homo Hypocrita every Man is an Hypocrite Hypocrisie is a lesson that every Man readily takes out it continues with age it appeares with infancy the wise and learned practise it the duller and more rude attain unto it All are not fit for the Wars Learning must have the pick't and choycest wâ—â—s Arts must have leasure and pains but all sorts are apt enough and thrive in the mystery of dissimulation The whole throng of Mankind is but an horse-fair of Cheaters the whole world a shop of counterâ—eit wares a Theater of Hypocriticall disguises The justice of God what it is and how defined IN the Raign of King Edward the first there was much abuse in the alnage of all sorts of Drapery much wrong done betwixt Man and Man by reason of the diversity of their measures every Man measuring his cloath by his own yard which the King perceiving being a goodly proper Man took a long stick in his hand and having taken the length of his own arm made Proclamation through the Kingdom that ever after the length of that stick should be the measure to measure by and no other Thus Gods Iustice is nothing else but a conformiâ—y to his being the pleasure of his Will so that the counsell of his Will is the standard of his Iustice whereby all Men should regulate themselves as well in commutative as distributive Iusâ—ice and so much the more Righteous than his Neighbour shall every Man appear by how much he is proximate to this Rule and lesse Righteous as he is the more remote Iustification by Christ the extent of it AS the Sun by his beams doth not onely expell cold but works heat and fruitfulnesse also Thus in the Iustification of a sinner repenting there 's a further reach then â—ollere peccata the taking away of sin there is also infusion of grace and virtue into the sinners heart The father of the Prodigall did not onely take off all his Sons rags but put on the best he had and a Ring on his finger And to say truth our Iustification doth not consist onely in the taking away of sin but in the imputation of Christs Righteousness and obedience for though the act be one yet for the manner it is two-fold 1. By privaâ—ion 2. By impâ—tation How is it that the proceedings of God in his Justice are not so clearly disâ—erned TAke a streight stick and put it into the water then it will seem crocked Why because we look upon it through two mediums air and water there lies the deceptio visus thence it is that we cannot discern aright Thus the proceedings of God in his Iustice which in themselves are streight without the least obliquity seem unto us crooked that wicked men should prosper and good men be afflicted that the Israelites should make the bricks and the Egyptians dwell in the houses that servants should ride on horse-back and Princes go on foot these are things that make the best Christians stagger in their judgements And way but because they look upon Gods proceedings though a double medium of Flesh and Spirit that so all things seem to go cross through indeed they go right enough And hence it is that Gods proceedings in his justice are not so well discerned the eyes of Man alone being not competent jugdes thereof Resolution in the cause of God very requisite IOhn Duke of Saxony who might have had the World at will if he would not have been a Christian resolved rather to pass by much difficulty nay rather death it selfe then â—o desert the cause of God which afterward he did heroically maintain against all opposition in three Imperiall Assemblies And when it was told him that he should lose the favour of the Pope and the Emperour and all the world besides if he stuck so fast to the Lutheran cause Here are two wayes said he I must serve God or the World and which of these do you think is the better And so put them off with this pleasant indignation Neither would he be ashamed to be seen which way he chose to go for when at the publique Assembly of the States of the Empire it was forbidden to have any Lutheran Sermons he presently prepared to be gone and profest boldly He would not stay there where he might not have liberty to serve God Thus must every good Christian be throughly resolved for God and for the truth which he takes up to profess Resolution must chain him as it did Ulisses to the Mast of the Ship must tye him to God that he leap noâ— over-board and make shipwrack of a good Conscience as too too many have done It is Resoluâ—ion that keeps Ruth with her Mother it makes a Man a rocky promontory that washes not away though the Surges beat upon him continually Resolution in the waies of God is the best aggioâ—ta of a Christian and a resolved Christian is the best Christian. To be carefull in the censure of others IT is reported of Vultures that they will fly over a Garden of sweet flowers and not so much as eye them but they will seize upon a stinking carrion at the first sight In like manner Scarabs and Fâ—yes will passe by the sound flesh but if there be any gall'd part on the horses back there they will settle Thus many there are that will take no notice at all of the commendable parts and good qualities of others but if the least imperfections shall appear there they will fasten them they will be sure to single out of the croud of Virtues and censure but let such know that Aquila non capit muscas the Eagle scorns to catch at flyes so that they discover what dunghill breed they are come of by falling and feeding upon the raw parts of their brothers imperfections without any moderation at all Prejudice in Judgement very dangerous THe mad Athenian standing upon the shore thought every Ship that came into the Harbour to be his own Pythagoras Schollars were so trained up to think all things were constituted of Nombers that they thought they saw Nombers in every thing Thus prejudice in judgement and prejudicate opinions like coloured Glass make every thing to seem to be of the same colour when they are looked through And it is most true that when Men have once mancipated their Iudgements to this or that error then they think every thing hits right whether pro or con that is in their fancy all the places of Scripture that they read all the doctrinall parts of Sermons that they hear make for their purpose and thus they run into monstrous absurdities and dangers inevitable The Hypocrite Characteristically laid open HYpocrites are like unto white Silver but they draw black lines they have a seeming â—anctified out-side but stuff'd within with malice worldiness intemperance like window cushions made up of
being troubled with fears and cares how he should be able to live in that condition in regard that his Incomes were but small enough onely to maintain him as a single man looking out of the window and seeing a Hen scraping for food to cherish her numerous brood about her thought thus with himself This Hen did but live before it had the chickens and now she lives with all her little ones Upon which he added this thought also I see the fouls of the air neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet my heavenly Father seeds them Thus did he and thus many of Gods servants have done before him and thus did our blessed Lord and Saviour himself who took occasion of the water fetch'd up solemnly to the Altar from the well of Shilo on the day of the great Hosanna to meditate and discourse of the water of life And so must all of us do get this sweet and comfortable art of spiritualizing the severall occurrences in the world and observing the providences of God therein drawing like the Bee sweetnesse from every flower and turning every thing that we hear or see into holy meditation the omission whereof cannot be without the neglect of God his creatures our selves The Creatures are half lost if we onely employ them not learn something of them God is wronged if his creatures be unregarded We most of all if we read this great volume of the Creatures and take out no lesson for our own instruction Men hardly drawn out of old customs and forms in Religious Worship IT is reported of the King of Morocco that he told the English Ambassadour in King Iohns time that he had lately read St. Pauls 〈◊〉 which he liked so well that were he to chuse his Religion he would embrace Christianity But saith he every one ought to die in the faith wherein he was born So it is with many amongst us they are perswaded they ought and are resolved they will live and die in those customs and waies wherein they were born and so they may do nay so they must do provided that such customs and forms whereunto they seem to be so fast glued be according to the pattern in the Mount the revealed will of God But it is to be feared that such are more addicted to Customs then Scriptures chusing rather to follow what hath been though never so absurd and irregular then consider what should be though never so orthodox and uniform The great love of Christ to he at an high esteeem and why so THere is a story of an Elephant who being fallen down and unable to help himself or get up again by reason of the inflexiblenesse of his legs a forrester comming by helped him up wherewith the Elephant a creature otherwise docible enough by the very instinct of nature was so affected that he tamely followed the man up and down would do any thing for him and never left him till his dying day Now so it is that if there be such love exprest by bruit beasts to those which have done them any good should not we much more love and prise Christ that hath done so much for us For we were fallen and could not recover or help our selves and Christ hath lifted us up and redeemed us with his own most pretious blood when we were even lost and undone Let us then think nothing too much to do too great to suffer too dear to part withall for such a Christ such a Saviour that thought nothing too much to do or too grievous to suffer that so he might accomplish the work of our Redemption He left Heaven for us let not us think much to lose Earth for him He came out of his Fathers bosom for us let not us be unwilling to leave father or mother or friends or any thing else for him He underwent sufferings reproaches afflictions persecutions yea death it self for us let not us repine at or be impatient under any trouble or misery we shall meet with here in this world for hâ—s sake but still be praising blessing and magnifying the love of God in Christ Iesus who hath done so much for us Faith to be preserved as the head of all Graces and why so IT is observed that the Serpent is of all things most carefull of his head because he well knowes though he be cut and mangled never so much in the body or any part of it yet if his head be but whole it will cure all the wounds of the other members And such wisdom ought all of us to have to labour above all things to keep our head our faith whole and sound to make sure of that whatsoever we do because if any thing else receive a wound if any other of our graces have as it were even lost their spirituall strength and vigour faith will renew them again but if this once suffer shipwrack it will cost many a sigh many a tear many a groan in the spirit before it be recovered again for without it all other graces decay and perish are as in a winter-condition of barrennesse without it yet if it do but appear there will be a spring-tide of all spirituall blessings whatsoever Troubles and vexation of spirit not to be allayed by wrong means and waies IT is said of Cain that being in trouble of mind and terrour of conscience for his bloody sin of fratricide he went to allay it by building a City Gen. 4. And there was no way to drive away Saul's melancholy but by David's tuning of his Harp Thus it is with most of people when they are under trouble of mind or vexation of spirit they use sinfull and wrong means to quiet themselves they run to merry meetings to musick to building to bargaining to buying and selling but they run not to God on the bended knees of their hearts who is the onely speedy help in such a time of need It cannot be denyed but that a merry meeting musick or the like may allay the trouble of mind for a while but it will recoil with more terrour then before A sad remedy not much unlike to a man in a seavouâ— that lets down cold drink which cools for the present but afterwards increaseth the more heat or like a man rubbing himself with Nettles to allay the sting of a Bee or not much unlike to one that hath his house a falling and takes a firebrand to uphold it whereby the building is more in danger Prosperity will discover what a man is IT is said of Pius Quintus so called because that when he was a mean man he was looked on as a good man but when he came to be a Cardinall he doubted of his salvation and when a Pope he dispaired of it So hard a thing is it for a good man to use a prosperous estate well Prosperity is that which will tell you what a man is it will
this reason For that obedience is alwaies more faithful and acceptable which floweth from love then that which is extorted by fear Thus in the correction of Children and servants if there be no other help Iustice must be observed First that there is a fault committed and that the fault so committed deserveth punishment and that the punishment do not exceed the quality of the fault which will otherwise seem to rage and revenge then to chastise â—or amendment Christians not to revile and reproach one another IT is a notable speech of one Nemon that was a Generall of the Persian Army that when he was fighting against Alexander one of his Souldiers run upon Alexander's face with much ill language and many opprobrious terms the General hearing of it smote him on the face saying I did not hire thee to reproach Alexander but to fight against him Thus if an Heathen could not endure to hear that his Enemy should be reproached How much lesse will God bear it to have his Children reproaching one another It was therefore a brave speech of Calvin Etiamsi Lutherùs vocet me Diabolum c. Although Luther call me Devill yet I will honour him as a dear Servant of Iesus Christ And so though those that are our brethren do cast Reproach upon us we should honour the Grace of God in them and not cast reproach upon them again It is more then enough that the briars and thorns of the Wildernesse such as are without do tear the Flesh and rend the good names of Christians let not them do it then one unto another A Child of God bettered by Afflictions STars shine brightest in the darkest night Torches are better for the beating Grapes come not to the proof till they come to the Presse Spices smell sweetest when pownded young Trees root the faster for shaking Vines are the better for bleeding Gold looks the brighter for scowring Glow-worms glister best in the dark Iuniper smells sweetest in the Fire Pomander becomes most fragrant for chasing The Palm-Tree proves the better for pressing Camomile the more you tread it the more you spread it Such is the condition of all Gods Children they are then most triumphant when most tempted most glorious when most afflicted most in the favour of God when least in Man's as their Conflicts so their Conquests as their Tribulations so their Triumphs True Salamanders that live best in the Furnace of Persecution so that heavy Afflictions are the bâ—st Benefactors to Heavenly affections And where Afflictions hang heaviest corruptions hang loosest And Grace that is hid in Nature as sweet water in Rose-leaves is then most fragrant when the fire of Affliction is put under to distill it out The great benefit of repentant Tears IT is reported of a River in Sicily wherein if black sheep be but bathed their wooll immediately will turn white And it is well known that the waters of Iordan cleansed the Leprosie of Naaman the Syrian So whosoever he be that bathes himself in the pure Fountain of Repentant tears shall be purged from all the filthinesse of Sin though it be as red as scarlet yet it shall be made as white as wooll And the reason is given by S. Ambrose Quia lacrymae tacitae quaedam preces sunt non pâ—stulant sed merentur non causam dicunt sed consequuntur Our tears are a kind of silent Prayers which though they say nothing yet they obtain pardon and though they plead not a Man's cause yet they procure Mercy from Gods hands as we find in S. Peter Non legitur quid dixerit c. he said nothing that we can read of but wept bitterly and obtained Mercy How to bear the Reproaches of Men. DIonysius having not very well used Plato at the Court when he was gone he feared lest he should write against him and therefore sent after him to bid him have a care how he set out any thing prejudiciall unto him Tell him sayes Plato I have not so much leisure as to think upon him So we should let those that reproach us know so much from us that we have not leisure to think of them and though we should not be insensible yet not to take too much notice of every Reproach that is cast upon us but as when the Viper came upon S. Paul's hand he shook it off so when Reproaches come upon our good names or credits shake them off For it is a dishonour to think upon them as if we had nothing else to do The true Love of God will cause a Man to love his Ordinances IF the wounded Iew in the Parable should have cast away the two pence which the Samaritan left to provide for him it had been an Argument that he neither regarded him nor his kindnesse And it was a sign that Esau loved not God because he esteemed not his birthright Thus the true Love of God is far from us if we set not an high esteem upon his Ordinances those pledges of his favour which he hath left with us to wit the Word and Sacraments the Word wherein we hear him speak lovingly and the Sacraments wherein we see him speak comfâ—rtably to us The Vanity of gay Apparrell IT is a pretty observation of a Iewish Rabbi That it was good policy for husbands to attire themselves below their ability for so they might the sooner â—hrive and to cloath their Children according to their ability so they might the better match them but to maintain their Wives beyond their ability for so perhaps they might live in more peace then they should otherwise do But now it is so that Husbands and Wives Parents and Children Masters and Servants are very vain in the matter of Apparell all of them antick and fantastick in garb and fashion of many whereof it may be truly said That when they have their best cloathes on they are in the very midst of their Wealth Whereas a modest discreet Man goes in a plain Suit but hath rich Linings Reproaches to be born chearfully because God is concerned therein AS a Man going to Sea if he know that the Martiner hath skill that he loves him and hath promised that he will have a care of him and that many others have had experience of his former industry this is much But when he considers that his life is the Marriners life that being both in one bottom if the one perish the other cannot be safe this now is full assurance that as far as the Matriner can do it it shall be well with him Thus in the matter of Reproaches and the cheerful bearing of them Were it that we onely did know that God had a love to us and were mercifull to us that were enough to assure us But when we shall find that as God hath loved us so he hath engaged himself that he will stand by his People in the time of
story How that upon a time a Complaint was sent from the Islands of the Blessed to the Judges of the superiour Courts about certain Persons sent thither who formerly had lived impiously humbly intreating that this abuse thus offered unto them might speedily be redressed Whereupon these impartiall Iudges taking the businesse into their considerations found not onely the complaint to be true but withall the reason and cause thereof which was that Iudgment and sentence was passed upon them here below in this life Whereupon it oft fell out that many Persons cloathed with Honourable titles Riches Nobility and other like dignities and preferments brought many Witnesses with them who solemnly swore in their behalf that they deserved to be sent to the Islands of the Blessed when the truth was they deserved the contrary To avoid which inconveniency it was decreed by an eternal doom that for the time to come no Iudgment should be passed till after death and that by Spirits onely who alone do see and plainly perceive the spirits and naked Souls of such upon whom their sentence and Iâ—dgment was to passe that so of what estate and condition soever they were they might receive according to their works Here now was a great deal of light in a dark vault the divine eye of a meer naturall Man discovering an Heavenly truth which is That definitive sentence is not to be passed upon any here below not that any whosoever shall receive his full Reward of what he hath done whether it be good or bad till after this life be ended Good meanings of bad Men destructive THe Poets prate much of Plato's Ferry-boat that never rested to carry Men through the infernall River to the infernall place So that what was then feigned is now verified For if there be any Ferry-boat to Hell it is the thing that Men call a good Meaning This is that which carries Men and Women down to Hell by multitudes by Millions There cannot be found so many Passengers in all the boats upon any River as there are in this one Wherry wafted down to the pit of perdition Many in all Ages have had their good meanings and to this day the Iews Turks Pagans Papists the worst of them all do not want for good meanings It is the good meanings of bad Men that brings them to an evill end they think they do God good service by abusing his People but they are sure to find and feel one day what disservice they have done to God and their own Souls for ever and that their good meanings before Man shall never excuse their bad actings before God Gods readinesse to maintain the cause of his Church AS in publique Theaters when any notable shew passeth over the stage you shall have all the spectators rise up off their seats and stand upright with delight and eagernesse that so they might take the better notice of the same Thus it is that though by an article of our Faith we are bound to believe that Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty as a Iudge to pronounce sentence Yet he is said in the Scripture to stand upright at the sufferings of his People as at the stoning of S. Stephen either as an Advocate to pâ—ead the Church's cause or as one in a posture of readinesse to take revenge upon all her Enemies Men not to be proud of Honours and Preferments IT is Pliny's observation of the Pidgeons that taking a pride in the excellency of their feathers and the height of their flying they towr it in the ayr so long that at last they become a prey to the Hawk whereas otherwise if they would but fly outright they are swifter of wing then any other bird Thus Men that take a pride in the height of that honour whereunto they are advanced are many times made a prey to the Devil and a laughing stock to Men whereas did they but moderate their flight and make a right use of their preferments they might become serviceable to God and their Country Moderation the fore-runner of Peace IT is the observation of S. Hilary that Salt containeth in it's self the element both of Fire and Water and is indeed saith he a third thing compacted out of both It is water lest we should too much be incensed unto heat and passion It is Fire lest we should grow too remisse and chill with neglect and carelesnesse Hence is that advice of our Saviour to his Disciples Have salt in your selves and peace one with another that is as S. Paul interprets Let your speech be alwayes with grace seasoned with salt let it not be rancid or unsavoury larded with bitter and unchristian Invectives but tempered alwayes with sobriety meeknesse and temperance And then when the salt is first set upon the Table Peace as the best and choycest dish will follow after The Saints Infirmities AS all Men dwelling in houses of clay and carrying about them the earthly Tabernacles of their bodies between whiles will they nill they sleep by reason of bodily infirmity and by a kind of unwelcome heavinesse nod towards the Earth as it were pointing at their natural Element whereunto they must in a short processe of time be reduced So even the best of Gods children compassed with Flesh and bloud cannot but at times bewray their folly and unsteadfastnesse The best Artist hath not alwayes his wits about him quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus and the most watchful circumspect Christian doth not alwayes stand so fast upon his guard of Faith and a good Conscience but he may at one time or other be taken napping God onely to be trusted unto in time of distresse AS when little Children do first learn to go alone and feeling the weaknesse of their feet Nature â—eacheth them to thrust out the hand to the Wall and trust it onely for a stay unto them And thus it is that especially in times of distresse Nature and Religion teach us to trust to a stronger then our selves that we shall have help at Gods hands and that without him there is no reall true help at all none in the smooth tongue of Man nor in his fair looks not in the strength of Man nor in his Riches nor in the wit of Man that may be turned into Foolishnesse but in God alone who is able and willing to relieve his People in the time of their distresse The great heat of Ambition IT is reported of Iulius Caesar that as he passed over the Alpes in his journey to Spain he took up his quarters one night in a little poor inconsiderable Village where one of his Company came unto him asked him merrily If he thought there would be any contention in that place for the Soveraignty Whereunto he made this stout answer I had rather be the first Man here then the second at Rome Now
place Who that is not Royall should seek in honour to precede them How Enemies are to behated IF a Generall of an Army laying siege to some great Fort or Castle and being upon the storming of it the guns from off the walls playing fiercely upon him should do abundance of execution were it not madnesse in him upon goining of the place to cast away those guns It were so VVhat doth he then He le ts flie at the gunner that fired them but preserves the guns as serviceable for himself Thus must we deal with our enemies They abuse us they evilly entreat us they spitefully use us they seek to destroy us and utterly to ruine us What shall we hate them abuse them again No we must love them and do good unto them preserve the guns but destroy the gunner love their persons they may be afterwards instrumentall to Gods glory but hate their vices that will be the undoing of our souls This is that perfect hatred wherewith David hated his enemies Psal. 139. 22. The great good which commeth by Enemies IT was the saying of Socrates that every man in this life had need of a faithfull friend and a bitter enemy the one to advise him the other to make him look about him In dealing with a friend a man is often deceived but if he have to do with an enemy then he is wary of his proceedings and placeth his words discreetly Hence is it that much good commeâ—h by enemies and a good use may be made of them They are the workmen that fit us and square us for God's building they are the rods that beat off the dust and the skullions that scoure off the rust from our souls Were it not for enemies how could we exercise those excellent graces of love and charity of patience and brotherly kindnesse Had it not been for enemies where had been the crown of Martyrdom Yet further Enemies are the fire that purgeth the water that cleanseth the drosse and filthinesse of our hearts Much every way is the good that commeth by enemies if we make a right use of them Prayers for the Dead unavailable LOok but upon one that plaies a game at bowles how no sooner than he hath delivered his bowle what a screwing of his body this way and that way what calling doth he make after it that it may be neither short nor over nor wide on either side but all in vain the bowl keepeth on his course and reacheth to the place not where the mind but the strength of the bowler sent it Thus it is with those that pray for the dead they pray and call unto God and sing Requiems and Diriges for the soules of men departed that they may be sent into Purgatory not Hell a course altogether unwarrantable unavailable For as the body is laid down in the dust so the soul is gone to God that gave it there to receive according to the deeds done here in the flesh whether it be to life or death eternall Knowledge without Practice reproved IT is by some observed that the Toad though otherwise an ugly venemous creature yet carries a pretious stone in his head which for the excellent vertues thereof is worn in gold-rings and otherwise Such Toads such ugly creatures are most of men they have the excellent jewell of Knowledge in their heads they can speak well O but they act ill they live not according to that knowledge their life and conversation is rotten and infectious to the whole neighbourhood about them Blamelessnesse of life enjoyned A Certain Roman the windowes of whose house being so very low that every one which passed by might easily see what was done within being profered by a workman at such a rate to make his windowes higher and so more private replyed I had rather give thee as much again to let them alone for I do nothing in my house but what I care not who knowes it And such an one ought every good Christian to be so to carry himself as that he need not blush to tell his very thoughts if he were asked of them and so to demean himself as if he had pectus fenestratum a glasse-window in his bosom that every one might read his mind there The tedious length of Law-suits AS Ioshua said of the building of Iericho He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates there of So there may be a Suit at Law commenced in the birth of our first-born and yet our youngest son shall not see the gates thereof that is the end of it The true Christians safety in danger VVHen the Grecians had won Troy before they fell to plunder it they gave every man leave to bear his burthen out of what he would and first of all AEneas marched out carrying his houshold gods which when they saw and that he did them no great dammage thereby they bad him take another burden which he did and returned with his old father Aâ—chises on his back and his young son Ascanius in his hand which the Grecians seeing passed by his house as Ioshua did by the house of Rahab saying That no man should hurt him that was so religious And thus that man that hath his mind set on his God shall receive no hurt by his enemy When his waies please the Lord his very enemies shall become his friends Nay he shall be in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the wood shall be at peace with him And which is yet more God will break the bow and the sword and snap the spear assunder He will make all those terrible instruments of war so unserviceable that they shal lie down quietly by him not offering the least hurt that may be Godlinesse the best friend SUppose a man be cast in prison for some notorious crime and is thereupon sentenced to death he sends for one of his friends intreating him to sue to the King for a pardon He answers He cannot do it This he will do for him he will give him a winding-sheet and a coffin Then he sends to another he tells him All that he can do for him is to see him buried But a third goes to the King and gets a pardon for him Even so riches they can do nothing for us but give us a winding-sheet and a coffin and our friends they can onely see us buried But Godlinesse is the true fast-friend at a dead lift that gets us a pardon for our sins having the promise both of this life and that which is to come When the Hypocrite is discovered AS long as the Hedge-hog lies on the dry ground she showes nothing but her prickles but put her into the water then she showes her deformity Thus an hypocrite so long as he is on the dry ground of prosperity