Gods chosen And that your house may throughout all Generations be known by this name Jehovah Shammah The Lord is there is the desire and shall be the prayer of Your Servvnt for Jesus sake George Swinnock TO THE READER ESPECIALLY Of the Parish of Great-Kimbel in the County of Bucks HE who doth but exercise his reason in considering the infinite cost which the glorious God hath bestowed in erecting the stately fabrick of Heaven and Earth and the curious Workmanship which he hath discovered in the several creatures which are the Inhabitants of the higher and lower House causing his Almighty Power embroidered VVisdom and unsearchable Goodness to glister and sparkle far more gloriously in them then the stars in the clearest night or the Sun in his noonday brightness will easily grant me this Assertion That this great Landlord of the world must needs deserve and expect a considerable rent of Honour and service somewhat suitable to the vaste charge he hath been at Who can be so bruitish as to conceive that the Onely wise God should take so much pains as with infinite counsel to contrive the goodly frame and comely structure of this visible Creation from all Eternity and by his Omnipotent arm to give it a being and not intend that his boundless excellencies and vast perfections written in such a fair print and large characters should be admired and adored That man is the person designed to give him his due and deserved praise is the next unquestionable concession no other of Gods visible works being capable of his worship Indeed mans sight is so bad that he can see little of that beauty which appeareth in the glass of the world but beasts are stark blind they can see nothing at all Why should God create man with a rational spiritual soul and thereby capacitate him for so noble a service as the pleasing and praising himself if he had not intended him for this purpose Bruitish Principles would have been sufficient to have fitted him for brutish practises If God had made him to eat and drink and sleep and wallow in the mire of carnal contentments the soul of a beast might have served his turn It is impossible that such an intelligent workman should infuse into our flesh Angelical spirits in vain and not appoint us to some honorable work answerable to the excellency of our Natures and beings Some of the wiser Heathen have gathered from the tendency of mans countenance towards heaven that he is more noble and born to higher things then like a moving carkass to be buried alive in the earth Those who to help the weak eyes of Nature have the spectacles of Scripture cannot but see more into Mans excellency and his Makers end It is written in such broad letters in the Word That God formed man for this purpose namely to shew forth his praise that he who runs may read it But alas alas what is become of man well may God call to him Adam where art thou Man where art thou he who ere while like a star keeping a loft in the firmament of Heaven did glitter and shine most brightly to the amazement of all his beholders now declining from that pitch and falling to the earth as a commet doth vanish and disappear He who was the worlds Lord is now its slave and Vassal He who was the Master of Wisdom is now sent to school to the very beasts to learn of them understanding He who was unspeakably blessed in his love to delight in and communion with the fountain of his being is now miserably cursed in his contrariety to and deviation from the Ocean of his happiness Ah this image of Heaven is become the vizard of Hell though this princely Creature was made to be company for his Maker to stand as an Angel always in his presence and attend his noble pleasure yet look how like a pitiful Laquey he runs sneaking after the drossie world and dreggie flesh as his Lords Though Religion were first in Gods intention yet its last in mans execution Things without reason honor God in their stations They obey his will Creatures without sense do him service they keep within the bounds which he hath set them and fulfil those ends for which he made them Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth and my right hand hath spand the heavens when I call to them they stand up together Isa 48.13 Nay these inanimate creatures are so compliant with his pleasure that they will thwart their own nature to serve his honour Fire will descend as on Sodom and water though a fluid body stand up like a solid wall as in the red Sea if he do but speak the word But man who is most indebted to his Creator degenerateth most of all when his inferiors Beasts and his superiors Angels are loyal servants he proves a rebellions subject They whoever had any real sence of the worth of immortal souls and any serious consideration of the weight of their unchangeable estates in the other world cannot but be affected with the madness of multitudes who turn their backs upon the blessed God their greatest and onely Friend as if he were their greatest and onely Foe They who have tasted God to be gracious and know what fellowship with Jesus Christ meaneth who have rejoyced in their present gracious priviledges and hope of their future glorious possession cannot but wonder and pity at that folly which many are guilty of in disesteeming the noble concernments of their precious souls and distasting that honourable preferment and comfortable imployment of walâ—ing with the blessed God How greedily do men grasp the smoak of earthly vanities which will wring tears from their eyes and then vanish into nothing Who can sufficiently bemoan it that man who is capable of and created for so high an honor and so heavenly an exercise as to serve his Maâ—er here and to enjoy him hereafter should all his time like an hog be digging and rooting in the earth and not once look up to heaven in earnest till the knife is put to his throat that he cometh to die and enter into the other world What a deal of pains doth the Spider take in weaving her web to catch flies She runneth much and often up and down hither and thither she spendeth her self wearing out and wasting her own bowels to make a curious cabinet which when she hath finished and hung aloft in the twinkling of an eye with the sweep of a besom it s thrown to the ground and her self destroyed in it Thus silly are many men How do they cark and care toil and moil for this world which they must leave for ever they waste their time and strength to increase their heaps when on a sudden all perisheth and themselves often with it Reader If thou art one of these Moles who live in the earth as their element carking and caring chiefly how to exalt self and please the flesh Answer God these four
most that gives most He that soweth liberally shall reap liberally I have sometimes considered with my self and wondred why Nabal should be so exceeding churlish to David as not to spare of his superfluities to supply Davids necessities when David had been so exceeding civil to him as to preserve his flocks in safety from the rage of hungry Souldiers But when I marked well the story I quickly found the cause of Nabals covetous carriage He looked upon himself as Master of his estate and not as Gods servant to improve it for his profit and praise Shall I take my bread and my water and my flesh and give it to men whom I know not whence they be 1 Sam. 25.11 Had he but had so much grace as to have called it Gods bread and Gods water he would have disposed it according to Gods word and not have denied a poor persecuted Saint but because he counted it his own proper wealth therefore it must be disposed according to his own pernicious will Reader look upon thy self in regard of thine estate only as a servant in trust which thou must shortly give an account of and then to do good and to distribute thou wilt not forget as knowing that with such sacrifices God is well pleased Heb. 3.16 Secondly Thy duty is to eat and drink soberly The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to us teaching us to live soberly in this present evill world Tit. 2.12 This sobriety respecteth both the quantity and the quality of thy diet First Thy duty is to be temperate as to the quantity of thy diet Reason is content with a little Religion with less Although no certain proportion of food can be prescribed to men for those showers which drown the clay vallies do hardly quench the thirst of the sandy hills Neither the bodies of men nor their stomacks are all of a size yet this is a certain rule for a man to eat or drink so much as to oppress nature and to unfit himself for prayer is a degree of intemperance God gave man food to further not to hinder him in his general and particular calling and surely they sin who feed till like fatted horses they are unfit for service Turtull speaking of the carriage of the Primitive Christians at their meals tells us Non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur editur quantum esurientes cupiunt bâ—bitur quantum pudicis est utile ita saturantur ut qui meminerint eti am per noctem sibi adorandum deum esse Tertull. Apologet. They do not sit down before they have prayed they eat as much as may satisfie hunger they drink so much as is sufficient for temperate men are filled as they that remember they must pray afterwards Christians may chear nature but they must not clog it It is a great prviledge in the charter granted us by the King of Kings that we should have dominion over the creatures but it will be a sorbid bondage if we suffer them to have dominion over us instead of being our servants to become our Masters Psa 8.5 6 7. God in the very framing of man intended him for temperance by giving a little mouth with a narrow throat and a lesser belly then other creatures And in mans charter which speaks his leave to slay the beasts in Gods forrest observe in what tenure it runs Every living thing that moveth shall be meat for you There is the general concession even as the green hearb have I given you all things here is the special limitation That is saith an Expositour to use them soberly and moderately Wilet Hex in gen not to gluttony and excess It is an abominable shame to a Saint to be a slave to the beast in him his sensitive appetite He that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things Beasts seldome surfet at their food never sin Epicurus who esteemed mans happiness to consist in pleasures was yet very temperate as Cicero and others observe Socrates was wont to say That evil men live that they may eat and drink but good men eat and drink that they may live Some of the heathen did very much hate excess either in eating or drinking The old Gauls were very sparing in their diet and fined them that out-grew their girdles Drunkenness by Solons law was punished with death The Spartans brought their children to loath drunkenness by causing them to behold the beastly behaviour of their servants when they were drunk But how many nominal Christians in regard of temperance come short of heathens Wo to the drunkards of Ephraim of England God hath a cup of red wine of pure wrath and these must drink the dregs therof how doth this iniquity abound men drink healths so long till they drink away their health and their heaven too Some mariners observe that as the waters grow shallower the sea losing about the coasts of Holland and Zealand the waters grow deeper the sea gaining about the English coasts Whether drunkenness ebb in Holland or no I know not I am sure it floweth in England We may complain as Diogenes Laertius of his country men that when they went to sacrifice to health they did then most riotously abuse health There was a street in Rome called Sobrius vicus The sober street because there was never an Ale-house there But how few towns have we which may be called sober towns because there are no drunkards there Reader if thou art one guilty of this sin for the Lords sake bethink thy self speedily dost thou know what thou dost Thou wrongest thy body Vermine abound as â—ats and mice where there is much corn and Diseases abound in bodies given to excess Too much wood puts out the fire Meat kills more then the Musket The glutton digs his grave with his teeth and the drunkard drowns himself in his cup. Stratonicus spake fitly of the Rhodians They build their houses as if they were immortal but feed as if they intended to live but a little while Spare diet is the best cordial of nature Moderate fasting is the best physick He that riseth with an appetite Camb. Brit. Eliz. secures his digestion It was said of Queen Elizabeth That she ever rose with an appetite and that Edward the sixth was wont to call her his sweet sister Temperance and she lived seventy years Gallen lived 140 years and almost all the time without any sickness and this natural reason is given that he did never eat his fill It wrongs thy estate The drunkard and glutton shall come to poverty Pro. 23.21 Their throats are open sepulchers to bury their estates in Diogenes when he heard of a drunkards house to be sold cried out I thought he would ere long vomit up his house It wrongs thy Soul After rioting and drunkenness followeth chambering and wantoness Rom. 13.12 and wo and sorrow and wounds without cause look not upon the wine at last it biteth like a Serpent thine
who cannot hear what is spoken by reason of the clacking and noise which is made there Christ calleth and the Spirit of God cryeth to them but their eares are stopt with earth that they hear not As we say of fire and water they are good Servants but bad Masters Keep them within their bounds and they are exceeding useful but when they go beyond their bounds how hurtful are they What mischief hath fire done in England what sad work hath water made in Holland The same is true of our particular callings they are faithful Servants but they are dreadful Masters Keep them within their limits and they are helpful to our selves our relations and our neighbours but suffer them once to transgress their bounds and they will make miserable work they will rob God wrong the soul nay often ruine it eternally When those that were born slaves and servants come once to be Kings and Commanders they are ever the worst Tyrants Now if thou wouldst not have thy particular calling to incroach upon thy general take heed that it steal not away thy heart nor thy time 1. Take heed that thy particular calling steal not away thy heart from thy general calling If the Mistris keep her distance and maintain her authority over her maidens she may find them obedient and serviceable but if she grow fond of them and familiar with them they will grow saucy and incroach upon her Reader keep thy inward distance and maintain that authority which God hath given thee over the things of this life and then all will be well butif once thou doatest on them and delightest in them expect to have them thine hinderances in all holy exercises The World may have thy hands but it must not have thy heart Thy actions may be about thy particular calling but thy affections must be above it Set your affections on things above and not on things below Collos 3.2 Thy occupation is as the first Adam of the earth carthly but thy conversation must be like the second Adam the Lord from Heaven heavenly A Christian should follow the things of this World with such a slightness and indifferency of Spirit as Wicked men do the things of a better World The holy Angels behold our earthly affairs but as strangers to them It is happy for him that can carry himself towards his own estate as if it were another mans An heathen could say I do not give but onely lend my self to my business Surely then a Saint should go through th World as one in a deep study Rebus non me trodo sedcousmodo Senec de benef his mind being the whilst intent upon a better object Brutish Horseflies fasten on Dunghils Swallows make their nests of earth They who have no Heaven hereafter may give their hearts to the earth but Christian if thou lovest thy soul though riches increase set not thine heart upon them Love not the World nor the things of the World Psa 62.10 This is a certain truth the hotter thy love is to the World the colder it is to the Lord. When the sap of Worldliness is in a man he will never flame well heavenward The Ship may sail in the water and be safe but when the water getteth into the Ship it sinketh it Thou mayst work about thy earthly affairs and all may be well but if thine affairs once work themselves into thee then thou art in danger Thy God alloweth thee to warm thy self at the Sun of creature comforts but not to turn Persian and worship it The Riviers lightly salute the earth as they pass along and make no stay but pass forward to the Ocean Thy affections should but slightly touch the earth weeping for worldly crosses as if thou wepst not and rejoycing for Worldly comforts as if thou rejoycedst not and so pass on to the Ocean of thy happiness It s said Germanicus reigned in the Romans hearts Tiberius onely in the Provinces Thy general must reign in the City in thy heart thy particular calling onely in the Suburbs of thy hands Reader if the World ever get into the throne of thine inward man fare wel all Religon I have read of a custom among the Germans to know whether their children be bastards or not to throw them in Fluvium Rhenum into the River Rhine If they floated above then they acknowledged them to be their own but if the waters carried them away then they esteemed them as Bastards Truely Reader if thou canst float above the waters of thy worldly imployments thou art a child of God but if that carry thee away by lying near thy affections look to thy self and fear thy condition It is not the greatness of mans estate or employment so much as the nearness of it to his heart which will hinder holiness A small hat held near our eyes will hinder our sight of the Sun which a great mountain a far off will not do A little near the affections will hinder our sight of Christ when thousands far from the heart may as imployed further it Besides the closer we lay the flowers of our earthly mercies to our breasts the sooner they wither A nosegay in the hand will continue fresh and sweet as is generally observed much longer then when it is stuck in the bosome 2. That thy particular calling may not incroach upon thy general be careful that it steal not away thy time Thy piety Reader and thy prudence is so to order thine affairs relating to heaven and earth to God and thy family that they may not interfere or cross each other A wise foreceast will much help thee in this particular As to the winding a skein of silk he that begins at the right end will make quick riddance of it so to the dispatching of Wordly imployments that they may not prove heavenly impediments he that hath discretion to forecast them well may do very much However thy duty is to give the affairs of thy soul and thy God precedency I know the Devil and thy corrupt heart will often justle and quarrel with thy Closet and Family duties by suggesting to thee that they must of necessity be omitted because otherwise such and such concernments of thy calling upon which the welfare of thy self Wife and Children doth depend will be neglected As when Moses spake of the Israelites sacrificing to God then Pharoah spake of work to put them off so when thou art thinking of entring upon the performance of duties whether in secret or private thy back friend the evil one will send thee a message either by thy Wife or friend or thine unregenerate part that some other affairs of weight call for thy company elsewhere and therefore a dispensation must be granted thee at present as to thy solemn devotion Friend if thou lovest Jesus Christ take heed of hearkening to such temptations let the flesh but once obtain such a conquest over thee and thou shalt hear of it again it will pursue its victory to
be hurtful but helpful to our General Callings I conclude the Book with Government of Families wherein thou mayst learn that thy house must be dedicated to God Religion in thy house must of necessity be minded or the whole Family is cursed The Naturalists observe of the Eagle that building her nest on high she is much maligned by a venemous Serpent called Parias which because it cannot reach to the nest maketh to the windward and breathes out its poison that so the air being infected the Eagles young may be destroyed but by way of prevention the Eagle by a natural instinct keepeth a kind of Agath-stone in her nest Plin. Hist lib. 3. cap. 10. which being placed against the wind preserveth her young Satan the crooked Serpent is ever busie to poison the Air in thine house and thereby to destroy thy self servants and whole houshold the only stone for prevention is to set up Religion Neighbor I have many a time pressed this duty upon thee and I do again in the name of the blessed God charge thee as thou wilt answer it at the Bar of Christ that thou immediately set up the worship of God in thy Family Thou knowest how many Sermons I preached from Josh 24.15 on this subject all which ere long thou shalt give an account of how inexcusable wilt thou be if after all those warnings thy Family be found in the number of them that call not on God! Good Lord how dreadful will it be for thee to sink into hell with thy whole house on thy back And now Reader whoever thou art out of affection to thy precious soul and eternal salvation let me prevail with thee not to use Religion as men do perfumes refresh themselves with them whilst they have them but they can well enough be without them but to make it thy chief and main and principal business What shall I say to thee Assure thy self Religion will be thy best friend at last O if thou hadst but the same apprehensions of it now which thou wilt have on a dying bed and day of Judgement thou wouldst make it thine only business them Religion will be Religion indeed of infinitely more worth to thee then millions of worlds All other things will then like leaves in Autumn fall from thee but though all thy most loving friends will part with thee Religion will walk with thee in the valley of the shadow of death it will direct and refresh thee in the pleasant waters of life and it will protect and comfort thee in those salt waters of sickness and when thou passest the Mare mortuum the Sea of death When the world in thy extremity will serve thee as the herd do a Deer that is shot push thee out of their company When thy wife and children will like Orpah to Naomi kiss thee and take their leave of thee Religion will like Ruth stick closs to thee where thou goest it will go where thou lodgest it will lodge death it self shall not part thee and it As the noble Grecian answered Philip when he asked him Whether he was not afraid to die No saith he for the Athenians will give me a life that is immortal Thou shouldst not need to fear death for Religion will give thee a life that is immortal As the old grave Counsellors told Rehoboham Be thou a servant to this people this day and they will be thy servants for ever So say I to thee Be thou but a faithful servant to Religion in this short day of thy life and Religion will be thy servant to all eternity If thou art resolved to give thy self up to the service of this noble Mistris possibly this Treatise may do thee some little service by acquainting thee with her will and directing thee in her work If in the perusal of it thou receive any profit let God alone have the praise and remember him in thy prayers who is Thine in the Lord George Swinnock THE The Contents of the Chapters CHAP. I. THe Preface and Coherence of the Text page 1 Chap. II. The opening of the Text and the Doctrine page 7 Chap. III. What Religion or Godliness is page 12 Chap. IV. What it is to make Religion ones business or to exercise ones self to Godliness page 21 Chap. V. The first Reason of the Doctrine wherein is shewed that Religion is the great end of mans creation page 39 Chap. VI. The second Reason of the Doctrine wherein is discovered that Religion is a work of the greatest weight it is soul-work it is God-work it is eternity-work page 45 Chap. VII The third Reason of the Doctrine wherein is discovered the necessity of making Religion ones business in regard of Gods Precept the opposition a Christian meeteth with in the way to Heaven and the multiplicity of business which lieth upon him page 60 Chap. VIII The first Vse by way of complaint that this trade is so dead and the worlds trade so quick page 71 Chap. IX The same complaint continued that this trade is neglected and superstition and sin should be embraced page 82 Chap. X. The second Vse by way of advice to make Godliness our main business in the whole course of our lives page 94 Chap. XI How a Christian may make Religion his business in religions duties or the worship of God in general as also a good wish about it wherein the former heads are epitomized page 106 Chap. XII How a Christian may make Religion his business in Prayer and 1. Of prayer in general and the Antecedents to it page 136 Chap. XIII Of the concomitants of prayer wherein the matter of our petitions the qualification of the Petitioner and the properties of our prayers are handled page 163 Chap. XIV The subsequent duties after prayer as also a good wish about prayer wherein the several heads in the antecedents concomitants and subsequents of prayer are epitomized page 185 Chap. XV. How a Christian may make Religion his business in hearing and reading the VVord and of preparation for hearing page 197 Chap. XVI Of the Christians duty in hearing page 223 Chap. XVII Of the Christians duty after hearing as also a good wish about hearing wherein the former heads are all epitomized page 234 Chap. XVIII How a Christian may make Religion his business in receiving the Lords Supper wherein arguments to and the nature of preparation for it is discovered page 250 Chap. XIX How a Christian may make Religion his business at the Table when he is receiving page 284 Chap. XX. VVhat a Christian ought to do after a Sacrament as also a good wish wherein all the former heads are epitomized page 318 Chap. XXI How a Christian may make Religion his business on a Lords day page 335 Chap. XXII Brief directions for the sanctification of the Lords day from morning to night as also a good wish about the Lords day wherein the former heads are epitomized and a good wish to the Lords Day page 381 Chap.
advantage I thank your Holiness but my souls health is dearer to me then all the things in the world Hist Counc Trent The Apostle calls the body a vile body Phil. 3. ult in regard of its original production it was made not of heavenly materials as Sun or Stars nor of precious materials as pearls or jewels but ex pulvere limoso lutoso of dust mingled with water and in regard of its ultimate resolution it becomes first an ugly gastly carkass and then moulders into earth but the Holy ghost calls the Soul The breath of the Almighty Job 33.4 It was not as the body framed of the dust but immediately breathed by God himself it was not the fruit of some praeexistent matter but the immediate effect of Divine power The soul is in a spiritual as well as in a natural sense the life of the body especially if you take vivere for valere to live for to be lusty and to be in health for what the Sun is to the greater that the Soul is to the lesser World When the sun shineth comfortably how chearfully do all things look how well do they thrive and prosper the birds sing merrily the beasts play wantonly the trees and hearbs put forth their buds and fruits the whole Creation enjoyeth a day of light and joy But when the Sun departeth what a night of horror followeth how are all things wrapt up in the sable mantle of darkness nay let but the heat of its beams abate how do all faces gather paleness the creatures are buried as it were in the winding sheet of Winters frost and snow so when the soul shineth pleasantly on the body refreshing it with its beams of holiness with its rays of grace the body cannot but enjoy a Summer of health and strength Such a soul in such a body is like a pure wax candle in a chrystal lanthorn refreshing with its sent directing by its light and comforting with its heat but if the soul be weak and full of spiritual wants the body must needs wither The soul is the ship in which the body sails if that be safe the body is safe if that sinks the body sinks for ever From all this it appeareth that Soul-work is a weighty work not to be dallied or trifled with bâ—t to be made the business of every man Godliness must therefore be followed with care and conscience because of soul consequence It was our deprivation of godliness which was the souls greatest loss and therefore for the regaining of it ought to be our greatest labour God sent his Son into the world for this very purpose that he might by his bloody passion restore man to his primitive purity and perfection Godliness is the souls food which nourisheth it who would feast his horse â—orpus est jumentum animae and starve himself The souls rayment both for its defence and warmth nay the life of its life The life of the soul as Jacobs in Benjamin is bound up in godliness Take godliness away and the soul goeth down into the grave of the other world with unspeakable sorrow Godliness as it is Soul-work so it is God-work as the excellency of the subject in which so also the excellency of the object about which it is conversant speaks it to be weighty Actiones specificantur à fine objecto circumstantiis Eustath de mor. Philos The Moralists tell us That actions are specified not onely from their ends and circumstances but likewise from their objects And the Divines assure us that the cheifest source of mans sin and sorrow is his causing the bent and stream of his inward man to run after wrong objects If objects then can vary the species they may much more add to the degree to the weight of an action Where the object is great no slip can be small Evil words spoken or blows given to an ordinary man bear but a common action at Law but in case they relate to the King they are Treason The higher the person is with whom we converse the holier and more exact should our carriage be If we walk with our equals we toy and trifle by the way and possibly if occasion be wander from them but if we wait upon a Prince especially about our own near concernments we are serious and sedulous watching his words and working with the greatest diligence for the performance of his pleasure A Lawyer will mind the Countrymans cause when he is at leisure when greater affairs will give him leave and then it may be do it but coldly and carelesly But if he have business committed to him by his Soveraign which concerns the prerogative he will make other causes stay crowd out of the Press to salute this attend it with all his parts and power and ability and industry and never take his leave of it till it be finished I need not explain my meaning in this it is obvious to every eye that godliness is the worshipping the infinite and ever blessed God surely his service is neither to be delayd nor dallied with it is not to be slighted or slubberd over Cursed is he that doth the Work of the Lord negligently When we deal with our equals with them that stand upon the same level with us we may deal as men our affections may be like Scales that are evenly poized in regard of indifferency but when we have to do with a God so great that in comparison of him the vast Ocean the broad Earth and the highest Heavens are all less then nothing and so glorious that the great lights of the World though every Star were a Sun yet in respect of him are perfect darkness we must be like Angels our affections should be all in a flame in regard of fervency and activity The very Turks though they build their own houses low and homely Turk Hist Fol. 342. yet they take much pains about their Moschees their Temples they build them high and stately David considered about a Temple for God The work is great for the palace is not for man but for the Lord God Now saith he I have prepared with all my might for the House of my God Upon this foundation that it was God-work David raiseth this building to make it his business to prepare for it with all his might as if he had said Had it been for man the work had been mean it had wanted exceedingly of that weight which now it hath but the work is great for the palace is not for man but for God and because it is a work of such infinite weight therefore I have prepared for it with all my might I can think no pains great enough for so great a Prince It was provided in the Old Law that the weights and measures of the Sanctuary should be double to the weights and measures of the Commonwealth Godw. Iew. Antiq. l. 6. c. 9. 10. The shekel of the Sanctuary was half a Crown of our money
the Conquest strive and stretch themselves to the utmost he that loytereth is as sure to lose as if he sate still The lazy World because Christ sends chapmen up and down with his wares to offer them to every house to every heart think to have them at their own ordinary rates but they shall find that grace which is many degrees short of glory is not to be had by sloth and idlâ—ness there must be lifting up the heart lending the ears seeking searching begging digging attention of the ouâ—ward intention of the inward man before men can understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.3 4 5. Though it be easie to let the backet into the Well yet it is hot work and hard labour to draw water out of the Well of Salvation The laborious Bee onely is laden with hony The desire of the slothful killeth him O si O si O tiosi because his hands refuse to labour Non est e terris mollis ad aslra via Seâ—â—c Prov. 21.5 He is full of wishing but far from working As the Cat he would fain have the Fish but is unwilling to wet his Feet his desires are destitute of sutable endeavours and therefore rather harm him then help him Like Ishbosheth he lazeth on his bed till he is deprived of his life He thinketh to be hurried in hast to Heaven to be carried as passengers in a Ship asleep in their cabins to their Haven but is all the while in a deceitful Dream There is no going to those Heavens where Christ is in his glory as the sick man came to the house where Christ was in his estate of ignominy let down in a bed He that will be but almost a Christian must be content to go but almost to Heaven Idleness is the burial of our persons and negliligence is the burial of our actions Writing on the Sand is easie but soon worn out It s mar'd witâ— a small breath of wind but writing on marble as it is more permanent so it costeth more pains An idle servant is in Gods esteem an evil servant he doth not distinguish betwixt a slothful and an unfaithful man His Word tells us that he hath bonds for those hands that are folded in the bosom when they should be working for a blessing that he hath fetters for those feet that stand still and stick fast in the mire and mud of sinful pleasures when they should be running the way of his precepts nay that he hath utter darkness for them that will not walk and work while they enjoy the light Matth. 25.26 and 30. He that takes his ease in this world must travel in the next Two things shew a necessity that Godliness must be made our business if ever we would make any thing of it First Because of the opposition we meet with in the way of Religion When the Wind and Tide are both with the Marriner he may hoise up his sail and sit still but when both are against him he must row hard or never think to come to his Haven The way to Heaven is like Jonathans passage against the Philistims betwixt two rocks the one Bozez dirty the other Seneb thorny the men of the world will be ever diligent either with dirt to bespatter their credits or with thorns to wound and pierce their consciences that walk in this path he must therefore have a mind well resolved to take pains and his feet well shod with patience that will go this way to Paradise The way of this world is like the vale of Siddim slimy and slippery full of lime-pits and stumbling-blocks to maim or mischief us Saints are Princes in all lands but as Princes that pass through a Country in disguise meet with many affronts so do Christians The flesh is like Birdlime which when the spirit would at any time mount up to Heaven with the wings of Faith and Meditation hampers and hinders it it is the holy souls prison wherein it is fettered and fastned that it cannot as it would walk at liberty and seek Gods precepts The Devil both a Serpent for craft and a Lion for cruelty doth out of his hatred to God make it his constant business by his power and policy to hinder Godliness As the Panther because he cannot come at the person he tears the picture where-ever he finds it We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with Principalities and Powers Ephes 6.12 While Satan reigneth in a creature all may be quiet and calm but if he be once cast out he will rage and roar to purpose While Israel serveth the Egyptians carrying their crosses bearing their burdens doing their drudgery all is well but when once they shake off Pharoahs yoke turn their backs upon Egypt and set out for Canaan with what force and fury are they pursued to be brought back to their former bondage Christ was no sooner baptized then buffetted he went as it were out of the water of baptism into the fire of temptation and if the Prince were all his time persecuted his Subjects must not expect to be wholly priviledged The cross is tied as a tag to the profession of Christianity Matth. 10.30 One Article in the Indenture which all Apprentices must seal to that will call Christ Master is to bear the cross daily Matth. 16. The Saints are as vessels floating on the waters of Meribah where Omne quod flat Aquilo est as Tertullian saith of Pontus no wind blows but what is sharp and keen The Hebrews were no sooner enlightned to their conversion but they indured a sharp fight of affliction their lightning was accompanied with a grievous storm Heb. 10.32 Holiness is usually followed with much hatred and hardship The enemies of mans salvation are impudent and uncessant ever raging never resting Plut. in vit Marcel What the Carthaginian Commander said of Marcellus may be truly spoken by us in regard of them Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerum Tendimus ad coelum That we have to do with those who will never be quiet either Conquerors or conquered but Conquerors they will pursue their victory to the utmost and conquered labour to recover their loss Satan especially is both wrathful and watchful to undermine souls He is fitly called Beelzebub the master Fly because as a Fly he quickly returns to the bait from which he was but now beaten Though Emperors may turn Christians saith Austin yet the Devils will not Doth not this fully speak the necessity of making Godliness our business Opposuit Natura Alpemque nivemque Deduxit scopulos montem ru oit Aceto Juv. Sat. 10. Can such difficulties be conquered without much diligence Who can eat his way like Hannibal through such Alps of opposition without hot water and hard work If like Sampson we would break all these cords of opposition in sunder we must awake out of sleep and put forth all our strength Saints
will it be for me to finde death about the lips of Christ to fall into Hell with a stumble at the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven How exceedingly am I concerned to set my heart to all the words which I shall hear this day for it is not a vain thing but it is for my life Deut. 32.46 47. Urge thy soul in earnest with these particulars As Elisha stretching himself upon the young dead child at last got life and quickning into it so thou forcing and stretching as it were these things upon thy heart mayst quicken it how dull and dead soever it is Thirdly if thou wouldst prepare thy self for the Word entreat God to bless it to thee The operations of the Spirit must accompany the administration of the Word or it will be ineffectual It is the Spirit that quickneth John 6.63 The fire burneth naturally and the water cooleth naturally but if the fire of the Word ever burn up thy corruptions or the water of the Word refresh thee with real consolations it must not be by its own nature but by a Divine power If thine eye be opened by that eye-salve of Scripture to see Christ in his native beauty or thy self in thy natural deformity God must anoint thine eyes therewith therefore David beggeth this favour at Gods hand Open mine eyes that I may see wonderful things out of thy Law Psal 119.18 As good sight as David had he could not read in Gods Law without Gods light If the door of thine heart be opened by this key to give admission to the King of Glory Gods hand must turn the key The Lord opened the heart of Lydia that she attended to the words of Paul Acts 16. Paul might have preached his heart out before Lydia's heart would have opened to let the Word in if God had not undertaken the work If the Sword of the Word pierce thy soul hack and hew and slay thy most beloved sins those enemies within thee which would not have Christ to reign over thee the arm of the Lord must weild it The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God 2 Cor. 10.4 Surely that voice of Thunder must come from Heaven which can pluck up the strong trees of thy natural unbelief and senslessness and pull down the high Towers of pride and self If the Word which is called a Seal Rom. 6.17 ever imprint thy Saviours Image on thee to thy Regeneration God must adde weight to the Seal or it will make no stamp He hath of his own will begotten you by the Word of Truth James 1.21 He that made the Watch can make it strike right and he that made the Word can make it strike home even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow Hebr. 4.12 If the Word which is called life John 6.63 quicken thee to thine eternal Salvation God must breathe on thy dry bones and bid thee live I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ which is the power of God to salvation Rom. 1.16 It was the Angels troubling the waters which made the Pool of Bethesda medicinal to the diseased people And it is not the water of the Word which can heal thy soul-sicknesses unless the Angel of the Covenant work in it and with it Elijahs mantle could not divide the waters of Jordan but the Lord God of Elijah did it The Preacher may shew thee thy Lesson but God onely can help thee to learn it Reader before thou hearest Remember it is Gods prerogative to open thine ear Mine ear hast thou boared Psal 40.6 There is a thick film in thine ears naturally which hindreth thine hearing thine ears are stopt that Sermons can have no passage Now God alone can with his Seringer dissolve the wax congealed there and break through the skin whereby thou mayest come to hear and live Remember that the seeing eye and the hearing ear the Lord hath made them both Prov. 20.12 Therefore intreat him to open thine eyes that thou mayst see his comely face in the Glass of the word and to open thine ears that thou mayst hear his lovely voice in the word and to open thine heart that thou mayst receive grace from him through the word Say as David Shew me thy way O Lord teach me thy paths Make me to understand the way of thy precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous works Psa 25.4 Psa 119.27 And be not discouraged either at the misteriousness of the word or at thine own dulness for he that made the lock can help thee to a key that will fit all its wards But be sure thou forget not to commend thy Minister to God As thy duty is to beg a door of entrance for thy self so a door of utterance for thy Pastor Withall praying for us that God would open to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ Col. 4.3 Ephes 6.19 Thy profit by him will be not a little furthered by thy prayer for him He that loves his child will often remember the Nurse that feeds it He that loves his precious soul will often mind the Preacher that prepareth and bringeth its spiritual portion I have known some to praise their Cooks highly when they would prevail with them to dress a Dish curiously for their palates I am sure thy way is to pray for thy Pastor fervently if thou wouldst have him provide such food as may be for thy souls pleasure and profit Starve the Mother and you starve the child in her womb If the Heavens do not favour the Hils with shours they cannot fatten the Valleys with their chalky streams If the Pipes be broke which convey water to our houses from the River we can expect no supply 4. Let thine end in going to hear be to please God and profit thy soul Propound a good endin hearing if thou wouldst have a good end of hearing Some go to Church for nothing like the Athenians the greatest part knew not wherefore they were met together Act. 17. They have as much as they come for They come for nothing and they often go away with nothing Others go to carp and catch at the Preacher as the Herodians went to Christ to entangle him in his talk Mat. 22.15 These go not to hear Gods word but to do the Devils work and he will pay them their wages These flie to the carcass not to defend it but to devour it A third sort go to hear wit and parts neat expressions and an affecting graceful pronounciation like the Jews to hear Ezekiel Lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument Ezek. 33.32 These go to hear man not to hear God They hear out of curiositie not out of conscience they desire to have their ears tickled
abuse of the Sacrament cast out by the Carthaginian Council to give it to dead men The invitation is not to Enemies but friends Eat O friends drink abundantly O beloved Cant. 5.1 The waters of life is onely for the thirsty and the bread of life onely for the hungry the Shew-bread under the Law was to be eaten onely by the Priests Lev. 24.9 so the bread of the Sacrament is to be eaten onely by such as are spiritual Priests unto God as Saints are Rev. 1.5 Reader examine thy self therefore whether thou art born again or no. Look into the Word of God and compare thy self with the Characters which are there given of new born Creatures They are sometimes described by their hearts God is good to Israel to such as are of a clean heart Psa 73.1 Their hearts are clean not with a legal cleanness which denyeth the being of sin in them In that sense none can say I have made my heart clean this spotless robe is reserved for the Saints wearing in the other World but with an Evangelical cleanness which denyeth the dominion of sin over them this cleanly garment is the Saints ordinary attire in this world We call River-water clean water though there be some kind of illness and impurity in it because it will not like pond water mingle with it and suffer the filth to rest there but worketh it out and seadeth it forth in its scum and froth Now how is it with thee Friend Doth sin rest quietly in thee or is it resisted by thee Dost thou love sin or loath sin Dost thou count it thy pleasure or thy poison When the body is dead Vermine crawl in it without opposition When the soul is dead lusts abound in it and reign without any considerable disturbance An unclean heart is quickly overcome by sin As when a Chimny is foul it is apt to be fired by every spark that flieth up whereas when it is clean though many flye up it remaineth safe so when the heart is unclean Satan can no sooner throw in his fiery Darts but presently it is in a flame whereas a clean heart is like wet tinder not so soon burning when he strikes fire Godly men as they have clean hearts so they have clean hands Job 17.9 The hand is the instrument of action by clean hands the Spirit of God meaneth clean and holy actings Saints are described by their lives They walk after the Spirit They order their conversations aright Per brachium fit judicium de corde was Galens rule Physitians feel the pulse of the Arme that they may know the state of the vitals Now how beats the pulse of thy conversation according to that judge of the soundness or sickness of thy constitution Dost thou walk in reference to thy self soberly in reference to others righteously in reference to God religiously Rom. 8.1 5. Tit. 2.12 Thy duty is to examine thy self in particular also of those graces which are specially requisite in a Communicant Of thy knowledge to discern the Lords body There is a competency of knowledge needful if thou wouldst receive acceptably Dost thou know the threefold estate of man His Innocency Apostacy and Recovery What a pure piece he was how holy when he came out of Gods hands what a miserable polluted creature he hath made himself by disobeying God and harkning to the Tempter what a glorious remedy God hath provided to restore man to his primitive purity Dost thou know God as he discovereth himself in his works but especially as he is represented in the Glass of his word Dost thou know Jesus Christ his two Natures his three Offices how he executeth them both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation Dost thou know the nature and end of the Lords Supper An ignorant person can no more discern Christs body then a person stark blind can discern the bread God hath expresly forbidden lame and blind Sacrifices Mal. 1.8 The Hypocrits Sacrifice is Lame for he halteth in Gods Way The ignorant persons Sacrifice is blind for he can give no account of his own work When the Leprosie was in the head the Priest was to pronounce the party utterly unclean exclude him the Camp Lev. 13.44 Do not say though thou art ignorant yet thy heart is good when God himself saith Without knowledge the mind is not good Fish stink first in the head and then the whole body putrifieth Examine thy Faith This grace is thy spiritual taste without which thou canst relish nothing on the Table This is the Bucket and if it be wanting I may say to thee as the Woman to Christ The Well is deep and thou hast nothing to draw with This is the hand to receive Christ Joh. 1.12 This is as the Armes whereby we imbrace Christ They embraced the promises by faith Heb. 11.13 As loving friends that have been a great while asunder when they meet together hug and embrace each other in their Arms so the Christian who longeth to see Jesus Christ in the promises when at a Sacrament he meeteth him huggeth and embraceth him in the Arms of faith Examine not so much the strength as the truth of thy faith The wings of a Dove may help her to mount up towards Heaven as well as the wings of an Eagle Try whether thy faith be unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 What price dost thou set upon Christ To them that beleive Christ is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 An unbeleiver like the Indians seeth no worth in this golden Mine but preferreth a peice of Glass or a few painted Beads mean earthly things before it but a beleiver like the Spaniard knoweth the value of it and will venture through all stormes and tempests that he may enjoy it Dost thou prise the precepts of Christ the promises of Christ the people of Christ the person of Christ is that altogether lovely in thine eyes and the passion of Christ Is thy greatest glory in Christs shameful Cross Dost thou esteem it above the highest Emperours most glorious Crown One of Englands Kings bestowed as much on a Crucifix as the revenues of his Crown were worth in a Year God forbid saith Paul that I should glory save in the Cross of Christ Gal. 6.14 Doth thy faith purifie thine heart Having their hearts purified by faith Acts 15.9 The hand of faith which openeth the Door to let Christ into the heart sweepeth the heart clean Faith looks to be like Christ in glory and faith labours to resemble Christ in grace An unbeleiver like a sluttish Woman though he keep the room of his life a little clean which others daily observe yet he cares not how dirtily those rooms of his inward man lye which are out of their fight unbeleiving and defiled are joyned together Tit. 1.15 Examine thy love The primitive Christians kissed each other at the Supper which they called Osculum pacis A kiss of peace They had their feasts of charity Jude v. 12. The bread which we eat is it not the
in peices think how the body of Christ was broken for thine iniquities It pleased the Lord to bruise him as Spice is beaten small in a mortar with a Pessel so the word signifieth Isa 53.10 Well might he cry out I am feeble and sore broken I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart Psa 38.8 When thou seest the Wine poured out meditate on his precious blood which was shed for many for the remission of sins O consider his wounds and his words I am poured out like water and all my bones are on t of joynt my heart is like Wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels Psa 22.14 Consider the doleful tragedy which he acted from first to last Meditate on his incarnation For the Son of God to become the Son of man for him that lived from all eternity to be born in time for him that thundereth in the clouds to cry in the Cradle for him that created all things to become a creature is a greater suffering then if all the men and Angels in this and the other World were crowded into an atome or turned into nothing This was the first and greatest step of his humiliation Consider the manner of his birth he was born not of some great Princes but of mean and indigent Parents not in a Royal Palace but in a place where Beggers and Beasts are entertained a Stable he was no sooner born but sought after to be butchered He fled for his life in his very swadling clouts and was an early Martyr indeed When he grew up though he was of ability to have sway'd the Scepter of all the Empires in the World to have instructed the greatest Potentates and Counsellours in the mysteries of wisdom and knowledge though to him Adam and Solomon yea and Angels themselves were fools yet he lived privately with his supposed Father many years and suffered his deity to be hid as light in a Dark Lanthorn neer thirty years save that once it darted a little out when at twelve years of age he disputed which confuted the great Rabbies of the Jews Luk. 2.46 When he entred upon his publique Ministry he is no sooner ascended the Stage but all the Divels in Hell appear against him and he is forced to fight hand to hand with them for forty days together and when they left him they did not take their leave but departed onely for a season Luk. 4.13 His whole life was a living death How poor was he when he was fain to work a miracle to pay his Tax The Foxes had holes and the Birds of the Air had Nests but the Son of man had not where to lay his head though he were heir of all things Mat. 8.20 What did he suffer in his name when the worst words in the mouths of the Jews were thought not bad enough for him He is called the Carpenters Son a Glutton a Drunkard a Blasphemer a friend of Publicans and sinners a Samaritan a Devil nay the Prince of Devils What hunger and thirst and weariness did he undergo He that feeds others with his own flesh had many an hungry belly He that gave others that water of which whosoever drinketh shall thirst no more had his own veins sucking and paining him for thirst He that is himself the onely Ark for the weary Dove to flie too for rest did himself take many a wearisom step and travail many a tiresome journey Well might the Prophet call him a man of sorrows and acquainted with greifs though he had suffered no more then what is already written but all this was but the beginning of his sorrows The dregs of the cup were at the bottom Doubtless many an aking heart had he as a Woman with Child beforehand when he thought of the bitter pangs sharp throws and hard labour which he was to suffer at the close of his life O Friend Remember this Son of David and all his troubles but to come to his end which is specially represented in this Ordinance I will take him in the Garden where he felt more then I can write or think Consider his body there it was all over in a goar blood Ah what suffered he when he did sweat clods of blood To sweat blood is against nature much more in a cold season most of all when he was full of fear and terrour then the blood retreats to the heart to guard it and to be guarded by it But behold Reader thy Saviour for thy sake and under the weight of thy sins did sweat blood in a cold night when he was exceedingly afraid Ah who would not love such a Saviour and who would not loath sin But the sufferings of his body were nothing to the sufferings of his soul these were the soul of his sufferings Observe his expression My soul is exceeding sorrowful My soul is sorrowful unto death Vnto death not onely Extensively seventeen or eighteen hours till death ended his life but chiefly Intensively such sorrow as the pangs of death bring surely far greater Again Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Wise and valiant men do not complain of nothing Ah how bitter was that cup which Valour and Resolution it self seemed unwilling to drink The two most tormenting passions which are Fear and Grief did now seize upon him in the highest degree He began to be sorrowful and very heavy saith Matthew Chap. 26. vers 37. He began to be sore amazed and very heavy saith Mark Chap. 14. vers 33. Reader follow him farther One Disciple selleth him at the price of a Slave another Disciple forsweareth him all of them for sake him and fly the greedy Wolves lay hold on this innocent Lamb the bloody Jews apprehend him binde his hands like a Thief and hale him away to the High-Priest then they hire persons to belye Truth it self But when their testimony was insufficient upon his own most holy confession a sentence of condemnation is past upon him Consider now how the servants smite his blessed cheeks with their fists and spit on that beautiful face with their mouths which Angels counted their honor to behold the Masters flout him with their scornful carriage and mock him with their petulant language He must be the sink into which they fling all their silth Afterwards they carry him to Pilate he sendeth him to Herod Herod with some scorns and scoffs sendeth him back Thus is he like a foot-bal spurned up and down between those inhumane wretches Pilate tears his flesh with wounds and wails and presenteth him to the people with a crown of Thorns on his head to move pity the people thirsting after his blood can by no words be perswaded by no means be prevailed with to let this innocent Dove escape Though he be put in competition with a Murtherer yet the Murtherer is preferred before him and as the worst of the two he is at last condemned as a seditious person and a Traytor against Caesars Crown and
would evidence his power he produceth with a word the whole creation out of the barren Womb of nothing He did but will it and the whole world presently started into a being By this he often proves his deity Isa 45.12 Isa 43.11 As shadows represent the figure of those bodies from whence they are derived so do the creatures manifest the power of their Maker When he would manifest his Justice he layeth the dark vault of Hell and layeth in and storeth it with fire and brimstone and chains and blackness of darkness and gnawing wormes and pure wrath and Devils and all the instruments of eternal death Rom. 9.22 When he would make known his wisdom he findeth out a fit Mediatour and thereby reconcileth those attributes which before were at ods his justice and his mercy When man was fallen justice pleaded for his deserved damnation according to the threatnings of the law mercy pleadeth for his gracious salvation he being deluded by the Devil Now it would have non-plust the heads of all the men and Angels in the World had they been united in a consultation to have found out a way to satisfie both the demands of justice and the intreaties of mercy but God did it he causeth mercy and justice to meet together pity and righteousness to kiss each other therefore the Mediatour is called the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.14 and the finding out this way is called the manifold wisdom of God or the embroydered Wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 It s an allusion to a curious peice of Needle-work wherein there are various expressions of Art So in this way of mans recovery there are various and curious expressions of divine wisdom But when God would proclaim his love that attribute which like Oyl swimmeth at the top of them all which is most in favour which he delighteth so exceedingly in what will he do Why he layeth down his life greater love then this hath no man then that a man lay down his life for his friends Joh. 15.13 Jacob shewed his love to Rachel by enduring the heat of the day and the cold of the night for her But Jesus shewed his love to his beautiful Spouse by undergoing the cursed painful and shameful death of the Cross for her O what love was that It is storied of the Pelican that when her young ones are stung with some poisonous Serpent she beats her breast with her beak till the warm blood gusheth out which they suck and recover We were all stung mortally by the Old Serpent the Devil but behold the love of this heavenly Pelican he lets out his heart blood to recover us In his birth and life he manifested his love the midst of that Chariot in which he drew his Spouse before was paved with love but his death wrot his love in the greatest Print in the largest Character though all in red letters for his whole body was the book his precious blood was the ink the nails were the pens the contents of it from the beginning to the end are Love Love There is nothing else to be read but Love Love in this was manifest the Love of God saith the Apostle 1 John 4.9 His love before was glorious yet hid as the Sun under a cloud but at his death it did shine forth in its Meridian Splendor in its noon-day brightness with such hot beams and refreshing rays that every one must needs take notice of it The Jews say of Esdras that if the Lamp of Love were quite extinct it might be lighted again at his brain How true is this of Christ If Love were quite lost amongst all the Creatures all might be found in Jesus Christ His name is love his nature is love all his expressions were love all his actions were love he brought love he bought love he preached love his lips dropt love he practised love he lived in love he was sick of love nay he dyed for love 't was love that took upon him our natures 't was love that walked in our flesh 't was love that went up and down doing good 't was love that took our infirmities 't was love that gave sight to the blinde speech to the dumb ears to the deaf life to the dead 't was love that was hungry and thirsty and weary 't was love that was in a bloody agony 't was love that was sorrowful unto his own death and my life 't was love that was betrayed apprehended derided scourged condemned and crucified 't was love that had his head pierced with thorns his back with cords his hands and feet with nails and his side with a spear 't was love that cryed out Weep not for me weep for your selves Father forgive them they know not what they do Love left a glorious Crown and love climbed a shameful Cross O dearest Saviour whither did thy love carry thee Reader I could lose my self in this pleasant Maze of Christs love Methinks thy heart should be ravished with the sense of this love The truth is it is a bottomless love none can sound it the Apostle might well call it A known unknown love Ephes 3.19 It is well thou canst finde it but I am sure thou canst not fadom it One Disciple may shew his love to another by giving a cup of cold water but the Master shewed his love to his Disciples by broaching his heart to give them a cup of warm blood The Sacraments as Calvin observeth did flow out of the sides of Christ When the Souldier pierced his side there came out Water for Baptism and Blood for the Supper Reader when thou beholdest the broken bread and remembrest the bruised body of Christ do not forget his love which is the best sauce to thy meat I must tell thee though there be never so many dishes at the Table this love is the Banquet Consider his willingness to be wounded for thee because his heart was so deeply wounded with love to thee Thou hast heard of such indignities and injuries offered to him as the Sun himself was ashamed to behold and hid himself from them yet Christ was ready for them and willing to them The Lamb of God did not struggle when he was led to the slaughter but did bear his own Cross He was his own Priest as well as his own Sacrifice and Altar His death was violent in regard of others but voluntary in regard of himself He cryed to his Father Lo I come to do thy will O God Heb. 10.4 When his sinless nature had a reluctancy against it though when he was in a bloody sweat he soon corrects it with Not my will but thy will be done He went to the place which Judas knew John 18.2 He struck them that came to apprehend him down to shew that he could if he had pleased have struck them dead Rather then they shall want proof for his condemnation he will confess himself guilty of the charge He might if he had listed have commissionated twelve Legions of
heart to spiritual joy and delight therein Holy alacrity and joy is not onely a crown and credit to but also a special part of Christianity The Kingdom of God consisteth not in meats and drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 Gods ways are not so bad but that the Travellers in them may be chearful His work is good wages and therefore it s no wonder that his Servants are so joyful Because beleivers have ever cause of comfort therefore they are commanded always to rejoyce Phil. 3. Whether their sins or sufferings come into their hearts they must not sorrow as they that have no hope In their saddest conditions they have the spirit of consolation There is seed of joy sown within them when it is buried under the clods and appears not above ground But there are special times when God calls for this grain to spring up They have some red letters some holy days in the Calendar of their lives wherein this joy as Wine at a Wedding is most seasonable but among all those days it never relisheth so well it never tasteth so pleasantly as on a Lords day joy sutes no person so much as a Saint and it becomes no season so well as a Sabbath Joy in God on other days is like the Birds Chirping in winter which is pleasing but joy on a Lords day is like their warbling Tunes and pretty notes in Spring when all other things look with a sutable delightful aspect This is the day which the Lord hath made he that made all days so especially of this day but what follows we will rejoyce and be glad therein Psa 118.24 In which words we have the Churches solace or joy and the season or day of it Her solace was great We will rejoyce and be glad Those expressions are not needless repetitions but shew the exeuberancy or high degree of their joy The season of it This is the day the Lord hath made Compare this place with Mat. 21.22.23 and Act. 4.11 and you will find that the precedent verses are a prophetical prediction of Christs Resurrection Sic. Arnob. and so this verse foretels the Churches joy upon that memorable and glorious day And indeed if a feast be made for laughter Eccles 10.19 Then that day wherein Christ feasteth his Saints with the choicest mercies may well command his greatest spiritual mirth A thanksgiving day hath a double precedency of a fast day On a Fast-day we eye Gods anger On a Thanksgiving-day we look to God favour In the former we specially mind our own corruptions In the latter Gods compassions therefore a Fast-day calls for sorrow a Thanksgiving day for joy But the Lords day is the highest thanksgiving day and deserveth much more then the Jewish Purim to be a day of feasting and gladness and a good day On this day we enjoy the Communion of Saints and shall we not delight in those excellent ones Psa 16.3 On this day we have fellowship with the blessed Saviour and shall we not fit under his shadow with great delight Cant. 1. On this day we are partakers of the Ordinances of God and shall we not be joyful in the House of prayer Isa 56.7 On this day we have special converse with the God of Ordinances and who would not draw water with joy out of the Well of Salvation Isa 12.3 Surely whilst we are in the midst of so much Musk we must needs be perfumed Who can walk where the Sun shines so hot and not be warmed It is Gods precept as well as thy priviledge to make Gods day thy delight If thou call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord Isa 58.13 Delights Tremel reads it Thy delicate things according to the Septuag Whether thou art meditating on Gods works or attending on Gods Word which are the two principal duties of the day they both call for delight and joy If on this day of rest thou considerest the work of creation and Gods rest it behoveth thee to follow Davids pattern Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works I will triumph in the works of thy hands Psa 92.4 If thou considerest the work of Redemption and Christs rest surely out of the carcass of the Lion of the tribe of Judah thou mayst get some Honey as may delight thy soul and force thee to sing My soul doth magnifie the Lord my spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour Luk. 1.46 47. The babe in the womb leapt for joy of him before he was born The heavenly host sung at his birth and wilt not thou at his second birth his resurrection from the dead O let the Primitive Christians salutations be thy consolation The Lord is risen If thou meditatest on glorification and thine own rest canst thou do less then rejoyce in hope of glory what Prisoner shackled with Satans temptations and fettered with his own corruptions in the dark Gaol of this World can think of the time when his Irons shall be knockt off and he enjoy the pleasant light and glorious liberty of the Sons of God and not be transported with joy What heir in his minority banisht from his kindred and country can think without comfort of his full age when he shall have the full fruition both of his estate and friends doubtless friend the Sabbaths of the holy are the Suburbs of heaven In heaven there is no buying no selling no ploughing no sowing nothing but worshiping God communion with him fruition of him and delight in him There remains a rest for the people of God There they rest from their labours If thou on a Lords day turnest thy back upon the World and goest up into the mount conversing with and rejoycing in the blessed God what dost thou less then begin thine eternal Sabbath here Such a Lords day can be no less then Heaven in a looking glass representing truly though darkly thy future eternal happiness There is no perfume so sweet to a Pilgrim as his own smoak When thou art attending on the word truely that Aquavitae that hot water may well revive thy spirit Thy testimonies are my delight saith David I have rejoyced more in thy testimonies then in all manner of riches Psa 119.24 77. The Word of God is sometimes called a treasure and what beggar would not rejoyce in a treasure sometimes fire and truly Reader thine heart is frozen to purpose if this fire do not heat it Salomon tell us As cold water to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far Country Prov. 25.25 The Word of God contains the best news that ever ears heard Peace on earth good will towards men and the glad tidings of the Gospel come from Heaven a far Country What canst thou say then why they should not be as welcome and refreshing to thee as cold water to a thirsty soul Variety of things that are excellent is not a little ground of complacency in them Variety of choice voices please the ear variety
reproof to the head If the oyl of reprehension be gently and prudently bathed in by the hot fire of the Word it may abate very great swellings But be sure to perform this duty The Magistrate who spareth a man slayer Spencer 182.576 is guilty of his second murther Plato seeing a childe commit a fault went and corrected his Father The Master of a family who alloweth any in sin is partaker of their sin We perpetrate those sins which we may and do not prevent we shall answer one day for sins of communion as well as for sins of commission O how miserable will thy condition be when the provocations in thy Family which thou knowest of and winkest at shall all be charged upon thee Naturalists tell us that if a Serpent eat a Serpent it becomes a Dragon If thou to thy own sins adde the sins of thy children and servants what a Monster in sin wilt thou be Are not thy own sins heavy enough dost thou want more load upon thy precious soul to sink thee deeper into Hell Is not thy iniquity already great and thy wickedness infinite as Eliphaz said to Job Job 22.5 Great for the nature of thy sins and infinite for their number and wilt thou like one that is pressing to death cry and call for more weight Maintain thy power and authority in thy Family A wise grave carriage will sharpen the weapon of reproof and make it pierce the deeper Foolish familiarity blunteth the edge of it He that would throw a stone forcibly to do execution must stand at some distance Encourage small beginnings of good in any in thy family Shine with a lightsome countenance cast a warm influence upon the blossoms of holiness hereby thou mayest do much towards their ripening Davids eye of favour was upon the faithful Psal 101.6 A Governor of a family must like a Gardener pluck up weeds but cherish and tender the good flowers and plants Sixthly Take care that all in thy Family be well employed Not to permit idleness in thy house is one way to prevent ungodliness There is employment suitable to every person in thy dwelling Servants should be diligent in the discharge of their duties Jobs Servants were about their work when the Sabeans and Chaldeans fell upon them and sent them into the other World Job 1.14 17. Jacob served his Master Laban with all his might Gen. 31. and 5. Apelles painted a Servant with Hindes feet to shew that he should be nimble in dispatching any errand with broad shoulders signifying that he should contentedly bear hard usage and with his hands full of tools because he should be always at work Children also if at home must be employed in their places if young in Learning if elder in some Calling Plutarch in vita Solon the Athenian Law-giver enacted That the Son should not relieve his Father in his old age who had brought him up idle and without a trade The Patriarchs though principal men in their Generation brought up all their Children to some Calling their tender Daughters were not exempted from Houshold business Rebeccah the Mother of Prophets and Princes was not ashamed of her Pitcher and drawing water therewith for her Fathers Cattel Those dainty Dames who plead her pattern for their ear-rings and bracelets will hardly plead it for a pitcher and painfulness Augustus Cesar brought up his daughters in Carding and Spinning Gentlemen though they are not bound to bring up their Children to low or mean callings yet are bound to keep them out of the snare of idleness and to take care that they be in some lawful business serviceable to themselves and others The Wife as well as Servants and Children ought to be industrious in her station Spinster is a term given to the greatest woman in our Law It is said of the good housewife She seeketh Wool and Flax and worketh willingly with her hands she looketh well to the ways of her houshold and eateth not the bread of idleness Pro. 31.13 27. A Womanswork consisteth in sowing and doing somwhat her self and overseeing others as appeareth in the forequoted place besides the charge of her children hereby a wise woman is said to build her house Pro. 14.1 As a Carpenter layeth the plat-form of an house in his head and so studieth that none of his stuff be cut to waste So a good Housewife doth so overlook the affairs of her family and so contrive and order things by a prudent provident forecast that there may be no waste but all things disposed for the best Hence it is that though the Husband is called the guide of the Wife yet the Wife is called the guide of the House Pro. 2.17 1 Tim. 5.14 And for this end they are commanded to be keepers at home Tit. 2.5 They that gad much abroad do their families at home but little good such are according to the signification of the second Wife of Lamech Zillah's the shadows of Wives The Grecians had a custom when the new married Bride was brought home to her Husbands house to burn the Axeltree of the Chariot or Cart in which she was brought before the door to teach her that she must abide at home But the main work lyeth upon the governour of the Family Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flock and look well to thy herds Pro. 27.23 He that is far from his work is not far from want The Jews have a Proverb The Masters foot makes his ground fat which speaks thus much that if the Master be not forward with his own hands all things will go backward in his house Io Manlii Loc. Com. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Master is the greatest servant in the house It s said of Albanus Bishop of Scotland Stotswood History of the Church of Scotland that he was never idle nor ever suffered any in his family to be so Reader this particular of overseeing that all under thy roof mind their proper work will be some help to godliness and a great stop to wickedness Polym Stratag Lib. 3. Iphicrates would never let his souldiers be idle in their Garrisons but would set them to lop trees or dig or carry burdens saying That if they had nothing to do they would mutinie or commit some villany The bird that sitteth still is a fit mark for the murderer of souls when the flying Bird is safe As corrupt blood is the cause of all natural so is idleness of all spiritual diseases When persons in a family neglect their task then is their hour of temptation Idleness is often the cause of Drunkenness They leave their work-house who run to the Ale-House Amos 6.2 Uncleanness is the Daughter of Idleness Lust will easily creep in upon those that are lazy as did appear sadly in â—odom Ezek. 16.49 Otia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus hence fellow-servants commit uncleanness together Idleness is the mother of unrighteousness They who neglect their tasks turn thieves